Chapter 61: Battle Royale of the Transmigrators (Part 2)

Upon hearing Mine Director Lin speak in such a manner, Song Xiangling instantly grew anxious.

"Brother Lin, words like these must not be uttered carelessly! What do you mean by 'Song will help you hold off this group of people'? I truly do not dare to offend the An family..."

At this point, Song Xiangling cut himself off abruptly, for he saw an expression on Lin Dengwan's face that he found utterly unfamiliar.

He then heard Lin Dengwan leisurely say, "Old Song, in your opinion, for the An clan of Shuixi, which carries more weight: the lives of a few core clansmen or the family's grand strategy for the century?"

*(Why on earth has this suddenly pivoted to a grand strategy for the century?)*

Song Xiangling could not help but inwardly complain.

Yet, Lin Dengwan's expression at the moment possessed a rather unfathomable profundity, causing him to suppress the urge to mock and choose instead to continue listening to his old friend's profound insights.

"The An clan of Shuixi is itching to see Guizhou plunge into chaos, especially while the Yang clan of Bozhou was still around."

"Yang Yinglong holding Bozhou meant he controlled the gateway from Sichuan into Guizhou. This not only made him wealthier than anyone else in the Southwest, but it also allowed him to frequently leverage the imperial court's authority to boss around other native chieftains in the Southwest. However, this also predetermined that he could never win over the hearts of the southwestern chieftains."

"As long as the Bozhou Yang clan remains, the consequences of turmoil and the wrath of His Majesty the Emperor will be borne entirely by the Yang clan."

"Meanwhile, the An clan of Shuixi can seize the opportunity to leverage their own prestige and influence, expanding themselves in the process of crusading against the Yang clan, and transforming illusory prestige into solid, tangible power and territory, ultimately becoming the true masters of Guizhou."

"Under such circumstances, how could these scoundrels who ran here to assassinate Lord Yun Zheng possibly have been truly authorized by the Shuixi chieftain?"

"Ah-ya-ya..." Lin Dengwan suddenly waved his hand again, speaking in a bold and unrestrained manner. "This fellow surnamed Lin is merely an unrefined man; all of this was told to me by Lord Yun. I have no culture and don't know how to convey it word for word, but as long as the meaning is conveyed, that's enough, haha."

Lin Dengwan blinked, revealing a "you know what I mean" expression.

Song Xiangling could only nod, indicating, "This brother understands."

"Therefore, we ought to stage something big and leave this bunch of impostors permanently in Lusheng County. As for whether they are truly from the Shuixi An clan, once a person is buried in the earth, can they still speak? You and I say they are not, then they are not. Brother, you tell me, isn't that the logic?"

Song Xiangling understood, and he understood Lin Dengwan's subtext even better.

If Cui Xuanliang, the Wen family brothers, and the others were to escape alive, as genuine Shuixi nobles, wanting to exact revenge on them would be easier than crushing an ant.

He, Song Xiangling, had already boarded a pirate ship and could not escape this time. Gritting his teeth, he drew his waist saber and fiercely thrust it into the wall by the street, embedding it deep into the seams of the earthen bricks.

This was imitating the famous Shu Han general Jiang Wei from the Three Kingdoms period, who drew his sword and slashed at stone to demonstrate his determination to restore the Shu Han and make "the sun and moon grow dark and shine once more."

The southwestern lands revered the Three Kingdoms' Shu Han; Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wei, and others were deeply worshipped throughout Yunnan and Guizhou.

"Brother Lin, taking your auspicious words, this brother will risk his life to accompany a gentleman and can only go along with you to pull off something big."

At this moment, Song Yiyi, who was following Ye Xi through the succession process of the Medicine King, had no idea that she was being ruthlessly dragged and stepped upon by the so-called "Four Gentlemen of Shuixi" far away in Lusheng County, with remarks claiming that "even the main family of the Shuidong Song clan would have to treat them with utmost politeness."

Had she been present at the time, given her fiery temper, she likely would have beaten Cui Xuanliang into kneeling to beg for forgiveness on the spot.

The grievances between the Shuidong Song clan and the Shuixi An clan dated back a long time. The territories of the two native chieftain domains were demarcated by the Yachi River in the upper reaches of the Wujiang River; the west bank of the river was Shuixi, and the east bank was Shuidong.

In the early years of the Great Ming dynasty, both the Shuixi and Shuidong families put forth great effort in constructing post roads; thus, the Great Ming bestowed favor and pacified both clans, intending for them to keep each other in check.

However, either the east wind overwhelms the west wind, or the west wind overwhelms the east wind. Maintaining a balance in the Guizhou region—how could it ever be that easy?

The vicissitudes of the Great Ming over two hundred years were virtually a history written in the blood and tears of the Shuidong Song family. Shuixi continuously encroached upon the Song family's territory. When pacifying Yang Yinglong, the Shuixi An family instigated the Song family to act as cannon fodder at the front while reaping massive profits themselves, carving up large tracts of fertile and rich land and leaping to become the preeminent power among the southwestern native chieftains.

