Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 535 The Heavenly Division Investigates a Case

More than a dozen ghostly figures scattered into the crossbow formation. The moment the black iron crossbows were corroded by the frost patterns, ice flowers bloomed simultaneously from the throats of the thirty-six crossbowmen.

Someone instinctively clutched their neck, but their entire arm shattered into ice shards with a crisp "crack," and their body broke apart like a porcelain vase upon impact.

As seven thin, cicada-wing-like throwing knives cleaved through the snow curtain, Cao Yu'an's sword was pressing against the woman's throat.

Before the blade even arrived, the chilling cold had already frozen the veins in his wrist.

As the longsword fell, its sharp edge reflected the horror and fear in his eyes.

"laugh--"

The first line of blood appeared on the throat of the crossbowman; the scalding blood droplet was shredded into ice crystals by the throwing knife before it even hit the ground.

Cheng Wushi felt a slight chill on the side of his neck. He reached out and touched the black iron chain that was half-buried in his flesh. The end of the chain was still connected to the skull of the Iron Guard who had been pierced ten feet away.

Dark shadows, like drops of ink, fell into the snow.

The faceless man gripped Cao Yu'an's neck with his fingers, and the black robe embroidered with Taotie patterns brushed against the tip of Cao Yu'an's nose. The silver threads of the Twenty-Eight Mansions turned scarlet in the blood mist.

"The Zhen Tian Division is handling a case."

The moment the hoarse voice, like the friction of rusty iron plates, rang out, the heads of thirteen soldiers exploded simultaneously.

"Gurgle, gurgle..." Cao Yu'an made unconscious hissing sounds as his throat was crushed.

The faceless palm released force, and Cao Yu'an's neck bones made a crisp sound like porcelain shattering. His body went limp and fell like a rag doll.

The surviving Ironclad Guards were deathly pale. Before they could even move, poisoned Death's Gate nails erupted from the snow, piercing their ankles in an instant, while the Shadow Guards' chain blades shredded their dantian.

The dying scream had barely escaped his throat when it was blocked by the ice spikes and turned into a muffled groan.

When Luo Dashan staggered and looked up, he saw Cheng Wushi being hoisted onto the fortress wall by black iron chains.

From the start of the attack to its conclusion, the entire process took no more than twenty breaths!

The battle ended so quickly that even now, Luo Dashan's shocked face still showed a hint of bewilderment.

The sound of horses' hooves crushing ice shards came from afar.

The surviving soldiers were forced to kneel by a man dressed in a black robe with dark patterns, trembling all over and not daring to make a sound.

Outside Qingsong Fortress, blood mingled with frozen earth and snow, and the intense heat of the blood caused the snowflakes to swirl upwards.

Standing there, Luo Dashan could only hear his own panting and the crunching sound of the wheels moving through the snow.

A wooden carriage moved slowly forward, its wheels crushing the blood-stained frozen snow, the curtains of the carriage remaining perfectly still.

The faceless figure bowed and clasped his hands in greeting, while the twenty-eight shadow guards slammed one knee into the frozen ground.

The wind and snow suddenly stopped.

The carriage wheels stopped a few feet in front of Luo Dashan.

The female cultivator in black, who was driving the carriage, jumped down from the carriage, her face half covered by a dark gold mask, and bent down to lift the curtain.

Upon seeing the figure sitting upright in the carriage, Luo Dashan's eyes widened instantly.

"You, you're Brother Zhang—"

The carriage was brightly lit, and the figure sitting there was none other than Zhang Yuan, who had just treated him to meat at the inn.
"Don't be presumptuous!" The female cultivator standing beside the carriage shouted in a low voice, her hand pressing down on the hilt of the long sword with dark patterns at her waist.

"This is the Marquis of Qingyang, the head of the Martial Defense Division of the Great Qin Heavenly Guard." The female cultivator's voice was cold and clear.

The wind and snow howled, and Luo Dashan's pupils suddenly contracted in the darkness.

He clearly remembered that gentle, smiling face in the inn, but now it overlapped with the silhouette behind the carriage curtain through the surging blood mist—

The gold-threaded demon-suppressing patterns on the dark cloak gleamed coldly in the frost and snow. Half of the young man's face was shrouded in shadow, and the shadow cast by his brow bone completely shattered the warmth that had once been in the inn in his eyes, leaving only a deep, oppressive aura.

"Qing, Qing, Marquis Qingyang..."

Also from the military, he was ennobled after a battle in the Northwest, took charge of the Zhen Tian Division, suppressed all the officials in the capital, and slaughtered the Dali Temple, causing rivers of blood to flow.

Who among the martial arts masters of the land does not know the name of Marquis Qingyang?
Zhang Yuan, who was in the carriage, turned his head, smiled and nodded at Luo Dashan, and then got up and stepped out.

