Chapter 252: The Road Is Long

Shao Pingbo froze for a moment, then laughed. "Nothing will happen to me. Save that saying for Niu Youdao!"

Su Zhao shook her head. "You're different from him. He knows when to tighten and when to loosen. The fact that he could turtle up and cultivate for so long without emerging is proof enough. Besides, he's a cultivator. He can regulate his own qi and blood, and ordinary illnesses cannot invade his body. Your physique can't compare with his."

She reached out and gently pressed her hand against his chest. "Remember this! If you want to win, take proper care of your body. Whoever falls first is the one who truly loses. Only while a person still lives can he be the one laughing at the end!"

Shao Pingbo placed his own hand over hers against his chest. "I cherish my own body even more than you do."

"Good. But I want to ask you something. Which matters more, killing Niu Youdao or obtaining the warhorses? Should I deal with Niu Youdao first, or go handle the warhorses first?" Su Zhao watched him closely.

Shao Pingbo fell silent, apparently caught between the two. "Do the two matters conflict?"

"Of course. If killing Niu Youdao matters more, I'll personally oversee the attempt on him. If the warhorses matter more, I'll go to Qi and take charge there, while arranging for others to deal with Niu Youdao."

Shao Pingbo's eyes flickered. After a while, he slowly said, "The warhorses, of course. At present, the warhorses are the foremost priority among priorities. If something goes wrong there, all of Beizhou will be affected. Compared with their importance, Niu Youdao can wait. Besides, the main purpose of his journey may also be warhorses. For the time being, he probably has no attention to spare for my side. Delaying a little shouldn't create a problem."

"Good!" Su Zhao nodded with a smile, quietly relaxing.

In truth, there was no real conflict between the two matters for her. She had only been testing him. She genuinely feared that his obsession had grown so deep he would value Niu Youdao above the whole of Beizhou.

What she did not know was that in Shao Pingbo's heart, Niu Youdao had already become the greatest future threat to Beizhou.

The State of Yan, the State of Han, Dachan Mountain, and the rest—he did not truly place any of them in his eyes. After entangling with those forces for years, he had long become practiced at dealing with them. The fact that he could establish himself in Beizhou was proof enough.

Up to now, the only person who had repeatedly made him suffer losses and filled him with genuine apprehension was Niu Youdao. And Shao Pingbo understood Niu Youdao's intentions very clearly. Niu Youdao would not let him go!

There were some things that other people might not believe even if they were explained aloud. Only two evenly matched players facing each other across the board could understand without words what the other was thinking.

If Shao Pingbo could have been absolutely certain Su Zhao would eliminate Niu Youdao, he would unquestionably have told her to kill Niu Youdao first. But he did not believe she could succeed so easily. Just as he had told her before, if Niu Youdao dared come out, he would not have come unprepared.

Shao Pingbo worried that once Su Zhao tangled with Niu Youdao, despite the formidable organization behind her, Niu Youdao himself was too dangerous and too difficult an opponent. If he managed to entangle her in return, she could easily run into trouble. And if something happened to Su Zhao, the warhorse operation might be ruined along with her. After weighing the risks, Shao Pingbo naturally chose the safer course. Su Zhao left. Wrapped in a black cloak, she departed through a side gate.

Shao Pingbo escorted her only as far as the inside of the gate and did not step outside, afraid of drawing too much attention.

After watching Su Zhao and her attendants disappear, Shao Sansheng moved up beside him. "Eldest Young Master, shall we return to the Provincial Inspector's Residence?"

Shao Pingbo turned back instead and led him into the study. His gaze once again settled on the map.

He raised a hand and pointed to a route through the State of Han. "We may soon have to activate this water route. Can you guarantee there are no problems at the key points along it?"

Shao Sansheng answered solemnly, "Eldest Young Master can rest assured. Every place that needed its connections opened or its people bought has already been handled secretly. We also sent people to inspect the route. There shouldn't be any problem."

"Shouldn't?" Shao Pingbo snapped his head around. His voice sank. "Don't tell me 'shouldn't.' Once this route is activated, there cannot be the slightest mistake. If the goods are seized by Han, they will never return them to us. The water route will be exposed as well, meaning we can never use it again. That would be a devastating blow to us. You must ensure there is absolutely no possibility of failure!"

"Yes!" Shao Sansheng immediately answered. "I'll send people to inspect it again."

Shao Pingbo turned back to the map. "Inspection isn't enough. Test it. Arrange a group of vessels and have them run the route once. See whether any problems emerge."

"I'll arrange it immediately!"

"Pay extreme attention to the details. This matter cannot tolerate any mistake!" Shao Pingbo turned again and stared at him. "After the trial run, if a problem appears anywhere, solve it immediately at that location. You must guarantee the water route remains unobstructed. You must guarantee that when we truly activate it, no problem occurs."

"Understood..." Shao Sansheng nodded, then hesitated. "If we really encounter something that needs to be resolved, then to solve it quickly without allowing the disturbance to spread, it would be best to have cultivators cooperating with us. Eldest Young Master, could you ask Dachan Mountain to assign me some manpower?"

"Foolish!" Shao Pingbo rebuked him sharply. "Why did I hide this from Dachan Mountain from the beginning? Dachan Mountain has constantly stretched out its hand asking me for money, while I've constantly cried poverty. You know that perfectly well! If Dachan Mountain learns about this, they'll inevitably want to know what I'm doing. How am I supposed to conceal matters then?"

"If they discover that I have a large sum of money in hand for purchasing warhorses, how do you expect me to explain it? If Dachan Mountain orders me to hand over the money and let them handle the matter, can I refuse? Only after the deed is done and the money already spent will I be able to find an excuse and explain matters without delaying the operation. Otherwise there will be no end to the entanglement with those bloodsuckers!"

