knife

Chapter 113 Giant
Wu De reined in his horse and looked up at the tall, all-black building standing in the south of the imperial city.

Outsiders call it the Black Ice Platform.

The locals in Chang'an call it the Star-Picking Tower.

The building is thirty feet tall, and all the stones used in it came from a place called Lake Abadan in the west. These stones had to be dredged and cut from the bottom of Lake Abadan. Because they were black and cold to the touch, they were called Black Ice by people at the time, and thus it also had another name, Black Ice Platform.

The top floor of the Star-Picking Tower was reserved for the emperor; only the emperor was qualified to ascend to its top floor and stand there to overlook the entire city of Chang'an.

This is his territory!

The guards protecting the Black Ice Platform were all trusted subordinates of the emperor.

At that time, the guards of the Black Ice Guard were a way for the emperor to reward his loyal warriors.

Becoming a guard of the Black Ice Guard was the highest honor for a warrior in the Qin Dynasty at that time.

But only the founding emperor could do that.

By the second generation, the Black Ice Platform had started to change.

Their power grew and their reach expanded, eventually forming a hound system for the emperor to monitor his civil and military officials.

If a knife is useful, the person who uses it will naturally not be willing to discard it, even if it was once despised by everyone. As long as the emperor thinks it is useful, it has value.

However, nothing lasts forever, and no one is always in good health.

The once all-powerful Black Ice Guard also declined and became dejected as the Qin Dynasty weakened.

The Black Ice Guard's organization remains extremely large, and its power is still awe-inspiring. It's just a pity that their reach across the country is no longer the tentacles through which the imperial court monitors local areas.

Local forces have infiltrated it like a sieve.

What they gave to the Chang'an headquarters was only what the local authorities wanted Chang'an to see.

However, compared to the area outside the pass, the major powers inside the pass were still willing to give Chang'an some face, so they could still maintain a basic level of dignity, unlike Linghu Ye outside the pass, who directly turned the Black Ice Platform outside the pass into his own henchmen.

That's why Wu De went to the area outside the Great Wall.

The centipede insect is dead but not stiff.

A massive organization that has ruled with impunity for hundreds of years must have some hidden cards up its sleeve that are unknown to outsiders.
You can despise him, but you must never underestimate him.

Just like Wu De, there are very few people in the world who know his true identity.

If he hadn't needed to restart the Black Ice Platform's dead stakes outside the pass, even if Chi Qiuyuan knew he was somewhat suspicious, he wouldn't have been able to find any flaws in him.

However, Wu De looks quite miserable now.

His face was covered in chilblains, some of which had broken open, the wounds splitting open like a child's mouth. His hands, which were holding the reins, were wrapped in rolls of cloth, but those cloths were covered with purplish-black scabs, clearly indicating that his hands were also frostbitten.

Once Wu De entered the pass, he left his subordinates and Luo Liang and Luo Ying's group, traveling alone with four horses, almost day and night, towards Chang'an.

He could barely withstand such intensity, but Luo Liang, Luo Ying, and their subordinates would be far from able to endure it.

He had to get the message back to Chang'an as quickly as possible.
This allowed the imperial court to have a direct understanding and grasp of the latest situation outside the Great Wall.

This concerns the fate of the Qin Dynasty.
This concerns the common people.

Even when his beloved Cangqing horse died on the road, Wu De did not feel sorry for it.

It took Wu De two months to travel there, but he only took ten days to return.

He spurred his horse straight toward the enormous black creature.

At the main gate, the guards shouted and formed a gun emplacement, while archers drew their bows.
Crashing into the Black Ice Platform in Chang'an is a novelty.

The officer standing in front was also confused.

Until the knight on horseback tossed something from afar, the officer caught it, and his expression changed drastically after just one glance.

"Make way, make way, everyone make way!" the officer shouted the order.

Those stationed at Black Ice Platform were naturally elite troops. The moment the order was given, these soldiers scattered to both sides, and the crossbowmen lowered their crossbows to the ground.

Wu De spurred his horse and charged straight ahead.

"Captain, what is this?" someone asked curiously.

The officer carefully tucked the plaque into his pocket, glared at the crowd, and said, "Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Don't you want to live a long life?"

After bypassing the towering black ice platform, the clatter of hooves galloped directly towards a group of bungalows behind them.

Perhaps because very few people here ride horses so freely, many heads peeked out of the windows of the rooms, curiously observing the travel-worn man.

However, at this moment, Wu De's face was also wrapped in cloth, making him look like a mummy.

Wu De was a frequent visitor here.

However, each time he came, he had a different appearance and a different identity.

Here, no one would pry into these matters. The head in the window glanced at Wu De before retreating back inside.

As Wu De spurred his horse straight toward a black bungalow, everyone's curiosity was immediately and deliberately extinguished.

That was the office of He Bing, the second-in-command of the Black Ice Bureau.

Kou Zhong, the head of the Black Ice Bureau, has been detached from worldly affairs for many years, only showing his face on major holidays.

Zhang Quanyi, the third-in-command, was in charge of field operations and rarely stayed in Chang'an for extended periods.

