Chapter 173: Chapter 140: The Encirclement and Slaughter of Xu Mujun

“What did you say? Someone wants to break into the Imperial Mausoleum?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Chen Liancang said, “Today, Chen Zhi, who guards the Imperial Mausoleum, reported that the Grand General under Meng Guang claimed to want to view the scenery of Celestial Longevity Mountain and accidentally entered the forbidden area of the mountain, but was stopped by him.”

“However, in my humble opinion, he was merely driven by curiosity, attracted by the sound of explosions from Celestial Longevity Mountain.”

“Oh? Have we found out who it was?”

“Among the three, Daoist Feilong Tan Yunlong, Thousand Man Slaughter Shentu Kui, Earth Immortal Sun Hui, though all possess the Grandmaster Realm, their cultivation methods are unorthodox, and their combat prowess is not as formidable as orthodox Grandmasters.”

Chen Liancang said, “Based on Chen Zhi’s description, the one who came to spy should be Earth Immortal Sun Hui.”

“This person was taught by an Abnormal Being in his early years, possesses the Divine Movement Technique, capable of covering eight hundred miles a day, and his Lightweight Technique is exceptional.”

“Divine Movement Technique? Covering eight hundred miles a day?” Zheng Yi’s tone was somewhat odd: “Divine Movement Grand Protector?”

Chen Liancang shook his head and said, “It’s just unorthodox techniques, and these are rumors; no one has ever witnessed them.”

“Your Majesty, how should we handle this person?”

“Did he discover anything?”

“No, he was stopped by Chen Zhi when he approached the forbidden area.”

“Then let it be. I remember one among these three is a person from the Martial Arts Department, right.”

“Your Majesty, he belongs to the Eastern Depot.”

Chen Liancang said, “Daoist Feilong Tan Yunlong was recruited by the Eastern Depot two years ago and is one of our operatives.”

“Then let him keep an eye on Meng Guang. This person is deeply scheming; let him play his role and monitor Meng Guang and his key personnel.”

“Understood!”

Chen Liancang continued, “Your Majesty, Chen Zhi reported that the konjac sea lotus at the Grand Ancestor’s Mausoleum is about to be penetrated; it can faintly be seen through.”

“Really? How much longer will it take?”

“According to estimates, it will take another three months.”

“Three months…”

Zheng Yi said indifferently, “I can wait. Order Hu Bafeng to take his time and not damage the treasures behind the konjac sea lotus.”

“Understood!”

“By the way, Elder Chen, how are Xu Mujun and Xu Xuanwu doing?”

Chen Liancang hesitated, “Xu Mujun has reached Yunzhou Daming Prefecture, but no specific information has been transmitted yet.”

“However, the Shadow Guard is constantly focusing there; at most in two or three days, intelligence will be sent back.”

“Oh? Then I shall wait with anticipation!”

Zheng Yi did not have to wait long; two days later, the Shadow Guard relayed the latest intelligence about Xu Mujun and Xu Xuanwu.

“Interesting… Xu Qing, you did not disappoint me!”

8th Year of Zhengyong, November 5th!

Great Ming Prefecture.

Xu Mushi urged his horse forward, with only one hundred and seventeen personal guards left behind him.

Everyone was injured, yet their armor still gleamed, forged from blood, and their eyes were cold.

Below Great Ming Prefecture, a sharp arrow shot and embedded firmly in front of Xu Mujun.

“Grand General! Go back! The Junior General will not see you!”

A man clad in full armor loudly shouted from the city wall.

All the surrounding city guards looked tense, their gaze fixed on Xu Mujun below the city wall.

Two months time.

Xu Mujun led over three hundred men south from Binzhou, slaughtering ten thousand rebel bandits and at least seven rebel leaders along the way.

Wherever he went, rivers of blood flowed and cries of mourning filled the air.

This caused most rebel leaders afterward to fear Xu’s name; whenever Xu Mujun approached, rebels scattered like birds and beasts, afraid of being targeted by this fiend.

Xu Mujun did not stop, relentless except for eating and sleeping, always riding his horse during other times!

On the way, more than three hundred people exhausted over a thousand fine horses and finally reached Yunzhou Daming Prefecture!

Xu Mujun slightly raised his head and looked towards the general on the city wall.

“Who are you?”

“Deputy General of the Dragon-soaring Army, Hu Junshan!”

