Chapter 2028

An elderly lady over a hundred and ninety years old from the Qing Palace, the former state preceptor of Beijia—what she was thinking, no one could guess.

"You can't get in touch with her?"

The Qingwei shook his head: "The Palace Master said this journey is of great importance, and secrecy must be maintained. But once successful, it will relieve the worries of Lord Bai and Beijia once and for all."

Speaking so mysteriously, Bai Tan frowned, snorted, and turned to leave.

There's no use making things difficult for this little soldier—Qingyang has already left.

He came today intending to question Qingyang about a rumor.

Qingyang had once invited the Flash Gold powerhouses to join the camp opposing the Dragon God, and had sent over a dozen divine descent bodies. But here he received news that those divine descent bodies had failed to summon the heavenly gods in their moment of peril, and the local forces consequently suffered defeat.

Bai Tan harbored doubts mixed with half belief, because these rumors all erupted in a short time and spread everywhere, making it hard to say there was no instigation behind them. This time someone failed to summon the gods, and not long after someone else failed again—just five or six days apart—and the Flash Gold powerhouses that failed were often slain. Who would know they had failed to summon the gods?

Obviously it was the Dragon God's army.

And how strong the propaganda offensive of the Nine Abysses Great Emperor was, Bai Tan knew full well. Even before the Nine Abysses Great Emperor clearly raised his banner and annexed Flash Gold, he and the Black Armor Army's deeds of executing heavenly justice had already become widely known, aided by nothing other than public opinion manipulation?

This shows he must be a master at fabricating information.

So now releasing one false piece of information after another to shake morale and intimidate opponents—isn't that effortless?

Although he knows it, Bai Tan still cannot put his mind at ease.

The Dragon God and the Black Armor Army are growing ever more mighty; even if Bai Tan wanted to plug his ears and steal a bell, he would increasingly feel the gap in strength between the two sides. This gap can only be narrowed with the help of heavenly gods' power.

Qingyang had assured him he could provide eight divine descent bodies.

If these few divine descent bodies fail to summon the heavenly gods to descend, then his hope of defeating the Nine Abysses Great Emperor would indeed be slim.

Thinking of this, his mind became tangled in chaos, and he resolved to rush back to Tian Shui City to visit the temple and seek audience with the heavenly god.

Under the insistence of the Lingxu Holy Venerable, the chief deity of Yaoguo has now been changed to Duowen Tian. Now Bai Tan wishes to ask Duowen Tian for a reliable omen—whether those eight divine descent bodies can summon heavenly gods to aid in battle!

The words of the spirits are worth a thousand gold. Obtaining this reassurance, he can then train his troops with peace of mind.

But speaking of which, where exactly did Qingyang go?

After leaving the Youhu Xiaozhu, he had people inquire.

Bai Tan was not entirely at ease with Qingyang either, and had always sent people to surveil the Youhu Xiaozhu.

The scouts replied that Qingyang's carriage had indeed left the Youhu Xiaozhu, and had disappeared after entering Liaocheng.

Liaocheng? That's in the southern part of Yaoguo.

What use is knowing just this place name? Liaocheng connects in all directions—going south, crossing the river mouth, or exiting the border, all can be done via Liaocheng.

Bai Tan worries that if the Dragon God's great army marches into Yaoguo while Qingyang has not yet appeared, what should he do then?

Without Qingyang, he is truly helpless, like one hand trying to clap.

Although he does not greatly favor this old lady, he cannot help but admit that in terms of city governance, mental calculation, and strategy, only Qingyang can match the Nine Abysses Great Emperor.

Why did she leave a message saying that if this departure goes smoothly, perhaps it could resolve his and Beijia's inner troubles?

Could it be...

￥￥￥￥￥

The territory of the Nangrong family.

Nangrong He sat in his study, gazing at the blue jacaranda blossoms angrily bursting on the opposite roof.

In the past two days, he has often been like this.

This tree was planted by his father's own hand; over the years its branches have grown lush and its leaves thick, and whenever it blooms it looks like a splendid beautiful dream, also like the thriving prosperity of the Nangrong family.

The territory of the Nangrong family was also passed down from his father, but now it seems it may not be possible to hold onto it.

These two days he has already discussed with his clan and advisors. Unexpectedly, few suggested he resist to the end, while many agreed to merge into the Dragon God's territory, including several of his sons.

The Nangrong family is not closed off; regarding the Dragon God, they already fear more than respect. After all, the Dragon God single-handedly toppled Miao Zhantian, and in just half a year swept through Flash Gold—whether Rodian, the alliance, or Bixia, all were annexed.

Even if the Nangrong family is strong, do they have these three mighty ones? The Nine Abysses Great Emperor now still speaks kindly and urges him to submit; if it is first courtesy then force, and later he becomes impatient and turns hostile, does the Nangrong family truly have the ability to resist?

The rule in Flash Gold has always been: whoever has the bigger fist is right. How dare he think the Nine Abysses Great Emperor cannot do anything to him?

Finding a reason to send troops—isn't that easy? The Nangrong family has stood in Flash Gold for decades; this obvious principle could not be misunderstood?

Moreover, Nangrong He has always ignored the advances of the demonic spirits, ignored requests from other powers to form alliances—one, because he refuses to follow the corrupt crowd; two, because he does not wish to be listed as an enemy by the Dragon God.

Such an opponent, he truly cannot afford to offend.

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Then, if you can't beat them, why not join them?

Voluntarily surrendering to join, and passively surrendering to submit—treatment is definitely different.

Moreover, when meeting the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, he was indeed moved by the other's foresight and firmness.

The Flash Gold plains need a hero to end war and division, need a lord who can lead everyone forward with great strides.

He took a deep breath, picked up his brush to write a letter, thought better of it, and put the brush down again.

Better to go in person.

That evening, Nangrong He led his clansmen and voluntarily submitted to the Nine Abysses Great Emperor.

The Dragon God's territory expanded again—peacefully, without bloodshed or tears.

Nine Abysses Joy, setting a banquet to entertain the Nangrong family.

Following convention, the Nangrong army was broken up and incorporated into the Dragon God's army. Since it was a voluntary submission and brought excellent combat strength, the Dragon God designated the area around Chengcheng as the new residence for the Nangrong family—fertile land, beautiful mountains and rivers, more livable than their old territory.

￥￥￥￥￥

Before dawn, He Lingchuan got up.

This was the first time he had slept in seven or eight days. Usually work was too busy, so he adjusted his breath instead of sleeping. Also because his constitution had already become unlike ordinary people's; otherwise such a routine could literally work someone to death.

But the pleasure of deep sleep cannot be replaced by breath adjustment and meditation.

Last night he entered the world of the Coiling Dragon in his dream, and he was rare to have leisure, accompanying Sun Fuzi as they wandered through the city eating for most of the day, then went to the library to borrow books.

After years of external exchange, the library of Longcheng City has become more enriched, and in the city there has appeared a specially printed pamphlet edition of the "Wenzhi Lu Kao," issued every twenty days, containing dynamics of the Longcheng Wasteland and the outside world. Down to trivialities like sesame seeds and garlic skin—for example, the Xu big household of Xiangwan recently encountered a string of strange events—up to Baling, Beijia, and sea route changes, rainstorm disasters, fluctuations in bulk commodity prices—all are recorded therein.

This was originally internal information exchange within the merchants' association caravan, after all, those engaged in long-distance trade must understand astronomy and geography, and listen to news from all directions. He Lingchuan found it useful after hearing it at the merchants' association, so he had someone specially record it, publishing one issue each month.