Chapter 486: Chaos

Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations

"What?! The army is coming to capture Zhengzhi?"

"Look at what you did! Tell Zhengzhi to leave!"

Qin Xuelian and Fang Houde"s voices rang out in quick succession. Then, there was the sound of someone getting dressed.

A figure appeared in the yard.

It was Fang Zhengzhi.

He wore a blue long-sleeved s.h.i.+rt and yawned as he walked out. His hair was combed nicely, but it was clear that he had just woken up.

"Good morning Uncle Yangping." Fang Zhengzhi greeted Zhang Yangping.

"Morning? It"s getting late! The army is approaching! Follow me, I have people waiting at the road on Cang Ling Mountain. We have prepared everything for you, now..."

"Uncle Yangping, I"m not leaving!" Fang Zhengzhi shook his head an interrupted Zhang Yangping.

"You"re not leaving?!" Zhang Yangping"s expression changed.

He had heard how anxious Qin Xuelian and Fang Houde were.

They had thought that Fang Zhengzhi refused to leave because he didn"t want to leave their side.

But...

The army was closing in...

Was he courting death?

Or was he going to turn himself in?

"No, my son, you are my only child. I will not let you go to jail! If anything were to happen to you..."

"Mother!" Fang Zhengzhi grabbed Qin Xuelian"s arm.

He knew that there was no use in explaining to the villagers. To them, he was a criminal.

The best way was for them to witness it themselves.

They had to see it.

Fang Zhengzhi squinted as he looked at the veiled lady in Zhang Yangping"s way.

"Qingyi, where are they?"

"15 minutes out." The veiled lady replied icily.

"Mm, carry on as planned."

"Yes!" The veiled lady nodded and walked towards the entrance of the village.

Zhang Yangping, Qin Xuelian, and Fang Houde were all terrified when they heard this.

"Zhengzhi, are you trying to fight the army?" Zhang Yangping guessed.

It had happened before.

"Zhengzhi, things are different now. Last time, you were a rank four official and the Princess and Chi Guyan were both here. Now... now you have nothing!" Qin Xuelian was worried.

"Son, I would stand will stand with you, but the Northern Mountain Village..."

"Brother Houde, without Zhengzhi, there would be no Northern Mountain Village. If Zhengzhi wants to fight, we will find the people to fight alongside him!" Zhang Yangping interrupted Fang Houde.

"You don"t need to, we are already here!"

"We came over when we heard that the army was coming after Zhengzhi."

"Just tell us what we need to do."

A group of villagers wielding bows and spears came rus.h.i.+ng out. It was almost as though they had prepared for this in advance.

"Erm, I..."

Fang Zhengzhi was touched to see this. However, the villagers" actions left him speechless.

After all, there were not many people in the world who would show such loyalty.

"Zhengzhi, you don"t owe us anything at all. When you came here 10 years ago, you helped us get out of the crisis we had. Even though the surrounding villages suffered during the drought, we still had enough to eat and keep ourselves warm at night! We will always support you!"

"Yes, I will fight them to the end! Even if I lose my life in the process!"

"Fight them to the end!"

"Since you are all ready to help Zhengzhi, let"s go to the entrance and buy Zhengzhi some time!" Zhang Yangping had an idea.

"Yes yes yes, let"s go to the entrance!"

All of the villagers waved their weapons in the air. They didn"t even give Fang Zhengzhi a chance to respond.

Then...

All of them ran to the gate under Zhang Yangping"s leaders.h.i.+p.

Fang Zhengzhi"s jaw dropped. He couldn"t believe his eyes. Were they really going to rebel just to try and buy him some time?

Before he could stop them, Zhang Yangping and the villagers had already disappeared from sight.

More importantly, Fang Houde rushed out of the house and took out a hunting knife that he had kept hidden under his bed.

Fang Zhengzhi had seen this knife before.

Fang Houde would bring it along with him every time he went hunting. However, since he hadn"t gone hunting in the mountains for so many years, the blade was left under his bed.

However, it did not rust.

Fang Houde would take time to polish it every day.

"Father, why did you take out your knife?" Fang Zhengzhi"s eyelids twitched when he saw Fang Houde rush out with the knife.

"They are all rus.h.i.+ng to the gate because of you! How can I let them go without me?! Don"t try and stop me! Just do what you need to do!" Fang Houde bellowed.

Then, he went around Fang Zhengzhi and sprinted towards the gate.

He left Fang Zhengzhi and Qin Xuelian in the garden.

"Mother, my dearest mother!"

...

The water from the stream trickled outside the Northern Mountain Village.

The veiled lady stood at the entrance holding a sheathed sword in her hands. The sword sheath was adorned with cloud patterns.

The villagers stood behind her.

Qingyi didn"t show any intention of stopping the villagers. She stood quietly in her spot like a statue.

Then, the booming sounds announced the arrival of the army.

The villagers tightened their grips around their weapons. They had never fought the soldiers of the Great Xia before.

Plumes of dust were sent skyward as black figures appeared on the horizon.

They traveled quickly.

These were calvary in s.h.i.+ning army. They rode black armored stallions!

