By the time he returned to the ancestral home, it was already midnight. Ye Fan did not enter the ancestral home through the entrance. Presumably, everyone had already fallen asleep by now. He flew directly above the ancestral home and floated several dozen feet above the ground, slowly drifting towards the ancestral hall in the back garden.
When he floated above the courtyard, Ye Fan suddenly realized that there seemed to be people walking around in the courtyard. There seemed to be quite a number of people, at least a few dozen. With the war imminent, it should be the Ye Clan patrolling the night, Ye Fan thought. However, what puzzled him was that if they were patrolling at night, they should at least be holding torches. How were they going to patrol in such a dark place? Ye Fan felt that something was off. He felt that the footsteps of these people sounded especially heavy, like the sound of iron being forged.
Ye Fan slowly withdrew his Spirit Qi and floated onto the roof. He carefully observed the people in the courtyard and realized that there were about thirty of them. They were all masked and wearing copper armor. They were equipped with a complete set of weapons. There was a long saber at their waists, a spear in their hands, and a crossbow and a huge quiver on their backs. The quiver was filled with sharp arrows made of fine steel. What was even more terrifying was that these people's eyes were all flashing with a faint blue light. From afar, they looked like will-o '-the-wisps.
Who were these people? Why were they so strange? Their movements were uniform and well-trained. Could it be? Ye Fan suddenly remembered the rumor about the bronze men. He reached out and picked up an iron tile from the roof. Exerting strength in his hand, he threw the iron tile at one of the people. This iron tile was made from scrap iron sand and was extremely hard. If it hit a person's body, their bones and tendons would be broken. Coupled with Ye Fan's current cultivation, this iron tile flew towards one of the people like a meteor.
The iron tile arrived in the blink of an eye. When it was about five feet away from the back of the person's head, the person moved. If Ye Fan had not been mentally prepared, he would probably have fainted from fright. He saw the person's head turn 180 degrees. His eyes emitted a strange blue light. Then, his body turned around. At the same time, he pulled out a saber with one hand. A cold light flashed.
With a swoosh, the iron tile flying towards him was cut in two. Ye Fan had purposely slapped the iron tile in front of him. The tile was facing forward, and his strength was strong. After the iron tile was cut in half by the man, its strength did not diminish, and it still hit the man's body solidly. Logically speaking, if such a force hit a person, even if they didn't die, they would be severely injured. However, when the iron tile hit this person, it was smashed into pieces. That person didn't even sway.
"It really is a copper man!" Ye Fan exclaimed. The rumors were indeed true. It seemed like the Ye Family really had such a mechanical bronze statue!
Just as Ye Fan was amazed by the exquisite design of the bronze figures, he suddenly heard a sound of something breaking through the air. When Ye Fan looked closely, he cursed inwardly. He saw that the thirty-three bronze figures had unknowingly lined up in a row. The powerful crossbows on their bodies released tens of thousands of arrows at the same time. A rain of arrows covered the sky and covered the earth as they shot towards him.
Ye Fan didn't dare to be negligent. He quickly dodged the rain of arrows with his spiritual energy and soared into the air. He didn't expect that the bronze figures would still not let him go. They aimed their powerful crossbows at Ye Fan in the air again. For a moment, the sky was filled with arrows again. It seemed like they wouldn't give up until they shot Ye Fan to death. Ye Fan was helpless. He could only rely on his own speed to dodge these sharp arrows. Every time he dodged, the bronze figures would aim at Ye Fan and shoot again. This cycle repeated. Ye Fan had no other choice. For the time being, he could only use his cold energy to freeze these bronze figures. Thinking of this, Ye Fan pulled out the Snake Shadow Sword. He activated 20% of his cold energy and waved the sword. Before the rain of arrows fell, he used the cold energy to freeze the arrows in the air and the bronze figures on the ground. The rain of arrows in the air instantly lost its power and all of them fell to the ground with tinkling sounds. Looking at the bronze figures again, they were still in their shooting positions. Their bodies were covered in a thick layer of ice, and they could no longer move.
Ye Fan landed back on the ground and let out a long sigh of relief.
"I haven't seen you for a few days. Your cold energy has improved a lot." A person floated down from the courtyard with a long sword in his hand and said.
"Father!" Ye Fan shouted loudly. "Why are you here?" The person who came was Ye Kong.
"Hehe, the head of the family has already told me everything. I guessed that you would come back tonight, so I waited for you here. I didn't think that you would really come. "Ye Kong was naturally very happy to see his son return.
"Where's Grandfather? Where are the others? Are they all ready? "Ye Fan was worried about Ye Yun.
"Don't worry. Your grandfather is meditating. The others have already safely returned to their own homes." Ye Kong said.
"What? Returned home? " Ye Fan didn't understand. Since the Ye family was facing a great disaster, why didn't they mobilize the entire family to deal with it? Instead, they dispersed their forces.
"You don't understand. If there are too many people, there will be too many worries and we won't be able to move freely. Right now, there are only the three of us in the Ye family's ancestral residence, and these bronze figures that you have frozen. "Ye Kong said.
"Only the three of us?" Ye Fan's heart skipped a beat. He originally thought that the Ye family had many experts. Even if they couldn't invite the senior at the peak of the Eagle Sorrow Peak, the dozens of top experts in the Ye family should be able to turn the situation around. But now, there were only the three of them. They were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers against four strong enemies. One had to know that in a battle between experts, a small factor could determine the outcome, not to mention that there was an additional person on the other side.
