Chapter 607: The Secret Envoy from the East

Deep night.

Luoyang.

Inside the side room of the marshal's rear courtyard, the lights were like beans.

Chen Wen did not sleep.

He sat cross-legged on the couch, appearing to close his eyes and rest his spirit.

In truth, his mind sank into his body, silently feeling the slow yet steady advance of the system's growth bar.

By day, he repelled the first wave of the False Song army's attack, especially the appearance and withdrawal of that eerie gray cavalry, which, though it caused considerable shock and casualties, also brought him "growth".

Responding to crisis, mobilizing forces, analyzing enemy conditions—all were counted by the system as effective "effort".

But this speed still made him feel a sense of urgency that time waits for no one.

On both the northern and southern fronts, the shadows were both expanding.

This bit of "growth" in Luoyang is like a cup of water to extinguish a cartload of firewood.

Suddenly.

The mother token in his bosom transmitted an extremely faint but uniquely frequency vibration.

It was not a danger warning, nor the fluctuation of a subordinate commander triggering a subordinate order.

But rather a kind of… agreed-upon contact signal.

From the east.

From the opposite side of the light curtain.

Chen Wen suddenly opened his eyes.

"Wang Ru."

Wang Ru, who was on guard outside, fully clothed and asleep, instantly became alert and silently flashed into the inner room.

"Someone passed through the light curtain, triggering our reserved 'wind chime.'" Chen Wen said softly.

The wind chime is a highly covert yuan-energy sensing device they installed at the entrance of the safe passage.

Only those who know the correct method and carry the corresponding token, upon passing, will emit a specific frequency of yuan-energy ripple, which the mother token captures.

"Location?" Wang Ru's eyes were sharp.

"Southeast, the Mang Mountain spur, Old Crow Hollow." Chen Wen rose, "You hold the fort; I'll go fetch him personally."

"My lord, leaving the city now is too dangerous." Wang Ru disagreed.

"No problem." Chen Wen had already begun to don his outer robe, moving swiftly, "Whoever can trigger the 'wind chime' must be a core secret envoy sent by Zhang Cheng or Zhao Lao Nian. Unless it is extremely urgent, they would not use this line. I must see him at once."

Seeing Chen Wen's mind made up, Wang Ru said no more.

She merely quickly took out two sets of dark clothing suitable for night movement from a hidden place, as well as two short crossbows and poisoned daggers.

"I'll go with you. Outside the city, I know the gaps in the night watch and patrol rotations."

Half an hour later.

At the southeast corner of Luoyang, a stretch of wall relatively weak in defense but listed by the allied forces as a "restricted zone".

Chen Wen and Wang Ru, like two wisps of smoke, using their extraordinary skill and familiarity with the terrain, silently slid down the wall and vanished into the dark wilderness outside the city.

The cold wind howled.

The starlight was dim.

The two, relying on their extraordinary vision and memory, swiftly traversed the rugged hills and withered woods.

They avoided all possible open and concealed sentry posts.

They headed straight for the depths of the Mang Mountain spur.

More than an hour later.

Old Crow Hollow.

This is a narrow mountain hollow flanked by two mountains, with jagged rocks and weeds knee-deep.

Ordinarily, even hunters rarely venture deep here.

At this moment, beneath a huge rock protruding like an eagle's beak at the deepest part of the hollow.

A point of extremely faint light, like a firefly, flickered in the cold wind.

That was the agreed-upon signal.

Chen Wen and Wang Ru approached silently.

More than ten steps from the rock, Chen Wen stopped and emitted a short call imitating a night owl.

The faint light beneath the rock immediately went out.

A moment.

A voice, suppressed with pain and accompanied by heavy breathing, sounded.

"... East wind… cough… blow through… iron curtain cold…"

The first half of the password.

Chen Wen replied in a deep voice: "... West mountain rain falls… star fire burns."

The password matched.

From the shadow behind the rock, a figure struggled to move out.

He wore tight black clothing almost blending with the night, but now the black clothes were stained with dirt, grass bits, and large patches of dried, blackened blood.

