Chapter 23: The Lowly Must Be Cautious

Ahead was a half-peak, barren and bald, with only a few sparse shrubs in the corners. However, travelers arriving here for the first time would definitely be attracted by its unique shape:

The upper part of the mountain peak was gone, but it didn't look like it had weathered and broken, because the fracture was exceptionally flat, as if it had been slashed diagonally by someone wielding a sword, split in two!

That fracture was abrupt and decisive. One must know that it was an entire sharp peak, millions of tons of rock and soil, not like a clump of bamboo that could be cut down easily.

There is a legend locally that in ancient times, immortals fought here and split the mountain peak with one sword, so this broken peak is also called "Immortal Slash."

Legends of this kind are everywhere in this world and are hard to verify. But He Lingchuan's original body actually climbed up to the Immortal Slash a few years ago and saw with his own eyes that the fracture was smooth and smooth, and there was not a single bump in such a large range, which was indeed beyond the reach of careful polishing by craftsmen.

Whether it was man-made or not, it was unimaginable.

Sun Fuping stared at this half-peak, as if feeling the ferocity and sharpness left by that sword to this day, and only after a long time did he let out a long breath: "The Dao is endless."

Moving forward and turning around the mountain col, an old poplar stood alone by the road, and two people were hanging under the hard branches.

The wind was blowing, and the people were swaying.

Many passersby were watching under the tree, pointing and whispering.

The expressions of State Preceptor Sun and Commandant Nian changed instantly. With their sharp eyes, they could see at a glance that a transparent plaque was pinned to the lapels of the corpses, with the words "Donglai" on it.

Two of the Donglai Prefecture guards sent to track the Sand Leopard in the Western Mountains had gone missing after heading to Heishuicheng. Sun and Nian knew about this matter because the manpower was allocated by them. But at that time, clues to the Sand Leopard's whereabouts had appeared, so they didn't investigate.

Now, these two had turned into corpses, lying on the road they had to pass.

Nian Songyu could judge at once that these two had been killed by having their necks twisted, and had been interrogated before death.

State Preceptor Sun saw his face flush, and the veins on his neck bulged, so he hurriedly pressed his shoulder: "Don't be impulsive! Isn't this expected?" These two guards had been missing for a long time, and their side had already inferred the possibility of their death.

"The Donglai Prefecture manpower was arranged by us; this little bastard is retaliating against us!" Nian Songyu gritted his teeth. He killed a harrier, and the other party harmed two of his people in retaliation.

Donglai Prefecture was too far from the frontier, and the Grand Marshal had allocated his guards to the two of them to command.

State Preceptor Sun's face sank: "The bigger picture comes first! Internal strife is not allowed now."

"Wait until we get the Great Fang Hu..." Nian Songyu gritted his teeth, knowing that He Lingchuan had calculated that he still had to rely on the Heishuicheng army, so he couldn't turn against him now. He turned his head and shouted angrily, "He Lingchuan!"

He Chunhua was also shocked to see the corpses. Shouldn't these two be locked in the farm of Red and White Dao? Then he remembered his eldest son's usual wanton behavior.

He had restrained himself slightly for the past two months, but that didn't mean his nature had changed.

Nian Songyu called twice before He Lingchuan slowly rode forward, facing Nian Songyu's anger that was about to erupt: "Commandant Nian, what's the matter?"

"Do you recognize these two?"

He Lingchuan looked carefully for a few times, secretly shocked. Uncle Hao had vented all his anger? "Of course I don't recognize them. So many people go in and out of Heishuicheng, how do I have the ability to remember every name?" He paused. "Eh, they actually have the Donglai Prefecture nameplate. How could such big figures hang themselves in this poor mountain and evil water?"

"Good, good." Nian Songyu laughed instead of getting angry, and the conversation suddenly changed. "How do you handle companions who die on the Red Cliff Road?"

He guessed at once that the two guards must have been killed by He Lingchuan. This kid wanted to put eye drops on him; asking more would only lead to more ridicule.

Half a sentence is too much for those who don't agree; no need to investigate further.

"If you can't bring them back, then sky burial." He Lingchuan shrugged. "Anyway, if they don't have a good end, let the creatures in the desert thank nature for their gifts."

He Chunhua hurried to intervene: "Most are earth burial."

"Then earth burial." After all, they were people from Donglai Prefecture; it was not good to expose their corpses in the wilderness.

He Lingchuan laughed: "Sesame-sized matter. Commandant Nian should focus on the present first, don't delay the team's progress."

Finally threw this sentence back, refreshing! A look of poisonous resentment flashed in Nian Songyu's eyes, and then he urged Zeng Feixiong to send people to take down the two corpses and bury them on the spot.

The team naturally couldn't wait and continued forward.

The feeling of being stared at by Nian Songyu was like a poisonous snake on his back, making his hair stand on end. He Lingchuan pulled his father to slow down and walked in the middle of the team.

Nian Commandant was such a proud person, of course he walked in the lead; he couldn't look back at He Lingchuan frequently, right? "What are you doing?" He Chunhua scolded his son in a low voice. "Killing those two people won't help, it will only further deepen the feud with Nian Songyu."

He didn't know that Uncle Hao killed the two people.

"It can vent some anger!" He Lingchuan looked at him scolding himself as if nothing had happened, and couldn't help but sneer. "These two calculated against us without a bottom line; don't you allow your son to slap him back? Besides, he has a request for us; at this time, he shouldn't turn against us."

"If we return alive, in the future..."

"If we return with the treasure, the Grand Marshal will be overjoyed; where would he care about this little thing?" He Lingchuan said listlessly. "Father, you are not old yet, but your courage has become small."

He Chunhua thought for a moment, his face slightly dim: "You are right, I am too cautious."

He always thought about being an official in the same court in the future, especially since his family had just returned to the capital and their foundation was unstable, so it was better to have fewer enemies.

The idea might not be wrong, but with this kind of submissive and cautious mentality in front of the powerful, how could he show his ambition? He warned himself secretly here, and said to He Lingchuan: "Chuan'er, are you still blaming your father for dragging you on the road?"

This question, should he answer "yes" refreshingly, or answer "no" against his will? He Lingchuan could only chuckle: "How would your son dare?"

"As a father, who doesn't hope for their son to be safe and smooth? But in this world, it's impossible." He Chunhua patted his shoulder. "Chuan'er, you are not young anymore; you should be well-tempered."

He Lingchuan couldn't help it: "Others are tempered, the difficulty is from low to high." Only his father gave him a big one at once.

The eldest son was indeed full of resentment, He Chunhua laughed: "Don't blame your father for being cruel. With you here, the possibility of us returning home safely is at least increased by twenty percent. The Great Shaman's words are not a joke."

He Lingchuan rolled his eyes. If the original body was really a lucky general, why did he die silently, and his skin was occupied by him, an outsider? But this counter-question could only be stifled in his heart.

Now that arguing was of no avail, and He Chunhua, as a local official and his father, didn't actually need to explain much to him.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 24 =====

(End of chapter)