Chapter 1499 (1498): The Grand Finale (Part 1) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
The Allied forces in the Central Region have been having a tough time lately.
The country suffered defeats in foreign wars, and internal conflicts intensified.
Inside the tent, a roar erupted.
"Didn't you pat your chests and guarantee that that guy surnamed Chen would definitely fall into trouble? You confidently said that a locust plague could ruin a person? And now? Where is the locust plague? That guy surnamed Chen has already started clearing land!" The person who was roaring and losing control of his emotions at this moment happened to be the head of a large family who had been tricked by the Central Allied Army into giving up his ancestral property and allowing the Central Allied Army to lay locust eggs on his land.
If the locust plague were successful and could force back the Kang Kingdom's army, he could return and reclaim his assets. At most, he would lose a few years' worth of farmland income, and if he could obtain some compensation from the local communities, it wouldn't be a bad deal. However, man proposes, God disposes; this time, even Dubikun was outmaneuvered. First, he received a mysterious intelligence report early in the morning, learning that the locust eggs were poisonous and could contaminate farmland, rendering it barren. Before he could even get angry, he received news that those shameless barbarians from Kang Kingdom were already clearing land.
The latter felt like a hard slap across his face.
It hit him so hard his head was buzzing.
"I never knew those worthless officials were so incompetent, allowing a useless woman to act so arrogantly! She's fighting you while still having the energy to clear land, and on my own turf no less! Ancestors above, your unfilial descendants can't even protect our ancestral graves..." Anger clouded his reason, causing him to act impulsively, bursting into tears the moment he was furious. His ancestral graves had indeed been dug up.
The man surnamed Shen, using the pretext of land reclamation, dug and dug everywhere.
They sifted out everything buried underground, not to mention human bones, even the smallest stones, and then turned around and pretended to be innocent and virtuous.
Who gave you permission to disturb the deceased?
Shen Youli's words were more eloquent than her singing. While professing remorse, she ordered the soldiers to rebury the excavated remains, effectively pocketing all the missing burial goods. And those reburied bones? They might not even be original.
The military officer who dug up his ancestral graves didn't even utter a word of rebuke.
If you say it wasn't intentional, who would believe you!
Who in the world doesn't know that Shen Youli is obsessed with making money off the dead?
"...Dissecting graves, exposing withered bones, plundering gold and jade for personal gain, destroying human remains and violating moral principles—her crimes are too numerous to list!" The people in the tent waited for him to vent his emotions before slowly stroking his beard and spouting nonsense, "That woman surnamed Shen has desecrated heaven and earth, and defied yin and yang. Even with great talent and ambition, she cannot conceal her greed, violence, and depravity. A thousand years from now, she will surely be despised by virtuous people. It's her fault; why are you blaming us?"
"Can you really kill Shen Youli by just scolding her?"
"That's naturally impossible, but—"
"But you're a load of rubbish!"
"vulgar!"
"Very well, you say that digging up ancestral graves was Shen Youli's fault and that you shouldn't be blamed, then—may I ask you, gentlemen, why are those insect eggs so poisonous? Within five years, no, within ten years, not a single blade of grass will grow! Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?"
He had no objection to using the locust plague to deal with Kangguo.
By withdrawing its troops, Kang was at least able to preserve its foundation.
What's the difference between ten years of barren land and being childless and having no descendants?
He knew the Central Committee was ruthless, and he knew these people were ruthless, but he never imagined they would be this ruthless! He regretted his past actions. When Kangguo sent people to cause a ruckus in the Central Camp and expose all those messy secrets, he should have known that dealing with these people was like asking a tiger for its skin.
He just had a bit of overconfidence.
Relying on his seniority and connections, he assumed that even if he wasn't sitting at the table enjoying the food, he shouldn't be the dish on the plate. Turning his head, he was actually the menu! How could he possibly accept this?
The expressions of those inside the tent subtly changed.
Some people were completely unconcerned, while others were shocked.
What do you mean by that?
What insect eggs are highly poisonous?
What do you mean by "not a blade of grass will grow for ten years"?
The two who raised their doubts also retreated with the allied forces, transferring their assets and people, abandoning their clan's lands and properties. They didn't harbor any idea that defeating Kangguo would guarantee their safety, and they knew that the allied forces' current attitude was that they couldn't gain anything by themselves, nor could they let Kangguo benefit. They had even used ancient diseases, so how could things possibly be peaceful? They just never expected that the insect eggs had been tampered with.
Was the Allied forces intentionally keeping this from them?
The two felt a chill run down their spines.
They looked up at Alliance Leader Zhao, wanting an explanation, but a sharp pain shot through their necks. As blood gushed from the large gash, the clan patriarch, who had initially been roaring and demanding answers, was startled, his heart skipping a beat. Caught off guard, he was sprayed with blood all over his body. His nostrils filled with the pungent smell of blood; he stood frozen, too stunned to even breathe.
