I Have A Qi Fortune Altar

Chapter 210 -198 Liangyou Border Pass (Please Subscribe)

Chapter 210 -198 Liangyou Border Pass (Please Subscribe)

Perhaps he wanted to cultivate a good relationship with Chen Yuan, the Heavenly Patrol Envoy. After all, they had just engaged in a friendly collaboration, and Chen Yuan’s authority could prove helpful to him.

Otherwise, considering the commotion he made with those dozens of riders, it would be difficult to leave Qingzhou alive.

Or maybe Yan Kai simply wanted to express his gratitude to Chen Yuan. Given the prowess Chen Yuan had demonstrated before, capturing him would not be a difficult task.

Yan Kai had also extinguished the thought of clashing with Chen Yuan.

As he sized up the burly man before him, Chen Yuan’s gaze lingered for a moment on his full black beard, which bore some resemblance to the Li Kui described in tales. The atmosphere between the two stalled for a moment before Chen Yuan took the initiative to ask knowingly:

“Village Chief Yan, instead of fleeing, why have you come here?”

Yan Kai replied, “I’ve come to ask for Chen Patrol Envoy’s assistance once more.”

His expression was very solemn.

“How can I assist you?”

Chen Yuan gestured for Yan Kai to sit down and brewed him a cup of tea, looking at him calmly and intently.

From the moment he had released him, Chen Yuan was fifty percent certain that Yan Kai would return, rather than disappearing for good.

Without his help, Yan Kai wouldn’t be able to escape the relentless pursuit of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau; and Chen Yuan had given Yan Kai a meaningful glance at that time.

The significance behind that glance was clear as long as Yan Kai wasn’t a fool.

And sure enough, he had come.

Yan Kai took a deep breath and said quietly:

“As long as Chen Patrol Envoy does not categorize us as deserters upon returning to the Prefecture City, the Heavenly Patrol Bureau will not take action. As for everything else, I am confident that I can escape.”

“Are you deserters or not?”

Chen Yuan didn’t agree or directly refute; instead, he responded with a question of his own.

Yan Kai hesitated and didn’t immediately admit it, while Chen Yuan didn’t press further, continuing to sip the tea on the table.

“Yes!”

After a long while, Yan Kai nodded.

“Tell me your story…”

Yan Kai glanced at Chen Yuan, uncertain of his intentions but, having confessed, he saw no need to continue concealing and began to recount his experiences briefly.

He had enlisted at a young age, growing up on the Liangyou Border. He had held the position of a Colonel in one of the armies there, and due to… Afterwards, with no other option, he had fled undercover all the way to Qingshui County.

He had hoped to settle down there for the rest of his life; sadly, the government had zero tolerance for deserters and renegade officers like him, leaving no room for survival.

“What’s the situation like on the Liangyou Border?”

Chen Yuan had always wanted to understand the situation on the Northern Barbarians’ border and the strength of the Great Jin Dynasty. Through Yan Kai’s narration, Chen Yuan got a new perspective on the conditions of the frontiers far from the Central Plains.

Millions of Great Jin soldiers, evil demonic sorcery, and battles often involving tens of thousands—life was as disposable as straw, swept away in swathes. On the blood-soaked front, the scabs were an inch thick, and white bones covered the ground…

These were the border scenarios briefly described by Yan Kai. The imperial forces at the frontier could not overpower the Northern Barbarians. They could only manage to hold out, and Yan Kai’s survival over a decade was nothing short of lucky.

The Northerners were not demons but people much like themselves, differing only in their belief and coveting the Central Plains, hoping to spread the flames of war to the Central Plains…

After a while, Chen Yuan rubbed his furrowed brows, realizing the current situation of the empire was indeed bleak, with a significant portion of its strength tied up on the frontier.

Perhaps it was for this reason that the Jianghu powers were as rampant as they were, even daring to provoke the government…

The empire’s power was not weak but quite strong; however, its strength was too dispersed. Moreover, Jianghu’s forces were no less formidable. In this world where the mighty reigned supreme, only the top echelons truly controlled the world.

Comparing the two sides, Chen Yuan felt that Jianghu held the upper hand.

After finishing his explanation, Yan Kai turned his gaze to Chen Yuan, ready to wait for his reply, with a trace of hope in his eyes.

“If I help you, what benefit can I expect?”

After a long moment, Chen Yuan came back to his senses and refocused his attention on Yan Kai.

The great affairs of the world still seemed too distant for him; it was best to deal with the immediate issues first.

“Whatever Chen Patrol Envoy desires, as long as I can fulfill it, I will not refuse,” Yan Kai said earnestly, sitting up straight with a serious expression.

Gazing at Yan Kai for a moment, Chen Yuan smiled:

“There is nothing on you that I covet. Do something for me, and I will endeavor to erase your identity as a deserter.”

The authority of a Heavenly Patrol Envoy was considerable, and erasing the identity of a deserter was not difficult, provided no one interfered and few cared to take note of it.

“Thank you, Chen Patrol Envoy, what would you have me do?” Yan Kai asked, bowing with gratitude.

“Do you know of a place called Red Sun Mountain in Qingshui County?”

“I do.”

“Lead some men and raid it. Make a big commotion, and afterwards… you’ll be done with it and can leave,” Chen Yuan instructed.

Yan Kai nodded, although he did not know what Chen Yuan’s purpose was, he just needed to help him erase some traces within the Heavenly Patrol Bureau. He agreed immediately and, after chatting for a while, made his departure.

