astral apostle

549 The Dust Settles (1)

In a certain forest in the wilderness.

Zhou Jing pushed aside the grass and stopped at a flat ground, putting down the unconscious Ma Zhen on his shoulder.

He had long shaken off the Imperial Court’s army after attacking them. At this moment, he had reached an empty place to temporarily rest.

“Son of a b*tch, wake up.”

Zhou Jing did not stand on ceremony and slapped Ma Zhen a few times, causing his cheek to swell.

Ma Zhen woke up in shock, his cheeks burning. His blank eyes quickly focused on Zhou Jing.

Seeing the appearance of the person in front of him, Ma Zhen immediately remembered what happened before he fainted. A hint of fear flashed in his eyes, but soon, shock and anger appeared on his face.

“Villain Chen!”

“Oh, you still dare to be arrogant?” Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows and said ferociously, “You set up an extinction plan to drown Huyang and kill countless people. Now that you’ve fallen into my hands, it can be considered your retribution!”

Ma Zhen’s face twitched as he shouted, “Chen Feng, don’t be arrogant in front of me! You were just lucky to defeat our army. If Ling Fengzi had followed my orders and used his divine power to attack the city like you, you would have long been defeated by me!”

Zhou Jing smirked,

“What does it have to do with me if you can’t command that Daoist? Besides, if not for that Daoist helping the officials, you would have long lost. Do you really think you can attack Grandpa with just a group of useless officials?”

Ma Zhen’s expression froze.

At this moment, Zhou Jing had a bad taste and deliberately sneered,

“Speaking of which, a few days ago, I went to Dingbo Mouth to provide disaster relief and happened to encounter Ling Fengzi. I thought that he had received an order from the Imperial Court to stop me, but I didn’t expect him to help me block the dike and stop the flood. He claimed that this was for the sake of the people… Heh, you’ve really failed as a commander. Such an expert doesn’t give you any face at all. It’s obvious that you didn’t discuss your vicious plan with him at all, causing that Daoist to be disloyal to you.”

When Ma Zhen heard this, his eyes almost popped out as he roared at the sky,

“Ling Fengzi, you’ve ruined my plan. You’re a criminal of the country!”

Although he had a feeling that his extinction plan might be ruined by Perfected Master Windwalker, he was still furious when he heard it from Chen Feng.

Zhou Jing smacked his lips and continued to ponder to himself out loud in a wicked manner,

“Fortunately, you’re narrow-minded. If not for the fact that the two of you had an internal strife and forced Ling Fengzi to act alone outside without your protection, I really wouldn’t have been able to attack you.”

Hearing this, Ma Zhen was shocked, furious, and regretful.

However, he suddenly thought of a possibility.

Could it be that all of this was a scheme of that Daoist… Using the excuse of disaster relief, he deliberately fell out with him, but he was actually taking the opportunity to leave the camp and let the enemy take advantage of the situation to attack him?

Ma Zhen’s heart trembled. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible. He was 80% sure that this matter was related to Ling Fengzi.

He was not afraid to judge Ling Fengzi with the greatest malice. He was furious and directly judged Ling Fengzi’s personality.

This Perfected Master Windwalker looked otherworldly, but he was actually extremely sinister. He would definitely take revenge. He was definitely a petty hypocrite!

Seeing this fellow’s twisted expression, Zhou Jing stopped teasing him and grinned.

“In any case, what’s done is done. You’ve already lost to me, so it’s useless to gossip… When we return to the stronghold, I’ll teach you a lesson. Otherwise, how can I let down your vicious heart?”

Ma Zhen came back to his senses and suppressed his panic, unwilling to show any signs of begging for mercy.

“If you want to kill me, so be it. Don’t even think about asking me to beg for forgiveness. I’m the grandson of the founding general, the Duke of Yi. I’ve served the Imperial Court for generations, so why would I be afraid of you? I’ll die without regrets for my country, and you’ll definitely die without a burial place in the future. I’ll wait for you in the netherworld!”

