Chapter 837 – What’s the Point of Killing You? (Part 4)
That last sentence slipped out of Yang Tao’s clenched teeth, filled with deep, bitter hatred.
Yan Lin lowered his gaze, a flicker of killing intent crossing his eyes.
“There will come a day,” he said softly, his tone tinged with gentleness. “There’s no need for the lord to thank me; it’s what I ought to do.”
Though they were not blood brothers, their bond was stronger than that of kin.
Yan Lin was not just Yang Tao’s dearest friend; he was also his caretaker.
Having taken care of this little rascal for so many years, Yan Lin had developed a habit of indulging Yang Tao’s mischief.
As for that Zhao Shao… Yan Lin quietly suppressed his rising anger.
No rush; one day, that man would be ground to dust!
Zhao Shao, a distinguished figure from Dongmen County.
Zhao Shao was a member of a powerful family, known for being treacherous and vengeful—labels he wore like a badge.
As for the enmity with Yang Jian, it dated back over a decade.
Zhao Shao had a stepbrother who was killed by the hot-headed Yang Jian for oppressing the villagers, which sparked their feud.
Years passed, and their conflicts and resentments only deepened.
When Zhao Shao heard that Yang Jian was gaining power, fearing for his life, he decided to strike first.
Poor Yang Jian, caught off guard and wounded, was tortured by a poisoned cup of wine for an entire night before he finally met his end.
Dongmen County lay on the outskirts of Zhangzhou, part of the southern territories, adjacent to Hujun, separated from Wanzhou by mountains and rivers.
In other words, the refugee camp she had seen in the spiritual network should not be from Dongmen County.
So—Jiang Pengji rubbed her temples, organizing her thoughts.
Then she asked Xu Ke, “With Wolong County in chaos and various factions vying for power, is it that severe?”
Xu Ke replied, “It’s quite chaotic… Poor homeless common folks.”
Wolong County wasn’t far from Wanzhou, so undoubtedly, the refugees Jiang Pengji had seen were fleeing from there.
To stabilize Wolong County, there were basically three paths to take.
First, Jiang Pengji could use the sole heir of Wolong County as a puppet and control the place from afar.
However, this option had long been dismissed as unsuitable for now.
Second, to wait for internal struggles in Wolong County to reach some conclusion.
This method was definitely the worst; the longer they fought amongst themselves, the more the local populace would suffer.
Third… Jiang Pengji took a deep breath as she made her decision.
Before launching the attack on Jiamen Pass, Jiang Pengji and her strategists had thoroughly analyzed the whereabouts of the orphan from Wolong County.
After discussions, they unanimously decided to use the orphan to negotiate benefits, handing Wolong County over to Huang Song.
But calculating the time, why was there still no news from Huang Song?
As she pondered, she frowned. Xu Ke noticed and asked with concern, “What troubles the lord?”
“Nothing much, just go back to your business,” Jiang Pengji said. Seeing Xu Ke still wanting to say something, she added, “I want to be alone for a bit; whatever it is, let’s discuss it tomorrow… Xiaoyu, I’m tired…”
Jiang Pengji had spoken, and Xu Ke naturally couldn’t press further.
Once Xu Ke bowed and left, Jiang Pengji let out a refreshing sigh, leaning back on her seat, her eyes slowly closing.
She appeared to be resting but was actually probing the system inside her mind.
The system was utterly fed up.
Jiang Pengji asked herself, “System, do you have any way to upgrade the live stream room?”
The system knew it was doomed but figured a day’s survival was still a win.
It understood that it was safe as long as the main system wasn’t captured.
“Just let me out. The host’s permissions are very low; without me, you cannot upgrade the live stream room by yourself.”
Jiang Pengji raised an eyebrow internally, sneering, “Is there really no other way?”
The system, puzzled, didn’t understand why she was asking that.
“Naturally, there isn’t.”
The system was confused; hadn’t this host always been wary of it, always suppressing the upgrade of the live stream room for years?
Why suddenly bring up the upgrade now?
Jiang Pengji smiled and asked, “If I were to take the subsystem from that woman, would the two subsystems merge?”
To put it simply, the complete system was like a glass of water; it poured some into other glasses, creating separate subsystems. So, if she captured a subsystem, could those glasses of water blend back into one?
Theoretically, it should be possible, right?
The system remained silent, and Jiang Pengji didn’t expect much from this useless entity.
After a while, she poked the system again.
The system snapped, “Damn it, are you done yet?!”
“Tsk tsk tsk—young people just can’t hold their horses.”
The system had had enough, “Get lost—”
Meanwhile, at the border of Wanzhou—
A few simply adorned carriages rolled slowly toward the checkpoint, the wheels creaking as they moved ahead, turning round and round.
The official road leading to Wanzhou was old and poorly maintained, rugged and bumpy, causing the carriage to sway unsteadily.
“Mr. Cheng—up ahead is the checkpoint.”
Outside the carriage, dozens of guards were present, and leading them was a man on a tall horse.
Though this man was dressed in plain clothes, he was broad-shouldered, with muscles as hard as stone, the loose attire straining against his physique. He rode forward, slowing his pace as he approached the carriage in the middle of the line.
At that moment, a long hand lifted the carriage curtain, revealing half of a man’s face.
“The number of refugees out there is increasing; they want to go to Wanzhou too?”
The speaker was none other than Cheng Jing, a strategist under Huang Song.
He was sitting inside the carriage, a scroll filled with dense writings resting on his knees.
After several days of travel, he appeared quite thin, with dark circles beneath his eyes.
“I’ve inquired, and they’re all trying to seek refuge in Wanzhou…”
Cheng Jing lowered his eyelids, murmuring, “Is that so…”
After saying that, he let the curtain fall, shutting out the glaring orange sunlight outside.
Cheng Jing, following Huang Song’s orders, had come to negotiate the fate of the heir from Wolong County.
Huang Song aimed to unify Haozhou and needed a legitimate cause for his actions.
If he could lay claim to the orphan from Wolong County, he could justify his military actions as reclaiming the deceased father’s inheritance.
This was also one of Cheng Jing’s missions.
Originally, this task should have been for Feng Jue, since he was the brother of Feng Jin and should be easier to deal with.
Yet, to avoid suspicion, they ultimately decided on Cheng Jing stepping in for Feng Jue.
After all, Feng Jue was the third son of the favored Feng family!
If Wanzhou’s forces suspected they were building a facade while secretly connecting with the Feng family, it would be disastrous. To prevent such a mishap, they had to replace him at the last minute with Cheng Jing.
Once they left Huang Song’s territory, the outside world looked desolate, with no vibrant farming scenes in sight.
Upon reaching the Wanzhou border, they occasionally spotted a few clusters of refugees.
Cheng Jing was meticulous and thoughtful.
He pondered why the refugees from Maode County were not escaping to Maode County but detouring to Wanzhou instead.
