Chapter 44: The Barbarian

 

While listening to the conversation and waiting for the food to arrive. There is a commotion outside the inn. A group of soldiers wearing armor enters the inn.

 

“Everyone get out; this inn will be used by the imperial family!” One of the soldiers shouted.

 

Hearing that people complain, however, there is nothing they can do. Zou Jie also leaves the inn; killing them is easy, but he doesn’t want any trouble. However, when he wants to get his horse, the soldiers block his path, saying the imperial family will take the horse.

 

Zou Jie frowns slightly.

 

The young soldier, seeing that he is dissatisfied, draws out his sword. “Get lost, or you want to die!”

 

The other people, whose horses were also being taken, stopped walking and smirked. It looks like that young soldier is going to die. From Zou Jie's appearance and aura, he looks like someone not to be trifled with.

 

Zou Jie is contemplating whether he should kill the soldier or not.

 

“Move!” The young soldier, seeing that Zou Jie didn’t show any movement, pointed his sword at him.

 

“Stop!” An older soldier nearby shouted to stop the young soldier. He had seen many young soldiers who were drunk on power and, in the end, provoked the wrong people.

 

However, it was too late. The young soldier felt pain in his chest and saw a sword pierce his heart. His eyes are full of disbelief, and he doesn’t even see the sword movement.

 

When Zou Jie pulls out the sword, blood spurts from the wound, and the soldier collapses to the ground.

 

“Enemy attack!"

 

Soon, Zou Jie is surrounded by the soldiers. Although he doesn’t want any trouble if people are courting death, He is obliged to send them to Yellow Springs.

 

“Attack!” The soldiers rush forward.

 

Zou Jie can see their slow movement; by dodging to the side, he slashes the nearest soldier's arm. Next, he moves behind another soldier and stabs his back. Most of the soldier's strengths are just like those of a third-class martial artist. Without practicing external martial arts to their peak or reaching martial mastery, they couldn't harm him.

 

Each slash and stab injured or killed a soldier.

 

A few surviving soldiers, seeing that they can’t win, begin to flee. Zou Jie took the swords on the ground belonging to the dead soldiers and threw them at the fleeing soldiers. The swords flew like a javelin and pierced their bodies.

 

After making sure the soldiers are dead, Zou Jie takes the horses and leaves the area. This should buy him enough time to escape.

 

The other people who don’t want to be implicated also flee from the crime scene. Except for the inn worker and owner, who can only wait for the military officer or official to arrive for questioning,

Not far from the inn, a carriage with a Bai Kingdom royal family flag is escorted by a cavalry.

 

“Second prince, we will arrive at the inn soon to rest.” A chubby scholar fans the second prince's face using a folded fan.

 

“Where are we going this time?” The chubby second prince asked.

 

“I heard there is a beautiful courtesan in a nearby town.”

 

“Is your information correct?” The second prince gazed skeptically at his confidant. The last time they went to a brothel, it was full of old women the same age as his mother.

 

“Don’t worry, if we don’t find anyone you find interested, I am sure there are many young girls in the town.” The chubby scholar said it lecherously. Both of them had done many evil things in secret, and the second prince's mother is the daughter of the Bai kingdom's prime minister.

 

The official who knows doesn’t dare do anything about it, afraid of offending the king and prime minister.

 

The carriage stops, and the second prince thinks they have already arrived.

 

“Your Highness, our soldier has been attacked at the inn; it’s safer if you stay in the carriage.” The cavalry colonel spoke.

 

The colonel grimaces after hearing the report. A soldier takes the martial artist's horse and ends up dead, along with the other soldiers.

 

“How is the situation?” The second prince inside the carriage asked.

 

“The perpetrator already escaped.”

 

"Let's chase him." The second prince is bored, so pursuing a criminal will be exciting.

 

“Your Highness, it’s too dangerous.” The colonel is worried that, if anything happens, his head will be gone.

 

“It's fine; quickly give me a horse; do you want to follow?" The second prince asked his friend.