He took two steps back: "Leader Zhao, what is this...?"
He finally realized that everyone present was sick, completely insane. And he himself was imprisoned, his life hanging in the balance.
"Isn't Alliance Leader Zhao afraid of being found out by the rulers of the other states?" Facing Alliance Leader Zhao's cold eyes, he broke out in a cold sweat while frantically searching for a way out.
"What good is knowing?"
He gasped sharply.
Yes, so what if we know?
The rulers of the central kingdoms are merely playthings in the hands of the central branch of the society. The high-ranking officials of these kingdoms either join the central branch to reap tangible benefits or have intricate connections with its members, completely at its beck and call. What kind of people are the members of the central branch? They always prioritize their families above all else, themselves second, and the branch third, showing absolutely no respect for their own rulers.
Who would submit to a stupid chess piece?
A monarchy without prestige is nothing more than a trembling insect in a child's hand; it may seem glorious, but its overthrow can happen in the blink of an eye.
Even though the Allied forces suffered heavy losses on all fronts, the rulers of the various countries dared not utter a single word, let alone hold anyone accountable. They might even secretly inquire whether the Allied forces needed more supplies and provisions. Not to mention that the rulers and the branch offices were in cahoots.
A secret sense of regret arose in his heart.
I regret that I couldn't see clearly.
The rulers of all the states are pawns in the eyes of these people. Who in the world is not a pawn in their eyes? They call themselves gods and use all living beings as pawns in their games. They are not doing this for any moral ideals or grand ambitions. They are simply bored.
Using the common people as pawns, yet unable to tolerate the possibility of losing.
Arrogant, cruel, foolish, and narcissistic.
This is far beyond the scope of normal people.
In an instant, a single thought broadened his horizons. It was as if the clouds had parted, revealing the true world. His lingering regret surged like a raging river, engulfing him and suffocating him. He had studied Confucianism and Mencius in his youth, researched the principles of governing the country, questioned the great Dao, and sought enlightenment. He had once harbored the ambition to quell the injustices of the world. How had he become so utterly unrecognizable? He was wrong! He was terribly wrong!
All their schemes were nothing more than to protect the young and old and to ensure the prosperity of their family.
What about now?
Putting the cart before the horse!
Sensing Zhao's murderous intent and knowing his own survival was sealed, he decided to go all out, revealing the most ferocious side of his life as he cursed, "You...you have acted against the natural order, you will surely die a horrible death!"
Thud, head falls to the ground.
The three headless corpses were still warm.
Some onlookers, feeling a sense of shared sorrow at the loss of their kin, closed their eyes as if unable to bear the sight. Others scoffed, mocking the three for courting death. Several soldiers entered and dragged the three corpses out, feeding them to the dogs. Their clansmen, of course, received no reward.
Alliance Leader Zhao calmly glanced around at everyone.
"Do any of you feel indignant about this?"
No one dared to say they did.
They all shook their heads in denial, their true thoughts remaining unknown.
Alliance Leader Zhao asked with satisfaction: "Is there any news about Lin An?"
Lin Su went missing during the retreat. Alliance Leader Zhao ordered his men to search high and low, only to be told that Lin Su had been crushed to death by a collapsed tunnel, and the body they brought back was so rotten and infested with maggots that it was unrecognizable. He initially believed this, but after some reflection, he felt something was amiss.
How could that idiot who just died know the truth about the insect eggs?
Lin Su wasn't someone who died so easily; his scholarly ways also gave him the ability to leak information without anyone noticing. Unfortunately, his subordinates' answers remained unchanged: no news of such a person. Alliance Leader Zhao said, "Then keep searching. He can't just vanish into thin air!"
Vanished into thin air?
That's impossible.
However, he suspected that he was about to die.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a reticulated python, as thick as a water vat, staring at him with eerie eyes. The two were so close that he could even feel the python's breath, and an indescribable sinister aura shot straight to the top of his head. Lin Su broke out in a cold sweat but dared not make the slightest move.
The dragon-like python glided slowly around him.
It used its massive body to delineate a territory.
It coiled its body, approaching from a superior position. At its closest, the man and the python were less than half an arm's length apart. The young man in the Taoist robe floated anxiously to the side, wishing he could roll up his sleeves and grab the python: "Hey, are you stupid? Why aren't you running away?"
Lin Su: "..."
He wanted to run, but his intuition told him he couldn't.
You'll die!
After a long while, just as he was wondering if the other party wanted to eat him to satisfy its hunger, the dragon-python spoke in human language: "Male?"
He leaned in a little closer: "Oh, you mistook me for someone else."
