CHAPTER 842: CHAPTER 624: THE FACE OF INNATE MARTIAL ARTISTS

In the spacious tea room, Yang Zhenshan and Luo Shang sat facing each other with four others.

A group of old companions chatted casually while sipping tea.

Seeing their gray-haired appearance, Yang Zhenshan felt a bit stifled inside.

Damn it, I’m an old man too.

"Sir, that old thing Zhang Yuanwu will come to Star Moon Island next month!" Han Cheng said.

Yang Zhenshan savored the tea carefully. This tea was slightly different from the previous Dongling Spring. The tea trees were ones he found deep in the Jiujiang Mountains, originally higher-grade tea trees, and after being transplanted to the Spiritual Spring Space, the flavor of the tea leaves improved significantly.

Of course, that doesn’t mean this tea is better than Dongling Spring. Nowadays, Dongling Spring is no longer what it used to be; it is a new variety he cultivated through multiple selections and refinements.

The two kinds of tea each have their merits. Dongling Spring is fresher, while this new tea is more aromatic, with a rich fragrance and long-lasting aftertaste, so Yang Zhenshan named it Spiritual Dew.

Well, the name has nothing to do with the new tea’s characteristics, it’s just a random name Yang Zhenshan came up with.

"Have all arrangements been made on his side?"

"Yes, it’s all arranged. The court has already appointed Wu Mingyang as Commander!" Han Cheng said.

Wu Mingyang is the son of Wu An, and the grandson of Wu Chongzhe, now in his twenties.

Yang Zhenshan nodded indifferently, "As long as it’s arranged."

The Tenglong Guard’s fleet is very profitable, but Yang Zhenshan doesn’t care about that. He cares about these old companions who once shared life and death with him.

Suffice it to say, Zhang Yuanwu got a great deal by getting into the Tenglong Guard.

Zhang Yuanwu never served under Yang Zhenshan. He was originally under Wang Bin as a garrison, while Yang Zhenshan was a garrison in An Yuan City, and Zhang Yuanwu was a garrison in Qihe City.

After the East Sea Hu Clan’s collapse, they all got promoted together. Zhang Yuanwu was promoted to an irregular officer in the East Route Rescue Camp of Chongshan Town.

When Ji Feiyu rebelled, both Zhang Chengzhi and Zhang Yuanwu were rewarded for capturing Assistant General Liu Zeqing. Zhang Chengzhi was promoted to Assistant General, and when there was no good place for Zhang Yuanwu, Yang Zhenshan arranged for him to join the Tenglong Guard.

Thus Zhang Yuanwu integrated into the Tenglong Guard, becoming a part of it.

At the time, it seemed like Zhang Chengzhi got the better end of the deal, but now it seems Zhang Yuanwu actually benefited greatly.

Now Zhang Chengzhi has returned home to retire, while his sons and grandsons still hold positions in Chongshan Town, but in terms of power and wealth, they are far inferior to Zhang Yuanwu’s descendants.

"How is the situation in Da Rong?" Yang Zhenshan asked.

"Ah, since Prince Dai’s death in battle, Da Rong has gotten even more chaotic!" Xie Yuan said.

Yang Zhenshan was taken aback, "Prince Dai died in battle? Chen Zhaoxuan?"

"Sir, didn’t you know!" Xie Yuan asked in surprise.

Yang Zhenshan stood up abruptly, "When did it happen?"

He still didn’t know that Chen Zhaoxuan had died in battle. Before returning, he only stayed in Zhaowu Port of Da Rong for a day, just to change ships, and after returning, Yang Mingcheng didn’t mention it.

"About half a year ago!" Xie Yuan answered.

Yang Zhenshan’s expression turned unpleasant.

Chen Zhaoxuan was his disciple, and he liked him more than Chen Zhaoting.

"Who killed him?"

His voice turned cold.

Xie Yuan and the others tensed up with him, "The rebel King Da Liang from Longnan!"

Yang Zhenshan took a deep breath and told them, "Forget it, let’s not chat today, we’ll talk another day!"

"Then I will take my leave!" The four saluted and left.

Yang Zhenshan patiently saw them off. After they left, he immediately shouted, "Someone come!"

Li Chang came running immediately, "Sir, what are your orders?"

Yang Zhenshan looked at him, somewhat speechless, "Why are you still on guard here?"

Li Chang chuckled foolishly, "It’s a habit. If I’m not around you, it feels uneasy!"

"..."

