Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path
Chapter 277 - 244: Dark Underhand Moves, Dragon Serving Meritorious Official

Chapter 277: Chapter 244: Dark Underhand Moves, Dragon Serving Meritorious Official

"In Qingyang City, the Chen Family is managed by Chen Xiaoyi, the ’real son’ of Chen Dazhong,"

Due to Chen Dazhong’s dishonorable past, the members of the Chen family do not promote the matters of their family head. Instead, they silently develop and quietly amass wealth.

In the southern part of the city, occupying vast fertile lands and shops, they have even built up manors and elegant residences,"

Green Lady slowly said.

"The Chen family seems not to have moved, could it be related to the chaos in Qingyang City?"

Zhou Ping’an guessed roughly.

Being a servant of Guangyun’s Cui Family, and possessing such influence in Qingyang City yet still remaining inconspicuous.

No wonder, with Tang Lin’er’s astute mind, she was still at her wits’ end, holding heavy forces yet still ending up frustrated and disheveled, not only failing to identify the enemy but also suffering loss of troops and disgrace.

If it were up to me, I probably wouldn’t have suspected the Chen family initially either.

"Correct... It is indeed their family.

Fierce Tiger Chang Yang forced me to hand over all the power in my hands, never thinking that if he intended to pluck the fruits of victory, how could he possibly not show his fox tail?

After many probes, I finally found the hiding location of people from Guangyun Subruder the day before yesterday."

"The only regret is that even though I know the hiding location of the Red Lotus Divine Envoy Zhong Ming and have clarified how many skilled hands he commands, with the forces under my command, I still cannot handle them,"

"Divine Envoy Zhong Ming? How does he compare in strength to the Fiery Flame Messenger?"

Speaking of Divine Envoys, Zhou Ping’an significantly wanted to share.

When he first came to this world,

At first sight, he saw that Fiery Flame Messenger, charging into battle on horseback, brandishing dual halberds, it was like unmatched mowing.

It was also from that time that he realized that the martial level of this world could be far beyond his own imagination.

"The Fiery Flame Messenger, haha, that is a fool," Green Lady suddenly laughed.

Thinking about how Lie Yan greedily took credit in battle and was killed by Lin Huaiyu with one slash, she still felt somewhat disdainful when recalling that moment.

He was a typical fool who could not read the situation and only wanted immediate benefits.

If he had not been so impatient and had learned to share his credit and collaborate with spies within the city, Qingyang City might have changed its appearance long ago.

But, maybe not.

With him around, there were always infinite variables.

Green Lady stealthily glanced at Zhou Ping’an and quickly gathered her thoughts, her expression becoming solemn: "Divine Envoy Zhong Ming is cautious and keeps a low profile on normal days.

But according to the information I gathered, his cultivation should be at the Great Completion Cycle, and his strength is even above Fierce Tiger Chang Yang.

What’s most formidable is that he has practiced the Karmic Fire Red Flame Skill from the Divine Envoy lineage, possessing extremely fierce True Qi, making him tough to handle."

"This one, along with over ten Strength-Training Martial Masters from the Qingyang Subruder, are already very difficult to deal with...

The most difficult part is that, in secret, the Chen family is also harboring a military force that appears to have cultivated the Blood Shadow Divine Skill."

"Are you certain that the Chen family has cultivated the Blood Shadow Divine Skill?"

Zhou Ping’an looked enlightened.

He had completely connected some dots.

In the Illusory Realm of Yin Family Village, he had assumed the past experiences of someone replacing "Cui Guangling," who obviously had learned the Blood Shadow Divine Skill, and moreover, had cultivated it to a highly profound degree.

If the Chen family was established by the steward of Cui Mansion, then their secret cultivation of evil skills and secretly carrying out tasks in Qingyang City would make perfect sense.

"During the battle at the city gate that day, I had a hundred men secretly helping, and we clashed with the Chen family’s experts. Outmatched, we retreated.

If it weren’t for that, whether God General Tang could have retreated or not is still debatable."

When Green Lady mentioned this, she slightly tilted her head up.

Her face bore a "you praise me, come on and praise me" expression,

A rare show of a young girl’s demeanor.

"I do owe you thanks for this. If it weren’t for your covert aid, Qingyang City’s situation could have turned quite ugly,"

Zhou Ping’an sincerely thanked her.

He had already asked around.

Ever since that battle, Tang Lin’er had been staying strictly within the barracks, on guard day and night,

and didn’t give the Red Lotus Sect Followers any opportunity.

But because she could only hold her position and not strike out, she completely lost control of Qingyang City.

In some aspects, Tang Lin’er’s approach was conservative, leading to a drastic worsening of the situation.However, in Zhou Ping’an’s view, not having a complete collapse and preserving the Army of Guards was the greatest achievement.

Because, with him and Lin Huaiyu having left Qingyang City, there were no longer any capable masters left in the city.

Elder Qing might be one, but he was nearly attacked in his residence and could only just protect himself.

At Green Lady’s place, she was not even able to protect herself.

Separated from within and without, she somewhat struggled to command even her own men.

Luckily, her information network was, as always, reliable.

Knowing what the key issues were can save a lot of energy.

