Longevity starts with inheriting a friend's legacy

Chapter 125: Encirclement and capture plan, Emperor Yu’s thoughts

Fang Xu nodded, and walked forward along the direction of the river with the old ape.

Qingzhou, Lu family.

After receiving the invitation from the Lu family, leaders of major forces and heads of major families rushed to the Lu family one after another.

Many of these forces and families did not know that Fang Xu did not leave the mountains from Huangzhou, but chose to take a detour to Qingzhou. They dispatched a large number of warriors to search for Fang Xu's whereabouts in the mountains near Huangzhou.

Now that they heard that the Lu family had discovered Fang Xu's whereabouts and were willing to share it, the leaders of various major forces and the heads of aristocratic families all rushed to Qingzhou.

Inside the Lu family hall, Saint Lu sat on the first seat, and the other powerful martial masters with terrifying auras sat on both sides.

The vast majority of those who can enter the hall are the patriarchs of various families and leaders of various forces, and their cultivation is no lower than the fifth level of Martial Honor.

As for the leaders of second-rate forces and second-rate families, they are not qualified to sit with these people.

"Brother Lu, everyone is almost here, stop hiding it and just speak up."

Among the group of martial masters, a sturdy man with a half armor, bare right shoulder, and a head full of small braids spoke.

Saint Lu looked at him and smiled faintly: "Brother Tuoba is indeed an impatient person."

Glancing at the crowd, Saint Lu saw that except for the head of the Huangzhou Yun family, all the martial masters from other families and forces were already in the hall, so he slowly spoke:

"I believe you all already know why Lu invited you all here."

"Now, in front of you all, Lu will speak first, and then we can discuss the specific strategies and allocation plans."

As Saint Lu spoke, he briefly recounted what happened to the Lu family and Fang Xu in the mountains.

"According to Brother Lu, that kid has now escaped to the territory of the Earthly Demon Ape?" The Patriarch of the Tuoba family frowned and said, then said angrily, "Brother Lu, are you trying to make fun of us?"

"If he falls into the hands of the Earthly Demon Ape, that kid will surely die. How can we force him to reveal his first-grade martial arts skills if he is dead?"

"That's right, Brother Lu, this is a bit too much!"

"Disperse, disperse. If he fell into the hands of a monster, he would have turned into its excrement by now."

……

All the powerful martial masters in the hall stood up and prepared to leave.

They all wanted first-class martial arts, so when they heard from the Lu family that Fang Xu was found, they rushed to Qingzhou.

Who would have thought that Fang Xu has now been forced into the depths of Tilan Mountain by the Lu family.

When a person dies, the first-grade martial arts skills are completely gone.

Instead of wasting time, they might as well try their luck in the third stage of the ruins, where they might be able to find other first-grade martial arts.

"Everyone!" Seeing everyone about to leave, Saint Lu hurriedly shouted, "What if that kid is not dead?"

After hearing his words, all the martial masters stopped and looked at Saint Lu in confusion.

Saint Lu smiled faintly and said, "To be honest, my Lu family has dispatched seven martial masters to capture that kid."

"My seven brothers tracked that kid all the way to the territory of the Earth Demon Ape. They saw with their own eyes that the kid was able to coexist peacefully with the Earth Demon Ape. The two even teamed up to attack and kill three of my Lu family's martial masters."

"So, do you still think the Earth Demon Ape will kill that kid?"

The fact that Fang Xu could live in peace with the Earthly Demon Ape was fabricated by Saint Lu himself. His purpose was to make everyone present believe that Fang Xu was still alive.

Only in this way will these people join forces with the Lu family to attack the territory of the Earthly Demon Ape.

By then, after killing all the evil apes, if that kid is lucky enough to survive, it would be best if we work together to force him to reveal his first-grade martial arts skills. If he dies, the Lu family can slowly look for the Qiankun bag after the warriors from these families and forces leave.

"That kid has this ability?"

Someone raised a question, and someone immediately said, "I think this should be true!"

"Everyone, don't forget the news that came out of the ruins. That kid had the ability to control beasts in the ruins. The martial masters and warriors who disappeared from our major families and forces were most likely killed by that kid and the human goblins in the ruins!"

When this matter was mentioned, the expressions of many people in the field suddenly changed!
In order to snatch the first-grade martial arts, all the major forces and families present had sent many people into the ruins, including some powerful martial arts masters.

But now, such a long time has passed since Fang Xu escaped from the ruins, and those martial masters and warriors from major families and forces have mysteriously disappeared.

