Yan Ge returned to Huangfu Yuchen’s side. Seeing that everyone was munching on dry rations, he sighed softly.
“What’s wrong?” Huangfu Yuchen supported his shoulder.
“I want to eat the dishes from Liuxian Pavilion,” Yan Ge complained, gazing at him with a hint of resentment.
Huangfu Yuchen hurriedly comforted, “I’ll take you there once we are back at the capital. I’ll have someone inform the manager to have the entire place reserved in advance and make two or three hundred dishes that can fill up all the tables in the hall. You can eat whatever you like. Yang Zhuo and the others have also worked hard on this journey, so we can invite them to a meal as well.”
“Good idea!” Yan Ge licked his lips. “The more you talk about it, the more I want to eat.”
Their voices weren’t deliberately lowered, and several special forces soldiers around overheard and excitedly whispered the good news to each other. They didn’t have many opportunities to eat at the Liuxian Pavilion. The Emperor and Yan Guiqing are indeed close to the people!
Due to the vast size of the Demon Fortress, it took a long time for Yang Zhuo, Yilihan, Bai Shaobai, and the others to return with their teams.
In the imperial edict, the winner was determined by the army that reached the Demon Fortress first. However, due to encountering many dangers along the way and having only one guide, General Yilihan silently changed that decision. As for how to divide the treasure, they would discuss it after finding it.
Yilihan said, “The Demon Fortress has a total of eight entrances. My idea is to divide our seventeen teams into nine groups. One group will remain outside to guard our supplies, and the other eight groups will enter the Demon Fortress through different entrances to search for the treasure. After finding it, we’ll meet here. What do you all think?”
This arrangement made sense, and the other leaders had no objections.
“But, how should we divide?”
Yilihan said, “Our Mai Kingdom soldiers have the best physique among all the kingdoms, so we’ll stay outside to guard the supplies. In case of any danger, we can protect all the supplies in time. The remaining sixteen kingdoms can evenly split into eight groups. Great Han has the fewest soldiers, and Wei kingdom has the most, so they can go together; Liao Kingdom and Youji Kingdom can go together…..This way, the total number of soldiers in each major group is roughly equal.”
Yang Zhuo said, “In my view, this arrangement might not be appropriate. Looking at how big the Demon Fortress is, you can tell the rooms inside must be intricate and complex. Once there’s any danger, those with better physique will be better at dealing with it. Therefore, I think the Mai kingdom’s army should also enter. This way, we’ll have a better chance of finding the treasure. Additionally, what if we find the treasure in the end and the kingdoms staying outside get greedy and poison our water? For safety reasons, at least three kingdoms should stay behind to keep an eye on each other. What do you generals think?”
Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen didn’t tell Yang Zhuo that they already obtained the treasure, and he couldn’t guess what the Mai Kingdom was planning, but that wasn’t an issue as long as they went against whatever plan they had. If there’s really a treasure inside, it was impossible to let the Mai Kingdom to sit back and enjoy it.
This proposal received support from several other leaders.
“General Yang makes sense.”
“I agree with this plan.”
After some debate among the leaders, they finally settled on an action plan. The Mai, Liao, and Wei kingdoms had the most surviving soldiers so each left behind two hundred people to guard the supplies. The rest would enter the castle.
Great Han’s troops were few, so they would go with the Wei kingdom’s army, entering through the main eastern entrance of the Demon Fortress.
“Now, let’s set off. We’ll meet here after one hour. If we find the treasure, that’s great. If not, we’ll rest and then set off later,” Bai Shaobai said.
Everyone understood and prepared their weapons, water, and torches before setting off separately.
Upon entering the main entrance, they found a straight corridor. As the entire castle was almost sealed off, the further they went, the darker it became. However, they could still vaguely see that there were many doors on both sides of the corridor, leading to small rooms. To find the treasure, they could only search through each room one by one.
Bai Shaobai suggested, “General Yang, there are so many rooms here. Why don’t we split into two teams? One team can search the rooms on the left, and the other team can search the rooms on the right.”
“Alright,” Yang Zhuo agreed. Bai Shaobai had over eight hundred soldiers in total, with three hundred staying outside, leaving over five hundred. Splitting them into two teams resulted in each team having over three hundred soldiers.
