God blesses this perfect match
“They’re trying to intimidate you, to threaten you,” Tang Qi continued casually, “but they’re unlucky; they misjudged the numbers. They certainly didn’t expect you to be with us.”
“If I’m not mistaken, this isn’t their first time, and you should be able to predict that this won’t be the last,” Tang Qi said, his gaze falling on Lu Cheng and himself. “Are you going to pray day and night that you’ll have this kind of good luck to escape death every time?”
Lu Cheng didn't speak, but Tang Qi still stared at him calmly: "Of course you can continue to say nothing, but you may not have the chance to speak next time."
"I can tell you frankly, I have a slight conflict with the people who want to kill you. The enemy of my enemy is my friend—at least for now, we're on the same side. Once this is over, no one will be interested in your words anymore. Lu Chenghe, just keep your secret and wait for the next sneak attack."
"Brother Zhengye! What are you saying!" Lu Juezhen stood up and said anxiously.
"Oh," Tang Qi looked at Lu Juezhen and smiled, "I almost forgot, you have a younger brother."
His gaze returned to Lu Cheng and his body, his tone still indifferent: "Aren't you afraid of your own death, but aren't you also afraid of his death?"
Tang Qi tilted his head and laughed, "To cut the weeds, you must pull them out by the roots, Brother Lu."
After a long silence, Lu Cheng finally spoke: "Let him go."
"Brother, what are you doing!"
“Let him go first,” Cheng Luhe said again.
Tang Qi glanced at Cheng Junshi, who, quite tacitly, pulled the cursing Lu Juezhen aside.
Lu Chenghe: "If I tell you everything, can you guarantee my brother's safety?"
"No," he answered without hesitation.
"you--!"
“Brother Lu,” Tang Qi shrugged, “I’m not a god or Buddha, you’ve made a mistake in your choice.”
“I can tell you everything I know. I only have one request,” Lu Chenghe looked at him. “If you have any conscience, or even just out of pity, if Juezhen is in any mortal danger, I want you to save him. Once. I only ask you to save him once. After that, it’s up to his fate.”
"Are you entrusting your orphan to someone else?" Tang Qi asked, arms crossed.
"I know I won't live much longer, so you must promise me, or I will not say a word."
Tang Qi found it amusing and said, "Even if I did agree, you're already dead. What can you do if I don't do it?"
“I’m out of options,” Lu Chenghe said. “I don’t really trust you at all, but I don’t know what else I can do.”
“It’s right not to believe, and I don’t need you to believe,” Tang Qi laughed twice and suddenly turned to reveal Cheng Junshi and Lu Juezhen on the other side: “Let me show you the way. He is truly sincere to his little apprentice.”
“This guy is straightforward and single-minded; once he sets his mind on someone, he’ll protect them with his life. If you hug his leg and cry, maybe he’ll soften and become your brother’s free bodyguard. Brother Lu, don’t be so pessimistic; perhaps you haven’t reached the end of your rope yet.” Tang Qi laughed, arms crossed.
He glanced at Cheng Junshi, tilted his chin up, and whistled at him. Cheng Junshi looked up at the sound, grabbed Lu Juezhen by the back of the neck, and dragged him over amidst Lu Juezhen's whimpering cries of "Ouch, ouch!"
"What a perfect understanding, Brother Junshi." Tang Qi raised his hand and patted his chest lightly twice.
"Now that we've laid everything out on the table, you should show your sincerity, Brother Lu."
Lu Cheng sighed softly, raised his lowered head, and finally spoke: "The reason I left Jinbei is because I don't want to die."
"I'm not afraid of dying on the battlefield, but I don't want to die at the hands of my own people."
"Our own people?! Bro, what's going on? Why didn't you tell me?!"
Lu Juezhen's head, which was creaking, was suddenly pressed down by Cheng Junshi. Cheng He continued, "Six months ago, Jinbei held a selection process. They formed a special army called 'Blade Wolf,' with about a few dozen members."
He paused for a moment and then continued, "I was selected in the third batch of 'Blade Wolves.' The selection process takes place almost every three months, and none of the first two batches have ever returned to the military camp."
"The formation of special teams requires His Majesty's approval. The 'Blade Wolf' designation cannot be formed without prior approval. What have you been doing since you joined the 'Blade Wolf'?" Cheng Junshi asked.
"Everything was normal for a while. We were learning horsemanship, archery, and short sword. I thought it was just ordinary special training, but when we learned short sword, I realized something was strange—we were practicing all the techniques from the Southern Continent."
"He had you study the military tactics of the Southern Continent?" Tang Qi asked in surprise. Cheng Luhe added, "We were also puzzled at the time, but the commander explained that knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle. We thought it might be some kind of tactic and didn't ask any further questions until that day."
Everyone held their breath. Lu Chenghe slowly spoke: "The commander brought many sets of armor, which are from the Southern Continent Army. He made us all put them on. A group of people were eliminated in the previous equestrian and archery competitions. He said that the next selection is the final one."
"At first, he took a cabbage, tied it with a rope, and made us chop it one by one, either with a bow or a sword. After everyone had chopped it, he randomly called two people to stand in front, and then ordered someone to bring a horse. That horse was the commander's mount, very valuable and well-cared for. We would feed it regularly."
