Chapter 289

East of Longshan, western border of Changning

The convoy transporting supplies is moving forward on the snow against the cold wind.

"Accelerate, all give me some speed. No strength after only two hours?"

"Don't drag your feet, the last twenty kilometers, almost there."

"Speed up, all give me speed."

…………

Since entering Changning territory, Commandant Zhou Yuan's urging sound has never stopped. His nerves seem to be stretched a bit too tight, just urging the army to move forward, regardless of everyone's emotions.

"Commandant, twelve kilometers in two hours, everyone's speed has been raised to the fastest. If you want to be faster, you can't."

Cheng He, the military captain of the second regiment following behind Zhou Yuan, seeing that many soldiers in the army began to pant heavily, couldn't help but speak up to help.

Song Ning, the military captain of the first regiment, also followed: "Commandant, Changning is now considered under Longshan's rule. We all know the situation in the territory, and the roads along the way have been cleared in advance. There is no need to walk so fast."

The two overseer captains of the two regiments, Li Yuankai and Li Yuanqing, didn't speak, but they also nodded, clearly agreeing with the opinions of the two.

The snowfield situation is complex. Without any other assistance, the marching speed of the Longyou Army is about five to six kilometers per hour. Their new army has not been established for long, and it may be two or three percent slower.

The marching speed was not fast, plus escorting ten giant four-wheeled vehicles, it was naturally even slower.

Thanks to the people in the Changning station who cleared a marching line in advance a few days ago, otherwise they couldn't have walked twelve kilometers in two hours.

The current marching speed is already ridiculously fast.

After the Longyou Incident in April, Yuchen, Changning, and Songyuan were all swallowed by Longshan, and the territories of the three families naturally belonged to Longshan.

The stations of the three families now have some Longshan people. Entering Changning territory is like being at home. In the eyes of the four, Zhou Yuan's behavior is clearly a bit too nervous.

However, hearing the words of Cheng He and Song Ning, Zhou Yuan did not restrain himself at all, but urged a few more times, and then turned to look at the two and said in a deep voice:

"The new army is newly formed, not to mention it is the first time to go out. I don't ask for merit, only for no mistakes. Everything must be careful, and you are the same."

Hearing these words, Cheng He, Song Ning, Li Yuankai, and Li Yuanqing, the four captains, looked at each other, their expressions a bit strange, but they didn't say anything, just nodded lightly.

Zhou Yuan is also a person of age, naturally seeing that the four did not listen to his words at all. There was some anger on his face, but looking at the young faces of the four, he didn't say anything, just ordered: "It is still about twenty kilometers from the destination, about three hours of road. You four go to explore the road ahead first, so as not to have any special circumstances!"

The four looked at each other, their faces showing resistance, but seeing the anger on Zhou Yuan's face, they didn't dare to refuse, bowed and obeyed, and ran toward the distance to the east in pairs.

Zhou Yuan hung on the flank of the army, looking at the backs of the four leaving. After the anger on his face subsided, he sighed slightly:

"Saying that the newly established Fourth Army is completely handed over to me, but inserting four nails into it, and even letting their own people be the two overseer captains. In the end, they still don't trust me, an outsider. Leader, sigh..."

Longshan has a big family and a big business, and the rules are naturally heavy. Military power has always been held in the hands of the Li family. After Li Ying Xuan Ling served as the leader, she held two military tallies. The only person in the entire camp who can truly mobilize the three Longyou Armies is her alone.

The Li family is the master of Longshan, and it is understandable to control military power.

The problem is, the Li family is doing it a bit too exaggerated!

Longshan previously had three thousand-man armies, now respectively commanded by Li Ying Xuan Yan, Li Xuantian, and Li Xuandu, the three brothers, as commandants;

Among the twelve captains of the three armies, eleven are surnamed Li, and only one, Yang Zhi, is not surnamed Li, but he is Li Tiancheng's grandson.

This is a bit too much for these outsiders.

It's not that outsiders want to interfere with the camp's military power, but that everyone needs room for advancement, not to mention these Cold-Resisting Realm cultivators. The positions of captain and commandant are not just symbols of status, but also have extremely generous cultivation resource quotas.

More importantly, this also concerns whether the Li family truly trusts these outsiders.

Zhou Yuan, as a direct subordinate of the former leader Li Tianhua, one of the Eight Great Vajras of Longshan, and one of the council elders of Longshan, naturally does not need to talk about his loyalty to the Li family, but this does not mean he has no desire to cultivate and become stronger, and improve his strength and status.

Regarding the issue of outsiders serving in the military, in fact, when Li Tianhua was still there in previous years, he had already proposed reform, but since he left, no one mentioned it again. Since then, this has always been a sensitive issue in Longshan.

Until last month, that is, at the end of May, after seeing Hou Hu, Li Ying Xuan Ling proposed to build a new army at the end-of-month council, and to appoint outsiders to serve as commandants, which immediately caused an uproar.

Without exception, the Li family children almost all expressed opposition;

While all outsider Cold-Resisting Realm cultivators, including Zhou Yuan, all agreed.

