Time Travel: The Survival of Li Zhi

Chapter 440 Zhengwang City

Under the guidance of Zhuang Zheng, Li Zhi and his party traveled non-stop and soon arrived at Zhengwang City.

However, just as they were about to enter the city, they were rudely stopped by the guards.

A guard with an extremely arrogant look, his nose in the air, looked down at Li Zhi and his group, and shouted in a rude and unceremonious tone: "All of you stop right there! You are not allowed to enter the city!"

When Zhuang Zheng heard this, his originally calm face instantly frowned, and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes.

He strode forward, approached the guard, and shouted sternly, "I am an official from the Ministry of Rites, ordered to lead envoys from a vassal state to the capital, Luoyang. Why are you stopping us?"

When the guard heard Zhuang Zheng introduce himself, his arrogant expression instantly changed, his attitude undergoing a complete about-face, a fawning expression on his face. He quickly bowed respectfully to Zhuang Zheng and explained, "Since Master Zhuang wishes to enter the city, I dare not stop him. However, as vassal statesmen, we have been ordered not to enter."

When Zhuang Zheng heard this, he suddenly felt a surge of anger in his heart.

A small guard at the gate had actually dared to openly disobey his orders, which made him feel completely humiliated. In a rage, he slapped the guard hard in the face.

There was a crisp "pop" sound, which was particularly harsh at the city gate.

This slap instantly ignited the tense atmosphere around them, and the other guards immediately surrounded them upon seeing this.

But due to Zhuang Zheng's official status, although they were angry, they did not dare to act rashly. They just stood there and glared at him.

The guard who was beaten felt a burning pain on his face and was filled with anger, but he dared not vent his anger. He could only lower his head and explain in a frustrated tone, "Master Zhuang, it's no use getting angry at me! This is a death order from the higher-ups..."

Zhuang Zheng's eyes flashed, and he thought to himself.

Zhengwang City is the Xu family's sphere of influence. Could it be that the Xu family is behind this obstruction?

He knew that although these lower-ranking guards feared his authority, it was the orders from above that they truly dared not disobey. To resolve this matter, he had to go into the city to find the Xu family and have them issue the order to release them.

After figuring this out, Zhuang Zheng turned around and said to Li Zhi with a slightly apologetic look, "Wait here for a moment. I'll go into the city and find someone to clear the blockage."

After saying that, he pushed away the guards surrounding him and strode into Zhengwang City.

As soon as Zhuang Zheng left, the guards at the gate suddenly lost their scruples. They stared at Li Zhi and the others with unfriendly eyes and malicious smiles on their faces, as if they were looking at a group of lambs to be slaughtered.

Li Zhi did not expect that even with the accompaniment of Zhuang Zheng, an official from the Ministry of Rites, they would still be subjected to such difficulties. He could not help feeling helpless and shook his head secretly.

However, Li Zhi is not someone who is willing to sit and wait for death.

As early as when he was in Wukou City, he had deeply realized that in a country with a strict hierarchy like the Wei Dynasty, people from vassal states could only gain respect through their own strength.

Li Zhi raised his head slightly, his eyes sweeping over the playful faces of the guards at the gate. He then looked at Captain Yang and said in a low voice, "Captain Yang, in your opinion, if we take advantage of their unpreparedness, can we break through their defenses and force our way into the city?"

Upon hearing this, Captain Yang looked at the guards carefully with a serious expression.

There were only more than 20 guards on duty at the city gate. If we ignore the enemy's subsequent reinforcements, with their current combat effectiveness, Captain Yang was fully confident that they could break through the defense line with just one swift charge.

So, he nodded firmly to Li Zhi and said concisely: "Breaking into the city is not difficult."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhi clapped his hands in satisfaction, a hint of determination flashed in his eyes, and he said, "Okay, I'll pretend to negotiate with you later. When you see me take action, you immediately charge and force your way in. Since they won't let us in, then we'll fight our way in ourselves!"

