Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 343 The Black Lama and the Gray God Wind, the Truth
The Black Lamas are a group of Taoist priests who started their practice fifteen years ago.

It started as a dozen or so ordinary roundabouts, but it grew bigger and bigger, even surpassing ordinary roundabouts. They built bunkers at the key transportation routes they guarded, and their numbers once reached several thousand.

In order to smoothly rule over thousands of people, the Black Lama used religious doctrines to ramble on and on, giving himself a cloak of divine authority, and therefore he often dressed as a lama.

Although this lama's attire is also incongruous, in a place like the Western Regions, few people can tell the difference between it and a real lama.

Therefore, they are all called Black Lamas.

Think about it, what kind of people are they who can be misled by this kind of rambling religious talk?

They must all be ignorant people who have never read a book and have a very limited perspective.

Therefore, most of the so-called martial artists among the Black Lamas are just blindly practicing under the guidance of their predecessors, without any understanding of the underlying principles. Even after decades of practice, they probably still don't understand what they are practicing.

This method of training can only improve physical health; developing internal strength depends entirely on luck.

Even with a base of several thousand people, it's difficult to produce even one acquired martial artist.

The martial artist who led the pursuit earlier could be considered a high-ranking figure among the Black Lamas.

In addition, although the Black Lamas have horses, it is impossible for each of them to have one. A team of more than a hundred horses is still a considerable force among the Black Lamas.

"The fact that such a large force was dispatched to pursue you is probably not because of the three ladies' appearances. Besides, the three of you are wearing veils. Could it be that you really recognized you?"

Black Pearl gritted her teeth and said, "These gangsters really have a lot of lawlessness if we don't teach them a lesson! Don't worry, although I ran away, I left marks along the way, and my cavalry will find us."

Lu Xiaofeng asked curiously, "What kind of force is the Gray God Wind? Is it the same as the Black Lama?"

Black Pearl's expression hardened: "How can a mere Black Lama compare to Gray Wind? They are a group of bandits in the desert, not only moving like the wind, but also extremely well-informed."

At the same time, their strength was terrifying. Although no one knew how many of them there were, or how many were experts, it was said that two grandmasters once joined forces to try to eliminate them, but ultimately vanished without a trace.

"Neither of the two grandmasters can do it?"

Li Xunhuan was startled. Having spent ten years in the borderlands, he knew that the number of experts in the borderlands was far less than that in the Central Plains.

The prestige of a Grandmaster-level expert is extremely high in the Western Regions. If someone is willing, they can directly occupy a city-state and become king, and no one would dare to object.

The fact that Gray God Wind, a band of bandits, was able to kill two grandmasters demonstrates their immense strength, which is practically a game-changer for the Western Regions.

No wonder even as the daughter of the Desert King, she was constantly being chased by the Gray God Wind.

Lu Xiaofeng then asked, "With such a force existing, do neither the Demonic Sect nor the Rakshasa Sect deal with it?"

Black Pearl said, "When only one of the Demonic Sect or the Rakshasa Sect exists, they will take action. But when both exist, the struggle between them takes up most of their energy, and they don't have time to manage this kind of thing."

The Black Lama, and many other forces, were able to rise to power by taking advantage of the conflict between the two factions.

Even his father, Jamukha, dared to call himself the King of the Desert because of this special period.

Twenty years ago, when the Demonic Cult held absolute power, who would dare to utter such a nickname?
Such a large-scale, settled settlement of Black Lamas is completely impossible.

"Because no one has cracked down on the black lama for a long time, and he always uses religion to deceive others, he has deceived himself in the process. He seems to really think that he has divine authority, so he has become more and more arrogant and cannot tolerate any provocation from anyone."

Black Pearl said, "If those people go back, the Black Lama's revenge is almost certain!"

Lu Xiaofeng said, "It was my oversight, I apologize."

Su Rongrong shook her head: "Master Lu spared our lives because he was kind-hearted. How can we force him to do that?"

Lu Xiaofeng said, "In that case, if you gentlemen don't mind the bumpy journey ahead, why don't you travel with us? It will take at most a month, and at least half a month. We will definitely return to the Central Plains."

The case of Iron-Blooded Marquis is currently receiving a great deal of attention.

It wasn't just ordinary people who were paying attention; even kings and nobles from all over the country were.

Therefore, the imperial court could not leave the problem unresolved indefinitely.

A month was the longest timeframe they had considered.

Su Rongrong nodded quickly: "Thank you for your help, we are of course willing."

