Chapter 44: Beset with Dangers, Enigmatic and Puzzling

"Speak."

"First, why did Commander Yun make this matter known to the entire world? Yang Yinglong is practically all-powerful at present; shouldn't we be finding a way to hide in the shadows and bide our time for an opportunity to strike?"

"Second, although Commander Yun's official seal is genuine, his military status is real, and his service record is as authentic as it gets, he is a commander from the Chongzhen era, not the Wanli era. His name does not exist in the imperial court's archives. Operating under the title of commander, won't this easily give rise to unnecessary complications?"

"Third, by what means exactly does Commander Yun intend to acquire the power to overthrow Yang Yinglong?"

"Is that all?"

"Um, for now, that is all."

"The plan Commander Yun has in mind is likely to emulate Su Qin and Zhang Yi, using the strategy of vertical and horizontal alliances to lobby the various chieftains and form a coalition against Yang Yinglong."

"The Ming imperial court in this world is utterly helpless against Yang Yinglong, and coupled with Oda Nobunaga in the north holding down the Ming's one hundred thousand elite troops, this has caused the various chieftains in the southwest to adopt a wait-and-see attitude, sitting on the fence."

The Chieftain of Wusa nodded. He was thoroughly familiar with the petty nature of his peers; this was precisely the kind of thing they were capable of doing.

"Historically, these chieftains actively prepared for war and, alongside the imperial forces, wove an inescapable net to strangle Yang Yinglong, ultimately leading to his downfall."

"Yet in this world, they are double-dealing. The ones with a better attitude acknowledge the imperial decrees without obeying them, while the ones with a worse attitude simply play dead."

The Chieftain of Wusa said, "So Commander Yun intends to lobby these chieftains into an alliance? But how easy is that said than done?"

"Therefore, he needs to do something to make a name for himself. Burning down these manors is probably just the first step. He will continually commit acts that challenge Yang Yinglong's dignity to showcase his own strength and resolve, until every chieftain in the southwest believes he possesses the determination to challenge Yang Yinglong."

"As for the authenticity of his status as a Ming commander, as long as enough people believe it is real, then it is real."

The Chieftain of Wusa suddenly realized, "The monks of Mount Fanjing already believe he is a genuine Ming commander."

"Exactly. After following Commander Yun in burning down the manors, this Tongren Prefecture is clearly no longer a place they can stay. And in my view, Commander Yun never had any intention of occupying Tongren Prefecture from the very beginning. Therefore, these one hundred warrior monks, who have no way back and share a deep-seated enmity with Yang Yinglong, will accompany Commander Yun deep into the territories of the southwestern chieftains to fulfill the momentous task of lobbying all parties."

The Chieftain of Yongshun chimed in, "As a fellow bladesman, I can understand Commander Yun's thoughts. With a fierce tiger in his heart and unbound by conventions, Yun Zheng is a very pure martial artist."

"However—" The Chieftain of Wusa recalled another problem, "Even if Commander Yun makes his name known to the entire world, lobbying them one by one like this, a hundred days won't be enough."

"There is actually a faction that is even more anxious than Commander Yun about the chieftains forming an alliance. Yang Yinglong in this world is so formidable, practically poised to command the heroes of the southwest, which will naturally make this powerful clan—who considers themselves the premier chieftains of Guizhou—deeply uneasy."

The Chieftain of Wusa instantly hit upon the answer: "The An clan of Shuixi?"

"Correct. The An clan of Shuixi, the most ancient existence among the four major chieftains of Guizhou, whose ancestors are said to have once assisted Zhuge Liang in pacifying the southern barbarians. Although the Shuixi An clan's military strength may not match that of the Bozhou Yang clan, their foundation is profound, their network of relationships is intricate, and their hidden forces beneath the surface are fathomless."

"No matter how many regions Commander Yun passes through along the way on this journey, one of his destinations will definitely include Shuixi."

Yet at this moment, Yun Zheng's inner thoughts were not as calm as he appeared on the surface.

Through interrogating the Tian family members, Yun Zheng had gathered even more information about this world.

To sum it up in a single sentence:
Fraught with danger and shrouded in mystery.