Yang Zhuo also divided his three hundred soldiers into three teams: one to check the rooms with odd numbers, another to check the rooms with even numbers, and the last team to be on guard outside. In case of any unexpected situations, they could provide assistance at any time.
Upon opening the first room, a choking cloud of dust rushed out. Startled by the intrusion, snakes, insects, mice, and ants that had made nests inside scurried away rapidly. The rustling sounds were densely packed, giving one goosebumps.
Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen couldn’t outright tell Yang Zhuo that there was no treasure inside, so they used their eyes to suggest he didn’t have to search so carefully.
Yang Zhuo got the hint and signaled the message to his subordinates using a new set of military sign language.
An entire hour passed, and apart from discovering a nest of strange snakes and two nests of scorpions, they found nothing. When they returned to the square, they found that others also had no harvest.
After resting for two incense sticks’ worth of time, they decided to check again.
It soon became evident that there was no treasure inside the Demon Fortress. It could be seen that until it was dark, they had gained nothing. Not only that, but the Demon Fortress, which was such a good shelter from the wind and rain, had long been occupied by various monsters, resulting in significant losses to each group, and the deaths were all tragic.
Even the mighty Mai Kingdom was left with only over 500 soldiers. Wei kingdom was left with just over 400, Liao Kingdom with over 400, and several other small kingdoms had even greater losses. Morale was extremely low, and the shadow of death loomed over them all.
No one from Great Han was injured or killed, thanks to Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen. Great Han had always acted alongside the Wei Kingdom, and Bai Shaobai had long noticed their extraordinary martial arts skills.
“General Yilihan, we must leave early tomorrow morning. Our water reserves are running low, and we can’t stay here waiting for the next rainfall,” Bai Shaobai said in a stern tone, conveying his dissatisfaction with the Mai Kingdom. They were convinced by the Mai Kingdom’s claim that there was a treasure in the Demon Fortress, which led to the joint exploration plan. However, now they hadn’t even found a single gold piece, making Bai Shaobai furious.
Yilihan also wondered whether he was being manipulated by his own king. The king’s plan was this: there indeed was treasure in the Demon Fortress, but it was also filled with dangers. If they explored it solely with their own forces, they would suffer great losses. It was better to use the treasure as bait, getting all the neighboring kingdoms involved and having them help in the search. Once the treasure was found, they would cooperate with the Wei Kingdom to seize it. Other kingdoms didn’t matter, but they must exterminate the 1,000 elite soldiers of Great Han as revenge for the Fumian and Guyidian incidents, letting Great Han’s emperor know they were not to be trifled with.
However, perhaps they guessed it was a plot or it was by accident, Great Han had sent only 100 elite soldiers.
What surprised Yilihan even more was the fact that there was no trace of treasure inside the Demon Fortress. Before setting off, his king had given him a treasure map, indicating that the treasure was in a secret chamber beneath the main hall. To avoid suspicion, he arranged for the representatives of the Youji Kingdom to investigate there. They did find a secret chamber, but it was completely devoid of treasure.
Yilihan felt it was impossible for someone to secretly move the treasure from the Demon Fortress without even a whisper of a rumor. So, his target shifted from the neighboring kingdoms to his own king. He really wondered if his past mistakes had caused the king to bear a grudge against him, and this was the opportunity to eliminate him. The thought of serving his king with utmost loyalty for so many years only to end up in this situation made him seethe with anger.
For now, the most crucial thing was to stabilize the situation. Yilihan could only feign regret and say, “It seems the information was wrong. On behalf of His Majesty, I apologize to all of you. The night is long, and we have already suffered significant losses. In my opinion, we don’t need to wait until tomorrow morning. Let’s head back now.”
While the generals were frustrated about the wasted trip, it was not the right time to confront Yilihan. Moreover, they would still need to cooperate on their way back to deal with the monsters. But they had decided that once they returned to their own kingdoms, they would definitely report the matter to their respective kings, especially Maiguo’s king. Several team leaders thought, ‘We might be small kingdoms, but we are not to be bullied!’
After everyone finished organizing, they began their journey back.