During the She-An Rebellion, the Shuidong Song clan, having already been reduced to a vassal of Shuixi, had no choice but to follow the rebellion. As a result, they were casually wiped out by the enraged imperial armies of the Great Ming. A millennium-old prominent clan was reduced to dust overnight—truly pitiful and lamentable.

That said, the fact that Lin Dengwan was able to specifically win over Song Xiangling, a descendant of this Shuidong branch clan, naturally had its reasons.

Do not look at this fellow's unremarkable appearance; in the tiny Lusheng County, he truly possessed some tricks up his sleeve. Not only was he well-connected in both the underworld and legitimate circles, but he was also the younger brother-in-law of the current magistrate of Lusheng County.

As the saying goes, a powerful dragon does not suppress the local snake. Lin Dengwan had given Song Xiangling a sense of security and dragged him onto the pirate ship; naturally, it was as if he had opened the heavenly eye, and all movements within Lusheng County were entirely under the control of Yun Zheng's faction.

"All four gates of Lusheng County have ambush forces," Elder Wen lowered his voice and said.

"With our abilities, scaling walls and escaping is no difficult task," Cui Xuanliang said.

"But there is no need," Gan Zhixuan said coldly, though her gaze could hardly conceal a gleam of excitement. "If it is destiny, I wish to make a thorough end here and now to the dead knot entwined with Yun Zheng..."

Second Elder Wen interrupted her to prevent her from chattering endlessly. "Ms. Gan, I seem to have caught sight of the figure of that 'bastard miss' you constantly fret over."

Gan Zhixuan glared at Second Elder Wen; naturally, she was dissatisfied with him referring to her as "Ms." while calling An Miaotong "Miss."

Yet, she evidently longed to know the information Second Elder Wen held.

"In fact, it is quite easy to guess. She deliberately appeared to provoke you," Second Elder Wen analyzed, pointing casually in the direction where he had seen An Miaotong leave a lingering afterimage.

Gan Zhixuan bitterly gnashed her silvery teeth. "Does that bastard want to assert her sovereignty?"

Several years prior, she had encountered Yun Zheng and An Miaotong viewing lanterns together at a lantern festival.

Through an astonishing capacity for delusion, she had arrived at a correct conclusion that even Ye Xi knew nothing about: namely, An Miaotong was Yun Zheng's ex-girlfriend. To be precise, she was his legitimate girlfriend at the time.

In truth, viewing lanterns together proved nothing.

Yet this was enough to make her harbor an even greater intent to kill An Miaotong than she held toward Ye Xi.

Cui Xuanliang said, "There are currently two plans. The first is to deliberately avoid her direction, break through the blockade laid by Yun Zheng in the opposite direction, then seize favorable terrain and wait for them to pursue us so we can fight a decisive battle..."

Before Cui Xuanliang could finish speaking, Gan Zhixuan's voice dropped like a falling cleaver. "I choose the second plan: pursue them directly, jump right into their trap, and then tear that trap from the inside out into smithereens!"

The Wen brothers exchanged glances.

They deduced that if they wished to truly reap immense benefits from this illusion realm, they would likely have to intercept and kill other fate-bearers. This was also why they paid such close attention to Yun Zheng.

Even so, passing through the illusion realms repeatedly was already sufficient to allow them to gain enhancements in power, even if this enhanced strength could currently only be utilized within the illusion realm.

The enhancements granted to them by each successive experience were precisely their hidden trump cards.

"Generally speaking, if we break out of the city and show weakness, Yun Zheng will be all the less able to guess our trump cards and will surely be lured out. If we seize favorable terrain, we will certainly be able to take the head of the hastily pursuing Yun Zheng. This is a foolproof strategy of using a four-horse chariot to crush an egg..."

"There is no need, Young Master Cui." Gan Zhixuan's voice was so cold that it sent a slight chill down Cui Xuanliang's spine. "If it weren't for the Regent hesitating and missing several opportunities, our Shuixi An clan would likely have already conquered the entire Southwest by now."

For her to dare utter disrespectful words toward that generation's peerless overlord, the Shuixi Regent An Bangyan, was naturally because in this very year, An Bangyan had already suffered a fatal defeat on the spot at the hands of the illustrious Ming strategist Zhu Xieyuan during the decisive battle of Hongtuchuan.

However, Gan Zhixuan directly questioning the enlightened master who had shown great appreciation and favor to all four of them still caused Cui Xuanliang's expression to change slightly.

"Hesitation leads to defeat. Do not forget what we came here for," Gan Zhixuan continued.

Cui Xuanliang glanced at her; he knew that Gan Zhixuan liked to use this phrase, seemingly because Yun Zheng had used it.

At that moment, Elder Wen spoke up. "What Zhixuan says is not without reason. At the very least, there will inevitably be a time difference between An Miaotong coming to lure the enemy and her converging with the forces laying in ambush for us. Taking advantage of that person's absence, we can precisely eliminate her as the fragrant bait. Over the years, she has also caused us no small amount of trouble."