Chapter 1169: Betrayal of the Clan

So Between Between Between Beijia did not take any drastic actions during this period, merely sending flying letters to rebuke Panlongcheng and ordering Balin to assist Xianyou, dispatching a few demon generals nearby. Perhaps it was because it had confidence, thinking that if soft measures failed, it would resort to hard ones—nothing more than delaying a few months.

The cost of trial and error was something it could afford.

But the high-ranking officials of Panlongcheng were very clear that Between Between Between Beijia's appeasement and hesitation would not last long. If Panlongcheng had simply and decisively refused from the start, Between Between Between Beijia would at most have scolded it for not knowing how to appreciate favors; once it saw through Panlongcheng's true intentions and confirmed it had been deceived, it would not merely be annoyed and angry! Because that would mean Zhong Shengguang had made up his mind from the beginning to resist to the end, and the current series of actions were merely meant to confuse and delay.

Such a person could only be beheaded, not won over.

When Between Between Between Beijia realizes this, the true storm will arrive.

He Lingchuan knew that was not far in the future.

When the news came back that the Red General had captured the strategic town of Tanshi in Xianyou, the clear sky suddenly broke into a violent storm, with strange and ominous clouds swirling above, as if countless demons lurked within, stirring up wind and waves.

The Chi Pa Plateau is close to heaven, and the thick black clouds would press down on Panlongcheng's head in the next second.

He Lingchuan stood on the city wall gazing eastward, and let out a deep sigh:

Happy times are always fleeting. After enjoying two years of peace, Panlongcheng would soon have to face a powerful enemy once again.

In real history, Panlongcheng failed to hold the Mao River Plain, and thus did not achieve its current great development.

He originally thought that Panlongcheng's fate might therefore be changed.

Now it seems this idea was naive.

Between Between Between Beijia's subjugation of Xiluo and its final ultimatum to Zhong Shengguang are events that never occurred in real history.

That is to say, the historical Panlongcheng did not even survive its first few moves before disappearing.

Between Between Between Beijia still has many more tricks up its sleeve—none of which were used last time.

Now, Zhong Shengguang, the Red General, and He Lingchuan all have the chance to experience them.

At this moment, it is the nineteenth year of the Panlong Calendar, and there are still thirteen years until the historical fall of Panlongcheng.

A grim thought rose in He Lingchuan's heart:

Could it be that my meddling and interference have greatly accelerated Panlongcheng's historical process?

For example, if Between Between Between Beijia personally attacks Panlongcheng, that war should not happen until at least ten years from now.

But in the current Panlong world, isn't that exactly what is about to happen?

The Panlongcheng history I know seems to have been altered.

Chaos has ensued—everything is in chaos.

(《Shining Gold Plains—The Stolen Light》, ends here)

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After the rain cleared, the blue sky was spotless.

Water still clung to the grass blades, and the triennial grand market was held as scheduled in Yongwang Town.

Residents from all around came to the market; the open space in front of the Earth God Temple, which had been deserted yesterday, was now filled with stalls—Lin Li setting up shop, various daily necessities, handmade goods, rice, flour, grain, oil, cured meats, sausages, dried fish, dried vegetables, furs, fabrics…… Although the goods were simple, they dazzled the eye.

Children played and frolicked near the candy stalls, and young Misses were dressed up beautifully.

No matter how hard life is, there is always a moment to forget worries.

A group slowly approached this place—five or six people driving thirty or so fine horses.

Actually, they didn't need to urge the horses; the animals naturally followed the person ahead.

However, when the people at the market saw them, their faces fell; what had been a bustling scene became unusually quiet.

Someone muttered: "How did they come here?"

This horse troop looked straight ahead, detoured to the other end of the market from the outside, found a spot to settle, and planted their sign—

They were horse sellers.

Not far away, a leather ball flew over, rolling and bouncing to the feet of a boy in the troop.

He bent down to pick up the ball, saw a five- or six-year-old child standing not far away, face red as an apple, grinning and waving at him.

"Mine, mine! Brother Axun, my ball!"

How long had it been since he had seen such friendly outsiders? Last market day, he had recognized this boy. Axun smiled, walked over, crouched, and handed the ball to him, about to say a few more words, when the boy's mother rushed over from behind, grabbed her son, and pulled him away:

"Don't bother him! If you don't want to play with him, why insist on playing with them?"

She also gave Axun a fierce glare, warning him: "Stay away from my son! Traitor!"

The smile on Axun's face turned into a bitter smile as he watched the woman spit on the ground, then quickly grab her son and hurry off.

Axun stood up alone, with no one within seven zhang around him.

This place also did not welcome them, but Axun had grown accustomed to it, and the horses they brought from Chigu were top-notch—sturdy, strong-bodied, large-framed, with well-developed tendons, ideal for galloping and charging. So after a brief lull, someone still came over to haggle and buy horses.

After this little incident, the market resumed its liveliness and order.

A first-time out-of-town visitor to the market now secretly asked a local:

"Who are those people?"

"Ying people." The stall owner rolled his eyes and gave the same answer as the woman: "Hmph, traitors."

The visitor became even more curious: "Tell me about them?"

"Do you know about the Battle of Lutaishan six years ago?"

"Um, I think I've heard a little about it."

"We nine nations and tribes united to attack Yao State, fighting with extreme difficulty. The Battle of Lutaishan originally gave us the advantage, and our clan leader said, as long as we took Lutaishan, Yao State would be finished! But then the Ying people and Luodian State suddenly defected, throwing our entire army into chaos, and Yao State seized the chance to counterattack." The stall owner said resentfully, "Such an important battle, and we lost it!"

That joint offensive ended in failure.

"Yao State fought nine to one and still won, feeling proud and arrogant; our lives these years have only gotten harder." Could the defeated side still gain something? "If it weren't for these two traitorous clans defecting, we would have already overthrown Yao State—how could we have come to this?"

"Now I understand!" The visitor also spat. Internal traitors are hated more than external enemies, so it's no wonder locals despise the Ying people. "They defected to Yao State, so their lives must be wonderful."

Otherwise, what would the Ying people gain? "They're not doing well either!" The stall owner laughed gleefully, "Yao State returned the land it had previously taken from them, but hahaha, the mines there have already been exhausted by Yao State, so the Ying people got back only a few useless barren mountains! Heaven pity them, four years later they were hit by a horse plague that killed many fine horses!"

The laughter drifted on the wind to Axun's ears, and he lowered his head.

Six years ago, when his father, as clan leader, agreed to Yao State's terms and betrayed the alliance, he and his second uncle had strongly advised against it, but his father simply refused to listen.

Someone poked his shoulder and whispered, "Don't mind them."

Ah Xun turned his head to see it was Mongmong, his childhood sweetheart who grew up with him.

"Outsiders don't know our hardships, they don't know the clan lord's hardships."

(End of chapter)