Chapter 108

The Taishou Fu should now be called the Governor-General's Office; Shen Tianxing arrived a bit late, and Yang Tieqiang and Wang Dagang were chatting happily.

"Shen kid, you've grown some skills, even hiding it from the old man; turns out Dagang has been following you—indeed the old man's pick. Those two behind you I haven't seen before; they seem unusual."

"This One Wang Dagang greets the lord!"

Yang Tieqiang laughed and called out to Shen Tianxing; Wang Dagang had already knelt on one knee and bowed to Shen Tianxing. Shen Tianxing laughed and waved his hand, whereupon Wang Dagang slowly rose to his feet.

"Old Man Yang, I'm not saying I had to hide it from you; I just wanted to give you a surprise. These two behind me are from my family: this is Zhao Zilong, that is Luo Cheng; they now follow me, and both are Nine-Rank Martial Artists."

What Shen Tianxing said is also true; the two Nine-Rank Martial Artists following him, the ones he summoned are naturally his family members.

"Greetings, Old Man Yang."

Zhao Zilong and Luo Cheng were also polite to Yang Tieqiang; Yang Tieqiang smiled and nodded, whereupon Shen Tianxing turned his head to look at Wang Dagang.

"Alright, you've been patiently training troops in Luoxia City; when needed, they'll naturally come find you. Why did you suddenly bring troops here? Could something have happened in Luoxia City? Or are you planning to send the troops here and then leave?"

Although Shen Tianxing wore a smile, inside he was no less wary of Wang Dagang's vigilance; even the system couldn't detect why—this ancestor of Wang Dagang is certainly not ordinary.

According to Hong Yi's words, Wang Dagang's ancestor, including his lineage, should be considered a bug of this world; even though the system hasn't upgraded to absolute perfection, it still has absolute knowledge of this world.

But now the system cannot detect the ancestor Wang Dagang spoke of, including any situation of Wang Dagang and his three brothers; even after the system is fully upgraded, it still cannot detect it. This is a bug.

"My lord has misunderstood; I came this time precisely to hand over these trained troops to you; Luoxia City is fine, it's just that my two Elder Brothers have encountered trouble."

I must go rescue them, but I cannot neglect the lord's affairs; therefore I leave these troops here. If I successfully rescue my two Elder Brothers and return alive, I will naturally continue serving the lord.

But if I never return, these troops might fall into others' hands; naturally I should send them to the lord. The troops have already been sent, and I have informed the lord of the situation; This One will now take his leave.

Shen Tianxing had the True Eye of Reality active, but Hong Yi also told him that for a system bug like this, the True Eye of Reality might not be able to discern truth from falsehood!

Based on that, Shen Tianxing concluded that everything Wang Dagang said was false; as long as the inspection record is genuine, then it's definitely false.

But regardless of how much is true or false, if Wang Dagang cannot trigger a system quest, then we can be certain he's lying.

Normally, for something like Wang Dagang's obvious need for help, the system would issue a Side Quest; but since there is still a Main Quest active, it can only be a Side Quest.

Just like when we saved Yang Tieqiang—that was also a quest, triggered by Yang Hongyue; normally, after Wang Dagang speaks of this matter, a quest would be triggered, but now there isn't one.

"In that case, go ahead without worry; I'll keep these people here, and I hope you return safely."

Everyone was stunned, especially Yang Tieqiang; but Yang Tieqiang didn't say much, as in his view, any decision Shen Tianxing makes has its reason and won't be wrong.

Wang Dagang's expression didn't change; instead he stood up and respectfully knelt on one knee before Shen Tianxing.

"This One understands; farewell. May the lord's grand plans unfold, and may he soon unify the world."

Shen Tianxing nodded; Wang Dagang then rose, clasped his fists, and turned to leave.

"Shen Tianxing, do you think there's something wrong with Wang Dagang? Given your nature, if This One had a matter, you wouldn't just ignore it; you're not lacking the ability to help, so why choose to turn a blind eye?"

After Wang Dagang had left for a while, Yang Tieqiang then spoke up to ask.

"Before answering Old Man Yang, I'd like to ask: how much do you know about Wang Dagang? How much about the Wang Family? And how much about the Wang Family's ancestors?"

That Shen Tianxing could ask that means there's definitely a problem; Yang Tieqiang furrowed his brows, then laughed and shook his head.

"If I must say what I know, I can only say that in the old man's impression, the Wang Family has always been fairly decent; if it weren't for your appearance, I would at least have married off a granddaughter to them."

Of course, if I knew Wang Dagang's son was of that sort, I naturally wouldn't have married a granddaughter to him; but there's one point I must mention: whether in the martial world or in Luoxia City, members of the Wang Family are either upright officials or proper chivalrous warriors.

I shared a life-and-death bond with Wang Dagang's father; as for the Wang Family's ancestors, as far as I know, they were people who served the country and the people, especially the ancestor who left the Ancestral Precept—he was said to be a divine doctor of his generation and even treated plagues.

Shen Tianxing nodded; he wouldn't speak recklessly about uncertain matters.

"I also just find it strange; as for whether they're friend or foe, and what their intentions are, I currently can't judge; since there's a problem, we naturally need to treat them cautiously."

"Old Man Yang, if you have time, come with me to inspect the soldiers Wang Dagang brought. If the inspection finds no issues, we can let them receive Military Tokens and incorporate them into my army."

"Alright, then I'll go with you to have a look."

Yang Tieqiang naturally also wanted to see what was up; the two left the Governor-General's Office and soon arrived atop the city wall of Leiming City, looking at the thirty-thousand-strong army just a few dozen zhang from the gate.

What surprised Shen Tianxing was that the ten thousand troops at the front all had at least First-Rank Sixth Layer strength, making them elite; the twenty thousand behind them were around First-Rank Third Layer, which is also not bad.

"Wang Dagang's talent for training troops is impressive; in such a short time he's produced this many elite troops. If you were to bring them all under your command, it would be a tremendous help to you."

Yang Tieqiang looked at this spirited, high-spirited group of soldiers and was very satisfied; his Yang Family Army, by comparison, is no better than this, of course not saying he couldn't train better troops, mainly due to lack of funds and supplies.

"I've already had Tian Guangguang take the tiger tally to find them; Gong Jin has set up a Military Token distribution point at the city gate. If they receive a red token from me, they pass; if it's green, they're to be gathered and eliminated."

Yang Tieqiang nodded; he also knew Shen Tianxing had such Military Tokens. Although he didn't know how they came to be, he didn't ask further, after all, someone vying for supremacy under heaven must have means unlike others.

Soon Tian Guangguang brought the people over; Zhou Gongjin arranged for a group to step forward to receive Military Tokens, but the ensuing scene caused Zhou Gongjin and the others to furrow their brows tightly.

"Old Man Yang, it seems destined to disappoint you; they're all green, not a single one without color."