Chapter 926
Something's happened!
"Just you wait and see, Commander!" The centurion, clutching the still-hot winch, turned and ran toward the city wall.
Zhao Sanhuai emerged from the large communal sleeping area at the other end, carrying a large, rough earthenware bowl filled with freshly cooked meat and bone broth. He walked over to Guo Tianyou and handed him the bowl.
"Have a sip of something hot to calm your nerves. We've been pulling all-nighters for three nights in a row, and the brothers' eyes are as red as rabbits'." Zhao Sanhuai looked at the bustling scene around him and lowered his voice, "Old Guo, who exactly is the master guarding against? Didn't that Tuoba Lord of Dingzhou just deal with those bastards from the Qingyun Sect at the city gate? The imperial edict has been posted. Even if those old foxes had ten times the courage, would they dare to launch a direct attack?"
Guo Tianyou took the large bowl, tilted his head back, and gulped down half of it. He wiped the soup off his chin, his eyes flashing with a wild beast-like wariness in the firelight.
"You know nothing. Lord Tuoba's edict can stop flying swords from the sky, but it can't stop poisonous snakes from the ground. As the master said, entrusting your life to someone else is the stupidest thing you can do. Can the lord protect us for a while, or can he stand guard on the city wall for us every day?"
Guo Tianyou shoved the bowl back into Zhao Sanhuai's hand and pointed to a huge wooden machine being assembled not far away. The machine was two zhang long, and its base was carved from a single piece of ironwood, covered with a dense array of gears and slots.
"See that thing? It's an improved version of the 'Eight-Ox Crossbow.' It has three mid-grade spirit stones inside as array cores, and it uses only barbed, armor-piercing arrows. Don't even mention Foundation Establishment stage cultivators; even an old immortal in the early Golden Core stage, as long as he doesn't dodge, a volley of these arrows will still pin him to the ground like a hedgehog!" Guo Tianyou sneered. "What the master wants is to turn this Hongyun City into an unbreakable iron walnut. Anyone who tries to bite into it will have to break a few of their teeth first!"
At this moment, on the edge of this noisy armory.
Zheng Yi, dressed in an unremarkable gray-blue cotton robe, stood with his hands behind his back beneath a newly erected watchtower. Elder Liu, covered in dust, held a compass and was constantly writing and drawing around the base of the watchtower.
“The earth’s veins here tend to be yin, so the red copper for the array base cannot be buried too deep, otherwise it will be easily corroded by the earth’s energy.” Elder Liu wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and pointed to a deep pit dug in the ground. “Sir, as you instructed, the array eyes of the city’s protective array have all been moved to the underground palace three zhang deep. The array patterns on the city walls that are visible are now all ‘pseudo-arrays’ drawn with spirit stone powder.”
Zheng Yi looked at the mid-grade spirit stones in the deep pit that were emitting a faint blue light and nodded slightly.
"Lower the trigger conditions for the fake array. As long as there is a fluctuation of true essence within ten feet of the city wall, let it explode. Don't worry about the spirit stones; the foundation left by the Huang family is enough to keep it going for a year and a half."
Elder Liu's eyelids twitched as he listened.
Using mid-grade spirit stones to set up a dilapidated array that would explode at the slightest touch is something only a spendthrift would do. Ordinary cultivation families would even split a low-grade spirit stone in half, let alone throw it away like a firecracker.
“Sir…” Elder Liu hesitated for a moment, “Isn’t this arrangement too conspicuous? If a knowledgeable array master can see through it, we’ll be seen as bluffing…”
“What I want is to be conspicuous.” Zheng Yi interrupted him, his eyes calmly fixed on the dark wilderness in the distance. “I want everyone hiding in the shadows watching this place to think that Hongyun City is a powder keg that could explode at any moment. Only when they feel that this place is too hot to handle will they dare not easily put their hands in.”
The wind blew through the wooden frame of the watchtower, making a soft "whooshing" sound.
Everything seemed to be progressing smoothly according to Zheng Yi's plan. With cart after cart of pig iron, copper, and spirit stones being piled up, the entire Hongyun City was gradually transforming into a heavily armed war fortress.
The city wall was raised by three feet.
There was a heavy crossbow every five steps.
All the city gates were replaced with heavy gates covered with iron sheets.
Even the main roads in the city were dug underground, with secret passages for hiding soldiers and transferring supplies.
However, half a month has passed.
