Mount and Blade Central Asia

Li Rufeng, who was sitting far away in Mosul, had been keeping abreast of the changes in Baghdad through his personal guards. After realizing that Xiao Walad's plan had failed, he immediately began to take steps to remedy the situation.

According to Xiao Valad, the Black Sheep Governor should not have been so alert. With so many incidents happening, the most likely possibility was that a black wizard was involved. This was also indirectly confirmed by Sayib.

The Blue Wind continues to show the characteristics of a riddler, and any useful information will be wrapped in a pile of useless and messy information.

In addition, Saib is not a dark wizard like the others who can truly understand the chaotic nature of the Azure Wind. Many times, he can only guess the information conveyed to him by the Azure Wind through some seemingly disordered dream information and omens in daily life, so his efficiency is very low.

But as one of the first believers after the transformation of the Azure Wind, Sayib still has his own advantages, that is, he is more rational and relies more on himself rather than the Azure Wind itself.

Just now, Saiyib found Li Rufeng and made a new plan based on the information he had already obtained.

Saib did not intend to make too many changes to the part of the entire plan related to Xiao Walad. Like Li Rufeng, he fully recognized the superiority of the tax farmer system.

Li Rufeng did not intend to continue expanding his territory and dispersing his forces until he had enough strength to completely control the city of Baghdad from top to bottom.

Moreover, as a newly annexed territory, there will always be problems of one kind or another. In the process of solving these problems, various contradictions and losses will inevitably occur, especially in a special city like Baghdad.

Therefore, it is very necessary to let Xiao Walad serve as the tax farmer to add a buffer between the people in Baghdad and Li Rufeng.

According to the plan, the next part was something new that Sayyib came up with. He planned to let Mushtaq, whom he had persuaded to surrender, enter Baghdad as a defeated Qara ...

"How can we guarantee that he won't take the opportunity to defect again?" Li Rufeng asked back. He didn't care at all whether a nobody like Mushtaq surrendered or not. He just didn't want to participate in this gambling-like plan.

To be precise, he doesn't like using his own chips to participate in gambling plans initiated by others.

"He can't go back. The Black Sheep King has already broken off relations with his clan. He's well aware of his situation. From the moment he agreed to the feigned surrender, his fate has been in my hands." Saib said confidently, "Also, as a gesture of sincerity, and to make up for our past mistakes, we have to clean up the mess we've left behind, don't we?"

"Leave this matter to me, my lord. I will deal with everything in Baghdad, especially the part related to the dark wizard." Saib said sincerely.

Li Rufeng felt that he had no reason to refuse such an internal fight among the followers of the Blue Wind. Even if the plan failed, he would not suffer much loss.

Chapter 639 Abandoned Son

Mustaq felt as if he was being pushed around by fate during this period. A few months ago, he was one of the few sons of great nobles with a legacy among the Black Sheep people, but now he has become a traitor that everyone avoids.

Especially the fact that his family sent assassins to kill him made him realize clearly that there was no turning back.

Fortunately, the shaman was very tolerant. He did not even forbid himself from contacting other surrendered Qara ...

For the Black Sheep people who had been worried since surrendering, this assignment made everyone feel relieved. At least they didn't have to worry about being taken out and killed one day.

Of course, Li Rufeng had some tricks up his sleeve in this regard. He spread a lot of "rumors" in Mosul that the Aries people were killing Aries captives, looting pastures, and killing women and children.

But in reality, Aries people don’t do this, or it should be said that they at least don’t do it often.

On the one hand, the Aries King has maintained considerable restraint in terms of revenge. On the other hand, because the Aries people's combat effectiveness is average, they have not pushed the front line deeper into the Black Sheep people's land until now, and there are not many opportunities.

However, Li Rufeng has secretly reached some agreements with the Mongolian tribes that are nominally under the command of King Aries through Qinggelinayan's relationship. They are forming a Turkified Mongolian army to join the battle under the banner of King Aries.

Li Rufeng has had enough of the Aries people's perfunctory treatment of him. Since those Aries people are unwilling to expand the front line, Li Rufeng will help them expand it. If the Aries King does not want to retaliate, Li Rufeng will help them retaliate.

Li Rufeng has always considered himself a good person with a moral bottom line far above the average of this era. However, after becoming a ruler at a higher level, he finally realized that making cruel choices is often easier for rulers than they imagined.

For example, now, Li Rufeng is very clear about how many "civilian" casualties will be caused by what he is doing, but in fact he just wrote a few letters with less intense wording and made some verbal hints. Someone will turn these words and words into something more real and bloody and turn them into direct orders.

He himself did not feel even the slightest moral pressure.

