Seeing this, even the veterans were frightened, and the new recruits who had never been on the battlefield turned pale, with many running to the riverbank to vomit.
"Is it made from Dongpango's scraps?" Lin Mo asked.
“Yes, East Pango West Moon Island, the flag of the Kato family.” Tang Feng replied, “The head of the Kato family, Kato Hiroaki, was born in Nago District, Higashiochi Province, and his nickname is Oni Kato.”
He was related to the current Emperor Ashikaga Nobunaga by blood, so he followed Ashikaga Nobunaga from a young age. Later, when helping Ashikaga Nobunaga seize the power of the East Pango, he and five others made great contributions and were called the "Roppongi".
This person appears gentle and refined, but is actually cold-blooded, calculating, cruel, and ruthless.
Their troops also had another characteristic: they skinned the enemy alive!
Peeling?
These days are even crueler than the people of Dos!
Lin Mo barely suppressed his anger, "So this Kato Hiroaki is the vanguard of Dongpango?"
“Yes!” Tang Feng replied, “Most of his men are ronin from Dongpango and villains from Daxia. Even their emperor despises their practice of skinning people alive.”
“But I didn’t stop it!” Lin Mo said.
I know my subordinate is a psychopath, a murderous monster, but I don't punish him; I just can't stand him.
What kind of good bird would such a master be?
"You're saying there are villains from the Great Xia Dynasty associating with them?" Xu Chu asked.
Tang Feng nodded. "Most of them are desperate criminals; they kill, set fires, and commit all sorts of evil deeds!"
"Birds of a feather flock together, indeed!" Lin Mo remarked. "Guards, put them down and give them a proper burial!"
Then, Lin Mo mounted his horse. "The Dongpango scum are nearby," he shouted. "What should we do with them?"
"Cut him into eight pieces!" Xu Chu roared.
Lin Mo smiled faintly, "Then let's go!"
~~~
Night fell, the twilight was like the sky, the stars and moon shone brightly, and the silvery moonlight, like water and brilliance, brought the only light to this darkness.
After a heavy rain in early spring, the air around seemed much fresher. Lin Mo stood in the tent, holding a teacup, looking out the window. The news brought back by Tang Feng made it difficult for Lin Mo to remain calm.
Looking up at the waning moon in the sky, Lin Mo thought, what if something happened to Zhao Zhilan...
During the day, Lin Mo traveled eastward, seeing one looted village and town after another.
Without exception, all the people were killed in the same way, their skins peeled off and displayed in the center of the village.
Seeing this, Lin Mo's hatred grew stronger.
If the plight of the people of Jidong angered him, what he saw next enraged him even more.
A jade pendant, a unique jade pendant belonging to the Zhao royal family, an object of the palace, appeared outside an inn filled with corpses.
That was Zhao Zhilan's jade pendant. In this war-torn and chaotic Jidong, it could only be her jade pendant!
The unrecognizable corpses outside the hotel made Lin Mo unsure whether Zhao Zhilan had been murdered.
"Tang Feng told me that Zhao Zhilan is alright!" Lin Mo thought to himself. "She was captured by the Dongpan ronin and enslaved! The people from Xuanhua Palace will protect her!"
That damned wicked monk, it must have been his doing. He schemes against everyone!
They deliberately let Zhao Zhilan be captured by Dongpango's scum, so that she could see the suffering of the border people from the war and the cruelty of Dongpango.
And all of this was naturally caused by Wei Maozhen.
It was Wei Maozhen who secretly colluded with Dong Pan Ge; it was Wei Maozhen who resorted to any means to deal with Lin Mo; it was Wei Maozhen who disregarded the common people.
The sorcerer's goal was simple: Zhao Zhilan was too valuable. She was the only surviving daughter of the late emperor and Wei Maozhen, and the key to gaining the support of the Zhao and Wei families.
The methods were rather ruthless, completely disregarding the fact that the other party was a weak woman who had never set foot outside the palace.
But the evil monk did this for Lin Mo's great cause!
Lin Mo stood there, deeply moved.
"Your Highness!" a subordinate called out from outside the tent, "We've got information!"
"Come in!" Lin Mo turned around.
"Reporting to Your Highness the Regent, we have discovered traces of the enemy's vanguard!" the messenger said. "They are located in Wuzhong City, just twenty miles away!"
"The City of No End?" Upon hearing this, Lin Mo felt uneasy!
Wuzhong City is a massive city built during the conquest of the north by Zhao Wuxu, the founding emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty. It is located in the northeast of Jizhou, on the north bank of Twin Lakes. It is the largest city in the Great Xia Dynasty.
But since its construction, it has always been a dark and dilapidated place.
According to historical records, Zhao Wuxu built Wuzhong City to commemorate himself, intending to make it the greatest city in the entire land to surpass all others. He spent 30 years realizing his dream.
Hundreds of thousands of prisoners from other defeated nations died of exhaustion in the quarries or on the five massive city walls.
After its completion, Wuzhong City was hailed as an impregnable city, and indeed it was.
However, the Zhao ancestors overlooked one issue: maintenance!
Since the establishment of the Great Xia Dynasty, cities have seemed to have become a burden—too large and too expensive to maintain.
Is it too much for the royal family to afford?
The burden is manageable, but unfortunately, it is not a capital city!
Maintaining a secondary capital located in the northeast was too costly for the descendants of the Zhao family, who felt it was not worthwhile.
However, they were reluctant to give up such a huge city easily, so the fourth king of the Great Xia Dynasty made a decision.
He granted Wuzhong City to his minister, He Zongguo, the first king of a different surname in the Great Xia Dynasty.
There are few records about He Zongguo in the history books of the Great Xia Dynasty, only a few brief mentions.
The title given to him by later generations is "King of Blood Leeches".
You can roughly tell a person's character just from this nickname.
This person is like a blood-sucking leech, adept at hiding, and while sucking the blood of his opponent, the opponent is completely unaware.
Ever since this person began his reign of terror over Wuzhong City, various rumors of ghosts have circulated within the city.
Legend has it that He Zongguo mixed human blood with mud and ash to repair the damaged city walls. The curse prevented anyone from occupying the city indefinitely.
Therefore, throughout the centuries of the Great Xia Dynasty, the rulers who occupied Wuzhong City almost always met with violent deaths.
From then on, Wuzhong City eventually became an abandoned ghost town, and no one dared to enter it at will.
In fact, the city was captured multiple times during later wars and concealed countless atrocities.
Lin Mo's concern was not about the curse or the ghost.
Rather, the city was simply too large, and it would take a long time to completely conquer it.
Meanwhile, according to Tang Feng, Zhao Zhilan was coincidentally imprisoned in this place!
God knows what will happen when the Dongpango scum can't hold out and they start to torture and kill prisoners!
"Troublesome!" Lin Mo thought to himself.
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