Star Trace Gate

In the dense forest.

The fat dragon chewed a pancake and replied calmly, "There are 24 tribes in Southern Xinjiang, and the power of each tribe is very complicated. In the arena, the court, the disputes among adult princes, the disputes among the party and government, the old ministers of the previous dynasty, the abandoned generals and their sons, the scum of Daqian, there are mountains outside the mountains, and there are buildings outside the buildings... Although my father unified this land, it is difficult to hide the turbulent situation under the prosperous times."

"What do you mean...?" Ren Ye asked half a sentence tentatively.

"What I mean is, if you don't have evidence, then don't talk nonsense." The fat dragon glanced at him and said righteously, "My relationship with my royal brother is stronger than gold!!"

Ha ha.

Ren Ye sneered inwardly, having understood what the fat dragon said.

If there is no evidence, then the question is about the strong friendship: if there is evidence, then it will be a life-and-death fight, with crazy backstabbing.

"I really envy your brotherhood...!" Ren Ye only had a slight doubt in his heart, and it was naturally impossible for him to judge anything now.

"Eat your cake." The fat dragon was too lazy to argue with him. He just looked ahead and said, "I'm afraid this investigation won't be that easy...!"

"Yeah." Ren nodded.

With the addition of the big fat dragon, Ren Ye's sense of security was undoubtedly greatly enhanced. He was also thinking kindly - if the whole group was wiped out, at least there was the Second Prince of Southern Xinjiang to take the blame... that would be very comfortable.

……

Afternoon application time.

The "Imperial Investigation Team" of the Lich Kingdom rode their horses at full speed and rushed to Zhangzhou.

Ren Ye had his beloved concubine, Xu Bangzi, Li Yan, Fenglin, Fatty Wu, and four boys with him, while Fatty Dragon brought eight Golden Scale Owl Guards with him.

The eight Golden Scaled Owl Guards were all third-rank masters, and among them was the commander who had been in charge of escorting the fat dragon—Sangong.

A group of 18 people traveled day and night for two consecutive days before entering Zhangzhou and settling in a place called "Huang Jushi County".

This county is located in the mountains and the surrounding scenery is extremely beautiful. At this time of the year, camellia flowers are in full bloom, and the entire mountain is a sea of ​​red.

The crowd came from outside the city, walked to the central street in the county town, and stopped at an inn called Tongfu Restaurant.

There was a surge of people on Zhongjie Street, and there were small stalls and shops everywhere, and it looked very popular.

The fat dragon rode on his horse and said softly, "Yin Guang sent a message and we will meet here. Let's dismount and rest in the inn."

After saying this, he jumped off his horse, walked into the inn as if he was familiar with the place, called the waiter, and started communicating with him in Mandarin and slang.

After a while, the shopkeeper saw that a big business had come, so he personally arranged the best rooms for everyone and personally led everyone in.

After everyone settled down, Ren went to Fatty Dragon's room, wanting to ask him about Monk Peng.

However, he didn't expect that as soon as he walked into the room, he saw a middle-aged man in ordinary clothes kneeling on the ground reporting.

This person was a stranger, so Ren also cast a questioning look at the fat dragon.

"Yin Guang's spy has a secret order, nothing to worry about." The fat dragon explained.

"Oh."

Ren nodded slightly and sat down on the bed.

"Keep talking." The fat dragon frowned and ordered the spy.

"Your Highness, Lord Yin was waiting for you here, but he suddenly received news that Monk Peng had gone to Anfeng Township, about 300 miles away from here. So, he left first to investigate the situation in Anfeng Township and look for Monk Peng's whereabouts." The spy knelt on the ground and said concisely, "There are six other officials here, including me. And we have targeted two of Monk Peng's men, who are staying in another inn not far from here."

Ren was also a little confused when he heard this: "Huh?! There are still two of Monk Peng's men here? Did they go their separate ways?"

"Reporting to His Royal Highness Prince Huai, these two men under Monk Peng were the first to arrive here. After we caught up with them, we thought Monk Peng would also come here, but we didn't expect that he went to Anfeng Township first." The official replied uncertainly, "We don't know if they will meet here again."

"Oh."

Ren also responded, then turned his head and looked at the fat dragon: "This envoy Yin Guang is quite efficient. He found two clues so quickly, and when he heard the news from Monk Peng, he immediately went to Anfeng. This saves us a lot of trouble."