But what this kind of thing ultimately turns into is real benefits. Only when the "Aries" behave more cruelly and radically on the battlefield will the Black Sheep pay more attention to them, and the pressure faced by Li Rufeng will gradually decrease.

Even if the Black Sheep people's hatred for the White Sheep people is great enough, Li Rufeng actually has the opportunity to forgive the Black Sheep people's crimes as the suzerain state and ask them to surrender directly.

After all, from a legal point of view, Li Rufeng has this right, and the only obstacle is the Black Sheep King. Without the Black Sheep King, the Black Sheep people would be just a vassal nation like the Kurds.

In fact, Saib has already begun to make plans in this regard. As a believer of the Azure Wind, after not touching the forbidden magical knowledge, his only chance to please the Azure Wind is to use one amazing conspiracy after another to achieve enough achievements.

Of course, to put it in a more pleasant way, this is called strategy. Strategists use strategies to pacify the world, but now Saib still needs to first help Li Rufeng capture the city of Baghdad.

Mushtaq was leading a cavalry of about 200 men on a rapid march to Baghdad. Among these 200 men, only less than 70 were real Black Sheep People, and the others were Kurds or Turks in disguise.

Of course, Mushtaq didn't know at this time that the Mushayi assassin Naseedin Baihara, who had once targeted him, and his scabbard Badrani were also mixed in the team.

Similarly, Saib was also in this cavalry team. As a believer of the Azure Wind, he received a rare "divine grace" during this mission.

The great blue wind cast a certain shield on the team, making it impossible for the dark wizards to sense the team through witchcraft.

This was a civil war among the followers of the Azure Wind, representing a clash of ideologies between the new and old followers.

Five days later, Mustaq and his party appeared outside Baghdad, exhausted. They deliberately avoided the small village where the Golden Arrow Mercenary Group was stationed and came from another direction.

At this time, Governor Taweel, who had tightly blockaded the city of Baghdad, had already prepared to siege Baghdad for a long time. He had already made preparations for the siege in advance to prevent Li Rufeng's arrival, and the grain stored in the granary came for this reason.

Not only that, Tavel also belatedly discovered the thousand-man Mongolian cavalry team wandering around, and realized that he was almost ambushed by the Mongols, and broke out in cold sweats.

At this time, the Abbasid Palace no longer had the luxury of the past. All the servants were killed by Taweel and their bodies were burned together. He no longer trusted any of the locals. The soldiers from his own unit were the ones walking around in the exquisite palace.

These soldiers didn't care about the exquisite floor tiles and murals on the walls, and made a mess of the place. Even Tavel, who had just learned to enjoy life a few months ago, felt a little sorry, but for absolute safety, Tavel acquiesced to the soldiers' destruction of the palace.

The pursuit of a refined life is always less practical than staying alive, and Tavel has made this calculation very clear.

"That shaman doesn't have enough troops to storm Baghdad. Don't worry." Ali, who once again possessed a young body, stood beside Tawil and whispered, "Baghdad is a fortified city. It can withstand any attack..."

Ali's voice was so low that it sounded like a dream talk. It seemed that he was speaking to himself rather than to Tavel.

"This city will never be conquered by the Mongols again, Mustasim (Note 1), I swear." Ali looked at Tawil. Although Tawil did not hear his words clearly, he always felt that his eyes seemed to pass through him and look at a more distant place.

He subconsciously turned around, but there was nothing there.

Tavel had never been very fond of this dark wizard who suddenly appeared. If he had not helped him avoid this rather dangerous conspiracy before, he would definitely not have let this dark wizard get so close to him.

But he now needs the ability of this dark wizard to help him contact the Black Sheep King far away in Tabriz.

When the black wizards occupied Mosul, Tawil did not speak, because he felt that the black wizards occupying Mosul could effectively resolve the influence of the Black Sheep King on Baghdad.

When Qara Qoyunlu decided to declare war on the Ayyan people, Tawil remained silent because he felt that if Qara Qoyunlu turned his attention further west, he could effectively strengthen his control over the Baghdad region.

During that time, he even began to move his tribe to live near Baghdad.

When Li Rufeng rose to power, occupied many cities and finally captured Mosul, Tawil did not speak, because no matter what he said, it was too late.

Instead of contacting Qara Qoyunlu for support, Tarbel was more worried that Qara Qoyunlu would ask him to send troops to support the fortress of Erbil or recapture Mosul.

Taweel wanted to keep Baghdad firmly in his own hands because it was so far away from the Black Sheep people's homeland and he had enough space to expand his tribe.

