Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 458 Eighteen Clever Ideas
"Senior Sister!" Ren Yuan quickly called out in a low voice, and dodged the sword with a teleportation.

"Ah..." A Yao woke up when she heard the sound, staring blankly at the Ziwei Sword that had flown far away.

"What's going on here?"

"Something's fishy. Let's get out of here first." Ren Yuan grabbed A Yao and used his teleportation ability to try and get away from the place.

Unexpectedly, a beam of blood-red light descended from the sky, engulfing the two of them. Ren Yuan and A Yao were like tiny insects trapped inside a blood-red amber, unable to move for a moment…

"I have already trapped those who were spying on my army." In Erzhu's army, the Heavenly Slaughter God Lord Erzhu Rong slowly ordered, "Go and capture them for interrogation to see if they are members of the White Robe Army."

The Erzhu army soldiers shouted in unison, "The Divine Lord is mighty and invincible!"

Yuwen Tai and Dugu Xin were also among them, shouting enthusiastically.

After Ge Rong's defeat, the two followed Yuwen Luosheng and surrendered to Erzhu Rong. Yuwen Luosheng was a man of noble character and compassionate towards his soldiers, and he enjoyed high prestige among the former officials of the Six Garrisons.

Upon joining Erzhu Rong's army, he immediately became one of the leaders of the six garrisons, surpassing Gao Huan in prestige.

Gao Huan originally intended to incorporate the Six Garrisons into his own forces, and seeing this, he was naturally very unhappy. So he spoke ill of Yuwen Luosheng to Erzhu Rong.

His original intention was to make Erzhu Rong distance himself from Yuwen Luosheng, and preferably suppress him further, but he forgot that Erzhu Rong was bloodthirsty by nature.

As a result, Erzhu Rong fabricated a charge and murdered Yuwen Luosheng. Erzhu Rong originally intended to kill Yuwen Tai as well, but Hei Ta remained calm and uttered the words, "Killing a helpless orphan is easy, but losing the hearts of the six garrisons is difficult," striking a chord deep within Erzhu Rong's heart.

After the Heyin Incident, Erzhu Rong knew he had incurred the wrath of the masses and urgently needed to unite all forces against the court. Therefore, he had to appease the Northern Garrison warriors, who were also considered outsiders.

Yuwen Tai's words made Erzhu Rong realize that he had been too hasty in killing Yuwen Luosheng.

He felt that killing Yuwentai, who had no military power, would indeed intensify the resentment of the Northern Garrison soldiers. It would be better to spare his life to show 'magnanimity' and quell any unfavorable comments directed at him.

As a result, Black Otter not only saved his life, but was also transferred to Erzhu Rong's personal guard and became his confidant.

Upon receiving the divine deity's order, Yuwen Tai naturally responded promptly, immediately soaring into the sky and flying towards the spot where the red light had landed!

Worried that something might happen to him, Dugu Xin followed Yuwen Tai and flew away.

A short while later, the two flew to the red amber piece forty miles away and indeed saw a man and a woman sealed inside.

Upon closer inspection, he was greatly surprised. Dugu Xin whispered, "Isn't this Brother Ren and his wife?"

"Yes." Yuwen Tai recognized the two of them and quickly used his magic to break the blood-light restriction.

The moment the restriction was lifted, two flying swords shot towards the two of them.

“I am Black Otter, Brother Ren!” Yuwen Tai hurriedly called out.

The flying sword stopped just above their noses, and Ren Yuan and A Yao simultaneously withdrew their attacks.

"It really is the Black Otter brothers!" Ren Yuan exclaimed in surprise, "And Brother Xin is here too!"

"It's us!" Dugu Xin exclaimed excitedly, "Brother A Yuan, what are you doing here?"

"Let's start fighting first, then catch up later when we're some distance away," Yuwen Tai said cautiously.

"Alright." Ren Yuan understood immediately, and the four of them engaged in a fierce battle. Soon, Ren Yuan and his companion were 'defeated' and fled in panic. "Where do you think you're going?!" Yuwen Tai and Dugu Xin gave chase, flying for eighty miles. Only then did Black Otter call out to those ahead, "That's about enough."