"The seventh day of the funeral of his predecessor has just been completed. Tell me, how can this be done inefficiently?" The fat dragon interrupted and replied, then asked the little official of the Tongyou: "Did Yin Guang leave a message?"

"Yes. Lord Yin said that he will go to Anfeng first, and Your Highness will wait here. If he finds the trace of Monk Peng, he will immediately send a message to you by pigeon. Then, we will first capture Monk Peng's men hiding here, and then go to Anfeng to close the net, so that we can catch them all in one fell swoop." The official replied.

"Okay, let's do this." The fat dragon nodded slightly: "You guys can also rest in this inn. If there is anything, I will give you instructions."

"As ordered, Your Highness."

After the two finished chatting, Tongyou official left quickly.

Afterwards, Big Fat Dragon personally wrote a secret letter to Yin Guang, informing him that he had arrived in Huang Jushi County and asked him to send a message to him directly as soon as he had any news.

After everything was settled, the next thing everyone had to do was to seize the time and wait slowly.

Ren Ye was sitting in the side room, holding his chin and saying, "If we can catch Monk Peng this time, it will be like we have touched Guan Feng's arm. It will also be like opening the way for me to get revenge."

"If you catch Guanfeng and Han Chan, how do you want to take revenge on him?!" asked the fat dragon with a smile.

Ren replied without hesitation: "If I catch him, I will feed him plague poison first, causing his body to be covered with abscesses and his penis to rot. When he is about to die, I will feed him the antidote. I will repeat this for 30 years, and then I will be able to get rid of the hatred in my heart."

The fat dragon's anus tightened when he heard this, and he said faintly: "...Only you can come up with this method."

Ren Ye glanced at him with resentment: "Don't mess with me. Otherwise, I guarantee you will lose everything."

"Hehe...!" The fat dragon laughed awkwardly and didn't bother to pay attention to him.

……

evening.

After watching "The Six Dragons" in the room for a while, Ren went to the first floor of the inn to eat. At this time, the others had finished their meal, and his beloved concubine went to take a bath.

After ordering a few side dishes, he sat in a corner on the first floor, resting his chin on his right hand, looking at the sunset and the street scene.

Next to him, a very young waiter was cleaning another table.

He moved lazily and did his work haphazardly, just like a worker who was about to go home from get off work.

Ren was also bored, so after taking a look at him, he asked casually, "Hey, little brother."

"What's the matter, sir?" the waiter turned around and asked with a smile.

"I'm a foreign businessman, and I'd like to ask you something. Why is this place called Huang Jushi County? This name sounds weird." Ren Ye drank tea and asked casually, "Has there ever been any famous person from this place?"

"Hehe, no." The waiter grinned and said, "From what you asked, I know you are not from Zhangzhou Prefecture."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because everyone in Zhangzhou Prefecture must have heard of the story of Huang Jushi County."

"What's that story?" Ren Yi's curiosity was aroused again after hearing what he said.

The waiter lazily wiped the wooden table next to him and narrated in a vivid voice: "It is said that a long time ago, there was a local rich man named Liu Batian. He was extremely greedy, stingy, and monopolized various industries. He plundered the people's wealth and even colluded with the tribes... and exploited the villagers in the surrounding area."

"However, although the lives of the common people are hard, as long as they can survive, they don't have the time to care about who gets rich and who becomes the all-powerful master." The waiter has good language skills and speaks eloquently: "Until the year when Liu Batian was 55 years old, the whole Zhangzhou Prefecture suffered from drought. The thousands of miles of barren land had no grain to harvest. The common people could not survive. Within three months, there were starving people and corpses everywhere. According to rumors, the people here prayed every day at the door of Liu Batian's mansion, asking him to open the warehouse and release grain. Even if he didn't save everyone, he would save the elderly and children... But Liu Batian was extremely stingy. Not only did he not give any grain, he also let the servants hold knives to intimidate whoever took the lead in asking for grain, he would kill him."

Ren Ye heard this and replied with a smile: "The starving people can't deal with a local rich man?! The people are full of resentment. If he acts like this, isn't he cutting off his own path?"

"You don't know. The mansion where Liu Batian lived was built stronger than Wengcheng. It was surrounded by high walls and had dozens of battlements. It was equipped with crossbows, hidden weapons, firearms, and magic weapons, and there were also special people on guard." The waiter shook his head and said, "It's not that the people didn't want to rob. People were so hungry that they could do anything. But after three battles, they failed to capture the mansion, and hundreds of people died instead."

