Volume 3 – The Place Where My Heart Feels At Peace, Chapter 97: Barricade
“Wei clan?” Speak of the devil!
The staff officer reported, “Those claiming to be from the Far East Wei Clan say they’re here to seal off the city and await their heir’s arrival.”
The heir!?
According to imperial nobility classifications, only the successor to the title of marquis and above may be addressed as such. Even if the people present couldn’t recall the tremendously complicated aristocratic system, they knew a marquis was definitely the core of a high ranking aristocratic family. This was common knowledge! This also meant that the person arriving was from the main branch of the Far East Wei Clan—this changed the very nature of this matter—even the dignitaries of the expeditionary army would have to give the Wei clan some face.
Wu Zhengnan’s expression turned extremely ugly. “Have you confirmed it?”
“It should be true. There’s also a squad from the Broken Winged Angels among them. Our brothers no longer dared take action after seeing them.”
“Could it be that our city gates have all been sealed?” Wu Zhengnan inquired.
“The Wei clan men are stationed at all four gates.”
Wu Zhengnan suddenly asked, “The airships have returned, right? Two airships can hold one battalion. Sicheng, you and Old Zhao will lead two battalions from the first regiment and meet up with the 15th division’s men at the Far East Heavy Industries’ mines. You must kill that brat and all the seedlings no matter what happens here. Leave none alive! Do I make myself clear?”
Qi Sicheng and another sinister looking colonel stood up to accept the order before leaving.
Only then did Wu Zhengnan glance at all his aides within the meeting room and speak in a dull voice, “Let’s go and see what the people from the Wei clan plan to do.”
An officer suddenly whispered into Wu Zhengnan’s ear, “General, we’re still holding over a hundred seedlings in one of the barracks. Do you think…”
Wu Zhengnan waved his hand without any change in expression. “Deal with all of them!”
The officer shivered slightly before hurriedly complying.
Wu Zhengnan said indifferently, “Don’t feel distressed about this. We need to be alive to use all the money. We can earn back the fortune after we overcome the challenge before us.”
However, the expressions of the numerous officers didn’t improve much. The Far East Wei Clan’s heir making a personal appearance indicated that this matter wouldn’t be settled so easily.
A faint trace of malice appeared on Wu Zhengnan’s face as he watched the two old airships take off and fly in the direction of Broken River City. He then boarded a jeep and drove toward the city gates.
The two parties were in a confrontation.
A dozen military trucks were parked right across the gates, forming a temporary barricade which effectively blocked the path out of the city. The 100-odd soldiers who had arrived with this convoy were facing off against hundreds of expeditionary army troops from the city and even more were on their way.
Although it seemed like a confrontation with an obvious disparity in numbers, the party that had the upper hand was, in fact, the smaller one. Many from among the expeditionary army appeared apprehensive. They would glance into the distance from time to time and then look back into the city repeatedly.
The cargo trucks outside the city weren’t those old models from the expeditionary army system. Even the mud and dirt accumulated from the long track couldn’t hide the exquisite craftsmanship of the dark black and streamlined metallic hood. The expeditionary army’s old model trucks, on the other hand, had large pipelines running along their sides. Due to the lack of proper maintenance, most of them were rather rusty with areas where the paint had peeled off.
The cars seemed to be from two different eras judging merely by their external appearance. Their flags and emblems also represented very different things. There were two types of flags among the cars forming the barricade. One of them was a depiction of an angel with a sword looking downwards, its wings dripping with blood, while the other was the Far East Wei Clan’s eagle head emblem. Perhaps the ordinary soldiers were unfamiliar with the emblems of the aristocratic families, but the fierce veterans were all too familiar with them.
The mere presence of these flags was sufficient to cause the expeditionary army soldiers to hesitate.
A commotion rose from within the city as a convoy of jeeps rushed toward the barricade. Wu Zhengnan jumped down from the vehicle and shouted hoarsely, “I’m Wu Zhengnan of the seventh division. Who’s the person in charge here, come out and meet me!”
