Chapter 347. To Appear And Disappear Unpredictably Like A Ghost (2)

Anhui's capital, Hefei, had long been the center of the Righteous Faction

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. In other words, the city was closer to being part of the

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rather than the imperial government.

Unless the city evaded paying taxes or bared its fangs at the imperial government, the imperial government wouldn't get involved in Hefei's affairs.

Since there were so many martial artists, managing the city's affairs was difficult. Fortunately, the Righteous Faction members valued order, so public security was being maintained without the imperial troops' help.

Thus, they tended to turn a blind eye to incidents that occurred without the public's knowledge.

The imperial government's lack of intervention meant that there was no way to guarantee the safety of the people or to stop horrible events from occurring like what had happened in Guizhou.

"The Dark Heavens Association?"

"S-so it happened after all!"

"It's war!"

Upon hearing that the Dark Heavens Association's massive army was right before them, the people of Hefei locked their doors and hid.

Since the Martial Alliance's headquarters and the Nangong Family Estate were both in the city, public security was excellent, and the city's population boomed along with its economy.

However, the downside of being next to the axis of power was that if a war broke out, the civilians could get caught up in it. They could get stabbed by the blind swords of both enemies and allies alike.

Since the imperial government rarely intervened, the residents couldn't help but be scared. Even if the Martial Alliance guaranteed a certain level of safety, wasn't death the result of simply being unlucky?

Despite it being broad daylight, there wasn't a single person—no, there wasn't even an ant on the streets of Hefei or Anhui.

Even the supposedly bustling market streets were quiet.

The laughter of children running and rolling on the sand had ceased.

The scenery was what one would see after the end of the world.

A large army was gathered about an hour away, south of Hefei. It was the full force of the Dark Heavens Army, and there were ten thousand soldiers in the army.

"The Martial Alliance...."

A middle-aged warrior was standing on a boulder as large as a house. He stood at the helm of the army, and his eyes were narrowed as he stared into the distance.

A Standard-Class Rank-Six Upper-Grade Official of the Censorate...

A Registrar of the Registry, Xun Yingguan...

This was the Dark Heavens Association Lord's original name and status. Even though he had been a member of the imperial palace's management and inspection agency, the Censorate, his position itself wasn't very high, as he was only a Standard-Class Rank-Six official.

However, his true identity was the Dark Heavens Association Lord, who would make the

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a living hell for the next few decades. He would eventually be called the Strongest Under the Heavens.

His hair draped across his back and billowed in the wind as if it were a blade. He was once a civil servant, but his physique was that of a true warrior. Anyone could see that he had a

perfect

body.

A group of warriors from the Martial Alliance were sprawled out on the ground before him. These warriors had been guarding the nearby area, and they had become cold corpses.

There were about three hundred of them.

"The main force has been assembled," said the one-armed Blessed Existence. He was behind the Dark Heavens Association Lord and was prostrating toward the latter.

Another executive of the Dark Heavens Association was also prostrating toward the Dark Heavens Association Lord. He was none other than Avaricious Wolf and the Righteous Faction's traitor, Tang Mingren.

"Understood," Xun Yingguan—no, the Dark Heavens Association Lord, replied indifferently. Then, he looked up at the sky above the city.

Perhaps it was because of the snow, but the sky wasn't bright at all, even though it was daylight. Instead, the sky was ominously filled with dark clouds.

"This is the dark heavens."

The Dark Heavens Association Lord's eyes shone coldly.

***

Meanwhile, in the Martial Alliance headquarters...

"

Huh,

what did you just say?" Yun Guang's beard trembled. "Ten thousand?"

It wasn't a hundred or a thousand—it was ten thousand.

The elders' reactions were similar. Their jaws dropped wide, and their faces distorted in shock. Those of the Martial Alliance were shocked to hear that a force of ten thousand had appeared not just anywhere, but right next to their headquarters.

"That's ridiculous!" Huang Gou shouted unconsciously, refusing to believe the messenger's words. "A great army of ten thousand managed to move so close to us, and we didn't notice them at all? That's impossible!"

They were talking about a ten-thousand-strong army here.

The movement of so many troops would certainly create a large commotion.

The Beggar Gang, no, the Righteous and Evil Alliance had no holes in their information network, so they had to have heard about the approach of such a large army.

