Chapter 380: No Need for Helpers

For a thousand years, Hanyang Pass had been one of the most famous passes under heaven. During the years of war in the Shattered Domain, it was ultimately thanks to Hanyang Pass that the Shaman tribe's main army was blocked from advancing eastward.

The greatest killing weapon of Hanyang Pass was the eight giant crossbows that could shoot ten thousand zhang. After special blessing, the maximum range of the giant crossbows could be increased to three times. It was just that one strike would consume the entire magic power of a Dharma Form cultivator.

Although the consumption was huge, after the blessing, the two hundred miles around Hanyang Pass were all within the coverage of the giant crossbows, and if necessary, this open area several hundred miles wide could be completely blocked.

It was also by relying on Hanyang Pass that the Xu family was able to cut off east-west traffic and not let a single flying boat pass the pass. This time, Wei Yuan returned to the Azure Void, and to prevent accidents, he also had to take a detour through the Zhao State, flying an extra two hundred thousand miles.

For some time, more and more refugees wanted to pass the pass. The refugees were not well-informed, only hearing that the Western Realm was stable now and that there was porridge being distributed along the way, so they flocked here. The matter of the Great Karmic Curse was not widely spread, and even if the refugees heard it, they wouldn't understand.

Now, tens of thousands of refugees were always staying in Hanyang Pass. In the early morning, many people lined up in long queues at the city gate, waiting to pass the pass. But for the past few days, I don't know what happened, the inspection for passing the pass suddenly became stricter, and only a few hundred people were released to pass the pass in a whole day. If the refugees made a slight clamor, they would be severely whipped by the garrison, and some were even beaten to death on the spot.

Countless refugees were stranded in the pass, and refugees from the eastern interior were constantly arriving, so there were more and more refugees in the pass.

In the Garrison Office, Fan Donghe frowned after hearing the report from his subordinates and headed to the Garrison Office. The guard led him straight into the backyard, and he saw an old man admiring fish by the abyss in the back garden.

Fan Donghe bowed and said, "Greetings, Elder Chunyuan."

The old man took some fish food and scattered it slowly. The koi in the pond rolled in layers, fighting for the few food. The old man said leisurely, "What is the matter with Garrison Commander Fan coming here? It wouldn't be for those refugees again, right?"

Fan Donghe said, "Yesterday, over five hundred refugee corpses were counted in the pass. Now there are more and more refugees in the pass, and the porridge and grain we give are halved. If this continues for a few more days, I'm afraid a thousand people will die a day!"

The old man's eyelids lifted slightly, and he said, "Why, Garrison Commander Fan is heartbroken?"

Anger flashed on Fan Donghe's face, but he knew he was an outsider, and the old man in front of him was named Xu Chunyuan, two generations higher than Xu Zhongxing. After Xu Zhongxing was imprisoned, it was Xu Chunyuan who took over as the Pacification Commissioner.

The first thing Xu Chunyuan did after taking office was to clean up the confidants left by Xu Zhongxing on a large scale. There were quite a few deputy generals, assistant generals, and captains who were sent to guard the city gates, clean up the military camps, or even clean up the dung pits.

Fan Donghe was at the Dharma Form stage, and his own combat power was strong, so Xu Chunyuan was still polite on the surface. And Fan Donghe was also sensible, handing over most of the military and financial power in his hands, only managing the two thousand old soldiers who had always followed him.

However, on the matter of treating refugees, the differences between the two sides were becoming greater and greater.

Hearing Xu Chunyuan say this, Fan Donghe said, "Elder Chunyuan, we used to release thousands or ten thousand people to pass the pass a day, but now it is suddenly stuck at a few hundred. These refugees have no money, and even less food for the night, all relying on begging and porridge to survive along the way. They can't pass the pass, and we can't afford to provide for so many people. Now the porridge and rice given are halved again. Isn't this forcing them to death?"

Xu Chunyuan said indifferently, "This seat wants to force them to death. These refugees go west to pass the pass, aren't they still wanting to join the Azure Void? This is the way to take death. Hmph, you used to release people to pass the pass at will, to put it bluntly, that is aiding the enemy!"