At first, these people wondered if their men were lost in the second phase of the ruins, where the terrain was unpredictable.

But as time went on, other warriors who entered the ruins had roughly searched every corridor in the second phase of the ruins, but no one had seen the missing people.

Afterwards, some people speculated that Fang Xu should have some kind of ability similar to taming beasts based on the strange phenomenon that after Fang Xu disappeared, the human goblins in the ruins frantically attacked and killed all the warriors who intended to enter the small square.

It was he who used this ability to give orders to the mandrills when he escaped from the ruins, allowing them to buy time for him.

From this point, some warriors also speculated a horrifying thing.

That is, the nearly one thousand warriors and dozens of martial masters who disappeared mysteriously were most likely killed by the collaboration between Fang Xu and the human goblin.

However, so far, they have not found the bodies of any of the missing people, and they cannot be sure whether they have really died tragically in the ruins.

"Based on this situation, the boy might not be dead yet!"

After the hall fell into silence, someone spoke.

After hearing this, the others returned to their original seats.

"Everyone, that kid is very smart. He must have guessed that we will unite and attack the territory of the Earth Demon Ape soon."

"Lü believes that we should all join forces and kill him before he and the Disha Demon Ape Clan escape. Otherwise, the depths of Tilan Mountain are too dangerous. If he escapes to other places, we might really miss out on that first-grade martial art."

Saint Lu said with a serious expression.

He was serious in saying this. Everyone had already witnessed Fang Xu's intelligence. He was well aware of the strength of the Earthly Demon Ape, which was not enough to protect him. Saint Lu was now very worried that after Fang Xu realized this, he would lead the Earthly Demon Ape clan to escape deeper into the Tilan Mountain.

"Brother Lu is right. Let's set off without further delay!" The head of the Tuoba family was an impatient person. After hearing this, he immediately stood up and walked outside.

"Brother Tuoba, don't worry. We still need a rule for this matter."

"We have to prepare for the possibility that the boy has escaped by now."

Among the many warriors, a middle-aged man wearing a scholar's robe and with a short beard, who looked like a teacher, stood up and said, "As we all know, the deeper you go into Tilan Mountain, the more dangerous it is. I guess that kid definitely doesn't dare to go too deep."

"He dare not go deep into Tilan Mountain. His goal is still the Ascension Meeting in Zhongzhou."

"In this case, there are only two ways left."

The man in the scholar's robe spoke eloquently and confidently.

"Brother Li, don't keep us in suspense. Tell us quickly." Seeing him stop, someone immediately urged him.

The man in Confucian robes said slowly and calmly, "First, continue north along Tilan Mountain, reach the junction of Tilan Mountain and Wangyue Mountain, and go out of the pass to go around Muyun Grassland."

"Second, we can go directly from the junction of Tilan Mountain and Wangyue Mountain, pass the junction of Qingzhou and Liangzhou, and head to Zhongzhou."

"We need to make good arrangements for both routes, so as not to let that guy take advantage of the opportunity."

Hearing his words, everyone nodded and immediately spoke:

"In that case, we will immediately issue an order to mobilize manpower to set up defenses along the way. We must not let that kid get to Zhongzhou!"

"Yes! Post portraits and check every person who goes to Zhongzhou from here. We must not let him take advantage of the loopholes!"

"We need to send some people to Wangyue Mountain. There are no monsters there. They are just ferocious beasts with low strength. We need to prevent that kid from running to Wangyue Mountain."

"There is also the Muyun Grassland, where there are a lot of remnants of the Muyun Nation. Be careful that the kid sneaks in!"

Everyone started talking at once, and began to bring up Fang Xu's possible escape routes and the methods he might choose to avoid the attack.

"Everyone! Everyone!"

At this time, the man in the Confucian robes interrupted the discussion again and asked solemnly, "Have you paid attention to the news in Zhongzhou since you came in?"

Hearing this, everyone present was stunned.

"Zhongzhou can..." The head of the Tuoba family was about to say something, but suddenly frowned slightly: "Brother Li, are you talking about... the royal family?"

As soon as he said this, the expressions of all the martial masters changed slightly.

Yes!

Ever since the news that Fang Xu had mastered the first-grade martial arts spread throughout the Yu Kingdom, the only reaction of the Zhongzhou royal family seemed to be to send a large army to Tilan Mountain to wipe out the Yanshen sect stronghold hidden in the mountain.

There was no movement after that.