Hearing this, Zhou Jing immediately revealed a sinister smile,

“Don’t worry, Grandpa won’t let you be lonely in the netherworld for too long. In the future, I’ll exterminate the entire Duke of Yi family, leaving no chickens or dogs behind. I’ll also dig up your ancestral grave and expose your corpse in the wilderness. I’ll send them all down to be your companions and let you have a illustrious family background in the netherworld. I’ll reunite all of your generations and let you live in the same house for ten lifetimes.”

“How dare you!!”

Ma Zhen directly exploded in anger.

“Heh, if a life for a life, even if I sacrifice your nine families and cut them all into meat paste and pieces, it won’t be enough for the interest of you flooding Huyang and causing casualties.”

After Zhou Jing finished speaking, he did not speak again. He slashed down with his hand, knocking the agitated Ma Zhen unconscious.

After resting for a while, he had already recovered a lot of stamina. He picked up Ma Zhen again and continued on his way back.

…

On the other side.

Because Chen Feng had directly attacked and captured the commander-in-chief of the three armies, the morale of the soldiers had plummeted, and they panicked.

At this critical moment, Yuwen Yan and the others suppressed their panic and shouted to restrain the soldiers. They took over the command and ordered the soldiers to stand guard while sending out sentries to chase after them.

In the end, they naturally did not gain anything. Chen Feng had long run away, not leaving even a fart for them to eat. He was very stingy in that regard.

Logically speaking, since the commander had fallen into the enemy’s hands, the army should not have ignored him. However, after thinking about it, Yuwen Yan and the other generals felt that Ma Zhen would not be able to fight back at all and would most likely have been killed. If they were delayed here, they might fall into Chen Feng’s trap and be caught up by the Dragon King Stronghold’s army.

After thinking about it, everyone endured the pain and decided to sacrifice small gains for the overall picture to protect the army. They abandoned their commander and continued to retreat.

If a general like Marshal Ma knew about this in the netherworld, he would definitely agree, right?

Therefore, the soldiers marched again and continued to retreat from Huyang. On the way, they maintained vigilance, afraid that Chen Feng would “visit” again.

However, despite being on tenterhooks the entire way, it came out fruitless. Chen Feng was like an old cow that did not turn back. He had never attacked this army of soldiers again. Yuwen Yan and the others felt that he was throwing a wink at a blind person.

However, everyone was already satisfied that they could retreat successfully. They could not help but feel glad that they had escaped.

“This expedition has been fruitless. If the Huyang flooding plan has been countered, there’s nothing that can stop the rebellion any longer…”

The setting sun in the sky was like blood. On a small hill, Yuwen Yan pulled his horse back and looked at the terrain of Huyang from afar. He sighed in his heart.

He still remembered how high-spirited they were when the Imperial Court ordered the three of them to leave the capital.

However, now that he was the only one left on the journey back, Ma Zhen and Huang Ping were both in enemy hands. Yuwen Yan could not help but feel sad for them, as though he could feel their distress.

“After returning to the capital, I wonder how much of an implication I’ll have to eat on behalf of the two…”

Yuwen Yan pursed his lips and sighed.

Now that he had calmed down, he realized that Ma Zhen’s capture had both pros and cons for his situation.

The benefit was that he could push some mistakes to this commander-in-chief. The disadvantage was that it was impossible to escape all responsibility. As the only one of the three generals appointed, he would definitely become the target of public criticism and face the violent accountability of the royal court.

As for whether Ling Fengzi, who had helped the rebels, could be used to push the blame…

Yuwen Yan was a little hesitant.

Back then, Ma Zhen had planned to do this, and Yuwen Yan’s attitude at that time was mainly to agree with the commander and take a stand.

Now that the commander was gone and no one was taking the lead, Yuwen Yan had no choice but to reconsider the pros and cons. He did not want to be the one to take the lead.

Just as he was deep in thought, a figure suddenly appeared in the sky and quickly flew over.

Yuwen Yan came back to his senses and immediately recognized the figure as Perfected Master Windwalker. His expression could not help but change.

Not long after, Ling Fengzi landed on the small hill.

“Perfected One, you’re back.”

Yuwen Yan took a deep breath and put on a serious expression as he greeted him in a deep voice.

