Chapter 321: Past (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

In the mountains and wilderness, countless soldiers and constables of the Black Office looked up at the scene on the cliff.

Dongfang Liren was standing behind a guard holding a large shield with her hands behind her back while the general of the Ze Province army was flattering her diligently.

“If Your Highness hadn’t sent Sir Ye to help the army on this mission, how could a group of rough people like us have chased to this place in just a few days…”

After a few moments, there was movement above the silent mountain ridge.

The Prince of Wu, who was at the end of his rope, ultimately didn’t have the courage to commit suicide. He was also too ashamed to go out and kneel in public to confess his crime. When he saw that the situation was hopeless, his vision darkened, and he fainted.

The four personal guards accompanying the Prince of Wu had more backbone. They knew that they had no chance of survival and didn’t want to be humiliated as prisoners. After Ye Jingtang entered the cave, they directly raised their sabers and slit their throats.

Zhang Jinglin’s reaction was much calmer.

Zhang Jinglin was a medicine maniac from head to toe. He was obsessed with medicine and had reached the point where there was no good or evil in his heart. But he was also talented and could do things that others could not.

Such a person could no longer be regarded as a human being. Instead, he was a very valuable ‘resource’, and he was only useful if he was alive. Even if the Northern Liang imperial family, who hated him to the core, captured him, they wouldn’t kill him immediately.

Zhang Jinglin knew that after Great Wei caught him, they would continue to let him do research. Because of this, he didn’t even think about resisting. When he saw Ye Jingtang enter, he carried his small medicine box and stood up, looking almost like someone going to a new job.

Ye Jingtang called the Black Office constables from the foot of the mountain to carry the Prince of Wu down. Then he escorted Zhang Jinglin down the mountain. On the way, he asked, “Doctor Zhang, what is the origin of the Heavenly Carnelian Bead?”

Zhang Jinglin didn’t look like a prisoner. He walked on a narrow path and replied, “It’s a secret medicine of the tribes of the Western Sea of Northern Liang. They believe in a ‘Heaven Official’ there. Legend has it that the Heaven Official descended into the world and gave the lord of all tribes an immortal pill. However, I’ve read the history of Northern Liang and speculated that it should have been researched by the shamans of the Western Sea’s Yechi Tribe around a hundred years ago. The time was about when the Snow Lake Flower bloomed last time…”

“Yechi Tribe…” Ye Jingtang was sure that only he could use the Heavenly Carnelian Bead, and he felt that this matter was definitely related to him, so he asked, “Where is this tribe now?”

Daoist Xuanji, walking behind Ye Jingtang, replied, “The Western Sea is the Heavenly Carnelian Lake. In the surrounding five thousand kilometers, there are no less than a hundred tribes of various sizes scattered. The Yechi Tribe is in the far west. It’s said to be the place where the sun sets last.

“One hundred and twenty years ago, the Yechi Tribe suddenly expanded and unified all the tribes of the Western Sea. It almost made the situation in the world turn into a tripartite state. But after the former leader died, the tribes of the Western Sea quickly fell apart.

“Sixty years ago, the Yechi Tribe submitted to Northern Liang, but it was completely wiped out more than thirty years ago. It no longer exists now.”

Ye Jingtang nodded thoughtfully.

Zhang Jinglin continued, “The term ‘god-given gift’ should be the strategy of the Yechi Tribe to fool people. It’s just like how the founding emperor of Great Wei deceived people by saying that ‘nine dragons came to the dynasty’ when he was born. The only real miracle in history should be the departure of the founding emperor of Great Wu on a dragon. After all, the Roaring Dragon Chart is indeed extraordinary…”

?

When Ye Jingtang and Daoist Xuanji heard this, they were stunned. Daoist Xuanji asked, “You’ve seen the Roaring Dragon Chart?”

Zhang Jinglin smiled and said, “There’s one hidden in the Northern Liang Imperial Palace. I wanted to steal it to study it, but it was too tightly guarded, so 1 didn’t succeed.”

Hearing this, Ye Jingtang and Daoist Xuanji came to a realization. Being in the hands of the Northern Liang Imperial Court was similar to being in the hands of the Great Wei Imperial Court. Even if people knew about it, they could forget about stealing it. This clue was no different from having no clue.

After a short conversation, the three of them arrived at the camp at the foot of Yellow Stone Ridge.

When Dongfang Liren saw that the Prince of Wu had been captured and brought down, she arranged for the soldiers to break camp and return. Seeing Ye Jingtang walk over, she went forward and said, “Just now, there was a report that Zhang Wenyuan was found in the forest a kilometer away. What case involves him?”

Ye Jingtang shook his head. “When I first came to Wu Province, I met a child looking for his father. 1 just wanted to help him investigate. Your Highness, please wait a moment. I’ll go over and take a look.”

The medicine testers captured by the Prince of Wu had been locked in iron cages for a long time. They didn’t have clothes to cover their bodies or food to eat. Most of them were still injured and couldn’t run far.

The Ze Province soldiers had been searching the surroundings, and the medicine testers they found were all gathered in an open space in the forest. Most of them were weak Jianghu martial artists and many medicinal farmers.

When Ye Jingtang arrived at the forest one kilometer away, he could see the military doctors treating the injuries of dozens of unkempt medicine testers.

A big-boned man with disheveled hair and a vertical scar on his face was sitting in the middle of the crowd and eating military rations with a kettle in front of him.

Ye Jingtang walked over to him and lowered his head to size him up. He was originally a man with a large frame, but he was already as thin as a matchstick. There were bloodstains and scars all over his body. It was unknown how much he had suffered under the hands of the Prince of Wu.

After taking a few glances, Ye Jingtang said, “Zhang Wenyuan, your son is waiting for you in Baywater Town. Follow the army later, and you’ll be reunited soon.”

Zhang Wenyuan had been locked in an iron cage for a month. It hadn’t been long, so there wasn’t a huge problem with his mental health. When he heard this, excitement flashed across his eyes. He barely managed to stand up and bowed to thank him. “Greetings, Sir. I can’t thank you enough for saving my life…”

At this point, Zhang Wenyuan’s attention was suddenly attracted by the hilt of the saber at Ye Jingtang’s waist.

Although Zhang Wenyuan’s martial arts skills weren’t high, he was still Yao Wenzhong’s junior brother, and his experience wasn’t bad.

Although there were many Hornless Dragon Sabers in Jianghu, it was only limited to middle and lower-level martial artists who didn’t have systematic saber skills, so they casually found a beautiful saber to use as a weapon.

Once martial artists had a systematic foundation, it was impossible for them to carry around random weapons. People carrying the Jun Mountain Saber would definitely know the Dragon Slaying Decree, and it was the same for people carrying the Hornless Dragon Saber. This was because these weapons were made for matching martial arts. Their weight, length, and shape were all very particular, and other weapons couldn’t achieve the desired effects at all..