This guy is already an Innate Martial Artist, yet he’s still standing guard outside.

Yang Zhenshan walked out of the room and took a look. Indeed, it wasn’t just him; Wang Lei and others were also there, just like before.

Of the twenty personal followers, eighteen are now Innate Martial Artists, with only two yet to break through.

They’re still thinking of being personal followers now.

Having Innate Martial Artists as personal followers is a treatment even the old Emperor hasn’t experienced.

Five personal followers stood outside the door, obviously already scheduled their shifts.

"Do whatever you want, go and call Mingcheng and his two brothers for me!" Yang Zhenshan didn’t have the heart to say more, so he ordered directly.

"Understood!"

The five answered in unison, then three of them ran out to get them.

Yang Zhenshan returned to the tea room and fell into silence with furrowed brows.

Chen Zhaoxuan is dead, and he’s quite saddened by it.

This is indeed a case of the old sending off the young.

But he wasn’t sentimental enough to cry and wail. There’s sadness, anger, but more heartache.

Thinking of that boy who used to chase after him relentlessly, he sighed heavily.

He’s long used to life and death and the passing of old acquaintances, but he still felt heartache over Chen Zhaoxuan’s death.

Moments later, the three brothers Yang Mingcheng arrived at the tea room.

"Father, did you need something?" Yang Mingcheng asked cautiously, seeing Yang Zhenshan’s face looked unpleasant.

"How did Chen Zhaoxuan die?"

Yang Mingcheng, Yang Mingzhi, and Yang Minghao exchanged glances.

"He died besieged by rebels in Dai State City!"

"King Da Liang? Who is this person?" Yang Zhenshan asked.

"It’s said he’s the leader of a rebel group. Currently, he has occupied Han Zhong Prefecture, with more than ten thousand soldiers under him!" Yang Mingcheng said.

Yang Mingzhi added, "King Da Liang is the largest rebel group in the Longyuan region. Currently, there are more than ten rebel forces in the Longyuan three provinces. The smallest have two to three thousand men, and the most powerful is King Da Liang, who had up to three hundred thousand bandits at one point. However, after occupying Han Zhong Prefecture, he reorganized his forces, keeping only a hundred thousand elite troops!"

Yang Zhenshan’s brow furrowed deeply, "Da Rong is in such chaos now?"

Yang Minghao said, "It’s not just chaos. The three provinces of Longyuan have roaming bandits, Yun Gui Province has a rebellious prince, reportedly the son of Prince Qing, and Bashu is half-occupied by rebel forces."

"Recently, the Yang family’s business received news saying that many bandits from Longyuan have fled to Shanhe Province! Even the imperial guards have been mobilized now."

After occupying Han Zhong Prefecture, King Da Liang settled down, but the bandits in the three provinces of Longyuan not only didn’t decrease due to his calmness, but actually increased.

The reason is the sieges at Longbei Town and Suzhou Town. The armies of the two towns have wiped out a number of bandits, but more bandits appear as soon as one group is eradicated.

They’re in a situation like a whack-a-mole game, suppress one group of bandits and another wave appears.

The more they suppress bandits, the more appear. As the sieges continue, many bandits have fled to Shanhe Province, turning the once relatively stable province into chaos.

As the saying goes, if the refugees are not settled, the bandits cannot be extinguished, unless they could kill all the people in the three provinces of Longyuan.

"No one is besieging King Da Liang?" Yang Zhenshan, not caring about the bandits or wanting to interfere with Da Rong’s internal problems, felt troubled by Chen Zhaoxuan’s death and wanted to avenge him.

"Probably not, I reckon no one is even paying attention to that King Da Liang now!" Yang Mingzhi said.

Then, the three brothers took turns explaining the situation in the three provinces of Longyuan in detail.

Although they were far away on Star Moon Island, they received a lot of news from Da Rong.

They didn’t know much about the situations in Bashu and Yun Gui, but they were quite familiar with the situation in Longyuan.

After all, Zhou Lan was in Longyuan, and after Chen Zhaoxuan’s death, they paid extra attention to the situation there.

Yang Zhenshan frowned even more after hearing their discussion.

Judging from the situation now, eradicating King Da Liang wouldn’t be an easy task.

King Da Liang occupies Han Zhong Prefecture, which is easy to defend and hard to attack. Without an army of a hundred thousand, there’s no hope of breaking into Han Zhong Prefecture.

But where could he mobilize a hundred thousand soldiers from?

