Settling Things Once and For All

Li Yan sat in his chair, utterly clueless for a time. One moment he was thinking about how to escape, the next he was thinking about his parents and siblings back home. After a long while, Li Yan suddenly stood up, his face slightly contorted, and muttered to himself, "Even if I were to escape, there's no guarantee my family would be better off in the end. Maybe I would just bring disaster upon them because of myself. If that's the case, why should I bother trying to find a way to escape? I might as well settle things with him once and for all."

After a while, Li Yan's expression slowly calmed down and gradually returned to normal. Then, he sat down again and began to think carefully.

In a deep forest millions of miles away from Green Mountain Pass, mountain peaks pierced the clouds. On a huge platform, a magnificent palace disappeared into the depths of the white clouds. Inside the palace, an old man with a hawk-like face wearing a dark green robe was reporting the situation to the Blue-Robed Scholar.

"Peak Lord, today a message was sent back by the enforcement disciples. After searching for some time, they have obtained some clues."

"Oh? Tell me about it," the Blue-Robed Scholar said faintly, currently sitting in a huge chair carved with ferocious beasts, looking at the hawk-like old man.

"They investigated the area near where the traitor died. There are no mortal towns within tens of thousands of miles, but there are some Rogue Cultivators active in this area. After eliminating a few Rogue Cultivators who didn't know what was good for them, someone reported that people from the Seeker Lineage had appeared there six or seven years ago. This person was gathering herbs for a period of time. After some investigation, it was found that he was looking for some herbs from our sect's introductory body-tempering chapter."

"In that case, it's possible that this person is the one who took the items from the traitor's body," the Blue-Robed Scholar said, tapping the armrest rhythmically with his slender fingers.

Black Qi surged around the hawk-like old man, and he replied in a harsh voice, "It can basically be confirmed without a doubt. The people of this Seeker Lineage have always been searching for opportunities everywhere. Once they obtain an Immortal Technique, they won't care about anything and will usually cultivate it themselves. However, the message also said that no one has seen this person in that area in recent years. He must have found a place to cultivate. If we find this person, we will make him suffer the pain of the Soul-Entangling Silk Worms."

"Then, what will you do next?"

"Peak Lord, I have ordered them to spread out, expand the search area, and investigate in several directions. I expect news will be returned soon."

In the days that followed, Li Yan cultivated diligently behind closed doors every day. It was as if after his trip to the city last time, his state of mind had become much more stable. His aura had increased somewhat after these few days of cultivation. Although the increase was extremely small, it caused the Divine Sense that probed him once a day to tremble slightly.

However, as Li Yan cultivated diligently day after day, after more than ten days, he began to become irritable again. He had to stop cultivating after half a day, and sometimes he would soak in the pool for half a day. Although this place was located in the southwest, even in winter the temperature would not be very low, but soaking in the cold, surging pool in this late autumn was not something ordinary people could endure. Sometimes he would close the door and scribble wildly in the house, scattering paper and ink all over the room.

Chen An and Li Yin also stayed far away at this time, not knowing when Li Yan would call them to his presence and give them an innocent scolding.

But fortunately, Li Yan's temper would improve a lot after soaking in the cold pool or scribbling wildly in the house for half a day. Otherwise, they would have to be called into the valley and scolded at any time of the day.

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br>  Cultivation passed day by day in this way. In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed. During this time, Li Yan went out to the city twice again. Military Advisor Ji did not come out of seclusion, and Chen An and Li Yin accompanied him into the city. Each time he returned, Li Yan would buy some new clothes, belts, boots, and so on. Military Advisor Ji would still scan him with his Divine Sense, but he found that they were all ordinary items, so he didn't care much.

Strangely enough, Li Yan's mood would be good every time he returned from the city, and in the following days of cultivation, his realm would always increase somewhat. This made Military Advisor Ji's wisp of Divine Sense scan him less and less.

On this day, Li Yan summoned Chen An and Li Yin again, saying that he wanted to go to the city. The two of them carefully agreed, and then led their horses and accompanied him out.

