The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 648 "General Zhao, it's been a long time."

"Is that so?" Zhao Du'an suddenly understood upon hearing this answer.

So it can be said that this guy's trajectory was almost the same as theirs; they were all chased out, but the "refugees" they encountered were not the same group.

Therefore, the two sides did not meet at first. It was not until the Liao people's "recruitment" team gathered together and brought the two groups of refugees together that they happened to meet.

What is fate...?

Han Zhao's mind was buzzing. He felt both embarrassed that his boast had been exposed in public and, more than anything, shocked.

The fact that the master, who has always adhered to a "neutral" stance, is so biased towards the imperial court suggests that the Celestial Master's Mansion has already taken sides.

Get caught up in this chaotic battle?

Has the situation deteriorated to this extent?

Han Zhao fell into deep thought.

Being chosen by Zhang Yan to be his disciple, he was certainly no ordinary person. Beneath his seemingly unconventional exterior lay a keen and insightful mind.

When Han Zhao glanced at "Tuoba Weizhi" sitting cross-legged to the side with a taut, expressionless face, a strong sense of curiosity welled up in his heart.

The high priest who guards the wax garden has become Zhao Shaobao's slave... Damn it, this news is sure to fetch a high price...

Of course, he only thought about it, knowing the weight behind it, and naturally wouldn't reveal it to others.

Similarly, despite having endless doubts in his heart, Han Zhao forced himself to remain silent and did not ask his master and his group about their true intentions in taking the priest away.

"Oh, right," Zhao Du'an suddenly seemed to remember something and asked curiously:

"Brother Han, your escape... well, your comings and goings, have resulted in significant damage to your cultivation?"

Han Zhao paused for a moment, then shook his head and said:
"No, my cultivation is fine... Well, I have some injuries, but they're not serious."

He habitually wanted to boast, but quickly added a sentence to make up for it.

Zhao Du'an said "Oh," and asked curiously:

"Then why did you deliberately take a lash from that bandit just now, Brother Han? And why were you fighting with someone?"

Han Zhao was furious when he mentioned this, and complained:
"You mean that guy? I was chatting with him the other day, and we made a betting agreement. But that guy has terrible sportsmanship; he lost and refused to pay up. How could I tolerate that? So I argued with him for a while..."

He paused, then sighed helplessly:
"Unexpectedly, this attracted the bandits. Ha, such a fierce whip! If that refugee with such terrible gambling habits had been struck by it, he would have been seriously injured even if he didn't die. As a cultivator, I am more resistant to beatings than ordinary people. It didn't hurt or itch, so I just took the hit for him."

As he spoke, he started making faces and grinning mischievously.

"As for why I didn't reveal my cultivation level... hehe, aren't you guys hiding yours too? I don't want to be targeted by a Liaoren expert right after I ran out..."

Zhao Du'an listened to his explanation in a daze.

His gaze became somewhat strange.

I found the image of "Han Laosi" to be more complex. He was indeed as "gambling addict" as I had heard rumors, but on the other side of his laughter and scolding, he also had a certain heroic spirit.

A remarkable person.

He mentally labeled it.

"Cowardly."

Jin Jian crossed his arms and disdainfully commented on Han Zhao's behavior, speaking with conviction:
"To do this for a little money is a disgrace to the Celestial Master's Mansion."

Yu Xiu: "..."

The female Taoist priest sighed, thinking to herself, "How dare you say such a thing..."

One is obsessed with money, the other is addicted to gambling... This generation of the Celestial Master's Mansion has completely lost its reputation.

Zhao Du'an smiled and was about to say something when he suddenly noticed a group of people walking over in the distance, the leader of whom was none other than the heir of the Prince Mu's mansion.

As the sun began to set, the group of several thousand people gathered in twos and threes, scattered across the wasteland, and some fires had already been lit.

When the surrounding refugees saw the crown prince approaching, they retreated like a receding tide.

Zhao Du'an and the others exchanged glances, silently got up, and prepared to leave, but were stopped by the Crown Prince.

"Hmph, stop right there! Did I say you could leave?"

The eldest son of Prince Mu spoke in a sinister tone, and a dozen or so bandits behind him drew their swords and mockingly surrounded the five people.

Zhao Du'an quickly lowered his head, pretending to be afraid:
"My esteemed guest... what are your orders?"

The eldest young master didn't even look at him; his gaze slyly fell on Yu Xiu's face, which had regained its true appearance. His eyes lit up, and he laughed:

"What a pretty face. Hmph, I've seen countless beauties. I could tell during the day that you guys were deliberately pretending to be ugly. Interesting, interesting. I didn't expect there to be such a pretty lady in this refugee group."

The crown prince, beaming with pride, examined the golden tablet and Tuoba Weizhi again, growing even more astonished:

"And these two, tsk tsk, so handsome. Did they really think they could fool this young master's eyes by just blackening their faces?"