Now, all the forces in Dayu are searching for Fang Xu in a big way, except the royal family and the Yun family of Huangzhou.

As subjects, they all knew the ambition of Emperor Yu. With his overbearing character, he would never let a first-grade martial art fall into their hands.

"It's ok that the royal family didn't make any moves, but why is the Yun family in Huangzhou so low-key as well?"

"The Yun family's strength has been declining over the years. Logically speaking, they would pay more attention to first-grade martial arts."

Questions were raised.

"Oh! Why bother with them!" The Patriarch of the Tuoba family suddenly stood up and said, "It would be better if we don't interfere!"

Upon hearing this, the man in Confucian robes turned his head and looked at Saint Lu who was sitting in the first seat, wanting to see if he knew anything.

Meeting his gaze, Saint Lu smiled faintly and said, "Brother Tuoba is right. If everyone gets a first-grade martial art, it is no longer a first-grade martial art."

"Everyone, let's follow the rules we just discussed. We, the martial masters, will attack the territory of the Earth Demon Ape. The remaining martial artists and warriors will set up defenses at the junction of Tilan Mountain and Wangyue Mountain as soon as possible. At the same time, we must also set up defenses on various important roads from Qingzhou to Zhongzhou."

"As for the Muyun Grassland, my Qingzhou soldiers will go to the grassland to conduct an inspection."

No one had any objection to his arrangement, and they all told their entourage to follow the rules.

……

Zhongzhou, the Imperial Palace.

Naturally, the fact that Saint Lu and other martial masters were marching towards the depths of Tilan Mountain could not be concealed from the eyes and ears of the royal family.

The news soon reached the ears of Emperor Yu Li Cangwu.

In the hall, Li Cangwu looked at the butcher Zhao Wuji and the director of the Imperial Observatory Qin Mushen in front of him and sneered: "These guys are increasingly looking down on me."

"What do they want to do?"

"Wuji, you say!"

Zhao Wuji bowed without saying anything.

"Old man, you say!"

Li Cangwu looked at Qin Muchen again.

Qin Mushen hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I...I...I don't know."

Seeing the two of them like this, Li Cangwu suddenly flicked his sleeves and snorted coldly: "Don't you know, or don't dare to say it?"

"Then I'll tell you!"

"They want to snatch the first-grade martial arts, then kill me and divide up my Yu Kingdom!" Faced with the furious Li Cangwu, Qin Mushen and Zhao Wuji did not dare to speak.

Li Cangwu was barefoot, swinging his wide sleeves, and pacing back and forth on the platform.

After a long while, he took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, looked at Qin Mushen and asked, "How is the national destiny?"

Qin Mushen's body trembled slightly, and he clasped his hands and said, "The national fortune... the national fortune... is still declining, but now... now it has become a six-glorious trend..."

"Six Brilliant!?"

"Great, great! Another loss of national fortune..."

Li Cangwu was so angry that he smiled and glared at Qin Mushen and said, "I remember correctly. When my father passed the throne of Emperor Yu to me, it was Liu Huang, right?"

Qin Mushen didn't dare to speak.

"After I ascended the throne, I worked hard to govern the country. I annexed the Yushan Island Kingdom in the east and destroyed the Muyun Grassland in the west. It took me decades to raise the fortune of my Yu Kingdom to the ninth level."

"Now, these decades of hard work have been wasted, and the blood of countless soldiers has been shed in vain!"

"Old man, tell me now how to solve this problem!"

Qin Mushen's body trembled again, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

He knew very well that if he couldn't come up with an effective method today, Li Cangwu, in a rage, would definitely kill him on the spot to vent his anger!

"His Majesty!"

Qin Mushen's thoughts raced, and he suddenly thought of something, and he said, "I have said before that the decline of our country's fortunes has something to do with the fall of our Yu country's warriors."

"I think the Tilanshan ruins are too dangerous, and a large number of warriors have perished there. If Your Majesty can order the ruins to be temporarily closed, it may be able to slow down the decline of our national fortune!"

"Impossible!" As soon as Qin Mushen finished speaking, Li Cangwu immediately denied it, saying, "This move will arouse the resentment of warriors all over the world. I can't do this!"

"Think of another way!"

Qin Mushen was somewhat stunned. It seemed difficult for him to understand why the arrogant and domineering Emperor Yu would care about these things.
The resentment of warriors all over the world?

In his eyes, when has he ever taken the attitudes of warriors in the world into account?
"Other than that, there is only... only..." Putting aside the doubts in his heart, Qin Mushen looked at Li Cangwu with some fear, hesitating and never dared to say the second half of the sentence.