Ren Yuan and A Yao immediately turned around and asked with concern, "Brother Black Otter, why have you also submitted to Er Zhu? How is Third Brother?"

"Alas, it's a long story..." Yuwen Tai sighed sadly.

"Let me tell you..." Dugu Xin then briefly recounted their experience after their defeat and surrender.

Ren Yuan's eyes also reddened after hearing this, and he gripped Yuwen Tai's shoulder tightly: "Brother, please accept my condolences."

“From the day we attacked and captured Erzhu Rong, Third Brother told us to be prepared to lose our heads at any time.” Yuwen Tai shook his head and gave a bitter laugh, “So it’s nothing, we should be glad that we survived.”

As he spoke, he asked Ren Yuan, "Brother Yuan, did you come with the White Robe Army?"

"Yes." Ren Yuan nodded and said softly, "I am Commander You of the White Robe Army. If you two brothers don't mind, please come with me to see Commander Chen. My second brother is here too."

"I have no objection." Dugu Xin nodded without hesitation, then looked at Yuwen Tai. "What do you think, Black Otter?"

"Let's forget it. My nephews are still in Erzhu's army, and my brothers are all gone. I am their father." Yuwentai hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "What kind of father abandons his own sons?"

"Alright." Ren Yuan nodded, not pressuring the matter further. A forced relationship won't be happy, and besides, oranges grown in the south become trifoliate oranges when grown in the north. Who knows if Black Otter, once he went to the Southern Dynasty, would still have a chance to compete for the throne?

Dugu Xin naturally followed Yuwen Tai, thus abandoning the idea of ​​joining the White Robe Army.

After chatting for a few more minutes, they agreed that if one side won, they would immediately try to rescue the other. Then they quickly parted ways to avoid arousing Erzhu Rong's suspicion.

~~
Yuwen Tai and Dugu Xin returned to the Qihu army and knelt before Erzhu Rong, saying in fear and trepidation, "Reporting to the Divine Lord, we are incompetent and let them escape!"

Erzhu Rong, riding on the mutated divine horse, glanced indifferently at Yuwen Tai. "This is not your fault. The strength of those two far surpasses that of ordinary nine-aperture beings. My blood light can only trap them temporarily and cannot strip them of their magic power."

"But how did you two manage to escape with your lives?" He then changed the subject, asking, "Logically, once the two of them were freed, they could have killed you both."

"Reporting to the Divine Lord, those two should be injured." Yuwen Tai felt a chill run down his spine, but quickly forced himself to remain calm and said, "Of course, they could also be afraid of the Divine Lord, which is why we were able to take advantage of their power."

"Black Otter, you're really lucky." Erzhu Rong stared at Yuwen Tai for a while before saying indifferently, "Since Heaven hasn't abandoned you, then I'll let you go this time too."

"Yes, thank you for sparing our lives, Divine Lord!" The two hurriedly kowtowed in gratitude.

Erzhu Rong's words sounded like he was forgiving them for not bringing the man back this time. But Yuwen Tai knew perfectly well that after killing his third brother, Erzhu Rong had always wanted to eliminate him completely.

This time, he probably wants to use those two white-robed soldiers to get rid of him.

Unexpectedly, the other party turned out to be Ren Yuan and A Yao, which allowed me to escape a disaster.

Although Erzhu Rong is not a god of divination, since he is a deity, he possesses spiritual perceptions beyond the comprehension of mortals, and he probably already knows about the conversation between the two of them and Ren Yuan...

Fortunately, he had anticipated this, speaking very cautiously. Not only did he refrain from slandering Erzhu Rong, but he also proactively mentioned his own weakness. This convinced Erzhu Rong that as long as he controlled his nephews, he could control him...

This finally dispelled his murderous intent towards him.

'Brother A Yuan is truly my benefactor…' Yuwen Tai couldn't help but sigh inwardly, feeling fortunate.

(End of this chapter)