Zhao Du'an stepped in front of the three women and whispered:
"Your Highness, these are ladies from my household. I beg you to be lenient..."

Han Zhao glanced at him in surprise, then smiled as well.

"Yes, Your Highness..."

"You're all in cahoots?"

The crown prince was slightly surprised, then smiled and stared at Zhao Du'an:
"How about this, you have your women serve me well tonight. If I'm satisfied, I'll give you a way out tomorrow, how about that?"

Zhao Du'an hesitated, then nervously glanced at the fierce-looking bandits around him, before timidly turning his head to look at Yu Xiu:
"My lady, why don't you go with His Highness the Crown Prince?"

Yu Xiu: ?

At the same time, Zhao Du'an's "telepathic transmission" echoed in the minds of the three women:
"Take care of him, and remember to interrogate him before you kill him to see how much information he knows about the Liao people's forces."

Upon seeing this, the eldest son of Prince Mu was taken aback, then burst into laughter and waved his hand:

"You're smart enough to come to my tent. Please invite the three young ladies to my tent."

Then, several bandits led the three women toward the tents at the edge of the camp.

The surrounding refugees took in this scene, their gazes toward Zhao Du'an filled with either pity or disdain.

……

After everyone had walked away, Han Zhaocai whispered:
"Lord Zhao, are you about to take action?"

Zhao Du'an nodded, his gaze cold:

"Don't worry, with our strength, as long as the Celestials don't come out and we don't get caught up in the army, no one in Yunfu can stop us. Let's go, you don't mind joining forces with me to deal with those Liao people, do you?"

He gestured with his eyes to the dozens of Liao warriors further away in the camp, near the airship.

Han Zhao chuckled: "Half for each of us."

"it is good."

As they spoke, the two left the camp and headed towards the airship.

"What are you doing?"

Several bandits noticed them, but Zhao Du'an only glanced at them before they collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

"Jiligulu..."

At this moment, the warriors of the Liao tribe beside the flying boat also noticed the two walking side by side, and they all stood up warily, shouting something.

Zhao Du'an and Han Zhao ran at the same time, each rushing towards half of the group.

Each of these warriors was comparable to a martial arts practitioner, yet they were no different from sheep when facing two opponents.

Zhao Du'an drew his Zhen Dao sword, and as the blade flashed, a head flew off. He still had the leisure to look at Han Zhao.

The priest did not use any magic; instead, he charged into the crowd with his bare hands, moving with the agility of a bird or a monkey, aided by the "Wind Control Technique."

With his hands flying, each time he pressed his palm against a warrior's chest, he easily shattered his internal organs.

Zhao Du'an was amazed, wondering to himself whether this was a sorcerer or a warrior.
In the blink of an eye, corpses littered the ground around them. Han Zhao clapped his hands, took a deep breath, and suddenly more than a dozen halos of magical power emanated from his body, his aura increasing rather than decreasing.

“This is…” Zhao Du’an shook the bloodline on his knife, his face showing curiosity.

Han Zhao chuckled and explained:
"My cultivation method is rather special. Before the battle, I gamble with these people. If I lose, my cultivation level will drop. If I win, my magical power will increase."

"To be honest, Lord Zhao, my current cultivation level at the Worldly Realm was earned by betting my life against a Worldly Realm cultivator during the Divine Chapter era."

Can cultivation level really win you a prize?

Zhao Du'an was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but marvel at the magic of these sorcerers...

Speaking of which, he had heard that Han Zhao possessed a natal charm called the Dice of Destiny, which could alter one's fate... a truly mysterious object.

"I see. I am good friends with Yuxiu and Jinjian. Brother Han, there's no need to be so formal with me calling you 'Sir'," Zhao Du'an said with a smile.

"If I had known, I would have given all these barbarians to you."

Han Zhao waved his hand:
"I can't eat anymore, there's too much to eat..."

While the two chatted casually, they effortlessly slaughtered all the bandits, a scene that caused an uproar among the refugees in the camp.

The refugees, who had just thought he was a "coward," were especially astonished and shouted:

"Killing people..."

At the same time, screams came from the tents on the edge of the camp. Inside the brightly lit tents, a head could be seen falling off, with blood splattering on the tents.

Then, a jade flying sword tore through the tent and, in a flash, circled the vast camp.

All the bandits clutched their necks and collapsed to the ground in agony.

Killing people is as easy as slaughtering dogs!

"Immortal Master...it's the Immortal Master who came to save us..."

At this point, some refugees finally realized what was happening and knelt down to kowtow.

Zhao Du'an and Han Zhao walked over and saw three women coming out of the tent.

Tuoba Weizhi was wiping his bloody fist with a rag.

Flames ignited the tent, and Zhao Du'an glanced inside at the headless Prince Mu kneeling on the ground, and couldn't help but say:

"...There was no need to be so cruel..."