Ling Fengzi nodded. Before the other party could ask, he took the initiative to verbally attack the other party,

“Where’s General Ma? Why didn’t you wait for me to retreat? You caused me to search for you for a long time.”

Hearing this, Yuwen Yan immediately felt like he had shot himself in the foot.

“I’ve to let you know that the Marshal has been captured by Chen Feng…”

He could only tell the truth and explain the process.

Ling Fengzi frowned, “General Ma is doing this to give the enemy a chance to take advantage of the situation. He deliberately didn’t wait for me before causing this trouble.”

Yuwen Yan gritted his teeth and asked in a deep voice, “We can’t blame the Marshal for this matter. Perfected One didn’t listen to the general’s orders first and suddenly left the camp to help the rebels. What’s the logic in that either?”

“Oh? General Yuwen wants to blame me too?”

Ling Fengzi’s expression did not change.

Yuwen Yan gritted his teeth and cupped his fists, not backing down, “I don’t dare, but there has to be a public opinion on your actions.”

Ling Fengzi glanced at him and said casually, “You don’t have to worry about this. I’ll tell His Majesty. If you’re worried about me, I’ll return to the capital myself.”

“Ahem, that’s not what I meant. I’m just telling you the stakes. I don’t have any other intentions… The carriage is ready. Perfected One, go and rest.”

Hearing this, Yuwen Yan hurriedly changed his words and smiled stiffly, no longer harping on this topic.

No matter what was wrong with this Daoist’s disaster relief actions, it should be decided by His Majesty. No matter what, the soldiers could heave a sigh of relief when Perfected Master Windwalker returned. They did not have to worry about Chen Feng returning and using the same sneak attack.

Yuwen Yan did not want to follow in the footsteps of the commander, so when he heard the Perfected One’s words, his attitude immediately changed. He did not want to be like Ma Zhen, lest he angered the Perfected One.

Ling Fengzi nodded indifferently. Then, he found his disciple’s team and continued the journey on with the soldiers as if nothing had happened.

…

End of the 14th year of Xinghe.

The various soldiers retreated from Huyang one after another, indicating that the Imperial Court’s expedition had returned empty-handed. It was already a foregone conclusion.

The bandit leader, Chen Feng, had gathered everyone to cause trouble, and the Imperial Court had suffered a defeat. This was an irreparable blow to the prestige of the Great Xia Imperial Court.

At the same time, the Dragon King Stronghold revealed the truth of the flood and used the Imperial Court’s commanders, Ma Zhen and Huang Ping, as witnesses. They claimed that these two were the masterminds of digging the dike and attempting to flood Huyang, ignoring the lives of the local people.

As soon as the news spread, the people of the Huyang Prefecture were in an uproar. The crowd was furious, and their hatred for the Imperial Court rose to a new level. The matter of smashing the magistrate offices in Huyang suddenly became common.

Seeing that the situation was bad, the officials everywhere had long abandoned the city and fled. The government’s dominance in Huyang was already almost nonexistent.

After this, the people of Huyang could be said to have completely given up on the Imperial Court. As for Chen Feng, who had resolved the flood, his reputation soared, and he was almost seen as a living Buddha.

The hearts of the people of Huyang were all on Chen Feng’s side.

As for the masterminds, Ma Zhen and Huang Ping, they were publicly executed. They were dismembered and died day and night in miserable screams.

The more illustrious the families of these two nobles were, the more resentful the people were, and the happier they were seeing their punishment.

Their corpses were hung at the city gate of the capital of a prefecture by Chen Feng, exposed to the public. They were despised by the people, and the citizens of Huyang wished they could eat their flesh.

On the other side, after expelling the Imperial Court’s army, the Dragon King Stronghold no longer defended Yueshan Lake. They sent troops to officially occupy the cities of the various states. On the way, they did not encounter any resistance. Instead, they were welcomed by many citizens.

In this battle, the soldiers were defeated. Chen Feng’s army officially occupied Huyang and snatched one of the 24 provinces from the Imperial Court. He was the first rebel to dare and rise up, snatching the title of ‘World’s First Rebel Leader’.

The flames of war ignited, splitting the lands.

This outcome quickly spread throughout the north and south, shocking the world!