“Dragon-soaring Army?”

Xu Mujun questioned, his tone full of indifference, calmly saying: “In my Dragon-soaring Army, when was there a role for a deputy like you?”

Hu Junshan was enraged, gritting his teeth and said: “I was personally promoted by General Xuanwu Xu, why seek others’ recognition?”

“Grand General Xu, although you are the father of General Xu, swords and blades are merciless, and since General Xu aspires to rule, as his father, you should strongly support him…”

“Shut up!”

Xu Mujun’s voice finally showed a hint of fluctuation.

“Rebels and traitors, everyone should kill them!”

“You… are unworthy of being in my Dragon-soaring Army!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Mujun abruptly wielded a blood-red long blade and casually slashed in Hu Junshan’s direction.

“Boom…!”

The blood-red beam sliced diagonally, and Hu Junshan, standing at least a hundred meters away from Xu Mujun, didn’t even have time to react before his head was severed!

His head soared into the sky, his body just swayed before collapsing to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“General!”

“General Hu!”

“Someone, please hurry…”

The exclamations on the city wall were endless; yet, other soldiers continued to hold their positions.

Below the city wall, Xu Mujun suddenly roared: “Dragon-soaring Army, where are you!!!”

The people and horses on the city wall were puzzled; this man had only brought over a hundred people, how could there be…

Suddenly, at this time, within Great Ming Prefecture, on the city wall, voices echoed one after another.

“Dragon-soaring Army, present!”

“Dragon-soaring Army, present!”

Soldiers originally stationed on the city wall, along with Centurions and Chiliarchs loyal to General Xuanwu Xu, suddenly shouted in succession, their eyes full of fanaticism and respect.

“Open the city gate!”

“Understood!!!”

Voices continuously rang out; over a hundred soldiers previously under Xu Xuanwu’s command surprisingly climbed down the city wall, intending to open the city gate, startling the surrounding city guards.

“What are you doing!”

“Are you rebelling or defecting?”

“General, please don’t…”

The leader of the Dragon-soaring Army spoke coldly, “As members of the Dragon-soaring Army, we naturally follow the orders of Grand General Xu. Move aside!”

Both sides faced off with swords, but the Dragon-soaring Army was a battle-hardened force, while the soldiers guarding the city were merely new recruits from recent years.

Though they had some combat prowess, they were no match for the Dragon-soaring Army and were quickly driven away, opening the city gates.

Xu Mujun urged his horse forward, with over a hundred personal guards of the Dragon Scale Army following closely behind.

On both sides of the city gate, countless members of the Dragon-soaring Army knelt on the ground.

“We, pay respects to the General!”

Xu Mujun stopped in front of a man and gently tapped him on the shoulder with his whip.

“I remember you, joined the Dragon-soaring Army in the 35th Year of Tianqi, called Shi Dashan, right? You were only a Decurion when I went to Binzhou, but you’ve advanced to Assistant General so quickly?”

Shi Dashan said excitedly, “Yes, General! I am Shi Dashan, didn’t expect the Grand General still remembers me.”

“Among the over one hundred thousand people in the Dragon-soaring Army, I surely remember them all.”

Xu Mujun spoke calmly, pointing at several others, “You, from Cang Mountain, joined in the 37th Year of Tianqi, Chen Feiyu.”

“You, from Jiangzhou, joined in the 1st Year of Zhengyong, Wang Dong!”

“You, from Hanzhong, also joined in the 1st Year of Zhengyong, Lin Feng, and have a brother named Lin Jun, right.”

Several people said excitedly, “Thank you, Grand General, for your care!”

“Grand General, we missed you too!”

“Grand General…”

Xu Mujun comforted them briefly and then asked, “Where is Xuanwu?”

“Junior General…”

Several people hesitated, and finally, Shi Dashan gritted his teeth and said, “Grand General! Junior General rebelled, at first we really didn’t know!”

“Once we knew, military orders are like mountains; we couldn’t refuse.”

“Thank goodness Grand General Xu came today, or we would have…”

Speaking in a choked tone, he gritted his teeth and said, “We don’t know why Junior General would rebel. Had we known earlier, we should have gone to Binzhou with the Grand General back then!”

“Where is he?”

“Junior General is at the government office, but Grand General, several strange people have come to the office recently, seemingly just for you!”

“Oh? Interesting?”