Finally, Li Ying Xuan Ling overcame all opposition, and when she chose herself to be the commandant of the new army, Zhou Yuan was so excited that he almost burst into tears.

He remembered his diligence and conscientiousness after following Li Tianhua for so many years, and his loyalty to the Li family finally received a reward. He also swore in his heart that he must lead the new army well and make contributions to Longshan, so as to repay the trust of the two leaders in him.

It's a pity that thinking is one thing.

Doing it is another thing.

Originally according to Li Ying Xuan Ling's idea, he was the commandant of the new army, and the four captains below should all be served by outsiders, but the Li family children in the council group were unwilling.

In the month of the establishment of the new army, the Li family members in the council group showed their magical powers and directly took down the four captain positions.

Among the four captains, Li Yuankai and Li Yuanqing don't need to be mentioned, they are directly Li family members; Cheng He and Song Ning, although they are the sons of Cheng Guang and Song Kang, are also Li Tiancheng's grandsons and Li family relatives.

Of course, Zhou Yuan, this commandant, is still the supreme commander of the new army.

The problem is, all four subordinates who directly lead the army are Li family members. How much say does he, this commandant, have left?

From the four people questioning him just now, some clues can be seen.

Not to mention, among the four, only Cheng He can enter his eyes.

Li Yuankai, Li Yuanqing, and Song Ning have only broken through to the Cold-Resisting Realm for a few months. Their strength is average, their experience in going out is also small, and what's more fatal is that the three have arrogant personalities, and their reputation in the camp was not good to begin with.

"Take it slow, the leader let me be this commandant, also under the pressure of those Li family members. No matter what, I cannot fail her trust!"

Zhou Yuan sighed lightly, walked to the flank of the army, and continued to urge.

………………

Three kilometers east of the convoy.

Seeing Cheng He looking around, really in a posture of exploring, Li Yuanqing shook his head and said: "Cheng He, are you really here to explore the road?"

Cheng He in front paused slightly, turning to reveal a look of confusion.

Li Yuanqing saw his expression and sneered: "Hou Hu has already defected to our Longshan. In the entire Longyou, who dares to target us now? It won't be that camp called Da Xia, right?"

After speaking, he didn't wait for Cheng He to respond, and continued: "This new army commandant Zhou Yuan was appointed by the leader overcoming all opposition. He is afraid of making mistakes and being removed from his position by the council group. It is understandable to be too nervous."

Hearing this sentence, Cheng He lowered his head and was silent for a while, then looked at Li Yuanqing and asked: "The new army is newly established, being careful is indeed correct."

"Pfft..."

Li Yuanqing sneered, his expression disdainful: "Even if he is careful, this new army commandant Zhou Yuan won't last long. An outsider wanting to interfere with the camp's military power? Dream on!"

Hearing this last sentence, Cheng He's pupils froze slightly, but his expression remained as usual, and he didn't say anything, just looked and asked: "But he was personally appointed by the leader. I know Uncle Zhou's ability. He has strength, ability, and the ability to lead troops. As long as the leader supports him, it probably won't be simple for the council group to remove him as commandant."

His father, Cheng Guang, was one of the Eight Great Vajras of Longshan along with Zhou Yuan, so according to seniority, he should indeed call Zhou Yuan Uncle.

Cheng He has a certain understanding of this Uncle Zhou.

The Eight Great Vajras of Longshan were all direct personnel cultivated by Li Tianhua in his early years. Zhou Yuan's strength of eleven manes in the late Cold-Resisting Realm ranked first among the Eight Great Vajras, not to mention that when Li Tianhua created the first Longyou Army, the first military captain was Zhou Yuan.

There is almost no doubt about Zhou Yuan's ability and strength in the camp. In fact, if it weren't for the outsider status, he would clearly be more qualified to lead the Longyou Army than the three Li brothers.

Li Yuanqing clearly also understood this point. Hearing Cheng He's words, he was slightly speechless, but soon continued to sneer: "This has nothing to do with strength and ability. It's that Zhou Yuan didn't position his identity correctly. If he really stabilizes as commandant, from now on, the outsiders in the camp will have a template. By then, everyone will want to interfere with military power. That would be terrible..."

After saying this, he paused slightly and smiled at Cheng He: "Cheng He, you shouldn't consider yourself an outsider, right?"

Cheng He's expression paused, and then he shook his head: "Of course not."

Cheng He's mother is Li Tiancheng's second daughter, Li Xuanyue, so he is considered a relative of the Li family, and it is said that he cannot be counted as an outsider.

"That's good!"

Li Yuanqing nodded and continued walking forward.

Cheng He stared at Li Yuanqing's back for a while, a trace of disgust flashing deep in his eyes, but he soon covered it up and asked:

"That's enough, it's almost four kilometers away from the army, let's go back to report first!"

Li Yuanqing clearly had no intention of going back, waving his hand: "It's not easy to leave the army to catch my breath, I don't want to go back so early. Ahead is Changbai Ditch. Didn't Zhou Yuan ask us to explore the road? Just take a look."

Cheng He paused in place for a while, turned his head to see that he couldn't see the army's position, a trace of hesitation flashed on his face, but seeing Li Yuanqing had already started walking east, he still followed.

