Gu Lan quickly arrived in front of the iron ring stone wall.
The stone wall was covered with palm-sized iron rings, each only as thick as an index finger, and the parts used for wall connection could sway up and down.
Grabbing the first one, Gu Lan determined the load-bearing capacity of the iron ring. These rings could naturally be used for climbing, but stepping on them would cause them to bend.
So, this wall required precise control of foot force and arm strength, further testing the soldiers’ balance abilities.
She looked up and saw that there were five more such short walls ahead, evidently a test of endurance.
Chen Da had already taken the lead and climbed up.
His tall and robust build made climbing this wall particularly strenuous, and as soon as he was on, he missed his footing and fell.
Luckily, Chen Da was experienced in this, and when he fell, he adjusted his position and landed on his backside without injury.
He stood up rubbing his buttocks, thinking that even after crossing this wall a hundred tis, it’s still challenging to go quickly. He didn’t believe that Gu Lan and Rong Heng could surpass him!
Those pearls and gold could only be his!
With this thought, Chen Da adjusted himself and quickly climbed to the wall top, proudly looking down.
Young Master Gu and Fifth Prince Rong were probably still lingering on the ground, pondering how to climb.
The next mont, his eyes widened.
On the ground, the two were nowhere to be seen.
Could it be that they were so afraid they gave up voluntarily?
Chen Da looked again and saw his own prince staring coldly at him, Tang Zhan shouting, "Aren’t you embarrassed? Hurry up and run!"
Chen Da’s eyes shifted, only to see Gu Lan and Rong Heng already atop the third wall, sitting back to back and resting.
Seeing his gaze, Young Master Gu waved cheerfully at him, "Does your butt hurt?" Perhaps she should let Wei Chengyuan share so insights on falling on your butt.
Chen Da:...
When did they climb over! How did they do it so fast!?
Chen Da gritted his teeth, comforting himself that these two are surely more nimble due to their smaller stature, but as they progressed further, they would undoubtedly exhaust their energy, while he would beco the most enduring.
After climbing six iron ring stone walls, Gu Lan approached the cloud ladder, looked up, and saw a few narrow and sturdy cloud ladder vehicles lined up together.
Climbing the cloud ladder, this purely tested the soldiers’ basic skills in siege warfare.
During a real siege, soldiers couldn’t just climb up with one breath. They would face rolling stones and hot oil, along with countless logs and stray arrows on their way up.
"Brother Hang, I’m going first."
Gu Lan smiled at Rong Heng and then climbed up first. She was very fast just now, and now her cheeks were flushed, her hair fluttered, with a touch of charming disarray.
Whereas Rong Heng wiped his sweat; his fair and handso face showing no change, not even a wrinkle in his clothing.
But he was just very slow... very slow...
He was just a man with great stamina but no martial arts...
So, he could climb the cloud ladder very slowly...
Is this the benefit of pretending to be powerless? Gu Lan mused in her heart, quickly clambered halfway up, only to find dirt starting to fall around her.
What kind of lousy chanism did Prince Rui set up? Instead of hot oil, dirt falls? Skimping on materials?
"Ugh, ugh, ugh—!" The yellow dust stained her snow-white robe, and chunks of dirt scraped past her face, making Gu Lan extrely uncomfortable, wanting to change clothes right there.
anwhile, Rong Heng, climbing so slowly, the cloud ladder might not even sense his presence, thus nothing fell over there.
After climbing for a long while, Gu Lan realized the wood of the cloud ladder was incredibly rough.
Although she seed to climb effortlessly, her originally fair and slender fingers had been scraped by the sharp wood grain, little wounds trickling so blood that stained the wood, which absorbed it.
The originally yellow cloud ladder wood now had a faint tinge of blood.
No wonder she slled a trace of blood on this ladder.
Just thinking about how this ladder had been stained by countless people’s blood, and now their blood was rging with hers made her feel uncomfortable.
She hated blood.
Gu Lan frowned, sped up abruptly, and moved effortlessly atop the cloud ladder, letting dust fall on her.
The training ground was indeed well-built, a harsh exercise for ordinary soldiers, but in her eyes as an assassin, it was a place to relax and stimulate her mood like a playground.
However, she didn’t like a dirty playground.
So she should hurry and finish it.
After passing the cloud ladder, Gu Lan looked back and saw Rong Heng still climbing leisurely while Chen Da had been left far behind by the two.
She saw Rong Heng’s calm and composed expression, and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
She had undergone training a thousand tis more brutal than this, yet completed it so simply. What about Rong Heng?
