Chapter 484

"Father!"

"Wife! I have let you suffer by following me!"

The family had a long, emotional reunion.

At Jia Shijiu's reminder, Xu Huang let his family return to the carriage, preparing to continue the journey.

But Jia Shijiu pointed to the person beside him and said to Xu Huang: "Brother Gongming! I still have to stay here to carry out my mission, so I cannot accompany you back to Jingzhou!"

"After this, this person beside me, Yi Shijiu, will lead men to escort your family south to Jingzhou to see my Lord!"

"You need not worry about safety; please forgive me."

As the head of the Henei Shadow Guards, he had recently received the mission from the Lord to destroy the Sima family, along with the mission to secretly subdue and control the Bai Bo bandit forces, so it was truly difficult for him to leave now.

In fact, deep down, he really wanted to return to Jingzhou to see the Lord and Jia San and the others.

They hadn't met in several years, and he missed them very much.

"Hmm?"

Xu Huang was slightly stunned and looked at Yi Shijiu; he recognized this person, having seen him on the road before.

He was precisely one of the four who had been lurking around him.

"Then I will trouble this brother!"

Xu Huang did not refuse and bowed to Yi Shijiu.

Then he bowed deeply to Jia Shijiu: "For this matter, thank you very much! Xu Huang will keep this kindness in his heart and will surely repay it generously in the future."

"Eh! Brother Gongming, there is no need for this!"

Jia Shijiu waved his hand: "We are merely acting on the Lord's orders."

"If you really want to thank someone, go thank the Lord! He is your true benefactor!"

"Hmm!"

Xu Huang nodded firmly and replied with a smile: "Even if you didn't say it, I would! I have long since kept the Lord's kindness in mind, but I will not forget your kindness either!"

"Although I don't know what other missions you have, Brother Shijiu, please take care!"

Xu Huang clasped his hands and bid a solemn farewell.

"Hmm! Take care!"

Jia Shijiu also clasped his hands.

"Let's go!"

Afterwards, Yi Shijiu took more than ten Shadow Guards and set off, escorting Xu Huang's family south towards Jingzhou.

And after Jia Shijiu watched them disappear into the distance, he also vanished into the night sky.

On Xu Huang's side, along the way,

After Xu Huang got reacquainted with Yi Shijiu, he opened up and said to him: "I didn't expect you to be one of Brother Shijiu's men too! This really surprised me;"

"I saw that you had quite a few men among the Bai Bo bandits before; are you planning to secretly subdue the Bai Bo bandits?"

At this point, seeing Yi Shijiu's expression change slightly, Xu Huang quickly waved his hand: "Of course, I was just asking casually; if it's inconvenient to say, you don't have to."

He didn't like causing trouble either.

"That's fine!"

Yi Shijiu smiled and shook his head: "Anyway, Brother Gongming, you have reached this point; you have no other choice but to recognize my Lord as your master and serve him, so it doesn't matter if I tell you!"

"That's right! We are indeed planning to subdue the Bai Bo bandits!"

"But the time is not yet ripe;"

"Moreover, you know better than I do what the Bai Bo bandits are like inside; they will never truly join my Lord's command in the future;"

"In the end, they are just a bunch of trash and scum, and in the future, they can only do some dirty work;"

"Perhaps we will throw them away after using them! Perhaps we will abandon them without even using them; Brother Gongming, you need not worry about it;"

"However, please do not speak of this outside, even though it wouldn't have much impact."

Although, in the end, Xu Huang would definitely sign a spiritual contract with the Lord, so there was no need to worry about him leaking information.

"Understood!"

Xu Huang nodded in realization.

He was actually a bit surprised; he hadn't expected Su Xuan's attitude towards the Bai Bo bandits to be like this.

He had thought Su Xuan intended to take the Bai Bo bandits completely for his own use!

Now it seemed he had overthought it.

Given Su Xuan's situation, he indeed wouldn't look highly upon these Bai Bo bandits.

The next afternoon,

After Yang Feng sobered up, he received the news that Xu Huang was missing.

He was instantly enraged: "Bastard! Bastard! What is this Xu Gongming trying to do? Betray me?"

"I trusted him and held him in such high esteem, and this is how he repays me?"

"Pass my order, send people to search everywhere; I must have him found and brought back!"

"Also, send people to bring Xu Huang's family to me!"

"Uh..."

The leader who came to report hesitated and said: "Boss! That is precisely what I was about to say; Xu Huang's family is also gone!"

"What?"

Yang Feng was shocked and furious, overturning the table and roaring: "Then what are you waiting for? Why don't you go find them?"

"You must capture his whole family and bring them back to me!"

"Remember, I want them all alive! Alive! Do you understand?"

Although Xu Huang had betrayed him and escaped,

Yang Feng still couldn't bear to kill him.

It was simply because Xu Huang's strength and ability to lead and train troops were too strong.

In a few years, he had single-handedly helped him train thousands of elite soldiers.

This was what allowed him to stand out among the many leaders of the Bai Bo bandits and become one of the leaders with the most power and influence.

Otherwise, he would have been nothing more than a mid-level character among the Bai Bo bandits.

He was still counting on Xu Huang to continue working for him, training more elites, and winning more battles; how could he bear to kill him?

It was just an escape; Yang Feng knew Xu Huang had always had this intention, but he hadn't paid it much mind, merely strengthening the surveillance and control over Xu Huang's family.

Now it seemed he had failed.

Once he captured their family back this time, he swore he would further strengthen the control over Xu Huang's family.

Unfortunately, this thought of his was destined to never be realized.

Because Xu Huang had already escaped hundreds of miles from Bai Bo Valley, and Yang Feng's pursuit and search were destined to be in vain.

Four days later,

Su Xuan met the travel-worn Xu Huang in the living room of the Provincial Governor's Mansion in Jiangling City.

"Haha! You must be Xu Huang, Xu Gongming, right? I am the Jingzhou Governor, Su Xuan! Welcome! Was the journey peaceful?"

Seeing Xu Huang, Su Xuan stood up with a warm smile and went to greet him.

This attitude made Xu Huang feel flattered, and he quickly bowed and replied: "Reporting to the Governor, with the escort of Brother Yi Shijiu and the others, the journey was very peaceful;"

"Xu Huang thanks the Governor for the grace of rescue; otherwise, Xu Huang would still be trapped in the bandit's den, unable to escape;"

"If you do not find me unworthy, I am willing to serve you to the death to repay your kindness."

With that, Xu Huang bowed deeply to Su Xuan.

"Haha! Gongming, please rise quickly!"

Su Xuan laughed, helped Xu Huang up, patted his shoulder, and said: "Very good! To gain the loyalty of Gongming, I am overjoyed!"

"You have just joined, and even though you have ability, without merit, it is difficult for me to promote you too high. You will first serve as a Military Sima in my army, stay in my personal guard camp for half a year, and afterwards, you will be sent to other legions to command troops. How about that?"

It was his habit that for newly recruited generals, he liked to put them in the personal guard camp for a period of time to serve as his guards, and then send them out based on their abilities.

Of course, some generals did not go through this process.

But as long as the opportunity was right, he was very willing to do so.

It was not to cultivate loyalty; he did not lack that, nor did he worry about it.

It was purely to narrow the distance between himself and the generals, and to let them familiarize themselves with the situation of his army as soon as possible and integrate into it.

"Understood!"

Xu Huang was moved and excited: "This subordinate accepts the order!" ===== CHAPTER 486 =====