Longzang

Chapter 217 He's Too Busy

"Remember, there are no demons in this courtyard, only ancestors and gods," Wei Yuan solemnly instructed.

Xu Jingfeng seemed to understand, but didn't quite, and nodded repeatedly.

After giving his instructions, Wei Yuan left the Xu residence. The old tree alone revealed the terrifying foundation of this powerful family. The Xu family of Ningxi must have had long-term plans for establishing themselves, which is why they entrusted such a powerful ancestral spirit, with combat strength equivalent to the late-stage Dharma Aspect realm, to guard it.

Wei Yuan had always been accompanied by Xu Jingfeng when he entered and exited the Xu residence, and Zhu Yuanjin had likely been secretly covering for him, which was why Lao Shu hadn't noticed anything. But if Yuan Qingyan wanted to enter the old residence to kill Xu Jingfeng, she would be in for a tough time.

After leaving the Xu residence, Wei Yuan didn't stop for a moment and headed northeast. Along the way, he met up with the knights who had come from the realm, and together they formed fifty riders. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the wilderness.

The eastern border of Ningxi County, which was originally under the jurisdiction of three counties, has now become a blank wasteland.

Originally, the officials and their entourages of the three counties were moved to the west by Wei Yuan, while the common people were driven to the Azure Netherworld by Yuan Qingyan. Now, only a few military fortresses are stationed here to guard the strategic points and cut off east-west transportation.

The Witch Domain is covered in dense forests and countless swamps, leaving few roads suitable for large caravans. A road without caravan traffic will fall into disrepair and be overtaken by the forest within a year.

Wei Yuan had already discovered that Yuan Qingyan had deployed more than 7,000 men along the entire eastern front, distributed across six military fortifications of varying sizes. The fortification in front of him was one of these, garrisoned with 1,000 men.

Ten masked knights appeared before the fortress and slowly approached. The guards on the fortress wall had already spotted them and immediately turned their ballistae around. An officer climbed onto the wall and shouted, "A bunch of cowards hiding in the shadows! Who are you? If you dare come any closer, don't blame the crossbows for being blind!"

The lead knight adjusted his iron mask and said, "We are the fifty great thieves of the Battle Sky Gang! The gang is currently short of food and clothing, and we heard that you gentlemen are living comfortably, so we have come to borrow some money and provisions."

The officer, enraged, laughed: "You're trying to borrow grain from the government troops? You're all blind! Are you all desperate for money?"

The knight grinned, revealing a set of pearly white teeth: "This general is right, we're just desperate for money. There's no one in the Western Regions who isn't crazy, but you've driven us to this madness. Attack!"

The officer wanted to burst out laughing, thinking that a mere ten men dared to raid the camp.

However, at that moment, powerful auras rose from the rear and left and right, and dozens of knights split into two groups and charged straight at the camp!

Chaos erupted within the military camp. Several powerful auras surged forth, and the officers, both shocked and enraged, braced themselves to meet the knights who had stormed into the camp. These knights wore masks, each wielding a long spear, and upon reaching the camp's perimeter, they abandoned their horses and leaped directly into the camp!

The dozens of riders were all Foundation Establishment cultivators!
The officers were terrified, but it was too late to escape; they had no choice but to face the attack head-on. Then, several knights surrounded one of the officers, pointing their lances at his vitals, followed by a series of deafening roars! Smoke filled the air, obscuring everything, and officers began to fall one by one with a series of crackling sounds.

In an instant, the officers felt a burst of flames before their eyes, as if they had been struck simultaneously by several heavy hammers, and were severely injured and fell to the ground. Only after they hit the ground did they realize that the tips of those spears could actually be fired!
If it were a one-on-one situation, it would be easier to handle, but each officer was surrounded by four or five knights and attacked at the same time, and the entire army was wiped out in the blink of an eye.

A thousand-man army is usually equipped with about ten Dao Foundation officers. Now that all the officers have been taken down, and the remaining soldiers have also been taken down by Dao techniques, the rest have lost all will to fight and have all surrendered on the ground.

The knights carried the seriously wounded officer to the center of the camp's drill ground, and then drove all the soldiers to the drill ground and lined them up.

