Chapter 406: God of Law
Dadada...
Behind the mighty procession, a resolute young man riding a steed and wearing dark armor rode up to the side of Duke Anguo and said seriously:
"Foster father, it's cold and hard to travel. The journey back to Beijing is long. Please rest in the rear carriage!"
Cao Mao, with his temples frosted and deep wrinkles on his face, looked at this man in front of him. He was an outstanding leader, and his reputation in the entire Jubei City Army was second only to his own. He was his adopted son, whom he relied on deeply. He suddenly said:
"Don't you think you are too old to march?"
The young man in dark armor was startled and hurriedly explained:
"I dare not. Father, you are still young. A simple march is no problem for you. I just don't want you to work too hard. I said something wrong. Please punish me, Father!"
As he spoke, seeing that Cao Mao didn't respond, the young man stretched out his hand and slapped himself in the face.
"What are you doing?" Cao Mao finally spoke up to stop him, his face showing displeasure: "Father has never blamed you."
The resolute young man lowered his head and listened to the lecture.
Cao Mao's mouth curled up slightly, and his voice softened. He and his adopted son rode on horseback, sighing:
"You're right. The journey back to the capital is long, and now is not wartime, so the commander-in-chief should be conserving his energy. But you should also know that the commander's every word and action is a role model for the soldiers. If the commander indulges in pleasure, how can the soldiers be willing to fight for him?"
The young man in dark armor suddenly realized: "My foster father is right!"
Cao Mao smiled and said:
"This time when I return to the capital, I will not bring anyone else with me but you. Do you know why?"
The young man said solemnly, "My adoptive father has nurtured me, so he is willing to support me. When I go to the capital, I will be careful with my words and actions, and will not bring shame to my adoptive father's reputation!"
Cao Mao laughed and tapped him lightly with the whip in his hand, as if in appreciation, but also as if with some different meaning.
His smile suddenly faded and he said:
"I'm glad you know. I'm back in Beijing for one thing: reporting on my work, and celebrating the New Year. But there's one more important thing."
The dark-armored young man asked doubtfully, "What's going on?"
Cao Mao said calmly, "Do you still remember the Northern Blood Knife?"
The dark-armored youth was stunned and looked angry:
"How could I possibly forget? This thief, a lieutenant general, disregarded military law for his own selfish reasons, slaughtered his comrades, and assassinated his superiors. Facing capture, he stubbornly resisted, killing and wounding countless of our comrades. He is truly despicable..."
Unfortunately, this person disappeared without a trace during the manhunt. We have been searching for him for the past two years, but there is still no news..."
Of course he remembered this person.
But what no one dared to say was that the reason why Northern Blood Knife was rejected and frantically wanted by Northern City was that he had killed his comrades was only one of the reasons.
More importantly, one of the generals whom this man assassinated in anger because his wife was defiled was one of the sons of Anguo Duke Cao Mao.
A biological son, not an adopted son like him.
It is understandable that Duke Anguo, who had experienced the pain of losing his son, hated that man so much that he was even unwilling to mention the lieutenant general's name, only calling him by his nickname "Blood Knife of the North".
The young man was halfway through his words when he suddenly came to his senses and said in disbelief:
"Foster father suddenly mentioned this person, could it be..."
Cao Mao nodded, his eyes cold:
"I recently learned that this person was not dead, but was hiding in the capital under a different name, and even had a new identity."
"New identity?"
Cao Maoen sighed and uttered a name faintly: "Lang Eighteen."
The dark-armored young man was bewildered: "I've never heard of this name."
Cao Mao smiled and said, "Not only have you not heard of it, but I, your father, have never thought of it..."
He paused, and without saying anything else, he turned his horse and headed towards the spacious carriage at the back of the team.
"Father is going back to take a nap. You lead the way."
"Yes!" The resolute young man bowed.
…
…
Forbidden City Villa.
After winter, the grass and trees on the entire mountain withered, and even this building built on a high mountain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack began to look dilapidated.
Qi Yuchun was wearing a loose robe, with a long spear wrapped in thick cloth strips and its edge dulled slung across his back. He was walking alone on the corridor of the villa.
The former commander of the imperial guards in the capital looked a little weak, and his steps were not as graceful as before.
However, all the members of the Kuangfu Society that he met along the way saluted him.
Qi Yuchun walked to the pavilion on the cliff. There was a plain zither on the table in the pavilion, and a dead leaf fell on the strings.
Qi Yuchun looked at the old man standing in the pavilion with his hands behind his back and wrapped in a cotton robe.
Zhuang Xiaocheng turned around and asked with concern, "Your injuries haven't healed yet, why are you out and about again?"
In the battle of Yan Suo Lake, Qi Yuchun, who was seriously injured by the angry Eunuch Hai, Lang Shiba, and Ji Yue, pulled up the corner of his mouth:
"I'm just injured, not dead."
Zhuang Xiaocheng smiled and said:
"I am weak and powerless, and the survival of the Kuangfu Society depends on the military strength of Commander Qi, so I am naturally concerned."
Qi Yuchun smiled, accepted the compliment frankly, and said:
"I heard that the imperial court has made some moves."
Zhuang Xiaocheng nodded and sighed:
"The imperial court, through the shadow guards, has leaked to us that they want to exchange prisoners, to exchange those captured members for the imperial officers and soldiers in our hands... I have agreed."
Qi Yuchun's face was solemn. "I'm afraid there's a trick going on here. They haven't shown any intention of exchanging prisoners before."