After being chased all the way, the group was exhausted and decided to rest here.

But there's no need to worry about any black lamas anymore.

With Lu Xiaofeng and Li Xunhuan here, the entire Western Regions will be safe unless they encounter the mysterious Gray God Wind or directly clash with the Star Luo Sect.

We are not afraid of any other forces.

The Black Lama did not reappear during this rest period, even as night fell.

The team, now twice its original size, set off immediately.

"Master Lu, Scholar Li, where exactly is your destination?"

"Since we're traveling together, we won't hide it from each other. Our destination is the Kingdom of Tianxiang."

He then briefly recounted what had happened.

Su Rongrong was quite surprised: "How could such a major bribery case occur involving the Iron-Blooded Marquis? Could he have been framed?"

They left early in the Western Regions, where news doesn't travel fast, so they naturally didn't know about this.

Iron-Blooded Marquis had an excellent reputation among the people, and this reputation lasted for decades.

Su Rongrong and the others could be said to have grown up hearing about the Iron-Blooded Marquis's good reputation, so their first reaction was that they didn't quite believe it.

Lu Xiaofeng laughed and said, "So, we came to the Western Regions to find evidence."

As for the evidence he found, whether it was to convict Iron-Blooded Marquis or to overturn his case, he did not say.

After all, the motive for this trip was the death of Li Xunhuan's father.

This is his personal privacy, and Lu Xiaofeng would naturally not reveal it to others.

The horses ridden by the four Black Pearls were able to evade Grey Wind's pursuit, and soon after, they successfully pulled away from Black Lama's pursuit as well. Their endurance and running speed surpassed those of ordinary horses.

In fact, it can also be considered a horse of different bloodlines.

However, there are also differences between different bloodlines.

Some have thinner bloodlines and are stronger than ordinary horses, but they don't seem incredibly strong.

Some have a rich bloodline, and their speed and endurance are many times greater than those of ordinary horses.

The four Black Pearls rode the former, while Lu Xiaofeng and the others rode the latter.

Therefore, although it was originally planned to take one day to reach Tianxiang Kingdom, it took two days to arrive in order to accommodate the speed of the four people.

Tianxiang Kingdom is called a kingdom, but those who know, know what the Western Regions are all about.

In reality, it was just a city the size of an ordinary county town.

The group quickly launched an investigation.

Then, they easily found their target.

"Within the royal palace of Tianxiang Kingdom, there is a piece of land that is strictly protected. It is said to be the best land in this oasis of Tianxiang Kingdom."

"The most precious people in Tianxiang Kingdom are not the royal family, but a few pharmacists."

"Most of the resources of Tianxiang Kingdom are controlled by these pharmacists, and it is said that each of them is extremely wealthy."

"These resources are of unknown origin, but we discovered that the royal family has a secret ledger..."

Too much!
There are too many clues!
No, it should be said that the truth was laid bare before them. Perhaps the Iron-Blooded Marquis never imagined that someone would come from the Central Plains to Tianxiang Kingdom to investigate these matters, so there was only a thin layer of disguise on Tianxiang Kingdom's side.

This disguise might be difficult for ordinary people to see through, but for Lu Xiaofeng and his companions, it was easily exposed.

Then, all the truth was laid bare before them.

The most difficult part of the whole thing was obtaining this information from the Star Luo Sect and accurately locating the existence of the Heavenly Fragrance Kingdom among the many Western Region forces.

Once this hurdle is overcome, the rest will be easy.

In fact, Tianxiang Kingdom was quite powerful. It had three thousand soldiers in such a small county, including five hundred cavalry!

With such strength, they could establish a small kingdom even in the Central Plains, let alone in the Western Regions.

However, despite the large number of people, there were few experts, not even a single grandmaster, only less than ten innate masters.

Compared to other forces in the Western Regions, it was considered powerful.

But this did nothing to stop Lu Xiaofeng and his group from investigating.

In just three days, Lu Xiaofeng and his team had investigated everything.

"Now it's completely certain that, just as Brother Lu predicted, the Iron-Blooded Marquis's goal is Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom!"

The secret accounts held by the royal family of Tianxiang Kingdom clearly recorded the source of all funds.

Two of the pharmacists were originally from the Central Plains, and they came to Tianxiang Kingdom at the invitation of the Iron-Blooded Marquis.

With such compelling witnesses and physical evidence, the whole truth is now clear.