The three of them quickly arrived at the gate of North City. Today, the person on duty at the city gate was not Liu Chengyong, but a team leader from Zhan Bing Battalion leading his men. The North City gate was guarded by small teams from Zhan Bing Battalion in rotation, while the South Gate was guarded by small teams from Zhan Yi Battalion in rotation. The patrols on the city walls were carried out by small teams from Zhan Jia Battalion in rotation. After coming to the city twice before, Li Yan had also looked for Liu Shouyong and invited him and his brothers to a meal at Natural Wine House, which made their relationship much closer. This made the people of other teams in Zhan Bing Battalion very envious. Now, Li Yan was considered a semi-familiar face in Zhan Bing Battalion. There were still many people from other teams who knew or had heard of this "Lord Li".

They arrived at the city gate. The team leader on duty was the team leader of the first team of Zhan Bing Battalion, around thirty years old, of medium height, and with a sturdy build. His name was Zeng Wen. He had also seen from afar this "Lord Li" who had recently been used as a topic of conversation by Liu Chengyong and the others in Zhan Bing Battalion after tea and meals.

"Yo, Lord Li, are you entering the city to do business today?" Zeng Wen recognized Chen An and Li Yin. He had heard more than once that these two accompanied Li Yan on his travels. Moreover, he had also met Li Yan before.

"Oh, Team Leader Zeng is on duty. Where is Team Leader Liu now?" Li Yan's memory was really good. Especially after cultivating the Immortal Technique, it could be said that he had a photographic memory. He had seen this person from afar in the military camp last time, and Liu Chengyong had casually greeted him at the time, so he remembered it. He didn't say much and went straight to the point.

Seeing that Li Yan could call out his name in one breath, Zeng Wen was also happy in his heart. "Team Leader Liu is resting today and should be in the military camp."

"That's good, I'll go find him now." Li Yan smiled at him, pulled the reins, and walked towards the city. Chen An and Li Yin also cupped their fists at Zeng Wen and followed Li Yan away.

"Team Leader, Liu Chengyong has been in the limelight recently. He often boasts about Lord Li inviting their team to drink before the brothers of other teams. Even the simpletons under him are excited when they talk about it, as if they just got laid." At this time, a soldier behind Zeng Wen said sourly.

"These bastards really don't know how good they have it. Next time we meet Lord Li, everyone should be more respectful. Maybe it'll pay off. Besides, Liu Chengyong asked us to let him know if we saw Lord Li entering the city, said he'd give us a little something. But, I'm not telling him. What's he going to give us? He just wants a chance to get closer to him. I'm not giving him that chance, hehe." Zeng Wen said slyly to the soldiers around him, causing a burst of playful laughter from the followers.

Li Yan, of course, didn't know about this. After the three of them entered the city, they rode their horses straight towards the direction of the Military Training Grounds. The military camp was located next to the Military Training Grounds. He had gone to the military camp to find Liu Chengyong last time, so he was familiar with the road. They rode slowly in the city, as galloping was not allowed. Li Yan sat on the horse with his eyes slightly narrowed, looking somewhat arrogant. Chen An and Li Yin retreated half a horse's length and followed on both sides, not daring to say much.

At this time, Li Yan was thinking about things in his heart. Since returning from the city for the first time, he had entered the city twice more. Chen An and Li Yin were really following him closely. Even when he asked Liu Chengyong to drink last time, and deliberately asked him to bring all the soldiers of his team, opening several tables, these two were sitting beside him and would not leave. Fortunately, he finally took advantage of his drunkenness and went to the latrine with Liu Chengyong to leave for a while. These two still wanted to follow, but he kicked them in place, drunk, and they didn't dare to move. Only then did he have the opportunity to inquire about Liu Chengyong's affairs, allowing him to basically determine that Liu Chengyong should be Marshal Hong's man. Although he also admired Military Advisor Ji very much, his loyalty should undoubtedly be to Marshal Hong.

The purpose of his entry into the city this time was to see if Liu Chengyong had any intentions recently. According to Dong Fuyi, Marshal Hong really wanted to obtain Military Advisor Ji's "Martial Arts Manual". This was very certain. He had begun to contact Liu Chengyong these two times, first to determine who he was loyal to and whether he could be used as a medium; second, to give Marshal Hong a signal that he had the opportunity to contact him.

But at this moment, he was still feeling uneasy. These were all his plans, his speculations. Whether the facts were true or not was still uncertain. If after this contact, Liu Chengyong still had no reaction on his next entry into the city, then he would have to find another way.

