Dragon Gate Swordsman

In fact, the reaction speed of the border guards was exactly the opposite of Chongxiao's slander. They quickly controlled the people who frequently interacted with Yang Yunxing in the city, retrieved the information when Yue Tianpeng and others were buried, and identified the people and vehicles most likely to steal the bones.

The next step is to follow the clues and conduct large-scale investigation. The main target is the settlements scattered in the desert... Although the environmental conditions here are extremely harsh, there are many settlements of village size.

For example, the Anasa people whom Chongxiao had dealt with in the Divine Capital, their tribe settled not far from the flight route to Yumen City.

From the secret arrested cult members, we learned that Yang Yunxing was actually more like a collaborator rather than a formal member, but no one knew why he was so devoted to the Yangshen Cult.

But this kind of dedication is completely from his own perspective. In other words, he doesn't care about Yangshen priests like Muro at all.

This is probably why the cultists called him a traitor.

Since there was no warning of Yang Yunxing's capture, and the border guards' subsequent actions were too swift, the Yangshen Cult's hideouts, strongholds, and secret agents in Yumen City were basically eliminated... Those cultists disguised as civilians probably couldn't figure out how they were exposed even if they racked their brains.

But that’s not all. The biological laboratory of Zhenbeiying temporarily produced a source stone craft prop based on Yang Yunxing’s corpse, which can detect whether the target has been parasitized.

"Wait, wait... Has the test been parasitized?"

Chongxiao asked doubtfully, "Can't we just solve the parasite directly?"

"No, time is limited. It is already quite difficult for Mr. Fang to be able to detect it. Moreover, this parasitic tissue is too tenacious. Unless the host is killed together, otherwise..."

"Are you still thinking so much at this moment?"

"Chongxiao, you don't know that these people are to be kept for interrogation and intelligence. If we kill them right away, then our investigation will not be so smooth."

Well, not only did they find the address of the Yangshen Sect’s headquarters, they also figured out the whereabouts of those corpses. Such mobility... should we say that they are worthy of being an elite border guard?

"From now on, we will split our forces into two groups."

Li Wuan turned around and turned on the projection equipment in the conference room, and displayed the topographic map of the area around Yumen.

The desolate desert is not entirely filled with sand dunes. Chongxiao had seen those bare stone mountains before he came to Yumen. In addition, the oases on which various settlements depend for survival can also be placed on the map as landmarks.

"The Grand Master will act together with me, leading a part of the troops from the Zhenbei Camp and the Feiyu Camp to attack the Yangshen Cult's headquarters. The rest of the troops, led by General Zuo, will go to the 'Land of Sacrifice' with Yumen to eliminate the evil cultists there and take back the corpses they have desecrated."

He just mentioned the place of sacrifice, which was the location traced back to when the bones were stolen. However, no one knew what the Yangshen Cult did there.

This plan seems to be fine, unless a group of evil beasts suddenly appear... Li Wuan also thought of this, so he has arranged for a highly mobile armored battalion to be on standby at all times as the main force to annihilate the evil beasts.

But for some reason, Chongxiao always felt that something was wrong.

"Is there something wrong... Chongxiao can just speak clearly."

"I can't really explain it, but... General, have you found out the parasitic method?"

"According to the cultists, it is a 'gift' bestowed by the priests on their followers, but they may not know what the consequences will be."

Good, that's the problem.

In the world in the painting, Yang Yunxing and the priest Mu Luo, whom he disguised himself as, obviously disliked each other, and there was no distinction between superiors and inferiors, which meant that the two should be people of the same level.

If parasitism was a method used by the priest, how could Yang Yunxing accept it willingly? Or was he... forced to do so?

Chongxiao suddenly began to hate his job.

He did not say anything more, but just sat there in silence until Li Wuan and Zuo Xuanliao talked for a while, and then left the meeting room one after another to prepare to mobilize troops.

Yumen is a militarized combat fortress, and its movement speed is much faster than that of mobile cities like Longmen... If nothing unexpected happens, it will be able to reach the area where the sacrifice site is located within 60 hours.

The question is, what awaits Yumen there?

Just sitting here and thinking was no solution, so seeing that everyone had left, Chongxiao stood up.

Unexpectedly, someone called him.

It was the order coming back from outside.

"Um... Is there something wrong, Sister Ling?"

"When General Li assigned the task just now, you seemed to disagree?"

"No, I just always feel..."

He was stunned for a long time with his mouth open, but finally sighed in the face of Ling's puzzled eyes, "Forget it, it's nothing... Maybe I've been investigating too many cases in Longmen, and I always want to look at everything with skepticism."