"The Righteous and Evil Factions, even the Xia Wu Sect, are helping us, so how...?!"

The alliance between the Righteous Faction and the Evil Faction was extremely powerful. Their strategists and intelligence networks had even joined hands. In addition, the Evil Valley was the Xia Wu Sect's main trading partner, so their alliance could officially receive help from the Xia Wu Sect.

Behind the scenes, there was also Zhou Xuchuan, who had joined hands with the Xia Wu Sect Master, Jiang Nengchu.

"It's just as Elder Huang said." Wu Bai nodded in agreement. This didn't make any sense.

"We've taken a loss."

Amidst the chaos, a sigh escaped Zhuge Xiang's mouth. The eyes of the leadership of the Martial Alliance were focused on Zhuge Xiang. They all felt that an explanation was needed.

"The Huai River flows north of Hefei, and the Yangtze River flows south."

"

Ah!

"

Huang Gou immediately understood. As expected from an intelligence elder, he was quick-witted.

"The Nine Water Gangs!"

"...!"

The other elders also showed expressions of understanding.

"I see, is that so..."

"I never thought I would forget such a simple thing!"

Exclamations poured out one after another.

"

Ugh!

"

However, there was someone confused. He was an elder of the Hebei Peng family who was known for his brute strength and brawn as a warrior, as well as his cheerful personality, but he was also a stubborn individual.

"Would you please explain it in more detail, sir?"

Peng Junping's face turned slightly red, as he was the only one who was confused.

"Of course. As you all know, the special force dispatched to Guizhou was recently attacked by the Nine Water Gangs near Dongting Lake.

"Since then, the Nine Water Gangs have been blocking the Yangtze River and the other waterways.

"In other words, the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest must have joined hands with the Dark Heavens Association."

Zhuge Xiang deliberately mentioned the majority instead of Peng Junping so as not to embarrass the elder.

"The troops that reached Manchuria and appeared near Hefei didn't rise from the ground or fall from the sky. They used the river."

Zhuge Xiang frowned and explained, "If a large force from Manchuria moves all at once, it's impossible to avoid noticing them. However, it's a different story if the troops are dispersed.

"It goes without saying that they didn't travel on land. Instead, they made use of the river."

Water Immersion Arts was one of the non-mainstream martial arts. Even in the Evil Faction, where all sorts of techniques existed, it was incredibly difficult to find a water immersion art.

The only ones who used such arts were pirates, the Hainan Sword Sect, and the imperial troops.

In the Central Plains, unfortunately, the only ones proficient at water immersion arts were the pirates.

The imperial government troops' sailors weren't part of the

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, so they were an exception.

The rivers were completely under the control of the pirates, making it difficult to obtain information from them.

If the sects were to push themselves to the limit, they would certainly be able to subdue the pirates, but obviously, it wasn't feasible for them to take control of the Yangtze River Basin just because they were worried about the Nine Water Gangs' influence.

In fact, it wasn't worth going through all that trouble just to subdue them. The Nine Water Gangs also had common enemies with the Righteous Faction—the Evil Faction and the demonic cultists.

In other words, there was no reason to target the Yangtze River.

The Dark Heavens Association noticed that part and took advantage of it.

"The troops must've scattered and flowed in from various places through the Yangtze River before gathering at Hefei. As long as they moved in groups of ten or hundreds over several trips, there would be no need to worry about getting caught."

"I see...!"

Peng Junping finally understood what was going on. His face was bright upon satisfying his curiosity, but Zhuge Xiang's face was not so good.

"However, even if we can only gather a limited amount of information from the Yangtze River, it will still take them a long time to hide such movements. In addition, they will have to divert our attention somewhere else, so..."

"Guizhou was a diversion and a way to buy time for the troops to reach Hefei," Yun Guang said, sounding stern.

Destructive Soldier was the only one leading the Dark Heavens Army in Guizhou, so it wasn't strange that those troops weren't part of the main force.

However, the Martial Alliance's upper echelons were shocked that such a powerful force wasn't even a squad, but in fact, a decoy.

The fierce battle in Guizhou was a way to secretly gather tens of thousands of soldiers in front of the Martial Alliance headquarters.

"It was my foolish mistake for not anticipating the enemy's strategy." Zhuge Xiang bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. "Even if I had ten mouths, I would have nothing to say. I'm sorry. I will take responsibility for this."