Yilihan’s straightforwardness surprised Yan Ge. He quietly asked Huangfu Yuchen, “We all thought the Mai Kingdom and Wei kingdom had some plot against us, and the Demon Fortress would definitely be the place where they’d act. Why did he give up like this?”
Huangfu Yuchen was also puzzled, but as someone who had studied the art of kingship, he quickly understood the situation and explained to Yan Ge, “Yilihan didn’t find the treasure, so he must suspect that Hu Mailong played him…”
Hu Mailong and Yilihan would definitely have conflicts in the future. This was indeed an unexpected delight.
After hearing Huangfu Yuchen’s analysis, Yan Ge couldn’t help but be overjoyed. To avoid irritating the team leaders who had suffered significant losses and the soldiers who had lost many comrades, he had to suppress his laughter, but everyone could see the bright smile on his face.
But what could they do to him? This Physician Qin and that special forces soldier were martial arts experts.
With the experience from the journey here, the return journey was smoother although they still encountered various monsters.
Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen refrained from provoking the other kingdoms too much and even lent them a hand several times. The journey went smoothly without any trouble.
After leaving the desert, the armies of various kingdoms bid farewell one by one.
The teams of Great Han, Mai, and Youji Kingdoms continued to travel together until they reached Maieden.
Hu Mailong was probably confident that his army would surely bring back the treasure, so he sent a 5,000-strong army to welcome Yilihan’s troops. However, when their general saw that Yilihan wasn’t carrying many large chests as they expected, he frowned.
Yang Zhuo wasn’t foolish enough to get involved in their matters. He bowed and said, “General Yilihan, please convey my greetings to your king on my behalf. When I return to my kingdom, I will inform my emperor of this matter truthfully. At that time, our emperor will surely send a letter to your king.”
Yilihan nodded unenthusiastically, “General Yang, have a safe journey.”
“Farewell!”
“Depart—”
The hundred-person team from the Mai Kingdom raced towards the border.
The Youji Kingdom also bid their farewells promptly.
After resting for a day at Xiguan Pass, Yan Ge’s group set off on their journey back to the capital.
When they were a day away from the capital, Huangfu Yuchen sent urgent an message along the way, requesting the relay stations to expedite the delivery to Liuxian Pavilion in the capital. Soon, the next day’s reservation was arranged accordingly.
The following morning, the team returned to the capital.
Though the common people didn’t know the specifics of their mission, they cheered excitedly upon seeing Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen in their camouflage uniforms, along with Yan Jin.
Huangfu Yuchen said, “Everyone will have two days off. Go freshen up now and meet at Liuxian Pavilion for lunch.”
“Yes! Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!”
Yan Ge, Huangfu Yuchen, and Yan Jin returned to the First Company to wash up and change into clean clothes.
When the Emperor invites people for a meal, who dares to be late. The special forces soldiers quickly took a shower at their accommodations, changed clothes and arrived at the Liuxian Pavilion.
Liuxian Pavilion had no other guests at the moment. The manager and attendants warmly and attentively welcomed them.
In a short while, Yan Ge, Huangfu Yuchen, and Yan Jin arrived dressed in casual clothing.
Everyone knelt down to pay their respects.
“Rise,” Huangfu Yuchen said, “Today, Yan Guiqing, Yan Jin, and I are your comrades, not your masters. There’s no need to be so formal.”
“Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!”
The manager immediately ordered the dishes to be served. As everyone looked at the variety of dishes, they couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, their mouths watering in secret.
Yan Ge smiled and said, “Take any seat you like. Even in the palace, the Emperor and I have never ordered so many dishes in one go. Today’s a rare opportunity, so eat as much as you want.”
With that, he didn’t pay much attention to the others, instead taking Huangfu Yuchen and Yan Jin to grab some plates. Like they were at a buffet, they picked the dishes they liked from various tables before sitting down and started to eat, even having a few glasses of wine.
Touched by the Emperor and Yan Guiqing’s gesture, the others didn’t want to disappoint or offend them. With Gao Yun, Ah Fei, and Jun Xiang, who were good at livening up the atmosphere, everyone gradually relaxed. The entire hall became lively, as if it were a festive occasion.
