Big Moon Ballad

Chapter 2696 The Connection
By the time the crescent moon rose, the transfer of power at Juyong Pass had already been completed.

With his shaved head, Helian Bo managed to rally his troops. He had about three thousand men at Juyong Pass. A third of them died in battle, a third fled north out of the city, and only a few hundred Western Rong soldiers remained, loyal to the Helian family.

When the moon was high in the sky, the Qin royal flag was raised over Juyong Pass.

“These are the only people I can gather,” Helian Bo said, sitting in the dilapidated city tower. “Half of them ran away with Chunyu Ye, and the rest are the ones I kept by betting the name of the Helian family.”

"You promised me you wouldn't kill prisoners. If you dare to go back on your word, I'll haunt you even as a ghost."

“Okay,” Ying Baoyue nodded. “You should rest for a while. I’ll send someone to call you when the others arrive tonight.”

"Who exactly is coming?" With a sword hanging over Helian Bo's head, how could he dare to rest? "What exactly are you planning?"

"You'll find out when night falls," Ying Baoyue said calmly. "In any case, your life is in my hands. There's no use thinking about it anymore."

After saying this, she turned and left, but left five Silver Cicada Guards to watch over Helian Bo.

"Pah!" Helian Bo spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground viciously, but there was nothing he could do, so he could only sit down on the ground.

……

……

"Who exactly is coming to Baoyue?"

Ying Baoyue arrived at the room that had been temporarily prepared as her residence inside the Juyongguan city gate. Li Meiniang, Gui Chen, Mu You, Ji Qingyuan, and Ji Jiashu were already waiting inside. As soon as she entered, everyone stood up.

It was already late at night, but Ying Baoyue summoned all the generals of the three armies.

Ji Jiashu immediately noticed that the person behind Ying Baoyue was gone.

Where is Zhaohua?

Ying Baoyue glanced at him. "He went to pick someone up."

Who would require Li Ji to personally pick them up?

Ji Jiashu's pupils contracted slightly, and a guess formed in his mind.

“I should have asked you to invite your father,” Ying Baoyue said, looking at Ji Jiashu. “Where is he?”

Ji Jiashu and Ji Qingyuan exchanged a glance. "He said it's late, he's too old to stay up all night, and he needs to sleep."

Ji Mo, a cultivator at the second level, said he couldn't stay up all night?
The expressions of everyone present became subtle.

“Go and call him again,” Ying Baoyue said calmly, “and tell him that the person he wants to see in Xirong will come tonight.”

Ji Qingyuan, who had been looking down, suddenly raised his eyes, his expression one of disbelief.

Ji Jiashu was also shocked by these words and paused for a moment. "Okay, I'll go and call him again."

Silence fell again in the secret room. Li Meiniang asked everyone to sit down and arranged for the Silver Cicada Guards to serve tea.

Ji Mo arrived in less than fifteen minutes.

He stood expressionless in the doorway, like a stone statue, his eyes quickly scanning the room. "Where is everyone?"

“Not yet,” Ying Baoyue sat down in the main seat and picked up her teacup. “Wait a little longer.”

Ji Mo's gaze was fixed on her face. "You really will come?"

“If they can’t come, then all three of them are trapped,” Ying Baoyue raised her head. “I will go and fetch them myself.”

Ji Mo stood by the wall, expressionless and silent, the atmosphere in the room extremely eerie.

“Mei Niang,” Ying Baoyue said, “go and bring Helian Bo here.”

Helian Bo, still half asleep, was dragged over by the Silver Cicada Guards. He was about to start cursing as soon as he entered the room, but was suddenly stunned by the atmosphere inside.

"You guys... cough cough cough..."

He spotted Ji Mo standing in the corner and nearly choked on his own saliva.

This is quite a spectacle?
If it's just to execute him, isn't this going too far? Everyone remained silent with solemn expressions. The next moment, a gust of wind blew by, and the flame of the oil lamp in the room began to flicker.

"coming."

Ying Baoyue put down her teacup and stood up.

Three dark figures gracefully arrived from outside the house, all wrapped in thick cloaks.

The person in the middle put down the people supporting him on either side and stood up straight.

Ying Baoyue walked up to him and took off his hood.

Li Ji lowered his head and obediently let her do as she pleased. "I'm back."

"It's good that you're back," Ying Baoyue said with a sigh of relief. She was the one who gave the order, but she had always been afraid that Li Ji would leave and never return, just like last time.
The two people who were being supported by Li Ji collapsed to the ground after being put down. It was clear that not everyone could withstand being carried at high speed by the Azure Dragon God. The high-level cultivators present could tell at a glance that the two people's cultivation level was not high enough.

Ying Baoyue took out two pills from her bosom and fed them to the two of them, then gently patted their backs.

Everyone in the room was drawn to the two of them, especially Helian Bo, who stared blankly at the scene before him, mouth agape, like a boiled frog.

The man on the left recovered first, straightened up with Ying Baoyue's help, and took off his hood.

Ji Jiashu opened his eyes wide.

The person before him now had a Western Rong-style braided hairstyle, a scar on his cheek, and was weathered and worn. He looked very different from his former self, but he still recognized his long-lost travel companion at a glance.

"Zhao Guang?"

Zhao Guang looked at him, a smile appearing in his eyes. At this moment, he finally seemed to have the shadow of the boy from the past.

"Chunhua-kun, it's been a long time."

"you……"

Ji Jiashu's gaze became complicated. Zhao Guang's temperament was completely different from before. The once lazy and cynical prince was now like a tall pine tree, thin and strong, with an even stronger aura of iron and blood.

Yes, he was no longer Zhao Guang, but Chunyu Guang, the youngest king of the Western Rong.

Ji Jiashu lowered his head and bowed to Zhao Guang, "Greetings, White Wolf King."

Everyone in the room bowed, though the degree of formality varied. Normally, everyone except fellow kings should show the utmost respect to the ruler of a nation, but Zhao Guang was the king of the Western Rong.

Over the years, there has never been a precedent of cultivators in the Central Plains bowing to the White Wolf King.

In the entire room, apart from Ying Baoyue, there was only one person who did not bow, and that was Ji Mo.

His gaze remained unwavering, fixed firmly on the person behind Zhao Guang.

Judging by her figure alone, she was a woman.

Ji Jiashu and Ji Qingyuan also noticed it. Ji Qingyuan looked at the woman, his hands trembling slightly.

The woman stood up, took a step forward, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Zhao Guang, removing her hood.

She had removed the veil she had worn for many years. Even dressed as a Western Rong woman, the moment she took off her hat still shocked most of the people in the room.

"Da Si..."

Helian Bo's pupils contracted, and a complex emotion flashed across the eyes of Mu You, who had remained calm and composed.

Ji Ange knew that someone else was mistaking her for their mother. She sighed and looked first at Ying Baoyue, then at Ji Jiashu, and finally at Ji Qingyuan.

Ji Ange didn't even glance at Ji Mo, treating him as if he were invisible.

Ji Ange walked up to Ji Qingyuan and smiled slightly, "Big brother, I'm back."

Ji Qingyuan was on the verge of collapse, his eyes red and his whole body trembling. "I'm sorry..."

“I’m fine, I’m doing well,” Ji Ange reached out to support him. “You’re fine too, we’re both fine.”