Entering the Central Region

“It’s really him!”

Lin Ran gritted his teeth. Then, he picked up a few larger stones and built a small barrier around Zou Hao’s head to keep it from falling off.

After doing that, Lin Ran looked at Zou Hao. “I’ll give you a quick death, but before that, please tell me everything.”

Zou Hao nodded and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Then, he slowly recounted—

After receiving the task given to him by Lin Ran to investigate the corpses that had turned into bones, Zou Hao went to Mount Sword alone.

This was the first time Zou Hao had encountered such an incident where more than 3,000 people in the seven villages near Mount Sword were turned into bones. However, it happened 60 years ago, so he naturally didn’t find anything.

Since the investigation near Mount Sword was fruitless, Zou Hao went further away. However, he did not investigate blindly like searching for a needle in a haystack. Instead, he came up with a rather smart solution.

Zou Hao first found more than ten larger villages. The one thing the villages had in common was that they were very ancient.

Then, Zou Hao set up stalls in these villages and lied that he was the writer of a storybook. He wanted to find some stories from the local people, especially those that were especially strange.

In the next few days, Zou Hao gathered hundreds of strange stories, many of which were very exciting legends. However, most of them were useless to him.

However, Zou Hao’s effort was not futile. Among the hundreds of stories, three were clearly related to what he was investigating.

The content of these three stories was similar. The only difference was the time at which they happened.

Two of them happened 40 years ago and 30 years ago, respectively. The other one happened six years ago, but in the territory of the Great Yong Dynasty.

Hearing this, Lin Ran couldn’t help but ask, “So you came to the Great Yong Dynasty?”

Zou Hao nodded. “At that time, the war hadn’t begun. I followed a caravan and easily entered the Great Yong Dynasty.”

“After parting ways with the caravan, I found the town called Nanjiang—the town where the strange thing happened six years ago—and the person who told me about it said that everyone in Nanjiang was missing, including the infants.

“But when I went to Nanjiang, it was very lively. I felt that something was eerie about it, so I didn’t show up. Instead, I hid in the dark and observed for a while. In the end, I realized that it had already become a military city. Do you know what a military city is?”

Lin Ran rolled his eyes and was a little impatient, but looking at Zou Hao’s head, he calmed down and replied patiently, “A place used to station troops. It’s usually near the border. It’s equivalent to an army camp.”

“That’s the problem.”

Zou Hao’s expression became strange. “That town called Nanjiang is more than 700 miles away from the border.”

“Over 700 miles?!”

Lin Ran couldn’t help but exclaim. This distance was beyond his expectations!

The reason why a military city was built near the border was that when a war broke out, the troops stationed there could rush to the battlefield immediately.

The northernmost part and southernmost part of the Great Yong Dynasty was only about 1,700 miles apart. 700 miles from the border could almost be considered the central region of the Great Yong Dynasty.

Why would they build a military city in such a place?

Lin Ran didn’t know, but he knew that ordinary people—or people without special motives—would never do this.

Zou Hao didn’t know what Lin Ran was thinking. He paused for a moment and continued, “I observed outside for about six hours. Just as I was about to sneak in to investigate further, I suddenly heard a horn sound. Then, everyone in the town left.”

“The martial artists of the Great Yong Dynasty are good at using sabers, so they don’t ride their swords. However, they are still very fast. I had to speed up with all my might to not be left behind. Later, I followed them to the border and realized that the war between the two countries had already begun.”

When Lin Ran heard this, he frowned. “You’re already at the fourth level of the Grandmaster Realm, right?”

“That’s right.”

Zou Hao smiled. “I know what you want to ask. Those people are definitely not at the Grandmaster Realm. They’re just fast.”

“This is the edge the martial artists of the Great Yong Dynasty have. They are close to nature and can use wind to accelerate and rain to hide. Some martial artists with higher cultivation can even control lightning to attack the enemy.”

Lin Ran suddenly thought of the “Fluttering Cloud” on Xuan Wushang. He raised his hand to signal Zou Hao to continue.

“That’s it.”

historical

Zou Hao looked at Lin Ran. “After I returned to the border, I was quickly discovered by Xuan Wushang. I ran and he chased me all the way. When I came to this forest, I wanted to fight him to the death, but…”

Zou Hao didn’t need to finish because Lin Ran knew what happened next.

Zou Hao was instantly cut into pieces by Xuan Wushang and thrown here, letting him watch as his body was eaten into bones by the birds and insects.

After a short silence, Zou Hao suddenly looked at Lin Ran and said in a very serious tone, “Lin Ran… Oh, no, I’ll call you Sword God. It’s time.”

Then, with a flash of white light, Lin Ran summoned Yin and Yang from the Divine Sword Technique Manual.

Looking at the sudden appearance of the Yin Yang Sword, Zou Hao couldn’t help but recall the scene of Lin Ran severely injuring Elder Xie of the Dao Seeking Sect on the battlefield a long time ago.

However, at this moment, there was no fear in his eyes. Instead, there was a hint of anticipation.

After calming himself down, Zou Hao continued, “Sword God, Xuan Wushang’s cultivation should be around the seventh level of the Grandmaster Realm, but his weapon is very strange. If you encounter him, don’t get close.”

Lin Ran nodded. “Do you have anything else to say?”

Zou Hao thought for a moment and looked at Lin Ran with sparkling eyes. “Can my life atone for the crime the Dao Seeking Sect committed?”

Lin Ran nodded.

“That way, I can rest in peace.”

Zou Hao smiled with relief and slowly closed his eyes. “Bring it on.”