Yan Ge returned to Huangfu Yuchen’s side. Seeing that everyone was munching on dry rations, he sighed softly.
“What’s wrong?” Huangfu Yuchen supported his shoulder.
“I want to eat the dishes from Liuxian Pavilion,” Yan Ge complained, gazing at him with a hint of resentment.
Huangfu Yuchen hurriedly comforted, “I’ll take you there once we are back at the capital. I’ll have someone inform the manager to have the entire place reserved in advance and make two or three hundred dishes that can fill up all the tables in the hall. You can eat whatever you like. Yang Zhuo and the others have also worked hard on this journey, so we can invite them to a meal as well.”
“Good idea!” Yan Ge licked his lips. “The more you talk about it, the more I want to eat.”
Their voices weren’t deliberately lowered, and several special forces soldiers around overheard and excitedly whispered the good news to each other. They didn’t have many opportunities to eat at the Liuxian Pavilion. The Emperor and Yan Guiqing are indeed close to the people!
Due to the vast size of the Demon Fortress, it took a long time for Yang Zhuo, Yilihan, Bai Shaobai, and the others to return with their teams.
In the imperial edict, the winner was determined by the army that reached the Demon Fortress first. However, due to encountering many dangers along the way and having only one guide, General Yilihan silently changed that decision. As for how to divide the treasure, they would discuss it after finding it.
Yilihan said, “The Demon Fortress has a total of eight entrances. My idea is to divide our seventeen teams into nine groups. One group will remain outside to guard our supplies, and the other eight groups will enter the Demon Fortress through different entrances to search for the treasure. After finding it, we’ll meet here. What do you all think?”
This arrangement made sense, and the other leaders had no objections.
“But, how should we divide?”
Yilihan said, “Our Mai Kingdom soldiers have the best physique among all the kingdoms, so we’ll stay outside to guard the supplies. In case of any danger, we can protect all the supplies in time. The remaining sixteen kingdoms can evenly split into eight groups. Great Han has the fewest soldiers, and Wei kingdom has the most, so they can go together; Liao Kingdom and Youji Kingdom can go together…..This way, the total number of soldiers in each major group is roughly equal.”
Yang Zhuo said, “In my view, this arrangement might not be appropriate. Looking at how big the Demon Fortress is, you can tell the rooms inside must be intricate and complex. Once there’s any danger, those with better physique will be better at dealing with it. Therefore, I think the Mai kingdom’s army should also enter. This way, we’ll have a better chance of finding the treasure. Additionally, what if we find the treasure in the end and the kingdoms staying outside get greedy and poison our water? For safety reasons, at least three kingdoms should stay behind to keep an eye on each other. What do you generals think?”
Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen didn’t tell Yang Zhuo that they already obtained the treasure, and he couldn’t guess what the Mai Kingdom was planning, but that wasn’t an issue as long as they went against whatever plan they had. If there’s really a treasure inside, it was impossible to let the Mai Kingdom to sit back and enjoy it.
This proposal received support from several other leaders.
“General Yang makes sense.”
“I agree with this plan.”
After some debate among the leaders, they finally settled on an action plan. The Mai, Liao, and Wei kingdoms had the most surviving soldiers so each left behind two hundred people to guard the supplies. The rest would enter the castle.
Great Han’s troops were few, so they would go with the Wei kingdom’s army, entering through the main eastern entrance of the Demon Fortress.
“Now, let’s set off. We’ll meet here after one hour. If we find the treasure, that’s great. If not, we’ll rest and then set off later,” Bai Shaobai said.
Everyone understood and prepared their weapons, water, and torches before setting off separately.
Upon entering the main entrance, they found a straight corridor. As the entire castle was almost sealed off, the further they went, the darker it became. However, they could still vaguely see that there were many doors on both sides of the corridor, leading to small rooms. To find the treasure, they could only search through each room one by one.
Bai Shaobai suggested, “General Yang, there are so many rooms here. Why don’t we split into two teams? One team can search the rooms on the left, and the other team can search the rooms on the right.”
“Alright,” Yang Zhuo agreed. Bai Shaobai had over eight hundred soldiers in total, with three hundred staying outside, leaving over five hundred. Splitting them into two teams resulted in each team having over three hundred soldiers.
