Astral Apostle

After sending a message for the Imperial Court, Cao Sheng waited for a few days before he was finally summoned by Fan Zong in private again.

This time, Fan Zong's attitude was much warmer. He invited Cao Sheng to take a seat.

They exchanged a few pleasantries before getting to the point. Fan Zong solemnly spoke,

"Chen Feng gathered a group of outlaws just to rebel. I was coerced into his stronghold, but I actually didn't have any intention of rebelling. I've long wanted to abandon the dark and join the light. Now that the Imperial Court thinks highly of me, I'm willing to be recruited and be a spy for the official army."

Cao Sheng was overjoyed when he heard this, "Chen Feng raised the flag of rebellion, going against the natural flow. He will fail sooner or later. Brother Fan, this is a wise choice!"

Fan Zong waved his hand to interrupt and continued,

"However, Chen Feng is a powerful man after all, so it's not easy for me to fight him. It's not easy to do such a thing as being a spy. If word gets out, I will definitely die without a burial place. I can only open the door for the soldiers here. When the Imperial Court takes down this place and marches in, I can't return to the Dragon King Stronghold anymore. You have to let me retreat to the back and not fight at the front line."

"I can't make the decision on this matter. I have to report it to the Imperial Court."

Cao Sheng hurriedly replied. He was not afraid of bargaining. In any case, he was not the one who made the final decision.

Fan Zong nodded and continued in a deep voice,

"Although it's said that a wise man submits to the times, Chen Feng is a ferocious man. If I betray him, I will definitely attract revenge. Although I'm a Green Forest bandit, I have the heart to repay the country. I want to be loyal to the Emperor and support the Empire. My hot blood can't cool… I can't live under the same sky as a traitor of the Empire!"

"Alright! Big Brother is loyal to the country and can distinguish right from wrong. He's really a first-class hero!"

Cao Sheng echoed the praise and flattered him.

The two of them chatted for a while more before Cao Sheng left excitedly.

...

Not long after, Fan Zong received a reply from the officials, indicating that they accepted his conditions. It was signed by Cheng Liqing, the commander of the Imperial Court's troops.

Next, Fan Zong and Cheng Liqing kept exchanging letters through Cao Sheng as a middleman, plotting to cooperate from the inside and attack this pass.

In order to prevent others from noticing anything, the Imperial Court's troops would pretend to attack the pass from time to time, forming a stalemate.

The days passed, and finally, it was time for the conspiracy to take place.

According to the agreement, Fan Zong needed to send his subordinates to open the pass on this night to control the gate and welcome the soldiers in to occupy this pass.

Things went smoothly. The soldiers took advantage of the night to quietly approach. When Fan Zong received the signal, he attacked from the inside and seized the pass. He opened the door to welcome the soldiers. The pass was quickly lost, causing chaos in the entire stronghold.

When Cheng Liqing led the troops into the pass, he saw that the battle had already ended. The imperial soldiers had completely controlled the pass.

He was quite satisfied with his plan.

"I only used a small trick to take down this place without any bloodshed. Hehe, in my opinion, only Chen Feng is considered a figure among the bandits of the Dragon King Stronghold. The others are a group of bumpkins who are useless. Their intelligence is low, and they are crude and stupid."

Cheng Liqing smiled at his adjutant.

As a Guardian Envoy sent by the Imperial Court, he looked down on these boorish people from the bottom of his heart. He felt that he was proficient in the art of war, was brave and good at fighting, and had received a good education. How could a group of ignorant and incompetent bandits compare to him?

At this moment, Fan Zong rushed over to report the urgent situation,

"General Cheng, there was a small accident. When the commander of this pass, Fang Zhen, saw that the situation was bad, he fled with a group of leaders and guards. We failed to capture the head."

Cheng Liqing frowned, "To think this person reacted so quickly."

Fan Zong offered, "General, this Fang Zhen is the sixth head of the stronghold. His abilities are not bad, and he's also Chen Feng's sworn brother. If we capture this person, we can definitely threaten Chen Feng. We can't let him escape just like that."

"Well, that makes sense. I don't think this bandit can run far. It's best to chase after him while we have the momentum… Hurry up and gather the troops. Leave the main force here to guard the pass. The rest of you, follow me to chase after the bandit leader!"

Cheng Liqing agreed and immediately ordered.

Soon, he led a few thousand troops out of seclusion and followed the scattered footprints on the road towards the enemy who had fled.

Under the moonlight, the group chased after them all the way. They followed the footprints and turned to the rugged path before finally discovering a group of defeated bandits in front of a forest.

"Ha, criminals, don't you dare leave!"

Cheng Liqing was overjoyed and ordered the troops to charge forward.

The group of bandits' expressions changed drastically. They crawled into the forest and fled in panic.

Seeing this scene, Cheng Liqing could not care less about not entering the forest. He called for the troops to chase into the forest, only wanting to capture the leader of the bandit army.

However, after chasing for a while in the forest, the soldiers were still hanging behind and gradually fanned out instead of staying in a group. Cheng Liqing realized that something was wrong.

"No, I'm afraid it's a trap!"

Cheng Liqing's eyelids twitched. He suddenly woke up from his haze of greed and was about to order the entire army to gather and retreat.

However, at this moment, shouts suddenly erupted from the forest.

"Kill!"

Large groups of bandits stuck their heads out of the ground and surrounded them from all directions, immediately catching the soldiers off guard.

"Hahaha, the officials have been ambushed. Boys, follow me to kill!"

Fang Zhen broke out of the ground and laughed non-stop. He held onto his staff and brazenly charged into the crowd of soldiers. Every time he struck, he could knock down a few enemy soldiers.

After two years of cultivating profound martial arts, his martial arts had also improved greatly. According to the 100-point system, it had probably increased from 88 to about 93. He had also stepped into the ranks of top experts.

"Not good, we've fallen into a trap!"

Cheng Liqing was shocked and hurriedly turned around with his guards. After a bloody battle, he finally broke out of the encirclement and fled.

It was not easy for him to run out of the forest. Only 200 to 300 of the thousands of people who went with him were left, and the rest were all trapped in the ambush.