549 The Dust Settles (1)

In a certain forest in the wilderness.

Zhou Jing pushed aside the grass and stopped at a flat ground, putting down the unconscious Ma Zhen on his shoulder.

He had long shaken off the Imperial Court’s army after attacking them. At this moment, he had reached an empty place to temporarily rest.

“Son of a b*tch, wake up.”

Zhou Jing did not stand on ceremony and slapped Ma Zhen a few times, causing his cheek to swell.

Ma Zhen woke up in shock, his cheeks burning. His blank eyes quickly focused on Zhou Jing.

Seeing the appearance of the person in front of him, Ma Zhen immediately remembered what happened before he fainted. A hint of fear flashed in his eyes, but soon, shock and anger appeared on his face.

“Villain Chen!”

“Oh, you still dare to be arrogant?” Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows and said ferociously, “You set up an extinction plan to drown Huyang and kill countless people. Now that you’ve fallen into my hands, it can be considered your retribution!”

Ma Zhen’s face twitched as he shouted, “Chen Feng, don’t be arrogant in front of me! You were just lucky to defeat our army. If Ling Fengzi had followed my orders and used his divine power to attack the city like you, you would have long been defeated by me!”

Zhou Jing smirked,

“What does it have to do with me if you can’t command that Daoist? Besides, if not for that Daoist helping the officials, you would have long lost. Do you really think you can attack Grandpa with just a group of useless officials?”

Ma Zhen’s expression froze.

At this moment, Zhou Jing had a bad taste and deliberately sneered,

“Speaking of which, a few days ago, I went to Dingbo Mouth to provide disaster relief and happened to encounter Ling Fengzi. I thought that he had received an order from the Imperial Court to stop me, but I didn’t expect him to help me block the dike and stop the flood. He claimed that this was for the sake of the people… Heh, you’ve really failed as a commander. Such an expert doesn’t give you any face at all. It’s obvious that you didn’t discuss your vicious plan with him at all, causing that Daoist to be disloyal to you.”

When Ma Zhen heard this, his eyes almost popped out as he roared at the sky,

“Ling Fengzi, you’ve ruined my plan. You’re a criminal of the country!”

Although he had a feeling that his extinction plan might be ruined by Perfected Master Windwalker, he was still furious when he heard it from Chen Feng.

Zhou Jing smacked his lips and continued to ponder to himself out loud in a wicked manner,

“Fortunately, you’re narrow-minded. If not for the fact that the two of you had an internal strife and forced Ling Fengzi to act alone outside without your protection, I really wouldn’t have been able to attack you.”

Hearing this, Ma Zhen was shocked, furious, and regretful.

However, he suddenly thought of a possibility.

Could it be that all of this was a scheme of that Daoist… Using the excuse of disaster relief, he deliberately fell out with him, but he was actually taking the opportunity to leave the camp and let the enemy take advantage of the situation to attack him?

Ma Zhen’s heart trembled. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible. He was 80% sure that this matter was related to Ling Fengzi.

He was not afraid to judge Ling Fengzi with the greatest malice. He was furious and directly judged Ling Fengzi’s personality.

This Perfected Master Windwalker looked otherworldly, but he was actually extremely sinister. He would definitely take revenge. He was definitely a petty hypocrite!

Seeing this fellow’s twisted expression, Zhou Jing stopped teasing him and grinned.

“In any case, what’s done is done. You’ve already lost to me, so it’s useless to gossip… When we return to the stronghold, I’ll teach you a lesson. Otherwise, how can I let down your vicious heart?”

Ma Zhen came back to his senses and suppressed his panic, unwilling to show any signs of begging for mercy.

“If you want to kill me, so be it. Don’t even think about asking me to beg for forgiveness. I’m the grandson of the founding general, the Duke of Yi. I’ve served the Imperial Court for generations, so why would I be afraid of you? I’ll die without regrets for my country, and you’ll definitely die without a burial place in the future. I’ll wait for you in the netherworld!”

