Chapter 1379: A Record Too Long to Write

The King of Yao clearly welcomed the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce to settle in the Kingdom of Yao, yet Xue Zongwu stood in the way, killing, burning, and extorting. Dong Rui had originally thought that He Lingchuan would at most use some means to make him learn a lesson.

After all, that was a great general of the Kingdom of Yao, with extraordinary prestige, martial arts, power, and troops.

Unexpectedly, He Lingchuan dared to set Xue Zongwu directly as the target.

"Didn't you just say you wanted to shut the mouths of the Yao people? Wouldn't it be better to slap their faces directly instead of shutting them?" He Lingchuan smiled faintly. "Taking him down can both act on behalf of heaven and vent our own anger. Two birds with one stone, isn't it wonderful?"

This was satisfying, Dong Rui clapped his hands and laughed: "Wonderful, wonderful! Have you been collecting clues about Xue Zongwu all these days?"

He Lingchuan pushed the materials in his hand forward: "These are them."

Xue Zongwu was a famous general of the Yao people and a Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, a serious high-ranking official of the Royal Court! "You really know how to pick; all the evil people we've killed before added together don't equal the weight of him alone, whether in reputation or cultivation." Dong Rui picked up the materials and continued reading. "Massacring a city? Oh, oh, I remember Fuliushan the storyteller mentioned this; the Kingdom of Yao has rarely sent troops abroad for over a hundred years, but Xue Zongwu himself has set the record several times. When he led troops, the northern tribes fought to the death and refused to surrender; after Xue Zongwu broke through the city, he ordered the massacre of all 270,000 people in the city, claiming that not even a chicken or dog would be left!"

"That was one of the times." Since He Lingchuan had his eye on Xue Zongwu, he had long since memorized his materials by heart. "He massacred cities three times, with 500,000 people becoming ghosts under his blade; it was truly called 'blood-washing' the whole city. Since then, all tribes have trembled at the mention of him and dared not resist."

Dong Rui nodded: "Old Fu said his army even held killing competitions in the city, and Xue Zongwu personally awarded prizes to whoever killed the most in one hour. I wonder if this is true?"

"It is true. Our people asked a merchant in the city who had returned from a long journey back then and found the whole city dead silent and stinking. His own wife and concubines, three children, parents, brothers, and neighbors, including the family he often quarreled with, had all lost their lives. That scene was truly tragic; he fell ill for three days after escaping and still has nightmares from time to time."

In the Panlong world, when He Lingchuan led troops to attack Longchuan in Yuheng City, he was also ruthless; the Longchuan water bandits were both afraid and hateful, giving him the title of "Butcher He." But compared to Xue Zongwu, this so-called "butcher" was simply as kind as an angel.

"Civilian casualties are unavoidable in war." He Lingchuan also led troops to fight and knew that "battle damage" was usually unavoidable; once war broke out, civilians were the first to suffer. "But the act of specifically massacring a city, even in the Flash Gold Plain, is shocking."

The City Governor Liu of Shizhoutou treated the common people like cattle and horses, scraping three feet of ground, and the cannibal Zhao Guangzhi treated the common people like pigs and sheep, slaughtering them as he ate, but they had never launched a city massacre, nor had they hacked to death hundreds of thousands of civilians in just a few days.

"Don't forget that Tu Yuanhong was also killed by Xue Zongwu, and more than a hundred people in Tonglin Manor were buried with him; I don't know what he did to offend Xue Zongwu." He Lingchuan said casually, "The one surnamed Xue acts in this style; is killing the branch office of our foreign merchant chamber still a big deal?"

Dong Rui continued reading the materials: "Indulging subordinates to commit numerous crimes in Shuangxi and Song'e? What kind of places are those?"

"You know that the Kingdom of Yao occupies many mines, horse farms, and grain areas in the west, center, and south of the Flash Gold Plain, which are not within its own borders, right?"

"Yes, hasn't Yangshan dealt with them too?" These resources were also needed by the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce.

"Yangshan has tried to do business with them, but they are even harder to deal with than the Kingdom of Yao itself." He Lingchuan stretched. "These places are called 'tribute lands' and are usually divided into two types: one is managed and collected by local officials, who then offer the produce to the Kingdom of Yao; the other is the Kingdom of Yao directly sending troops to invade, conscripting locals to hoard and mine, and then sending all the output back to the Kingdom of Yao, with the locals getting almost nothing."

"Shuangxi is fertile and has sweet rain; it is a famous grain-producing area far and near. In such a place where God rewards you with food, there was a bumper harvest last year, yet more than 900 people starved to death, and that was just a rough estimate. Some people were so hungry that they saw grain trucks driving to the Kingdom of Yao one after another and started stealing. Xue Zongwu ordered these people to be sliced to death, then filled their corpses with rice and grain and threw them outside the city."

Dong Rui clicked his tongue: "What kind of sick hobby is this?"

The targets killed by the Black Armor Army were all perverted in their own ways.

"There are many refugees outside the city." He Lingchuan didn't continue, and Dong Rui clicked his tongue twice, understanding.

"These two tribute lands are both managed by Xue Zongwu, and he is like an emperor there. If the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked; guess how his subordinates treat the local people?" He Lingchuan walked to the window, took a booklet three fingers wide, and slapped it on the table; the sound was very heavy. "These are the crimes he has indulged his subordinates in committing over the past ten years; the blood cases are numerous, and one booklet can't even write them all."

"You've collected so much material in just a few days?"

"I've had my eye on Xue Zongwu for a long time; the collection work started two months ago." He Lingchuan said slowly, "He is an important target, but it wasn't easy to act before. But I didn't expect that before I could settle accounts with him, he would come to trouble me first."

"Yao person, high official, doing evil." He Lingchuan raised three fingers in turn. "Are the elements complete, just missing the killing?"

"In terms of crimes, he qualifies." Dong Rui admitted that this target was worth the Black Armor Army setting out. "However, how do you plan to act? This fellow established himself through martial arts and has high cultivation; his status today was all fought for. By the way, he also has Yuan power and an army!"

The more Dong Rui read Xue Zongwu's resume, the more tricky he felt it was. This person was different from all the targets the Black Armor Army had killed before; to summarize in one word: too strong.

Even if all hundreds of Black Armor soldiers were sent out, facing Xue Zongwu and his army, I'm afraid there wouldn't be much chance of winning.

That wasn't Zhao Guangzhi's scattered soldiers; a few dozen Black Armor riders could kill thousands of the other side and make them flee in panic.

"How about thinking of a pretext to lure him out of town and kill him?" Dong Rui's brain moved fast. "Doesn't he have to run between the country and the tribute lands? We ambush him on the road?"

"No." He Lingchuan flatly denied it. "I want to behead the famous general of the Kingdom of Yao within the Kingdom of Yao; only then can I achieve the most sensational effect!"

If Xue Zongwu died abroad, although the Yao people would be surprised, they might not be deeply shocked.

Generals cannot avoid dying on the battlefield; everyone has such preparations in their hearts.

Only by making them all feel incredible and unbelievable can the Black Armor Army become a true "Heavenly Divine Soldier."

"Also, with his cultivation, it's useless for us to send many people; instead, it will be harder to advance or retreat."

Dong Rui had an ominous premonition again: "You mean?"

He Lingchuan pointed at himself, then at him: "How about just the two of us?"

"You are constantly increasing the difficulty for yourself." Dong Rui smiled bitterly. "Can't you pick a softer one to squeeze? I think other generals of the Kingdom of Yao are also good; do you want to pick a few more to kill?"

"For example?"

"Uh..." How would he know? He wasn't familiar with the Kingdom of Yao.

"Xue Zongwu is different from others; killing him has several benefits." He Lingchuan spoke eloquently. "Eliminating harm for the people, no need to elaborate; making the Black Armor Army famous in the Kingdom of Yao, no need to elaborate; only then will the awe of the 'Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds' truly enter the hearts of the people of the Flash Gold Plain; he is also the blade that the King of Yao wields toward surrounding forces, and the sharpest one that hits wherever it points. Breaking this blade will inevitably affect the power of the Kingdom of Yao."

"Secondly, he is also the great general guarding the northern border of the Kingdom of Yao. With him sitting in town, the Luodian people in the north dare not come south to harass. If he dies, the border problem will reappear, and you also know the character of the Luodian people."

Dong Rui propped up his head, tired of reading the materials, and asked He Lingchuan directly: "Anything else?"

"Xue Zongwu is loyal to the King of Yao, so he had some unpleasantness with Qingyang. He is arrogant by nature, and Qingyang made him suffer quite a bit, also using a trusted general of the King of Yao like Xue Zongwu to give other ministers a warning." He Lingchuan laughed lightly. "His death might trigger some suspicion. After all, Xue Zongwu is really not someone just anyone can kill."

"Saying a thousand words and ten thousand words, what are you going to do?" Dong Rui rubbed his face. "Do we have an inside contact in Xue Zongwu's army? How can we know his whereabouts?"

"Judging his whereabouts is not difficult." He Lingchuan had a plan long ago and stood up to open the sand table. "The King of Yao's birthday celebration, he will definitely attend."

"That is indeed an opportunity. How do you know when he will set off and where he will pass?"

"This person loves to show off and values pomp; the military honor guard will escort him to Jiangwang Pass and then return to the northern border." He Lingchuan pointed at the sand table. "That journey is full of momentum; even a blind man wouldn't lose track; but starting from Jiangwang Pass, hmm, this is also the regulation of the Kingdom of Yao, vassal generals can only bring at most two hundred elite soldiers into the pass to go to the capital."

Without the monarch's summons, a general in command of troops cannot bring a large army back to the capital; this is an iron rule in any country.

Rashly leading an army back to the capital will inevitably cause suspicion from superiors and turmoil in the court. So when Xue Zongwu returns to the capital, the number of his bodyguards is limited, which is a good opportunity for He Lingchuan.

"It's more than 320 miles from Jiangwang Pass to the capital." He Lingchuan said seriously. "These 300-plus miles are the interval for us to act."

Xue Zongwu leaves his own territory and rushes back to the capital; this is like a fierce tiger leaving the mountain, and there must be gaps in his own security.

"Where are we then?" Dong Rui reminded him. "We also have to go to the Kingdom of Yao to offer birthday greetings! Didn't that surnamed Fan say before that he wanted to travel with you? Oh right, the King of Yao also sent you additional bodyguards!"

"If we calculate the days on the road, we might be able to approach Xue Zongwu on the way." He Lingchuan didn't keep him in suspense and revealed the answer directly. "His journey is longer than ours. We'll set off after he sets off."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1380 =====