After hearing what Li Zhi said, Duan Heng and others became excited and eager to fight. They were ready to fight a big battle.

Li Zhi took a deep breath, trying to calm his inner emotions, and suppressed the cold murderous intent that had just been inadvertently revealed. He put on a smiling face and slowly walked towards the guards.

When the guard saw Li Zhi coming towards them, he immediately yelled at him viciously, "Didn't I tell you not to enter the city? Get out of here right now!"

Li Zhi's smile remained unchanged. As he walked, he said, "Big Brother, please be kind and be flexible and let us in."

As he spoke, he took out a golden ingot from his pocket and waved it in front of the guards.

When the guard saw the gold in Li Zhi's hand, his eyes widened instantly, and a greedy look appeared on his face. He swallowed his saliva and said, "It's not impossible for us to let you in. However, Master Zhuang slapped me just now because of you. This debt must be counted on you. You have to compensate me..."

Li Zhi still smiled and said: "Okay, okay..."

As he spoke, he slowly raised the gold in his hand and pretended to hand it to the guard.

The guard and the other guards were all staring at the gold in Li Zhi's hand, their eyes full of greed. They didn't notice that Duan Heng and others behind Li Zhi had quietly approached and were only a dozen steps away from them.

Just as the guard reached out to take the gold from Li Zhi's hand, Li Zhi's eyes suddenly became stern, and his right hand, which was pressing on the hilt of the sword, moved violently.

In an instant, a black cold light flashed, and with a "puff", bright red blood shot up into the sky like a fountain.

The guard screamed, covered his broken arm wound, and fell backwards heavily.

At the same time, Duan Heng, Yang Baihu and others who followed closely behind Li Zhi rushed towards the more than 20 guards at the city gate like tigers descending from the mountains.

These guards were not elite troops to begin with. Facing Li Zhi and his group of well-trained and aggressive people, they had no power to fight back at all. They were beaten to a pulp in an instant and fell to the ground one after another.

The intense commotion at the city gate quickly attracted the attention of the guards on the city wall.

A guard leader, with a furious face, rushed down with more than a hundred guards.

However, before he could run to Li Zhi and the others, he saw Li Zhi throwing something at him.

The guard leader subconsciously tried to dodge, but heard Li Zhi shout, "If you don't catch it and it falls to the ground, you'll be in big trouble!"

The inmate's heart shuddered for no apparent reason. With his sharp eyes, he noticed that the object seemed to be a token. Not wanting to be careless, he quickly reached out and firmly caught the token.

As soon as he got the token, he took a quick look at it and was so frightened that his face turned pale and he almost lost his soul.

It turns out that this is Xiahou Shan’s token!

He knew very well the weight of the token. If he really let it fall to the ground, he would be committing a serious crime of disrespect. He might even offend the Xiahou family. The consequences would be unimaginable.

He secretly thanked himself for listening to Li Zhi and taking the token.

Thinking about these things, he did not stop and walked straight to Li Zhi and others. The guards behind him were rubbing their hands, eager to fight, just waiting for his order to attack Li Zhi and others.

At this time, Li Zhi slowly extended his hand and said to the person in charge: "You have seen the token, so you can return it to me now."

When the person in charge heard this, he suddenly came to his senses, and hurriedly held the token in both hands and handed it to Li Zhi respectfully.

Although he was puzzled as to why Li Zhi had Xiahou Shan's token, he understood that since the token was in Li Zhi's hands, it represented Xiahou Shan's intention.

He didn't want to offend this powerful and promising general because of this matter.

So, he quickly made up his mind and decided to stay out of this matter and not get involved in Li Zhi and his group. He forced a smile on his face and said to Li Zhi, "If your Excellency has nothing else to do, please go into the city quickly and don't block others' way."

Li Zhi glanced around at the stunned guards.

He smiled, said nothing more, waved to Duan Heng and the others, and said loudly: "Let's go! Let's go into the city!"

After that, the group walked into Zhengwang City with their heads held high and chests puffed out.