"Given that, we should not delay any longer. Please continue to keep an eye on the Chen family, Green Lady, and report back immediately if you discover anything."

"Young Master Zhou, rest assured, I understand,"

Green Lady stood up, curtsied gracefully, and smiled in response.

This was clearly a gesture of agreement.

So much the better.

...

By now, with Zhou Ping’an’s status, position, and martial cultivation,

he no longer placed much importance on a little bit of silver or treasures that might appear from robbing corpses.

Even if there were martial arts manuals, he no longer valued them.

When leaving, he didn’t even look back at the several corpses inside Qinxin Pavilion.

He believed that Green Lady naturally had ways to fabricate a false scene and cover up everything that had happened inside Washing Flowers Pavilion,

until he was fully ready to act.

...

He returned to the County Yamen.

He found that the moving queue from the Lin Residence had already started to arrive in waves.

The streets were still in chaos, with martial masters from Jianghu frequently blocking the road to fight, causing houses to collapse and significant casualties among the civilians.

It was a situation beyond control at the moment.

Zhou Ping’an simply turned a blind eye for peace of mind.

He hurried to the army camp.

The situation with the City Guards was still good.

Morale was also quite high.

Especially, as soon as Zhou Ping’an stepped into the camp, the entire army camp immediately came to life.

Numerous waves of vigor suddenly boiled up.

A dense crowd of soldiers, standing quietly in the drill ground.

Lin Huaiyu, dressed in a white robe, wearing a ghost mask, holding a long sword, mounted on a horse, remained silent.

Beside him, Tang Lin’er lay on a stretcher, elevated before the soldiers, his face pale, yet his eyes blazed with fierce flames.

Clearly, he was seething with anger due to being heavily wounded and unable to lead the troops into battle, no doubt feeling frustrated.

"Dismiss for now, have your meal first. You have three quarters of an hour, gather at the end of the You Hour."

"Yes, General."

Following the command from Zhou Ping’an,

The gathered soldiers dispersed in an orderly manner.

Soon, the air was filled with the scent of food and pastries.

"Why did Huaiyu come early?"

Zhou Ping’an was quite surprised.

"I figured you’d be coming back from the Washing Flowers Pavilion, and the first thing would be to dispatch the troops, so I did not delay."

Lin Huaiyu removed his ghost mask and pursed his lips, as if smiling.

His body radiated a flow of energy, subtly filled with a murderous intent.

Obviously, he was prepared for a fierce battle.

He had said at the residence that he would serve as the vanguard, and he indeed did as he said...

"There’s no need to rush so much, I have received information, knowing exactly where the person behind all this is hiding.

Commander Tang, you have worked hard this time, pity about Commander Gu..."

"It’s due to the inadequacy of your subordinate, disgracing the army."

A sense of humiliation flashed across Tang Lin’er’s face.

Thinking back on the battle at the city gate, he felt utterly disgraced.

He nearly didn’t make it back.

If it weren’t for some skilled fighters suddenly appearing to aid him, he would have been surrounded and killed by the enemy.

Regrettably, quite a number of people who went out with him died.

"Managing to keep the camp intact is already a merit."

Zhou Ping’an did not blame him,

and even offered some comfort.

The people that the Red Lotus Sect sent to Qingyang City this time might not be too many, but, in terms of martial prowess, they were much stronger than Tang Lin’er and his men.

If the enemy had not preferred to avoid excessive losses and really fought to the death,

It’s uncertain if the enemy masters would die, but the over three thousand men that he had painstakingly cultivated might have been halved, and that would have been quite impressive.

"Come, let me see your injuries."

Zhou Ping’an took out the Silver Needles he carried with him.

He treated Tang Lin’er with acupuncture.

Under the enhancement of the Complete Level Life and Death Reincarnation Needle Technique, Tang Lin’er’s injuries were not very severe.

Stimulating vitality and removing blood toxins, this legitimate Divine General was already able to stand up.

Apart from Yuan Qi deficiency, which required some medicinal replenishment, he wasn’t seriously hindered.

"When did you break through the Blood Exchange Realm?"

While treating the injuries, Zhou Ping’an noticed that Tang Lin’er’s cultivation had broken through to Blood Exchange, and moreover, he had progressed significantly along this path.

Based on the sensation of energy, he estimated that the other’s whole body Blood Essence had already been halfway replaced.

Such a speed of cultivation, speaking of which, was not much slower than his own.

In terms of realm, he was about to catch up with the former Fiery Flame Messenger.

In the battle at the city gate, Gu Dashi died, but his survival was not entirely due to luck.

"Not much time has passed... right on the second day after Magistrate Zhou’s departure, I had already broken through to Blood Exchange.

Moreover, strangely enough, my cultivation has been extremely smooth during this period."

Tang Lin’er’s eyes flickered, he opened his mouth but did not say much.

Clearly, he was aware of some insider information.

But as a subordinate, there are some things that are better left unsaid, as speaking out could potentially suggest instigation.

So, he forcefully repressed the words in his heart.

Instead, his gaze towards Zhou Ping’an carried a bit more fervor.

If his own guess was true...

Then wasn’t he a "Dragon Serving Meritorious Official" from the very start by his side?

And, an Elder Yuan at that.

...

Requesting a Monthly Pass.