A Broken Winged Angel lieutenant colonel walked out and stood before Wu Zhengnan. The difference in rank didn’t garner any extra respect from the former—unconcealed arrogance was written all across his face.
“Where is the Wei clan heir? Wasn’t it said that he’s coming?”
The Broken Winged Angel Lieutenant replied coldly, “The heir of Marquis Bowang is still at the expeditionary army headquarters and will arrive in approximately one day. Anything you have to say will have to wait until his arrival!”
Wu Zhengnan’s expression sank. “What’s the meaning of this?” It wasn’t quite evident on his face, but he was shaken deep down. Marquis Bowang was the head of the Wei clan!
“No other meaning. We’re sealing the city and that’s it.” The Broken Winged Angel wasn’t quite courteous with his choice of words.
“What if I want to leave?”
“The heir commanded us not to let anyone enter or leave. It appears you’re not an exception either.” The implication behind the lieutenant's words was that Wei Potian had instructed them not to let Wu Zhengnan escape by any means.
“The Far East Wei Clan’s influence hasn’t extended quite as far as the expeditionary army, has it?”
“Maybe the Far East Wei Can can’t, but the Broken Winged Angels certainly can,” the lieutenant replied arrogantly.
Wu Zhengnan nodded. “Very well. Then I’ll wait for the Wei clan heir’s arrival within the city. Forgive my lack of hospitality since you’re here to blockade us.”
With that, Wu Zhengnan jumped into the jeep and actually turned back into the city. This surprised the Broken Winged Angel lieutenant. He hadn’t expected this notoriously bad-tempered division commander to actually be able to endure it.
But that wasn’t exactly a bad thing either. He turned around and shouted, “Alright! Line up! We camp here!
Wu Zhengnan was completely silent within the vehicle. His aide-de-camp said lightly, “General, do we need to make certain preparations?”
“No need.” Wu Zhengnan closed his eyes to restore his composure.
He was able to stay calm at this point but the aide was quite anxious.
Wu Zhengnan suddenly asked, “There should be quite a few prisoners in the southern prison, right?
“Yes, sir.” The aide calculated in his mind and replied, “Over 400 prisoners remain.”
“Kill them all.” Wu Zhengnan’s tone was dull.
The aide-de-camp shivered once again and ground his teeth. “Rest assured, general. I’ll deal with this matter today.”
Wu Zhengnan nodded. “Don’t be in a hurry to get off the car. I have a list in my office. After this, take the list and mobilize my personal guards to kill each and everyone one of them. Leave no survivors but don’t cause a ruckus, understand?
“Understood!”
The jeep swiftly advanced toward the division headquarters but left soon after arriving. This time, it was followed by several military trucks as it drove toward the south of the city, surging with murderous intent.
Wu Zhengnan stood gazing at the drill grounds from the french window in his office. The entire city could be seen not far in the distance. He had watched this scenery for many years now. It was merely a fort at first, but it had slowly grown block by block from a small village into the medium-sized city it was today.
He cherished the memory of this process and thus hadn’t changed his office all this time. He even went so far as to avoid reconstructing this office building just so he could preserve this view completely. For a person of his status, the office building appeared rather shabby, however, sitting here watching the city develop bit by bit under the short-lived sunlight was his most satisfying pastime.
Wu Zhengnan cared little whether the city’s foundation was built on fresh blood or bones. To him, the weak were stepping stones, while the strong were handrails to help him climb higher.
Food was scarce in the predominantly dark Evernight Continent. Meanwhile, humans possessed powerful reproductive capabilities and the growing population was a big headache to any ruler. Wu Zhengnan himself was struggling to keep all these people fed. Some generals chose to import food and grain from the empire or other upper continents, while others opted to search for a third and better option—sell the surplus population to the dark races. It made little difference whether the buyers were werewolves or vampires.
