"General Wei, have you noticed something?" Shen Yuan asked curiously, looking at Wei Gongzhan's unusual expression.
"Hmm," Wei Gongzhan stared at the statue for a long time, a guess rising in his mind.
It's said that after becoming crippled, that outstanding cousin, who was born out of wedlock, apparently went to Jiangnan?
"Brother Shen."
"Um?"
"Do you think there might really be Underworld in Liuzhou?"
"How could that be?" Shen Yuan scoffed immediately. " Chen Qing's tricks might fool the ignorant people here, but you, sir, come from a noble family. Don't you know that after death, people go to the Yin-Yang Road? What kind of Underworld is this?"
Mentioning the Yin-Yang Road, Shen Yuan couldn't help but shudder. When he was practicing his Spirit Eye, he had seen the scene of the Shen Family elders being dragged to the Yin-Yang Road. It was truly a hellish place, with countless evil spirits and endless despair!
This Chen Qing is quite good at making empty promises to the world, talking about how after death, one has Underworld Lifespan in the underworld, a proper burial place, Samsara, and a second chance at life. If such a good thing really existed, he would stay in Liuzhou for the rest of his life!
"That's true." Wei Gongzhan nodded, then said, "I've examined this statue; it doesn't seem to have any mechanisms. Those teachers must have used some other method. Brother Shen, you can observe it further when you have time. I can't delay any longer; I need to gather everyone and head to Great Azure Mountain as soon as possible."
"General Wei, please be careful." Shen Yuan hurriedly said, "That Great Azure Mountain is no ordinary place. It's said that Liuzhou's continuous food supply comes from Great Azure Mountain. Liuzhou now has hundreds of thousands of people, yet there's no shortage of food, especially meat, which is practically unlimited for the people of Liuzhou. It's really strange. Moreover, it's said that the farmers who stayed in Great Azure Mountain for a while rarely wanted to return. General Wei, you must be cautious when you go there."
"Thank you for your concern, Brother Shen." Wei Gongzhan smiled and cupped his hands in greeting. "Brother Shen, please be careful while you investigate this academy."
Shen Yuan smiled and returned the greeting. To be honest, dealing with Wei Gongzhan was much easier than dealing with Wei Gongyan, who followed Yuchi Feihu. Wei Gongyan was not only scheming but also stupid. He didn't know what the Yuchi Household was thinking, putting such a scoundrel by the young master's side.
And so, the two parted ways after bidding each other farewell. But no one noticed that the City God statue in the temple, beneath its mask, had a slight movement in its eyes, giving a meaningful glance at the spot where Wei Gongzhan had left.
--
"Brother Wei, what are you laughing at?"
Inside the courtyard, Master Shen San, who was playing chess with Wei Gongcheng, asked with amusement, "Brother Wei usually seems so serious, but this sudden, inexplicable laughter gives off a ghostly aura, hmm. Quite the air of the King of Underworld."
"Haha!" Hearing the teasing from his chess friends over the past few days, Wei Gongcheng laughed heartily and then talked about what he had just seen in the statue.
"The young master of the Yuchi Household?" Master Shen San nodded upon hearing this. "He's quite lucky. According to our predictions, it would be fortunate if 30% of the soldiers under the Duke of Qin could escape. A young man like the Yuchi Household, whose abilities haven't been fully honed yet, but whose bloodline is top-notch, is the type of person who would be the most sought-after target. I didn't expect him to be able to get here safely."
Wei Gongcheng nodded in agreement. After capturing Sixth Master Shen, Chen Qing and the others roughly learned the whole truth!
Back then, several Ancient Insect conspired to cause trouble and killed the patriarch of the Shen Family. The Laoda of the nine insects, Xiushe, took over the body of the Laoda of the Shen Family and gained an absolute advantage, forcing the remaining insects to hide in the Shen Family and not dare to come out. As a result, the Ancient Insect forces split into two groups: one overseas and one on the Shen Family Island!
The insects overseas secretly roamed, constantly developing their families and growing stronger in secret. Meanwhile, the Ancient Insect of the Shen Family on the island were tightly restricted. Just when Fifth Master Shen and his companion were about to go all out and infect Jiangnan in a desperate attempt, the Great Jin unified the Central Plains!
Duke Liu Yu of Duke of Song personally visited the Shen Family, accompanied by a representative of the imperial family: Her Highness the Eldest Princess!
Everyone knows that Liu Yu ultimately persuaded the Shen Family to come out of seclusion and assist the court, giving up most of the interests in Jiangnan, but the truth is not so.
It was through a certain agreement reached between Fifth Master Shen, Sixth Master Shen, and Her Highness the Eldest Princess that Fifth Master Shen was able to emerge from seclusion and become the Ministry of War. He had been plotting for many years, all for the purpose of annexing the bloodline power of the Great Jin today!
This method is a different approach. Compared to the brothers who have been quietly operating overseas for decades, Fifth Master Shen and his companion plan to solve the problem once and for all by having their subordinates possess higher-quality bodies to make up for the gap over the years.
The plan was bold and successful. The eldest princess set a clever trap. From the moment the Duke of Qin was lured away by the eldest princess, Chen Qing knew that the soldiers the Duke of Qin led were doomed!
That led to the later request that Wang Ye try to trick some people into coming over.
"The intelligence came too late," Wei Gongcheng shook his head. "When we asked Vice Minister Wang to go back, we wanted him to delay the opportunity as much as possible, but Second Master Shen was too slow to get the information. He only figured out the plan on the very day of the operation. By then, it was impossible to stop him. We could only ask Vice Minister Wang to try to lure some soldiers over. Lord Wang is a capable man. In such a short time, he actually managed to bring so many soldiers to Jiangnan!"
