Novelink #330 - A big gamble
#330 - A big gamble
Beneath the bright moon and twinkling stars.
Upon the vast Gobi Desert.
A team of riders was galloping at full speed.
This team of riders was numerous, numbering at least a hundred.
In the middle of the riding team, a luxurious carriage was being escorted in the very center.
This carriage was extremely large, like a mobile room.
The carriage was pulled by as many as five horses, indicating that the person inside had a distinguished status.
Suddenly, a sorrowful cry was heard.
An old man was seen squatting beside one of the corpses, trembling as he embraced it, wailing in anguish.
It seemed that the corpse was a relative of the old man.
Upon hearing such cries, the surrounding riders immediately mounted their horses and began to howl mournfully alongside the old man holding the corpse.
Such howling echoed far across the vast Gobi Desert.
This was a custom of the Black Dragon Kingdom, expressing sorrow for the departed souls through horseback riding and mournful howling.
Only one rider approached the carriage alone to report:
"Your Highness, the body of Huyan Xian's son, Huyan Di, has been found."
"He died a terrible death, likely killed by fist techniques."
"None of those who came with him survived."
Silence filled the carriage, as if no one was inside.
However, the rider dared not neglect his duty and respectfully continued:
"In another half an hour, we will reach Hidden Wind Valley."
"According to scouts, the situation in Hidden Wind Valley is largely as we anticipated."
"Except for…"
Here, the rider paused slightly, seemingly extremely fearful of the person in the carriage, afraid that his report might bring terrible consequences.
Then, he continued to report:
"Except for the addition of a force called the Green Robe Tower, likely supported by the Siheli Kingdom."
"This Green Robe Tower has two great masters, one of whom is Mo Dao Kuang, the Grand Wanderer renowned in the Western Desert, and the other is called Meng Xinghun."
"Mo Dao Kuang is very mysterious, and the extent of his martial arts remains unknown."
"Meng Xinghun is also very mysterious, suddenly rising to prominence in the desert. This subordinate has been unable to investigate his origins."
Silence remained in the carriage.
But the rider seemed to understand, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
He bowed to the carriage and quickly ran back to the old man who was mourning the corpse, whispering a few words.
The old man stood up, tied the corpse to his horse, and then mounted.
With murderous intent in his eyes, he led the group to continue forward.
… … … … … …
Hidden Wind Valley.
Liang Jin glanced at the information on the [Thousand Mile Tracking], the Evil Slaughter King was getting closer and closer to Hidden Wind Valley.
Calculating their distance, they would probably arrive in half an hour.
Liang Jin remembered very clearly that the first time he heard the name of the Evil Slaughter King from Cang Du's mouth was in his home in Dingfeng City.
At that time, Liang Jin had checked the location of the Evil Slaughter King.
The Evil Slaughter King was then located at the border between the Western Desert and the Black Dragon Dynasty, obviously sitting behind the scenes and remotely commanding.
But now, he had come in person.
"A true Second-Rank master!"
"Worthy of being a prince of the Black Dragon Dynasty!"
Liang Jin frowned as he looked at the Evil Slaughter King's strength displayed on the [Thousand Mile Tracking].
He now felt no pressure when facing ordinary Third-Rank martial artists.
But if he faced top Third-Rank martial artists like the heads of the three major forces, although he was not sure of victory, he believed that self-preservation was not a problem.
But if it was a Second-Rank martial artist, that would be another matter.
Even self-preservation might be a problem.
Liang Jin had personally witnessed the power of Yu Linglong, the Second-Rank master of the Dragon Transformation Sect!
Yu Linglong rarely took action, only moving once in front of Liang Jin.
But the horror of that palm was something Liang Jin still could not figure out how to break.
Liang Jin's gaze turned to Ayina.
He saw Ayina's face was calm, seemingly not surprised by Liang Jin's guess.
"You knew that the Black Dragon Kingdom would send people?"
Liang Jin asked.
Ayina replied:
"Meng Xinghun, you are very smart."
"The Black Dragon Kingdom has indeed sent a master."
"The master they sent is called Huyan Xian, the father of Huyan Di, who was killed by you."
"The Huyan clan is a noble family of the Black Dragon Dynasty. Huyan Xian, as the patriarch, is also a general under the command of the Evil Slaughter King, and is a Third-Rank martial artist."
"But don't worry, I won't tell them that Huyan Di was killed by you."
Liang Jin shook his head helplessly upon hearing this.
This Ayina looked forthright on the outside, but she was also hiding many things from him.
She would not say anything unless Liang Jin asked.
But this was normal.
After all, she represented the Siheli Kingdom.
No wonder Ayina was not too worried about the arrival of people from the Black Dragon Kingdom.
In her perception, the masters coming from the Black Dragon Kingdom were only Third-Rank martial artists like Huyan Xian.
If it was just a Third-Rank martial artist, it would indeed be difficult to change the entire situation in the Western Desert.
"Then what about the Evil Slaughter King?"
"What will happen if he comes?"
Liang Jin continued to ask.
Ayina shook her head:
"The Evil Slaughter King is a Second-Rank martial artist. There are countless eyes watching a master of his level."
"Whether it is our Siheli Kingdom or the Daqian Kingdom, we are all paying attention to his every move."
"Nowadays, Second-Rank martial artists rarely take action personally, and this is also the default agreement between countries."
