Diviner

At the mention of Qi, Zhang Yi assigned Zhang Jian a task.

He was to bring gifts and prepare to depart for the prefectural city.

In a month and a half, it would be the sixtieth birthday of his maternal grandfather, General Qi Yi, the Mighty Guardian.

Of course, sending Zhang Jian ahead also came with several tasks, one of which was bandit suppression.

Zhang Yi said, "A band of thieves called Swarm of Bees has long entrenched itself on Phoenix-Tail Mountain between Fengxi and Linyang. This is one of the two main routes that must be passed from Fengxi to Linyang. They frequently plunder merchant caravans here, harass the common people, and have committed countless acts of arson and murder. I had intended to free up my hands and wipe them out once Fengxi's situation had stabilized. Since you are heading to the prefectural city this time, you might as well lend your Fourth Uncle a hand. I will assign you five hundred soldiers; take the opportunity to eradicate them!"

"Five hundred soldiers?"

Zhang Jian blinked. He had wanted to say there was no need, but he quickly held himself back. He understood Zhang Yi's intentions. This was to let him lead troops and build prestige among the private soldiers and retainers.

As the future head of the family, how could he win over these martial men if he had never led troops?

Zhang Jian immediately agreed. With these private soldiers and retainers to assist him, many matters would become much easier.

Zhang Yi then mentioned another purpose. The second purpose was matchmaking—he was to meet several younger female cousins in advance and fulfill Qi's wishes, so that she would not keep dwelling on it.

Before setting out, however, Zhang Jian still followed the custom and found another funeral goods shop in an alley in West City, where he bought many gold ingots for the sacrifice.

After visiting several shops, Zhang Jian found that compared with Paper Figure Zhang, these funeral goods shops were clearly much more "perfunctory." It was not that their goods were inferior, but that they lacked "innovation."

Zhang Jian somewhat missed Paper Figure Zhang.

Unfortunately, Zhang's Paper Effigy Shop had already been reduced to scorched earth, Paper Figure Zhang had vanished, and even the land had now been temporarily repossessed by the authorities.

As basket after basket of cinnabar spirit notes and cinnabar ingots were set alight in the ancestral shrine and burned to ashes, Zhang Jian turned and left.

The next day, Zhang Jian led five hundred soldiers out. Zhang Kui and Jian Yao accompanied him.

The group headed straight for Phoenix-Tail Mountain at the edge of the Twin Phoenix Mountain Range.

At this time, there was an additional milky-white little orb deep within Zhang Jian's spiritual consciousness.

This was the treasure the "ancestor" had bestowed upon him last night.

To be precise, it looked more like a "toy"!

The Myriad Worlds Spirit Orb could strengthen the soul and understand the language of all things.

Zhang Jian found the thing somewhat useless.

He had once used the Myriad Worlds Spirit Orb to eavesdrop on the conversations of beasts, but most animals were ignorant and muddleheaded, possessing only instinct and no intelligence. It was of little use at all.

Still, with this thing on him, he would no longer have to worry about failing to understand foreign dialects...

At that thought, Zhang Jian's expression became somewhat strange.

Phoenix-Tail Mountain lay on the southwestern side of the Twin Phoenix Mountain Range, at the tail end of Male Phoenix Mountain. Its peaks rose one after another, its terrain treacherous—easy to defend and hard to attack.

It was also an excellent place to establish a mountain stronghold and evade the government's pursuit. Throughout history, refugees and bandits had fled into these mountains and brought disaster upon the two counties.

Yet because this place lay at the junction of the two counties, the counties had found it difficult to work together, and had never been able to eradicate the bandits here.

At that moment, a group of bandits in the mountain stronghold were noisily drinking. Long tables were piled with preserved fruit, fish and meat, mountain chickens, wild rabbits, and all sorts of game. The bandits were gulping down meat and wine, while many held women with numb expressions and disheveled clothes in their arms.

