Chapter 968: External Aid [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
The incident at the teahouse was so egregious that it was reported to the local government.
In peacetime, when manpower is sufficient, if a case involving the disappearance of a person occurs in the jurisdiction, the government will send more people to solve the case in order to maintain its prestige—they must find the person alive or dead!
However, given the current special circumstances, similar heinous incidents have surged in a short period, and the government's manpower is clearly insufficient. With insufficient personnel for the search, the investigation is progressing slowly, and despite their efforts, they have found no trace of the perpetrators in the teahouse, let alone the proprietress.
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the proprietress was likely in grave danger.
I couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
This proprietress's teahouse is very famous locally.
The tea she sold was made with high-quality ingredients and was inexpensive, but she was even more famous for her appearance, personality, talent, and temperament.
When the teahouse first opened, many customers came because of the proprietress's beauty. Over time, those who came by reputation gradually discovered that the proprietress was eloquent, knowledgeable, and had insights that even local scholars found thought-provoking.
Gradually, this teahouse gained a reputation.
It became a place frequented and lingered by local literati.
It is said that many men admired the proprietress, and several matchmakers visited her door to propose marriage. Some wealthy and powerful families even offered her the position of their principal wife. Unfortunately, the proprietress remained deeply devoted, unable to forget her deceased husband. The more she remained so, the more scholars admired her devotion, affection, and loyalty, sighing that with such a wife, what more could a husband ask for? Those who refused her advances dared not, under pressure, attempt to seize her.
That's how the proprietress's teahouse gained a foothold.
Who would have thought such a tragedy would occur?
"Alas, beauty is often envied by heaven..."
Everyone tacitly avoided mentioning the proprietress's situation and fate.
With such beauty, how could the villains who took her away show any mercy?
As for what he's thinking?
Only they themselves know the truth.
The onlookers sighed with regret, then gradually dispersed after watching the spectacle. Among them, a tall, burly man pulled his straw hat down, looked away from the teahouse, and disappeared into the crowd. Gong Cheng hadn't expected the proprietress to be so quick to act, running away without hesitation. He still had unresolved questions; he would ask her about it next time they met.
With Gong Cheng's abilities, the round trip wouldn't take much time.
However, he has indeed been away for quite a while this time.
Gong Cheng had just returned to his tent when his calm gaze fell precisely on the dark corner inside. He then turned his back and used his martial energy to light a candle. As the soft light dispelled the darkness, it revealed a pair of dark eyes, eyes filled with anger.
The other party said sarcastically, "General Gong is really something. As a general, you casually abandoned your soldiers and left without a word for five or six days. People who don't know the situation might think you've gone to betray the enemy."
Gong Cheng did not take these words to heart.
It's normal for the other party to have resentment.
The Northern Desert high command couldn't control Gong Cheng, nor dared to, but they had no qualms about making things difficult for others. During his absence, the other party had probably been scolded quite a bit. Only a saint could endure such undeserved misfortune without resentment: "My title of Grand General is merely nominal; I have neither soldiers nor generals under my command. I have no objection to their battle plans, nor can I offer any advice. Just inform me when the army sets up camp and tell me what to do; my presence or absence makes no difference."
Gong Cheng has a knack for playing it safe.
He spoke with confidence and composure, but those listening were enraged: "Gong Yunchi, aren't you going to explain yourself?"
Gong Cheng asked, "What do you mean, 'explain'?"
"Where have you been these past few days?!"
"Liu Guan, this is none of your business."
The woman in black, known as Liu Guan, stepped forward, her hand on her sword hilt, and squinted: "If you don't answer, do you think I don't know? As a general of the Northern Desert, what are you doing in Kunzhou at this critical juncture?"
Gong Cheng was not surprised that his whereabouts had been exposed.
The woman before him, Liu Guan, was always meticulous and cunning. She held a high position under Tudege and had a considerable number of men at her disposal. Given their animosity, it was normal for her to be watching his movements. Perhaps Liu Guan's actions weren't entirely driven by personal vendetta.
Tudege has also had his share of complaints about him over the years.
Tudege is no longer a lowly hostage, and he has survived the difficult years when he had little political capital. Gong Cheng is still important to him, but he is no longer as indispensable as a lifeline.
It's hard to say that Liu Guan's actions weren't instigated by Tu Dege.
Gong Cheng said, "It's to handle personal matters."
Seeing that Gong Cheng was using the same excuse again, Liu Guan felt even colder: "Back when Jinli County was lost, General Gong also used 'personal matters' as an excuse. Your 'personal matters' are going to see a widowed woman? Going to meet your old lover?"
Gong Cheng was surprised that she had even found out about this level.
A friendly reminder: "Stay away from that woman."