Lin Su's bristling hairs gradually smoothed out, and her heart returned to its normal rhythm. The fact that the dragon-python could speak meant that it wasn't a strange beast lurking in the wilderness, but rather a totem form manifested by some valiant martial artist.
"You admitted your mistake?"
The python coiled listlessly, saying, "I thought it was Lin Xiaomama."
His periodic molting, which happened two or three times a year, had arrived. His martial energy was out of control, forcing him to hide deep in the mountains for a while before successfully molting. After molting, he would be blind for six or seven days, his vision dropping to zero in a very short time. Just now, he had spotted a blurry but familiar figure from afar and went to recognize it. If he happened to run into Lin Feng, he could ask her for a ride.
As a result, "Lin Feng" didn't call him that.
He felt something was very wrong.
Upon closer inspection, the person's features and build were more masculine. Although he carried some of Lin Feng's aura and his own aura was somewhat similar to Lin Feng's, he was male: "What's your relationship with her?"
Lin Su wondered who this "Lin Xiao Mama" was.
It most likely refers to his sister, Lin Feng.
You mean Lingde?
"Um."
“I am her second brother, Lin Su.”
"No wonder..." the dragon-python muttered to itself, circulating its still-immature martial energy. Its giant python body melted into a tall human figure, a young martial general dressed in a tight-fitting outfit and half-armor. Lin Su immediately recognized his attire and thought of someone.
"You are... Gong Xichou?"
It was indeed Gongxi Chou.
The young military general's eyes were lifeless, as if he were blind.
Wait, what's he doing here?
Lin Su had studied the Kang Kingdom's court and naturally knew of Gongxi Chou, this eccentric character. In Lin Su's eyes, he and his low-key elder brother were two oddballs, their behavior and even their personal style were completely out of step with others. In the past two years, there had been almost no news of Gongxi Chou's activities on the battlefield, and there were no unofficial stories of Kang Kingdom discarding him after he had served his purpose. He never expected to encounter him here.
Gong Xiqiu tilted his head slightly and asked, "Lin Su?"
The young military officer's voice carried a hint of amusement.
He naturally knew Lin Anzhi and also knew that Lin Feng and Lin Su had fallen out, but he wasn't Lin Feng and had no right to help Lin Feng clean house. If the siblings were truly determined to fight to the death, then it would be up to Mama to kill her own brother: "What are you doing sneaking around here?"
Lin Su chuckled: "Shouldn't you be asking General Gongxi that?"
He emphasized the pronunciation of the word "general".
He reminded Gongxi Chou that, as a military general of Kang State, he should normally be waiting in the central army, not wandering around in remote mountain areas.
Gong Xichou asked in confusion, "What does your presence here have to do with me?"
Lin Su actually came for me?
"...Of course not, meeting the general was just a coincidence." Lin Su took a half step back, afraid that Gong Xi Chou might kill him if he was displeased, which would be too unjust. "What I mean is, why is the general acting so suspiciously? I will explain."
Gong Xichou remained silent for a while.
I asked earnestly, "I'm shedding my skin here, are you too?"
Lin Su: "...This...of course not."
Gong Xi Chou is indeed an oddball; every word he utters can leave a person speechless.
Little did Gong Xichou know, he was also inwardly cursing Lin Su for talking nonsense. In the blink of an eye, he could see nothing at all. After getting used to the darkness, he focused on his ears and impatiently interrupted Lin Su: "Do you know where the Kang Kingdom's troops are stationed?"
"...How would I know such a secret?"
"You're with the Central Allied Forces, how could you not know?"
Even if you don't know the exact location, you should at least know the general direction, right?
Lin Su was silenced again, and belatedly realized that Gong Xi Chou was even more of a hypocrite than rumored, with an untamed and wild aura about him.
No normal person would casually ask Lin Su where the Kangguo camp was when they knew they were on the opposite side. That would be utterly clueless. If he asked where the Central Allied camp was, Lin Su would be willing to give directions. Gong Xichou didn't give him a chance to refuse.
She grabbed his throat with one hand.
Although it hasn't tightened, it still carries an irresistible threat.
Lin Su cursed the brute inwardly and said urgently, "Wait!"
Gong Xichou tilted his head and chuckled, "Will you talk now?"
"I'll point it out to you..."
"If you know what's good for you, take me there."
Lin Su: "..."
Do you want to listen to whether you're speaking human language?
Taking Gongxi Chou to the Kang Kingdom's camp? Walking into a trap? Why doesn't Gongxi Chou go himself? Is he blind? Oh, no, Gongxi Chou is indeed blind right now. Lin Su swallowed her curses, lowered her brows, and for the sake of her life, she had no choice but to be pragmatic.
Military generals are often reckless and ruthless, killing without blinking an eye.