 

“I will wait for Your Highness here.”

 

-

 

Martial Alliance headquarters.

 

The death of the divine physician Zou had been kept a secret. However, the martial alliance had many eyes and found out about the physician Zou's assassination.

 

“Too bad, physician Zou is dead.” Elder Shi Qiang stroked his white beard.

 

“There is nothing we can do.” Lei Chen, wearing a scholarly robe, said.

 

“How did Veil Sect react?”

 

“The Veil sect remains quiet; there are no reports that Tang Clan people and businesses have been attacked.”

 

“How is the situation with the barbarian?” The empires and kingdoms' citizens called them barbarians since they had different cultures than them. They are the nomadic tribe of the north, the desert tribe of the west, and the sea tribe from the east.

 

The nomadic tribe lives in a vast grassland near the Qin Empire. They had a strong body and fast horses that could compete with the empire's elite army. For centuries, the Qin Empire used the divide-and-conquer strategy to control weaker nomadic tribes by providing food and weapons.

 

Over time, the weaker nomadic tribes grow stronger and wage war on other nomadic tribes. The constant war makes the nomadic tribes in the north weaker and prevents them from uniting.

 

The Han used the same technique as the desert tribe since the desert had many minerals that the Han empire desired. The only exception is the Min empire, which borders the vast sea and relies on its strong navy to fend off pirates from the sea tribes.

 

 

 

“There are nothing unusual.”

 

“Good.”

 

“What should we do about the demon sect?”

 

"Order our spy to be careful; we don’t know what the demon sect will do." Although they are certain that the Veil sect is a Demon sect, most people no longer believe the rumor because of what martial alliance members have done in the past by slandering new sects and organizations as Demon sect remnants to destroy them. As a result, they are unable to take direct action against the demon sect.

 

-

 

At the shore of the vast grassland, a large sailing ship drops an anchor into the sea, and a small boat is coming to the shore. On the land, there is already a large tent set up, and two groups of people are waiting. The first group wearing fur clothes made from sheep waited, and the second group covered their heads with a scarf.

 

“Oh, this place is lively.” A man wearing a robe comes down from the ship and enters the tent while his men wait outside.

 

“Sit down and eat first; the teacher still has not arrived.” A burly man with fur clothes said this while eating some meat.

 

Inside the tent, there is also a man wearing a scarf covering his head and sitting on a floor cushion to remain quiet.

 

“The Lord has arrived!”

 

The three men stood up and bowed their heads respectfully.

 

The one who enters is an elderly man; however, from his condition, it looks like he is going to die.

 

"Teacher, quickly sit down.” The three men look worried and hold the elderly man to his seat.

 

“Thank you. How is the plan?”

 

“It's only a matter of time before I can control most of the sea tribes.” Said the robed man, there are many islands in the vast sea; combined, they can rival the population of several kingdoms.

 

“There is resistance from other powerful nomadic tribes; I just need a year to take over the grassland.” The burly man spoke confidently.

 

“Teacher, I don’t have enough men to take over the desert.” Different from other areas, the desert doesn’t have a large population, and there is a limited oasis that people can live in.

 

“Take your time; I will send someone to help.” Hong Xiuquan, when he was young, received a vision or message from god that wanted him to correct this world. There will not be rebirth without destruction; what he had planned for decades was the destruction of the three empires.

 

However, he alone couldn’t do it alone, and because of that, he took many disciples from various backgrounds. The three barbarian kids that he had taken finally showed results. Now they are secretly building their strength.

 

“Teacher, how about the empires?” The robed man asked if, if the empire found out, their hard work for decades would be gone.

 

“Don’t worry, your brothers and sisters will handle it."

 

Hong Xiuquan students are all over the continent. Although he said to take your time, he doesn’t have a long time to live. However, before he dies, he wants to see the destruction of the three empires.

 

“Teacher, have you contacted the Demon Sect?”

 

"Yes, but there is no reply." If they can enlist the assistance of the demon sect, they will be able to keep the martial alliance at bay.