The majestic Qingyun Mountain range in the north is as quiet as a dormant volcano.
There was no fierce attack, no lofty flying swords, and not even a single outer disciple came to the city to gather information.
This silence was like the oppressive stillness before a storm, making one feel uneasy.
……
One evening, two weeks later.
The autumn wind already carried a distinct chill, swirling fallen leaves from the streets onto the bluestone pavement.
The once bustling and prosperous southern market of Hongyun City now appears unusually deserted. Only a few vendors selling local products huddle in sheltered corners, shivering. Most of the once-lined inns and restaurants are empty, their welcoming lanterns swaying in the wind.
Han Wuhen sat in a private room on the second floor of the "Jucailou" restaurant, with a thick stack of account books piled on the table in front of him.
He held an abacus in his hand, his fingers moving rapidly across the beads, making a crisp "clattering" sound. But the louder the sound, the more violently the fat on his face trembled, and his once rosy complexion had turned a liverish color.
"Snapped!"
Han Wuhen slammed the abacus on the table with such force that it overturned the teacups, and tea dripped onto the expensive carpet.
"Damn it! This is a ghost! I've really seen a living ghost!"
He grabbed the top ledger, flipped it forcefully to the last page, and stared at the pitiful number circled in red, his eyes practically spitting fire.
"Manager..." A bookkeeper standing nearby trembled with fear and asked in a low voice, "What's our income for the past two weeks..."
"Income tax? What kind of income tax is there?!" Han Wuhen suddenly stood up and paced anxiously back and forth in the private room. "Are you blind?! Starting ten days ago, the customs duty has dropped by half! In the last five days, it's even less than half! Only one-tenth left! One-tenth!"
He rushed to the window, pushed it open, and pointed to the deserted street outside.
"Look! Look at this street! At this time of year, the carriages carrying silk and tea from the south used to block this street completely! Mercenaries who came back from gathering herbs in the wilderness would fight for seats in the tavern across the street every day! And now? There's not a soul in sight!"
The accountant wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "Manager, is it because it's cold that the caravans don't want to move?"
"Bullshit! Merchants only care about money, not temperature! As long as there's profit, they'll trade goods even at knifepoint!" Han Wuhen grabbed the accountant by the collar. "Go! Call the guards on duty at the city gate today! I want to ask them whether the gate is closed or the road is blocked!"
In less than half an incense stick's time, a city gate guard wearing leather armor was brought up.
"Master Han, you wanted to see me?" The guard stood somewhat awkwardly at the door.
"I'm asking you," Han Wuhen suppressed the anger in his heart and tried to make his voice sound as calm as possible, "How many caravans passed through the South Gate today?" "Reporting to Master Han, today only two passed through the South Gate." The guard swallowed and answered honestly, "One was delivering firewood, and the other was from Zhangjia Village outside the city, coming to exchange for salt."
"What about the big trading companies? What about the long-distance caravans? Not a single one?" Han Wuhen's eyes widened like saucers.
"No." The guard shook his head, then hesitated for a moment before saying, "However... Master Han, around noon today, when I looked down from the city wall, I vaguely saw dust rising on the main road about seven or eight miles away."
"Dust? A caravan?" Han Wuhen's eyes lit up.
“It’s a caravan. Judging from the flag, it looks like the ‘Fuyuan Trading Company’ caravan from Dingzhou City. There must be over a hundred camels.” The guard frowned. “But… but they didn’t head towards our city gate. When they reached the fork in the road, they turned directly onto that abandoned old dirt road and went around to the west.”
"Go around to the west?!"
Han Wuhen's voice instantly rose eight octaves, and he screamed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"That old dirt road is full of mud pits! And it takes more than 300 miles to get there! Has the owner of Fuyuan Trading Company lost his mind? Why would he choose to take a detour and starve instead of using our well-paved official road?!"
The guard was so frightened by his cannibalistic appearance that he took a step back and waved his hands repeatedly: "Master Han, I have no idea about that. They would rather exhaust their camels to death than come within ten miles of our Hongyun City."
Han Wuhen stood there blankly, his obese body seemingly drained of all its strength, and slumped into a chair.
A flicker of barely concealed panic finally crossed his eyes, which had been constantly calculating gold and silver.
"Something's not right...something's really not right," Han Wuhen muttered to himself, the sweat on his palms soaking through the cover of the ledger.
He grabbed the ledger from the table, stuffed it haphazardly into his pocket, and strode out.
