Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was already noon when the scorching sun was high up in the sky and the sun’s rays were as hot as fire. Looking from afar, heat waves were rolling on the dry ground surface and the sand on the ground was extremely dry as if they had been stir fried in a wok, radiating with heat and thus causing the air to move. Within a radius of ten li, it was practically impossible to see anything green except for a short thorny bush and the trunks of some toppled poplar tree that had been air-dried, reflecting the harsh natural environment. Occasional strong winds would blow across the sand on the ground, conjuring it up like a yellow dragon and causing pain once it came into contact with one’s face.
This was the common border that Gan and Lan Province shared. It was the most desolate place for there was not a single human being within a radius of a few dozen li. The only thing that could be seen in broad daylight was the wandering stray wolves that blended with the wilderness, but they ran as fast as flying lizards as soon as they sensed a threatening presence.
At this moment, the sound of horseshoes and wheels echoed. A group of people rode swiftly across the wilderness on rhinodrake steeds, pulling along some four-wheel carriages. From afar, a trail of dust followed behind them.
When they passed by a dry riverbed, the troop slowed down with the neighs of their rhinodrake steeds.
Shi Dafeng pulled down his face scarf and shouted on his rhinodrake steed while pointing at an old boundary stone. “Look, there’s a Gan Province boundary stone here. Lan Province is just beyond this!”
“That’s right, this the border between the Gan and Lan Province. We’ll be in Lan Province once we cross here!” Snowstorm Cloud made a turn as Yan Liqiang also pulled off his face scarf. He squinted his eyes, then pointed into the distance, “Wolf Fang Valley is just beyond that hill. The entire valley is about thirty li long, so we should be able to reach the Hui Clan Gathering before dark once we made it through there!”
Shen Teng took two steps forward on his rhinodrake steed and came to Yan Liqiang’s side, “Liqiang, it seems like you and Lord Sun used this road the last time you left Gan Province?”
“That’s right!” Yan Liqiang nodded and a smile appeared on his face, “The last time I used this road with Lord Sun, we encountered the Blackwind Bandits in the Wolf Fang Valley, haha…”
“They say the Blackwind Bandits suffered heavy losses!” Shi Dafeng chuckled mischievously. “Ever since then, the Blackwind Bandits vanished without a trace. It has been a while since anyone has heard about them within these two years in Gan and Lan Province!”
“Yes, we were so close to exterminating the Blackwind Bandits!”
“It’s alright, leave some for the archery academy to practice in the future!”
“Let’s go, there will be chances in the future…” Yan Liqiang smiled and he squeezed Snowstorm Cloud in between his legs and it immediately leapt forward. The other steeds and carriages followed Yan Liqiang past the Gan Province’s boundary stone, then galloped into the distance.
Today was already the 24th day of the eighth lunar month — it had been two days since they executed Zhong Xiankui at the manufacturing bureau. On the same afternoon after the execution, Yan Liqiang left the manufacturing bureau together with some men and carriages, and rode tirelessly toward the border of Gan and Lan Province.
Shi Dafeng, Shen Teng, Hu Haihe, Zhou Yong and twenty elite soldiers of the manufacturing bureau followed Yan Liqiang; there were twenty-five men in total. Yan Liqiang and a few men rode on rhinodrake steeds while Hu Haihe and the rest of the soldiers drove seven four-wheeled carriages. They were all in casual attire and they left Pingxi Prefecture silently. They traveled day and night, and it only took them two days to get here.
There was only one reason for Yan Liqiang to come, and that was to recruit a large army and turn the silver that he couldn’t finish spending into power that would be feared by others.
If it wasn’t for the unexpected incident with the Transportation Office, Yan Liqiang had planned that after one year, he would be able to utilize the first intake of students from the archery academy. By that time, the number of troops and horses that the Transportation Office could utilize would be nothing to Yan Liqiang. However, he had suddenly made an archenemy with the Transportation Office and in order to cope with the impending revenge from the Transportation Office, Yan Liqiang had no choice but to make preparations. What he needed now was a group of strong and courageous men who dared to fight and kill. Although the soldiers of the manufacturing bureau dared to fight and kill, they were still lacking in numbers. A group of soldiers was barely enough to guard the manufacturing bureau, and the students of the archery academy had just started learning from the academy. They were still inexperienced and it was obvious that they were not ready to take on such a huge responsibility yet. Hence, Yan Liqiang had no choice but to seek alternatives.
According to Zhong Xiankui’s confession, Jiang Tianhua had given him half a month’s time to take control of the manufacturing bureau. After half a month, he would need to send someone back to the Transportation Office to provide updates to Jiang Tianhua on the progress and also deliver the first batch of silver obtained from the manufacturing bureau. Pingxi Prefecture was a great distance from the Transportation Office for they were not in the same province. After taking all possible factors into consideration, Jiang Tianhua might be able to sense that something was wrong if he did not receive any news from Zhong Xiankui and would start taking action. The earliest would be around a month later, which was toward the end of the ninth lunar month. It was only until then that they would know if Jiang Tianhua would have a complete fallout with the manufacturing bureau by dispatching his troops to Gan Province to teach Yan Liqiang a lesson.
Therefore, Yan Liqiang had to make preparations within one month to gather a group of people who could go against the Transportation Office forcefully.
In Yan Liqiang’s opinion, he would rather not wait for the people from the Transportation Office to show up at the manufacturing bureau to defend passively. Instead, he wanted to intercept the troop of a thousand soldiers from the Transportation Office before they could even enter Pingxi Prefecture.
Yan Liqiang did not want to involve Lei Sitong in this matter although he knew that Lei Sitong would certainly help him to the best of his abilities if he asked. Lei Sitong had been looking forward to see if Yan Liqiang would beg him. It was for this exact reason that Yan Liqiang was very reluctant to ask for his help. If he became overly dependent on Lei Sitong, it would be very troublesome in the future and their collaborative relationship would change. This was definitely something Yan Liqiang didn’t want to see.
Apart from Lei Sitong, Yan Liqiang could also transfer some soldiers from the Great Moon Tribe. At this moment however, Yan Liqiang did not want to expose his relationship with the Great Moon Tribe yet so he eliminated that option.
After much thought, only the third option was left…
Poor people could do a lot of things in exchange for money. Formidable people could do a lot of things whereas timid people were unable to. A group of poor but formidable men was exactly what Yan Liqiang needed right now.
But where could he find poor and formidable people?
Yan Liqiang thought of the Hui Clan Gathering. Within the barren mountain range between Gan and Lan Province, other places like Hui Clan Gathering definitely existed…