Chapter 103: Reading Ancient Books, Secret History

The flags on the top of Yumen City seemed to never stop fluttering.

After giving people a brief period of good weather, the desert was no longer polite and once again allowed the fierce and dry sand to become the protagonists on the northwest stage.

But this did not affect the determination of the ignorant soldiers...

On the sand dunes outside the city, four thousand-man teams belonging to the Zhenbei Camp and the Feiyu Camp were ready to go, waiting for the final order from their trusted commander.

Every soldier in the Zhenbei Camp is equipped with alloy spears, field daggers, sleeve crossbows, flying blade ropes and other weapons, while every soldier in the Feiyu Camp is equipped with a long-barreled gun and a compound crossbow. If necessary, they can also use the single-blade belt on their waist to defend against the enemy at close range.

It may not be accurate to describe them as armed to the teeth, but they definitely have the most determined will and belief.

Otherwise...it would be impossible to stay in Yumen.

The expeditionary force will use sand-based armed personnel carriers and a land cruiser to carry out operations, and the armored battalion's twelve Fire Crow infantry fighting vehicles will also accompany them to provide fire support.

In addition, considering the difficulty of the Yangshen Sect priests, a number of war masters also appeared in the team of a thousand people.

"Why do I feel like... this is a bit of an exaggeration?"

"Do you mean the size of the force, or the necessity for them to assemble here?"

Chongxiao turned his head and glanced at Ling, "Both."

Although the Yangshen Sect was very difficult to deal with, in Chongxiao's opinion, they were still criminals and did not need any regular troops at all... and the absolutely elite Yumen Border Guards were dispatched.

Previously, Li Wuan and Chong Yue both agreed to hand over the matter of dealing with the cult to the Five-Party Alliance and the people of the underworld, probably for this reason.

Chongxiao had fought a few moves with Mu Luo, one of the Yangshen priests. He felt that if the scouts had not been taken hostage at the time and he had really fought, the opponent would not have been able to hold out for a few rounds. This showed that the Yangshen Cult was not strong enough to require such a move.

In fact, when Li Wuan mentioned in the meeting that he would set out with Master Wu to lead the army to attack the headquarters of the Yangshen Sect, he thought that they would only bring a hundred or so lightly equipped people, but who knew that there would be an army of 4,000?

Also, even if they wanted to crush the Yangshen Sect with a thunderous force, there was no need to do so in such a high-profile manner... Did they think that no one would tip them off?

However, after hearing Chongxiao's roundabout question, Ling revealed a meaningful smile.

"Since Chongxiao can think of the festival, why not think about it from the opposite angle?"

Opposite angle?

Could it be that... Li Wuan and Zhongyue's real plan is to alert the enemy?

But if that's the case, those cultists...

Chongxiao's expression was shocked, and he suddenly reacted.

"They want to ..."

"Shh!"

Ling raised her finger to her mouth, showing an extremely rare cuteness.

However, she did not notice that she did not mind doing this kind of "destroying her character" action in front of Chongxiao.

As they were talking, several figures suddenly appeared in front of Yumen's landing gate and walked towards the thousand-man team with steady steps.

They were the commander of the expeditionary force, Li Wuan, Wu Zhenren Chongyue, and several lieutenant generals who led teams of a thousand men... They were all wearing armor necessary for battle, and even Chongyue had changed into the Yanwu battle robe that represented his military identity.

Seeing this scene, Ling suddenly sighed.

"When I was here, my brother never wore this uniform."

"why?"

"We are... special after all. Being stationed in Yumen itself makes people suspicious, so how can we really be given military power? The so-called military advisor is just a person who gives advice. Those soldiers will not listen to my orders after all."

Ling is not sentimental, but since the True Dragon Emperor Ying Zhen ascended the throne, everything seems to be undergoing tremendous changes.

The Simuitai headed by Bai Xiangshan no longer seemed to be wary and cautious of Sui Yi. Instead, it became a kind of communication organization and even took the initiative to invite him to participate in the coronation ceremony.

And now, I don’t know whether it is because Li Wuan dares to take the risk or because of the emperor’s instruction, he actually began to hand over the real command to the eldest brother...

This couldn't possibly be a genuine friendship, it was more like the beginning of wooing and exploitation, but it was done very well and there was nothing wrong with it at all.

Haven't you seen that Qing, who has never been involved in politics or official affairs, actually has a high opinion of Ying Zhen?

