freenovelworld Chapter 239 Seeking Help and Encountering Danger
Chapter 239 Seeking Help and Encountering Danger
Chapter 239 Seeking Help and Encountering Danger
"Why?" He Shan stopped what he was doing, puzzled.
Chu Ling slightly raised his hand, signaling him to calm down.
His gaze was deep and his expression was cold as he said, "The earthquake in Jinlin is so unusual that it is probably not a natural disaster, but man-made."
Heshan then realized what was happening, "Your Highness means..."
Chu Ling nodded, a flash of coldness passing through his eyes. "I suspect that the Holy Sun Sect has a large amount of gunpowder hidden within its ranks."
As he spoke, he exchanged a glance with Xie Yan.
In fact, there had been signs of this all along.
The earliest instance was at the Cheng family home, when Xie Yan first met and fought with the young master of the Holy Sun Cult, the latter used gunpowder to escape.
Later, in the Martial Arts Alliance, Dongfang Yuan, who was cooperating with the Holy Sun Sect, used a lot of gunpowder to blow up the dueling platform in order to incite chaos and assassinate Dongfang Shuo.
Looking back now, the faint smell Xie Yan caught when she first arrived here must have been the smell of gunpowder.
It is likely that the incessant earthquakes within the Golden Scale territory are the result of the Holy Sun Church secretly manipulating things using gunpowder.
"If troops are mobilized to Jinlin, such a large commotion will surely attract the attention of the Holy Sun Church."
Chu Ling raised his eyes and looked around, his gaze sweeping over everyone. He said in a deep voice, "Especially since we haven't yet discovered the location of the Holy Sun Cult's stronghold and its gunpowder..."
He frowned and said in a serious tone, "If we alert them, not only will we fail to destroy the Holy Sun Sect in one fell swoop, but we may also endanger the people."
After Chu Ling said that, everyone realized the seriousness of the problem.
Since the Holy Sun Church has been plotting rebellion and usurpation for so many years, if they discover that the imperial army is coming to suppress them, they might resort to desperate measures, using the lives of innocent people in Jinlin as bargaining chips or shields.
The consequences of this would be unimaginable.
As everyone exchanged bewildered glances, He Shan belatedly calmed down, and after a long silence, he spoke again with deep concern, "As Your Highness said, what should we do now?"
Chu Ling rubbed his temples, pondered for a moment, then looked up at everyone and said, "To break this deadlock, the only way is to find the location where the Holy Sun Sect is hiding gunpowder as soon as possible, or—"
"Catch the thief first and capture the king first."
Xie Yan raised an eyebrow slightly and continued, picking up where Chu Ling left off: "In this way, we might be able to take down the Holy Sun Sect without shedding a drop of blood."
"good."
Chu Ling nodded in agreement, and then took out his token from his pocket. "This matter concerns the safety of the people of Jinlin, and we cannot afford to make any mistakes."
"He Shan Yu Bai, you must immediately take my token and secretly gather troops. Remain stationary around Jin Lin and wait for the right opportunity and orders. Remember not to expose yourselves prematurely."
He Shan and Yu Bai exchanged a glance, then stepped forward, took the token, and solemnly nodded in agreement.
"Your Highness, rest assured, we'll handle this matter. We will ensure that the Holy Sun Church doesn't detect anything," He Shan said confidently, patting his chest with an air of arrogance.
Seeing this, Xuanfeng, unusually, did not discourage him. Instead, he stepped forward, patted Heshan on the shoulder, and said with concern, "You must be extra careful in everything you do on this trip to mobilize troops, and pay attention to your own safety."
"Good brother, I never expected you to care about me so much. I will never secretly curse you behind your back again..." He Shan wiped away his tears, deeply moved.
After he walked away, Xuanfeng, whose expression changed in an instant, turned around coldly, put the token he had taken from Heshan into Yu Bai's hand, and solemnly said, "If this guy shows any signs of acting crazy, you must knock him out without mercy."
Yu Bai accepted the token and nodded solemnly.
As the sun set and twilight descended, a carriage slowly drove out of Jinlin City just before the city gates were about to close.
The carriage sped along at breakneck speed, kicking up clouds of dust.
"drive!"
The dark-skinned coachman kept cracking his whip until they were far from any human habitation, then turned to the carriage and said, "If we're talking about troop deployment, I remember the army closest to Jinlin is..."
“In Taizhou.” Yu Bai glanced at the map in the carriage and replied, “Old Yu is stationed there.”
The carriage continued forward, bumping along in the setting sun for half an hour before finally stopping on a desolate, uninhabited mountain ridge.
Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, the two quickly dismounted, removed the shackles from the horses, and planned to simply discard the carriage.
It was already dark, and a cold wind howled past their ears, rustling the surrounding grass.
The cart shaft hit the ground with a dull thud.
Heshan clapped his hands. "Alright, let's go—"
Before he finished speaking, several sharp whooshing sounds suddenly shot out from the forest!
A flash of cold light appeared, and the hidden weapon came whistling through the air. He Shan and Yu Bai were startled. Although they hadn't expected it, they reacted quickly and dodged to the side.
However, although they avoided the sudden attack, the two horses that had been freed from their restraints were not spared. After a long neigh, they struggled and collapsed to the ground.
"Come on!"
Without the slightest hesitation or investigation into the identity of the newcomer, He Shan gave a sharp shout and the two of them moved swiftly away with all their might.
The cold moonlight poured down, and the wind howled. He Shan and Yu Bai moved with incredible speed, tacitly disengaging from the empty mountain path and disappearing into the forest in a few leaps.
But even after the two had been running for a while, the footsteps behind them were still close behind, showing no signs of being shaken off and instead getting closer and closer.
In the stillness of the night, the howling wind came from all directions, eerily sending chills down one's spine.
He Shan took a breath, and just as the footsteps behind him were about to catch up, his expression darkened. He drew his long sword from his waist and flew to meet the black-clad man who was following him.
"I'll hold them off, you go!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Bai reacted quickly and sped away in another direction without hesitation.
He Shan's movements were swift and decisive; after a few rounds, he forced the group of men in black to retreat.
"Want to run?"
But in the darkness, someone snorted coldly, and the next moment, three dark figures flew out from the forest one after the other, chasing after Yu Bai.
At the same time, Heshan also encountered two dark figures approaching him.
The moment their weapons clashed, He Shan could clearly feel the immense power of the attack. The newcomer's inner strength was profound, far surpassing that of the men in black from before.
As He Shan exerted his strength to shake off the two weapons that were attacking from both sides, he was also impacted by the internal force and slid back several meters.
After barely managing to steady himself, he raised his head and, by the dim moonlight, recognized the newcomers as two of the Five Eccentrics of Youzhou.