Fan Donghe endured his anger and said, "Elder, if this continues, I'm afraid there will be a civil uprising."

"Civil uprising?" A cold smile appeared on Xu Chunyuan's thin face, and he said, "Even if tens of thousands of refugees in the pass rise up together, could it be that your two thousand old soldiers can't defeat them? They are just insects, and it would take less than half a night to kill them all, right?"

Fan Donghe took a deep breath and said, "Elder, since you also know they are just insects, besides wasting grain, they are not worth mentioning at all. Why not let them go? Even if they join the Azure Void, isn't it Wei Yuan's grain they are eating? Some time ago, Yuan, the governor of Ningxi County, once used a plan, which was to cut off the grain route and then drive the refugees to the Azure Void to increase Wei Yuan's burden."

Xu Chunyuan's face moved, which counted as a smile, and he said, "I don't want to know if Yuan Qingyan's plan worked, nor do I want to know why Wei Yuan wants to accept refugees. I only know one point: whatever Wei Yuan wants to do, then this seat will definitely not let him succeed! Since Wei Yuan wants to accept refugees, then this seat will not let a single refugee live to walk to the Azure Void!"

"But these refugees have already arrived here and can't go back at all! I have already sent people to persuade the refugees to return along the way in the pass. After a period of time, when spring plowing begins, there will be fewer and fewer refugees. Now, let these refugees fend for themselves outside the pass. Anyway, in the Shaman Realm, they won't live long."

Xu Chunyuan raised his eyebrows, and twisted light was released from his eyes. His tone suddenly increased, "Let them go?! Haha, how is that possible? Since they can't go back, then let them go to die! Those who want to join the Azure Void all deserve to die!! This seat is not afraid to tell you, the people you sent to persuade the refugees to return have already been caught by this seat! This seat just wants to see exactly how many want to go to the Azure Void, and this seat will kill as many as there are!"

The last sentence was squeezed out from between his teeth.

Fan Donghe sighed secretly. Xu Chunyuan's most beloved grandson died in the war with the Azure Void, and he was a person who sought revenge for the slightest grievance, so he naturally hated Wei Yuan to the bone.

"Elder Xu, for the sake of a personal feud, you want to put over a hundred thousand refugees to death. How can you bear it?"

Xu Chunyuan sneered, "If Garrison Commander Fan can't stand it, why not hang up your seal and resign? It's just that it's easy for you to leave, but you might as well think about your old subordinates. After you leave, what will happen to them?"

The veins on Fan Donghe's forehead throbbed, but in the end, he endured it and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Elder. This subordinate takes his leave!"

Xu Chunyuan smiled without smiling and said, "Go well, I won't see you off!"

Returning to his official residence, Fan Donghe picked up the teapot on the table and drank more than half a pot of cold tea, but he couldn't suppress the fire in his heart no matter what.

He suddenly raised the teapot and smashed it to pieces on the ground!

The servants and maids were so frightened that they didn't dare to make a sound and hid far away, not a single one daring to show their face at this time. This made Fan Donghe's anger even more nowhere to vent, and he even had some murderous intent.

Today the sky was very gloomy. Although it was noon, the light was like dusk. The wind was also cold.

The main hall, study, and corridor were not lit, and everywhere was dark and cold.

Fan Donghe didn't want to stay in such a house for even a moment. He flicked his sleeves and planned to go to the military camp to look around. And now there was another tricky matter: those who were sent to persuade the refugees to return were caught by Xu Chunyuan, and wanting to get them out would probably take a lot of twists and turns.

He was just about to leave when he suddenly stopped and then slowly turned around. There was actually another person standing in the room, looking at the scroll hanging on the wall.

Fan Donghe's mood had been agitated before, and he hadn't noticed that there was another person in the room. If that person hadn't revealed a little bit of Qi, perhaps Fan Donghe would have left like this.

The person turned around, wearing a black long gown, holding a cat in his hand, and smiled, "General Fan, have you been well?"

"Wei Yuan!?" Fan Donghe took a step back, his momentum rose sharply, and then slowly fell.

"You, you actually didn't die?"

"Let General Fan down. However, when I returned a few days ago, the movement I made was quite big." Wei Yuan said.

