Catching Monsters

Chapter 727 The Investiture of the Gods That Flew Away
On the vast, boundless grasslands of Beihu, a fine horse team is galloping across the plains.

Jiang Yun only brought Qi Da and about thirty Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) with him for this operation, and did not bring many of his own men.

To ensure the successful elimination of the leader of the Card Pool faction, Qin Hong also sent Black Serpent, a master of the Tongyou Guard, to accompany Jiang Yun to the Northern Hu Grassland.

Jiang Yun rode his horse closely behind Tuoba Anyi and asked, "Brother Tuoba, approximately how much longer until we reach the Card Pool Division?"

Tuoba Anyi rode ahead, his brows slightly furrowed, and said, "There's no need to rush. Let's go back to the Tuoba tribe first."

Tuoba Anyi knew the situation better than he did, so Jiang Yun didn't say much, but waved his whip and followed closely behind.

After leaving Jianchi Pass, riding fast horses for nearly two days, the group finally caught up with Tuoba Anyi and slowly arrived at the Tuoba tribe.

The Tuoba tribe is an extremely large tribe that has existed on the grasslands for nearly a hundred years.

Unlike many powerful clans in the Zhou Dynasty, the various forces on the grasslands declined very quickly.

In addition to the threat of challenges from other tribes, internally, once the chief of many grassland tribes dies, his sons often fight each other, eventually resulting in the strongest one becoming the new chief.

And during this process, there is also the possibility that other people may lead a portion of the tribe away.

In short, the history of the Tuoba tribe is indeed quite long for the grasslands.

The Tuoba tribe also built a town along a river.

Initially, it existed only as a market. As the Tuoba tribe grew stronger, the place gradually developed into a city. However, in terms of scale, it was equivalent to a small city in the Zhou state.

Upon seeing Tuoba Anyi return, the guards at the city gate immediately saluted and opened the gate.

"Brother Jiang, please." Tuoba Anyi said with a smile, "Since we became sworn brothers, neither of us has ever visited a city of our Tuoba tribe."

This city was quite prosperous, with many local merchants and foreigners walking and moving about on the streets.

On the way, Jiang Yun also saw many horse-drawn carriages pulling grasslands in the city, heading towards the back of the city.

Tuoba Anyi perhaps noticed the confusion in Jiang Yun's eyes, so he spoke up and explained, "These are golden grasses used on our grasslands to stop bleeding and heal wounds. During this period, our Tuoba tribe has suffered many casualties."

During the conversation, Tuoba Anyi led Jiang Yun and the others to a large courtyard house built of blue bricks in the center of the city.

On the grasslands, blue bricks are a rare sight, and this is where Tuoba Anyi lives.

Tuoba Anyi invited Jiang Yun, Hei She, and Qi Da and many other Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) who had accompanied him into the living room inside the house.

After entering the house and taking a seat to rest, Tuoba Anyi quickly had someone make milk tea.

This is tea made by heating fresh cow or sheep milk, a specialty of the grasslands.

"Brother Tuoba, let's not rush things and talk about serious matters."

"Wait a moment." After saying this, Tuoba Anyi walked to the living room door and called out, "Go and call Qi Te Ling over."

Soon, a middle-aged man dressed in traditional Hu clothing strode in from outside.

This man was tall and strong, nearly 1.9 meters tall, with a robust physique.

Tuoba Anyi turned to Jiang Yun beside him and introduced him, saying, "This Qiteling is a first-rate hero of our Tuoba tribe. He once led our Tuoba soldiers to personally attack the Kachi tribe."

"I beg you to grant me special permission to tell my brother Jiang a proper account of what happened back then."

Qi Te Ling, with his beard, glanced warily at Jiang Yun and the other southerners, his brows furrowed. Clearly, he didn't have a friendly attitude towards them.

However, out of respect for Tuoba Anyi, he stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "The soldiers of the Kachi tribe are particularly strange. They are not many in number, but on the battlefield, these soldiers seem to be possessed by ghosts and gods..."

As he said this, a hint of lingering fear appeared on Qi Teling's face.

At that time, the Tuoba tribe he led had a total of five thousand warriors.

Normally, it would be an easy task for 5,000 warriors to destroy a tribe as small as the Card Pool Tribe.

