This place is fun

Chapter 179 Beizi Town

Beizi Town is located about a hundred miles southwest of Yishan City. Because it is located at the intersection of several important roads in the east, west, south and north, its strategic location is extremely important, so a large station was established here.

The entire transfer station was centered on the crossroads in the town. Relying on the original buildings and layout around it, rows of barracks and walls were built to form a solid inner camp. Then, based on the earth wall outside the town, arrow towers were added to form an outer defense.

As for the warehouses along the roadsides in the town, all logistical needs, such as post stations, stables, pharmacies, medical clinics, and even blacksmith shops, leather shops, and horse and carriage repair shops, are available.

As the night passed and the sky brightened, the town became more and more lively.

In the blacksmith shop, strong men with bare arms and leather aprons were hammering away. Craftsmen shouted as they delivered thick wooden beams to the barracks. In the big pots of the street restaurants, steam was rising and the noodle soup was gurgling. In the nearby cargo yard, people were shouting and horses were neighing.

Because it rained at night, the road seemed a little muddy, but people were still coming and going in an endless stream.

The caravans driving countless ox-drawn carts were like long dragons, stretching for miles. The militia and the Fiery Army were lined up in rows of three, walking silently. Many soldiers' uniforms were covered in dirt, blood, and holes.

The fastest group on the road were the horse teams of the sect's disciples.

The combat objectives and methods of these sect disciples were different. Some of them were free men on the battlefield, acting according to the sect's intelligence and dispatch. Some were tied to a certain Fiery Army unit and followed the other side to fight together. Some were simply trained by the sect's master.

But no matter what, as the fastest and most powerful mobile force in this battlefield covering hundreds of miles, they all enjoy the highest priority right of passage.

Dadada... With the sound of hurried horse hooves, team after team of sect disciples, after entering Beizi Town, headed straight for the post station in the east of the town. They dismounted their horses in front of the post station entrance and entered the lobby one after another.

The lobby of the post station was already crowded with people. Sect disciples and warriors from various counties and cities, wearing different costumes, sat around the table in groups of three or five, drinking tea and talking solemnly.

"Why are you calling us all here? What happened? We just got intelligence about a group of horse bandits and are preparing to intercept them. If we can capture them, both our military merit and our sect's points for defending the Dao will be greatly increased..."

"Shut up. Something happened. Haven't you heard? Several sects' teams of disciples were wiped out."

"Really? Who is it?"

"Four people died from the Leiyun Sect... Three people died from the Qiling Sect... Did you know that in the Hongdao Sect of Nanjun, none of Senior Brother Zhao Mingwang's team survived? And the Badao Sect, six people died in one team, and only one escaped..."

"The most terrifying thing is that five of the sect's stewards have died. There is also an outer sect elder..."

"Shh... So miserable, who did they run into?"

"I heard that everything was fine at first. The only people we encountered were Crazy Puppets, refugees from nearby refugee camps, bandits, and the like. But starting from last night, for some reason, a lot of masters from the magic sects suddenly appeared. Especially in our area, those who were unlucky ran into them..."

"No wonder, I was wondering why Uncle Master called us back in such a hurry."

"There's even more explosive news... I heard that the Moon Fairy Liu Huan of Hongzhao Palace, along with the other six Hongzhao Palace disciples, are now in danger... It's said that they encountered the devil night watchman Feng Chao..."

"What! Fairy Yue is dead?!"

The hall was filled with people talking and occasionally exclaiming in shock. The news started to spread last night, and by this morning, it had spread completely. No one knew whether it was true or not at first, until the disciples of each sect received orders from their own masters to rush to the nearby transfer station to gather, and then the scene before us appeared.

As more and more disciples were recruited back and brought back more and more news, everyone finally figured out the current situation.

Since the Yishan City mopping-up order was issued, within just two days, the Fiery Army's B-camp and below troops and the City Guard Militia have been dispatched to various locations to carry out mopping-up operations according to the military's deployment. The purpose is to clear out as many crazy puppets and refugee camps as possible in all directions before the You Clan's army officially invades.

