Longzang

Chapter 928 A Different Approach
In Song Cuixin City, a servant hurriedly entered the city lord's mansion and said to the young master, "Young Master Lianxi, Qingming Envoy Su Qian requests an audience."

The pale-faced young master was taken aback and said, "Qingming's envoy, he hasn't left yet? Didn't the elders and mother refuse to see him and chase him away?"

"Yes, but for some reason this person just wouldn't leave. Then, somehow he found out about you and came to pay his respects, saying he had important military matters to discuss with the future city lord."

The young master became somewhat interested and said, "This guy is quite cunning, but I'm not the city lord yet. Besides, we're right next to Qingming, so why would Qingming send an envoy? Wouldn't their current realm lord just come and say something directly? Fine, let's summon him in. I want to see what he has to say. Hmm, you didn't just kick him out. That's a good thing."

The attendant hurriedly said, "Young Master Lianxi is currently handling military affairs. The position of city lord will surely be yours in the future. Looking at the entire Cui family, who can take it away? And this kind of reception of envoys involves the relations between the two countries, which is exactly what you are supposed to do."

The young master laughed and said, "You see things clearly. Good, then do your job well, and I won't treat you unfairly in the future."

A moment later, the attendant led Su Qian in. Su Qian was dressed in a scholar's robe and looked quite dignified. The young master immediately took a liking to him and said, "What military secrets do you have to discuss that you must see me?"

Su Qian said, "I have long heard that you are the future city lord. Seeing you today, I can see that you are indeed a dragon among men! I have come on the orders of the Lord of the Azure Netherworld to discuss a secret agreement with you, but it must be kept strictly confidential."

"A secret pact? Tell me the details." The young master was clearly interested.

Su Qian glanced at his attendants and said, "This matter is of great importance. I do not request that you dismiss yourselves, but may I come forward to report?"

The young master beckoned and said, "Come here."

Seeing that Su Qian was only at the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment realm and his aura was weak, at most at the Foundation Establishment level, the attendants did not stop him. With the protective magic treasures on Lian Xi's body, even if she stood still and let Su Qian hit her, she wouldn't be able to get a single hair out of her head.

Su Qian stepped forward, his gait dignified and imposing, his demeanor captivating. Seeing this, the crowd felt somewhat relieved.

Su Qian walked until he was three feet in front of the young master before stopping. By then, the young master's brows were furrowed, his tolerance for distance had reached its limit. He didn't dislike Su Qian, but rather he disliked others getting close to him.

Su Qian bowed deeply and said in a low voice, "I like rabbits like you!"

Before he finished speaking, he actually reached out and touched the young master's thigh!
The young master screamed and instinctively raised his hand and swung it with all his might. His spiritual power surged like a tide, instantly blasting Su Qian away! Su Qian coughed up blood in mid-air and was already lifeless when he landed.

The young master's hand froze in mid-air, a few specks of blood splattered on his fair, jade-like skin, making him appear exceptionally tragic. He slowly withdrew his hand, his face ashen white, and after a moment, he began to tremble, his voice trembling as he said, "He... he actually dared to say such things to me... kill him!!"

Two attendants hurried over to check Su Qian's body and then reported, "Young master, he is dead."

"What? Dead, dead?" The young master looked at his hands, the scene from just now flooding back into his mind, and screamed, "Even if he's dead, we won't let him go! Drag him out, chop him up and feed him to the dogs, hang his head on the city gate!"

A servant cautiously said, "Young master, this man is the Azure Nether Envoy. Should we inform the madam first?"

Suddenly, the boy waved his hand, and a chaotic barrage of light blades shot out, instantly slicing more than a dozen huge wounds into Su Qian's corpse! The attendants beside him almost couldn't dodge in time and were caught in the crossfire.

The attendants dared not offer any further advice. Several quickly carried Su Qian's body out, while others cleaned up the bloodstains, entrails, and fragments in the hall. One of them ran off to report. The attendant who had brought Su Qian in looked ashen-faced.

This attendant had accepted one hundred Qingyuan from Su Qian before he managed to bring him before the young master. Who would have thought that such a big thing would happen? At this moment, he knew that he had no chance of survival. Thinking of the madam's methods, he suddenly felt cold all over. So he flipped his wrist, raised his hand and slapped his forehead, shattering his consciousness foundation and actively dispersing his soul.

The attendant's suicide caused another gasp in the main hall, and the young master's face grew even paler.

At this moment, the beautiful woman in palace attire approached, looked at the attendant's head-shattered corpse on the ground, and shouted, "What happened here?"

The young master was still trembling as he said, "That man called himself the Azure Nether Envoy, and he actually... he actually humiliated me in public..."

In a moment, the beautiful woman in palace attire, her face frosty, flicked her hand and launched an ice ball, blasting the attendant's corpse to pieces. Then she said, "Guards, dismember that Su fellow and capture his soul! We must not let his soul escape!"

The entourage fled in a flash, while the beautiful woman in palace attire headed straight for the main hall of the city lord's mansion, asking, "Where is Elder Cui?"

"The elder went to meet the cargo airship and has not returned yet."