Although the proprietress was an ordinary person without the special abilities of a scholar or warrior, Gong Cheng never believed that anyone who could access the inner circle of the Gods' Guild was truly ordinary. Even disregarding that identity, her previous job was running a butcher shop.
Compared to killing chickens and ducks or washing hands to cook soup, they are far more skilled at skinning people, and even more so at peeling off an entire skin in one go. This ability requires talent, but even more so, it requires diligent study and practice to reach the level of "skill through practice."
It's not uncommon for literary scholars to possess literary talent, even among ordinary people.
Liu Guan, however, thought that Gong Cheng was protecting the proprietress.
He sneered, "What's wrong? Getting anxious? I never expected that General Gong, who was indifferent to the beauties bestowed upon him by the Northern Desert and seemed aloof from worldly desires, was actually not truly uninterested in women but had someone else in his heart. You panicked just from mentioning it?"
"If you're not afraid of death, you can try to touch her." Gong Cheng couldn't stop someone who was determined to court death. "But I can't guarantee what bad consequences it might bring. Also, tell Weng Zhi this. Tell him not to lose sight of the bigger picture and get the priorities wrong."
Liu Guan's expression changed for a moment: "I will pass it on."
Before long, the camp returned to tranquility.
Gong Cheng washed up briefly and then went to cultivate.
He didn't care whether Tudege would listen to his advice or not.
Tudege used to be cautious, but now it's hard to say; power and status can change a person beyond recognition.
After Gong Cheng circulated his energy for more than a dozen cycles, he exhaled a deep breath of turbid air and stopped cultivating. It wasn't that he didn't want to continue, but rather that an aura appeared nearby that forced him to stop. This aura was unfamiliar, yet it sent a chill down his spine.
Gong Cheng hadn't experienced this feeling in many years.
He rose calmly and walked out of the tent.
The moonlight was like water, a light, silvery veil draped over people, adding to their sense of loneliness and coldness. Gong Cheng had no interest in appreciating the beautiful scenery of the wilderness. His sharp gaze was fixed on the owner of the aura—this person wore a bright silver robe, his hair was white with a hint of blue, and he exuded a hazy glow. He was very young and could be described as dashing, but his eyes carried an age that did not match his appearance.
"Are you his successor?"
This person's voice is also very strange.
At first glance, they sound very young, but upon closer listening, they seem to have experienced a lot of life.
There was an indescribable strangeness about it.
Gong Cheng had seen this strangeness in another person before.
Gong Cheng quickly realized who the "he" the other person was referring to, and his shock was beyond words. He tried to calm himself down, but when he came to his senses, he found that his back was already soaked with sweat, and his throat was dry.
He nervously licked his lips.
Using saliva to relieve the dryness and tightness on his lips, he squeezed out a sentence from his throat: "Greetings, sir! I am Gong Cheng, courtesy name Yunchi. The 'he' you are referring to is the one at Dragon Tomb Mountain?"
The newcomer retorted indifferently, "Otherwise what? The aura emanating from you is so overwhelming that I can't ignore it. I never expected that our reunion would take this form. And I certainly never imagined that the stingy old man would be willing to use this method to find a successor."
He knew how much the other party valued cultivation.
Gong Cheng didn't respond, but his heart was in turmoil—this person in front of him was definitely the outside help that Madam Shen had mentioned. He had considered many possibilities, but he never expected this.
Gong Cheng cut to the chase: "Why did you suddenly come out of seclusion?"
The visitor said, "Why don't you take a guess?"
Gong Cheng guessed: "The Council of Gods? But as far as I know, you and the Council of Gods have some grudges in the past, is that right?"
They disliked the pantheon.
A typical example is the person who gave Gong Cheng a profound and enlightening experience.
This senior's hatred for the Pantheon was second only to that for the Gongxi Clan. If he were ever in a good mood and thought of his ancestor, who also came from the Gongxi Clan, the Pantheon could be ranked alongside the Gongxi Clan as the existence he hated most. Before his death, he murmured curses such as "We've all been deceived, we've all been deceived" and "Ji Moxing shall die a horrible death"—that senior was severely injured by Ji Moxing, who was also from the Gongxi Clan, and imprisoned in a dungeon called "Dragon Tomb Mountain" for decades.
Gong Cheng later learned that, besides the unlucky senior, there were four others who had also been deceived, each a powerful and unpredictable old monster. But apart from the Pantheon, he couldn't think of any other person or organization with such influence that they would ask the other party to come out of seclusion and help them.
It's not entirely true that he came out of the mountains.
The person before him possessed a stronger aura than himself, but not to the point of being unable to match him; the other party must be an avatar.
It is also an avatar with seven or eight tenths of the original's strength.
This is enough to demonstrate the other party's determination to help the Northern Desert.
The visitor merely sneered: "People's likes and dislikes are not fixed. Yesterday's enemy can be today's ally, let alone an enemy from a hundred years ago. No matter how deep the hatred, it is all insignificant in the face of time..."
