Chapter 996: Pressure from Yu Zecheng

"It is still early; the Bailong people should not have all arrived yet. Go and verify the number of Bailong people at the docks." Qiu Hu acknowledged the order and left.

He Lingchuan asked Lei Ni again: "What about our stone carvings?"

"They were settled long ago, and the Profound Crystals have been inserted." There was still plenty of preparation time.

"Has anyone noticed?"

"Every island has been undergoing major construction lately, so everyone is used to it by now." Building materials and stones are everywhere, and the sound of hammering is constant; who would want to take a second look at a construction site that is dusty all day long? And Min Tianxi finally brought He Lingchuan a piece of good news:

"We have found the families of the Bailong people."

He Lingchuan's gaze sharpened: "How did you find them?"

This good news came at just the right time.

"I figured their families would be hard to settle and at least face food shortages. The Bailong people have to transport supplies there every few days, which is a trackable clue. Therefore, I sent two peddlers to Black Page Island to sell some household goods. After waiting for a long time, a Bailong man with small braids at the back of his head finally bought a rattle-drum and two pearl hairpins. The peddler took the opportunity to crush a brood-bee pupa and smear it on them."

Men usually do not wear pearl hairpins; these must have been bought for his wife and daughter.

"Yesterday morning, the brood-bee compass finally led us to the Bailong people's shore stronghold. It turned out to be Baiting County on the edge of Blade Harbor. They were hiding in a deserted village by the sea, mostly women and children. The deserted village is surrounded by mountains; there is a water source, but the farmland has long been abandoned. That place actually faces the Yangshan Archipelago across the sea. Taking a boat north from Suoding Island, as long as you avoid the undercurrents, the straight-line distance is only about an hour."

He Lingchuan's heart eased slightly, and he said "good" twice in a row.

Living in a deserted village could only be an expedient measure; they would have to find a foothold later. Based on this alone, he could infer that Wanqi Song did not have good intentions.

However, having found the Bailong people's families, he had gripped the opponent's soft underbelly, and this battle now had a safety net.

He Lingchuan patted Min Tianxi on the shoulder: "Well done, I'll record a merit for you!"

He turned his head and asked Lu Qiuwei: "What about Yu Zecheng?"

"He is still in the guest room and hasn't moved," Lu Qiuwei said. "He knows very well that we are monitoring him. He came downstairs to eat twice and even smiled at me."

"We both know what's going on," He Lingchuan said. "Keep watching him."

"Yes." Lu Qiuwei turned to leave.

But He Lingchuan noticed his expression and suddenly asked again: "Are you feeling a bit uneasy?"

Lu Qiuwei immediately turned back and said: "I am willing to go through fire and water for the Master."

"Enough, there's no need to show your loyalty right now," He Lingchuan couldn't help but laugh. "Be honest, are you feeling unsure?"

Lu Qiuwei hesitated for a moment, and seeing that no one else was surrounding them for the time being, he said: "The subordinate just didn't expect that we would be at daggers drawn with the Beijia people so soon."

He was a disciple of Rongshan and had never had a good impression of Beijia to begin with. But the Master had only just arrived overseas and had not even been established for two months before having to clash head-on with Beijia guests; this was something he hadn't expected either.

Most people would avoid such conflicts.

"The struggle between Yu Zecheng and me began the moment I refused to hand over Zhu Xiuer. Tonight is merely a continuation and intensification of that conflict. Heh, there would always be such a day." He Lingchuan patted him on the shoulder and said sternly, "We are far from being at daggers drawn with Beijia. You tell the brothers to rest assured; this relationship is safe and controllable, and I will handle the scale myself."

He had never failed at anything he promised, so Lu Qiuwei immediately nodded: "The subordinate understands."

"Beijia is Beijia, and Yu Zecheng is Yu Zecheng; he cannot represent Beijia. Remember, Beijia being powerful does not mean Yu Zecheng himself is powerful. Offending Yu Zecheng does not necessarily mean offending Beijia, understand?"

Lu Qiuwei did not answer immediately but thought hard about it before nodding in relief: "Understood!"

"Go get busy."

He Lingchuan watched his back as he left, knowing it was normal for his subordinates to have concerns about such a confrontation; after all, the enemy's background was extraordinary.

Facing Beijia directly, who wouldn't have pressure or concerns?

But this also reminded him that in the future, governing the army requires governing the heart first, and mobilization must be done before any action.

Hearts need to be united, and consensus needs to be consolidated.

After being rejected by Zhu Xiuer and He Lingchuan, why did Yu Zecheng still stay on the island? Naturally, it was to find an opportunity to scheme against/retaliate against them.

The existence of this group of Beijia people was a pressure in itself, and even a disciple of Rongshan as intelligent and knowledgeable as Lu Qiuwei had been affected.

Yu Zecheng wanted to make He Lingchuan feel like he had thorns in his back, knowing that he was being watched by Beijia every day and every hour.

If He Lingchuan couldn't handle the pressure and reacted, let alone killing Yu Zecheng, even forcibly driving them away would offend Beijia.

The Yangshan Archipelago was indeed not within Beijia's sphere of influence, and the latter could not send an army to wipe them out, but Beijia had ways to influence the Yangshan Archipelago other than force. Even a power as strong as the Mou Nation, even while at war with Beijia, had never ceased civilian interactions. The children of Mou Nation's high officials and nobles took pride in studying in Lingxu City, not to mention the frequent trade between the two countries; no businessman would want to do business with Beijia, and no businessman would want to offend Beijia.

As long as Beijia casually issued a few bans to the Yangshan Archipelago, or demanded that the Qing Nation or Ya Nation give Yangshan a hard time—just a little bit of interference like that could very likely affect the future operations of the Yangshan Archipelago.

Yu Zecheng hoped even more that He Lingchuan would not be able to withstand the pressure and would submit; then his mission would be accomplished, cheap and efficient—this was the script that Beijia's foreign envoys most often received.

At first glance, the Yangshan Archipelago seemed to have suffered no losses. But from now on, whenever Beijia made a demand, He Lingchuan would have to weigh and consider it, otherwise, they would send someone else to watch him and keep him in mind.

Who told him to bow his head and admit defeat in this round of competition? Beijia's erosion of small countries and small places had always been about climbing up the pole after hitting the snake.

In fact, Yu Zecheng used the same tactics on Zhu Xiuer: pressure + harassment + mobilizing surrounding forces.

Zhu Xiuer had moved several times and was forced to live a wandering life; if not for the Yangshan Archipelago taking her in, she would have soon reached a dead end.

Beijia was known as the Northern Demon Nation, and it was indeed more capable of dealing with various great demons than humans, not even needing to directly dispatch great powers.

The power of such a great empire against an individual, against a small place like the Yangshan Archipelago, was truly as overwhelming as a mountain.

It had plenty of time, energy, and patience. You could drive away one of its subordinates, a hundred of its subordinates, and it could still send the one hundred and first subordinate to pester you endlessly.

An ancient demon immortal like Zhu Xiuer had skills but couldn't even touch the enemy's edge, and she was tortured until she was exhausted.

What's more, did the other side really have no great powers taking action? Once the timing was ripe, once Yu Zecheng found He Lingchuan's weakness, this shadow war would escalate into an open war.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 997 =====