Chapter 224: Greetings To The Heir Of Dingguo Duke—hope You’re Well!
Mo Ziyuan dodged aside, then clashed hands with him.
Among the remaining people, two carried Wu Hetu’s corpse back to his big tent, while the others split into two groups, one rushing toward Lin Xin and the rest all heading toward Mo Ziyuan.
Wu Hetu’s deputy general’s skills were no match for Mo Ziyuan, but he channeled his overwhelming grief and rage into power, his moves ruthless and fierce, and with others joining in, Mo Ziyuan was soon locked in a bitter fight.
Lin Xin had it comparatively easy; fewer people came her way for one thing, but the main reason was that these people were far easier to deal with than those on Mo Ziyuan’s side. The Western Rong people were no fools and knew their strength was far inferior to Mo Ziyuan’s, so they came to pick on Lin Xin, the soft target.
Lin Xin didn’t use her supernatural ability again; all evening she had been restless, always feeling that something beyond her control was about to happen, so she kept fighting the Western Rong people with her own power.
Even so, she finished her battle earlier than Mo Ziyuan and, sword in hand, helped him take down several Western Rong people.
Their fighting wasn’t exactly quiet, but no one else came after the initial group. After the battle ended, the camp was eerily quiet, making Lin Xin and Mo Ziyuan increasingly uneasy.
The two sneaked to the granary, only to find just a thin layer of unpolished rice on the ground.
“What’s going on?” Mo Ziyuan squatted down, picked up a few grains of unpolished rice, and examined them, realizing it was the same grain they ate daily, just old stock.
Lin Xin looked around and frowned deeply. “Let’s hurry back. This place is probably empty except for those guys just now.”
“What?”
Lin Xin pointed to the messy but traceable wheel tracks and footprints underfoot. “The Western Rong people have likely already withdrawn from here. We’ve come for nothing; we just don’t know where they’ve gone.”
Mo Ziyuan squatted on the ground and examined them closely, confirming it was just as Lin Xin said.
“They couldn’t have gone far in a day. Let’s follow the tracks and see; if we can’t find them, we’ll head back first!”
Lin Xin nodded, and the two turned and quickly left the Western Rong people’s large camp.
They followed the wheel tracks all the way to the foot of a big mountain, where the tracks indicated they had gone up the mountain.
“Let’s head back first. We don’t know the terrain of this mountain yet; if we get surrounded, it’ll be bad,” Mo Ziyuan said.
“Alright, let’s go back and tell General Chen about it first. He’ll decide what to do next.”
When the two were still some distance from the camp, Lin Xin suddenly stopped, her face turning very serious.
“What’s wrong?” Mo Ziyuan’s hearing wasn’t as sharp as hers, and seeing her grave expression, he asked.
“There’s fighting in the camp.”
“Fighting?”
The two exchanged a glance and saw the same suspicion in each other’s eyes.
“Hurry!”
The closer they got to the camp, the clearer the fighting sounds became. Mo Ziyuan and Lin Xin quickened their steps and, upon arrival, saw soldiers locked in battle with the Western Rong people.
Calling it “locked in battle” wasn’t quite right; it was more like a one-sided massacre by the Western Rong people.
The soldiers resisted bravely one by one, but they all staggered unsteadily, clearly at the end of their strength.
Without a word, Lin Xin unleashed her water element supernatural ability with full force, sharp water blades slicing through the night sky and mercilessly slitting the Western Rong people’s throats.
As bright red blood sprayed, the Western Rong people widened their eyes in disbelief and fell in droves, twitching a few times before losing their breath of life.
Mo Ziyuan charged toward General Chen’s camp tent with his long sword, killing quite a few Western Rong people along the way with swift stabs.
When he reached Chen Lingyuan’s camp tent, he found his several deputy generals collapsed at the entrance, covered in deep bloodstains, their lives unknown.
From inside the tent came Chen Lingyuan’s weak roar: “Kong Xiao, do you know what you’re doing? This is treason—you know that? It’s a crime punishable by exterminating nine clans!”
“Spare me the lecture. I’ve long been alone in the world with no ties, so what nine clans are there to exterminate? As for your treason talk, what good would loyalty get me? All these years, I’ve remained just a lowly deputy general, held down by you every day, unable to lift my head. Now I’m just claiming what’s rightfully mine.” Kong Xiao’s voice was bold and fearless, tinged with subtle complexity.
“What’s rightfully yours? What makes you think you deserve anything? Don’t you know your own weight? If I hadn’t covered for you all these years, both openly and in secret, you’d have been kicked out of the military camp long ago for all the crap you’ve pulled!”
“Hear that? He looks down on you, and yet you’re still loyally devoted to him, refusing to switch sides.” A hoarse voice rang out. Mo Ziyuan raised an eyebrow, feeling the voice somewhat familiar.
“Of course I heard! No need for your reminder!” Kong Xiao said furiously, his tone more one of embarrassment and rage.
“What an ungrateful soul—I just couldn’t stand it and spoke up. Since you don’t like hearing it, I’ll shut up. Handle this yourself! But I’ll warn you once: this General Chen isn’t easy to deal with. If you’re soft-hearted, you’re in for a bottomless abyss!” The owner of the hoarse voice sounded rather pleased.
“I don’t need your ‘kindness’! Don’t think I don’t know you’re just using me. Keep yapping, and watch me cut you down too!” Kong Xiao’s voice grew angrier, accompanied by the sound of a long sword being drawn.
“Fine, fine, I’ll stop. Handle it yourself! I’ll go see when my men can take over this camp. Speaking of which, you Central Plains people are so particular—even a temporary spot for eating, drinking, and shitting gets made so elaborate. Tsk tsk tsk, all to our benefit.” The hoarse voice spoke as it moved toward the tent entrance.
Mo Ziyuan stood at the entrance, gripping his long sword tightly, poised to strike.
The tent curtain was lifted, and two men in black carried out a wide chair from inside, coming face-to-face with Mo Ziyuan.
“Well, well, Heir of Dingguo Duke, long time no see!” The hoarse voice came from the man in black sitting in the chair. Mo Ziyuan glanced at him sideways and saw blazing anger in his eyes.
“Who are you?” Mo Ziyuan asked, long sword held across his chest.
“Haha, no need to know who I am. Just know your days are numbered,” the man in black said through gritted teeth. “Oh, almost forgot—your little lady will be taken care of by my brothers.”
Mo Ziyuan’s eyes flashed fiercely, and he thrust his sword at him.
His bearers were tall and skilled in kung fu; the chair with a man on it seemed weightless in their hands. One lightly pushed the armrest, while the other twisted with one hand in coordination, taking the entire chair and sidestepping several large paces to open distance from Mo Ziyuan.
