Chapter 875

Setting aside his scheming against He Lingchuan's original body, this man had more ability and courage than most officials in the Yuan Court. Perhaps the precarious Yuan Nation needed such an ambitious hero. For such a person, He Lingchuan was unwilling to evaluate him from the perspective of private morality or grievances.

As for the grievance between him and He Lingchuan's original body, let it end here, with the trip to the Panlong ruins as the dividing point.

"You just said, He Chunhua was injured?"

Qiu Hu noticed that he no longer said "my father," but called He Chunhua by his name directly.

This master was not foolishly filial; impressive!

"The wound is on his right shoulder, and it doesn't look light. But I believe that as long as he recuperates well, it won't be life-threatening." He hadn't gone up to look closely, just watched from behind a sand dune from afar.

"Perhaps he was injured in the Panlong ruins." He Lingchuan was thinking about what He Chunhua would do next.

The rebellion in the south had been quelled, and the assessment of the Hongya Road had also ended. Should He Chunhua head north to attack the Grand Marshal?

The Yuan Court was probably anxious to death, but in He Lingchuan's view, He Chunhua was not that anxious.

The Grand Marshal was a tough nut to crack, and now that he had won several victories in a row, his morale was high. He Chunhua was a smart man and would likely avoid his sharp edge.

If he stayed in the Yuan Nation, there would probably be a big show to watch. However, he already had the intention to leave.

This country was rotting to the roots. He had no foundation or troops in the Yuan Nation, and even less interest in staying to perform surgery on it.

It was time to say goodbye to the Yuan Nation and to the past.

Let the past be wiped clean.

Qiu Hu happened to ask him: "Where are we going next?"

He Lingchuan summoned all the Rongshan disciples, placed several bags of jewelry and silver notes on the table, and then said solemnly: "When I went to Rongshan to ask for people, I only said I was returning to the Yuan Nation to handle matters; now that the Yuan Nation's affairs are over, I am going east. This journey is long and far, crossing oceans, and the future may have endless dangers. It is my great honor if you are willing to continue to follow me; if you want to return to Rongshan, I will give each of you a bag of jewelry and a thousand taels of silver notes, and we will part ways here."

The Rongshan disciples looked at each other upon hearing this.

Although this trip to the Panlong Desert was strange, everyone returned safely, and He Lingchuan's reward was quite generous.

Stay and continue to follow, or take the money and return to the sect?

This was the time for everyone to make their own decisions.

Before long, a Rongshan disciple stood up, bowed to He Lingchuan, took the jewelry and silver notes, and strode out.

Since someone had set an example, disciples stood up one after another and did the same.

In total, five people left.

He Lingchuan waited for a while longer, and seeing that the remaining ten had no intention of getting up, he said: "Are you all willing to go east with me?"

Tao Ran smiled and said: "Following the Young Master is much more interesting than staying in Rongshan or serving other royal courts."

Everyone nodded one after another: "Exactly!"

"We also want to go to sea and see the customs of foreign lands!"

He Lingchuan asked Qiu Hu again: "What about you?"

Sect Master Xue and Elder Dao of Rongshan had originally made it very clear that Qiu Hu was only "lent" to him.

Where to go from here, Qiu Hu had to decide for himself.

Qiu Hu said without hesitation: "I'll go with the Young Master!"

If he only felt gratitude toward He Lingchuan before leaving the Rongshan territory, because he helped him avenge the Bai Village, then after going through life and death in the Panlong Secret Realm, he admired He Lingchuan even more.

Not to mention anything else, the death of He Jing, the Cloud Envoy of the Tiangong, must have something to do with Young Master He!

He hadn't seen it with his own eyes, but he was absolutely certain.

And although the Panlong Secret Realm ended abruptly, he believed that there must be more unknown causes behind it.

Young Master He was the insider hiding behind the scenes.

Following such a person to open up a new world in foreign lands, Qiu Hu saw a bright future.

If life only sought stability, it would be extremely boring.

This was also of great benefit to his own moral cultivation and improvement in cultivation base.

Sometimes, choice is greater than effort.

In fact, deep down, Qiu Hu felt a bit of sympathy for He Lingchuan.

In the Panlong Secret Realm, he watched He Lingchuan endure his biological father in every way, yet He Chunhua was determined to sacrifice his eldest son!

Such a beast was not fit to be a parent! Qiu Hu himself had no father or mother and was raised by villagers under Rongshan's jurisdiction. He originally thought his background was tragic, but looking at He Lingchuan, having such a father was worse than having none! By comparison, he actually felt he was lucky; at least no elder was obsessed with sacrificing him to ghosts and gods.