Tuoba Weizhi lowered his head in shame:

"This servant will be more careful next time."

Yu Xiu raised her hand, recalled the flying sword, and said calmly:
"This guy knows very little. All I found out is our location, which is roughly here."

She drew a simple map on the ground:

"We're here, the main force of the Liao people is here, and there are many recruit teams scattered throughout this area..."

Zhao Du'an glanced at it and said:

"Understood. The Liao people's main force has too many experts. I think it's better to rendezvous with Zhao Shixiong first than to risk a direct assault. Also, we need to leave quickly to avoid our whereabouts being tracked."

None of them objected; they all followed his lead.

Seeing this, Zhao Du'an turned and said a few words to the thousands of refugees, without introducing himself, only pointing them in a direction:
“You can go that way; you won’t encounter any rabble.”

After that, he ignored the people who revered him as if he were a god and walked straight toward the flying boat with a few others.

Before long, under Tuoba Weizhi's control, a series of mindless birds flapped their wings, dragging the flying boat slowly into the air.

It carried five people towards the northern border town.

All that remained were clusters of burning bonfires on the ground and thousands of refugees who seemed to be in a dream.

……

……

Inside the headquarters of the Military Commander's Office in the border town.

Bright lights.

Zhao Shixiong sat in the hall, listening once again to reports from his generals.

"...General, according to the scouts, the Liao people's 'recruitment' teams are driving refugees closer to the border town to transport supplies for them..."

"It's obvious they're trying to wear down our forces with 'bandits' made up of civilians... I suggest we hold the border and not fall for their tricks. If we leave the city, a large influx of civilians will cause a lot of trouble."

"What if the Liao people forcefully break through the civilians and storm the city gates?"

"Ah, this is a battlefield, and I think you all understand what is more important."

"...Gentlemen, compared to that, the main force of the Liao people is even more important. At the current pace, they will arrive in two days at most, or even a little over a day. If we cannot hold the city then, not only will the civilians be left with no way out, but we who are here will also have no way out."

Zhao Shixiong listened quietly, one elbow propped on the table and his hand supporting his forehead.

At this moment, another general strode in from outside the hall and said:

"General, urgent report from the front! Our scouts in the southwestern frontier have sent back important news!"

As if dozing off, Zhao Shixiong suddenly raised his head, his gaze sharp:

"Read!"

"Yes." The general pulled a secret letter from his robes, tore it open in front of everyone, and unfolded the letter:

"...Near the main camp of the Liao people, a riot broke out, suspected to be a battle with the Celestials...The Liao chieftain has ordered a search and capture of those who infiltrated..."

The border troops also had scouts lying in ambush in the vast territory, and what they were reporting back at this moment was none other than the battle between the Old Celestial Master and Song Zhi.

Upon hearing this news, everyone present looked astonished, even Zhao Shixiong was stunned.

Is there a conflict between heaven and man?

At this time, which celestial being will appear in the territory of the Liao people?

Surely His Majesty couldn't have gone to the Great Frontier all by himself?
Zhao Shixiong couldn't understand it, but he wasn't entirely without guesses. After all, there were only a handful of known celestial beings, so few that you could count them on your fingers.

The problem is that he received no message and had no idea what had happened, so he had no way of guessing.

“General, the internal strife among the Liao people is a good thing,” a general said with delight.

Zhao Shixiong, however, was not so optimistic. As the commander, he was instinctively worried about such unknown changes.

Soon, the meeting ended, and Zhao Shixiong returned to his bedroom.

Gongsun was out on patrol tonight and was not at home. He took off his clothes and lay down, but he couldn't fall asleep.

He forced himself to sleep for a while, and in his drowsy state, he vaguely heard roosters crowing in the city. Zhao Shixiong opened his eyes and found that the morning light was faint outside the window.

He got up, looking a little tired, put on his coat, and went out into the yard.

The sky was not yet fully light, but the dawn had just faded, and the entire border town was covered with thin, gray clouds.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves came from outside the commander's office. Zhao Shixiong thought for a moment and realized that it must be Gongsun Yexun coming.

Sure enough, a short while later, Gongsun Feng, the female general carrying two swords, came swiftly from the other side of the moon gate, followed by five mysterious figures wearing cloaks that concealed their faces.

"General, look who I've brought to you!" Gongsun's eyes were full of excitement.

Zhao Shixiong was stunned. Ever since the Liao people launched their attack, his wife had never smiled.

What happened today?
"Madam, who are these people...?" Zhao Shixiong looked at the group with a puzzled expression.

Several cloaked figures entered the courtyard, which was still dimly lit at dawn. The one in the lead reached out, lifted his cloak, and revealed a handsome face.

Zhao Du'an smiled and said, "General Zhao, it's been a long time."

(End of this chapter)