CHAPTER 564: CHAPTER 564: I WANT BOTH FACE AND GREAT UNDERTAKINGS

Long Yongjun immediately went to East City and Kongming City with his men, rallying a total of five thousand elite guards to the White Snow Town outpost at the base of Wuji Mountain.

Zhao Benling gathered 20,000 elite guards from the Black Dragon River, Jilin, and Ning City. Following the agreement with Yang Xiao, they assembled at several key outposts near the base of Wuji Mountain.

At the same time, Zhao Benling also gathered Ning City’s 20,000 elite guards to strengthen the defenses, in case Gu Beifeng launched a direct attack on Ning City from Hebei.

The atmosphere at the base of Wuji Mountain suddenly became tense.

Gu Rui had hurried back to Wentian City. The military assembly by Yang Xiao and others took place after his return. The five to six thousand people he had left at over a dozen outposts on Wuji Mountain suddenly became panicked, immediately halted their hunting, and gathered their forces at several important outposts, while urgently sending messengers back to report.

Zhou Yong also rushed back to Magic City ahead of time. The three thousand guards left in Wuji Mountain dared not be careless, gathering together for urgent defense, while also sending someone to report back to Magic City.

Yang Xiao, on the other hand, took a portion of his troops to hunt in Wuji Mountain in rotation.

...

In Wentian City, after listening to Gu Rui’s report, Gu Beifeng slammed the table with a "smack" and stood up exclaiming:

"What is Yang Xiao trying to pull off? Redefining the activity zones of Wuji Mountain for equal division among the four powers, damn it, is he looking to start a war with me? I’ve given way at every turn, does he really think I’m afraid of him?

Immediately gather 20,000 elite troops for me. I’m now leading them into Wuji Mountain. I want to see just how Yang Xiao and Zhao Benling think they can take me down."

Gu Rui also wanted to vent his anger, remembering how Yang Xiao and Zhao Benling arrogantly treated him yesterday, he felt indignant.

"Yes, boss, let’s go all out against them. Heck, let’s gather even more troops and kill Yang Xiao and Zhao Benling directly, taking over their Eastern Province territory. The resources of Wuji Mountain and Changling are plentiful, well worth the risk. Moreover, I’ve just discovered something significant."

"What?"

"It’s no wonder Zhao Benling isn’t eager to exploit the resources inside Wuji Mountain. Did you know, Eastern Province has many large reservoirs and inland lakes, like Songhua River and so on? Come winter, all these water bodies are sealed by ice for as long as three months, yet they can still harvest a large quantity of mutant fish from them. This resource is also abundant. Those mutant fish have barely any resistance under the freezing temperatures of around negative twenty degrees, making them easy to capture and kill."

Gu Beifeng nodded:

"I’ve known about this for quite some time, Zhao Benling also mentioned it to me. However, for ultimate progress, he still relies on the resources within the Primitive Forest. I’ve told him before to leave Wuji Mountain to me, and the resources of Changling would be sufficient for him. He has now dispatched many people to Changling to hunt mutant animals and acquired a fair amount of resources.

I’ve underestimated him; I didn’t anticipate Zhao Benling would bring Yang Xiao and Du Tianxing into Wuji Mountain to contend with me. Hmph, he thinks that by becoming sworn brothers with Yang Xiao and forming an alliance, I would be scared of him?"

Gu Beifeng not only controlled Wentian City but also the surrounding areas.

On one hand, Gu Beifeng was rallying 20,000 elite guards to enter Wuji Mountain and confront Yang Xiao, and at the same time, he formed an elite force of 20,000 troops ready to enter the forward outpost, directly pointing the spearhead towards Ning City.

"Hmph, Zhao Benling, let’s see if you dare to provoke me this time by marching directly from Ning City. I give you an inch, and you take a mile."

Gu Beifeng was holding a meeting in Wentian City’s council chamber to discuss how to deal with Yang Xiao and Zhao Benling when a guard hurried in.

