Chapter 1137: So You Can Stop Saying I'm Always Going It Alone

For a moment, everyone was choked into silence. Expressions of varying degrees of disgust gradually appeared on their faces.

What did he mean, he did not know? He was assigned to inspect the Demon Fox Bureau. If he did not know, who would? If they did not ask him, who were they supposed to ask?

This bastard was always trying to go it alone and could never be invited to join them. Now that they had finally managed to drag him here, he was still fobbing everyone off. More than one person at the table felt an urge to strangle him.

An Shougui, Elder of Myriad Beasts Sect, said coolly, "Elder Niu, all of us are trapped here. We should be working together to find a way out. If you keep acting like this, there's no point."

Niu Youdao picked up the cloth on the table and wiped his mouth. "Elder An, I don't understand what you mean."

An Shougui said, "After all this time, someone as shrewd as you can still claim not to understand? If you're determined to go it alone, then you may as well say so plainly in front of everyone today. There's no need to treat us like fools. No one here is stupid!"

Niu Youdao said, "It seems all of you misunderstand me rather badly. I truly don't know much about the Demon Fox Bureau's situation. I honestly have no idea what I'm supposed to tell you."

Taishu Shanhai said, "In other words, you think we're burdens. You think you're more capable than the rest of us, so you insist on going it alone?"

"No, no, no!" Niu Youdao waved his hands repeatedly. "You've misunderstood. You truly have. I honestly don't know much about the Demon Fox Bureau. To tell you the truth, I've never carried out any real inspection inside the Bureau itself. I've spent most of my time running around outside and have barely asked about its internal affairs. You should all know how long I've been away from Wentian City."

Everyone frowned and exchanged looks. That did seem to be true, yet somehow they still felt he was not being honest.

Lu Yao, Elder of Tianhuo Sect, frowned. "Elder Niu, your main inspection assignment is the Demon Fox Bureau. If you aren't inspecting the Demon Fox Bureau, what have you been running around outside for all this time? Cultivating connections and drinking wedding wine every day?"

He was referring to Niu Youdao's trip to Ice and Snow Sacred Land for the wedding.

Niu Youdao sighed. "Everyone, I don't want to run around everywhere either, but I have no choice. I drew the short straw and got assigned to the Demon Fox Bureau. I don't even have anywhere to complain about it."

The others did not understand. Lu Yao asked, "What do you mean?"

Niu Youdao said, "The Demon Fox Bureau is different from the bureaus the rest of you are assigned to. You all know what its main duty is. Its real work is in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands, where it spends years hunting and exterminating Demon Foxes. Here in Wentian City, it has practically nothing to do. The place is so dead there's not a damn thing worth inspecting. What am I supposed to investigate here? Whether their clothes are untidy? What they eat, drink, piss, and shit? Am I supposed to take petty nonsense like that and report it to the Sacred Venerables?"

Yu Hua, Elder of Heaven-Splitting Palace, said, "By that reasoning, you should be going with them into the Desolate Marsh Deadlands. Yet from what we've heard, you seem to be running around everywhere else instead."

Niu Youdao tossed the cloth onto the table and gave the tabletop a light pat. "Everyone, that's exactly where the problem lies."

They exchanged another round of looks, apparently still not understanding. Yu Hua asked again, "How so?"

Niu Youdao sighed. "You should all have heard something about the trouble between Xuan Yao, Long Fanhai, and me. To tell you the truth, I'd already offended them before I even came to Wentian City. Those people don't mean me well. Do you really think my assignment to the Demon Fox Bureau was some kind of good fortune? Put yourselves in my position for a moment. Why was I assigned there?"

"The Demon Fox Bureau spends its time in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands. Is it strange for one or two people to die in a place like that? Here, the power of life and death over us isn't in their hands, and no one dares move against us rashly. But once I enter the Desolate Marsh Deadlands, if someone says I was careless and got killed by a Demon Fox, I'm afraid there wouldn't even be a clue left proving I was murdered."

"I suspect my assignment to the Demon Fox Bureau was no coincidence. Someone may have arranged it deliberately."