He had not thought about other methods in recent times, but after considering them, he still felt that Dong Fuyi was right. Only by borrowing the power of Marshal Hong was he most likely to complete his plan.

In this way, Li Yan squinted his eyes on the horse, his body swaying with the horse, and came to the outside of the military camp.

At the gate of the military camp, dozens of armed soldiers had already seen the group of three coming towards them. Immediately, one person stepped out, raised a hand, and shouted to stop them, "This is an important military area, idlers are not allowed to enter." He was also a very discerning person. Although he didn't recognize Li Yan, he vaguely felt that Chen An and Li Yin looked familiar, so he spoke politely.

When Li Yan and the others were about to reach this person, they had already dismounted. Li Yan raised his hand, and a Waist Token flew towards the person. The soldier reached out to catch it, looked at it carefully, stepped forward, bowed deeply, and returned the Waist Token to Li Yan with both hands.

"This lord, may I ask what brings you here?" ????

"Oh, I'm here to find Liu Chengyong of the third team of Zhan Bing Battalion." Li Yan took the Waist Token and said softly. He now knew the general situation of his official position, and he was still a military officer, so he could still go to the military camp, as long as he didn't go to the central army tent or important military areas without orders.

"Understood, </di>

I will inform Team Leader Liu." After saying that, he turned and walked towards the gate of the military camp, then stopped in front of a soldier and said a few words to him. The soldier quickly ran towards the military camp.

Li Yan was not in a hurry and stood outside slowly waiting.

Liu Chengyong had been a little on edge recently. After drinking with Li Yan that day, as soon as he returned to the military camp, he was summoned by Marshal Hong. He was confused at the time. Although drinking was generally not allowed in the military camp, he was an old soldier, and he was not on duty at the time. In this situation, the people above usually turned a blind eye.

Now that Marshal Hong had ordered him to go over, he couldn't help but feel uneasy, wondering if he had been stabbed in the back because of this. He couldn't help but hate in his heart, "Which bastard is gossiping about me behind my back? Damn it, there are many people drinking in this army. If I find out who is stabbing me in the back, I will skin him and tear his bones apart."

When he arrived at Marshal Hong's mansion, drunk, he was directly called into the hall of the rear mansion. When he arrived in the hall, he saw that only Marshal Hong was there, so he quickly knelt down and kowtowed.

"Subordinate pays respects to the Marshal. I don't know what the Marshal has summoned me here for?"

"Heh, what have I summoned you for? I have something to do now, can you handle it in this state?" Marshal Hong's bald head shone with a blue light, and he stared at him with his round eyes.

"Subordinate... subordinate met a friend and couldn't help but accompany him, hehe, I accidentally drank too much horse urine." Seeing that the Marshal didn't seem too angry, Liu Chengyong said with a cheeky face. He knew that their Marshal was black-faced and kind-hearted to their brothers who were born and died together. As long as it didn't delay military affairs, it was generally fine.

Marshal Hong didn't speak, only stared at Liu Chengyong. Seeing the Marshal silent for so long, Liu Chengyong looked up. He saw the Marshal fixedly staring at him with wide eyes, and couldn't help but feel flustered. He said awkwardly, "Marshal, just tell me what you want. If I've made a mistake, just drag me out and give me a beating."

After looking for a while, Marshal Hong suddenly asked, "Who did you drink with today?"

"Well, uh, it was this subordinate who drank with Military Advisor Ji's disciple, Lord Li, today. But, but it was all this subordinate's idea, I practically dragged Lord Li there." It had to be said that Liu Chengyong was an extremely loyal person. Fearing that drinking would interfere with official duties and implicate Li Yan in violating military regulations, he took all the blame upon himself.

"Oh, so you're quite familiar with Lord Li?"

"We're fairly acquainted. When Lord Li first entered the city, this subordinate met him. We've had some contact since then, and we get along well. However, Marshal, this drinking incident has nothing to do with Lord Li. It was all this subordinate's fault for being consumed by a sudden craving for alcohol, so I dragged Lord Li along."

"Oh, I see," Marshal Hong paused and said, "You may rise."

Hearing the Marshal's tone soften, Liu Chengyong couldn't help but feel relieved. He had already prepared himself to be beaten with a military rod and planned to investigate who had snitched on him when he returned, planning to give them a hard time behind their back.

After standing up, he stood with his hands down, waiting for the Marshal to continue.