This is a necessary measure to protect the logistics channel and control the right to explore and conceal information. Otherwise, when the front line and the You clan are engaged in battle, the rear will be in chaos, and the consequences will be disastrous.

Although they had not fought against the You Clan for many years, this system was still ingrained in their minds. Therefore, after receiving the clearing order, the disciples of the major sects also participated in the battlefield hunting in their own different ways.

Compared with the head-on confrontation with the You Clan, this kind of mopping-up campaign is a low-intensity operation, and it is a great opportunity for the major sects to train their disciples.

Originally, from the battle reports collected from various places, everything was going smoothly. The troops in the east, north, and west had already cleared out as far as sixty miles away. The refugee camps along the way were swept away, and the battle was mainly fought against the crazy puppets that emerged from the mountains and ruins.

However, what was unexpected was that something happened in the southern area of ​​Yishan City last night.

At first, only one or two sects received news of casualties. Then everyone found that such news became more and more frequent, and the range was concentrated in the area starting from Beizi Town and heading southeast near the border of Xi County. Later, many sect disciple teams were even wiped out.

As the strong men from various sects rushed to the scene of the accident to investigate, together with the reports from some disciples who escaped, everyone discovered that most of the disciples of these sects had died at the hands of magic masters and alien species.

When did so many magic masters and alien species appear around Yishan City?
The news quickly caused panic among people.

You know, before the main camp issued the mopping-up order, it had already sent scouts to explore the surroundings, and cooperated with local noble families, merchant groups and city guards to roughly grasp the situation of the surrounding refugee camps, horse bandits and evil sects.

The dangerous characters among them had already been killed long ago, and naturally there were senior masters from various major sects to deal with them, so it was not the turn of ordinary disciples to take risks.

But who would have known that so many hidden masters of magic would suddenly appear, and there were a few whose names we knew, and they were from other states and counties, and they shouldn't have been here at all.

How is this going?

This question might be a difficult puzzle to solve for the lower and middle levels of the sect, but when the news reached the sect's top leaders, they understood it immediately.

These demonic sects are also gathering in Wanchang City!
The Yishan City camp received the news yesterday afternoon, and Han Luheng, Hua Chong, and a group of sect masters set out in the evening. But for the powerful men from the various magic sects who had received the secret order from the You Clan to take Wanchang City as their target, they received the news long before that.

In a word, a group of demons passed through and they collided!
Because of this, all the sects in Beizi Town and several other nearby transit stations have issued urgent orders to call back their disciples.

At this moment, everyone gathered here, and everyone was in a panic. In addition to the fear of hearing the news, what frightened everyone the most was the news about Hongzhao Palace.

"What do you mean by bad luck? It's been so long since what happened last night. Don't blame me for being foul-mouthed. If it were you, I'd say the person is definitely dead!"

"That's Fairy Yue. I saw her in Chongguang City a few months ago. I didn't expect..."

"It's all fate. Think about it, what kind of person is that devil night watchman Feng Chao? He's even in the top 100 of Fengyuan Palace's wanted list! With a sixth-rank strength, he's killed a fifth-rank master! Even if we run into him halfway, we might not be able to escape, not to mention that they took the initiative to chase after us..."

Everyone was talking at once, with expressions of disbelief and regret on their faces.

The Hongzhao Palace was one of the three major sects in Xiazhou, and the Moon Fairy Liu Huan was the direct disciple of the sect leader. Not only was she extremely gifted, she also had an extraordinary temperament and stunning looks. Many of the sect disciples present were her admirers. As for the rest, even if they had never seen her in person, they had already heard of her name and were well-known to everyone.

But such a star-like figure was gone just like that. It makes anyone who thinks about it sigh...

And at this moment, suddenly, a sect disciple who was standing outside the door turned around and rushed into the hall as if he had seen something extraordinary.

"People from Hongzhao Palace are here!"

The noisy hall suddenly became quiet, and then there were the sounds of stools being moved or falling. Many people stood up and prepared to go out to check. But just as the commotion started, everyone heard a rapid sound of horse hooves stopping at the door. Then, a group of young disciples of the Hongzhao Palace, wearing black uniforms with red embroidery patterns, entered the hall under the leadership of three elders.