When he realized the Dark Heavens Association's goal, his heart sank.

It was the worst result as a Strategist.

Not only had he not noticed their strategy at all, but he was even fooled into thinking the enemy's goal was clear. As a result, he ended up only caring about Guizhou.

He was bamboozled and taken advantage of.

Ha, to think he admitted it so easily.

As rumored, he has a great personality.

Those in a position of responsibility were often afraid of taking responsibility.

This was particularly common in the Righteous Faction. The majority of those in high positions often made excuses to avoid taking responsibility, but Zhuge Xiang admitted to his mistake without any hesitation and even apologized sincerely.

"No. Don't be so harsh on yourself. You're neither a god nor Buddha, how could you know everything?" Yun Guang smiled gently as he comforted Zhuge Xiang.

The Zhuge Family will enjoy a hundred years of peace and prosperity.

It was rare to find someone with both excellent talent and personality.

While Zhuge Shengji had some problems, the family still produced such great heroes and heroines in succession, which was not only enviable but also a great blessing for the Righteous Faction

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.

"It's just as the Alliance Leader said."

"Sir Strategist, don't feel too guilty!"

"I think it's more important for us to prepare for the impending battle."

Yun Guang and the elders consoled Zhuge Xiang.

They weren't just doing this because of his status as the strategist. They were sincere because of his brilliant achievements. Since his days as a vice strategist, he had been working hard, even sometimes forgoing sleep.

The people around him even had to tell him to get some rest.

If the Strategist were to collapse, we wouldn't obtain any answers.

There was also the worry of future battlefields becoming a problem.

The Heavenly Strategist was still necessary.

"Thank you. I will take responsibility for this mistake and make amends."

"That's a good answer."

They were worried that Zhuge Xiang would collapse due to his deep self-reproach, but it was a needless worry all along.

"Lord Strategist, we have deployed the troops," a messenger walked in and reported at that exact moment.

Zhuge Xiang tapped the map spread out on the table with his folded fan and said, "The main force of the Dark Heavens Army with over ten thousand troops has gathered within a stone's throw of the headquarters. In contrast, the Martial Alliance headquarters has less than half that number, less than five thousand.

"As you all know, it is because of the betrayals that have occurred in various places."

"

Ugh...

"

Groans echoed here and there.

"Yes, they're the enemy, but how impressive..." Huang Gou muttered sternly. If Zhou Xuchuan were here, he would curse them inwardly, calling them annoying.

First, they had incited the

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to draw attention to the traitors, and then dispersed their troops to limit the actions of the Righteous and Evil Alliance.

After that, they had prepared to attack Hefei by hiding the movements of the troops within the Yangtze River while announcing the start of the war by sending their troops to battle the Guizhou Army.

They had prepared twice as many troops as Zhou Xuchuan had thought was necessary to end things, and they had prepared for an all-out war from the beginning of the war.

"There are many experts here, as we're at the headquarters, but unfortunately, our enemy is here as well. Moreover, there isn't enough time to request aid, so it's a bad move to wait for support and hold out until then."

"Then what should we do?"

"We should retreat."

"Retreat?!" The hot-tempered Peng Junping was the first to react. "Are you in your right mind, Strategist? To think you'd propose running away from not just anywhere but the center of the Righteous Faction

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—the Martial Alliance headquarters!"

Peng Junping was so agitated that he forgot where he was and even omitted honorifics. However, his reaction was understandable. It hadn't even been a month, let alone a year, since the war started.

The Righteous and Evil Alliance had gained the upper hand in the fierce battle of Guizhou, but giving up the headquarters so soon after the war would still have a huge impact on morale.

Wasn't it the same as getting stabbed in the heart?

Even more importantly, the Martial Alliance Headquarters in Hefei was hundreds of years old instead of just twenty or thirty years old.

"It's not running away, it's a tactical retreat. A tactical retreat. Moreover, Elder Peng, realistically, there is no better answer than this. If you know a better way, can you please tell me?"

Peng Junping couldn't bring himself to answer and merely groaned. "

Ugh...

"

"We don't have time, so I will briefly explain the strategy and then proceed." Zhuge Xiang's eyes lit up.

Blessed Existence, this won't go as you intended.