Game within game

Zhang San was very confused as he looked around. Since the Green Sword Sect had come, then perhaps the reason they were here was also in this square.

It wasn't until Zhang San noticed that the main street to the north at the center of the city seemed particularly empty, as if someone had deliberately cleared the street.

He saw that on North Main Street, the guards were standing in a line, and a black four-man sedan chair was quietly parked in the middle of North Main Street.

Judging from the color, grade, and surrounding guards of the sedan chair, it should be the official sedan chair belonging to Prefect Lu.

Zhang San muttered to himself: "So, isn't this prefect disregarding his own danger to lure out the people of the Green Sword Sect?"

But it was still very strange.

The sedan chair was in the north, so why did the Green Sword Sect rush out like a swarm of bees from the south, and head straight for the execution grounds without going to find that prefect?

Things seemed a bit off!

At that moment, Zhang San wanted to leave even more!

He, Zhang San, wasn't part of the crowd that enjoyed the spectacle, so when he saw this kind of situation, his first thought was definitely to escape!

However, just as Zhang San wanted to leave, he realized that all six or seven streets around him had already been guarded by the officers.

Obviously, even if the army could not be deployed in the city, sealing off the streets was still feasible.

Zhang San glared fiercely at Wang Xiaoer - if not for this stinky brat's nonsense just now, he would have already left.

Noticing his master's terrifying gaze, Wang Xiaoer quickly smiled apologetically: "Master, Master, I see a small alley over there. Let's go hide over there."

Zhang San dragged Wang Xiaoer along, pulling his cart as he hurriedly hid.

Although whether it was using qinggong to escape or relying on martial arts to take down those officers blocking the streets, Zhang San could do it. But doing so would be no different from shouting and telling the government officials "I'm obviously not an ordinary civilian, hurry up and come arrest me!"

After weighing things up, it was still better to hide first and see how things developed.

...

...

The moment the twenty-some Green Sword Sect experts appeared, the crowds were already in chaos. But the onlookers also noticed that they were surrounded by officers, not allowed to enter or leave!

The Green Sword Sect members came aggressively, so these crowds could only squeeze to both sides of the martial arts stage, barely squeezing out a few small paths down the middle of the road.

The Green Sword Sect members either used qinggong, or hurried along the road. Their target was very clear - the six people on the execution stand.

"Execute them!" someone shouted, though it was unclear who.

But before the six executioners could take any action, six of the Green Sword Sect members used hidden weapons to attack, killing all six executioners.

Just as the Green Sword Sect members were about to approach the execution stand, dozens of prefectural guard experts of the Earth Realm emerged from the surrounding crowds. They surrounded the Green Sword Sect members and attacked.

Peering from where he was hidden in a small alley, Zhang San vaguely discerned that, as he had expected, those who had suddenly burst out from the crowds were using the guards' standard-issue weapons. And there were quite a few skilled fighters among them - the weakest were at the Human Realm, while the strongest should have reached the middle stage of the Earth Realm.

Zhang San recalled that twenty years ago, the Green Sword Sect should have been considered a righteous major sect. But he still felt that in this day and age, it was probably the limit for a declining righteous sect to produce twenty-some Earth Realm experts.

Therefore, the Green Sword Sect would not have reinforcements.

On the other hand, judging from the faint sounds coming from the surrounding buildings, the prefectural side probably had people hidden in ambush. They could adopt a rotation tactic to wear down and kill off the Green Sword Sect members.

Watching the Green Sword Sect members already showing signs of defeat from where he was hiding in a small alley, Zhang San sighed inwardly: "Yet another righteous sect whose incense is about to fade."

How absolutely wise was Master back then to bring the sect to join the dark side!

Zhang San silently applauded his master's shamelessness - clearly, in Zhang San's eyes, 'shamelessness' was not shameless, but a kind of excellent moral character.

Only Wang Xiaoer was puzzled: "Master, something seems a bit off."

"What's off?" Zhang San asked.

Wang Xiaoer said, "Is the Green Sword Sect really that weak? Retreating so quickly? Retreating south while fighting, they're getting farther and farther from the execution stand."

Zhang San: "..."

It did seem a bit strange.

In this situation, they probably couldn't escape even if they tried. For people daring enough to raid the execution grounds, surrender was not an option, so if not fighting to the death, why were they steadily retreating like this?

Zhang San looked towards the sedan chair in the north and frowned, seemingly realizing something.

I see.

...

...

North Main Street was almost completely surrounded by the prefectural guards. In the middle of the street, inside that black official sedan chair, Lu Gaosheng laughed heartily.

Then this Prefect stepped out and slowly emerged from the sedan chair. This man was still as graceful and extraordinary as ever, with a faint smile on his face, seemingly always full of confidence in himself.

Lu Gaosheng's hands were held behind his back. Although the unique "White Jade Cloud Pattern" ring was no longer on his hands, as he looked into the distance, he could still feel his own arrogance.

With the guards lined up behind him, Lu Gaosheng was extremely proud. Just as he was about to speak...

Suddenly, an enraged roar seemed to come from the heavens: "Lu, you scoundrel! Die!!!"

Three swordsmen in green, two men and one woman, leapt down from rooftops on both sides, bypassing the two rows of guards and charging straight at Lu Gaosheng!

However, because the twenty-some Green Sword Sect experts had suddenly rushed out all at once at the execution stand, all the prefectural guard Earth Realm experts that Lu Gaosheng had arranged hidden among the crowds had gone to surround and attack those Green Sword Sect swordsmen.

Moreover, because those Green Sword Sect swordsmen kept pretending to "retreat in defeat", not a single Earth Realm expert could make it back in time now to save their "Prefect" Lu Gaosheng, despite the square where the martial arts stage was located not being very big.

And the moment the three green-clothed swordsmen landed, they had clearly divided up their tasks - the other man and woman went to engage the guards lining the streets, while the remaining man charged at Lu Gaosheng.

If Zhang San had been present, he would have immediately discerned that underneath the full-powered attacks of these three swordsmen, they undoubtedly possessed mid-stage Earth Realm martial arts.

But Lu Gaosheng was only a scholar. What use would the Four Books and Five Classics in his head be against the Green Sword Sect's sword techniques?

A sword pierced through his heart from behind before Lu Gaosheng could even react, and he died on the spot.

Everything seemed so logical.

The green-clothed swordsman with the bloody sword then flipped Lu Gaosheng's corpse over and carefully examined his neck...

A human skin mask was then ripped off.

The dead man was not Lu Gaosheng, nor the Prefect of Tian Ruo Prefecture, but an ordinary looking man.

Upon seeing this, the green-clothed swordsman did not seem surprised at all, instead looking as if everything was within his expectations.

The green-clothed swordsman muttered: "They predicted everything correctly at the Black Dragon Hall. My side has failed, so they should have succeeded over there."