Chapter 992: Quick off the mark

“The harsh, cold northern regions have forged the tough character of its people. With many cultivators here, it's common for disagreements to escalate into violent fights,” Sang Hong said.

Zu An thought to himself, ‘It’s just like those “what are you looking at” fights from my previous life.’

“Unlike the fertile south, the north isn’t as rich in resources. Coupled with some historical issues, many people, unable to make a living, resorted to banditry. They soon discovered that looting was far easier than toiling in the fields, leading more and more people to become bandits. Because the northern regions have many mountain ranges, some with year-round snow, they can simply hide in the mountains when faced with large-scale military crackdowns. Once the main forces leave, they re-emerge to plunder the surrounding areas, causing immense headaches for local governments and the imperial court,” Sang Hong continued. “The Demonic Cult is one of the larger groups among them. Unlike ordinary bandits, they possess their own political agenda and use religious influence to win over people, making their fighting strength far superior to common brigands.”

Zu An was startled. “Did the Demonic Cult originate in Yi Commandery? Is their main headquarters here?”

He had previously witnessed the Demonic Cult’s army fighting the imperial forces when he passed through Prince Wu’s territory in Jibei Commandery, and had assumed their main base was there.

Sang Hong shook his head. “The Demonic Cult’s doctrines are quite deceptive, making them especially popular among the common people. This is why they persist despite repeated crackdowns, with their presence felt across the entire country. Although they nominally have several main headquarters, no one knows where their true main base is located, which is why the Demonic Cult is so difficult to eradicate.”

“Because of constant warfare with the Demonic Cult and mountain bandits, the demands on local officials are higher here. However, given the Demonic Cult’s strength, it’s difficult for local commanderies and counties alone to suppress them. Therefore, imperial princes are assigned to guard various regions across the country. These vassal states vary in size and power, and Prince Yan’s domain is one of the largest.”

“Prince Yan has achieved considerable success over the years, capturing and executing many Demonic Cult adherents. However, the cult’s resilience is too strong, preventing its complete eradication, and both sides are now in a stalemate. The imperial court, though, is also concerned about the growing power of the regional princes, so they assign local officials to oversee them.”

“As you’ve seen, Prince Yan is a Grandmaster, and Chancellor Sun Xun is a Master. They also have guest experts of seventh and eighth ranks under their command. If such a powerful force were governed by the same administrative structure as other peaceful commanderies and counties, how could it be effectively constrained? Therefore, officials at all levels here, from the Prefect to the Commandant and others, possess significantly higher cultivation levels than their counterparts of the same rank in other commanderies.”

Zu An was somewhat puzzled. “But even so, they are still far from the Grandmasters and Masters in Prince Yan’s mansion. How can they possibly act as a check?”

Sang Hong smiled. “There’s also the imperial court. Unless Prince Yan dares to openly rebel, how would he dare to interfere with officials of the local system? Moreover, Yi Commandery also has its own army. In regular military combat, the impact of individual martial prowess is not as significant, unless one reaches the level of the Emperor himself, who is currently the only Earth Immortal in the entire world. Of course, what you said isn’t entirely without merit. I suspect the imperial court has other contingencies, such as the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who are tasked with monitoring the empire.”

Zu An couldn’t help but think of Gold Medallion Seven. Was he perhaps assigned to monitor Prince Yan? Working in tandem, overtly with the local Prefect and Commandant, and covertly himself.

But that didn’t seem right. Prince Yan was the Emperor’s uncle and not young. Even if he harbored rebellious intentions, he couldn’t possibly become Emperor.

The imperial family had a complete set of succession rules. Not only did the Emperor have a Crown Prince and many sons, but there was also the powerful Prince Qi. Besides Prince Qi, there were other brothers of the same generation. A distant relative like Prince Yan wouldn’t even be considered for the throne after a hundred rotations. Therefore, he should have no motive for disloyalty.

Just then, Sang Hong said, “I will take this opportunity to stay in Yi Commandery for three days, to pay my respects to Prince Yan and help Prefect Zhang maintain local stability. However, we clearly cannot stay here for long. Regardless of what happens, we must depart after three days.”

Zu An understood that Sang Hong was subtly hinting to him: if he had something to do, he should complete it within these three days; otherwise, Sang Hong would no longer be able to cover for him.

“Thank you, Uncle.” It was already remarkable for someone of Sang Hong’s status to do this much.

Sang Hong took a sip of tea and said lightly, “I’m not doing this for you, but for… never mind. Just be careful yourself.”

Not long after Zu An returned to his room, a thought struck him. He immediately changed into Gold Medallion Eleven’s attire and went to Xiao Jianren’s room.