Hearing this, Zhou Jing immediately revealed a sinister smile,

“Don’t worry, Grandpa won’t let you be lonely in the netherworld for too long. In the future, I’ll exterminate the entire Duke of Yi family, leaving no chickens or dogs behind. I’ll also dig up your ancestral grave and expose your corpse in the wilderness. I’ll send them all down to be your companions and let you have a illustrious family background in the netherworld. I’ll reunite all of your generations and let you live in the same house for ten lifetimes.”

“How dare you!!”

Ma Zhen directly exploded in anger.

“Heh, if a life for a life, even if I sacrifice your nine families and cut them all into meat paste and pieces, it won’t be enough for the interest of you flooding Huyang and causing casualties.”

After Zhou Jing finished speaking, he did not speak again. He slashed down with his hand, knocking the agitated Ma Zhen unconscious.

After resting for a while, he had already recovered a lot of stamina. He picked up Ma Zhen again and continued on his way back.

…

On the other side.

Because Chen Feng had directly attacked and captured the commander-in-chief of the three armies, the morale of the soldiers had plummeted, and they panicked.

At this critical moment, Yuwen Yan and the others suppressed their panic and shouted to restrain the soldiers. They took over the command and ordered the soldiers to stand guard while sending out sentries to chase after them.

In the end, they naturally did not gain anything. Chen Feng had long run away, not leaving even a fart for them to eat. He was very stingy in that regard.

Logically speaking, since the commander had fallen into the enemy’s hands, the army should not have ignored him. However, after thinking about it, Yuwen Yan and the other generals felt that Ma Zhen would not be able to fight back at all and would most likely have been killed. If they were delayed here, they might fall into Chen Feng’s trap and be caught up by the Dragon King Stronghold’s army.

After thinking about it, everyone endured the pain and decided to sacrifice small gains for the overall picture to protect the army. They abandoned their commander and continued to retreat.

If a general like Marshal Ma knew about this in the netherworld, he would definitely agree, right?

Therefore, the soldiers marched again and continued to retreat from Huyang. On the way, they maintained vigilance, afraid that Chen Feng would “visit” again.

However, despite being on tenterhooks the entire way, it came out fruitless. Chen Feng was like an old cow that did not turn back. He had never attacked this army of soldiers again. Yuwen Yan and the others felt that he was throwing a wink at a blind person.

However, everyone was already satisfied that they could retreat successfully. They could not help but feel glad that they had escaped.

“This expedition has been fruitless. If the Huyang flooding plan has been countered, there’s nothing that can stop the rebellion any longer…”

The setting sun in the sky was like blood. On a small hill, Yuwen Yan pulled his horse back and looked at the terrain of Huyang from afar. He sighed in his heart.

He still remembered how high-spirited they were when the Imperial Court ordered the three of them to leave the capital.

However, now that he was the only one left on the journey back, Ma Zhen and Huang Ping were both in enemy hands. Yuwen Yan could not help but feel sad for them, as though he could feel their distress.

“After returning to the capital, I wonder how much of an implication I’ll have to eat on behalf of the two…”

Yuwen Yan pursed his lips and sighed.

Now that he had calmed down, he realized that Ma Zhen’s capture had both pros and cons for his situation.

The benefit was that he could push some mistakes to this commander-in-chief. The disadvantage was that it was impossible to escape all responsibility. As the only one of the three generals appointed, he would definitely become the target of public criticism and face the violent accountability of the royal court.

As for whether Ling Fengzi, who had helped the rebels, could be used to push the blame…

Yuwen Yan was a little hesitant.

Back then, Ma Zhen had planned to do this, and Yuwen Yan’s attitude at that time was mainly to agree with the commander and take a stand.

Now that the commander was gone and no one was taking the lead, Yuwen Yan had no choice but to reconsider the pros and cons. He did not want to be the one to take the lead.

Just as he was deep in thought, a figure suddenly appeared in the sky and quickly flew over.

Yuwen Yan came back to his senses and immediately recognized the figure as Perfected Master Windwalker. His expression could not help but change.

Not long after, Ling Fengzi landed on the small hill.

“Perfected One, you’re back.”

Yuwen Yan took a deep breath and put on a serious expression as he greeted him in a deep voice.