It’s impossible to mobilize from Chongshan Town!

Leaving aside whether the Da Rong Court would allow him to mobilize troops on his own, the distance from Chongshan Town to Han Zhong Prefecture is four to five thousand miles.

This four to five thousand miles is not like his past raid on Yemi City. While on the way from Chongshan Town to Yemi City, despite having to bypass Menghe Mountain and wade across several rivers, most of the journey was on flat ground, where horses could gallop freely.

But the route from Chongshan Town to Han Zhong Prefecture?

You could head west from Chongshan Town into Liaoxi, then from Liaoxi into Longyuan, finally marching south all the way to Han Zhong Prefecture. This journey would take at least three months.

If they were to actually move a hundred thousand troops from Chongshan Town, the manpower and resources required would be terrifying.

As for mobilizing troops from other places?

Yang Zhenshan couldn’t mobilize the soldiers from other frontier towns.

What about Zhou Lan over there?

She’s been stationed in the northern part of Longyuan Province. Without even thinking, Yang Zhenshan knew it was due to insufficient supplies.

Besides a massive army attack on Han Zhong Prefecture, there’s another way to kill King Da Liang and avenge Chen Zhaoxuan, which is using Innate Martial Artists!

Even if King Da Liang had a hundred thousand troops under his command, he couldn’t fend off a coordinated attack by over a dozen Innate Martial Artists.

It’s not difficult for Star Moon Island to dispatch more than ten Innate Martial Artists now, but whether to dispatch them, Yang Zhenshan felt hesitant.

He was weighing the attitude of Da Rong Court.

Once the Yang family dispatched over a dozen Innate Martial Artists, it might become impossible for them to continue staying in Da Rong.

Such a terrifying strength, once exposed to the officials and ministers of Da Rong Court, would make the Yang family’s threat far greater than those bandits.

If over a dozen Innate Martial Artists wouldn’t work, what if Yang Zhenshan went by himself?

Thinking of this, Yang Zhenshan let out a deep sigh.

To commit assassination!

He wasn’t beyond doing it, but now it wouldn’t be right for him to do so.

It’d be too disgraceful!

He was a man who cared about his reputation. To use his cultivation to assassinate a useless King Da Liang, even if avenging a disciple, would be beneath him.

Why doesn’t the court deploy Innate Martial Artists against rebels?

Is it because the Emperor doesn’t want to?

No, it’s because the Innate Martial Artists don’t want to do something so disgraceful.

It’s like an adult bullying a child.

Unless the enemy also has Innate Martial Artists, otherwise, Innate Martial Artists generally do not want to meddle in wars.

This has almost become an unwritten rule.

Or rather, a form of moral restraint.

Restraint on the Innate Martial Artists.

As long as Innate Martial Artists care about their reputation, they will not fight those below Innate level, nor will they charge into battles on the fields.

Just like when Yang Zhenshan conquered Yemi City, he only killed a few who foolishly approached him, instead of rampaging through as before.

Besides doing it himself, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t think of any other good way to avenge Chen Zhaoxuan for the time being.

"Alas~~"

"Let’s first celebrate the New Year, and talk about this after!" Yang Zhenshan sighed softly.

He planned to first observe the situation. Avenge Chen Zhaoxuan he has to, but if Da Rong Court could do it for him, he wouldn’t have to act. If the court couldn’t, or if King Da Liang grew too powerful, then Yang Zhenshan would have to take matters into his own hands.

After the brothers left, Yang Zhenshan sat alone in the tea room for a long time.

Having been in this world for so many years, experiencing so many things, he was used to life and death, yet he still felt sorrow for Chen Zhaoxuan.

Before he left Star Moon Island, he had received a letter from Chen Zhaoxuan, saying that once his son grew up, he’d send him to Star Moon Island for his master to teach him for a few years.

Sadly, he would never be able to meet this disciple’s grandson.

After sitting for an hour, Yang Zhenshan slowly stood up and instructed Li Chang outside the door, "Inform the business association to inquire about news of Prince Dai’s daughter!"

"Understood!"

Chen Zhaoxuan only had this one remaining bloodline in the world, and as his master, Yang Zhenshan naturally had to look after them.

Yang Zhenshan’s sorrow didn’t last long, because New Year’s Eve was soon, and Star Moon City was bustling with excitement.

The fleets returning from sea were coming back, though, of course, some wouldn’t return.

Such is life on the seas; during festivals, one may not always be able to come back, and many stay away for months on end.