"Lord, Lord Marquis..." Luo Dashan looked at Zhang Yuan, who was holding his longsword with goose feathers, and bowed with difficulty.

The black iron chains piercing through his collarbone vibrated and clanged. Zhang Yuan slightly raised his hand and said calmly, "Heal Commander Luo's injuries."

As soon as he finished speaking, two figures stepped forward.

"Zheng——"

Luo Dashan felt a sudden lightness throughout his body as the bone-piercing nails embedded in his major acupoints and the black iron chains piercing his collarbone were removed.

"Open your mouth."

With a soft whisper, he unconsciously opened his mouth, and a warm stream entered his mouth, flowing directly into his chest and abdomen.

In an instant, he felt his blood and qi surge, his previously depleted true essence seemed to boil, and all the wounds on his body healed rapidly as if mosquitoes and flies were crawling on them.

“Brother Luo, the Yuanling Liquid from the Secret Medicine Bureau isn’t just for healing injuries.” Zhang Yuan reached out and gently patted Luo Dashan’s shoulder. A faint aura of malevolent energy penetrated his meridians, causing his entire body to stiffen.

"Refine it carefully."

After Zhang Yuan finished speaking, he picked up his long sword and walked to the side.

The soldiers lying prone in the snow were all trembling and dared not raise their heads.

When the Zhen Tian Division investigates a case, the head of the Wu Yu Division personally attends.

Even ordinary soldiers knew clearly what kind of extraordinary person they were in front of.

wrong.

Before them, the Marquis of Qingyang was like the heavens!

Zhang Yuan stopped in front of the commanding officer.

"Luo Changyong, the garrison commander of Linshui Prefecture."

Zhang Yuan's voice made the commanding officer tremble and involuntarily raise his head slightly.

His gaze fell on the long knife in Zhang Yuan's hand, his eyes widened, and he looked up in disbelief.

That face!
This is not the inn—

Zhang Yuan looked calmly at the commanding officer in front of him.

"Luo Changyong, a military officer of Qingyuan Army in Linshui Prefecture, was from Guning County, Baishui Prefecture, Jiuyuan County. In the sixteenth year of Yuankang, he ranked ninth in the Baishui Prefecture Military Academy Examination and was appointed as the commander of the left detachment of the Tiger and Leopard Battalion."

"In the seventeenth year of Yuankang, he was appointed as the commander of the right detachment of the Tiger and Leopard Camp. He wiped out a hundred Eastern Wei scouts at the Qin Chuan ferry and was promoted to commander of the Wuwei Camp."

"In the nineteenth year of the Yuankang era, he entered Zhenhai Guard, broke the bandit gang's chain of fortifications in Jiujiang, and captured the bandit leader Zhao Heijiao alive. For his merits, he was promoted to the sixth rank of Commander of Zhenhai Guard."

Zhang Yuan's words echoed in the snowy night.

Kneeling on the ground, Luo Changyong's face showed confusion, reminiscence, then a flushed face and a look of shame.

He lay prone in the snow, his fists clenched, and Zhang Yuan's voice came from above.

"In the twentieth year of Yuankang, he embezzled the pension of his comrade-in-arms Fang Dayong who died in battle, and bribed Cao Xian, the prefect of Linshui Prefecture, to cover up the smuggling case of iron ore in the eastern border."

"In the twenty-first year of the Yuankang era, he was ordered to investigate the Baishi River shipwreck case, and tied thirty-seven informants to stones and threw them into the river. He also seized three boxes of pearls given to him by Cao Xian."

"In the twenty-second year of Yuankang, he assisted Zhou Tong, the prefectural commandant, in selling northern military equipment such as armor-piercing arrows and caltrop nets on the black market in exchange for the position of commandant of Linshui Prefecture."

Luo Changyong's forehead slammed heavily against the blood-soaked frozen earth, the dull thud of his skull hitting the ice shards mixed with suppressed sobs.

"I was wrong, I was wrong..."

His trembling knuckles dug deep into the snow and mud, and in a daze he saw himself standing tall in front of the Martial Arts Hall of Baishui Prefecture in the sixteenth year of Yuankang, when he received the martial arts instruction.

"This humble general...this humble general is ashamed before Fang Dayong's elderly mother!"

A low, dying growl escaped his throat, and snow slid down his twitching cheeks, congealing into murky icicles on his stubble: "His daughter was only five years old that year, clutching my boots and asking when her father would come home..."

Luo Changyong suddenly raised his head, his hair tied up and half-white temples hanging down.

Beneath his snow-covered eyelashes, his pupils flashed with the same fierce light they had seen twelve years ago at the Qin Chuan ferry crossing: "This humble general is willing to perform meritorious service to atone for his sins and help the Marquis thoroughly investigate Cao Xian and all his cronies."

"I ask for nothing more than to go to the Wall after this case is closed and die there."

(End of this chapter)