"And Dachan Mountain has too many people and too many loose tongues. Once word spreads inside the sect, who can guarantee it won't leak outside? This water route absolutely cannot be exposed!"

"Then..." Shao Sansheng looked troubled. "Shangqing Sect's relationship with Niu Youdao is unclear as well, so they're inconvenient to use. What if we find a few suitable people from smaller sects below us?"

Shao Pingbo considered it. "The same principle applies. For this matter, caution comes before caution. Anyone whose background isn't completely clear must not be allowed to participate."

He paused. "Use Song Shu and Chen Guishuo. There shouldn't be any problem with those two. They can be trusted. I'll have them obey your instructions."

Shao Sansheng frowned. "Eldest Young Master, if we truly encounter a serious problem, I'm afraid those two alone won't be enough to handle it. If necessary, why not ask Miss Su to help?"

Shao Pingbo said thoughtfully, "I've considered that too. But the organization behind Sister Zhao is too complicated. Even she herself can't fully see its depths. We can ask them to help with individual matters, but we still need to maintain a suitable distance. We cannot hand every card in our hand over to them."

"That means before the Qi operation succeeds, they absolutely cannot learn about this water route. I've already explained that to Sister Zhao as well."

"Let Song Shu and Chen Guishuo handle small problems along the way. If your earlier preparations truly have no major flaws, those two should be sufficient. If you genuinely encounter something beyond their ability, then find another excuse and dispatch different people to deal with that single point."

"As long as the full route is never exposed, we can break each problem apart and treat it as an isolated incident. Without knowing the wider circumstances, no outsider will be able to connect the pieces and guess what we're actually doing."

"Yes. Eldest Young Master, rest assured. I understand what to do now." Shao Sansheng nodded...

The setting sun sank toward the horizon. Five riders charged into a relay station and pulled up sharply. After changing horses, they thundered back out and continued racing onward through the dust.

A carriage came barreling toward them along the road ahead. The five riders instantly compressed into single file and swept past the carriage with barely any clearance. The moment they had passed, they shifted formation again and spread into a line abreast, advancing at speed. Expressionless Yuan Gang rode in the center. Yuan Feng, Niu Lin, Yuan Huo, and Niu Shan rode around him.

Yuan Huo shouted, "Brother Gang, it'll be dark soon. We've been riding for two days without closing our eyes. Everyone's tired. Why don't we find a relay station and rest first?"

The people who had come out of Little Temple Village had all changed. In the old days, Yuan Huo would never have casually suggested going to a relay station to rest. Back in Little Temple Village, he would not even have dared imagine such a thing.

Yuan Gang looked back at him. "Will eight hours of rest be enough?"

Yuan Huo grinned. "Enough, enough. Eight hours is plenty."

"Then we'll wait until it's too dark to see the road before we rest. The moment there's a trace of light tomorrow morning, we're moving again. Use as much of the available time for travel as possible."

"All right!" Yuan Huo nodded, but still looked somewhat puzzled. "Brother Gang, if we keep traveling like this, Master Dao definitely won't be able to keep up with us. Is there really a need to rush this desperately?"

Yuan Gang said, "I don't trust all those miscellaneous people around him. We need to reach the destination first and gain enough time to understand and screen the situation there. That way, we'll be ready if Master Dao suddenly needs something, and we can also make arrangements in advance for the brothers coming behind us."

"Otherwise, if everyone arrives chaotically and bunches together in an unfamiliar place, something is bound to go wrong."

Once he explained it that way, the four men's expressions immediately turned serious. None of them had any objections left.

Niu Lin even began scolding Yuan Huo. "Look at that pathetic face of yours. You're already complaining about being tired? We're riding horses the whole way, with food and drink along the road. Think about the other brothers. They're short on money and food. If they want to reach the destination within the appointed time, they'll have to stake everything on it!"

Niu Shan said, "That journey really will put them through hell."

Yuan Gang looked left and right at them. His voice was low and hard. "It's cruel, but this is only a long-distance field exercise. I'm letting them use everything they've learned. The hardships they encounter on the road will be the best training they can receive and will become valuable experience of their own."

"Once they arrive, that experience, together with the skills we've taught them, will let them begin carrying out missions directly."

"For each of them, this journey is also a process of seeing the heart and seeing one's true nature. Once we see the outcome and understand the path each man took to reach it, we'll also understand them better. Then we'll know what each person is suited for, which will make it easier to assign real missions in the future."

"They've undergone more than a year of high-intensity training and learned plenty of skills. So long as nothing truly extraordinary happens, there shouldn't be any problem."

"If they've learned that much and still can't even handle a journey, then it's better to wash them out now rather than let them lose their lives later. And if anyone can't endure hardship, can't bear fatigue, lacks determination, and quits halfway, then eliminate him as well. There is no place for that kind of person in our group!"

The four men's expressions sharpened again. They answered in unison, "Yes!"

Amid the thunder of hooves, rolling mountains appeared ahead. The road clearly plunged straight into the range.

Yuan Gang shouted, "What terrain is ahead?"

Yuan Feng immediately replied, "Place name: Daman Mountain! According to the map, the official road runs through it for about fifteen li. The terrain is complicated, with narrow stretches well suited for an ambush!"

Yuan Gang swept out his Saber and held the broad blade diagonally in one hand. His heels struck his horse's flanks repeatedly, and he accelerated to the front.

The four riders around him instantly brought out repeating crossbows forged from fine steel. They urgently cocked and loaded them while changing formation.

The five riders shifted into a Wild-goose Formation, watching both flanks with heightened vigilance as they followed Yuan Gang into the mountain forest.

[End of Chapter 252]