His face was covered with a black cloth, revealing only a pair of bloodshot yet still sharp eyes.

He leaned on a thick branch he had picked up at random, his right leg unnaturally bent, as if he had suffered a serious injury.

Seeing Chen Wen, that person's eyes burst with strong excitement and a sense of relief.

He struggled to perform a salute.

No...... it's not necessary.

Chen Wen stepped forward and supported him.

Upon contact, the other's body was icy cold and slightly trembling.

Not only was he injured and cold, but he also suffered from weakness due to over-exertion of energy, even vitality.

First, leave this place.

Chen Wen whispered to Wang Ru.

Wang Ru understood and stepped forward to help support him.

The three quickly left Old Crow Ravine, finding a sheltered natural stone cave in the mountains.

Wang Ru kept watch outside.

Inside the stone cave, Chen Wen lit a small segment of specially made smokeless, odorless illumination charcoal.

The faint light illuminated the envoy's deathly pale face.

He pulled off the black cloth covering his face, revealing a young face etched with fatigue and weathering.

Chen Wen recognized him.

The outstanding youth of the Peace and Stability Bureau, codename Hui Sun, known for agility, tenacity, and long-range infiltration ability.

He is one of Qian Gui's capable aides.

Hui Sun, what happened? Are you badly injured? Chen Wen asked while quickly checking his injuries.

His right lower leg bone is cracked, with multiple abrasions and bruises, and he has lost a lot of blood.

But the most troubling is that Chen Wen sensed on him an extremely faint yet bone‑deep chill, like a maggot in the bone.

It shares the same source as the gray cavalry on the battlefield and the Shade of the Iron Crow Army!

Subordinate... I'm fine. Hui Sun panted, striving to make his voice clear, "By order of Minister Zhang and Minister Zhao, I crossed the light curtain to deliver... deliver the urgent military intelligence from Bei Jing."

He trembled as he took out a flat metal box, only palm‑sized, wrapped in layers of oil paper, wax seal, and metal foil from his innermost inner layer.

The box's surface showed obvious dents and scratches, even a charred burn mark.

When crossing... the light curtain, we were ambushed... by a Shade squad. Hui Sun's voice trembled with fear and resolve, "The four who accompanied me... all perished. I was fortunate, relying on Minister Zhao's newly given 'Breaker' and 'Concealment Powder' to force a breakthrough... but it also disturbed the passage, I was seriously injured... delayed two days before... before finding this place."

Chen Wen took the metal box.

It felt heavy in hand.

He pressed the hidden latch, and the box slid open silently.

Inside were several tiny folded sheets of silk written with a special solution.

Also a small piece of dark‑colored ore sample with faint crystal reflections.

Chen Wen first unfolded the topmost sheet of silk.

It was Zhang Cheng's own handwriting.

The handwriting was as steady as ever, yet the strokes revealed a rare gravity and urgency.

The content is brief:

The Bei Jing conflict erupted in full seven days ago.

The enemy forces far exceed estimates, numbering no less than two hundred thousand cavalry, with tribes continually gathering.

Their combat prowess is extraordinary: ordinary cavalry already match border‑army elites, while mid‑ and lower‑rank officers and elites are commonly implanted with what appears to be dark‑energy crystals, making them fearless of death and boosting their power.

After General Shi Dun engaged, the initial battle was won, but the casualty exchange ratio was unfavorable.

The enemy employs a reckless human‑sea wave tactic, mixed with a few Shade units that carry out assassinations and sabotage, making defense nearly impossible.

Of Bei Jing's three outer defense lines, two have been lost in just four days.

The pressure at Zhenbei Pass is immense.

More worrying, the dark‑energy radiation source deep in the plains continues to intensify, monitoring shows signs of a large‑scale 'catalysis ceremony.'

Minister Zhao Lao Nian judged that the Iron Crow Army's committed quota this time is staggering, aiming to spawn in the shortest time a war flood capable of overwhelming Chen Dynasty's northern border defenses.

The Imperial Court has fully mobilized, yet the situation's gravity is unprecedented in a century.

We hope the sovereign is informed and makes an early decision.

