“Alright.” Leng Changxi was about to chop the mad soldier with his hand as hard as an iron blade, but the young man who led the way suddenly grabbed Leng Changxi’s wrist, “Our savior, he is a life after all. How could you decide arbitrarily?”
A glimmer of luck flashed in the eyes of the mad soldier, and Leng Changxi glanced at the young man, “There is always one going to die today. If you can’t bear his death, then you get to be dead.”
“How can you think in this way?” The young man frowned, “No matter how strong your skill of martial arts is, you can’t kill innocent people indiscriminately.”
Leng Changxi sneered. “Even though you have good intentions in your heart, you can’t demand a life for a life. And who said that he was innocent? Little brother, we have been disturbing in the village for a long time. This soldier belonged to us. Let us take him back. As for the inconvenience of your village, Your Highness will naturally give you an explanation.”
Leng Changxi had shown off his authority, but the rest of the mess was left to Wanyan Su to take care of. Wanyan Su was probably used to being the good guy. He carefully ordered his men around to give these frightened villagers some silver taels and then took the mad soldiers back. The group’s departure seemed to return peace and harmony to this small village with a population of no more than 20 households.
As night fell, the bonfire in the poplar forest also dimmed down. The mad soldier was tied to the trunk of a dead poplar tree. He had long lost his exhilarating mind. The lights went out one by one in Tamuer Village. Only the butter lamp in the tiny hut farthest from the village was still brightly lit. It was the hut of that old man who made trouble. He was called Grandpa Tam by the villagers.
He got up, closed the door, and turned around, only to find that there were other people in the room. Grandpa Tam could not help but shudder all over. Leng Changxi’s silver mask covering his whole face looked even colder under the dim light. Qin Yunuan also appeared with him. The calm smile on her face made it difficult to associate her with the woman who killed decisively in front of the well.
These two people appeared to be very kind and just in private. Why were they always doing cruel things in front of others?
“I don’t welcome you here,” Grandpa Tam crouched, without even looking at the two of them, “Go away, both of you.”
“Grandpa Tam?” Leng Changxi sat down cheekily, “People call you in that way. But what is your real name?”
Grandpa Tam cast a sideways glance at Leng Changxi. He had an innate hatred for such aristocratic people.
Grandpa Tam did not speak, so Leng Changxi continued, “I think you look like a Qi man, and I know what happened here 20 years ago. North Di had not yet established an agreement with Qi 20 years ago. This Yeren Valley was still the territory of Qi. Did you come to the village at that time?”
“No comment.”
“It’s okay. You do not have to speak it out. I’ll guess.” Leng Changxi continued, “Twenty years ago, Qi did send such a team into the Yeren Valley. They were all carefully selected as Qi’s best craftsmen and the third batch of workers in the weapons factory of Yeren Valley. They were the also most difficult batch of workers to control.”
Speaking of this, the face of Grandpa Tam turned a little bit blue. Qin Yunuan believed that it was not only because of the cold evening weather but also some psychological factors.
He was afraid.
“Because one craftsman ran out secretly,” Leng Changxi continued, “What a terrifying thing that was at the time. This craftsman, who escaped, took the secrets and craftsmanship of the weapon factory, and he got rid of the Royal Court’s control. Although such a thing would happen sooner or later, nobody had expected that the craftsman who escaped was the most skilled and hardworking craftsman among the team. Other craftsmen would only learn one process at hand, but the escaped one actually kept the seventeen processes in mind with his efforts. Great amounts of men and resources were assigned to search for him. They searched all over the territory of Qi but unfortunately found nobody. Nevertheless, in my opinion, there is a saying that the most dangerous place is the safest. Maybe this person didn’t go anywhere. Maybe he just settled down nearby because he wanted to look at this evil weapon factory to fall apart, to lose its original power in the struggle slowly. This was the greatest revenge he yearned for.”
“Why did you tell me this?” Grandpa Tam looked at Leng Changxi warily. His eyes were horrified. It was as though he was looking at a monster that could perceive human hearts.
“Because you killed the soldier.” Leng Changxi said confidently. “You are proficient in mechanical manufacturing. It was easy to put ice cubes in the well. You thought that after the soldier was killed by the ice cones, the ice would melt in the water, and so no one would be judged. You bought another soldier with the secret of the weapon factory and made him pretend to be crazy, just to make the death more mysterious and exaggerate the legend before we enter the valley. You attempted to convince us to retreat in the face of difficulties. You are incisive in skills. Even if I don’t kill the soldier who pretended to be crazy, you will do it. And your methods will be crueler because all you did was to create tragedy and prevent us from entering the valley.”