Wu De, on the other hand, had just been promoted to fourth place.

Wu De dismounted and saw He Bing standing at the door, his face full of worry.

"Is Linghu Ye going to rebel?" He Bing asked in a deep voice.

Seeing Wu De's disheveled appearance, clearly having rushed back day and night, there must have been something extremely serious. And now, outside the pass, what other major event could there be besides Linghu Ye's rebellion?
"This is good news." Wu De bowed deeply, "Vice Yin, this is incredibly good news."

"Come in and talk!" He Bing was slightly moved. He knew Wu De's character. He was a mature man who never showed his emotions and was very shrewd. For Wu De to lose his composure like this and risk exposing his identity to rush back all the way, and then head straight for the Black Ice Platform, this matter was no small thing.

You should know that countless people in Chang'an are eyeing the Black Ice Platform.

In the words of Black Ice Guard's own people, all the houses and shops around them, except for those belonging to Black Ice Guard, were there to watch over Black Ice Guard.

Some even joked that if everyone who passed by the Black Ice Tower every day were arrested and interrogated, six or seven out of ten would probably have extraordinary identities.

But even if you know these people, what can you do?

If someone dares to do this, they must have the confidence to do so.

Rather than arresting someone only to have them slink away in the end, it's better to pretend you don't know anything, so everyone can save face.

The current Black Ice Defender is not the same as the one of the past.

"What did you say?" He Bing pressed his hands on the table and stood up abruptly. With a crash, the table in front of him fell apart, and pens, ink, paper, and documents were scattered all over the floor.

He Bing was a top expert at the peak of the ninth rank of Xuan Yuan, and his control over true qi was already extremely meticulous. However, at this moment, his true qi went out of control and directly smashed a perfectly good solid wood table.

The reason He Bing lost his composure was simply because of a single sentence from Wu De.

"General Xiao Changche, in alliance with bandit Li Dachui, wiped out Yan Sheng and seized Baoping Prefecture for themselves!"

Who is He Bing? Just this one sentence made him think of many things.

Over the years, the imperial court has been trying to sow discord between Linghu Ye and Xiao Changche, but with little success.

And now, everything seems so simple again.

"Come on, let's go see the Grand Chancellor!" Grabbing Wu De, He Bing's face flushed with excitement: "This is indeed a great thing. If Xiao Changche can stand firm, then the area outside the pass will be secure! The sharpest knife that threatened the Qin state will no longer pose any threat."

"To see the Grand Magistrate?" Wu De was taken aback.

“Of course, I can’t make decisions on such a big matter. Moreover, only the Grand Chancellor can discuss how to handle this matter on an equal footing with the Prime Minister. I’m not qualified.” As they spoke, the two of them had already stepped out of the room. He Bing was not afraid of causing a stir. He dragged Wu De along, and the two of them rushed towards the Black Ice Platform like a whirlwind.

Down, and down again, the Black Ice Platform has five floors above ground and five floors below ground.

Kou Zhong, the head of the Black Ice Guard, has been living in seclusion on the fifth underground level of the Black Ice Guard for many years.

A place where the sun never shines.

Wu De only met Kou Zhong once, under the guidance of He Bing, when he was promoted to the fourth position.

He was a emaciated fellow, almost like a skeleton, with only a few strands of hair on his head. In Wu De's opinion, if Da Yin went out looking like that, he could definitely clear out a bustling street in an instant.

Wu De asked He Bing about this matter.

He Bing simply said that Da Yin encountered a formidable enemy decades ago. In a fierce battle, although he defeated his opponent, he was also severely injured. In recent years, he has been living in seclusion at the bottom of the Black Ice Platform, using the icy energy of the Black Ice Platform to suppress the fire poison in his body.

Da Yin is definitely a master of innate skill!
Wu De confirmed this matter during their last meeting.

Six months later, Wu De met Da Yin again.

Even on their second meeting, Wu De couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive.

The cold air underground was also somewhat unbearable for him.

After all, he was only at the peak of the eighth rank, unlike He Bing, who sat next to him as if nothing had happened.

While circulating his internal energy to resist the omnipresent chill, he recounted his recent trip beyond the Great Wall to the Grand Yin in detail.

Unlike when he reported to He Bing in a single sentence, Wu De now reported in great detail to the two bigwigs of the Black Ice Station about what he had seen and heard outside the pass.

“We know the army outside the pass is fierce, after all, they have to contend with the Northern Yuan. But to be as strong as you described is still beyond our expectations!” He Bing glanced at Kou Zhong, who was half-lying on a piece of black rock, and said.

Wu De nodded and said, "Yes, when I first saw them fighting the savages, my heart sank. Such a powerful army, not just a thousand or two thousand, but a full hundred thousand, no, perhaps even more. Linghu Ye must have laid an ambush!"

"Now it seems that Heaven truly does not wish to destroy our Great Qin!" He Bing laughed. "Xiao Changche has suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and by the way, there's also that bandit Li Dachui, who is also an extremely remarkable person! With these two, Linghu Ye will have a lot of headaches in the future."

(End of this chapter)