"Reporting to Gu Tianwang, Zhao Benling has moved 20,000 elite troops into Wuji Mountain, and Yang Xiao has also assembled 5,000 men into Wuji Mountain."

Gu Beifeng was taken aback on the spot, and the conference room fell silent for a moment, followed by soft murmurs.

"Damn, Yang Xiao and Zhao Benling are serious?"

"Gathering so many people, does it really look like they’re preparing for war?"

"Even if we send our 20,000 there, we might not have the advantage."

"Even if we win, it will be a Pyrrhic victory, killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of our own."

"Don’t panic, we still have the attacking forces from North City. Fighting on two fronts, Zhao Benling and Yang Xiao might not be able to cope."

"Yes, I think so too."

...

People were discussing when another guard rushed in, urgently reporting:

"Reporting to Gu Tianwang, a large number of Zhao Benling’s forces have appeared at the frontline outpost of Ning City, numbering about 20,000 to 30,000 people."

This time, the entire hall fell dead silent. No one spoke, and the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

Gu Beifeng’s complexion changed multiple times, his heart fluctuated greatly, he took a deep breath, and gritted his teeth, saying:

"That Zhao Benling is getting bolder, daring to provoke me ahead of time. My men haven’t yet set off for the front line, but he’s already assembled his forces first. TM, is he looking to rebel?"

The dozens of high-ranking subordinates in the meeting room remained silent.

After a moment, someone stood up and said:

"Yang Xiao occupies four provinces, Zhao Benling occupies three. Just in terms of military strength they control, they have forces from seven provinces, which has already surpassed us in numbers."

"So what? If I roll up my sleeves, it’s time to fight. Are we afraid of them?"

"Heh, if it were before, dealing with Zhao Benling alone, we could directly attack. I said before, just swallow up Zhao Benling directly. But Zhao Benling, that guy, is very sly. He just handed over Wuji Mountain to the boss. The boss was compassionate for a moment, spared him once, and wouldn’t you know it, it ended up being a problem. Eventually, it turned into today’s big trouble.

Let me say something unpleasant to hear; currently, if we get into a fight with Yang Xiao and Zhao Benling, we might not win, and even if we did win, I estimate two-thirds of us here would be dead.

Also, don’t forget, there’s a mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. We have Du Tianxing at our backs. Du Tianxing occupies Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. Once we and Yang Xiao get into a mutual loss, his men will directly enter Mountain City, from Mountain City into Henan, and then push on to Wentian City. At that time, the situation will be unmanageable."

The person speaking was Gu Beifeng’s deputy and the one he trusted the most, named Zhuge Ming, who had just broken through to the King Level evolution.

Gu Beifeng glanced at Zhuge Ming beside him and said:

"Brother Zhuge, are you saying that I should just obediently listen to Yang Xiao and give up the Wuji Mountain outpost we currently occupy? Giving up a few outposts won’t hinder our development, but we can’t lose face. After all, if word gets out, who would respect me, Gu Beifeng?"

Zhuge Ming said:

"Which is more important, face or the great cause?"

"I want both face and the great cause. Otherwise, even if I own the world, without any face, what good is that world?"

Gu Beifeng’s words were impassioned, prompting the people at the meeting to slam the table and howl in agreement.

"Right, what’s the point of living without dignity?"

Zhuge Ming swept his gaze over the crowd and then looked at Gu Beifeng again.

Gu Beifeng waved his hand at everyone, and the howling stopped.

"Brother Zhuge, is there a perfect solution?"

Zhuge Ming gave a wry smile:

"If you want both face and the great cause, it’s not like there’s no way, but this method is a bit difficult."

"Say it. As long as we can subdue both Yang Xiao and Zhao Benling, to let out the anger in my heart, no matter how difficult, I will do it."

"Good. Then go to Du Tianxing. Since Yang Xiao and Zhao Benling can form an alliance, we can also form an alliance with Du Tianxing to jointly deal with Yang Xiao and Zhao Benling."

Hearing this, Gu Beifeng slapped his forehead:

"Right! How could I have forgotten about this move?"