But Gong Cheng's intuition told him that things were not so simple.
Has the person in front of you also realized that they've been deceived?
Just as Gong Cheng was making his own guesses, the man suddenly asked, "When he died, did he feel any resentment?"
Gong Cheng: "It's not very peaceful."
His face was contorted with rage and hatred!
The man sneered: "So that's dying with your eyes open?"
Gong Cheng dared not say a word at this moment, because the aura surrounding the other party was quite a sign of an impending storm, with turbulent undercurrents beneath the calm surface: "Did he have any last words?"
Before Gong Cheng could answer, the man continued, "Shouldn't it be that you're to kill the entire Gongxi clan, leaving not a single one alive?"
This statement directly confirmed Gong Cheng's guess.
The other party indeed realized that they had been deceived for a hundred years.
Gong Cheng readily admitted, "Yes."
The man asked, "What was the result?"
Gong Cheng replied, "We ran into each other by chance a while ago and fought once. Although there are only two people left in this clan, they are not easy to deal with."
"Besides Gongxi Chou, there's someone else? Who?"
Gong Xiqiu was quite famous in the Northwest Continent a few years ago.
Gong Cheng nodded: "Judging from the methods they used, they should be the legendary high priest of the Gongxi clan, whose methods are unpredictable."
Their direct strength is unclear, but their ability to escape is truly remarkable.
It would be difficult to capture these two without prior planning.
A flicker of emotion finally crossed the man's eyes, a fleeting glint of cold light that startled even Gong Cheng: "The High Priest of the Gongxi Clan... Heh, indeed not easy to deal with..."
He pressed further, "Is there any news about them?"
Gong Cheng's attitude towards hunting down the descendants of the Gongxi clan is also one of nonchalance; he only acts when he encounters them, and doesn't actively seek them out when he doesn't. Currently, there seems to be no need to deliberately search for them. According to intelligence, Gongxi Chou has become one of Shen Tang's top generals.
It is bound to happen on the battlefields of the two countries.
All I need to do is wait patiently for the opportunity to come to me.
The news hadn't spread yet, but as an outsider, the newcomer would find out sooner or later, so Gong Cheng had no need to hide it: "Gong Xi Chou is loyal to Kang State and will most likely be the vanguard general in this battle. As for that mysterious high priest, there is no accurate information yet, but I guess there is a very high probability that he will fight for Gong Xi Chou."
You don't need to go looking for it; it will come to you automatically.
"Let's settle this all at once."
The visitor neither confirmed nor denied the outcome.
Compared to Gong Xichou, who was not as strong as Gong Cheng, he was more wary of the Gongxi tribe's high priest. Don't be fooled by their seemingly refined appearance, as if they could be easily defeated with a single punch. They were all insane at heart and would fight to the death at the drop of a hat.
but--
Judging from Gong Cheng's description, the high priest was still quite inexperienced.
If he had the skill level of those guys back then, with Gong Xi Chou by his side, he wouldn't just be able to beat Gong Cheng, he'd even dare to challenge a 20th-rank Marquis.
The fact that the other party escaped only proves that he wasn't good enough.
No matter how high one's talent, without room for growth, one is equivalent to a waste, and in the end, one is just a corpse: "Gong Xichou and the current High Priest are both going into battle? What is the relationship between the King of Kang and them?"
Gong Cheng thought for a long time before finally coming up with a word.
"confidant?"
From Gong Cheng's perspective, the two did indeed become friends after a series of life-or-death battles, developing feelings for each other and turning enemies into friends.
The person who came was momentarily stunned upon hearing this word.
But it was quickly shattered into mockery.
“Being a confidant of the Gongxi clan is no easy task.” He couldn’t help but feel curious about the ruler of Kang. He had lived for too many years and witnessed the rise and fall of countless countries on this continent. In his view, the current Kang was just one of them.
Destruction was the inevitable outcome.
After that, silence fell between the two. Just as Gong Cheng was thinking about how to get rid of the other person, the person asked him if he was free in the next two days. Gong Cheng thought the other person wanted to give him some pointers, so he couldn't refuse: "I don't have any trivial matters to attend to lately. Do you have any instructions, senior?"
The newcomer's gaze fell in a certain direction.
That's the location of Camel City.
Beyond Camel City lies the border fortress of the Kingdom of Kang.
"Come with me once."
"The army has not been ordered to break camp."
The newcomer simply uttered chilling words: "Kill them all. It doesn't matter whether those good-for-nothings come or not."
|ω`)
I have to catch the high-speed train back tomorrow. The temple fair was really lively today. It's just that Jingji was unlucky and accidentally lost her phone, which someone else picked up... If she doesn't update, please understand, my darlings.
PS: Requesting guaranteed monthly votes.
(End of this chapter)
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