At this moment, some officers cursed and refused to yield, while others knelt down and begged for mercy, tears streaming down their faces; their expressions varied.

However, the Fifty Bandits of Zhantian were unmoved by reason. No matter how the officers reacted, they ignored them and simply carried out a dull search and stripping. In the blink of an eye, all the officers were stripped naked and tied together.

After the officers finished stripping, it was the soldiers' turn. However, the soldiers stripped themselves, then placed their armor, weapons, and undergarments in designated areas. With ten naked officers setting an example, the soldiers stopped resisting, and in the blink of an eye, the drill ground was filled with about a thousand naked men. Among the fifty bandits were several girls, who covered their mouths and giggled, their eyes darting between several men of unusual size.

Next, the bandits ordered their soldiers to load provisions, armor, and weapons onto carts, and even dismantled ballistae and loaded them onto the carts. All the soldiers' personal clothing was piled together and burned.

After all this was done, a masked knight walked up to the soldiers and said, "Anyone who has achieved or is close to the Great Perfection of Body Forging, and who has no family ties and wishes to join us, please step forward. I cannot promise you wealth and honor, but I can promise you a foundation of cultivation!"

The knight waited a moment before two soldiers hesitantly stepped forward. Without asking any questions, the knight took the two men to escort the cart and set the camp ablaze.

The convoy was already ten miles from the camp when a hundred or so men came to meet it, while the fifty bandits headed straight for the next military fortress.

In a single day, the fifty bandits traversed thousands of miles, destroying five military strongholds, stripping four thousand soldiers naked, and taking away all their weapons, armor, and provisions. They also lured away more than a dozen soldiers who had achieved the Great Perfection of Body Forging.

At this point, only one military fortress with three thousand men remained on the entire eastern front. Outside this fortress, a masked knight appeared, shouting that if they dared to venture fifty miles beyond the camp, he would annihilate their entire army.

Such arrogance was intolerable to the officers and soldiers of the government army. Immediately, some of them went out of the camp to challenge him to a duel.

As a result, the masked knight knocked down seven or eight officers in a row. Each battle was fought with ease, striking the opponent's weaknesses and vital points, and taking them down in just a few moves.

The officers were horrified to discover that the knight was actually a celestial being!
Although the camp commander was at the late stage of Dao Foundation, he dared not go out to fight at this time. He could only watch as the man swaggered away after uttering a bunch of harsh words. The morale of the army plummeted to rock bottom.

The next day, intelligence arrived, revealing that all the other military strongholds had fallen. The adjutant was terrified and ordered the four gates to be closed, forbidding anyone from going out. At the same time, he sent people to seek help from Yuan Qingyan.

At this moment, in the prefectural governor's mansion, Yuan Qingyan sat in the office, his face ashen, reading through the battle reports that were being delivered one after another. On either side of him sat a general and several officials, most of them expressionless, except for General Xu.

To Yuan Qingyan's left was General Xu, who was sitting lazily, glancing at the general opposite him from time to time with a disdainful expression.

Before he had even finished reading, Yuan Qingyan slammed his hand on the table and roared, "What Fifty Great Thieves of Zhantian? It's clearly Wei Yuan!"

The officials remained silent. No one who had reached that position was a fool. Everyone knew that the Zhan Tian Gang was actually Wei Yuan in disguise. But then what?
A wave of unrest, a wave of up again.

A soldier came in to report that the clerk and his entourage had been found and brought back, and were now placed outside.

The soldier's words made Yuan Qingyan's heart sink, and she ordered them to be carried in. In the blink of an eye, several people covered in mud were carried into the house, all of them barely alive, their limbs clearly deformed, obviously broken by someone.

"How dare you!" Yuan Qingyan slammed her hand on the table and stood up! "Guards! Go to the Xu family immediately and bring Xu Jingfeng to see me!"

The Xu residence was in the north of the town, and the prefectural government office was in the south of the town, only ten miles apart. So, in the blink of an eye, a constable reported: "Sir, Xu Jingfeng said... he is busy."

With a bang, the teacup in Yuan Qingyan's hand shattered on the ground.

(End of this chapter)