Chen Yuan did not try to keep him but continued to focus his spirit on cultivation.

The next day.

Chen Yuan did not leave the guesthouse until noon, which puzzled Sun Yuan, who had ordered people to watch him. Could it be that he was overthinking?

That should not be the case…

However, there were no signs of anything unusual from Chen Yuan. Of course, the more this was the case, the happier Sun Yuan became. He wished for Chen Yuan to leave quickly, but before he could fully let his guard down,

a piece of news made him smash his cup.

The bandits who had fled before brazenly attacked Red Sun Mountain, engaged in a battle on the summit, and after snatching some Red Sun Stones, continued their escape. The Qi Absorption Martial Artist guarding the Red Sun Mountain Mine didn’t even have the chance to cross hands with Yan Kai.

Although the action was swift, the commotion it caused was substantial.

Chen Yuan, well-prepared, directly approached County Magistrate Sun Yuan and Zhang Hefeng, informing them that since there was news of those bandits, they naturally couldn’t sit idle. He needed to thoroughly investigate Red Sun Mountain.

These words caused Zhang Hefeng to glance at him thoughtfully. The bandits had just fled yesterday and then attacked Red Sun Mountain, and coincidentally, Chen Yuan had also inquired about the situation of Red Sun Mountain.

To say there was no connection would be utterly impossible.

But this raised a question in front of him, could it be that Chen Yuan was colluding with Yan Kai?

On consideration, if that was the case, it seemed the previous bandit suppression would have been unnecessary, which left him quite perplexed.

Perplexed as he might be, Zhang Hefeng was quite certain that there was definitely not a clean relationship between Chen Yuan and Yan Kai.

Chen Yuan did not care about Zhang Hefeng’s gaze, taking just a glance at him before turning his attention to Sun Yuan.

Compared to Zhang Hefeng’s silence, Sun Yuan appeared somewhat agitated.

On one hand, he was advising Chen Yuan that the current situation on Red Sun Mountain was not important; what mattered was the group of bandits. What Chen Yuan should prioritize was to immediately lead men in pursuit, not pin his hopes on Red Sun Mountain.

On the other hand, he was subtly revealing that the Red Sun Mountain Mine was connected to a certain high-ranking official within Nanling Prefecture, suggesting that Chen Yuan should turn a blind eye.

However, Chen Yuan was unmoved, feigning ignorance to everything, which infuriated Sun Yuan inwardly. Yet Sun Yuan dared not show his frustration for fear Chen Yuan might impulsively strike him down.

He could only suppress his rage in his heart.

After informing Sun Yuan, Chen Yuan directly led his men to head for Red Sun Mountain without delay. Before departing, he even noticed the pallid look on Sun Yuan’s face.

With a slight curl of his lips, Chen Yuan was unconcerned.

…

…

The Red Sun Mountain of Qingshui County was located to the east of the county’s territory, roughly the same distance from the county seat as Dagu Mountain, but Chen Yuan greatly reduced the travel time.

This time, Chen Yuan didn’t bring many people to Red Sun Mountain, only Mo Donghe and three other Heavenly Patrol Guards. As for the County Government constables, Chen Yuan found them to be a hindrance and did not force them to attend.

Zhang Hefeng was pleased with this, preferring to watch from the sidelines rather than get involved. So, even if he suspected that there was some connection between Chen Yuan and Yan Kai’s bandits, he had no intention of revealing it to Sun Yuan.

This time he even helped the process along.

If possible, he even wished for Chen Yuan to directly take down Sun Yuan, so he could seize this opportunity to consolidate power. By the time a new County Magistrate arrived, he would have full control over Qingshui County Government.

If he could secure a footing within a single county, it no longer mattered whether he could climb higher or not.

Being a tyrant within a county was quite appealing too.

Chen Yuan paid no attention to these intricacies as he had other thoughts. He was not interested in meddling; as long as he got his hands on the Divine Crystal, the effort he was expending now was minimal and was merely to provide himself with a legitimate reason.

After all, he was a man of the court, not a reckless bandit. Before taking action, he needed to ensure his own reasons were solid. Like now, was it wrong for him to investigate the tracks of that group of bandits?

Who could say ‘no’?

Upon arriving at Red Sun Mountain, the mining operation was in full swing. Numerous emaciated commoners were bare-chested, carrying baskets of rocks out of the mountain.

A quick glance revealed there were easily over a hundred people, so the operation was not small.

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About a dozen overseers with whips in hands would lash out at anyone they caught slacking off.

The ground was slightly stained with blood, obviously from the commotion caused by Yan Kai and others earlier that morning.

“Who is in charge of the mountain? Have him come to see me at once!”

A pebble broke the right arm of an overseer who had been whipping workers, the tone ice-cold.

That person was helped up, about to splutter in anger but, seeing the indifference in Chen Yuan’s gaze, a fear gripped him, and he unconsciously nodded for someone to quickly fetch the person in charge.

Chen Yuan waited for a moment, then his Dharma Eye opened, looking towards the mine ahead. However, he did not see the expected shimmering green light, thinking it might be due to the distance being too great.

Soon, about a dozen people surrounded a middle-aged man in black, walking up to them. The miners stopped their work and watched the scene before them, whispering to each other.

“I do not know this gentleman’s name and why you insist on trespassing upon our Red Sun Mountain Mine,” the middle-aged man said, focusing his eyes on Chen Yuan as soon as he approached.

“You don’t need to know that. Just know that I, the Envoy, have come to investigate the tracks of the bandits who caused trouble at noon.”