Gold Medallion Seven was also in the room. He was surprised when he saw Zu An, as he hadn’t noticed when he arrived.

“This person is indeed not simple. It seems his capabilities cannot be judged by his apparent cultivation level.” He had originally been somewhat worried about whether Zu An could handle the mission, having resorted to asking him only because there was no one else available and Zu An was at least a Gold Medallion Envoy. Now, he was completely relieved.

“I’ve confirmed it. Tomorrow at noon, the escort team will leave the city through the West Gate, travel a certain distance, then turn south.” Gold Medallion Seven unfolded a map with extremely detailed records of mountain terrain. This was a top-tier military map, inaccessible to ordinary people, but it was naturally no issue for someone of his status.

Zu An thought, ‘This person’s intelligence network is truly impressive.’ Sang Hong had just spoken with Prefect Zhang...

Next, Gold Medallion Seven pointed to a spot on the map. “We’ll make our move at Lone Wolf Valley. It’s a strategic, hundreds-of-meters-long valley with treacherous terrain where large forces cannot deploy effectively. It’s the perfect opportunity for us to act.”

“Lone Wolf Valley? Are there powerful wolf-like beasts there?” Hearing the name, Zu An couldn’t help but recall past encounters where, just as success seemed imminent, a formidable local beast would suddenly appear. This rescue mission, already risky due to being outnumbered, could easily fail if such an unexpected variable arose.

“No, the name comes from a large rock at the top of an adjacent valley that resembles a lone wolf. While there are occasional beasts in the vicinity, their rank is too low to have any impact on the battle.” Gold Medallion Seven’s admiration for Zu An grew. In his view, for a Gold Medallion Embroidered Uniform Guard, cultivation was secondary; a clear mind and cautious disposition were paramount.

He then proceeded to inform Zu An about the cultivation levels and special skills of the main figures in the escort team, providing more detail than Sang Hong had earlier. He even patiently explained the number of soldiers: “My plan is as follows…”

“Now that’s professionalism,” Zu An thought, deeply impressed.

The two discussed for a long time, then Gold Medallion Eleven quietly departed. His task was to monitor the escort team’s movements to prevent any last-minute changes to their itinerary.

As for Zu An, he set off for Lone Wolf Valley in advance. Before leaving, he specifically found Pei You and Gao Ying, telling them that his cultivation was about to undergo a minor breakthrough and he needed to seclude himself for meditation, asking them not to disturb him. Both naturally agreed wholeheartedly and offered their congratulations.

With Sang Hong’s implicit promise to help cover for him, he quietly headed towards Lone Wolf Valley.

With his current cultivation, he reached his destination quite quickly, not taking long at full speed.

After observing from a distant mountaintop, Zu An understood why they had chosen this location. The valley was shaped like a funnel: wide at the entrance, narrowing as one went deeper, to a mere few meters at its narrowest point. This constricted section stretched for approximately two to three hundred meters before gradually widening again.

Once inside such a place, even a large number of people would be unable to maneuver effectively.

However, even ordinary commoners knew such a place was a strategic military route. How could military personnel not be aware?

Yi Commandery had established an outpost here to constantly monitor the valley. Any unusual activity would be promptly reported via beacon fires to the various cities of Yi Commandery in the distance.

Zu An’s first task was to find a way to neutralize this outpost, rendering its communication and warning functions useless.

Gold Medallion Seven had sternly warned that while neutralizing the outpost itself wasn’t difficult, doing so without alerting anyone was extremely challenging. Although the outpost had few personnel, they were very spread out, stationed at the valley’s entrance, middle, and end. Additionally, there were lookouts monitoring from vantage points atop the cliffs. Each position had a fire-starting device, and if anything seemed amiss at any location, a beacon fire would be lit immediately.

That wasn’t even the hardest part. The greater difficulty lay in the escort team arriving at noon; if they saw that the outpost was compromised, they would naturally not enter the valley.

Therefore, he could only target the sentries inside the valley and at the vantage points. However, entering the valley would inevitably mean passing through the observation range of the sentries at both ends.

Zu An wasn’t overly concerned. He could infiltrate the imperial palace, so how difficult could this heavily guarded place be? Four solutions instantly sprang to his mind.

He quickly moved towards the outpost at the valley entrance. His movements were extremely swift. It was dawn, and while the sky was faintly lit, the valley itself was still quite dark, making his movements difficult to discern against the night.

As he approached the outpost, just as he was about to make his move, he suddenly frowned. He detected a strong smell of blood.

“What happened?” He cautiously approached the outpost entrance and saw several sentries inside lying in pools of blood. Each had been killed with a single fatal blow, clearly leaving no time to react.