Early winter had come, and the north wind rose again. Temperatures began to fall across Hebei and Henan, and some small rivers began to freeze.
According to legend, all this was the work of the Wind-Swallowing Lord, the foremost True Dragon under Lord Black Emperor. He answered calls to service but not summons to court, held the entire Daxing Mountain Range as his fief, and could openly reveal his true form and power. This was because he had a special duty: every winter, he had to drive the cold winds of Daxing Mountain across the world, allowing the four seasons to turn.
Some even said that the Ice True Qi widespread in the Northern Lands originated with him. He always swallowed too much cold wind, which then became Ice True Qi inside him, and used this to regulate the winter's cold and warmth.
Otherwise, even Jiangnan would freeze over.
But Zhang Xing now knew that the truth might not be like that.
Though it might not be otherwise, either.
Amid the north wind, Chief Zhang began his third northward journey of the year. This departure could not compare in grandeur with the first two; Yuchi Rong led only a hundred or so riders... Grandmaster Lai Zhan'er had not come. His passion and blood had been buried in Cao Che's era. Perhaps he might cultivate some vigor again someday, but that was a matter for the future.
External Affairs General Manager Xie Minghe had not accompanied them either. He had departed directly from the Wo River for Nanyang and would then travel to the Eastern Capital, because the Exorcising the Dragon Gang-or rather, the newly established Great Ming-needed to discuss renewing its agreement with Great Wei. Although a year and a half remained of their three-year nonaggression agreement, surely they could