Chapter 215: Seizing power, internal strife

"If you knew it was a trap, why did you come? Aren't you just seeking death?" Zhu Qingyan asked anxiously.

Originally, he was hoping to contact Ah Zhu and work with Murong Jing to form an internal and external alliance. But now it seems that Ah Zhu cannot be trusted, so wouldn't he and Zhu Lan be walking into a tiger's mouth?

The most important thing is that today is the winter solstice. At sunrise, we must go to the sacrificial site. If Murong Jing fails to arrive in time, does that mean she can only lead Zhu Lan to break through by herself? But...how is this possible?

"It's not about dying, it's about saving people." Zhu Lan's eyes were firm and his tone was steady, "The fact that he could use such a trick to lure you and me into the hands of the Great Purification shows that the King of Zhenbei has already wanted to kill us. This trip is more dangerous than good, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to return to Jiangzhou safely.

Therefore, today's trip is not only to rescue these innocent women, but also to seek peace for the people living on the border, and also to seek a glimmer of hope for my own survival."

Seeing her determined expression, Zhu Qingyan was worried, but he could only ask: "Do you have any solution?"

"Yes." Zhu Lan nodded gently and whispered to Zhu Qingyan, "Do as I say."

Zhu Qingyan took a deep breath, trying to calm his nervousness, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

…

In the early morning light, a group of women were escorted out by the soldiers of the Great Purification Ceremony. Their hands were tied behind their backs and connected with ropes, and they were lined up in a row like beads.

Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan were also among them.

According to the two's estimation, they should set off to the sacrificial site now. However, they soon discovered that the entire purification camp did not seem to show any signs of a large-scale deployment.

Not far away, a square altar came into view, which was as tall as two people.

"Could it be that... the place for sacrifice is here?" Zhu Qingyan said in a low voice in surprise.

Zhu Lan was silent for a moment, "It's not impossible. The canyon here is well hidden and safe."

The women were brought to the altar and guarded by several large purification soldiers. The altar was empty and there was an eerie silence all around.

"What are they waiting for?" Zhu Qingyan asked.

Zhu Lan thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps they are waiting for other leaders to join forces." She explained, "The reason why the Great Purification is difficult to eliminate is that the main force is hidden very deeply, and secondly, the forces are scattered. This rare gathering is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to wipe them out in one fell swoop."

Sure enough, people began to enter from both sides of the canyon one after another. Each team had dozens or even a hundred people, led by one person in the front.

The procession stopped at the entrance of the canyon, and the leaders left the team and walked towards the altar. Zhu Lan observed carefully and found that there were both Hu people and Central Plains people among these leaders, but everyone had an anxious look on their faces, without any joy.

Zhu Lan felt a little weird. If this sacrifice was a belief of the Great Purifier, these people should be pious. Why were they so anxious?

…

Murong Jing has led his elite troops to the heart of the desert and is searching for traces of the Great Exorcist Soldiers in a pre-planned area.

Suddenly, a touch of red caught her eye. She looked immediately and saw red lanterns rising in the sky above the desert in the distance.

"Princess, it's a signal! The main force of the Great Purification is over there!"

"Full speed ahead!" Murong Jing gave the order decisively and led the troops to gallop towards the direction of the Kongming lantern.

…

At the same time, ten miles away from Murong Jing, Cheng Lian, who was leading the camel cavalry, also saw the Kongming lantern. He was about to lead his team forward, but suddenly he heard someone calling him from behind.

He looked back and saw that it was the messenger from the Northern Frontier Camp.

"General Cheng Lian, there seems to be some unusual movement among the troops stationed on the border of Uzbekistan. The prince is summoning several generals to lead the troops back to the camp immediately!" The messenger delivered the order breathlessly.

Cheng Lian frowned, and after weighing the pros and cons, he decided to change direction and lead the camel cavalry back in a hurry.

…

"Boom, boom, boom--" A burst of rapid drum beats came from the direction of the altar, attracting everyone's attention.

Then someone holding a torch lit the huge fire pillars on the four corners of the altar. The flames burned fiercely, and Zhu Lan and the other person looked at the smoke rising above the flames at the same time.

However, the fuel had obviously been processed. Zhu Lan guessed that it was some kind of charcoal, so the smoke from burning was very small, not enough to attract Murong Jing's army.

Amid the sound of drums, a figure in a black robe began to slowly walk up the steps, holding a wooden black box in his hands.

When that person turned around and showed his face, it turned out to be Ah Zhu!

Since Zhu Lan had already had suspicions, she and Zhu Qingyan were not very surprised at this time. However, the big exorcists and small leaders around them showed surprised and confused expressions.

Zhu Qingyan wondered, "Why do these great exorcists look more surprised than us?"

Zhu Lan didn't say anything, just stared at Ah Zhu on the altar.

A Han leader shouted at the altar: "What are you doing up there, woman? Where is Tianduo? Where is Tianduo!?"

Ah Zhu looked at the people below the stage, suddenly smiled coldly, opened the wooden box in her hand, and then raised it high -

There was a human head in the box!

When the small leaders saw Tianduo's head, they immediately went crazy. Some roared, some tried to rush to the stage, and some wanted to gather their men.

But their team was far away from the entrance of the canyon and could not see the situation here clearly. Ah Zhu waved his hand, and dozens of big exorcists immediately rushed onto the stage and firmly controlled those small leaders.

"What... is going on?" Zhu Qingyan was confused when he saw the extremely chaotic scene in front of him. What was going on?

After Zhu Lan's initial confusion, his smile suddenly became playful.

"What a coincidence, we were caught up in the internal strife and power struggle."

"You mean..."

Before Zhu Qingyan finished speaking, he heard Ah Zhu on the stage speak.

"Your leader Tianduo has died in my hands. From today on, I am the new leader of Dafu."

"You damn woman, are you trying to kill me?!" someone cursed from below.

However, when the small leaders saw the bottle of medicine in Ah Zhu's hand, they suddenly stopped cursing, just like a hungry wolves seeing meat, their eyes were full of desire.

"Tianduo used this drug to control us before. I know you are afraid that Tianduo will die and no one will give you the antidote.

Now the antidote is here, don't worry, as long as you listen to me, you can still get the antidote every month."

As he spoke, Ah Zhu ordered his men to distribute the antidote to them.

Those people got the antidote and swallowed it down eagerly. Some people were not convinced, but if you think about it, it doesn't matter who they follow.

Whoever has the antidote will be their boss.

Those who took the antidote began to kowtow to Ah Zhu, obviously recognizing her as their new leader.

A power grab ended in such an absurd way in just half a quarter of an hour.

(One more thing to say~ I have temporarily slowed down the update speed recently because I am revising the outline. If I update hastily, I may have to go back and revise the text later, which will greatly affect the reading experience of my dear children. After the plot adjustment is completed, I will resume updating twice a day soon!)