Chapter 391: Sword, Grain

Two Forbidden Army experts supported Tang Lanzhou, using shields to block the bullets attacking from both sides, rushing into the civilian houses by the street, rushing to the backyard through the back door, and then flipping into another street from the backyard.

There were shouts of killing chasing behind them.

The two dared not delay; one blocked the bullets attacking from behind, and one carried Tang Lanzhou to rush out of the city gate, intending to head toward the Divine Machine Battalion's station, but heard Tang Lanzhou say weakly.

"Turn around, go to the Three Thousand Battalion."

The Forbidden Army expert's footsteps paused.

"But—"

Tang Lanzhou supported himself to spit out a paragraph.

"Just now, I deliberately shouted to bluff them."

"Whether the Divine Machine Battalion has been completely mastered or not, we cannot go there rashly... The Three Thousand Battalion is a naturalized alien cavalry, not understanding Han language; Liu Jin is least likely to master them... Cavalry is fast; to rush to the Divine Machine Battalion to suppress them, only the Three Thousand Battalion can do it... Go, go to the Three Thousand Battalion!"

The Forbidden Army expert nodded, turned the direction, and ran toward the Three Thousand Battalion's station.

At the same time, the outer city of the capital.

An Ziyang frowned and looked at the Gu-insects in his hand. A few breaths ago, the Gu-insects were still raising their heads to indicate the direction, but now they were all lowering their heads, crawling around in his palm.

"Liu Jin."

An Ziyang gritted his teeth.

Liu Jin cut off the connection between the Gu-insects. He was a person by the Emperor's side; he also knew the Emperor's Gu-arts, so it was not surprising that he could do this.

An Ziyang lost the means to track those Jianghu people.

At the same time, the loud noise of the Heaven-men fighting in the distance gradually ceased. Two officials flew over and threw a head to the ground.

"Battalion Commander An, just now we found a stronghold of Jianghu people; just as we were about to act, this person suddenly came out to cover their retreat... We killed him, but those Jianghu people scattered like birds and beasts, and are no longer in sight."

An Ziyang looked closely.

"Qingluan Sect, Gao Ming."

That head with ordinary features and disheveled hair was Gao Ming.

Thus, the three Jianghu Heaven-men who came to the capital to fight for the Xuanlan technique were all dead.

But An Ziyang's frown grew tighter.

"What kind of chips did Liu Jin take out to exchange for Gao Ming's willingness to cover their retreat... What are they going to do with these Jianghu people, worth a Heaven-man to cover their retreat!"

"If there is time to track slowly, we will definitely be able to find their whereabouts... But now without the guidance of Gu-insects, it will be difficult to catch up with them in a short while."

An Ziyang clenched his fists and walked toward the place where the two officials and Gao Ming fought, wanting to see if he could find any clues.

After walking a few steps, he felt a numbness and itching in his palm.

Looking again, those Gu-insects raised their heads again, all pointing in the same direction.

"This!"

An Ziyang's eyes widened slightly.

"It's effective again, no, Liu Jin's work cannot be so rough... Could it be the wrong direction, no, this is the Gu-insect cultivated by Xiao Si himself; Liu Jin cannot crack it in a short time... No, Liu Jin can't do it, there is someone who can."

"Ji Tianrui."

"But she has effectively broken with Yingzhou and the Eastern Depot, killing several Yingzhou Heaven-men and Yan Song; is she helping Liu Jin crack the Gu-insects to mislead me, or is she cracking Liu Jin's means of covering his tracks to prompt me? What does she want to do, is she an enemy or a friend to the Commander?"

As his mind raced, he looked in the direction indicated by the Gu-insects.

Looking at this, he was shocked.

"Imperial Palace!"

Mei Qinghe beside him also had a cold expression.

"Brother An, the direction indicated by the Gu-insects is the palace city."

"Yes."

An Ziyang nodded with a dark face.

"But I don't know if it's misleading..."

Mei Qinghe interrupted.

"No matter what, as long as the Commander is fine, everything can still be turned around; if something happens to the Commander, then everything is over. So, whether it is misleading or not, we must return to the palace!"

An Ziyang let out a long breath.

"That's right, Sister Mei, I thought too much." He looked at the direction indicated by the Gu-insects and waved his hand.

"Go! Return to the palace!"