"The Snow Treading Dragon Stallion!"

"It"s... it"s the Divine Constabulary"s Red Pinion Squad!"

"There must be at least 2000 of them!"

"2000 members of the Great Pinion Squad... oh no! Go... go warn Fang Zhengzhi. Tell him to escape now! The Red Pinion Squad is coming for him!"

The villagers instinctively took a step back when they saw the red triangle on the chests of the approaching soldiers.

If these were just city guards or soldiers of the constabulary, they would have gone forward to stop them.

However...

This was the Red Pinion Squad!

They were the most elite squad in the entire Northern Region, maybe even one of the most elite squads in the entire Great Xia! How could the villagers possibly stand up to them?

The villagers panicked.

Their hands shook, but they did not break. They grit their teeth and held their ground.

"Halt!" The leader commanded.

The 2000 of them stopped. Each one of them towered over the villagers and the Snow Treading Dragon Stallions snorted and growled.

The killing aura was palpable. Everyone could feel the thirst for blood in the eyes of the soldiers. They were terrified.

"Where is Fang Zhengzhi?" The leader didn"t waste any time when he saw the armed villagers.

"In the village," Qingyi replied without hesitation.

"No, he"s not, Fang Zhengzhi didn"t return!"

"Yes, he didn"t come back at all! General, are you mistaken?"

The villagers all jumped when they heard this. They immediately denied Fang Zhengzhi"s presence in the village.

"Have him come out since he is in the village." The squad leader ignored the villagers and looked at Qingyi. His eyes fell on her sword.

"You can go in if you want to find him. However, only one of you can enter!" Qingyi shook her head and replied flatly.

The other villagers could no longer remain calm when they heard this.

This was the Divine Constabulary"s Red Pinion Squad. Furthermore, there were over 2000 of them! Why did Qingyi dare to restrict their access to only one person?"

"How dare you?! Do you know who you are speaking with?" The leader"s expression changed as he exuded a domineering aura.

At that moment, the villagers felt a mountainous pressure crash down on their heads. They began to tremble and sweat profusely.

"Uh oh, we have angered the Red Pinion Squad!"

"This is the end of the Northern Mountain Village."

"I don"t know if Zhengzhi managed to escape..."

All of the villagers were terrified. Having spent all their time in the Northern Region, the Red Pinion Squad were like G.o.ds to them.

They were untouchable.

They would never even dream of talking to the Red Pinion Squad in the same tone Qingyi just did.

"The leader of the Red Pinion Squad, Li Jingfeng." Qingyi ignored the opinions of the villagers behind her. She replied calmly as she glanced at the leader.

"Oh? Who are you?" Li Jingfeng"s eyelids twitched.

As the leader of the Red Pinion Squad, he wasn"t surprised that this lady knew him. However, he knew that there was something else about this lady.

She was powerful!

Even Li Jingfeng couldn"t suppress her.

"Qingyi," Qingyi replied casually.

"And where do you come from?"

"I am Qingyi."

"Mm... Qingyi, what if I have the squad force their way through?" Li Jingfeng nodded.

"You can try." Qingyi didn"t move.

"Okay then, let me find out for myself!" Li Jingfeng lowered his spear at Qingyi. The tip of his spear glowed with a blue light.

"Jingfeng, stand down."

At that moment, a voice rang out from behind him.

"Yes, my lord!" Li Jingfeng lowered his spear without any hesitation. Then, he stepped to the side.

A middle-aged man stepped forward. He wore a dark purple official robe embroidered with a beast. There was a red triangle on the beast"s forehead.

The killing aura he exuded was palpable.

"Lord?!"

"Could it be..."

All of the villagers thought of one man when they heard what Li Jingfeng said.

The leader of the Northern Five Constabularies.

A truly legendary figure who they never expected to see. One of the leaders of the 13 Constabularies, Chi Hou!

"I am Zhang Yangping, the village elder here. Greetings, my lord, please forgive us!"

If the Red Pinion Squad had struck terror in the hearts of the villagers, seeing Chi Hou in person had taken the fight out of them.

Everyone still remembered how Chi Hou and the Northern Five Constabularies had repelled the barbarians.

All of the villagers fell to their knees.

"My villagers, please rise. I am only here to find Fang Zhengzhi." Chi Hou withdrew his killing aura when he saw the villagers.

"My Lord, please let Zhengzhi off, he is being wrongly accused!"

"My Lord, please let him live!"

All of the villagers paled when they saw Chi Hou. If Chi Hou had come personally, then Fang Zhengzhi had no chance of survival.

"My dear villagers, the crimes Fang Zhengzhi are being accused of are heinous. It is out of my hands now. Please trust the courts. If he is truly innocent, the courts will acquit him!"

Chi Hou"s eyes glowed when he saw the villagers plead with him. This proved that Fang Zhengzhi had deep ties here.

However...

Why did he send someone to stop them here? And why did he only want one person to enter the village?

Chi Hou was infuriated just about this.

"Fang Zhengzhi, I am your elder! I have personally come to the Northern Mountain Village to find you! How dare you not come out and greet me?! Do you want me to come greet you?"