"So think about it. Would I dare keep running into the Desolate Marsh Deadlands? There isn't anything useful to investigate here, yet I don't dare go there. What would you have me do? Other than running around outside, what else can I do?"

At the attendants' table outside, Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie had been keeping their ears pricked toward the inner hall. Hearing this, the two could not help exchanging a glance.

Their Elder somehow made everything sound reasonable. Even the two of them almost believed him.

Inside the hall, everyone fell silent after hearing Niu Youdao's explanation. Some pondered it and slowly nodded. Once they truly considered the matter from Niu Youdao's position, it did seem to make sense. No wonder he had spent so long running around outside. So that was the reason.

The logic made sense, but no one believed Niu Youdao was really that straightforward. He looked young, yet the longer they dealt with him, the more he resembled an old fox steeped in cunning.

Taishu Shanhai said, "Elder Niu is no fool. You should know we can't keep muddling along like this. A batch of inspectors outside has already been killed. If we still can't produce the results the Sacred Venerables want, I'm afraid our turn will come next. There are some things Elder Niu sees very clearly. I don't believe you've merely been wandering around outside without purpose. If you've discovered anything beyond the Demon Fox Bureau, why not share it with us? If something happens, at least everyone can prepare. Isn't that right?"

"Exactly."

"That's the truth of it."

Everyone voiced agreement.

Under all their gazes, Niu Youdao fell silent for a moment. At last he slowly said, "While I've been running around outside, I have indeed discovered some problems."

Taishu Shanhai gave an interested grunt. "Then let's hear them."

Niu Youdao shook his head. "Better not. There are some matters I don't want all of you dragged into. I'm not telling you because I don't want to harm you."

For our sake? Everyone looked at one another. Their friendship with him did not seem deep enough for that. Anyone who believed those words would truly have lost his mind.

Put differently, if Niu Youdao was not afraid, what were they supposed to be afraid of?

Mei Changhong, Elder of Blood God Hall, sighed. "We're all in the same boat, Elder Niu. Saying that now is too distant. At a time like this, what distinction is there between you and me? What problem did you find? Tell us."

Niu Youdao still shook his head. "Too many eyes and ears. I can't say yet."

Taishu Shanhai said heavily, "We've already joined forces to stand against Misty Pavilion. Are you still afraid one of us will leak the secret?"

Niu Youdao said, "Some things have to be guarded against. Some things can only be done, not spoken aloud. You should all understand how investigations work. Once a secret leaks, once the target catches wind of the investigation, everything may come to nothing. I've already reached a critical point. Nothing can be allowed to go wrong."

What had reached a critical point? Everyone looked from one face to another, their curiosity thoroughly stirred.

Taishu Shanhai raised an eyebrow. "After all that, you still haven't actually told us anything. In the end, you still mean to shake us off and go it alone!"

"That's not what I mean." Niu Youdao waved the accusation away. After a brief silence, he said, "This matter would be difficult for my side to handle alone anyway. How about this: if you're interested, in two days I'll call everyone together and we'll make a trip. When the time comes, you'll naturally learn what this is about, so you can stop saying I'm always going it alone. Remember, before we set out, this must remain absolutely secret!"

...

The long column of troops came to a halt.

Looking toward the continuous mountain range in the distance, Hao Yunsheng and Hao Qi, uncle and nephew, sat armored on horseback at the head of the army, carrying themselves with an imposing martial air.

After a short wait, a large flying bird approached. One man leaped down from the air and cupped his hands toward Hao Qi. "Report! Apart from the herdsmen who have lived around Qingmu Valley for generations, there is nothing unusual in the area!"

Hao Qi breathed a sigh of relief and waved a hand. "Continue scouting along the route."

"Yes!" The man accepted the order, sprang back into the air, landed on the flying bird, and departed again.

Hao Yunsheng chuckled. "Can the Grand General finally put his mind at ease?"

Hao Qi sighed. "Royal Uncle, the mountains around Qingmu Valley run on and on. Going around them would cost us too much time. Jin is pressing us hard to move faster, so the road ahead has become one our army must take. We can't afford not to be cautious."