Gong Xiqiu calmly threatened, "Don't even think about playing tricks. I might not be able to escape unscathed, but taking your life won't be difficult for me either."
For a martial artist of his caliber, killing a scholar with literary talent is no more difficult than killing a chicken. Lin Su, with her stubbornness, can also test the sharpness of her weapon!
Lin Su cursed him in her heart.
His expression remained calm: "Come with me."
Just as the Kang Kingdom's army had resolved the problem of pests in the farmland, the allied forces in the central region launched a surprise attack. The battle raged on a high ground, leaving much of the hillside flattened. The cities Shen Tang had conquered were nearly deserted, infuriating her, and she led her troops in relentless pursuit. After two days and two nights, they finally intercepted the allied forces at a riverbank. Upon seeing Shen Tang's grand banner, the allied army's morale collapsed, and they abandoned 70,000 to 80,000 refugees to cross the river.
For a time, the sound of weeping echoed along the riverbank.
Many people jumped into the river in an attempt to catch up with Allied warships, and seven or eight drowned.
Because the refugees were blocking his way, Shen Tang had to abandon the pursuit.
The waterways in the central region are not as complex as those in the southwest, but they are still difficult to navigate. Furthermore, Kangguo is fighting on foreign soil and is vulnerable to being disadvantaged by a lack of information. She had no choice but to suppress her anger and order the army to first appease the refugees. Those who could be persuaded to return to their homelands were to be persuaded to do so; for those who couldn't, other methods would be devised.
If the refugees are allowed to flee, 80-90% of the 70-80,000 will die.
The Allied forces in the central region implemented a thorough scorched-earth policy; not a single patch of green could be seen on the roads, the land was desolate, and refugees, having run out of food, were forced to eat mud and dig up tree roots to survive. Of course, it was also necessary to be wary of Allied spies infiltrating the refugee population and causing trouble; these people had a history of having no scruples.
"Do the Allied forces in the Central Region think they're playing an obstacle course? Fighting and running while throwing things on the ground?" Shen Tang realized that the Allied forces' act of throwing refugees was even more insidious than creating a locust plague. A locust plague might not necessarily cause Shen Tang to lose a piece of flesh, but seventy or eighty thousand refugees were actually eating her food.
Thanks to the Allied propaganda and intimidation, the refugees initially carried all the belongings and food they could, but due to their hasty march, they were forced to drop things as they ran to reduce obstacles. By the time they reached the riverbank, many refugees had very little food left.
Theft and robbery also occur among refugees.
Women, children, the elderly, and the infirm were the first to be affected.
Shen Tang couldn't ignore them either, and was thus held back.
She gulped down two water sachets to cool down, when Ji Moqiu suddenly looked up in a certain direction and said, "A-Nian is back."
"Gong Xichou?" Upon hearing this name, Shen Tang wondered if she had misheard. "Wasn't he sent to support Zhai Xiaofang?"
The medical professionals guarded Kang Kingdom, preventing the zombie plague from spreading. However, this doesn't mean the disease is ineffective. Zhai Xiaofang discovered cases of infection spreading near the battlefield. Even with the epidemic prevention measures shared by Shen Tang, simply copying them isn't easy. In Kang Kingdom, the disease was nipped in the bud, but in Qu Kingdom, it had already spread by the time it was discovered, and even with the utmost caution, some cases still slipped through the net.
It was impossible to completely extinguish it.
If you're not careful, it can spread like wildfire.
Qu Kingdom was held back and had no choice but to impose a blockade. A while ago, they sent a message asking the avatar Zixu to send people to their aid, as the situation was getting somewhat out of control. It wasn't that Qu Kingdom couldn't control the situation, but rather that a large number of "people" suffering from the plague were entering the country from the northeastern continent.
He then dispatched Gongxi Chou with 5,000 elite troops to provide reinforcements.
They shouldn't be here at all.
"Are you sure it's him?"
"I will not admit my mistake."
Shen Tang felt her head throbbing again; her intuition told her that Gong Xi Chou's presence here was not good news. She first communicated with her avatar, Zi Xu, only to find that Zi Xu was also unaware of the situation: [Shouldn't he be in Qu Kingdom? Could it be Qu Kingdom…?]
I dared not say the rest of the sentence.
The avatar of Zixu: [Let's ask what happened first.]
Shen Tang: [Is there any movement from Qu Kingdom?]
[Since Zhai Xiaofang last sent her a request for help, there has been no further contact.]
Shen Tang pursed her lips, gazing at the rushing river flowing eastward, suppressing the ominous premonition in her heart: "I'll go take a look."
_(:3」∠)_
We can start ordering the extra chapters in advance. I'll make a list so I don't forget.
P.S.: This title should be quite unexpected, right?
(End of this chapter)
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