Xu Mujun sneered, “That brat Xuanwu, growing up, knows how to leverage power.”

“Lead the way for me!”

“Yes!”

Shi Dashan answered respectfully, and then tens of thousands of Dragon-soaring Army soldiers opened the way in front, leading Xu Mujun.

Inside the Great Ming Prefecture, many commoners still peeked through the windows at the people on the street, all frightened, closing their windows tightly not daring to look further.

Steeds walked forward slowly, and along the way, old comrades from the Dragon-soaring Army occasionally joined.

“General!”

“General! Gao Yalin, returning to the ranks!”

“General! Chuu Xiao’er, returning to the ranks!”

“General!”

Soon, as many as over a thousand officers of various ranks, came running from all directions of the Great Ming Prefecture, saluted Xu Mujun, and then followed the rear of the procession according to their previous ranks.

Among them were Centurions, Chiliarchs, Assistant Generals, and even Deputy Generals.

And there was even a staff officer of Xu Mujun, equivalent to a Grand General!

In the short journey of more than half an hour, over three thousand former soldiers followed Xu Mujun.

All were Dragon-soaring Army soldiers left in Nanyue County by him in the past!

Goaded and deceived by Xu Xuanwu, they reluctantly walked the path of rebellion.

But now, with Xu Mujun’s arrival, these coerced Dragon-soaring Army soldiers, as if finding their ancestral home, completely abandoned Xu Xuanwu to return to Xu Mujun!

Soon, Xu Mujun and others arrived at the government office of the Great Ming Prefecture.

Outside the office, however, there were fully armed troops guarding the front, without hesitation pointing their weapons at Xu Mujun.

“General!”

Xu Zhanshan spoke, “Among those guarding outside the office are some Heiyue Tribe members, and some are troops from Nanzhao Country.”

Xu Zhanshan was also a member of the Xu clan and the third-ranked person under Xu Xuanwu’s command.

Originally not very supportive of Xu Xuanwu’s rebellion, he immediately abandoned Xu Xuanwu and returned to Xu Mujun when he came back.

“Nanzhao Country…”

Xu Mujun closed his eyes and said calmly, “Those who sell the country deserve to be punished by everyone!”

A few breaths later, he suddenly opened his eyes, now filled with decision.

“Xuanwu, come out, let father see, did the loyalty and patriotism I taught you as a child end up in the dog’s body!?”

His voice wasn’t loud, but it echoed throughout the office, and almost everyone present heard it.

Inside the government office.

Xu Xuanwu was sitting in the main seat, his whole body trembling.

“General! Quickly make a decision, Xu Mujun is already at the door, if you don’t decide now, it will be too late!”

Li Wenyou beside him looked anxious, persuading repeatedly.

He also didn’t expect that the Dragon-soaring Army under Xu Xuanwu’s command would give up resistance so easily?

Xu Xuanwu stationed at Nanyue County for nearly twenty years, suppressing the whole county, his name even spreading to Nanzhao Country.

Surprisingly, after so many years, even the Dragon-soaring Army under his command couldn’t be won over!

The Dragon-soaring Army, top to bottom, only recognized Xu Mujun.

Xu Xuanwu couldn’t do it!

Xu Xuanwu gritted his teeth and said, “Wenyou, you’re forcing me!”

“The person outside is my father!”

“What father?”

Suddenly a voice sounded, and next to Xu Xuanwu sat a scar-faced old man, draped in a black robe, exuding an unpleasant odor.

Playing with the cup in his hand, he said, “Those who block my path, even the closest kin can be killed!”

“Xu Xuanwu, oh Xu Xuanwu, you aspire to conquer the world, how can mere familial affection stop you?”

“Indeed, General, for your great cause, many Rebel Kings have sent three Innate beings to assist you.”

“If you kill Xu Xuanwu, the Great Yu Realm will collapse in half, and then the world could be yours, the throne at your fingertips!”

Li Wenyou said urgently, while besides Xu Xuanwu, Li Wenyou, and the scar-faced old man, there were three other people in the hall.

“Amitabha Buddha.”

Suddenly, an old monk in a kasaya with kind brows and benevolent eyes said in a deep voice, “Donor Xu, your father is a pawn, doesn’t understand the greater good, willingly drives for the tyrant, hurting the world.”

“For the sake of the common people, today Xu Mujun must surely die!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep