Chapter 1968

"Fortunately, Frost still has contact with the Original Hometown Association. Back then, our family scrimped and saved to send you to Lingxu City—it was absolutely the right decision," Father Fan said, picking up a bite of vegetables. "These officials of the Yao State, usually so high and mighty, always speaking in affected tones—once the state changes, they're nothing, utterly unreliable."

The Yao State underwent a coup; Bai Tan seized power, and the existing bureaucratic system collapsed instantly.

Father Fan's superior, Lord Mi, could barely protect himself and has already died;

Lord Mi's superior's superior's superior—the official from the Censorate who once bought the Dark Lake Villa Hanqing Pavilion from Father Fan, Lord Wang—died that very night of Bai Tan's mutiny, his entire family of over three hundred slaughtered to the last!

Lady Wang then asked: "In the Original Hometown Association, this Uncle Lu Heng isn't exactly someone of great importance, is he?"

"The Original Hometown Association has many talented individuals; I've heard the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor has assigned each of them a role."

Father Fan sighed: "He Xiong is actually the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor! To this day, I still feel it's like a dream, utterly unreal! My son actually served alongside the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor for months!"

Who would believe that if it were spoken aloud? Who would dare believe it?

Lady Wang lifted her cup to drink water: "So, does that mean Xue Zongwu was killed by him?"

Father and son exchanged a glance, neither speaking.

The assassin who killed Xue Zongwu wanders about before the Yao Emperor all day, chatting and laughing with the Yao officials, and even made off with a great deal of money from the Yao State.

Looking back on this past, He Xiong's scheming is truly terrifying.

But He Xiong will soon become their reliance. Who wouldn't want a thicker thigh to cling to?

Lady Wang added: "Once we settle in Huancheng, try to see if you can contact the Original Hometown Association, or reach He Xiong through the Yangshan Merchant Guild, so he can arrange a good position for you. You're old friends; he'll remember past affection, and our lives will improve. Even Uncle Lu Heng could become city commandant—you'll surely surpass him and naturally be fit for a better post."

Seeing the two elders nearly finished with their meal, Fan Frost felt bitter inside and finally couldn't hold back: "I'm afraid… I'm afraid it won't work."

The Fan couple startled: "Why?"

Lady Wang pressed further: "Which of my words was wrong?"

Fan Frost choked: "Uncle… Uncle Lu was killed, and Huancheng has been taken by Guo Bai Yu."

"Ha, what…" Lady Wang suddenly sprang to her feet, opened her mouth, but before she could utter a word, she fainted.

She had endured this journey's hardships, clinging only to the belief "Once we reach Huancheng, we'll be fine," until now—when that belief shattered, she collapsed instantly.

The Fan parents and son hurried to embrace her, pressing her philtrum and feeding her medicine, until Lady Wang slowly regained consciousness.

She didn't wail loudly, but her eyes were vacant: "What now? How will we manage from now on?"

Father Fan instinctively looked toward his son. His ease was only within the Yao bureaucracy; once he left the comfort zone of half his life, he was like duckweed in a foreign land, utterly lost.

Only at such times did he feel his age, and that he must rely on his son.

Fan Frost, not quick-witted, had pondered this sudden turn for a long time downstairs, and now said: "Our money will last; let's stay a few days in Miancheng while I scout the Black Armor Army's main camp, then we'll go join them."

"Father, Mother, no need to worry—everywhere is Dragon God's territory; we won't need to wander far."

The Fan family of three is actually very fortunate.

Two days before Bai Tan's uprising, Father Fan brought the family back to the countryside to attend a funeral. The white mat hadn't even been finished when word came: Ducheng had changed hands, Bai Tan had lost his mind, first killing the Yao King, then slaughtering half the city's officials, bloodbathing Tian Shui!

Later, Bai Tan earned the bloody epithet "Slaughterer of Half the City."

The Fan family dared not return, instead hiding in the countryside to avoid attention, while gathering news of Tian Shui City—and soon received the grim report:

The Fan manor in Ducheng was also looted, even the ridge's guardian jade beasts stolen; other relatives and friends either died or fled, all contact lost.

Upon hearing this, Lady Wang clutched her chest and burst into tears.

The foundations of the Fan and Wang families were in Tian Shui City; they came to mourn without bringing all their savings, so:

"That bunch of villains got off cheap—hateful, hateful indeed!"

Thereafter, news of Bai Tan and the chaotic battles of various armies poured in, making the Fan family wish they could vanish into the countryside.

The connections the Fan family had cultivated in Tian Shui City for so long are now useless; former relatives and friends once thought reliable have utterly vanished.

This is the norm of war, this is the norm of chaotic times!

Though the saying goes, "When the nest is overturned, no egg remains whole," war's flames spread swiftly across the realm, and warlords' footsteps draw ever closer to the countryside.

The Fan family counts as a major household locally; once caught, they'd likely lose both provisions and lives.

State shattered, family ruined, winds tossing and drifting—the Fan family didn't know what to do, when suddenly the rumor of the Reincarnated Dragon God leading the Black Armor Army to sweep through Flash Gold, and the Yangshan Merchant Guild aiding the people, spread like wildfire, reaching even the village where the Fan family hid.

Fan Frost naturally knew who Yangshan was; combining intelligence from both sides, it clicked with a snap. Not long after, he heard that his good friend Uncle Lu Heng had become commandant of Huancheng.

Uncle Lu Heng was a friend Fan Frost met in Lingxu City; after returning to the Flash Gold Plains, they grew closer through the Original Hometown Association organized by He Lingchuan.

Coincidentally, Huancheng isn't far from the Yao border, so Fan Frost immediately brought his parents to join Uncle Lu Heng.

No need to speak of the hardships along the way—how stable the Fan family had lived in Yao State for decades, now they face equal danger and upheaval. The hardships they never tasted in the first half of life are now fully repaid in this short journey of a few hundred li.

Fan Frost never imagined the Yao region would descend into such chaos, even their loyal old guards dying at the hands of bandits.

At such a time, he finally grasped the deep meaning of that saying:

Better to be a dog in peace than a person in chaos.

Fortunately, he had prior experience on overseas missions, so Flash Gold wasn't entirely unknown to him. Though this journey was bumpy and arduous, they were finally nearing Huancheng.

Little did he expect, a thunderous shock awaited him ahead!

Lady Wang stared at him: "You insist on joining this Mr. Lu, claiming the future will be Dragon God's territory and safe, that following the Black Armor Army brings prospects. Now what? Mr. Lu himself has been hacked to death—is this area still safe? Better we return where we came from; our old home still has land and foundation—we won't starve. You say Bai Tan is so wicked—can he really plunder and kill everyone?"

"No going back!" Fan Frost declared firmly: "Now the entire Yao region belongs to Bai Tan, who is at odds with He Xiong and is a mortal enemy of the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor. Since I was once close to He Xiong, if Bai Tan captures us, we three will all lose our heads!"

Father Fan hesitated: "But Bai Tan has the Qingyang Regency behind him, and I've heard even the Heavenly Gods support him. Can the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor prevail?"

Qingyang is already a Guardian of the Heavenly Palace, but now no one will speak up to correct him.