Chapter 191: Taking Control of Zhaozebao

Jialier remembered the locations along the way very clearly; every time before night fell, he would always lead the team to find a manor not far from the main road to rest.

These manors were not large in scale; some were the properties of Conferred Knights in the Wushan Castle Knights, some were the territories of Pioneer Knights, and others were properties belonging to other nobles.

But regardless of their nature, as long as they paid a fee, they could stay for the night.

This was much more comfortable than the few times Luoning had traveled back and forth between the territory and Wushan Castle.

This journey had no thrills, nor did they encounter any attacks or assassinations, and the group arrived smoothly at the intersection of Sain Territory and Shanlin Town on the morning of the fourth day.

When he first went to Wushan Castle, Luoning and the other two had stopped at this crossroads.

At that time, he was still wondering if Sain Territory would belong to him when he returned, and now this thought had been successfully realized.

"Tangmu."

"Please give your orders, my lord."

Luoning glanced at the mountains and forests, then looked at Jialier and the other knights beside him, and said:

"You are to immediately rush to Shanlin Town to notify Ruidar, and have him bring people to take all the Shadow Assassins and the knights of Sain Territory he captured to Swamp Town."

"Oh, right, have Chahaer, Wilson, and the others come over as well; we are going to take over Swamp Town," he added.

Although Luoning had already asked Viscount Mawen to help control the entrances and exits of Sain Territory beforehand, external power could only be borrowed for a short time after all.

If he wanted to truly take over Sain Territory and maintain the public order and defense here, he would ultimately have to rely on his own people to expand quickly.

Fortunately, for the current Shanlin Town, the only enemy had already been eradicated.

Within the entire territory, apart from the unstable factor of Magic Beasts, there were no other potential dangers.

"Understood, my lord!"

Tangmu bowed to accept the order, and without delay, he drove his horse into the mountains and forests, rushing toward Shanlin Castle.

Jialier watched the figure of Tangmu leaving; he had originally wanted to follow him to Shanlin Town to take a look, but it seemed there would be no chance this time.

He also wondered how much change this gentleman before him had actually brought to Shanlin Town in the second half of last year.

"Jialier, come with me to Swamp Town."

Luoning said with a smile: "Baron Leisen's family and some of his knights are here; I will leave everything that follows to you."

Jialier came back to his senses: "This is my duty, Viscount."

A significant feature of Sain Territory was that it possessed swamps of various sizes scattered everywhere.

Their existence made the air humidity here relatively high, and at the same time, they provided a good growth and habitat environment for many creatures.

Baron Leisen had relied on this swamp land to raise his family's Black Water Buffalo.

But according to Luoning's understanding of swamp land, just using it as a base for raising buffalo was a bit of a waste of the swamp's value.

Not to mention anything else, the peat that abounded in the swamp was an excellent organic fertilizer and soil conditioner.

However, as for how to specifically develop it, Luoning only had a preliminary idea in his mind and still needed to understand the specific situation of Swamp Town first.

After crossing two hills, a winding road led to the small town at the end.

The houses in the small town did not look much more high-end than those in Shanlin Town, only the quantity was greater, representing that the population here was larger than that of Shanlin Town.

After Luoning and the others got a little closer, they could see that people and horses had already controlled the entrance to the town, and soon a knight galloped out from inside.

That knight saw Luoning in the crowd at a glance; it was mainly because the silver and black-eyed emblem of the Wushan Family was very conspicuous.

"Captain Faliyas Snow of the Ninth Knight Squad of Muma City, greets the Viscount of Wubei Territory!"

Luoning smiled and signaled: "The Snow Family, is it the same Snow Family as Miss Kelami?"

"Yes, my lord."

Faliyas said respectfully: "Kelami is my younger sister, but she is not here today."

As he spoke, he welcomed Luoning inside, and soon, Masu Tiete, who was responsible for controlling Sain Territory, as well as Baron Talun Snow, also came out from the town inside.

Masu Tiete, the heir of the Tieti Family; his appearance looked seven or eight parts similar to Mawen, but he was much taller.

Baron Talun Snow—Luoning did not know much about him, only knowing that the other party should have Silver Grade strength. If Muma City were to form a Knight Order, this baron would likely be the Regiment Commander.

"Greetings, Viscount Luoning!" The two dismounted together to welcome him.

Luoning also dismounted, exchanged greetings with the other party, and at the same time introduced Jialier.

In this situation, Jialier not only looked like he was here to escort prisoners, but even more like he was assisting Luoning in taking over Sain Territory.

After all, everyone has selfish motives; Viscount Mawen treated Luoning very well, but that did not mean his subordinates could perfectly execute Mawen's orders.

If a dispute occurred, it would be good to have Jialier present as a witness.

Fortunately, Luoning's worries were superfluous; the people of Muma City were very law-abiding.

According to Masu's introduction, when they first arrived in Sain Territory, Fenlisi, who was guarding the territory, had led people to resist.

It was a pity that Leisen had placed most of the territory's combat power in the Heiling Tribe, and Fenlisi had almost no one under him, so he was easily broken through by Masu and the others, and Zhaozebao was occupied.

In these few days, the people of Muma City, apart from guarding the main traffic arteries here and forbidding everyone from entering or leaving, had not done other things, such as confiscating property, looting money, supplies, and so on.

According to Masu's statement, they were only responsible for controlling entry and exit, while other matters would be taken over by Luoning.

"Have all of Leisen's family members been detained?" Luoning asked as he walked.

Masu shook his head: "Only Leisen's wife and daughter were caught here; his son Morawi did not return to Swamp Town for the New Year celebration."

"That is one fish that slipped through the net then."

Luoning frowned slightly: "Jialier, take a guess, where should this Morawi be now?"

Jialier pondered for a moment: "Morawi should be a student at the Wushan Extraordinary Academy; perhaps he is still in Wushan Town at this moment?"

Wushan Town was located in the area between Wushan City and Black Python City.

This small town was directly under Wushan Castle and was guarded by Regiment Commander Meilongnika Taile of the Third Knight Order of Wushan Castle.

Luoning shook his head: "Presumably Morawi has already fled."

The events that happened in Wushan Castle had long since spread, and Morawi should also be able to get the news.

If Luoning were Morawi, he would probably flee southwest into the Haide Bojueling, where he might be able to hide and avoid disaster.

Morawi's cultivation talent was a significant cut below Buleidun's; even if he were given time to grow, the possibility of him becoming a rival in the future was very small, and he posed no threat.

If he escaped, then he escaped; Luoning did not care.

It was just that he did not know if Aosen had contacted Leisen in private.

If the other party used sheltering Morawi as a condition to trade for Leisen not confessing to certain crimes or revealing certain intelligence, would Leisen agree in order to preserve his family's bloodline?

Of course, this was just a guess of his.

"Lord Viscount, Zhaozebao is right ahead," Masi said, pointing at the castle in front.

Luoning looked over.

Zhaozebao was ingeniously rooted upon this wetland; its main structure was composed of dark, hard stone, and even after enduring the high humidity of the Zhaoze year-round, it remained sturdy and unbroken, maintained very well.

Furthermore, the location of Zhaozebao was also very clever; it was situated in the center of a stretch of Zhaoze, leaving only one main road leading to the castle gate, while all other areas were surrounded by water.

If there were enough personnel to hold the castle, it would indeed be difficult to take.

"Leisen is truly wealthy and imposing; the gold coins spent to build this castle must be unimaginable!"

Luoning walked into Zhaozebao with a sense of anticipation.

(End of this chapter)