Chapter 634: Eternal Heaven

"How is that possible!"

Zhu Zai's hand trembled, and the paper slipped from his grasp, fluttering down half a foot before he drew it back into his hand through the air. He twisted it a few times and scrutinized it for a moment, his brows then slightly relaxing.

"No seal, no blood, and the paper is wrong."

He looked at Tang Lanzhou.

"If this were a report from the frontier army, how could it lack an official seal?"

"If it were a message sent in haste after the city fell, why would there be no bloodstains on the paper?"

"Tang Gong, what exactly are you—"

Tang Lanzhou shouted sternly.

"How could I not know these things!"

"This letter has no seal and no blood because it is not an official memorial sent from the frontier army at all—it is a handwritten note from the Beggar Gang leader, Lao Qifeng, delivered by Beggar Gang disciples! Zhu Gong, you live inside the Forbidden City, and Beggar Gang disciples cannot enter, so he had no choice but to climb into my residence and hand this note to me!"

Zhu Zai's brows, which had just relaxed slightly, furrowed again.

"Lao Qifeng... why didn't he come himself?"

"He is already dead."

Tang Lanzhou said in a deep voice.

"He fled all the way back from Shanhai Pass."

"At the time of the incident, he was at Juyong Pass. He heard a loud explosion with his own ears and saw a corner of the city wall collapse with a roar. In his haste, he wrote this note and sent his disciples to deliver it, while he went to defend the breach—the last thing that disciple saw before leaving was him being blown apart along with hundreds of government soldiers."

Zhu Zai fell silent.

"Leader Lao... the Beggar Gang."

"Hundreds of people... blown apart?"

"But... if this is true..."

Zhu Zai felt his heart jumping against his throat.

Datong is the lock and key of the north. Shanhai Pass is the first pass of the Great Wall. Both are the most important frontier cities in the north of the Great Ming.

And Juyong Pass is the very throat of the nation.

Because it is only a hundred miles from the capital.

Thanks to the strategic policy of the founding emperor—"The Son of Heaven guards the frontier, the monarch dies for the state"—the Great Ming capital was already very close to the border. Juyong Pass was the final layer of defense for the capital against the northern nomadic tribes. If Juyong Pass were breached, the entire Beizhili region would be flat terrain before the enemy. If they were cavalry, they could reach the foot of the capital within three days.

But this shouldn't be.

Zhu Zai's temples throbbed, his eyes felt swollen, and his thoughts were in chaos.

It shouldn't be.

There were countless contradictions.

At least by common logic, this shouldn't be true.

"Zhu Gong."

"Zhu Gong!"

Tang Lanzhou's palm pressed heavily onto Zhu Zai's shoulder.

"I know there are many unreasonable aspects to this. If it were three years ago, I wouldn't believe it either... Messengers can be intercepted, soldiers can be surrounded, letters can be blocked, and if traveling light, a large army can enter the pass silently. But it is impossible for three great passes to fall in succession at such a speed."

"But, having experienced that night three years ago, I have one question... I do not know Wu Gong, so I must ask you. If you think this problem is possible, we must prepare for the worst right now. If you think it is impossible, I will immediately have someone execute that Beggar Gang disciple."

Zhu Zai looked up.

Tang Lanzhou stared fixedly into his eyes, asking through gritted teeth.

"If, I say if."

"If there were a person with a realm higher than Commander Li, could they, with the strength of one person, directly blast open the city walls of three cities?"

"If this person exists, then this matter may be true."

"The main army first gathered at Shanhai Pass, this person blasted open the city walls, and then led several thousand elite cavalry on a rapid march, breaking through passes one after another. The main army followed behind, killing everyone upon arrival at each location, while others followed quickly behind, sweeping through the entire way. At the same time, multiple Heaven-Man Realm experts hunted down messengers and drove away routed soldiers in all directions—if this person exists, this is likely the truth."

Zhu Zai opened his mouth instinctively.

"This is not—"

The denial that was about to blurt out stopped abruptly.

Although he was always blowing his beard and staring at Li Miao, in Zhu Zai's heart, his confidence in Li Miao had reached a blind level, a blindness that had been solidified bit by bit by Li Miao over the years. In Zhu Zai's inherent view, if Li Miao could not do something, no one in the world could.

Li Miao could not do this.

Therefore, no one could.

But... is there really no one?

Zhu Zai closed his eyes and spat out the words with difficulty.

"... There is one person."

"There is someone who, perhaps, could do it."

Tang Lanzhou's heart sank suddenly.

He was so solemn and anxious not only because the matter was huge, but more because he did not know Wu Gong and thus had no clear concept of what the Heaven-Man Realm could achieve. He had to seek verification from Zhu Zai to judge how credible this matter was.

Now, Zhu Zai had admitted it.

The Beggar Gang would not joke about Lao Qifeng's life. ===== CHAPTER 635 =====