"No, I have to see the master. This is definitely not due to the weather. Someone is plotting against us! Someone is choking Hongyun City!"
……
The city lord's mansion, the study in the backyard.
Zheng Yi was still wearing that gray-blue cotton robe, sitting behind his desk. On the desk was a huge and detailed sheepskin map, marked with the terrain and power distribution of Dingzhou, Baishi City, Hongyun City, and the surrounding area for thousands of miles.
There was no brazier in the room, making it feel somewhat cold. Only a bronze oil lamp flickered with a tiny flame on the corner of the table, casting Zheng Yi's long shadow onto the mottled wall.
"boom!"
The study door was suddenly pushed open, and a blast of cold wind rushed in, causing the oil lamp flame to flicker violently and almost go out.
Han Wuhen rushed in, panting heavily. The fat on his face was shaking violently from running so fast, and he was covered in sweat, as if he had been pulled out of the water.
"Sir! Something's happened! Something terrible has happened!"
Han Wuhen was so out of breath that he pulled out the ledger from his arms and slammed it onto the map on the desk with a "smack".
"Look at this! Please take a look at this account!"
Guo Tianyou and Zhao Sanhuai were sitting in the corner of the study wiping their weapons when they saw Han Wuhen looking so anxious. They put down what they were doing and stood up.
"Fatty, are you wailing like you're in mourning? What's all the fuss about?" Guo Tianyou walked over with a frown. "Even if the sky falls, the city walls will hold it up. What's this all about?"
"The city walls can't hold! Old Guo, the city walls can only stop swords and spears, not the flow of silver!" Han Wuhen was so anxious that he was jumping up and down, pointing to the account book on the table. "Sir, the trade routes are cut off! In the past half month, half of the caravans in our Hongyun City have disappeared. Today is even more bizarre. Even our long-time customers, like the 'Fuyuan Trading Company' who have been with us for over ten years, would rather take a detour of three hundred miles along that broken dirt road than enter the gates of our Hongyun City!"
Zheng Yi didn't look at the ledger; his gaze remained fixed on the sheepskin map, his eyes as deep as an unfathomable ancient well.
"Did we take a detour?" Zheng Yi's tone was very soft, revealing no emotional fluctuation.
"They're avoiding us! It's not just Fuyuan Trading Company; I just had someone check the records of several post stations outside the city," Han Wuhen said urgently. "Silk merchants from Jiangnan, fur merchants from the northern deserts, and even those peddlers who do manual labor on the streets are all avoiding us! It's as if these bastards conspired to turn Hongyun City into a plague hotbed!"
"If no one's behind this, I'll twist my head off and use it as a chamber pot!" Guo Tianyou slammed his hand on the hilt of his sword. "It must have been those bastards from the Qingyun Sect! They're afraid to challenge the Domain Lord's decree on the surface, but they're secretly sabotaging those merchant caravans! These cowards, if they have the guts, come and fight me for real at the city walls!"
Zhao Sanhuai's face was also gloomy: "Sir, should I take a troop of light cavalry out for a spin? Stop those caravans that are taking detours and ask them which bastard is spreading rumors?"
Zheng Yi gently shook his head, extended a finger, and slowly drew a line on the sheepskin map from the location of the Qingyun Mountains all the way to several major transportation routes on the outskirts of Hongyun City.
“Stop them and ask, but you won’t get anything out of them.” Zheng Yi raised his eyes and glanced at the three men. “Merchants have a keen sense of smell, but they are also more timid than rabbits. What could make them willing to lose huge freight costs to take a detour is definitely not just simple gossip.”
"What's that?" Guo Tianyou asked, puzzled.
“It’s a real threat.” Zheng Yi’s fingertip hovered over a pass called ‘Luoyan Gorge’ on the map. “They not only sensed the danger, but it was the kind of danger that could bankrupt them or even destroy their families.”
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the study.
"Report—!"
A scout, covered in mud and with several deep scratches on his leather armor, stumbled into the study, knelt on one knee, and his voice was filled with obvious fear.
"Reporting to the city lord! Something has happened!"
Zheng Yi glanced at him: "Take your time."
The scout swallowed hard, spitting out blood-tinged saliva, and gasped, "I was ordered to patrol and lie in ambush in the 'Blackwater Forest,' eighty li south of the city. Last night, a caravan transporting provisions camped at the edge of the forest. But... but..." (End of Chapter)