Most of Longyou is plains, but it is not a smooth road everywhere.

For example, Changbai Ditch is a typical representative.

Changbai Ditch is a deep ditch east of Changning, running north and south, about ten kilometers long, more than twenty meters wide, and more than one hundred meters deep.

The territory characteristics of the Changning camp are long from north to south. This Changbai Ditch almost runs through half of Changning's entire territory. If you want to walk from Changning to the east to Bai Yuan territory, you either walk on the wooden bridge on the ditch or you can only detour north and south.

"This Changning was really poor before. A ditch more than twenty meters wide, actually only built such a narrow wooden bridge. No wonder it is said to take five hours. The army detours south, and it adds five or six kilometers of journey for nothing."

Li Yuanqing had already walked to the west side of Changbai Ditch, looking down at the deep ditch below.

Changning now belongs to Longshan, and they all know the general situation of this Changbai Ditch. Before setting off, they knew the itinerary.

"Changning's financial resources were indeed not good, but not building an iron bridge shouldn't be the reason. They had a bad relationship with the Bai Yuan camp before. This Changbai Ditch can be considered a natural trench between the two families..."

"Hey, look below, why is there light?"

Suddenly interrupted by Li Yuanqing, Cheng He looked puzzled, then walked forward and looked down at the bottom of the deep ditch in the direction he pointed.

Looking at this, he was stunned.

Places like Changbai Ditch are definitely not visited by anyone usually, so besides snow, there should be nothing at the bottom of the deep ditch.

But at this moment, in the position he was staring at, there was clearly a large area of light.

It seems to be moonlight reflecting on something, and then reflecting out.

Li Yuanqing probably thought it was some treasure, and his expression was still a bit excited.

Yet Li Yuanqing was like a madman; from the moment he started cultivating, he suppressed him with all his might, fearing that his cultivation speed would be even slightly fast.

But it was this look down that his peripheral vision caught his shoulder.

He is the military captain of the second regiment of the new army, naturally wearing armor when coming out.

His shoulder iron armor was also reflecting moonlight at this moment, and the light emitted from it was exactly the same as the large area of light below the deep ditch.

"Run!"

Cheng He's expression changed suddenly, his brows twitched, and he roared at Li Yuanqing.

Li Yuanqing turned his head, his face full of confusion.

But soon, he understood.

Whoosh...

A violent blade sound suddenly flew out from under the rock wall of the deep ditch.

Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...

Immediately after, five or six iron arrows flew toward the two from the opposite side of the deep ditch. The sound of the iron arrows breaking through the air alone could pierce people's eardrums, showing the strength contained in them.

A black great blade slashed diagonally toward him. Cheng He hurriedly raised his blade to block.

Bang!

The thousand-forged great blade in his hand was directly rolled, and his body flew backward for more than twenty meters like a kite with a broken string.

"There is an ambush, must go back to report!"

When this thought flashed in Cheng He's mind, it was already too late.

Pfft!

He spat out a mouthful of blood, unable to stand up from the snow. Raising his head, he saw Li Yuanqing nailed to the ground by three iron arrows, not even letting out a scream before being pressed down by several people wearing light golden iron armor.

Finished!

A hand blade slashed toward his face. The heavily injured Cheng He couldn't make any resistance, his eyes went black, and a strong sense of dizziness surged into his mind.

"These two, don't even have two manes of strength?"

"Seems to be just broken through to the Cold-Resisting Realm."

"The two who passed by in the south just now, their strength is about the same as them."

"The one leading the troops in Longshan is not stupid, they should all be here to explore the road."

"Already saw it before, ten large vehicles cannot walk on the wooden bridge. They should detour south when they reach Changbai Ditch here. Liu Yuan, you take the army from the bottom of the ditch to the south, find a suitable place to squat, I will go watch first."

"Yes, Commander, what about these two, should we kill them?"

"No need to kill, tie them up and take them with us first."

………………

The dazed Cheng He finally didn't finish hearing the words before fainting.

………………

"Commandant, everything is normal on the south side of Changbai Ditch, you can detour!"

In front of the Longyou army, after Song Ning and Li Yuankai returned, they immediately found Zhou Yuan to report the situation ahead.

Hearing the report of the two, Zhou Yuan nodded.

It is less than one kilometer from here to Changbai Ditch. After the army arrives, it only needs to detour a total of five kilometers to cross Changbai Ditch, and then it is only the last ten kilometers from the east border of Changning.

Zhou Yuan signaled the army to continue, then turned to ask Song Ning and the two:

"Where are Li Yuanqing and Cheng He?"

Li Yuankai and Song Ning were stunned, and both shook their heads.

Zhou Yuan heard this, his brows tightened, and a look of anger appeared on his face:

"Let them explore the road, not coming back for so long, they really don't take my commandant's military order seriously."

"This... subordinate obeys!"

Song Ning and Li Yuankai clearly didn't understand why Zhou Yuan was angry. After hesitating for a while, seeing the anger on Zhou Yuan's face becoming more intense, they immediately bowed and agreed, and quickly swept toward the east to find Li Yuanqing and Cheng He.

(End of chapter)