Finally, Zhou Kui's voice changed, becoming somewhat excited: "Now that I've heard that the two of them have been beheaded and their heads displayed in public, it's truly gratifying! If I have any regrets, it's that I couldn't witness their heads rolling!"
"However, Lin Licheng is quite a character. I don't know where he got the information that there was a water source in Bailong Ridge, so he sent troops to search for it. It took us so long to find a clue."
Lin Qingyu said, "As far as I know, Bailong Ridge is just one of the many mountain ranges in the Kunlun Mountains. Apart from being a bit steep, the mountain is not very big. You have searched for so long with so many people. I'm afraid there is some other reason."
Zhou Kui replied, "Young master is wise. White Dragon Ridge is indeed not very big, but finding this water source is not easy."
"I'm sure you two have heard the rumors about White Dragon Ridge, but there's another rumor I'm not sure if you've heard of."
"What?"
"There is a deep abyss in this ridge, which is the habitat of the white dragon. This abyss appears and disappears unpredictably, and it is impossible to find its trace under normal circumstances. But once the abyss appears, the white dragon will also appear in the world."
Lin Qingyu and Wen Yuan exchanged a glance. He exclaimed in surprise, "Is this for real? Where in this world are there dragons?"
Zhou Kui said mysteriously, "You two will know when you go and see for yourselves."
Zhou Kui's appearance instantly piqued their curiosity.
The mountain path was rugged and difficult to walk, with many steep cliffs. It took the three of them a long time to reach an open area.
The terrain here is slightly low-lying, forming a natural basin surrounded by dense, towering trees.
In the open area ahead, many small wooden huts had been built, and a number of soldiers were gathered around them.
As Zhou Kui approached, many soldiers stood up and called out, "General."
"General, you're back?"
Zhou Kui nodded: "Deputy General Wang, this is Prefect Wen, and this is..."
He looked at Lin Qingyu with some difficulty.
Lin Qingyu quickly replied, "My name is Lin Qingyu. You can just call me Qingyu."
Zhou Kui continued, "This is Young Master Lin, and this is Deputy General Wang Ming."
Wang Ming clasped his hands in a respectful greeting: "Lord Wen, Young Master Lin."
"How is the situation?"
"Reporting to the general, the water level has risen somewhat, and the water temperature has dropped."
Zhou Kui nodded and instructed, "Continue to observe!"
"My lord, please follow me."
The group walked through the campsite and headed towards the innermost part of the camp.
The further in you go, the dimmer the light becomes, and the tighter the guards are deployed.
They even used sharpened wooden sticks to make a fence about half a person's height, which was placed inside the fence.
The closer you get to the inside, the more obvious the gurgling sound of water becomes.
Wen Yuan's eyes widened: "That's... the sound of boiling water?"
Zhou Kui had already opened the fence and gone inside.
Through the scattered rays of light, one can see the situation before them.
A pool of water bubbling.
"Sir, this is the water source."
Seeing this scene, Wen Yuan was astonished: "The cold winter is not over yet, and there is boiling water here?"
Lin Qingyu sensed something was wrong. He took two steps forward, squatted down on one leg, and reached out to touch the pool water.
Not hot?
"Sir, this is not boiling water. Although it is warm, it is not hot."
Upon hearing this, Wen Yuan immediately stepped forward to try it himself, and indeed it wasn't hot to the touch.
Why is that?
Zhou Kui said, "This humble general does not know the reason. I only know that this water has appeared three times in the past three months. The first time was under a cliff ten miles to the west, the second time was in a deep pit five miles away, and this is the third time. What is the same is that each time it appears, the temperature is high, and then it slowly drops. Even when the temperature drops, the bubbling does not disappear."
Everyone was surprised and even more incredulous.
If Ning Yao were here, she would probably see the reason at a glance.
There is obvious groundwater activity.
However, Wen Yuan and the others are unaware of this at the moment and can only categorize it as mysterious and unbelievable.
Lin Qingyu was the first to regain his senses. He said to Wen Yuan, "My lord, no matter what's going on with this water, it's at least the hope for Nanjiang City! If we can bring this water back to Nanjiang City, it will be a blessing for the people!"
Wen Yuan nodded: "Qing Yu is right. We need to find a way to bring the water back to Nanjiang City and gather all the skilled craftsmen in the city to come up with a solution together!"
Gradually, news of Nanjiang City having food and water spread like wildfire beyond the city walls.
People both south and north of the Kunlun Mountains received the news.
The Imperial Palace in the capital.
“Nanjiang City? Where did they get their water?” Zhang Chengzhi asked sternly.
"Reporting to you, sir, there is no concrete news yet. Nanjiang City is now as impregnable as an iron barrel, and it's not easy to infiltrate. The information we've heard is all information they've released voluntarily."
Zhang Chengzhi paced back and forth, his brow furrowed, seemingly lost in thought.
He was knocked unconscious as soon as he came out of the study that day, and when he woke up, he received two pieces of bad news.
First, his father, Prime Minister Lin, suffered a stroke and became unable to speak or take care of himself.
The second empress died suddenly in the palace. The cause of death was poisoning, but the type of poison was not identified, and the murderer was unknown.
In an instant, the Zhang family was leaderless, except for the second prince born to Empress Zhang.
Zhang Chengzhi dared not let the imperial court and the inner palace know about these two matters, so he entered the palace under a false pretense, sealed off the central palace, and guarded these two secrets to the death. He then sent out the ten-year-old second prince to stabilize the situation.
Therefore, to this day, no one knows that the prime minister is paralyzed and the empress has died suddenly.
"Go and inquire with the Lin family. Nanjiang City is their territory; they should have some information," Zhang Chengzhi instructed.
The Zhang and Lin families were at odds, but he had no other choice at the moment.
Some news is better than none.
However, the person who came to gather information returned, much to his disappointment.
The news from the Lin family was exactly the same as what they had received.
"What's going on? Doesn't the Lin family have two high-ranking officials in Nanjiang City? Why is there no news from Nanjiang City?" Zhang Chengzhi's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
"My lord, those two from Nanjiang City contacted the capital a month ago, and there has been no news since."
Zhang Chengzhi said impatiently, "The Lin family's current status is largely due to those two people. How could they be in constant contact without any reason? The Lin family must not be telling the truth. Go and investigate again!"
In contrast, the people in Consort Shu's palace were just as anxious, like ants on a hot pan, running around in circles.
"What's going on with my older cousin? Why is there no news at all? Has the person been arrested or not? Why are you so slow in doing things!"
The head of the Lin family was getting a headache from all the noise: "My dear Consort Shu, please take a rest. I'm getting dizzy from all this spinning."
"Your Majesty, please rest. Given the situation outside, it's normal for news to be slow to arrive!"
Consort Lin turned and sat down: "How could I not be anxious? The fact that she was able to escape from the palace means there's something wrong with her! I tried to befriend her, but she ignored me."
"The Empress is making no move now. I now suspect that the two of them conspired to kill my child!"
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