In order to achieve this goal, Tavel even expelled the black wizards assigned to his army early on on the grounds of distrust, cutting off the possibility of rapid communication between him and Tabriz.

Of course, on the other hand, in order to ensure the stability of his position, Tavel was loyal enough to transport the portion that should be given to the Black Sheep King to Tabriz without any loss.

If it weren't for Li Rufeng, perhaps in a few years Tavel would have had the possibility of proclaiming himself king, but now when everything was heading towards the most pessimistic prediction, he finally remembered the goodness of the dark wizard.

However, the black wizard Ali had his own plans and did not need the Black Sheep King to interfere, so he made up an excuse to fool Tavel, making him think that it would take several months of preparation to establish long-distance communication.

Ali's real purpose is actually similar to Taweel's - after so many years of wandering and experiencing the tragic defeat in Mosul, Ali is finally willing to face his inner self and want to seize his last chance to become the king of Baghdad.

As the dark wizard who knew the Azure Wind best, Ali had keenly sensed something unusual in the new direction of the Azure Wind.

The Blue Wind seemed to have a new understanding and new arrangements for the world, and as a product of the old era, he naturally became the tears of the times.

Ali suddenly discovered that he had regressed drastically in the field of witchcraft. Not only him, but also the aforementioned dark wizards he rescued from Mosser encountered the same situation.

Even some dark wizard apprentices who were enlightened in the dreamland of Mosul directly lost the ability to access the field of witchcraft. They turned from dark wizard apprentices into ordinary people again.

Such a change made Ali both surprised and frightened. He knew that the Blue Wind often played "jokes" on believers like them, and these jokes often led to the death of the believers themselves.

For a dark wizard like Ali, being able to keenly perceive these dangers and avoid them is an art in itself.

And now, Ali finds that he can't find a way to avoid it.

Chapter 640 Ali’s Dilemma

Nine spires, nine altars, nine circles, nine sacrifices. The earth was painted blue with expensive dyes. Although it was very different from the azure blue that the Azure Wind longed for, it was already a very blue blue in this era.

The nine spires are intertwined in an intricate arrangement that makes people dizzy at first glance, as if they have entered a maze. The light blue smoke lingering between the spires adds a touch of mystery.

Nine altars are placed in a maze of spires, and each altar is exactly in the middle of a triple spire. These spires should not form so many cores, but here, the nine spires and nine altars seem to be dynamic. If you look closely, the altar you notice is always in the middle.

The nine altars were visited by dark wizard apprentices whose skulls had been opened, revealing fresh brain tissue. They rolled their eyes crazily and foamed at the mouth. Under the influence of the smoke, their brains were working rapidly, conceiving one conspiracy after another that exhausted their brainpower and created astonishing creations.

You can even clearly see the lymph-like fluid and brain matter that keep the brain tissue moist, gradually boiling during this intense brain movement, turning the brain tissue gradually white.

The nine circles symbolize that this place is imprisoned by the power of the blue wind and has become an alien world, not an ordinary world.

It also symbolizes the destroyed Round City. During the heyday of Baghdad, when it was still called the Round City, the Palace of Wisdom used inner and outer rings to place different books. Including the outermost city wall, there were exactly nine rings.

Ali, sitting cross-legged in the middle circle, tried to find the hidden truth in the blue wind.

As the oldest dark wizard, Ali has realized that he has been abandoned by the Azure Wind, but at the same time, he also knows very well that the Azure Wind does not do whatever it wants in this world, and he still has the opportunity to force his way through the Azure Wind's existing "network" to find the information he needs.

As long as his ritual is correct enough to please the "subconscious" of the Azure Wind, and as long as his computing power is strong enough to break through the "blockade" of the Azure Wind on him.

The Azure Wind is such a great existence that even a trace of its legacy contains amazing power. Ali does not need to "defeat" the Azure Wind. It is enough for him to borrow a little bit of power from the storm that the Azure Wind left in this world.

The nine sacrifices were both sacrifices and tools that Ali used to assist him in calculations. The human brain is so sophisticated and complex that most mortals only use one or two percent of its potential in their lifetime.

Ali is now borrowing their potential to complete his own plans.

But in any case, compared with the scene of four wizard towers rising from the ground in Mosul, the current ceremony was a bit too simple.

Each of the nine spires was only a little over one person tall, built with stone and wood. The nine altars were equally shabby, though the materials used were a bit more refined. They were built with the ashes left over from the burning of the Palace of Wisdom, mixed with crude cement smuggled in by Ali.

There are nine circular rings, the largest one is less than 18 meters in diameter, and the smallest one is only 40 centimeters, which is just enough for Ali to sit cross-legged in it, using himself as the center of the formation to control the entire formation.