Yang Zhuo also divided his three hundred soldiers into three teams: one to check the rooms with odd numbers, another to check the rooms with even numbers, and the last team to be on guard outside. In case of any unexpected situations, they could provide assistance at any time.
Upon opening the first room, a choking cloud of dust rushed out. Startled by the intrusion, snakes, insects, mice, and ants that had made nests inside scurried away rapidly. The rustling sounds were densely packed, giving one goosebumps.
Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen couldn’t outright tell Yang Zhuo that there was no treasure inside, so they used their eyes to suggest he didn’t have to search so carefully.
Yang Zhuo got the hint and signaled the message to his subordinates using a new set of military sign language.
An entire hour passed, and apart from discovering a nest of strange snakes and two nests of scorpions, they found nothing. When they returned to the square, they found that others also had no harvest.
After resting for two incense sticks’ worth of time, they decided to check again.
It soon became evident that there was no treasure inside the Demon Fortress. It could be seen that until it was dark, they had gained nothing. Not only that, but the Demon Fortress, which was such a good shelter from the wind and rain, had long been occupied by various monsters, resulting in significant losses to each group, and the deaths were all tragic.
Even the mighty Mai Kingdom was left with only over 500 soldiers. Wei kingdom was left with just over 400, Liao Kingdom with over 400, and several other small kingdoms had even greater losses. Morale was extremely low, and the shadow of death loomed over them all.
No one from Great Han was injured or killed, thanks to Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen. Great Han had always acted alongside the Wei Kingdom, and Bai Shaobai had long noticed their extraordinary martial arts skills.
“General Yilihan, we must leave early tomorrow morning. Our water reserves are running low, and we can’t stay here waiting for the next rainfall,” Bai Shaobai said in a stern tone, conveying his dissatisfaction with the Mai Kingdom. They were convinced by the Mai Kingdom’s claim that there was a treasure in the Demon Fortress, which led to the joint exploration plan. However, now they hadn’t even found a single gold piece, making Bai Shaobai furious.
Yilihan also wondered whether he was being manipulated by his own king. The king’s plan was this: there indeed was treasure in the Demon Fortress, but it was also filled with dangers. If they explored it solely with their own forces, they would suffer great losses. It was better to use the treasure as bait, getting all the neighboring kingdoms involved and having them help in the search. Once the treasure was found, they would cooperate with the Wei Kingdom to seize it. Other kingdoms didn’t matter, but they must exterminate the 1,000 elite soldiers of Great Han as revenge for the Fumian and Guyidian incidents, letting Great Han’s emperor know they were not to be trifled with.
However, perhaps they guessed it was a plot or it was by accident, Great Han had sent only 100 elite soldiers.
What surprised Yilihan even more was the fact that there was no trace of treasure inside the Demon Fortress. Before setting off, his king had given him a treasure map, indicating that the treasure was in a secret chamber beneath the main hall. To avoid suspicion, he arranged for the representatives of the Youji Kingdom to investigate there. They did find a secret chamber, but it was completely devoid of treasure.
Yilihan felt it was impossible for someone to secretly move the treasure from the Demon Fortress without even a whisper of a rumor. So, his target shifted from the neighboring kingdoms to his own king. He really wondered if his past mistakes had caused the king to bear a grudge against him, and this was the opportunity to eliminate him. The thought of serving his king with utmost loyalty for so many years only to end up in this situation made him seethe with anger.
For now, the most crucial thing was to stabilize the situation. Yilihan could only feign regret and say, “It seems the information was wrong. On behalf of His Majesty, I apologize to all of you. The night is long, and we have already suffered significant losses. In my opinion, we don’t need to wait until tomorrow morning. Let’s head back now.”
While the generals were frustrated about the wasted trip, it was not the right time to confront Yilihan. Moreover, they would still need to cooperate on their way back to deal with the monsters. But they had decided that once they returned to their own kingdoms, they would definitely report the matter to their respective kings, especially Maiguo’s king. Several team leaders thought, ‘We might be small kingdoms, but we are not to be bullied!’
After everyone finished organizing, they began their journey back.