Hao Yunsheng naturally understood his nephew's state of mind. The man had rebelled and was frightened. After his subordinate generals warned him, he had become cautious. It was hardly because he was some veteran of a hundred battles.

Hao Yunsheng laughed again. "This is the Grand General's first campaign, so it's natural to worry too much. We have five hundred thousand troops. How could some small ambush stop us? Without a substantial force, there is no way to ambush an army like ours. Our scouts are spread everywhere, and Jin has eyes and ears of its own. If Huyan Wuhen mobilized a great army to come here, it would be impossible to hide. According to the intelligence, Huyan Wuhen's main force is still defying the imperial command, and there has been no unusual large-scale movement."

"Besides, a sizable enemy army would require an enormous amount of baggage and provisions. That could never remain completely hidden. Our scouts have found nothing unusual. Grand General, you truly are worrying too much."

Hao Qi nodded. "Better to find nothing wrong. Pass the order. The army continues forward!"

The rebel army began moving once more. Riding beside him, Hao Yunsheng occasionally glanced sideways at Hao Qi, sneering inwardly.

Hao Qi's title of "Grand General" was self-appointed. Hao Yunsheng thought little of him and considered him incompetent. That he himself had been forced to serve beneath Hao Qi as deputy was simply something he had no choice but to endure...

At a ranch beneath Qingmu Valley, Huyan Bao, dressed like an ordinary herdsman, was crouched in a sheep pen milking an ewe.

Huyan Bao was Huyan Wuhen's eldest son.

A soldier likewise dressed as a herdsman rode over and delivered a military report.

Learning that the rebels had already drawn close to Qingmu Valley, Huyan Bao gave a cold laugh. "A rabble like that dares rebel? Pass the order to Huyan Ding. Have the army advance at full speed and strike according to the original plan!"

Huyan Ding was the Huyan family's second son.

At Huyan Bao's command, a Goldenwing was released into the sky.

Immediately afterward, a signal arrow shot upward above the tents of the ranch with a sharp whistle.

Then more signal arrows rose one after another below Qingmu Valley, passing the signal along the foot of the mountains and across the slopes.

Across the grazing lands beneath the long mountain range, herdsmen rushed out from one place after another, carrying saddles to their horses and fitting them in place before leaping onto their mounts.

The men had been dispersed across an enormous area, some more than a hundred li away. Those farthest out were highly disciplined. Each led a second horse toward the assembly point. They kept trained warhorses fitted with saddles in reserve and first rode bareback horses.

Once the bareback mounts began to tire, they would already be much closer to the destination. They immediately abandoned those horses and switched to the trained, saddled warhorses.

Thirty thousand "herdsmen" seemed to emerge like ants from the land itself, racing at full speed toward Huyan Bao's position...

A hundred li behind the rebel army, Huyan Ding received his elder brother's message while traveling with the three-hundred-thousand-strong army sent to suppress the rebellion.

Then he suddenly struck.

Without warning, he personally cut down an old general and severed the man's head. The old general was none other than the commander of the entire three-hundred-thousand-man suppression army.

No one had imagined Huyan Ding would dare attack the commander himself. Caught completely unprepared, the old general died before he could react.

Watching his second elder brother make that cut, Huyan Wei felt his heart leap into his throat. This was the first time he had ever seen anything like it, and the first time he had seen such murderous resolve from his second brother. His legs went weak.

The act nearly caused a mutiny. The dead general's retainer cultivators were the first to refuse to accept it.

At that critical moment, Huyan Ding produced a secret imperial edict he had kept concealed. He proclaimed the emperor's command and assumed supreme command of the suppression army.

He then declared that Huyan Wuhen's million-man army had already arrived secretly, laid an ambush, and defeated the rebels. The three-hundred-thousand-man suppression force was ordered to advance at full speed immediately and surround and wipe out the fugitives.

Huyan Wuhen had defied the imperial decree and refused all orders to return. Where could this supposed million-man army have come from?

No one believed him.

[End of Chapter 1137]