Tumor Sword Immortal

Chapter 342 Warlords
Because of his injury, Jiang Shu was not very quick. He picked up the package and came out, but suddenly Pei Xia disappeared.

He wasn't in a hurry. He glanced at the two corpses at his feet and then painstakingly pulled the tall man and the thin man into his teacher's wife's room.

If someone comes looking for us, this can at least buy us some time.

When he finished his work and opened the door again, he saw a long-haired woman in a moon-white dress standing gracefully in the courtyard.

The familiar face and figure startled Jiang Shu for a moment.

Then, when their eyes met, the girl blinked, and Jiang Shu was startled. He immediately pulled out his magic weapon, a short knife, and his whole body tensed up!
"Feng Yao?!"

How could this be? Just the day before yesterday, he stabbed his senior sister in the throat with a knife at the foot of the mountain, killing her instantly.

Even if he really wasn't dead, how come there was no movement at all after the body had been lying there for two days?

Could it be that it has risen from the dead again?

No... why did I say "again"?

Compared to Jiang Shu's readiness to lash out, Feng Yao on the other side seemed to have no hostility at all, still standing there gracefully without making a move.

Pei Xia emerged from Feng Yao's boudoir. He waved to Jiang Shu and calmly said, "Don't be nervous, this is a dead person."

Jiang Shu squinted and examined it closely. Sure enough, he found a hole that had been pierced through Feng Yao's neck.

That was proof that he had pierced his senior sister's throat that day.

However, at this moment, the sore on the throat seemed to have been cleaned, and there were no bloodstains.

Pei Xia cut a long scarf from Feng Yao's spare clothes, compared it to the girl's slender neck to confirm the length, and then wrapped it around Feng Yao's neck.

Before Jiang Shu could ask any questions, he explained, "I have a treasure that can control corpses. Don't be afraid. It may sound strange, but it actually came from a pretty legitimate source."

The sea patrol god is called a "god," so let's just say he's a respectable one.
Jiang Shu knew Feng Yao better than Pei Xia, so he naturally didn't feel it was disrespectful.

However, this method of controlling corpse puppets is not commonly seen in Qinzhou.

Fortunately, in this dog-eat-dog world, everyone's psychological defenses were obviously quite strong. After getting closer and confirming the situation, Jiang Shu demonstrated remarkable adaptability.

Specifically, he carried the large package directly on Feng Yao's back.

Copper Skin's physical strength is beyond doubt. Feng Yao, who was occupied by the brain worm, did not feel any discomfort at all. She even jumped up and down to see if it would affect her movements.

“Master…” She looked at Pei Xia, instinctively about to call him “Master”.

But Pei Xia raised her hand to stop her: "Call me senior brother."

To avoid arousing suspicion.

The brain worm naturally responded to Pei Xia without hesitation, nodding and very obediently calling out, "Senior Brother."

After calling out, she turned to look at Jiang Shu, seemingly asking this fellow traveler for a name.

She is very smart.

When the Sea God gave the Brain Worm to Pei Xia, he said that these worms were very intelligent and could be driven like ordinary people with just a little guidance.

Looking at his senior sister's face, Jiang Shu's expression was complicated. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Call me junior brother."

Feng Yao nodded: "Junior brother."

Jiang Shu remained silent and did not respond.

After Pei Xia changed into clean coarse cloth clothes and got ready, what was originally Jiang Shu's escape turned into a journey for three.

……

The magnificent warhorse trotted across the grass, slowly ascending the small hill. The general on horseback looked down at the fishing village not far away. His white robe billowed, revealing gleaming silver armor. Li Qing removed his helmet, shook his long, tied-up hair, turned his head, and looked at his adjutant with his usual sharp phoenix eyes, smiling brightly: "It's over. Now we've truly wiped out Hong Zongbi's line in Hebei."

The black-armored knight with lacquered red shoulder armor lightly rode his horse to the general's side. His voice, hidden behind his visor, was low and indistinct: "This place is indefensible. If Hong Zongbi comes back in the future, his horse's hooves will crush this village."