"Your choice of Vice Minister Wang is excellent," Master Shen San said with a smile. "Among the princes of several major states, Duke Tian Heng of Duke of Qi is a relatively easy candidate to persuade. However, he was also lucky to escape unscathed with so many of Tian Heng's soldiers. That is a great achievement!"
"Yes," Wei Gongcheng nodded with a smile, "Young Master is quite lucky. Someone like him wouldn't easily escape. He's truly a blessed person. I didn't expect to see an acquaintance so soon."
Are you on good terms with the young master of the Yuchi Household?
"Oh, that's not it." Wei Gongcheng laughed, "The young master isn't very convinced by his elder brother, and he doesn't usually interact with me. I guess we're only familiar with each other when we pass by."
"Then why did you smile so sinisterly?"
"Third Master is also a scholar; he should be careful with his words. What does 'gloomy' even mean?"
"Okay, why are you laughing so happily? Is it because of the two surviving Wei Household?"
"I suppose so," Wei Gongcheng said with a smile, looking through the City God at the two Wei Household still in the city, especially Wei Gongyan who was with Yuchi Feihu. "I remember when I left the capital, my elder brother specially saw me off, saying that fortunes change, and no one can be successful forever. Now that I think about it, he was right. Fortunes change quite quickly!"
--
" Gongyan, why are you always looking behind you?" Yuchi Feihu frowned as he looked at Wei Gongyan's absent-minded appearance.
"No, young master, I have a feeling that something is watching me." Wei Gongyan looked around, feeling extremely agitated.
"Really?" Yuchi Feihu frowned. "Don't be so paranoid. It's been like this since the beginning, and we almost got exposed. Also, don't call me Young Master outside. We've already enlisted today and are in different battalions. You need to be careful. We're on someone else's turf. Don't reveal your bloodline unless absolutely necessary."
"Young Master, don't you trust me to handle things?" Wei Gongyan. If even a little brat like you can know this, how could I not?
Yuchi Feihu glanced at him, but didn't seem very reassured. Wei Gongyan usually spoke nicely, but he didn't seem to be very capable when it came to doing things. For example, just now, when they were competing in weapons, the other party, Di Yun, had extremely beautiful swordsmanship. Without using his bloodline, not to mention Wei Gongyan, he himself was beaten into a sorry state.
Then, Wei Gongyan got so angry that he actually activated his Bloodline Power and knocked the other person's knife away. Luckily, the referee was oblivious, otherwise he might have been exposed.
Now I'm reminding him, but he doesn't seem to be listening.
Yuchi Feihu felt utterly exhausted and suddenly realized that sending Wei Gongzhan to Great Azure Mountain while having this guy follow him might have been a rash decision.
How about we switch them?
Because the two were assigned to different battalions, they were separated when they went to report for duty. When they lined up for dinner that night, Yuchi Feihu did not see the other again, and he became increasingly worried.
If the meat in his hand hadn't smelled so good, he would have gone straight to find someone.
"Brother, you got assigned to this battalion too?"
Just as he was struggling with his decision, a familiar voice came from behind him. He put down the meat strips Yuchi Feihu, and looked up to see a tall, strong man—the very man who had sparred with him during the day.
"Ah, it's you!" Yuchi Feihu grinned immediately.
The other man was the one who had used his excellent swordsmanship on the martial arts stage during the day, forcing him and Wei Gongyan into a sorry state. He remembered that his name was Di Yun.
Brother, your knife skills are truly impressive!
Feihu's praise was very sincere. When he was practicing basic skills in the past, although he had elders to teach him, it was almost a crushing teaching method. It was completely different from today's teaching, which was full of the feeling of fighting for victory.
He hadn't fought this freely in a long time. Although he hadn't been able to unleash his full potential, his opponent's abilities certainly made him take notice.
"Brother, you're not bad either!" The burly man chuckled upon hearing this and sat down beside him. "You look to be under twenty, right? Your skills are truly remarkable. If I hadn't spent so many years fighting on the battlefield, and had met you ten years earlier, I'm afraid I wouldn't have lasted three moves against you!"
"Not at all, not at all. You're too kind, brother." Yuchi Feihu blushed with pride at the praise. He had received plenty of praise in the capital, after all, he was quite talented. However, the praise was mostly based on his family status and his elders, and most of the praise was about the purity of his bloodline, while ignoring the skills he had practiced for many years.
Now, for the first time, someone recognized his abilities beyond his bloodline, which truly delighted him and greatly increased his goodwill towards the burly man before him!
"I remember your name is Di Yun, right, brother?"
"Um, my name is Di Yun. What's your name, brother?"
My name is Huang Feihu!
"Oh, what a great name!" Di Yun laughed heartily, "Young man, your skills truly deserve this name!"
"Brother, your skills are truly remarkable." Yuchi Feihu said with a genuine smile, "It's a real pity I didn't get first place in the martial arts training area today."
"Yeah, it's a bit embarrassing to be defeated by a bloodline waste." Di Yun waved his hand dismissively and downed the meat porridge in his hand in one gulp.
"Bloodline waste?" Yuchi Feihu was stunned; this was the first time he had ever heard this term!
"If you can't beat them, you resort to Bloodline Power? That's just trash here!" Di Yun sneered. "Brother, you're new here. You'll soon find out that bloodline trash can't get by here!"
Yuchi Feihu: "."