Zhuang Xiaocheng sighed softly and said quietly:
"Even if it's a fraud, can we just ignore it? The New Year is approaching, and the families of those arrested members, their wives and daughters, are all hoping that they will return alive so that they can be reunited with their families."
Qi Yuchun was silent, then asked, "Can they be released by the end of the year? What does the Grand Tutor plan to do with those people?"
Zhuang Xiaocheng said calmly:
"We've already sent people to negotiate with the imperial court about exchanging prisoners. However, in order to prevent the imperial court from taking the opportunity to track us down, we'll have to expend some extra effort. However, the members of the society are very enthusiastic about bringing back the prisoners, and are willing to take the risk to welcome their companions back.
So we can probably bring them back in the next few days... As for those who come back, we'll temporarily settle them somewhere and let them recover from their injuries."
Qi Yuchun remained silent, he knew that the so-called healing was just an excuse.
The real purpose was to temporarily control this group of prisoners in order to identify whether there were spies among them who had been instigated by the court to rebel.
"Commander Qi, our enemies are becoming more and more cunning."
Zhuang Xiaocheng suddenly said in a profound tone:
"The pseudo-emperor's position is becoming increasingly secure. Next year, I'm afraid our days will be very difficult."
"Master..." Qi Yuchun opened his mouth.
But he was interrupted by the latter, and Zhuang Xiaocheng said with fluttering sleeves:
"You should go back and recuperate. Only by recovering quickly can you play a greater role."
Qi Yuchun nodded and turned to leave.
After watching the second-in-command of the Kuangfu Society leave, Zhuang Xiaocheng walked out of the villa with his hands behind his back and strolled in the mountains.
It seems like a way to relax.
After an unknown amount of time, he walked to a hidden cave in the mountains and started talking to the cave about the recent events in the Kuangfu Society.
The winter sun shone into the cave from behind him, and a figure sitting cross-legged on the ground could be vaguely seen.
"I see."
After a long time, the man in the cave said.
Zhuang Xiaocheng waited for a while, and seeing that the latter didn't say anything else, he sighed softly, turned around, and walked back to the villa on the dead branches and leaves of winter.
But his eyes turned towards the capital, and he remembered the name of the person who promoted the prisoner exchange mentioned in the intelligence.
That name, the one that made him hate it countless times in the past six months and made him regret not having killed it completely.
"Zhao...Du...An..."
…
…
Deep in the northern snowfields, it seems like snow is falling all year round.
Few people go.
However, in this area where the soldiers of Jubei City rarely patrol, there is a huge icy lake.
The icy lake is at the top of a mountain. The surrounding shores are covered with hard rocks and ice and snow, but the lake water is not completely frozen. There is only a thin layer of ice on the edge. The closer you get to the center of the lake, the clearer the water becomes without any impurities.
If Zhao Duan were here, he would definitely see that this is a dormant volcano, and this lake is the crater.
In the snowy mountains, the cold wind was howling. A sorcerer rode the wind, returning from the north, and climbed up the mountain with the wind.
When he arrived at the vicinity of the "Heavenly Lake", he pinched his fingers to reduce the surrounding wind, and vaguely saw illusory gods floating behind him like ghosts.
“Stop!”
The snow on the surface of a stone covered with ice and snow suddenly melted, and another warlock crawled out from the stone and stared at the newcomer.
The sorcerer who rode the wind bowed, looked towards the center of the Sky Lake, and said:
"I want to see the leader and report my findings in the Mubei Forest."
The warlock "Man in the Stone" shook his head and said, "The leader is in seclusion. No one is allowed to disturb him."
The Wind Control Warlock was stunned for a moment, and looked forward again in disappointment: "Why did you suddenly go into seclusion?"
The Man in the Stone shook his head: "This is not something we can know."
The two of them looked towards the center of Tianhu Lake together. There was a large floating rock in the middle of the lake, like a black isolated island.
On the island, a middle-aged man with long hair was sitting cross-legged. He had a mysterious temperament. There was a fish basket next to him and a fishing rod fixed in front of him.
He was actually fishing.
People in the martial arts world only know about the "Fa Shen Sect", which is a powerful organization composed of a group of sorcerers. Its leader is elusive and is suspected of having the ability to travel to the outside world with his "avatar".
The last time Zhao Duan returned to Beijing from Taicang, he encountered the clone of the leader of the Fashen Sect, but was killed by Eunuch Hai who was secretly escorting him on the way.
But Eunuch Hai also failed to capture the true existence of the leader of the Fashen Sect.
At this moment, the eyelids of the leader of the Fashen Sect, who had his eyes closed tightly, trembled and he suddenly opened his eyes.
"The leader has awakened!"
Around Tianhu Lake, sorcerers with different skills suddenly came out of hiding in the dark and looked towards the center of the lake.
…
at the same time.
In the capital, inside the Buddhist hall of Shenlong Temple.
The green smoke from the incense and candles curls up, and the huge golden statue of Buddha looks down majestically at the hall.
The short, thin and old Abbot Xuanyin, wearing a brown monk's robe, faced the big Buddha, holding a wooden hammer and gently knocking on the wooden fish.
His eyes slowly closed.
"The abbot has gone into a trance again."
Bian Ji glanced at the old monk who started beating the wooden fish and spoke calmly.
Then he turned around and looked at Nagarjuna Bodhisattva and Prajna Bodhisattva standing behind him.
——
Typos should be corrected first and then replaced
(End of this chapter)
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