The beautiful woman in palace attire immediately shouted sternly, "Pass on my orders: muster the troops, assemble them, and attack Qingming!"

Everyone was astonished; this was a momentous event. However, this middle-aged beauty was the great-granddaughter of the Immortal Ancestor, and her domineering and arrogant nature meant no one dared to dissuade her. Thus, horns sounded continuously throughout the city, soldiers rushed out of their camps, and the army began to assemble.

A beautiful woman in palace attire stood on the reviewing stand in the parade ground, her expression fierce. She said, "Why is it taking so long to assemble the troops?! What are you useless fools doing? An incense stick has burned and you still haven't finished assembling?" The generals were all meek and submissive, though inwardly resentful. A force of hundreds of thousands, capable of being mobilized within half a day, was already considered well-trained; how could they possibly assemble in an incense stick's time? Even the time it took to run from the furthest camp wasn't enough. Not to mention that many of the heavily armed troops on rest were still maintaining their armor. Just putting on their armor would take them at least half an hour.

At this moment, a trusted aide flew in and said, "The envoy's body has been dismembered, and all the soldiers who escorted him have been captured. However..."

"Just what?!"

The trusted aide said tremblingly, "But the envoy seemed to have been prepared. We set up the soul-binding formation as quickly as possible, but we were still a step too slow. His soul was drawn by some powerful Taoist magic, forcibly breaking through the soul-binding formation, and its whereabouts are unknown..."

With a resounding slap, he received a blow to the face! The beautiful woman in palace attire roared, "Useless! You can't even capture a soul! What use are you to me? What about those Azure Nether soldiers? What's the point of keeping them alive? Put them into the soul-capturing formation and skin them alive! Hang the envoy's corpse on the city gate!"

The trusted aide fled as fast as he could.

Moments later, Song and Cui's troops began to set off. Only a few thousand men went out first, and then some were assembled and others were dispatched. Even an hour later, troops were still moving out. Many troops did not have time to carry provisions.

At the border of Qingming, three thousand heavily armored soldiers had assembled and were beginning to board the newly developed chariots. These chariots were newly developed and could travel on both roads and water. Therefore, Qingming's most elite troops were no longer called mounted infantry, but chariot infantry.

Standing atop a main battle vehicle, Zhang Sheng looked at this newly equipped unit and said, "Looks like we're using a sledgehammer to crack a nut."

Feng Tingyu, who had been in a half-asleep state, suddenly snapped awake: "Chicken? Where did this chicken come from?"

Zhang Sheng shook his head helplessly, about to explain, when a slightly angry voice suddenly rang in his ears: "Why kill the chicken?"

Upon hearing this voice, Zhang Sheng could only smile wryly and say helplessly, "This is just a conventional way of saying it; everyone is used to using this metaphor."

"Everyone? Why do you humans all kill chickens?"

Zhang Sheng immediately replied, "I'll put it differently later!"

The voice was finally satisfied: "Although I and ordinary chickens are not the same species, just as humans and monkeys are not the same kind, I am very unhappy that you killed me for no reason!"

Zhang Sheng sighed, "No one kills without cause; they only kill when they want to eat."

"That's for the best!" The divine thought of the immortal rooster finally left.

By this time, the troops had finished boarding the vehicles, and the vanguard light cavalry had already been sent out to scout the situation ahead. Just as Zhang Sheng was about to give the order to set off to welcome the delegation back, he saw a rider in the distance, seemingly flying through the air.

This is a Daoist-based reconnaissance cavalry technique that unleashes the unity of rider and horse. Once activated, it allows the rider to travel a thousand miles in an hour, and those with profound Daoist power can travel for two hours straight. However, the mount will inevitably die afterward. Therefore, it is only used when delivering the most urgent military intelligence.

Upon seeing this, a Dharma General immediately flew to greet him, using his own Daoist power to lift the scout and bring him directly to Zhang Sheng.

The scout was nearly exhausted, but he managed to stay upright. With trembling hands, he offered a recording ball, said only, "Your subordinate risked his life to record this," and then fainted.

Zhang Sheng activated the image-recording sphere and saw dozens of corpses hanging on the unfinished city wall of Song Cui Xincheng. In the center was a corpse with its head, limbs, and body intact, but all the flesh and blood had been stripped away, leaving only a bare skeleton—this was Su Qian. The fifty soldiers who had accompanied him on his mission were all hanging on the city wall.

Zhang Sheng slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again, and calmly said, "Return to camp."

At this moment, the other scouts also returned, and General Faxiang said, "Song Cui's army has left the camp and is heading towards Qingming!"

Zhang Sheng said, "Don't worry about it, they will retreat halfway."

The boats and carriages then turned back and returned to Qingming via the same route. Zhang Sheng remained silent throughout the journey. Feng Tingyu couldn't help but ask, "Why retreat? Isn't everything going according to plan?"

Zhang Sheng shook his head and said, "It didn't go according to plan. I misjudged, so we need to change our strategy. I need to go back and get some things."

"What do you want?"

"Karmic Fire".

(End of this chapter)