Chen Wen drew a deep breath, suppressing the surging waves in his heart.

Unfolding the second sheet reveals Minister Zhao Lao Nian's technical analysis and attached diagrams.

It details the characteristics of dark‑energy crystals extracted from enemy corpses and analyzes their strengthening and control principles on the human body.

Attached is a Bei Jing dark‑energy radiation monitoring chart; its steeply rising line is shocking.

There are also conjectures on the Shade's activity patterns and the emergency deployment of new dark‑energy defense equipment.

The last sheet is General Shi Dun's military briefing, more direct and more bloody.

It records the detailed course of several key contact battles, the enemy's tactical features, our casualty numbers, and a bold warning in vermilion:

The enemy forces contain Shade units; their combat excellence and skill in covert assaults have already caused the loss of seven of our mid‑ and high‑rank officers. The Bei Jing defense system faces danger of being gradually undermined from within.

Chen Wen's gaze finally settled on that ore sample.

Dark red, irregular, slightly heavy in hand, emitting a faint, uncomfortable warmth.

It faintly resonates with the yin‑cold aura he sensed in the northern and southern shadows.

This is... Hui Sun forced himself to explain, "General Shi Dun ordered men to retrieve this from a destroyed site suspected of enemy front‑line supplies. Minister Zhao preliminarily judges that this object... might be a key consumable or energy source needed by the Iron Crow Army for large‑scale 'catalysis'."

Chen Wen gripped the ore tightly.

The icy edges of the metal box jabbed his palm, causing pain.

Zhang Cheng's gravity.

Minister Zhao Lao Nian's warning.

General Shi Dun's bloody battle.

Besides, the information delivered at the cost of his life by the wounded messenger before his eyes.

All the information converged into a cold fact.

The crisis in the Chen Dynasty's Bei Jing was ten times more severe than the vague sense he had previously gotten through 'Shi Yong'.

The Iron Crow Army this time truly spared no expense, aiming to swallow the Chen Dynasty's Northern Frontier in one gulp.

Even, it could shake the foundations of the state!

"Your Majesty..." Hui Sun looked at Chen Wen's ever-changing expression, difficulty adding, "Minister Zhang still has a verbal order that the subordinate must deliver."

"Speak."

Hui Sun imitated Zhang Cheng's tone, slow and clear:

Bei Jing, Shi Dun can barely hold for a moment, but prolonged defense will surely be lost.

The rise and fall of the nation's fortune rests on this battle.

On both sides of the light curtain, which is lighter, which heavier? I hope Your Majesty will think carefully and decide swiftly.

Inside the stone cave, a deathly silence fell.

Only the extremely faint crackling sound from the burning charcoal stick.

And outside the cave, the cold wind whimpering as it swept past the low shrubs.

Chen Wen slowly closed his eyes.

At his fingertips, the mother token and the dark red ore in his hand grew slightly warm.

As if scorching his nerves.

The predicament of the False Song world, the offense and defense of Luoyang, Yue Fei's allied forces — these are certainly important.

But……

The Chen Dynasty.

That is the root.

It is the final stronghold of all variables, the soil in which civilization can endure.

If the root is cut down, all is over.

"Wang Ru."

His voice sounded in the narrow stone cave, calm to a terrifying degree.

"Take Hui Sun back to the city, find the best medical officer, spare no expense to heal him."

"Then notify Yue Fei, Lin Chong, and Wu Yong."

"Tomorrow morning, in the Marshal's Mansion main hall."

"I have important matters that must be discussed with them."

Wang Ru replied softly from outside the cave: "Yes."

She heard in Chen Wen's tone the deep-seated, unalterable resolve.

Hui Sun struggled to say something.

Chen Wen raised a hand to stop him.

"Rest and heal your wounds."

"The news you brought is very important."

"The road ahead……"

He did not finish.

He merely clenched the heavy military report and the ore tightly in his hand.

He turned around.

He walked out of the stone cave.

Before him was the night wind as sharp as a knife, and far off, the few lone lights flickering on Luoyang's city walls in the darkness.

The moment of decision.

It has arrived.