"Is the postmaster here?"

This group of people rushed in with dust and wind, each of them was dusty, dishevelled, and their eyes were full of bloodshot. It was obvious that they had rushed here day and night without stopping.

Many of them were still wounded, and they were just hastily bandaged. Someone sitting by the window even saw two disciples of the Hongzhao Palace collapse to the ground after getting off their horses. Even several war horses fell. The remaining horses were panting, foaming at the mouth, and their muscles under their sweaty fur were shaking constantly.

"Yes, yes..." The postmaster came forward quickly.

"Give us the horses from the post station," said an elder from the Hongzhao Palace who was leading the group, anxiously. "And bring us some food. We are in a hurry to get going..."

"Okay, okay." The transit station was originally set up to receive officials and sect members. The postmaster was very familiar with the elders and high-ranking officials of each sect. Without saying a word, he quickly summoned all his postmen and servants and personally led them to assign tasks.

As the elder of Hongzhao Palace turned his head and looked around, the crowded hall suddenly became noisy. The disciples at several tables near the door stood up quickly under the leadership of their elders and gave up their seats.

The hall was silent for a moment, and everyone's eyes were focused on this group of Hongzhao Palace disciples.

"Thank you." The leading elder of Hongzhao Palace seemed to understand something after seeing the expressions of the crowd. His eyes dimmed slightly, and he bowed his hands to express his gratitude. Without saying much, he asked the disciples to sit down and rest. Soon, a waiter brought up some ready-made hot food. It was nothing more than some steamed buns, porridge, soup and the like.

The disciples of Hongzhao Palace were obviously very hungry, and they all devoured the food voraciously. The people around them looked reluctant. At this time, let alone asking questions, they didn't even cough, as if they were afraid of disturbing them.

Everyone knew that these disciples of Hongzhao Palace had all rushed here overnight from other places. The place where Liu Huan and others had the accident was in the northeast direction of Beizi Town, so they had to pass by here.

However, it has been several hours since the incident. What’s the point in rushing over now?
However, everyone also understands that although the master's direct disciple is a disciple on the surface, he is actually trained as the successor of the sect. In the sect, whether in terms of status or authority, he is almost equivalent to the outer sect elders. On weekdays, he is afraid of melting if he holds it in his mouth, and afraid of dropping it if he holds it in his palm.

Moreover, Xiazhou is located in the bitter cold of the northwest, with sparse population and poor land, so it is very difficult to pick out a disciple with extraordinary talent. With Liu Huan's talent, talent and fame, her death is definitely a heavy blow to Hongzhao Palace.

Apart from other things, once Liu Huan died, the entire training pattern of this generation of disciples in Hongzhao Palace had to be replanned and started from scratch. Even if a replacement could be selected, the upper limit of future achievements would be extremely difficult to reach the height expected of Liu Huan.

This is not only a problem that all the resources and time were concentrated on Liu Huan, but also a problem of talent, prestige, connections, popularity, and one's own spirit.

After all, substitutes are always inferior to the originals.

If this generation of disciples is trained with Liu Huan as the core, and if this replacement was only inferior to Liu Huan before, then he has already lost from the starting point. How great can his future achievements be?

For a moment, everyone remained silent with sympathetic eyes. Everyone knew that any words of comfort at this time would not only be useless, but would be like rubbing salt into the other person's wounds.

In the silence, the only sounds were the Hongzhao Palace disciples wolfing down their food and the postmen outside the gate saddled the horses.

At this time, with the sound of horse hooves, another rider arrived at the post station. Then, everyone heard someone say "Hey" and walked quickly into the lobby.

The person who came in was still a disciple of Hongzhao Palace, about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a handsome appearance. His body was covered with a lot of dust and blood, but his complexion was good and he looked full of energy.

When he first came in, no one paid much attention.

Even though they saw that he was wearing the same uniform as a disciple of Hongzhao Palace, everyone subconsciously thought that he was in the same group as the elders of Hongzhao Palace, but was just lagging behind.