As he spoke of this, Cheng Luhe shuddered involuntarily, as if recalling a terrifying scene: "He ordered those two men to kill his horse. At first, we all thought we misheard, and so did the two men. They were both stunned and didn't move. I thought it was a joke, but in those few seconds of hesitation, the two men were killed by the commander."
The three people were stunned. Lu Juezhen's eyes widened: "Just... just like that, he was killed?"
Lu Cheng nodded: "Blood was splattered all over the ground. Soon it was the third and fourth. In order to save their lives, they had no choice but to stab the horse in the neck. The horse cried out and fell to the ground. We were all frightened, but the selection was not over yet. The leader brought a woman with him. She was his beautiful concubine."
"He ordered you... to kill that woman?" Tang Qi asked tentatively.
Lu Cheng nodded helplessly: "From now on, if we hesitate in any way when he gives orders, we will be killed on the spot, and in the end, there will be only a dozen or so people left."
"How could there be such inhumane training methods?" Cheng Junshi said, frowning.
“There are indeed such records in history, but that’s because the person training the troops needed an army that would never rebel. He wanted subordinates who would carry out any order without hesitation. You could say he needed his troops to be inhuman.” Tang Qi then asked Cheng Luhe, “Didn’t any of you resist?”
"I wouldn't dare, disobeying military orders is punishable by death by beating."
"Who is behind the formation of 'Blade Wolf'? I must report this to His Majesty upon my return to the capital," Cheng Junshi said bitterly.
Lu Cheng glanced at him and then slowly said, "'Blade Wolf' was formed by His Majesty's order."
Everyone present was shocked, especially Cheng Junshi, who stood frozen in place as if struck by lightning.
Tang Qi: "And then? What did you do next, and how were you transferred to Li Guangjun?"
Cheng Lu took a breath and spoke again: "Later, we were selected in three batches for a secret mission. He made us wear the uniforms of the Southern Continent Army and travel a long distance for a military exercise."
He paused and then said, "It was supposed to be an exercise, but when the first casualty occurred, things got out of control."
Lu Cheng frowned, his face full of pain: "They are all madmen. They kill without any regard for others. I was very scared. I don't understand why they do this, so I ran away."
"I fled all the way to a city, where I met an acquaintance."
Tang Qi: "Who?"
"Zhou Ziye, the second young master of the Zhou family."
Lu Chenghe: "I knew Zhou Ziye before. His father was the Left Censor-in-Chief of the court. After the 'Blade Wolf' selection, I didn't want to continue. This time, I made up my mind even more, so I went to ask him to help me transfer out of Jinbei. I didn't have any hope, but Zhou Ziye suddenly withdrew his troops, and the Left Censor-in-Chief really helped me transfer out of Jinbei and into Liguang. In fact, to make my transfer more reasonable, the Left Censor-in-Chief let me replace Zhou Ziye and work under Ye Shoujun."
Tang Qi suddenly froze, looked up at him in disbelief, and asked, "The city you fled to, was it called... Crane City?"
"How did you know?" Lu Cheng asked, his face filled with fear.
Tang Qi felt a chill run down his spine. If he wasn't mistaken, the target of their military exercise was the Wolf Strategy Army.
That was the new recruits from the Southern Camp who were transferred out by Sheng Ye after he went to conquer Qing Teng Valley.
He had wondered before how his soldiers could be lured into attacking Crane City, even with a general leading the troops, they would still have suspicions.
So that's how it is. They were tricked into going to war and faced off against the "Blade Wolves" wearing Southern Continent armor. Their familiar Southern Continent killing methods didn't arouse any suspicion, and the entire "Blade Wolves" army had lost all humanity and would only obey orders.
After the two armies were locked in a standoff, "Blade Wolf" received orders to withdraw and lured Wolf's army to Crane City.
And the journey and the route were the reasons why the Wolf Army attacked Crane City.
A city that accepts enemy troops can certainly become a target for attack.
As for the subsequent withdrawal, that was, of course, merely a preparation for the complete annihilation of them.
The traitor and the leaked defense map are all just disgusting ambitions of that group of people.
Because the Wolf Army was besieging the city, Ye Qian, who was in Hecheng at the time, naturally suspected that there were spies within the Wolf Army and that Li Wuyuan, who was leading the attack, was merely a pawn, a sold-out pawn. When he led his troops in a desperate battle, he could never have imagined that it was their relentless pursuit that would drag him into an abyss.
After the siege ended, Li Wuyuan was taken away by Sheng Ye, and the remaining soldiers were all massacred. At the same time, another person appeared in Jingzhou City—Zhang Dong.
Zhang Dong's resemblance to Li Wuyuan was the reason he was chosen.
While confirming that Langce was a spy, they circulated fake military passes with the aim of causing the Marquis of Jianbei, who was then on a southern expedition, to die under a pre-ordained pretext.
Because of betrayal and treachery, the Marquis of Jianbei deserved to die, and no one would doubt that his real death was due to something else.
Similarly, they killed him in the same way.
Tang Qi, who should have died in Katyu.
Everyone became a pawn to be sacrificed.
A premeditated scheme concealed the truth of treason and collusion with the enemy. In this scheme, they even deceived His Majesty and disregarded the common people.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