After speaking, the group flipped onto the roof and chased in the direction indicated by the Gu-insects.

And in a house behind them, Ji Tianrui gently placed the Gu-insect in her hand on the table, looked at the backs of the few people going away, and laughed lightly.

"Lord Li, have you woken up?"

"Owed me these favors, next time we meet, we won't be fighting and killing immediately, right?"

While she was speaking, another voice sounded in the room.

"Master of the Sacrifice, the ship is ready. When shall we return to Yingzhou?"

Ji Tianrui laughed lightly and answered in the same language.

"I still have some favors to sell to Lord Li. You wait for me at the pier and be ready to set sail at any time."

The voice paused for a moment.

He didn't understand, wanting to question why she valued a Central Plains person so much, to the point of leaving behind many major events in the country, drifting across the ocean to get here just to sell a favor... but the respect and fear for Ji Tianrui had been carved into his marrow; he hesitated for a while, only daring to reply respectfully.

"かlこまりまlた (Understood)."

After speaking, the room fell into silence again.

Rewind time to the moment Zhu Zai received the news.

After listening to the news reported by the Forbidden Army, his face flushed red, and he cursed angrily.

"Bastard! Qianji Battalion... Good!"

"What Lord Tang said should just be words to confuse the audience; he will not go to the Qianji Battalion. If my guess is correct, he should be heading toward the Three Thousand Battalion."

Zhu Zai reached out to take an object and summoned an official to hand it to him.

"Take the tiger tally, go and catch up with Lord Tang, mobilize the Three Thousand Battalion cavalry to encircle and suppress the Qianji Battalion rebels, no mistakes allowed!"

"Yes!"

The official took the order and flew away.

By this time, Zhu Zai finally had the opportunity to throw himself into the chair, raising his hand to pinch his forehead, his mind not stopping for a moment.

"No."

"Not to mention the Divine Machine Battalion, what is Liu Jin's intention in sending civil officials and Jianghu people to the Imperial Palace... These people are useful if they are creating momentum, but now the dagger is revealed; a group of scholars plus a group of grass-roots, how many officials can they trade?"

"An Qisheng's state has not recovered, the Yingzhou Heaven-men have not died out, he rushed to the Imperial Palace just to change a place to fight with His Majesty, what is the significance?"

"Tricky, still tricky."

Zhu Zai rubbed his forehead, only feeling his eyelids twitching violently.

Through this period of confrontation, the chess pieces in the other party's hands were almost gone; now the other party had pushed all the chess pieces out and was heading toward the Imperial Palace, clearly wanting a life-and-death battle... but he couldn't even figure out the other party's intention.

As his thoughts were chaotic, Zhu Zai suddenly remembered one thing.

Nanjing.

Zheng Anqi held a Dharma ritual in Nanjing, borrowing the spirit of the common people, preparing to attain the perfect Xuanlan. Where did his method of cultivation come from?

Before rebelling from Yingzhou, Zheng Anqi should have never stepped out of Yingzhou; he had no channel to obtain other nature-gong cultivation methods. So this cultivation method was the inheritance of Yingzhou.

That is to say, An Qisheng also knows it.

Civil officials and Jianghu people have no value in martial power, but Liu Jin is willing to use a Heaven-man to cover their retreat.

Also, the hundred officials forced the palace; why did An Qisheng risk the risk of directly facing Li Miao to come personally, just to protect Yan Song?

If killing all Yingzhou Heaven-men could restore his state, why didn't An Qisheng kill them before? He wouldn't care about any family affection at all!

As if a thunderbolt exploded, the lightning connected the clues.

Zhu Zai stood up suddenly.

"No, that day forcing the palace was not to usurp the imperial court, and An Qisheng was not to protect Yan Song... He wanted to use the matter of forcing the palace, using the spirits of the hundred officials to replace the sacrifice of the Yingzhou Heaven-men to restore the perfect state, and then use the perfect state to control His Majesty and commit usurpation!"

"It's just that Big Li killed too fast and too decisively, ruining his plan!"

"Now, the last Yingzhou Heaven-man was taken away by Zhu Shoujing, and An Qisheng planted a nature-seed on Big Li, his realm declining; to break the situation, he must restore the perfect state... So those civil officials and Jianghu people are not knives, but grain!"

"The grain for An Qisheng to restore his state!"