However, just as Ling was staring at the back of her elder brother standing in front of the team of a thousand people, Chongxiao said something that made her breath stop.

"It's okay. They can listen or not. I will listen."

"Chongxiao you..."

The sudden, earth-shaking shout drowned Ling's voice in the waves.

All the soldiers of the border defense army raised their weapons high and responded to Li Wuan's order...The tragedy was that Ling and Chongxiao, who were immersed in their thoughts and looking at her profile, did not hear what the general said.

On another section of the city wall hundreds of meters away from the two men, Zuo Xuanliao, who had resumed his duties as the commander-in-chief of the Yumen Fortress, looked at Chongyue with a serious and cold look.

Soon, with a huge roar, a landship capable of carrying more than 3,000 people slowly sailed out.

This is the true symbol of strength of the Terran nations, an indispensable presence in large-scale wars. The long-range bombardment guns it carries are enough to make anyone understand that technology, rather than a limited number of strong men, will dominate future wars.

For example, Casimir, which has fought ten wars with Ursus, was far behind in population size, resource reserves, technological level, and land area, but it was able to do this. The real reason was not the strength of the Silver Spear Pegasus, but that Ursus never used its full strength from beginning to end.

If Ursus could mobilize the legions defending the East, Great Yan, Leitania, Victoria and even Columbia, or even dispatch the Northern troops that were only heard of in legends and not yet known whether they really existed, then Casimir's Silver Spear Pegasus would not be able to withstand it even if he multiplied his strength several times.

Of course, Ursus couldn't do that...

The technical level of the Great Flame's land ships and water warships is considered to be medium or even lower among the Terra countries, but relying on its powerful production capacity and more down-to-earth design, it also has the advantages of being simple and practical.

Yumen is equipped with six land ships, four of which are the "Kaiyang" class transport ships that appeared at this time, and two are "Tianxuan" class battleships. If all of them are deployed, they can carry a legion of 20,000 people.

After seeing the land-based ship, Chongxiao, who was shocked, finally understood the intentions of Li Wuan and Chongyue.

This big fuss is definitely not intended to attack the Yangshen Sect's headquarters, but to make them think that Yumen's main force has been dispatched. So as long as the cultists are not cowardly enough to flee the desert directly, they will definitely choose to take a detour to launch a sneak attack on Yumen.

This is the legendary and eternal strongest tactic: changing homes!

You know, even if the two of them leave, Yumen will still be guarded by Zuo Xuanliao, and assisted by two descendants of Ling and Xi. Doesn't that mean the Yangshen Sect is just sending them away?

"Chongxiao, what's going on today?"

"No, if I had I would have pushed it to help you, Ling."

"...Didn't I tell you not to make such jokes again?"

That being said, Ling did not look unhappy.

She turned and walked towards the other side of the city wall. "Do you remember the thing that was parasitic on Yang Yunxing?"

"Remember, there was a discovery in the laboratory?"

"No... Apart from some basic observable information, Mr. Fang was unable to draw any useful conclusions."

Chongxiao was very surprised.

The biological laboratories in places like Yumen, even if they are not the highest-level in the country, are definitely full of elites and of extremely high standards. Otherwise, how could the border guards be confident in allowing them to study evil beasts?

However, several days have passed, why haven’t we figured out the reason yet?

"That thing parasitizes inside the spine and can control a person's consciousness. Therefore, the Yang Yunxing you and your elder brother dealt with is actually no longer the leader of Yumen, Yang."

Ling took Chongxiao and slowly walked down the city wall, explaining the progress of the laboratory's research to him.

"Is there any way to prevent this parasite?"

"Just prevent the initial... Mr. Fang calls it biological spores... from entering the body. However, it is not easy to do this."

Spores, it seems that the source of this thing is indeed a certain creature.

When it comes to professional matters, you have to trust professionals. Chongxiao naturally accepted Mr. Fang's opinion.

"Since they can be identified as spores, can't we research something else?"

"I asked Mr. Fang the same question. He said that thing has a... characteristic that I don't quite understand. It seems to be able to cover up other biological characteristics. This is why it cannot..."

"Gene lock?"

Ling suddenly stopped and turned to look at Chongxiao.

"How did you know?"

Chongxiao opened his mouth but said nothing. He couldn't possibly tell Ling that similar concepts had always existed in his memory fragments.

This genetic lock is a way for an organism to keep its own information and properties secret. It is not necessary in the process of evolution, but is used as a means of confrontation and appears in organisms that often participate in wars.

Imagine what would happen if an organism was captured by an enemy and its characteristics were studied to invent more efficient means of killing.