Ling Fengzi nodded. Before the other party could ask, he took the initiative to verbally attack the other party,

“Where’s General Ma? Why didn’t you wait for me to retreat? You caused me to search for you for a long time.”

Hearing this, Yuwen Yan immediately felt like he had shot himself in the foot.

“I’ve to let you know that the Marshal has been captured by Chen Feng…”

He could only tell the truth and explain the process.

Ling Fengzi frowned, “General Ma is doing this to give the enemy a chance to take advantage of the situation. He deliberately didn’t wait for me before causing this trouble.”

Yuwen Yan gritted his teeth and asked in a deep voice, “We can’t blame the Marshal for this matter. Perfected One didn’t listen to the general’s orders first and suddenly left the camp to help the rebels. What’s the logic in that either?”

“Oh? General Yuwen wants to blame me too?”

Ling Fengzi’s expression did not change.

Yuwen Yan gritted his teeth and cupped his fists, not backing down, “I don’t dare, but there has to be a public opinion on your actions.”

Ling Fengzi glanced at him and said casually, “You don’t have to worry about this. I’ll tell His Majesty. If you’re worried about me, I’ll return to the capital myself.”

“Ahem, that’s not what I meant. I’m just telling you the stakes. I don’t have any other intentions… The carriage is ready. Perfected One, go and rest.”

Hearing this, Yuwen Yan hurriedly changed his words and smiled stiffly, no longer harping on this topic.

No matter what was wrong with this Daoist’s disaster relief actions, it should be decided by His Majesty. No matter what, the soldiers could heave a sigh of relief when Perfected Master Windwalker returned. They did not have to worry about Chen Feng returning and using the same sneak attack.

Yuwen Yan did not want to follow in the footsteps of the commander, so when he heard the Perfected One’s words, his attitude immediately changed. He did not want to be like Ma Zhen, lest he angered the Perfected One.

Ling Fengzi nodded indifferently. Then, he found his disciple’s team and continued the journey on with the soldiers as if nothing had happened.

…

End of the 14th year of Xinghe.

The various soldiers retreated from Huyang one after another, indicating that the Imperial Court’s expedition had returned empty-handed. It was already a foregone conclusion.

The bandit leader, Chen Feng, had gathered everyone to cause trouble, and the Imperial Court had suffered a defeat. This was an irreparable blow to the prestige of the Great Xia Imperial Court.

At the same time, the Dragon King Stronghold revealed the truth of the flood and used the Imperial Court’s commanders, Ma Zhen and Huang Ping, as witnesses. They claimed that these two were the masterminds of digging the dike and attempting to flood Huyang, ignoring the lives of the local people.

As soon as the news spread, the people of the Huyang Prefecture were in an uproar. The crowd was furious, and their hatred for the Imperial Court rose to a new level. The matter of smashing the magistrate offices in Huyang suddenly became common.

Seeing that the situation was bad, the officials everywhere had long abandoned the city and fled. The government’s dominance in Huyang was already almost nonexistent.

After this, the people of Huyang could be said to have completely given up on the Imperial Court. As for Chen Feng, who had resolved the flood, his reputation soared, and he was almost seen as a living Buddha.

The hearts of the people of Huyang were all on Chen Feng’s side.

As for the masterminds, Ma Zhen and Huang Ping, they were publicly executed. They were dismembered and died day and night in miserable screams.

The more illustrious the families of these two nobles were, the more resentful the people were, and the happier they were seeing their punishment.

Their corpses were hung at the city gate of the capital of a prefecture by Chen Feng, exposed to the public. They were despised by the people, and the citizens of Huyang wished they could eat their flesh.

On the other side, after expelling the Imperial Court’s army, the Dragon King Stronghold no longer defended Yueshan Lake. They sent troops to officially occupy the cities of the various states. On the way, they did not encounter any resistance. Instead, they were welcomed by many citizens.

In this battle, the soldiers were defeated. Chen Feng’s army officially occupied Huyang and snatched one of the 24 provinces from the Imperial Court. He was the first rebel to dare and rise up, snatching the title of ‘World’s First Rebel Leader’.

The flames of war ignited, splitting the lands.

This outcome quickly spread throughout the north and south, shocking the world!