Where did his dical skills co from, where did his martial arts co from, where did his familiarity with this place co from, and his restraint towards won—was it taphysical or for another reason... Gu Lan suddenly beca curious about Rong Heng.
Beyond the Cloud Ladder was a mud pit.
It wasn’t just any mud pit; it was one with wooden swords and knives hanging overhead.
The blades were sared with cinnabar, and if you couldn’t help but raise your head or lift your hips and touched them, it ant you were "injured."
Gu Lan rembered Tang Zhan’s words, thinking that the original training ground in Yinzhou probably didn’t have wooden swords and knives but real steel blades and axes.
Gu Lan let herself go, and after crawling out of the mud pit, she directly threw off her outer robe.
Rong Heng unknowingly caught up, took off his mud-stained outerwear just like her, then carefully folded it and placed it on the ground.
This clothing was a gift from Gu Lan.
Rong Heng glanced at Gu Lan inadvertently, then furrowed his brows tightly.
"Why aren’t the two of them moving?"
The soldiers watching from afar hurriedly asked.
"Yeah, why does Fifth Young Master Rong look so serious?"
Tang Zhan snorted lightly and knowingly replied, "Of course, it’s to rest for a mont. They walked half the way in one breath; even an iron man would collapse. Gu Lan must be exhausted."
"Gu Lan... what exactly were you thinking just now?" Rong Heng thought for a mont and couldn’t help but ask, shifting his puzzling gaze away from her.
Gu Lan didn’t know what Rong Heng had seen and followed his gaze to look at herself.
Then, she saw her hem. Uh, she had been disguised as a man in the mud for too long, and her belt had shifted.
"Hehe, haha, hehe, I, I wasn’t looking at you... anyway, I wasn’t looking at you." Gu Lan stuttered in response.
She first cleaned her muddy hands, then scratched her head, revealing a mysterious smile: "Brother Hang, it’s an accident; it’s its own issue, nothing to do with personally."
"If you weren’t thinking sothing, why would it be like this?" Rong Heng asked coldly, only the flushed ear tips betraying his unsettled heart.
Gu Lan, unfazed, pulled up her trousers, then turned around to fix the belt.
After adjusting, she secretly touched her fake Adam’s apple, finding it still securely in place.
She blinked, pointed at herself, her eyes clear and bright, "See! It was really just an accident."
Rong Heng: "I’m not looking."
Would Gu Lan take the wrong dicine out of inferiority?
Rong Heng fell into deep self-doubt.
Gu Lan gave up explaining, felt quietly, and realized the belt was a bit loose.
To prevent any more outrageous accidents, she stopped bothering with Rong Heng, gently shook the hair scattered around her cheeks, narrowed her eyes, and dashed out like an arrow leaving the string.
The onlookers turned to Tang Zhan, "Is this what you an by exhausted and resting?"
Under the shocked gaze of everyone in the camp, Gu Lan was already spinning and stepping on the swaying, slender iron cords.
Her eyes were as clear as water, yet as calm as if mixed with ice and snow, her figure swift as a gale.
Rong Heng ca to his senses, saw Gu Lan advance on the iron cords, and rushed up himself.
The moon-white long robe fluttered recklessly in the wind, against the cold wind and the setting sun, as if dyed with a hint of golden cape at the end, it quickly caught up with Gu Lan.
"Release the arrows!"
Tang Zhan, unconvinced, ordered the ready archers to fire.
The arrowheads of these arrows were flat wood, like the wooden swords and knives before, tips marked with cinnabar, leaving a red mark when touched.
But the wooden arrows carried montum, and getting hit wouldn’t leave one unscathed.
Tang Zhan had already planned that when Gu Lan got injured and begged for rcy, he would stop the arrows and humiliate her.
However, he didn’t wait for them to get hurt.
The two swiftly traversed the sky filled with arrows, bodies soaring like free-flying cranes, not minding the swaying iron cords beneath, making Rong Shuo wonder if his iron cables had broken and beco sturdy.
After a while, Chen Da arrived, and when he stepped on the cords, he was shaken off, confirming that it wasn’t his setup that was faulty but rather that Fifth Prince Rong and Young Brother Gu were crazy!
Is this the world of geniuses?
Finally, Gu Lan completed the Iron Lock Formation, her white garnt spotless, without a single red mark.
Rong Heng intentionally let a few arrows hit him, his robe stained with little spots of vermilion.
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