“A second-rank martial artist appearing rashly within another country's borders could easily trigger a war between the two nations.”
“If the Evil Slaughter King appears in the Western Desert, our Srihari Kingdom and the Great Qian Kingdom will likely react very quickly.”
Saying this, Ayina even patted Liang Jin on the shoulder to comfort him, saying:
“Don’t worry, I have my own information channels.”
“If something like that were to happen, I would have left Hidden Wind Valley at the first possible moment.”
“Otherwise, wouldn’t I just be staying here to die?”
After saying this, Ayina smiled, turned around, and left.
She went to the tea table to drink tea with the leaders of the three major forces.
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For Ayina, simply knowing Liang Jin was not enough; she also needed to interact more with the leaders of the three major forces.
Liang Jin didn't expect there to be such a tacit rule.
No wonder the Evil Slaughter King had only stayed on the border of the Black Dragon Kingdom and hadn't entered the Western Desert.
However.
Ayina's information must be wrong.
Or rather, even Cang Du's information is wrong.
The Evil Slaughter King must have used some method to deceive everyone, evading the eyes and ears of the Srihari Kingdom and the Great Qian Kingdom, and secretly entered the Western Desert.
What does he want to do here?
Certainly not for treasure!
A master of the Evil Slaughter King's level would not be moved by ordinary gold and silver.
He is most likely here for…
…the entire Western Desert!
In an instant, Liang Jin's thoughts became clear.
To obtain the Western Desert, he must conquer the three major forces of the Western Desert.
But normally, the three major forces are far apart.
If the Evil Slaughter King were to conquer them one by one, then when he conquered the first force, the other two would inevitably quickly join the Srihari Kingdom or the Great Qian Kingdom.
This would only lead to the Evil Slaughter King getting nothing, and even provoking a fierce reaction from the other two great nations.
Therefore, he must gather the three major forces together.
Conquer them all at once!
Then, support the conquered forces to establish a country in the Western Desert, and wait for the right time to incorporate it into the territory of the Black Dragon Kingdom.
To gather the three major forces.
Then this treasure in Hidden Wind Valley and the Black Dragon Kingdom's promise undoubtedly became a good bait.
When the leaders of the three major forces gathered in Hidden Wind Valley, it was also the best time for the Black Dragon Kingdom to conquer them in one fell swoop.
Those who submit will prosper, those who resist will perish.
The Srihari Kingdom and the Great Qian Kingdom, having noticed all of this, each sent Ayina and Cang Du to investigate, using the strategy of alliance to find their respective agents and thwart the Black Dragon Kingdom's conspiracy.
But unfortunately, the two countries still failed to understand the Black Dragon Kingdom's determination to obtain the Western Desert.
They also didn't expect the Black Dragon Kingdom to risk the world's condemnation by directly allowing the Evil Slaughter King to sneak into the Western Desert to carry out this mission.
Liang Jin sighed inwardly:
“Schemes and conspiracies are the most annoying.”
“I just came to participate in the treasure hunt happily, how did I get involved in such a big thing?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if everyone was simpler?”
Liang Jin's gaze turned to the leaders of the three major forces who were sitting at the tea table drinking tea.
He could be sure that some of these people were already the Evil Slaughter King's men, and some were unwilling to be conquered by the Evil Slaughter King.
And those who were unwilling probably didn't know that the Evil Slaughter King was coming soon.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be in the mood to continue sitting and drinking tea at this time.
They probably thought, like Ayina, that the Black Dragon Kingdom had only sent a third-rank martial artist this time.
In that case, they could still mediate and seek their own interests.
But they probably didn't expect that what they were about to face would be overwhelming conquest.
“Now, should I stay or leave?”
“It seems I don’t have much reason to stay.”
“After all, that’s a second-rank master.”
If Liang Jin abandoned these Green Robe Tower people and left, then he naturally wouldn't be involved in this trouble.
Immediately, Liang Jin turned to leave.
But the next second, he stopped again.
“If I lose the Green Robe Tower, then how long will it take for me to complete the system achievement for this clone?”
“Especially now that the Great Qian is on the verge of chaos, if the world changes, the main body will need a lot of help.”
“And if this clone of mine is always far away in the Western Desert, it won’t be of any help to the main body.”
“But if I can bring a powerful Green Robe Tower back to the Great Qian, at least I can ensure the safety of the main body.”
Liang Jin couldn't help but ponder.
If he wanted to make the Green Robe Tower grow rapidly, then this time would undoubtedly be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The only key point was whether Liang Jin could defeat that second-rank master!
Relying on Liang Jin himself was undoubtedly impossible.
But Liang Jin also had other means.
Even so, it was still full of great risks.
This was a gamble.
If he won, he would become famous in the Western Desert and could even dominate it.
If he lost, this clone would die, and the Green Robe Tower would be completely destroyed.
Liang Jin glanced at the [Item Bar].
He stared at the pill in the [Item Bar], the [Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Pill].
With this [Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Pill], it was equivalent to having an extra life.
In that case, even if Liang Jin lost the gamble, the loss wouldn't be as great as imagined.
And if he won, the reward would be incredibly rich!
Finally, Liang Jin turned back around:
“A man cannot get rich without unexpected wealth, a horse cannot get fat without grazing at night.”
“Take a gamble, a bicycle turns into a motorcycle.”
“I’ll gamble!!!”