"Say!"

"As long as it can prevent the country's fortune from continuing to decline, it doesn't matter!"

Li Cangwu spoke.

Qin Mushen gritted his teeth and said directly: "Issue a self-criticism edict..."

"Your Majesty is the ruler of Dayu. Dayu's national fortune is declining. This old minister dares to say that this action should be a warning from heaven. If Your Majesty can issue an edict of repentance, slaughter livestock, offer sacrifices to heaven, and at the same time grant amnesty to the world and reduce some taxes, it will improve the national fortune..."

"An edict of self-criticism..." Li Cangwu's eyes narrowed slightly, the corners of his eyes twitched, a trace of struggle flashed across his face, and his eyes became firm: "Okay!"

"I will issue an edict of repentance!"

"The Astronomical Bureau will immediately determine an auspicious date and prepare for the sacrificial ceremony. Confirm this matter as soon as possible!"

Seeing that Li Cangwu agreed to the confession of guilt so readily, Qin Mushen was stunned.

He thought that mentioning the edict of repentance would make the conceited emperor furious, but he never expected that the other party just hesitated for a moment and then agreed.

"Why are you still standing there? Go get ready!"

"Go down!"

Li Cangwu suddenly waved his hand and said impatiently.

In the hall, Zhao Wuji and Qin Mushen hurriedly bowed and quickly left the hall.

At the Tianlu Gate of the Imperial Palace, Qin Mu looked at Zhao Wuji beside him with deep concern, and couldn't help but bowed and said, "General, will practicing martial arts... cause problems in your brain?"

Zhao Wuji was stunned for a moment, and looked at Qin Mushen in confusion, "The Supervisor is also a Martial Master, why would he ask such a ridiculous question?"

Qin Mushen frowned slightly and said, "But...but His Majesty...Alas!"

Seeing Qin Mushen like this, Zhao Wuji smiled faintly and said, "As a Feng Shui master, the supervisor should be a smart person. How come he is confused when facing this matter?"

Qin Mu was puzzled and immediately bowed: "Please enlighten me, General."

Zhao Wuji looked back helplessly at the palace behind him, and then whispered: "After your majesty destroyed the Muyun Kingdom, what did you want to do most and what did you worry about most?"

Qin Mushen was stunned for a moment and asked uncertainly: "Aristocratic family?"

Seeing that he had guessed it, Zhao Wuji didn't say anything more. He bowed slightly and said, "There are still things to do in the Wuji army. I will leave first."

Behind him, Qin Mushen looked at Zhao Wuji's receding figure with a dazed expression.

"What a great plan to kill the whole world, what a cruel heart, what a deep calculation..."

"No wonder the royal family has been so indifferent even when facing a first-grade martial art..."

……

Dusk grassland.

It is early autumn, and the vast grassland is still lush with grass and green everywhere.

Looking at the grassland in front of him, the old ape wearing a conical hat and a linen robe stopped frequently, obviously curious about this exotic scenery that was different from the big events.

Fang Xu would occasionally stop and gaze into the distance.

In his previous life, he had been to the grassland and saw the scene of cattle and sheep when the wind blew the grass low.

But the grassland in my previous life was obviously dwarfed by the one before me.

Or perhaps it was because after the destruction of the Muyun Kingdom, the grassland lost its herders and the weeds had the opportunity to grow wildly, so that the two people in the grassland felt like they were walking in a green ocean and could not see any land at all.

When the breeze blows, the wild grass in the distance sways one after another, like waves on the sea, which makes people feel relaxed and happy.

"Uncle Yuan, what is the world like outside the mountain?" Fang Xu said with a smile.

The old ape walked around a blooming wild flower in front of him and shook his head slightly: "If one day, demon beasts can live in peace with humans, the young ones in the tribe will definitely be happy to see this endless grassland..."

Fang Xu didn't say anything.

Humans and monsters living in peace?

In today's world, people cannot even live in peace with each other, let alone humans and monsters?
After expressing his emotion, he took out some dried meat and water from his Qiankun bag and gave some to the old ape. The two of them ate the dried meat and drank the water, while Fang Xu held the map in his hand.

"According to the map, if we want to pass through the Muyun Grassland and head to the Northern Desolate Province, we need to travel three thousand miles."

"The direction is pretty easy to confirm..." Fang Xu said, looking at the Moon-Watching Mountain in the distance that looked like a giant dragon stretching across the sky and earth, and said, "Follow the mountain and walk to the end of the Moon-Watching Mountain to reach the Northern Wasteland."

