Chapter 2665: Ambitious, or Is It the Father's Lack of Virtue?

Sha Wei kicked the merfolk's bent knee, making him kneel directly before the general.

"I heard them call you Your Highness." He Lingchuan pulled an ice arrow from his shoulder guard and examined it closely. "Which highness are you?"

This water arrow divine ability is truly not weak.

The one-armed merfolk gritted his teeth and said nothing.

He Lingchuan glanced at Zhuang Yinan, who immediately brought over another captive and casually placed his knife at the one-armed merfolk's neck:

"Speak clearly—who is he?"

"Yes, yes, he is our nation's crown prince, Lord Zhongsun Peng!"

He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow, and the soldiers behind him exchanged glances, astonished. In this deep mountain forest, they actually managed to capture an enemy "crown prince"?

"Which nation are you from?"

Zhuang Yinan asked again, and the captive confessed: Lord Zhongsun Peng is the crown prince of Bolang Nation, leading troops in this campaign, assigned to the southern army under Fushan Lie.

Lingxu City, having attacked Panlong, by convention, the various vassal demon nations of Between Between Between Beijia must dispatch large armies to fight together. Bolang Nation, as one of the twelve vassal demon nations, also must fulfill its duty. This was originally because the Maohe Plain has a crisscrossing water network, and Bolang Nation, as Between Between Between Beijia's aquatic nation, has more room to operate here.

After Fushan Lie understood the terrain of the southern Panlong Wasteland, he decided to let the Bolang crown prince make full use of his strengths, utilizing the abundant flow of the Womi River rushing to the sea to set up a surprise force.

Fushan Lie indeed took a liking to Luoyuan—the terrain here is very suitable as a military encampment, and from here one can advance north to press into the Panlong Wasteland.

According to their plan, Lord Zhongsun Peng only needs to lead the Between Between Between Beijia troops to quietly seize Luoyuan, and the giant turtles will later transport several more batches of soldiers. When the Panlong army is engaged in back-and-forth fighting at Fululu Gou and Huaye Chan, they won't expect Between Between Between Beijia to seize a second foothold here. By then, Fushan Lie's main army will march directly here and be able to fully pressure the Panlong Wasteland!

Lord Zhongsun Peng stared at He Lingchuan, then suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse: "You, you—how do you know we would land here?"

Aside from his three hundred men, very few know this plan.

Moreover, riding the giant turtle across the Yingniao Plain is as traceless as an antelope's hanging horns—how could the enemy possibly set an ambush here with precision?

"Why would the Bolang king send the crown prince to the battlefield?" He Lingchuan did not answer the captive's habit.

He did not beforehand know what method Fushan Lie would use to cross the Yingniao Plain. But the plain's area, and the current level of heavenly and earthly spiritual energy, decided that ordinary earth-escape techniques are not effective for large groups. Yet looking from another angle, the Womi River runs north to south through the entire Yingniao Plain—land travel is impossible; will Between Between Between Beijia take the water route?

The Womi River is wide and deep, a natural sanctuary, nearly able to evade all surveillance from heaven and earth. Moreover, it flows all the way into the sea.

He Lingchuan knew that Between Between Between Beijia's aquatic peoples are diverse, and even Fushan Lie himself is skilled in both water and earth escape.

If Fushan Lie exerts himself toward the Womi River, then the landing point of this Between Between Between Beijia surprise force is most likely in the lightless Ghost Needle Forest. He Lingchuan brought a unit here to try his luck.

Fortunately, his luck has always been good.

As for why he brought only a thousand people, because he judged the number of Between Between Between Beijia's hidden troops to be limited. First, this unit must cross multiple national borders undetected—besides traveling through the unclaimed no-man's-lands where few tread, the numbers cannot be too large; second, for any escape technique, the number of people carried has an upper limit, whether water or earth escape; finally, Luoyuan Town has few residents, only a small number of local militia, so the Between Between Between Beijia army could capture it without much effort.

This force is not large, but if it truly seizes Luoyuan silently and turns it into a stronghold, Panlong will not find it as easy to take as today.

The Bolang crown prince again tightly shut his mouth, refusing to speak.

Zhuang Yinan then said: "Over the past year or more, Between Between Between Beijia has seen many royal family members go to the battlefield. Princes, grandsons, dukes and nobles—we have killed quite a few. But a vassal demon nation's crown prince being captured—this is still the first."

When the general returned, their luck turned against heaven.

Sha Wei snorted: "Between Between Between Beijia's vassal demon nations are many, the royal clan is worthless—this one is a royal relative, that one is a national kin."

Zhuang Yinan questioned several other captives, and they also said they did not know the reason—anyway, the Bolang king simply ordered the crown prince to go to war.

He Lingchuan tapped his temple with his index finger: "How many sons does the Bolang king have? Seventy-six, or seventy-seven? It seems he even has over two hundred grandsons."

Speaking of which, when he was investigating the immortality elixir case in Chiyan Nation, he encountered the inspector Lord Zhongsun Mou, who seemed to be a distant relative of the Bolang royal family.

Sha Wei scratched his head: "Eh..."

He had not remembered it at all, or rather Zhuang Yinan said: "Seventy-seven."

These past two days, He Lingchuan has been following Wen Daolun to intensely study the lessons he missed over the past five years, which includes updating the data on Between Between Between Beijia's various vassal demon nations. The Bolang royal family are merfolk—not only do they resemble humans in appearance, but after joining Between Between Between Beijia for several hundred years, their nature and conduct have become increasingly like humans. This Bolang king is especially licentious, with numerous descendants, so he early on designated a crown prince to avoid future generations fighting over the heir position.

Even if the demon princes originally had no mindset of seizing the throne, they often cannot resist the influence of their subordinates gathering around—most of the ministers of the vassal demon nations are humans, everyone following the demon royal family wants to enjoy riches and spice, and hopes they have chosen the right side.

Thus, over these several hundred years since Between Between Between Beijia's founding, the inheritance of the vassal demon nations has become increasingly like that of human states—not only can power easily change people, it can also easily change the habits of demons.

But why did the Bolang king send his early-designated heir to the battlefield, and to the most dangerous Pan-Between Between Between Beijia battlefield at that? There must be some story behind this.

He Lingchuan then asked the Bolang crown prince: "Father and son at odds—is it your boundless ambition, or your father's lack of virtue?"

Lord Zhongsun Peng coldly stared at him: "A scholar may be killed, but not humiliated. If you have the guts, kill me! Before long, Between Between Between Beijia will bring you and that ridiculous Panlong City together..."

These Panlong people dare not kill him. An enemy nation's crown prince is, on the battlefield, the best bargaining chip.

The following words were left unsaid, because He Lingchuan suddenly grabbed his hair, turned him around, and made him face another captive.

Then, a single slash cut his throat!

As for the Bolang crown prince—daring to provoke him, this is his end.

He Lingchuan's killings are always meticulous—he severs the carotid artery and windpipe together. Lord Zhongsun Peng's neck was half-cut, yet he still did not die.

With a hiss, the captive opposite was drenched in angry blood from head to face, stunned for a moment.

Lord Zhongsun Peng's eyes widened, his throat made a gurgling sound, and the severed windpipe kept bubbling.

He Lingchuan leaned close to his ear and asked: "Together how? Say it."

Lord Zhongsun Peng could not utter half a word, his eyeballs nearly rolling out of their sockets.

The captive opposite was forced to meet his gaze, stared at until his scalp went numb.