However, as soon as the young man entered the room, he shouted in surprise: "Uncle Wang, Uncle Liu, Uncle Li! Why are you here... and the big guy..."

Originally, the people in Hongzhao Palace, including the three elders, were eating voraciously, and no one looked up. Only a disciple who was sitting facing the gate happened to look up and saw the person coming. He was stunned for a moment, and the food in his mouth was like a hamster. He forgot to swallow it for a moment. He raised his hand and pointed to say something, but he choked and rolled his eyes.

It was not until the disciple from Hongzhao Palace spoke that the others looked up as if struck by lightning and turned to look at him in shock.

With a bang, all the Hongzhao Palace disciples at the tables were in an uproar. Everyone stood up and surrounded him. The elder who led the group dodged and grabbed the disciple by the collar.

"Qi Haisheng!" the leading elder asked anxiously, "Why are you here? Where is your Senior Sister Liu? Where are the others?"

This young man was none other than Qi Haisheng, the junior fellow disciple from Liu Huan Sect who came to Beizi Town to act as the vanguard.

In all the years in Hongzhao Palace, this was the first time that Qi Haisheng saw an elder in the sect so anxious. Even the fellow disciples around him were staring at him impatiently with bloodshot eyes.

Qi Haisheng did not dare to neglect it and stammered, "Senior Sister Liu is behind, so she sent me here to lead the way. Besides, Zhu Lanlan and the others are here too..."

Before he could finish, not only did the people in Hongzhao Palace almost jump up, but even the people from all the major sects in the hall were all in an uproar. The leading elder of Hongzhao Palace had a trembling voice: "Are you saying that Liu Huan and the others are still alive?"

Qi Haisheng nodded in astonishment.

"Where are they? Where did you come from?" Among the three elders, a handsome middle-aged man had red eyes, and his face and neck were flushed with excitement.

"Reporting to Master Liu, from the east of the town, take the road to Beiming Lake..." Qi Haisheng pointed his finger, and the middle-aged elder and another female elder both flashed and rushed out of the door. The two of them didn't even ride their horses, but flew away directly. After a few takeoffs, they disappeared at the end of the street and disappeared without a trace.

The leading elder watched the two men leave, and only then did he calm down from his excitement. He reached out and pulled Qi Haisheng to sit down face to face, put his hands on his shoulders, stared into his eyes and said, "Tell me, where did you go last night and what happened?"

Among the disciples nearby, an older one couldn't help but ask anxiously, "Didn't you guys go after that bandit leader? Didn't you catch up with him?"

By this time, the people from other sects present had also recovered from the news that Liu Huan was still alive. For a moment, countless pairs of curious eyes were focused on Qi Haisheng's face.

"Brother Chen, are you talking about Hu Gao?" Qi Haisheng said.

"Who is Hu Gao? That's the devil night watchman Feng Chao!" Someone in the crowd nearby, who had been getting very anxious for a long time, couldn't bear it any longer and interrupted loudly.

The crowd was also in an uproar, looking at Qi Haisheng as if he were a lucky fool. In everyone's opinion, if Qi Haisheng was telling the truth and Liu Huan and the others were still alive, then the only logical possibility was that they didn't catch up with them, as Senior Brother Chen from Hongzhao Palace guessed.

Otherwise, no one could imagine how it was possible for this guy to be sitting here alive.

Hearing the name of the Devil Night Watchman, Qi Haisheng was startled and cast his gaze towards the leading elder: "Uncle Wang, the Devil Night Watchman is..."

"That's the Hu Gao you mentioned," Elder Wang took a deep breath and said, "But you don't have to worry about that. Tell me, did you catch up with him last night? Did you lose him halfway..."

Before Elder Wang finished speaking, Qi Haisheng nodded blankly and said, "We caught up with him. Senior Sister Liu and the others have already killed him. His head is in the convoy. We have also brought back the rest of the refugee group..."

Elder Wang blinked his eyes, then looked around in surprise, with an expression as if he didn't understand and wanted to confirm with others whether he had heard it wrong.

The people around were stunned and there was deathly silence.

(End of this chapter)