"Although the Muyun Kingdom was destroyed, there are still a large number of its survivors living in this grassland."

"The remnants of Muyun Country have a great feud with Yu Country. I'm afraid we'll run into some trouble if we walk on the grassland."

The old ape nodded and said, "The hatred of destroying a country and the hatred between the people of the two countries are not so easy to resolve."

"Let's go. It's a journey of three thousand miles. We need to find two good horses."

The two of them walked towards the north across the vast grassland.

At the same time, somewhere on the grassland, a huge silver wolf was crouching over a young girl and running wildly on the grassland. Behind the girl, hundreds of smaller gray wolves followed closely behind.

"Xiaoyin, run faster or you'll be caught up!" The girl on the silver wolf's back turned her head to look at the pack of gray wolves behind her and said with a smile.

The silver wolf under him grinned and increased its speed again, gradually leaving the gray wolf behind.

The man and the wolf gradually ran to the foot of the mountain at the edge of the grassland before they stopped.

The girl rolled down from the wolf's back, waited for the wolves to come to her, and said, "Okay, let's stay here. If you see a stranger, remember to warn him in time."

A group of gray wolves squatted on the ground, looking at the girl quietly.

If Fang Xu were there, he would definitely recognize that this girl was none other than Tongtong, the beast tamer girl whom he and Li Xun met after they were attacked at Tilan Mountain that day.

After instructing the gray wolves, Tongtong turned over and rode on the silver wolf, patted its head and said, "Xiaoyin, let's go home."

The silver wolf nodded, leaped suddenly, and rushed towards the Moon-Watching Mountain in front of him.

In the distance, Fang Xu and Lao Yuan exchanged a few bags of dry food and some gold for two top-quality horses from a herdsman. The two rode the horses and galloped all the way, and soon arrived at the place where Tongtong and Yinlang left.

"Ouch!"

As it was getting dark, the two were about to find a place to rest when they suddenly heard a low wolf howl.

Then, the howling of wolves began to sound all around.

Old Ape Fang Xu reined in his warhorse and looked at the gray wolves slowly surrounding him. They exchanged glances with each other.

"Uncle Ape, we've been eating dried meat for a few days, how about roasting wolf meat tonight?" The old ape nodded: "Just kill one and teach it a lesson."

Although these gray wolves in front of him were just unintelligent wild beasts and not apes, the old apes still couldn't bear to kill them.

Fang Xu nodded slightly. These wild wolves were not even ferocious beasts. It would be enough to kill one to fill his stomach. It was not really necessary to kill them all.

He suddenly leaped from his warhorse and rushed directly towards the nearest gray wolf!
The man was in mid-air, a light flashed in his hand, and a long stick suddenly appeared!

"Ouch!"

The gray wolf in front of him seemed to be aware of the danger. After letting out a shrill howl, it turned around and tried to run away.

But facing a warrior, how could it escape?

The long stick was like a poisonous snake that was ready to bite its prey. It instantly approached the gray wolf's head, and the next moment, it smashed its head directly!

After landing on the ground, Fang Xu put away the long stick, then carried the body of the gray wolf and slowly walked to the front.

At night, the wolf meat on the campfire was roasting and oozing with oil. Fang Xu had just taken out a jar of wine from his Qiankun bag when he suddenly remembered what the giant turtle had said some time ago about the "unlucky star" and immediately prepared to take the wine back.

"Boy, are you hiding the wine?" Seeing this, the old ape stretched out his hand to grab it.

Fang Xu quickly dodged and said seriously, "Uncle Yuan, you can't drink this wine. You will die if you drink it."

The old ape was startled: "Why, is the wine poisoned?"

Fang Xu shook his head: "Uncle Yuan, believe me, it's not that I won't give you a drink."

Seeing how serious he was, the old ape smacked his lips and waved his hands, saying, "Forget it, forget it. If you don't want to drink, then don't drink."

"Eat meat!"

The old ape tore off a piece of wolf meat, sniffed it with great enjoyment, and then began to eat it.

Seeing this, Fang Xu also tore off a piece and was about to enjoy it, but suddenly, he smelled a faint stench from the breeze blowing towards him.

"Boy, did you fart?" The old ape was obviously also aware of the stench and covered his nose with some disgust.

Fang Xu's face froze, and he slowly said, "Uncle Yuan, it's the stench of a corpse!"

(End of this chapter)