Fan Donghe had been overwhelmed by the refugees these past few days and had no heart for the affairs in the west. Seeing that he was in a bad mood, no one around him touched this moldy head and told him about Wei Yuan's return.

Wei Yuan smiled slightly and said, "It's okay, it's normal for General Fan not to know. In fact, Elder Xu doesn't know either. Reporting good news but not bad news is also a tradition of your Xu family."

Fan Donghe lowered his voice and said, "Since you didn't die, why don't you stay well in the boundary and run here to do what? Tired of living?"

"What I came to do, you will know immediately."

!.

Wei Yuan touched the cat in his arms and said to it, "You watch him here. This guy still knows how to care about the life and death of refugees, not too bad. If we fight later, don't use too much force with your claws, just scratch him half to death."

The cat meowed.

Wei Yuan put the cat on the ground and turned to leave.

Fan Donghe felt the feeling of unease in his heart growing heavier and called out, "Where are you going?"

"Looking for a few elders to sacrifice the flag." Wei Yuan didn't look back, directly passed through the wall, and disappeared.

Fan Donghe just wanted to chase, but suddenly his hair stood on end and he stopped. He slowly turned his head and saw the cat squatting on the ground, revealing a claw flashing with cold light, pointing at Fan Donghe, and then pointing at the place where he originally stood.

Fan Donghe had already recognized this cat. He didn't feel it was very powerful on the battlefield back then, but now this cat's feeling was much stronger than the last time, as if it had been blessed with something extraordinary, and he actually couldn't raise the heart to resist!

Fan Donghe tentatively said, "Cat brother, do you really want to be my enemy?"

The cat meowed with a sneer, flicked its tail, summoned the magic sword Fan Donghe was wearing on the wall, and then revealed a sharp claw, cutting the magic sword into half-inch long small strips one by one, like cutting green onions.

Fan Donghe completely extinguished the idea of making a move.

In the back garden of the Garrison Office, Xu Chunyuan walked slowly into the warm pavilion. The maids in the pavilion had already set up a table of wine and dishes, and beside it, wine was being heated on a red mud stove. Although it was cold outside, it was as warm as spring in the pavilion. A dozen candles illuminated the pavilion, sweeping away the haze in people's hearts.

Xu Chunyuan sat at the head and scanned the dishes on the table.

Today's lunch was a simple meal, with only eight large bowls, eight small bowls, six small plates, and one pot of old fire soup. However, there were several dishes that Xu Chunyuan liked, which made him quite satisfied. More than half of the people in this Garrison Office had been changed, only a few personal maids and cooks of Xu Zhongxing remained.

At this time, the door of the warm pavilion opened, and someone lifted the curtain and entered, bringing in a cold wind. This person came in at a really bad time, and this wind was also very disappointing.

Xu Chunyuan stared at the wine cup and roared without raising his head, "Get out!"

The person who came in didn't speak, the door was still open, and the cold wind was still blowing into the room one by one.

Xu Chunyuan still didn't raise his head. A drop of wine in the cup suddenly floated up, and then flashed across the position of the person who entered the room like lightning, and went back and forth several times in an instant! Whether it was a maid or a butler who entered, they would be pierced through many times and turned into a honeycomb.

However, Xu Chunyuan suddenly felt something was wrong. The drop of wine didn't hit anyone at all! He finally raised his head, but saw that the position where the person who entered the room should have stood was empty, and there was no one at all.

He looked left and right, and finally saw that there was indeed a person sitting at the table.

This person was sitting on his right hand side, but when he came in, when he sat down, Xu Chunyuan didn't know at all. And at this moment, although he saw him sitting there, in his perception, that position was still empty, and this person seemed to not exist in the world at all.

Xu Chunyuan felt a chill in his heart, but on the surface, he remained calm. He took a careful look at the person and said in shock, "Wei Yuan!"

Even if he hadn't seen him, all the elders had seen Wei Yuan's portrait. Xu Chunyuan immediately looked left and right, wanting to see how many assassins Wei Yuan had brought.

Wei Yuan smiled, "Elder Xu is old, it seems his eyesight is indeed not very good. No need to look, there is no one else here. Just a few Dharma Forms, no need for helpers."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 381 =====