If the nine sacrifices were not all serious dark wizard apprentices who had been fed with "Spirit Leaf" extract in advance, this ritual would have made it difficult to even communicate with the Blue Wind.

Perhaps the only progress is that the project size has been reduced. At least Alibaba did not produce an unfinished building. God knows how distressed Li Rufeng was every day looking at those four unfinished wizard towers.

It's a shame to tear it down. Not to mention that two of the towers inside are steadily producing products of great strategic value, the structure itself is valuable. Those wizard towers are at least tall and large, and sturdy enough to have very practical military uses...

Of course, whether happy or sad, those wizard towers are now Li Rufeng's concern. Ali still needs to guard his basement and continue the ceremony itself.

That's right, this is a basement in the Abbasid Palace. In order not to disrupt the ceremony itself, Ali had to have someone knock down a supporting pillar in the middle of the basement in advance.

To be honest, when the workers were demolishing the building, both Ali and the workers were worried that the place would collapse. Fortunately, it was proved that no corners were cut when the Abbasid Palace was built, and the basement withstood this level of damage.

After about twenty minutes, the brains of the nine sacrifices began to turn over, and the basement was filled with the strong smell of boiled sheep brains. Only then did Ali withdraw from the ceremony with a frown.

As an old man of nearly two hundred years old, Ali's body has become very fragile after losing the support of so many kinds of witchcraft. Even though he had replaced his body with that of a young man before, aging is a curse that will always come with his soul.

Especially at this time when we are forcibly "changing the wind against the will of heaven", the curse manifests itself even more quickly.

When he sat down, he was still a vigorous young man, but when he stood up, he looked like an old man on the verge of death.

"Sir..." A dark wizard who had been standing in the distance kept a safe distance and asked from afar, "Do you need help?"

He saw that Ali failed to stand up twice in a row, so he had no choice but to ask.

There is no friendship between dark wizards. They are just sticking together for warmth. Moreover, everyone has seen Ali's methods. Those who are not smart enough now have enough brains to eat for a meal.

"Shut up, I'm thinking." Ali scolded the other person, and then thought quietly.

He did see some vague things through this ceremony, but Ali now felt as if he was trapped in a fog and could not tell whether the information was true or false.

In the scenes that Ali saw, he saw the death of Tavel, the death of the Black Sheep King, and of course, he also saw the death of Li Rufeng. That was what he wanted to see most, but when and where these things would happen were all problems.

Most importantly, Ali did not see his own death, but he could not be sure whether it was because his death was insignificant or because he successfully survived and became the ultimate winner.

In the past, although Azure Wind would also play this kind of "joke" and let his believers guess the meaning of the picture, he would always give some more specific hints. But this time, no matter how hard Ali tried, he couldn't find any clues.

Of course, Ali has another problem to think about, which is that his leg is broken and he doesn't know how to stand up now. Maybe getting a new body is a more convenient option?

Chapter 641 Lurking

"Our new target is a wizard in Baghdad. We need to find him and kill him with one blow. We must not give him any chance to cast spells." Badrani whispered to Naseedin beside him.

At this time, they were already in the city of Baghdad. Compared with Mosul, which was heavily blockaded due to the Dream Kingdom incident, although Baghdad also declared martial law and closed the city gates, it was still full of loopholes.

At least for people like Badrani, the city has plenty of ways in and out.

Although the influence of the Mulai sect in Baghdad is also very low, this time Badrani and his men did not follow the sect's path, but were sent in by the local tyrants.

From entering the city to providing support and lurking, Xiao Valad's men were responsible for everything.

Although his men were no longer in the crucial Abbasid Palace, this was enough.

If the employer can always lead the way directly to the target, why would the Muciyi sect train assassins?

"Wizard?" Nasidin's tone became much more cautious.

As assassins of the Muqiyi sect, although Nasidin and his companions did not experience the catastrophe that year, they were at least familiar with users of miracle power.

But specifically speaking of the assassin himself, this was indeed the first time that Nasidin faced a user of miraculous power. After all, the "daggers" of the Muqi sect were often disposable tools, and it was difficult to accumulate experience.

Or to put it another way, the lies they weave will gradually become ineffective as the "Daggers" grow older and gain more experience. Instead of spending a lot of resources to fulfill the many lies they promised to the "Daggers", it is better to re-activate new daggers.

Sometimes, in the dead of night, Badrani would ponder whether he had long since given up on the hypocrisy within the sect, or was he truly afraid of Sarah Shahi's tactics, which was why he surrendered so readily...

Of course, this may just be a kind of self-consolation.

In short, Badrani felt that he was more dedicated now than in any previous mission.