Then a hearty voice rang out from below. "Big Brother, we truly pulled off a fine job this time! Not only did we seize plenty of gold, silver, and valuables, we also got quite a few women. It is all thanks to Big Brother's brilliant leadership! Brothers, we must raise a bowl of wine to Big Brother!"

The speaker was an exceptionally tall, burly man, broad-backed and thick-waisted, with leopard eyes beneath his brows. He was Zhang Bao, the Third Chief of Swarm of Bees, and his martial prowess was second only to their leader, Song Heihu.

White-Faced Fox, the Second Chief, wore white robes and had a thin, gaunt frame. With a fawning smile on his face, he rose to his feet.

"Big Brother was born extraordinary and carries grand ambitions. What we have now is nothing! The good days have only just begun. Once Big Brother unites the other refugees of the Twin Phoenix Mountains, perhaps we can even take over the nearby county towns. The gold, silver, valuables, and beautiful women of those great households—that is the true prize!"

From the tiger-skin grand chair, Song Heihu swept his gaze across the vicious bandits and burst into laughter. "Rest easy, everyone. Once I finish sweeping through the Twin Phoenix Mountain Range and free up my hands, what lies before us now will be nothing at all. Your good days are yet to come!"

Roused by Song Heihu's words, the bandits' eyes burned with greed and desire. Quite a few directly tore open the clothes of the young women beside them.

Song Heihu saw this and took no offense. Instead, a look of pleasure appeared in his eyes.

Just then, a gust of cold wind swept through, making the torches in the hall flicker and dim.

Song Heihu's expression changed. He abruptly rose to his feet, only to hear shrieks erupting one after another outside the hall.

Seeing this terrifying scene, the others were at a loss, trembling in fear.

Then, a figure holding a cloth banner slowly walked in from outside. An invisible aura of blood swirled around him. Yet the bandits' faces changed drastically as they stared behind him, where two green-faced, fanged figures stood hopping up and down.

Several large words were written upon the cloth banner.

Able to know fortune and misfortune, determine success and failure, prosperity and decline!

The figure holding the banner opened his mouth, revealing two fangs. His gaze swept across the crowd, and the faces of the bandits below stiffened one by one, none daring to move. At last, his eyes settled on the figure seated in the tiger-skin grand chair. He gave a hoarse laugh. "You are Song Heihu?"

"And you are?"

Faced with such a situation, Song Heihu felt his courage falter. All his boldness and lofty spirit vanished without a sound, and veins bulged on the hand gripping his weapon.

The black-clad diviner laughed. "Stronghold Master Song, I see Baleful Intent between your brows today, dark clouds over your head. Your fortune bears the sign of extreme misfortune and an early death. I have a word of good advice for you. Will you listen?"

The other bandits exchanged glances and all looked toward Song Heihu. His face darkened, but when he saw the two monsters behind the black-clad diviner open their blood-red mouths, he hurriedly said, "I will listen, I will listen!"

"A smart man."

The black-clad diviner nodded.

Though he had merely dipped his head, his figure flashed forward, as though bursting directly before Song Heihu. Like thunder and lightning, one hand clamped around Song Heihu's throat. His strength was immense; Song Heihu could not break free even in his horror, and could only watch helplessly as the black-clad diviner pulled a centipede from his sleeve and stuffed it into his mouth.

Meanwhile, on the official road through Twin Phoenix Mountain, Zhang Jian's group was also marching at speed. After a period of adjustment, coupled with Zhang Kui's deliberate guidance, Zhang Jian quickly came to understand some of the finer points of commanding troops.

It had to be said that having elders in the family could indeed spare one many unnecessary detours.

But just as they reached Phoenix-Tail Mountain, Zhang Jian suddenly reined in his horse and lifted his gaze overhead. Zhang Kui and Jian Yao looked up as well, only to see two goshawks flying through the sky. Nothing seemed amiss.

Yet through the Myriad Worlds Spirit Orb within him, Zhang Jian heard a different message.

"Terrifying, terrifying! Leave quickly!"