"If it's a blessing, it's not a curse. If it's a curse, it can't be avoided. What will come will come. "Ye Kong said meaningfully. He had watched Ye Fan grow up, so he understood Ye Fan's thoughts the best. "I heard from your grandfather that the Sky Dragon of the ancestral hall told him in a dream that you were cultivating in the mountains with an expert and would be back in three days. I was worried that your cultivation wasn't enough, but now it seems that I was overthinking. I didn't expect you to be reborn in just three days. It's the family's honor. It seems that the Ye family will be able to survive this disaster. "
"Father, what's the deal with the Snake Shadow Sword and the Golden Ring Sword? And these bronze figures … "Ye Fan asked. Facing his father, Ye Fan didn't have the habit of beating around the bush.
"It's a long story. I can't explain it to you in a short time. Allow me to tell you slowly in the future. This isn't a good place to talk. Come with me to the back garden and see your grandfather first. " As Ye Kong spoke, he walked in front of the bronze men that were frozen by Ye Fan's cold air. He extended his hand and smashed the ice shell on top of the bronze men's heads. "Come and help me restore them to their original state."
"Restore them to their original state?" Ye Fan didn't understand. It wasn't easy for him to freeze these bronze figures. If they were restored to their original state, these bronze figures would definitely attack him again.
"Don't worry. With me here, they won't attack you." Ye Kong used some unknown method to open a cover on the back of a bronze figure's head. "Come and see."
Ye Fan walked to the front of the bronze man and discovered that the back of the bronze man's head, which had been opened, was filled with numerous mechanical springs and gears. It looked extremely intricate and complicated. However, at this time, it was no longer rotating. It was probably because it was frozen.
"The back of the bronze figure's head is the hub of the entire mechanism. Look." Ye Kong pointed to a bronze knob inside and said, "This is the switch to reactivate the bronze figure. Although the bronze figure is extremely strong, it also has an automatic protection device. Once it is forcibly restrained by the outside world, it will immediately resist. Even if it is trapped, the bronze figure will automatically stop all the mechanisms to prevent the gears from being damaged. Only when the outside world can no longer restrain them will they be reactivated. These bronze figures have three levels. The first level is the night patrol state, which is also the lowest combat state. In this state, the bronze figures will move together and line up in a long line to patrol the courtyard. Once they discover an intruder, as you just saw, they will attack together and try to maintain a distance from the intruder. They will use crossbows to shoot from afar. They won't stop until the intruder is eliminated or the intruder escapes from the courtyard. The second level is the attack state. "Ye Kong turned the knob halfway and heard a few creaking sounds. The spring gears in the back of the bronze figure's head started to rotate again. Fine cracks began to appear on the ice shell around the bronze man, emitting creaking sounds. Ye Kong pulled Ye Fan's hand and quickly retreated a few feet. Just as they left, they saw the bronze figure shatter the ice shell around it with a bang. The ice shards scattered all over the ground. After removing the shackles on its body, the bronze figure stood still again. Its head with a bronze helmet turned slowly on its shoulder and its blue eyes swept back and forth.
"In this state, the bronze figure is in attack mode and will automatically search for the enemy. Anyone who attacks their master or attacks them will become their target." Ye Kong said, "The bronze figure in attack mode is vicious and inhumane. Every attack will kill until the opponent loses the ability to fight."
"What?" Ye Fan exclaimed in shock. "I just attacked them. Don't tell me that he wants to kill me now?" Ye Fan said nervously when he saw the bronze man's head slowly turning towards him.
"You are safe now because I put something on you." Ye Kong smiled at Ye Fan.
"Something? What is it? "Ye Fan was puzzled.
"Hehe, it's this." Ye Kong said as he pointed at Ye Fan's waist. Ye Fan lowered his head and realized that there was a black object tied to his waist!
"This... What is this? " As Ye Fan spoke, he held the item in his hand and examined it repeatedly. He discovered that it was an irregular object that was black and shiny. It was about the size of an egg and there was a small hole on it. A five-colored string was strung through it. His father's movement technique was still so powerful. He didn't even notice when he tied this object to him.
"This is …?" Ye Fan asked. He didn't know what this black object was.
"This is a magnet." Ye Kong explained.
"Magnet? What does this have to do with the bronze figure? "Ye Fan was even more confused.
"This is the ingenuity of the bronze figure. Every bronze figure has a magnet that is exactly the same as the one in my hand. Their function is to distinguish between friend and foe. Because these magnets were all taken from a single piece of magnet, the magnetic force was exactly the same. Therefore, as long as one wore these magnets, it would resonate with the magnets in the copper men's bodies and would not be attacked by the copper men. Even if the bronze figure is cut into eight pieces, they will still be obedient. "Ye Kong said.
"These bronze figures are indeed mysterious." Ye Fan couldn't help but sigh. "I wonder which expert designed such an ingenious bronze figure?"
"I heard from your grandfather that these bronze figures were originally made by Zhuge Liang's father-in-law, Huang Chengyan, during the Three Kingdoms period. However, they were all wooden figures used to guard the house. Not only were there wooden figures, there were also wooden dogs, wooden birds, etc. Almost anything could be made. The objects created were extremely delicate and lifelike, almost as if they were alive. After Zhuge Liang married his daughter, this ingenious method of creation was naturally passed to his son-in-law. Zhuge Liang used this method of creation many times in his battle with Sima Yi. For example, the wooden ox, crossbow, and the fire dragon used to burn the rattan armor soldiers were all created by this ingenious method of creation. "Ye Kong explained.
"Then what happened? Who made these thirty-three bronze figures? "Ye Fan continued to ask as if he was intoxicated.
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