He Lingchuan didn't know his inner thoughts and was taking a deep breath, saying solemnly to everyone: "From now on, I will work with you all, sharing both blessings and misfortunes!"

Everyone stood up and cupped their hands in salute: "Willing to go through fire and water for our lord!"

He Lingchuan felt relieved and really wanted to laugh out loud. From now on, these eleven Rongshan disciples had truly become his direct subordinates, his confidence to cross the ocean and start anew!

He had his own team again.

Tao Ran went out to look around twice and came back saying: "They have already gone far."

"They" referred to the Rongshan disciples who had left on their own.

Although they were from the same sect, they would go their separate ways from now on.

Qiu Hu asked at the right time: "Where to next?"

He Lingchuan grabbed a piece of yellow paper from his bosom and slapped it on the table: "Here!"

Everyone looked down: "Blade Harbor?"

Tao Ran thought for a moment: "I seem to have heard of this place, oh my, it's really not close."

"The Panlong Desert is now unobstructed, so we don't have to take the Hongya Road. We will bypass Heishuicheng and head south to Baishawan to reunite with Dong Rui and Mother Zhu, and then take a ship to sea." On the way to the Bai Yuan Post Station by earth dragon, He Lingchuan had already thought it through. "If the voyage goes smoothly, we will land at Blade Harbor."

Everyone asked in their hearts, and then what?

"And then—" He Lingchuan smiled, and his words made them eager to try. "We are going to conquer a piece of the world."

The Yuan Nation was not where his heart lay. He yearned for the distance, where there was.

He had fulfilled the wishes of the original body, inherited the original body, and should also inherit what originally belonged to the original body.

After two years of tossing and turning, He Lingchuan had had enough of the drifting and uncertain days.

His heart had grown, and he wanted to develop and progress, but having his own territory was the most solid guarantee.

It was time.

￥￥￥￥￥

Thirty days later, He Chunhua returned to Xunzhou.

The Yuan Court had received news that the Rongshan people had finished inspecting the Hongya Road, and also received his report about the Andong people attacking Heishuicheng and the death of the He family's eldest son. The Emperor sent a flying message to praise him greatly and offer kind words of comfort.

Someone had just lost a son and was in deep grief, so the Emperor didn't have the heart to order him to head north immediately.

But this "not having the heart" only lasted for half a month; after all, the national situation was truly critical.

He Chunhua reported that he had been seriously injured in the Heishuicheng battle and had fallen ill on the way back to Xunzhou.

The Yuan Emperor issued orders one after another, urging him to head north to crusade against Dong Haoming, but He Chunhua only said that his illness was like a collapsing mountain and he was unable to raise an army.

For more than a year, he had been running around, fighting north and south, and while making great contributions to the Great Yuan, he was inevitably exhausted by the dust and wind. On the way back to Heishuicheng after repelling the Andong people, he even fell off his horse and fainted in public, but only recuperated in Heishuicheng for a few days before rushing on his way. The soldiers in Xunzhou heard that their commander was injured and even his eldest son had died on the battlefield, and they were both moved and heartbroken. Hearing that the Emperor was desperately urging General Changning to head north, the entire army cursed the Yuan Emperor for not being a decent person and the Yuan Court for being hopeless.

During his "recuperation," He Chunhua stepped up recruitment and training of soldiers in his territory.

By this time, his prestige as General Changning and Marquis of Wu Wei had spread north and south, and the policies he implemented in Xunzhou had won the hearts of the people. It just so happened that the autumn grain was being stored, and the granaries were full, presenting a rare scene of peace and stability in the territory.

Thus, talented and brave people who had been deeply disappointed in the Yuan Nation for many years came to join him one after another, hoping to show their talents and achieve success under the Marquis of Wu Wei.

People move to higher places, and the surrounding common people also brought their families to join him.

More than forty days later, Dong Haoming's army broke through the northern defense line of Yuan General Ke Jihai and advanced more than three hundred miles toward the Yuan capital.

At the same time, on the eastern battlefield thousands of miles away, the Mou Nation and Beijia were fighting more and more intensely, with reports of victory coming one after another.

The follow-up team sent by the Tiangong finally arrived in Heishuicheng. After investigating for half a month, they split into two branches: one went to the Panlong ruins, and the other continued north to the Baling Nation! The target they were searching for, He Lingchuan, the mastermind behind the Panlong Desert incident, had already led his people to Bai Sha Port at the southernmost tip of the Yuan Nation.

A brand-new journey started from here.

—————————— The "Naraku" volume ends here. The next chapter enters the new volume "Bailie".

(End of chapter)