Li Qing raised her gaze. The setting sun cast its golden-red light on the mossy river, enveloping the entire village in a beautiful halo.

“He can’t fight back.” Li Qing seemed very certain.

The black-armored officer raised an eyebrow at her: "Hong Zongbi has cultivated the land north and south of the Xian River for many years. Even after his defeat, he still has at least 40,000 to 50,000 troops under his command. Yun Gu and Lei Chuan in Henan are major granaries, and his foundation remains solid."

Li Qing turned her head to look at him, pursed her lips, and smiled brightly: "Chen Qianye, I guess you can't understand anything else in your life except fighting wars."

“Back then, Hong Zongbi was just a lieutenant under the command of Xiaoguo Wang. After Li Peng died, he was able to overpower all the other heroes and take his place. To put it bluntly, he relied on Chu Fengliang, the admiral of Longjiang.”

"Chu Fengliang is arrogant and stubborn. Over the years, he has been separatist in Leyang and has been at odds with the Ling Kingdom court. The Luo family has not come to remove him as a thorn in their side, partly because they are wary of the Northern Barbarians and partly because they are afraid of the 100,000 mad dogs under Hong Zongbi."

“They used each other and were interdependent. Now that we have driven Hong Zongbi out of Hebei, Chu Fengliang’s support has weakened considerably. Le Yang will inevitably face more pressure from Beishi City, and the support he can give to Hong Zongbi will become less and less.”

Li Qing looked at the golden river again, and said in a calm voice a chilling certainty: "He will never be able to get back in this lifetime."

The horse's hooves pounded the gravel. Chen Qianye was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "If you say so, then what's our next step?"

“Weed out the weeds, weed out all the lackeys that Hong Zongbi cultivated, then plant crops in the fields, let them rest and recuperate, and after the autumn harvest next year, we will set off eastward to meet my good-for-nothing nephew.”

Chen Qianye responded, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Speaking of weeding, didn't that guy surnamed Qu make a promise to you?"

Qu Ying.

"Of the seven sects in Hebei, the Broken Jade Man has already helped me eliminate four," Li Qing recalled the figure of the man in black robes and reached out to brush his temples. "My cooperation with them is only temporary, and we may not be on the same path in the future."

The horse lowered its head to graze, gently kicking its hooves. Li Qing looked back at the banks of the mossy river: "The current state of the sect's land management cannot be changed for the time being. The places that have been cleared must be filled by our people."

Qin Prefecture was embroiled in ten years of civil war, with warlords carving up the country and each of their territories unstable, making it extremely difficult to establish a long-term and stable local administration.

The practice of clans governing prefectures can be seen as a result of natural selection.

After all, this group only needs a very small number of people to ensure that their martial virtue is abundant and the cost of maintaining their rule is very low.

The money, grain, horses, and people that were extremely important to the warlords were mostly not contested by the sects. Occasionally, if they encountered a local tyrant, as long as the corruption was not too outrageous, the warlords would turn a blind eye.

Of course, there were also troublemakers who felt they had the upper hand and wanted to have a go at the generals of Qin Prefecture.

Most of them naturally got overturned by the vehicles, and the disobedient ones were all hung on the mountain gate.

Even if a very small minority succeed, it doesn't prove anything.

A warlord is still a warlord; he's just changed his name.

Li Qing was considered to have a relatively good reputation among them, but when it came to the vital matters of soldiers, horses, money, and the life and death of warlords, she didn't have much room to show mercy.

Holding his helmet in one hand, he stretched lazily on horseback, his slender and athletic figure revealing alluring curves in the sunset beneath his armor.

The man who had killed ten thousand men, renowned throughout Qin Prefecture, was just about to return to his camp to rest when he suddenly remembered something unpleasant.

"Have those young masters and ladies from Beishi City been found?"

Chen Qianye replied with a straight face: "No."

"That Lord Luo from the Insect and Bird Bureau, didn't he cause you any trouble?"

"found."

Chen Qianye remained calm: "I punched her twice."

(End of this chapter)