First was the unexpected rise of Oda Nobunaga. It was known that Oda Nobunaga had built three hundred and sixty-five mountain castles in Joseon, holding down the Ming dynasty's one hundred thousand elite field armies, which rendered the Ming imperial court utterly powerless to intervene in Bozhou affairs.

(And what is truly dangerous is that, unlike the arrogant Toyotomi Hideyoshi, this Oda Nobunaga built so many unauthorized structures in Joseon that he also dragged the five great generals of the Wanli era—Liu Ting of Chuanzhong, Chen Lin of Guangdong, Deng Zilong of Yunnan, Ma Gui of Ningxia, and Li Rumei of Liaodong—all the way up north.)

(Those remaining obscure subordinate generals are no match for old Yang. I remember that two years later, Tong Yuanzhen led a thirty-thousand-strong field army that was directly annihilated by old Yang.)

Under such external conditions, let alone the Bozhou Campaign—historically one of the "Three Great Campaigns of the Wanli Emperor"—taking two years to happen, whether the Bozhou Campaign would even occur in this world was questionable.

Wanli, after all, was not Chongzhen; he might not have the resolve to fight a two-front war against formidable enemies. After all, in his later years, faced with the rotting situation in Liaodong, Wanli chose to let things rot.

Therefore, support from the Ming imperial military could no longer be counted upon.

Furthermore, Yun Zheng had already learned from his previous interrogation of the Tian manor's residents that the Yang Yinglong of this world had uprooted the Jinyiwei in the southwest of the Ming dynasty. This meant that Yun Zheng, who had managed to "time-travel" from the paralyzed Jinyiwei system of the Chongzhen era to the Wanli era, would still face the dilemma of failing to find his organization as a thousand-household commander.

And the collapse of the Jinyiwei system meant that he could not obtain any official intelligence support from Guizhou.

(The intelligence front is also pitch black, like walking in a dark room.)

More importantly, having been in this world for so long, he had not even heard a familiar name—Ye Xiaotian.

This was a world without Heavenly King Ye.

(Pity. I originally wanted to take this opportunity to pay my respects to his esteemed presence.)

Even right now, everyone was facing a massive crisis.

The true core strength of the Tian family in Tongren Prefecture was not inside the city, but outside.

Having defected to Yang Yinglong, the Tian family had committed to a path of no return and inevitably became deeply involved in Yang Yinglong's treasonous plot. Consequently, over the years, they had successively sold off various assets to recruit soldiers and horses.

Just outside the city of Tongren Prefecture sat an important stronghold of the Tian family—"Tian Family Fortress," commonly known as the Ghost Fortress.

Yun Zheng learned from the Tian family captives that while called a fortress, it was actually built against the mountain, with stone caves carved into the mountain body like a labyrinth, making it easy to defend and hard to attack; it reminded Yun Zheng of the Ghost King Sect's caverns from a certain web novel he read before transmigrating.

Inside this Ghost Fortress, over a thousand Jianghu heroes were entrenched. These were elite warriors meticulously handpicked by Tian Lingyu—the eldest young miss of the Tian family, nicknamed the Female Phoenix—for her husband Yang Yinglong. On the battlefield, every single one of them possessed the valor to take on ten, and in ordinary Jianghu brawls, they cut through opponents like melons and vegetables.

At this moment, Yun Zheng's party had burned and slaughtered their way through the Tian manor in Tongren Prefecture and even openly piled their corpses into a victory monument. It was expected that tomorrow they would face the all-out pursuit of this batch of elite fighters.

"Very good."

A faint smile crossed the corner of Yun Zheng's mouth. While his excitement could not be overtly felt from the outside, nonetheless—

His blood seemed to be burning.

(It has been a long time since I felt this sensation of walking between the realms of Yin and Yang. This is the battlefield I crave, filled with flashing blades and the unpredictability of life and death!)

Seven years of a military career had turned Yun Zheng into a true warrior. He did not crave slaughter and bloodshed, and he detested war and destruction even more, yet his body would still thrill and tremble at the arrival of an unknown challenge.

Unflustered in victory, undiscouraged in defeat; one who has thunder raging in his chest while his face remains as calm as a placid lake may be appointed as a supreme general!

For him, a life without challenges was utterly tasteless. To achieve victory without undergoing trials was akin to theft—a shameful act.