Lord of the Desert

Chapter 556 Gu Sculpture
"Commander Zhu, I'm afraid my confrontation is of no use."

Yi Hong crossed his arms and sneered.

"In the dead of winter, with heavy snow and long roads, who knows what excuse they might come up with? Even if we do find evidence, we'll still have to submit it to the Left Guard General's Office for a judgment, and there's no way we'll get a result."

"Does Governor Yi mean we should just wait for things to calm down for now?"

Shen Fei narrowed his eyes slightly.

"If the captain hadn't beheaded Guo Han, how could we have such an obedient beacon tower garrison today? Let's retaliate in kind, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Whatever they've taken from us, we'll secretly go and take it back!"

Hong Bo and Gong Pengyun were quite interested upon hearing this.

"Don't say such stupid things."

Hong Fan frowned and shouted, stopping the pointless bickering among his subordinates.

"If you keep doing things this way, I'll be kicked out of Northern Xinjiang in less than six months."

When he got angry, everyone fell silent.

"Games are not about showing off; one must know how to play them. The Zhenbei Guard has many cards yet to be played, but the Chisha Army has none."

Hong Fan got up and paced back and forth.

“Just take the No Return Camp in the city as an example. All four hundred of them are not good people. Without the Zhenbei Guard providing poison, they would probably be difficult to control.”

"I remember that the captain knew Xu Zhiyan?"

Gao Junxia said.

"A single meeting is far from enough."

Hong Fan shook his head heavily.

"We can only put the supply issue aside for now; it's not the time. Fengqing, how's the route from Fengsui City to Guangji City coming along?"

Guangji City is located on the northwestern border of Liangzhou, separated from Hezhou by the Juehou Mountain.

"We've already made three round trips, covering a straight-line distance of 400 li (approximately 200 kilometers), mostly through snow-covered mountain roads. The shortest route takes 12 days, and there are 14 deep ravines and gullies blocking the way."

Feng Qing rose to report.

"These three time-traveling soldiers were all lightly armed; it would be much more difficult for a heavily armed caravan. Besides, there's that Gu Diao..."

"Did your men see that ferocious beast?"

Xue Chi placed one hand on his knee and leaned forward.

The Gu Diao is a powerful and exotic species known throughout the Nine Provinces. It has the shape of a leopard, a bird's beak, and horns. It is nocturnal and its cries resemble those of an infant. Juehou Mountain is the nest of an adult Gu Diao.

Before the New Year, this strange beast attacked a group of merchants traveling between Liang and He prefectures, slaughtering all 26 of them and causing a great uproar in the northern frontier. Later, the overwhelming public opinion prompted General Huo Zhan of the Left Guard to personally lead the charge into Juehou Mountain to pursue and fight for more than a day. It was rumored that the beast was "severely injured" and that the battle was not completely won.

“One group of people passed through a cold, desolate valley filled with skeletons, while another group heard a sharp, eerie sound that could make an ordinary person's legs go weak and their bones tremble—fortunately, they did not see it.”

Feng Qing's expression was solemn.

"Captain, I'm afraid this trade route won't be easy to open up."

"It's not a matter of whether it's easy or not, but that it must be opened up."

Hong Fan replied with unwavering certainty.

“Fengqing, you don’t need to follow up on this matter anymore. I will find a way to deal with that Gu Diao first. Once it is eliminated, whether we build bridges or dig tunnels, we can solve the problems of those ravines and gullies with the Sand World…”

······
Three days later, in the afternoon.

The sky was cold and pale with little warmth, and the sun, hidden behind the clouds, could not be found in any particular direction; the north wind and heavy snow swirled among the beacon towers, city walls, and flags, showing no sign of stopping.

Gong Pengyun patrolled the city wall and returned to the city tower just as he saw Gao Junxia adding firewood to the brazier.

"Young Master Zhou is gone?"

he asked.

"I'm leaving. I'll accompany the Second Young Master to see him off at the South Gate."

Gao Junxia turned around and smiled.

Zhou Shaoxia refers to Zhou Ping, the "Ten Fingers Hanging Life" who is a top-ranked talent on the list. He uses the "Puppet Technique" to control puppets in battle. He broke into the top ten in May of this year. After Yi She was removed from the list two months ago, he defeated Xiao Zhe, the "Purple Mansion Courtyard", in Shenjing and rose to third place.

Challenging others is common among the top-ranked individuals, especially at the top of the list where they occupy more than half of the attention; it's not unusual for them to receive several challenge letters a month.

But Hong Fan was an exception. The battle at Jietiantai at the end of April attracted much attention. Sikong Po, Xiao Zhe, Li Feng and others who witnessed the whole thing saw Yi She, who held the "Heart of Light", suffer a crushing defeat and never had the chance to challenge for the top spot again.