Grandpa Tam seemed to tighten up even more. He glanced at Qin Yunuan, who was silent by his side. The woman looked weak and vulnerable, but the man happened to take her extremely seriously.
Grandpa Tam made a sudden dodge. His hands stretched out like eagle claws towards Qin Yunuan’s neck. However, he was stopped by Leng Changxi’s big hand. Leng Changxi turned his head and said harshly, “Sun Chengzhen, if you dare to move us, you could never have what you think about day and night.”
Sun Chengzhen? Qin Yunuan’s heart was startled. She remembered that the Sun Family had been wiped out a long time ago. As for the name Sun Chengzhen, Qin Yunuan once remembered that the Sun family named their most promising son Sun Chengzhen, only because a man of this name appeared 30 years ago and changed the fate of the entire Sun family. However, later this Sun Chengzhen didn’t escape the Sun family curse and died young. Now that Leng Changxi called this aged man Sun Chengzhen, was it possible that he was not dead at all?
When he called out the three-word name Sun Chengzhen, the old man became stiff.
Leng Changxi shrugged and said, “The Sun family thought they had deceived everyone, but they did not expect that Sun Chengzhen had also deceived the Sun family. Among the four great families, the Sun family wanted to take over the so-called treasure. Nonetheless, in that family, Sun Chengzhen tried to swallow it all by himself. Mister Sun, how have you been in the Gobi Desert for more than ten years? It was a condescension for you to enter the weapon factory as a craftsman.”
“Huh,” since his identity has been exposed, Grandpa Tam, or rather Mr. Sun, just took a place on the tea table leisurely. “What could you do even if you know all this? I’ve been here for so many years, but I still haven’t found a way back. Do you think you can enter the hinterland of the weapons factory with your scattered troops of only one hundred and seventy people?”
“We can’t,” Leng Changxi smiled at Mr. Sun, “I know it needs maps. The Sun family already had three maps, plus one from the Leng family. It could have formed a complete map. After the Sun house was destroyed, the three maps in their hands should belong to the Imperial Family of Qi. Unfortunately, those three maps were fakes.”
The corners of Sun Chengzhen’s mouth rose slightly, and a proud grin appeared on his wrinkled mouth.
“It’s because,” Leng Changxi said seriously, looking at Sun Chengzhen, “You had replaced the real ones a long time ago. You had always thought that you could find the weapon factory based on your familiarity with Yeren Valley and the three maps, but you are wrong. The four maps are like four indispensable parts. It is impossible to do away with any of them.”
Sun Chengzhen sneered disdainfully, “You want to cooperate with me, young man? You need to know you have nothing. How could you compete with me?”
“Yes, my capital is not as much as yours,” Leng Changxi laughed, “but I have one thing you don’t. That is the physical strength to walk there, Mr. Sun. Twenty years have passed. You are no longer the middle-aged, high-spirited Sun Chengzhen. You have to admit that you are old.”
Sun Chengzhen tilted his head. He was an individual who had gone through the storms, but he did not expect that he would be threatened by a junior today. He lowered his head as if he had compromised, “The map is in the hidden drawer under my bed, go get it yourself.”
Leng Changxi didn’t move. Sun Chengzhen sneered at him, “What, are you afraid that there could be schemes?”
“You are a veteran in mechanical manufacturing. I ought to be more cautious.”
Sun Chengzhen snorted coldly as if he was extremely despised of the timid Leng Changxi. He was about to get up and walk towards the bed, but a cold arrow passed through the paper window and shot directly into Sun Chengzhen’s artery on the neck. He was killed by the arrow, and it did not give him the slightest chance to struggle.
“Who?” Leng Changxi stood up subconsciously, shielding Qin Yunuan behind him. The wooden door creaked and was pushed open. Maomu, who should be guarding the door for Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi, walked in. He was disguised as a soldier of the Fourth Prince and mingled with the rest of the army, but his skills were of the first-class warriors of North Di. Maomu was holding a crossbow in his hand, and his eyes were sharp as he glanced at Leng Changxi sideways, “Why do you keep this kind of people alive?” He was referring to such impure people of North Di.
Maomu placed the bow in his hand on the wooden table, ready to fetch the secret drawer that Sun Chengzhen talked about. At his feet was the blood spurted out from Sun’s artery. Leng Changxi didn’t stop Maomu’s self-assertive action but watched with indifferent eyes. He knew that Sun Chengzhen would not let Maomu succeed so easily.
“Ah, my eyes.” Sure enough, Maomu pulled the concealed drawer under the bed, and green mucus sprayed directly into his eyes. With white smoke and a burning smell, Leng Changxi knew that Maomu’s eyes had been ruined.