Iron-Blooded Marquis did indeed accept a bribe, but his reason for accepting it was to revive the rare and precious Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom in the Western Regions, the place where it was born, and bring it back to life.

This truth was obviously of no use to Li Xunhuan.

If this truth were brought back to the Ming Dynasty, not only would it fail to convict the Iron-Blooded Marquis, but it might even garner him some support, thus exonerating him.

You should know that the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom possesses the divine power to bring the dead back to life.

Although this kind of miraculous recovery needs to be put in quotes.

Tianxiang Doukou can keep a dying person alive after taking it, but it can only maintain a semi-living, vegetative state.

At this point, you must take a second Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom to break free from this state, recover from all injuries, and come back to life.

However, those who survive only have a short lifespan of one year.

He must take the third Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom to survive completely.

The conditions are very complex, but they can basically be called a second life.

It should be understood that in this world teeming with martial arts masters, even the most powerful and wealthy cannot guarantee that they will never encounter any life-threatening dangers in their lifetime.

Holding three Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom seeds in their hands would guarantee their lives.

Unless one dies on the spot, even with the most severe injuries, consuming three Tianxiang cardamom seeds will allow for a full recovery.

For this reason, after the fame of Tianxiang Doukou spread, it was quickly plundered by various forces and soon became extinct.

No king, nobleman, general, or minister, who has enjoyed all the riches and honors, has ever been willing to risk his life.

Currently, regarding the Iron-Blooded Marquis bribery case, many princes and nobles are merely observing and waiting for the emperor to give a result.

They might only step down if the result doesn't satisfy them.

After all, Zhu Wushi was the emperor's uncle.

Even if there were sufficient evidence, we cannot act arbitrarily.

However, if they knew that Zhu Wushi had been plotting to recreate the rare Tianxiang Doukou (a type of cardamom) for over a decade, then without even waiting for the outcome, someone would surely step in to help Zhu Wushi escape punishment in exchange for his favor.

The goal, of course, is to get a share of the profits.

Even now, the revival of Tianxiang Doukou seems a long way off.

As for what bribery...

Haha, 180 million taels, what's the big deal?
Is this small amount of money considered a bribe?
Furthermore, what exactly constitutes a bribe?

This is clearly an investment!

The Wan family also wanted to bring back the Heavenly Fragrance Bean to the world, but they didn't have the ability themselves, so they curried favor with the Iron-Blooded Marquis and asked him to take action.

However, since there has been no result yet, the Wan family is unwilling to let their 180 million yuan investment go down the drain, which is why they are turning around and biting the hand that feeds them.

Therefore, the Iron-Blooded Marquis is completely innocent.

Wan Jia is the real scoundrel!
At that time, let alone convicting him, it wouldn't be difficult to clear Iron-Blooded Marquis's name of all his crimes.

He was acquitted and reinstated to his original position!
This is clearly the complete opposite of Li Xunhuan's goal.

Looking at this evidence, Li Xunhuan hesitated.

These are the pieces of evidence he found. Should he take them back to the Ming Dynasty?

"Brother Lu... thank you for accompanying me on this trip..."

Li Xunhuan said, his eyes gradually hardening.

Lu Xiaofeng smiled and said, "So it seems you've already made up your mind?"

"Not bad!"

Li Xunhuan nodded: "I may use any means to take revenge, but I will never fabricate evidence to frame someone!"

Even if the person in question is not innocent.

However, the crime he committed is not the same as the crime that can be convicted at present.

If Li Xunhuan chooses to fabricate evidence in order to convict someone, then he would completely betray his father's lifelong education and perseverance.

"Then these things..."

"Take it back to the Central Plains."

"Alright."

Both sides reached a consensus on this matter.

However, just as they were preparing to leave Tianxiang Kingdom, an unexpected incident interrupted them.

Thousands of horses galloped, stirring up dust that filled the sky.

A group of wild cavalrymen surrounded the Tianxiang Kingdom from all sides.

This immediately alerted the Kingdom of Tianxiang, and soldiers were stationed on all four city walls, while five hundred cavalrymen quickly assembled in the city.

The invading enemy outside the city was raising a large black skull and crossbones flag.

Under the banner, a bearded man dressed in lama robes, yet looking rather strange, gazed at the city walls of the Heavenly Fragrance Kingdom and revealed a sinister smile.

"Black Lama!"

Black Pearl leaped high into the air using her lightness skill and saw the scene outside the city. She was immediately shocked: "They actually came after us, and with their entire army!"

(End of this chapter)