Chapter 1378: Personal Vendetta

"Do you see? Even if the King of Yao intervenes, we cannot get a fair result. Besides, although Yangshan's operations have the King of Yao's special permission, it's impossible to go to him to solve everything." He sighed, "Xue Zongwu has targeted this point. As long as he doesn't like us, he has plenty of opportunities and means to make things difficult for Yangshan, leaving us with grievances we can't voice—what he has done before is to ensure that we both respect and fear him." "I'm afraid he isn't specifically targeting us, but targeting everyone who blocks his way." He Lingchuan took out a small slip of paper, "It seems Xue Zongwu often does this; I have collected another victim here."

"Who?"

He Lingchuan threw the slip of paper: "I previously sent a message to Lingshan, wanting it to find me an expert on the Kingdom of Yao, just like Fang Canran."

The Yangshan Archipelago's "business" had already reached the Kingdom of Yao, and Lingshan knew this and was quite supportive.

For so many years, Lingshan and the Mou Nation have both wanted to intervene in the Flash Gold Plain, and they have tried many methods, but they have always had little success. This place naturally and stubbornly rejects external forces.

But Yangshan had successfully pecked open a hole here and started to infiltrate the Flash Gold Plain. Lingshan was very interested in this, and its exchanges and interactions with He Lingchuan became more frequent.

He Lingchuan's trip to Flash Gold was an unexpected gain for Lingshan; whether he did the mission or not was secondary, as long as he could serve as a wedge driven into the Flash Gold Plain, everything else could be planned slowly.

He Lingchuan also keenly discovered Lingshan's intentions and followed the snake up the stick, interacting even more closely.

Dong Rui asked him: "And then?"

"It also found me an informant named Tu Yuanhong. This person operates a carriage and horse firm in several major cities in the Kingdom of Yao and also does lacquer business; he usually works for several nobles in the capital of the Kingdom of Yao and deals with all kinds of people, so he is well-informed."

In He Lingchuan's subsequent plans, the Kingdom of Yao was an important link. To play a rival role, one must know oneself and the enemy; he needed an internal informant familiar with the Kingdom of Yao who could scout for news and secretly send intelligence—

Just like what Fang Canran used to do in Lingxu City, and it would be better if he had an official-merchant background.

If Lingshan could cultivate one Fang Canran, it could cultivate more informants.

After all, He Lingchuan had been in the Flash Gold Plain for too short a time, while Lingshan had started laying out its plans long ago and had been trying to infiltrate Flash Gold all along. So, it should also have reserved corresponding talent.

Now that He Lingchuan had made this request, Lingshan readily agreed.

Dong Rui said "Oh": "Then where is the problem?"

"I followed the address and code provided by Lingshan, only to find that Tu Yuanhong was already dead, and the Tonglin Manor where he was located had been burned to the ground." He Lingchuan said slowly, "This happened a month ago; Lingshan probably doesn't know yet. Later, it will have to find someone else for me."

The communication between him and Lingshan took too much time to go back and forth.

"I sent someone to investigate and found that Tu Yuanhong had been involved in a commercial dispute not long ago and had offended someone. Guess who he offended?"

Dong Rui and Ling Guang: "Xue Zongwu?"

"Correct."

Ling Guang was also indignant: "This method is too brutal, killing and burning at every turn."

Even mountain bandits weren't this ruthless.

"This is solving the problem at the source. You say Xue Zongwu's methods are brutal, but he killed so many people without leaving any survivors, which shows he cleaned up very thoroughly. In my opinion, this person is likely rough on the outside but fine on the inside."

He Lingchuan smiled without a word.

After finishing with Xue Zongwu, Dong Rui switched the topic himself: "Hey, back to our serious business. You split the Black Armor Army into small teams to carry out missions, and the efficiency has improved, but in places you didn't go to personally, there won't be any dragon-head reliefs. What do you say to that?"

"What is there to say?" Ling Guang had left the window, and He Lingchuan pulled out another thick stack of materials. "Even if interested parties use this point to refute, can the common people believe it? The legends about the Black Armor Army outside are already rampant, with dozens of versions appearing. Whether there is a dragon-head totem or not, who can confirm? Not many people have seen the dragon-head totem with their own eyes, but that doesn't stop them from talking about it with relish, spreading it with nose and eyes."

It doesn't matter if you can't see it; as long as you have a mouth, it's fine.

Dong Rui shrugged: "Fine, but be careful; the Black Armor Army's name is so hot now, watch out for people impersonating you."

"Impersonation is a small matter." He Lingchuan could already guess the subsequent plot.

"Hey, there's another saying that has popped up outside recently." Dong Rui was also a bit fired up. "They say the Black Armor Army only picks soft persimmons to squeeze, and just doesn't dare to kill the powerful and evil people of the Kingdom of Yao."

He Lingchuan even praised him: "Oh, these people are very keen."

They were right; the Black Armor Army was running around acting in various places, killing targets that He Lingchuan thought should be killed, could be killed, and were easy to kill, but it had never entered the Kingdom of Yao.

Dong Rui knew very well that this wasn't because He Lingchuan didn't dare: "So what are we waiting for?"

"You've only been thinking about killing recently, and you haven't been studying the demon puppets properly; are you neglecting your proper work?"

"When is there ever a time you can't study demon puppets?" For Dong Rui to say something like this, it was definitely extraordinary. "Opportunities to go out and kill in different ways like this are limited; every time we go, there's one less chance. Am I right?"

He had also led a team once. Going out to judge and kill in the name of eliminating violence and bringing peace was satisfying, too satisfying.

Wasn't this just pointing at someone and they die? He Lingchuan said "Hmm": "Yes. Being unknown is a form of protection in itself; the Black Armor Army's fame has soared, which instead puts higher demands on future actions. We must be more cautious."

"So what are we waiting for?" Dong Rui didn't give up on the previous question. "Are you going to set a target in the Kingdom of Yao to shut the mouths of these idlers?"

"People have two lips; scolding someone to death doesn't require paying with one's life. You can't shut them up until they're speechless." He Lingchuan smiled. "It's not that we aren't setting a target, but the time hasn't come. When the streets and alleys are all heatedly discussing the Black Armor Army, there's no need to add more talking points; when this wave of heat is about to pass, and others are almost tired of hearing about these dozens of actions of the Black Armor Army—that is the best time for us to kill the next target."

Actions require timing.

If the timing is wrong, the investment is wasted.

Dong Rui rubbed his hands: "Then we'll explode another big one?"

"Yes, and it must be more explosive than these dozen actions combined." Then we'll set off another wave of return, even higher and even more hyped.

Dong Rui was very curious about how this could be achieved.

He Lingchuan put down the files, pulled a document from a secret compartment in the desk, and pushed it in front of him: "Take a look first, this is our next target!"

Dong Rui picked it up and read the target's name casually:

"Xue Zong... Wu?"

Eh? Huh? No way? "Xue Zongwu!" He exclaimed, "Sure enough, if you don't do it, you don't do it; if you do, you do a big one. Are you sure about taking down Xue Zongwu directly?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1379 =====