Ling Qi's eyes flickered, a look of surprise flashing across them: "Are you sending Liu Guang to the State of Chen?"
"Exactly." The man was slightly disappointed, not expecting that Ling Qi had seen through his carefully laid plans at a glance. Since that was the case, he might as well be frank and tell Ling Qi his plan.
"The mere Huai Kingdom is far too small for Your Highness's talents. And the mere Pope of Huai Kingdom is far too small for my Netherworld Sect (Note 1)." The man said forcefully, "If that's the case, why not leave Your Highness a prelude to conquering the entire Divine Continent?"
"Actually, he's trying to lure me into conquering the entire continent." Ling Qi's gaze was clearly sarcastic, and he didn't think much of this person's arrangement.
"Do you think that the mere Huai Kingdom can stop me? Ruo'er, if you were here, you would understand that what I see is not just the Huai Kingdom, nor just the nine kingdoms of the Southern Divine Continent, but the entire Divine Continent!"
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Under the crescent moon, Lei Hun's shadow was long and lonely.
As a mage with powerful spiritual energy, he was naturally not afraid of the dark. As for loneliness, he was already used to it, given his special mission.
Standing on the small hill he had chosen as his temporary stargazing spot, he looked up at the sea of stars. The stars seemed to be about to fall into his arms, as if he had been standing there ever since the beginning of time, whispering secrets to the stars.
In the starry sky, he can see signs that ordinary people cannot.
"Chen State... Yuzhou?" he whispered, a slight smile flashing across his face. Only when he was alone would he reveal his true feelings, even if only for a fleeting moment.
He recalled the little homeless child he had met during the day, and the greetings and invitations from a friend that the child brought, a friend he was very unfamiliar with.
"Come to Yuzhou in Chen State, we're all waiting for you!" He seemed to see the face of that seemingly cold young mercenary, and also the face of a beautiful Yue girl with a cheerful smile—though whenever she saw him, that face would convey an expression that made him want to look away. Oh, and there was also that somewhat blurred face of the barbarian who was always talking about "buying and selling."
"Let's go there then, and see them while we're at it," he whispered to the stars.
As his gaze finally settled on the stars, a shadow appeared in his eyes.
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Note 1: The Netherworld Sect is the most unique of all the sects in Shenzhou. Their deity is Netherworld, the god of death, who is separate from the ancient gods. They believe that after death, everyone goes to the Netherworld, therefore the entire Shenzhou should only worship the one true god, Netherworld, while the other gods are merely fabricated heresies created to escape the power of the Netherworld. They especially hate the Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist sects founded by later gods, believing these sects attempt to escape the judgment and punishment of the Netherworld through cultivation. Therefore, they have an innate aversion to these three religions. Their followers are extremely secretive, and because they possess great power, they obtain enormous wealth and resources. At the beginning of the Million Ears War, the Four Seas Khan was able to sweep across the world from a mere Rong tribe. It is rumored that he received secret support from the Netherworld Sect during his rise to power. However, later, a mysterious man appeared in the Four Seas Khan's life, and through his efforts, the Four Seas Khan changed his approach from fully promoting the Netherworld Sect and slaughtering other sects to embracing them. This, however, caused the Netherworld Sect to turn against the Four Seas Khan, ultimately leading to the collapse of the Four Seas Khan Empire.
Section 3
The setting sun blazed like fire, the lingering clouds resembled blood, and the entire western sky was bathed in a crimson glow. This red light shone upon Li Jun, making his newly made iron armor appear as if it had just been stained with blood.
Apart from the knights who accompanied him to escort Ji Su home, he had no other attendants. After receiving an urgent military report from Yuzhou, he was about to set off to return that very night. Ji Su, who had tried to persuade him to stay but to no avail, refused to follow him back in a huff. However, Li Jun had already reached an alliance agreement with Hulei Khan, so whether or not Ji Su was by his side as a hostage was no longer of great importance to him.
Therefore, when he waved goodbye to the still sulking Ji Su, he didn't hesitate for a moment, only slightly trembling when he saw the faint mist in her eyes. It was just a slight tremor; after falling into that indescribable, even painful, feeling for Mo Rong, he instinctively had a tendency to avoid women and matters of the heart. Even before he realized his attachment to Mo Rong had crossed the line of ordinary friendship, his "fear of women" made him keep his distance from them, as if they were ghosts or spirits.
He avoided Ji Su's gaze, but the surprise in his eyes did not escape Ji Su's notice, and a wave of sorrow immediately surged in Ji Su's heart.
"Is he intentionally avoiding me...?" Standing there blankly, watching Li Jun's figure disappear on horseback, Ji Su's heart slowly rose with each passing moment. She had never felt such concern for her own father. What was so good about this unromantic man?
The autumn wind blew against my skin, and the autumn wind on the Qionglu Grassland was particularly cold. Perhaps, the first snow of the year would fall tonight. I had hoped that he would stay and return to Yuzhou together after the New Year, and stay with me in Zili for a few months. Would he forget that... that... Yue woman? Would he go back this time to accompany Mo Rong back to Yueren Ridge?
A warm sensation came from her shoulder. Ji Su turned around and saw her father's kind eyes shining with the wisdom unique to the elderly.
“An eagle should soar high in the sky, while only sparrows linger by the nest.” Hulei Khan used a proverb from the Rong people of the grasslands, then smiled and said, “This person, just as you said, is the one chosen by the God of War. His will is the God of War’s demand, and as the God of War’s servant, you cannot refuse.”
The old man's gentle voice softened Ji Suxin's heart. She turned back with a smile and put the grotesque helmet back on her head. This appearance, this demeanor, existed only for that person. If that person couldn't see it, what meaning would it have?
When Li Jun arrived in Silver Tiger City, he received news that Meng Yuan, who was welcoming Feng Jiutian, had already arrived in Kuanglan City by boat.
This news greatly excited him. Although he still had some doubts about Feng Jiutian's actual abilities, he would feel much more at ease as long as Feng Jiutian could offer good suggestions for governing Yuzhou. Although Yu Sheng was skilled in administration, Yuzhou was too big for him. Sima Hui was talented in both military strategy and domestic affairs, but his vision was somewhat short-sighted. Only Feng Jiutian, who had once proposed such a grand strategy to Lu Xiang, could help Yuzhou escape its current predicament of being caught between two opposing forces.
Although Li Jun's policies in Yuzhou could be described as benevolent, it must be acknowledged that these benevolent policies were not something Li Jun himself consciously or clearly understood about how to govern this war-torn land, but rather temporary measures he took to cope with a political crisis. With his keen sense of crisis honed on the battlefield, he repeatedly avoided danger and achieved victory, both militarily and politically, but he himself didn't know how long he could rely on this luck.
"Commander Li, you're finally back!"
Those who came to greet him at the city gate included not only Meng Yuan and Feng Jiutian, but also Hua Xuan, the nominal highest military and political official of Yu Prefecture, who appeared before him in a radiant manner, which surprised him somewhat. Although Hua Xuan was obedient to him and content with his nominal position of power, he was far from being close to Li Jun because his love for refined learning and art far outweighed his love for war and power.