Unexpectedly, the card pool department managed to gather only about a thousand people to fight.

Unexpectedly, on the battlefield, these thousand people were imbued with demonic power, and even though they were stabbed several times, they seemed to feel no pain.

Of the five thousand warriors of the Tuoba tribe, over a thousand were killed or wounded.

It was only because Qi Teling sensed something was wrong and quickly issued a retreat order that the casualties were not so high.

Qi Teling recounted these events with a grim expression. Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun stroked his chin and asked, "Witchcraft?" Tuoba Anyi, standing nearby, shook his head and said, "I once inquired with our tribe's shamans. To cast witchcraft on thousands of people, making them immortal even after being struck by swords and spears..."

"At the very least, one would probably need to reach the level of a shaman saint to cast such a spell."

"How could there possibly be a Sage within the Card Pool Department?"

"Perhaps the leader of this gacha pool has some special treasure in his possession."

A special treasure?
Jiang Yun turned to look at Black Snake, the expert sent by Tongyou Guard: "Senior Black Snake, what are your thoughts?"

Black Snake closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and then shook his head: "After dark today, the two of us will sneak into the card pool area and see what's going on."

"If we get the chance, we'll kill the leader of that card pool department first."

Tuoba Anyi's eyes lit up slightly upon hearing this, and he nodded repeatedly in praise, saying, "Mr. Black Snake's suggestion is excellent."

Jiang Yun did not object, but asked, "Do you have anyone in the Card Pool Department who can meet us?"

Tuoba Anyi nodded: "Yes, of course there is."

……

The sky quickly darkened. The area where the Card Pool was located was very large, with huge tents set up together.

However, most of the tents here look pretty much the same.

Some low-ranking Hu people from the Card Pool tribe also patrolled around with torches after dark.

Jiang Yun and Black Snake changed into Hu people's clothing and waited on a small hill near the Card Pool.

They didn't have to wait long before they saw a foreign man carrying a torch walking quickly toward them.

"Are you the people sent by Chief Tuoba?"

After the barbarian approached, he took out his torch and carefully examined the faces of Jiang Yun and the black snake. He frowned slightly and wondered to himself, "Why did Chief Tuoba send a southerner?"

This Hu man was named Huodawa. He was originally a nobleman of the Kachi tribe. Years ago, he wanted to curry favor with Tuoba Anyi, a powerful figure.

However, the previous card pool department was not in Tuoba Anyi's eyes.

The Tuoba tribe is now quite different from what it used to be, and this person successfully made contact with the Tuoba tribe and began to serve them.

"You two come with me first." Hordawa didn't ask too many questions, but waved his hand, signaling Jiang Yun and Black Snake to follow him.

Then he led the two of them towards the card pool area.

On the way, Jiang Yun also stepped forward and asked, "Was there a Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) from the Zhou Kingdom before?"

"Yes, that's right. Those people secretly infiltrated the Card Pool Department, and it's said that they even sneaked into Leader Xue Liujiu's camp."

"Those people were captured by Leader Xue Liujiu at that time."

Jiang Yun's eyes lit up slightly, and he asked in a deep voice, "Do you know where these people are being held?"

"I do know," Hordawa nodded, but didn't ask Jiang Yun why he was interested in these people.

Although Huo Dawa did not know the identities of the two men, they were sent by Tuoba Anyi after all, so he only needed to cooperate with them according to Tuoba Anyi's instructions.

On the way to the Card Pool Department, Jiang Yun asked about something that interested him: "Also, according to what I know, Xue Liujiu was just a slave in the Card Pool Department before. How did he suddenly become your leader?"

"That's a long story." Upon hearing this, Hordawa frowned and began to recount the events in detail.

After listening, Jiang Yun's eyes darkened slightly, and he asked, "You said that Xue Liujiu has a treasure that looks like a scroll?"

"How could it be fake?" Hordawa nodded, pointing to his eyes: "I saw it with my own eyes. It was about this long, and the paper was a bit yellowed."

As he spoke, Khodawa began to gesture.

Jiang Yun's heart sank; he knew all too well what Xue Liujiu was holding.

The Investiture of the Gods that flew away back then!

(End of this chapter)