Yilihan’s straightforwardness surprised Yan Ge. He quietly asked Huangfu Yuchen, “We all thought the Mai Kingdom and Wei kingdom had some plot against us, and the Demon Fortress would definitely be the place where they’d act. Why did he give up like this?”
Huangfu Yuchen was also puzzled, but as someone who had studied the art of kingship, he quickly understood the situation and explained to Yan Ge, “Yilihan didn’t find the treasure, so he must suspect that Hu Mailong played him…”
Hu Mailong and Yilihan would definitely have conflicts in the future. This was indeed an unexpected delight.
After hearing Huangfu Yuchen’s analysis, Yan Ge couldn’t help but be overjoyed. To avoid irritating the team leaders who had suffered significant losses and the soldiers who had lost many comrades, he had to suppress his laughter, but everyone could see the bright smile on his face.
But what could they do to him? This Physician Qin and that special forces soldier were martial arts experts.
With the experience from the journey here, the return journey was smoother although they still encountered various monsters.
Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen refrained from provoking the other kingdoms too much and even lent them a hand several times. The journey went smoothly without any trouble.
After leaving the desert, the armies of various kingdoms bid farewell one by one.
The teams of Great Han, Mai, and Youji Kingdoms continued to travel together until they reached Maieden.
Hu Mailong was probably confident that his army would surely bring back the treasure, so he sent a 5,000-strong army to welcome Yilihan’s troops. However, when their general saw that Yilihan wasn’t carrying many large chests as they expected, he frowned.
Yang Zhuo wasn’t foolish enough to get involved in their matters. He bowed and said, “General Yilihan, please convey my greetings to your king on my behalf. When I return to my kingdom, I will inform my emperor of this matter truthfully. At that time, our emperor will surely send a letter to your king.”
Yilihan nodded unenthusiastically, “General Yang, have a safe journey.”
“Farewell!”
“Depart—”
The hundred-person team from the Mai Kingdom raced towards the border.
The Youji Kingdom also bid their farewells promptly.
After resting for a day at Xiguan Pass, Yan Ge’s group set off on their journey back to the capital.
When they were a day away from the capital, Huangfu Yuchen sent urgent an message along the way, requesting the relay stations to expedite the delivery to Liuxian Pavilion in the capital. Soon, the next day’s reservation was arranged accordingly.
The following morning, the team returned to the capital.
Though the common people didn’t know the specifics of their mission, they cheered excitedly upon seeing Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen in their camouflage uniforms, along with Yan Jin.
Huangfu Yuchen said, “Everyone will have two days off. Go freshen up now and meet at Liuxian Pavilion for lunch.”
“Yes! Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!”
Yan Ge, Huangfu Yuchen, and Yan Jin returned to the First Company to wash up and change into clean clothes.
When the Emperor invites people for a meal, who dares to be late. The special forces soldiers quickly took a shower at their accommodations, changed clothes and arrived at the Liuxian Pavilion.
Liuxian Pavilion had no other guests at the moment. The manager and attendants warmly and attentively welcomed them.
In a short while, Yan Ge, Huangfu Yuchen, and Yan Jin arrived dressed in casual clothing.
Everyone knelt down to pay their respects.
“Rise,” Huangfu Yuchen said, “Today, Yan Guiqing, Yan Jin, and I are your comrades, not your masters. There’s no need to be so formal.”
“Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!”
The manager immediately ordered the dishes to be served. As everyone looked at the variety of dishes, they couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, their mouths watering in secret.
Yan Ge smiled and said, “Take any seat you like. Even in the palace, the Emperor and I have never ordered so many dishes in one go. Today’s a rare opportunity, so eat as much as you want.”
With that, he didn’t pay much attention to the others, instead taking Huangfu Yuchen and Yan Jin to grab some plates. Like they were at a buffet, they picked the dishes they liked from various tables before sitting down and started to eat, even having a few glasses of wine.
Touched by the Emperor and Yan Guiqing’s gesture, the others didn’t want to disappoint or offend them. With Gao Yun, Ah Fei, and Jun Xiang, who were good at livening up the atmosphere, everyone gradually relaxed. The entire hall became lively, as if it were a festive occasion.