Noon. It was supposed to be one of the rare times of the day where the sun was at its brightest, however, the sky today was covered in dark clouds and was almost as dark as nightfall. This stifled Wu Zhengnan greatly. He had overcome many dangerous situations before, but he had little confidence in surviving this tribulation safely.
“I refuse to believe General Xiao will let them do as they please!”
Xiao Lingshi was Wu Zhengnan’s only hope at the moment. Xiao Lingshi had already reached the rank of lieutenant general before the age of fifty and occupied the post of deputy commander-in-chief of the expeditionary army. He was also the only one among the expeditionary army’s higher-ups born in the Evernight Continent. By imperial standards, Xiao Lingshi’s upbringing could be considered rather humble which, strictly speaking, was somewhat of an understatement.
Xiao Lingshi had always firmly defended the interests of the expeditionary army, sometimes directly opposing the upper continent nobility in the process. On one hand, this caused the higher ups of the empire to view him as a troublemaker, while on the other, he won the love and respect of all his peers.
The Far East Wei Clan and the Broken Winged Angels arriving tyrannically and immediately barricading the city seemed as if they were targeting the seventh division alone, but to Xiao Lingshi, this was an intolerable insult. Even the heir of Marquis Bowang wouldn’t be able to do as he pleased as long as Xiao Lingshi kept the other party in check. Perhaps Wu Zhengnan might be able to overcome this difficult situation after all.
In truth, Wu Zhengnan was still unclear as to when he had offended such a large entity as the Far East Wei Clan. This incident happened too abruptly—not to mention his allies, even his contacts within the expeditionary army headquarters hadn’t sent so much as a hint. The whole matter felt rather ominous.
Wu Zhengnan went through all possible scenarios in his mind. Did the Wei clan want to do away with him after taking a fancy to Blackflow City and the region around the Four Rivers Military Base? It wasn’t as if such things had never happened before throughout the history of the expeditionary army. On second thought, however, it didn’t seem like that either. Wu Zhengnan remembered that the Wei clan marquis was the regional lord of the entire Far East Province. What could they possibly want from a mere third rate defensive region of the Evernight Continent—one that was so close to the front lines too?
If one were to investigate thoroughly, every expeditionary army division commander had vulnerable points which could be used against them. The most crucial evidence was still those seedlings taken away by that brat surnamed Qian. That was the business that had truly crossed over the military’s red line. Dead men tell no tales—as long as they were silenced, with Xiao Lingshi around, he would receive a light punishment or a public reprimand at most even if other small problems were discovered. However, if those seedlings were to survive, they would serve as an irrefutable evidence—not only would Xiao Lingshi have a hard time defending him at that point, but many other things might also become implicated.
Wu Zhengnan regained much of his calm at the thought of this. How could one of his most elite battalions along with a whole regiment from the 15th division fail to deal with a few hundred people? Besides, the manager who had dealings with the 15th division had reportedly withheld a large batch of weapons and ammunition from them. It was likely that only half of those people would be outfitted at most.
Wu Zhengnan had become quite calm at this point and was now waiting for the arrival of the marquis’ heir.
Evening, Far East Heavy Industries mining village. The hunter whom Qianye had tasked with tailing Wei Cheng had just returned. After listening to the report, Qianye pondered about the situation for quite some time.
The hunter had tailed Wei Cheng with great patience. He didn’t leave after seeing Wei Cheng enter the Far East Heavy Industries Headquarters because he had sensed some unusual signs of activity. It seemed as if they were shipping things, but it also didn’t look like they were preparing the goods for Qianye. He got his answer in the afternoon—Wei Cheng left Broken River City along with two cargo trucks and was headed toward the southwest. The hunter saw women and kids in his company.
There was no doubt that something was up with this Wei Cheng. The most important thing was to decide what to do next.
Qianye nodded and gave the command, “Go and bring over the two guard captains of the Far East Heavy Industries.”