The heavily guarded palace, with a thousand troops defending it, could indeed be described as an impregnable fortress. Given its early preparations, the possibility of infiltrating it seed very slim. Luo Zheng had almost given up hope, but unexpectedly, Hei Shi had a plan, which brought a thrill of surprise to him. He looked at Hei Shi with newfound expectation. Knowing the gravity of the situation, Hei Shi dared not speak carelessly and organized his thoughts before explaining, "I attended school in this city. A classmate of mine is from the Imperial Family, and I once heard him casually ntion a way to enter the palace. However, it's only a way in; I've never actually walked it, so I'm not sure."
"What way?" He Guozhu asked eagerly.
"There's a wall behind the palace kitchen, and outside that wall is a tree. You can climb it to get over the tall courtyard wall. There's a street next to the tree, and he said that as a child, he would often climb out to play. It's hard to say if it'll work," Hei Shi added.
"It's worth a try." Upon hearing this thod, although not perfect, Luo Zheng considered it better than nothing and said, "The five of us will go in. Hei Shi, you stay outside and be ready to pick us up. Any problems with that?"
"No problem," Hei Shi replied without hesitation.
"Do we need additional manpower?" He Guozhu asked from the side.
Luo Zheng pondered a mont and said, "Not for now. Have everyone on standby; I'll notify you ahead of ti if needed. Switch to the ninja clothes and let's move out now."
Everyone agreed and stood up, taking ninja clothes from their backpacks. They removed their outer garnts and put the ninja clothes on close to their bodies, then put their coats back on. Luo Zheng glanced at the backpack and said, "There are weapons inside. They can't be shown. How do we store them?"
"Hold on," He Guozhu replied, going to the desk and turning the pen holder three tis. The tiles on the floor automatically slid open, revealing a hole over a ter deep and about a ter wide. Everyone smiled knowingly and threw all their backpacks down into it. He Guozhu rotated the pen holder again, and the floor sealed seamlessly with no trace.
"This chanism is quite clever," Luo Zheng remarked with a nod of approval.
"It was specially installed by the authorities back ho as a precaution," He Guozhu said with a laugh. "What should I do?"
"Your task is to organize the intelligence personnel and be ready to act at any mont. Wait here for our news for now, and take us down," Luo Zheng said seriously, looking at Hei Shi.
Hei Shi nodded, and everyone grabbed their Dragon Tooth Long Swords and headed out. Since they were posing as ninjas, swords were a must. They went down to the underground garage, boarded a van, and, with Hei Shi at the wheel, quickly exited the underground garage onto the main road, heading in the direction of the palace.
Soon, the van turned into an alley, drove a short distance, and stopped at a corner. Hei Shi pointed ahead and said, "There it is."
Everyone leaned forward to look, and sure enough, there was a tall enclosing wall covered in climbing plants. A large Bodhi Tree with a massive canopy ford a natural do. Due to the sacred status of Bodhi Trees among followers of Yin Country's faith, the governnt had implented the strictest security asures, including fencing for isolation. Gathering leaves, cutting branches, and planting them elsewhere were strictly prohibited, which might explain why this potentially hazardous tree still existed.
Luo Zheng didn't know why the Yin Country Palace kept such a potentially dangerous tree, or even recognize it as a Bodhi Tree. He looked at the lush canopy and the tangled tree trunk, over twenty ters high and more than two ters in diater at its widest, and couldn't help but smile. After cautiously observing for a few monts and ensuring there was no danger, he whispered, "Put on the earphones. I'll go up first; you guys wait for orders. Hei Shi, you're on standby and keep an eye on the car."
"Yes," everyone quickly agreed.
Luo Zheng took off his coat, revealing the ninja clothes underneath. He put on a hood; the Tiger Teeth combat knife was left in the forest to help Ghost Hand clear mines. He had a pistol strapped to his thigh, a bullet pouch around his waist. After opening the car door and observing his surroundings to make sure there were no caras, he swiftly got out, blending his body into the shadow of the wall, and quickly ran along the wall like a ghost in the night.
Before long, Luo Zheng reached the tree, carefully observing it for any surveillance devices. Finding none, he strapped the Dragon Tooth on his back, quickly climbed up the Bodhi Tree, and soon reached its top to blend in and keenly observe the palace.
From his vantage point, he had a clear view. The palace consisted of layers upon layers of buildings, brightly lit under the night sky, with lush green trees lining the paths. Ard soldiers, holding rifles, patrolled everywhere, so leading guard dogs. Descending would easily lead to exposure, which made his face tense. Lowering his voice, he said, "Can't go down now. A patrol seems to be coming. You guys should drive away now to avoid suspicion. Co back in half an hour to pick up, I'll stay to observe."
"Be careful," Lan Xue warned with concern but still gestured for Hei Shi to drive away.
Luo Zheng quietly hid among the branches, watching. Shortly, a patrol team of about thirty n passed by beneath the city wall, their footsteps neat and unified, expressions stern. Their well-equipped presence sent a chill down one's spine, clearly indicating they weren't ordinary guards. Luo Zheng was shocked, holding his breath as the patrol departed, then heaved a sigh of relief as he relaxed his body.
The guard's strength exceeded Luo Zheng's expectations. Not only were there periter patrols, but the interior patrol frequency was high. Teams of ten were present in almost every visible corner. On top of that, the keen sense of guard dogs made descending risky. What to do? Luo Zheng concentrated on observing the palace, deep in thought.
After watching for a while, Luo Zheng noticed that several patrol teams rotated their posts not simultaneously but in staggered shifts. New teams didn't take the previous patrol routes but chose new ones, greatly enhancing patrol flexibility, leaving no room for loopholes to exploit.
Vaguely, Luo Zheng felt that dark posts might be hidden in the high points of the palace. Connecting these points revealed a triangular layout, aning the entire palace had no blind spots, all monitored by the dark sentinels. Without the cover of the dense tree crown, he would easily be exposed.
"A very clever setup," Luo Zheng thought to himself. With over a hundred patrolling n, periter coverage and irregular patrol routes, combined with dark posts, this defense made penetration impossible. More importantly, the target's location was unknown, and proceeding without direction was suicide.
As he continued to observe, Luo Zheng saw another patrol approach the city wall from the opposite direction, startling him enough to quickly hide. Within less than five minutes, the patrol passed under the Bodhi Tree twice. Inside the wall, another patrol team approached the tree, shining bright flashlights to illuminate the surroundings.
"What?" Luo Zheng beca tense. The exterior patrol ti intervals were less than five minutes, and the interior patrol routes were highly flexible, intersecting each other, making for tight defense. The enemy seed prepared to use a strict defensive stance to ensure the palace stayed secure. It didn't take long for him to realize they would likely intensify search efforts on the periters. This realization brought a strong sense of crisis swelling within Luo Zheng.
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