"Oh, that's it." Ren nodded slightly.

The waiter continued, "The common people stood outside the wall, starving. Liu Batian and his family lived in the courtyard. The leftovers from the table every day were as good as a royal banquet, and they fed them all to the dogs, not giving a cent to the victims. He said, if you give once, you will give twice. If you don't give again after two times, something bad will happen. Alas, no matter what year it is, it's hard for people to survive... However, just when the people were about to despair, a Buddhist monk named Huang stood up. He was well-read in the books of sages, had a sharp mind, and was extremely intelligent. So he thought of a way to make sure everyone had enough food."

"What method?" Ren Yerao asked with interest.

"He said. Liu Batian relied on the high walls of his house and his bodyguards. If he could lure them out, he could steal grain and save the people. So, he told all the people the same "story." The waiter paused here, as if he had transformed into Mr. Huang himself, and said proudly: "Mr. Huang told the story like this... He said that over in Zhangzhou City, a group of disaster victims couldn't survive, so they gathered together to become bandits, and the leader called himself Xiao Ming Wang, a hero of the rivers and lakes, and a third-grade supernatural being. He himself had no worries about food and clothing, but he felt sorry for the people, so he gathered people to revolt and formed a force that specialized in killing local tyrants and gentry, opening warehouses to release grain, and providing relief to the victims."

Ren also frowned when he heard this.

"Mr. Huang said that this little prince Ming started the uprising in Zhangzhou, and he specifically robbed and killed rich people along the way. When he met a miser, he showed no appreciation and directly slaughtered the whole family. This action won the support of the people along the way, and the number of his rebels has exceeded 20,000. And at this moment, they are rushing here, and the next person to be killed is Liu Batian. Little Ming King claimed that Liu Batian was not only reluctant to give up a grain of food, but also killed people to establish his authority. If they attack Liu's mansion, they will skin him, make a wishing lantern, and light it above the county."

"and then?"

"Mr. Huang not only told everyone the same story, but also specifically described the appearance of Little Ming King." The waiter grinned, "He said that Little Ming King was eight feet tall, very handsome, and holding a piercing hammer. He was the reincarnation of a celestial being and was invincible. About half a month later, almost all the refugees in the county had heard this story... and it was passed on by word of mouth. Many of the bodyguards in Liu Batian's family were from poor backgrounds, and they were also secretly helping some relatives outside... So, this story soon reached Liu Batian's ears."

Ren Ye heard this and instinctively added: "Then, Liu Batian was afraid of Xiao Ming Wang Ruhu and couldn't sleep all night, right?"

"Sir, you are absolutely right." The waiter nodded immediately. "When Liu Batian heard that Xiao Ming Wang specialized in killing wealthy people, and that he was a third-rank supernatural being, and that he led an army of more than 20,000 people, he was immediately terrified, and he dreamed every day that Xiao Ming Wang broke into Liu's house, skinned him, and made a wishing lantern. After a few days, Liu Batian... could not bear the fear in his heart, and suddenly summoned his servants and clansmen, and fled in the middle of the night with money and supplies. But what was waiting for him was not Xiao Ming Wang's 20,000 army of volunteers, but 20,000... starving refugees."

"His whole family was killed, and the wealth he had accumulated throughout his life was divided up... But the moldy food stored in Liu's house became a lifeline for the refugees. Mr. Huang gained prestige, and the people trusted him, so they let him distribute food every day, which helped the refugees here survive the catastrophe." The waiter smiled and said, "So, in order to commemorate him, the people here changed the name of this place to Mr. Huang County."

After hearing this story, Ren Ye sat in the chair in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking.

The waiter wiped the table clean and commented to himself, "This Mr. Huang is truly a god! He told everyone the same story, used a non-existent person, and defeated Liu's mansion without using any soldiers... It's amazing."

"Someone who doesn't exist?!"

Ren Ye repeated the sentence instinctively, frowned and muttered, "I was wondering why it was so familiar. Didn't the Wu Shen...also lose to a non-existent person? Little Ming Wang...haha, your place is really interesting. A county name can bring up so many stories."

"Our place is really special." The waiter replied, "You don't know, do you? The extremely favored Concubine Jing... was born nearby. After she passed away, the emperor specially ordered people to send her back to the nearby Fengshan Mountain for burial."

Ren also turned his head to look at him: "What did you say? Concubine Jing is buried here?"

…………

This chapter is 4,000 words, so I am a little late.