Now, six months later, the new leaderboard has finally met its first challenger.

"How did the battle go yesterday?"

Gong Pengyun removed his frost-covered turban and sat down with great interest—yesterday it was his turn to lead troops to inspect the outposts outside the city, and he had to miss the rare grand event in Fengsui City.

"A total of about twenty rounds, barely enough for the captain to warm up."

Gao Junxia laughed.

"Zhou Ping's three puppets are truly extraordinary. The fastest, 'Seven Kills,' is forged from black iron, its entire body gleaming with blades; the heaviest, 'Greedy Wolf,' is made of mountain copper, impervious to water and fire, and difficult to harm with true energy; the most lethal, 'Breaking Army,' has three faces and eight arms, equipped with eight black-grade weapons including darts, spears, daggers, swords, hooks, shields, axes, and whips. Before the battle, these three puppets were also modified to be heat-resistant and sand-proof..."

He explained in detail and vividly, but stopped when both parties went on stage.

"And then? Don't keep me in suspense!"

Gong Pengyun became anxious halfway through the conversation.

"That's all."

Gao Junxia shrugged innocently.

"If you're asking about the details of their fight, I, in my current state of complete clarity, naturally wouldn't be able to see it. As for the result, no, could Zhou Ping possibly win this time?"

Gong Pengyun was stunned for a moment upon hearing this.

Logically speaking, the challenger is a commoner genius who is ranked third on the list and has climbed all the way up without ever being defeated. He must not be an easy opponent. However, considering that he is facing his own captain, the outcome is indeed not in doubt...

"You can't see the fighting moves, but can you at least tell me what killing techniques were used?"

Gong Pengyun rolled his eyes.

"The captain went up on stage, said a few polite words, and put on his crystallized battle armor. You've seen this killing technique on the Heavenly Platform before. How can a Xuan-level weapon penetrate it? After Zhou Ping racked his brains and used up all his killing techniques, the captain switched to Thunderous Instant Step and Heavy Fist. In less than ten rounds, 'Killing Wolf' was completely smashed to pieces."

Gao Junxia briefly described the battle between the top three on the Prodigy Ranking.

"According to Xu Shuai and Lü Junsi, Zhou Ping's puppets are indeed formidable, each possessing the combat strength of a typical high-level innate master. However, the 'Puppet Technique' is only a third-grade martial art, which limits his basic qualities. Although he has managed to squeeze into third place on the list, his actual overall combat strength is still far behind any of the top-ranked masters in recent years."

"Zhou Ping came from a poor family. He was so distressed by the loss of these three puppets that his eyes turned red. When the captain saw him off, he offered him words of encouragement and even gave him gold and silver. The boy kept calling him 'brother,' practically bowing down to him."

At this point, the two looked at each other and smiled, then fell silent again.

The wind and snow outside the city gate had not stopped, making the charcoal fire in the basin precariously hot.

Gao Junxia got up and added a few more pieces of firewood.

What are your thoughts on the Gu Diao incident?

Gong Pengyun suddenly spoke up.

"A beast with peak Yuan Magnetic combat power? Do you even deserve to think about it?"

Gao Junxia sighed.

"I mean, how do you think the captain will handle this?"

Gong Pengyun explained.

"It's probably about leveraging connections. There are quite a few Yuan Ci who are close friends with the captain, such as Wei Yuanbai, Gu Yixin, Zhou Wenyang, Hu Ang, and so on. If we really have to pay a high price, it's not impossible to invite Shen Moye, Zhu Zhanran, or even the Wrathful God and Azure Dragon of Tianpeng Mountain."

Gao Junxia got up, picked up the cloak from the rack, and prepared to go out of the building to patrol the city.

"What do you think?"

"They should invite a master from the Martial Arts Academy."

Gong Pengyun speculated.

"It's supposed to be the responsibility of the Martial Arts Academy to hunt down ferocious beasts that plague the land. This Gu Diao was able to fight Huo Zhan; we couldn't possibly do it on our own..."

PS: My condition recovered around the 21st, and there were occasional relapses over the next ten days, but overall it has been steadily improving.

Before experiencing it firsthand, I had never seen any cases of mental illness in over twenty years. I thought it was extremely rare and only existed in books. But in recent years, I have seen and heard more and more cases of mental health issues around me, and I have become somewhat accustomed to them.

Well, I don't know if it's because the world is changing too fast, or because I've stepped into the "inner world," which makes more people willing to be honest with me about their true feelings.

Happy National Day, everyone!

(End of this chapter)