allonlinenovel Chapter 1242 Crisis
Chapter 1242 Crisis
The soldiers below let out long-suppressed roars, their eyes burning with the flames of revenge and enthusiasm for the return of their old master!
A special force of nearly 400 people, well-equipped, full of hatred and determination to die, led by Hua Yunhong personally, quietly bypassed the key defense areas of Beiting Protectorate like a ghost. Taking advantage of his familiarity with the loopholes in the border, he chose an extremely secret and dangerous route and quietly sneaked into the northern border of the Daqian Empire.
They hid during the day and moved at night, avoiding passes and cities, and only took narrow paths in the mountains and forests, even using abandoned mines and woodcutters' trails. Hua Yunhong's ruthlessness and caution were fully demonstrated at this moment. Any villages, woodcutters, and herdsmen that might reveal their whereabouts were ruthlessly eliminated.
This death squad spread silently southward like poison seeping into cotton cloth.
News was strictly controlled, even deliberately misleading. Occasionally, sporadic reports of abnormalities were sent to Meng Zhi's desk in the Beiting Protectorate.
Most of them were classified as "small groups of bandits roaming around" or "harassment by defeated soldiers" and did not receive enough attention in the huge post-war stability maintenance affairs.
Who would have thought that the man who was supposed to die in the depths of Snow God Valley was approaching the empire's soft spot step by step with the most deadly hatred.
Hua Yunhong’s goal is extremely clear.
Instead of engaging with the Beiting defenders, they rushed straight into the heart of Daqian at the fastest speed.
Before he could react, the troops were heading straight for the defenseless capital, the symbol of Qin Ming's supreme power!
Rush thousands of miles to behead and take revenge!
In Shenmu City, the former royal palace now bears the plaque of the Beiting Protectorate, but deep within the palace, an indelible foreign atmosphere lingers. Inside a side hall, several former Shenmu councilors, now retained, gathered pale-faced around a silk document that had just arrived through top-secret channels.
The handwriting on the silk was sharp and familiar, and every word seemed to carry ice chips, hitting their hearts.
The content was even more shocking - His Majesty Hua Yunhong was not dead, and he had personally led an elite force southward to attack the capital of Daqian!
The crimson jade seal in the lower right corner of the silk book, representing the supreme power of the sacred tree, burned their eyes and completely shattered their last glimmer of hope.
"Crazy...crazy..." An old minister's lips trembled, his voice shaking, "Your Majesty, this...this is gambling the fate of our Shenmu nation!"
"It's more than just the fate of the nation!" another man said, his face drooping. "This is a gamble with our lives! If Your Majesty loses, those of us who remain here will be considered accomplices by Qin Ming. Confiscating our property and exterminating our clan will be the least of our worries! By then... the name of the sacred tree will probably be completely wiped out from the northern border!"
"But Your Majesty's seal is here... The emperor's order is as heavy as a mountain..." someone murmured, his face full of struggle and fear.
The hall fell into a deathly silence. Resist Qin Ming? They dared not, for the Beiting Protectorate's cavalry was just outside the city walls. Obey the emperor's orders? That would be tantamount to self-destruction, dragging the entire Shenmu Ancient Land into an abyss of no return!
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty hasn't given us the opportunity to choose at all." Finally, one of the most senior councilors, Yao Chang, spoke slowly. Though there was fear in his eyes, there was also a hint of bitter clarity. "He personally took the risk and marched straight to the enemy capital. Regardless of success or failure, he has already forced us... into a desperate situation."
He looked around at everyone, his voice low and difficult, "We are no longer ministers of Shenmu, but officials under the jurisdiction of Daqian Beiting. If Your Majesty survives and the surprise attack succeeds, we may be able to make other plans. But if Your Majesty... Your Majesty is defeated and killed, and we do not make any moves, there may still be a glimmer of hope to save the ancestral temple and the people."
This was said politely, but the meaning was stark.
They could only sit back and watch their former master make this shocking gamble.
Win and then we'll talk about the rest.
If they lose, they will completely sever their ties with the old dynasty and pledge their loyalty to the new master.
This is an extremely painful but realistic choice.
The few of them exchanged bewilderment, finally bowing their heads in despair, tacitly accepting this cruel decision. With trembling hands, Yao Chang tossed the silken scroll bearing the imperial seal into the brazier, where it vanished into a wisp of smoke, akin to their uncertain fate.
At the same time, thousands of miles away.
Hua Yunhong, leading his death squad of less than 400 people, was moving southward at an astonishing speed.
They completely transformed into poisonous snakes in the shadows, avoiding all official road stations and traveling through remote mountains and forests and abandoned ancient roads.
Their discipline is extremely harsh.
Hua Yunhong personally ordered that any living person who might reveal their whereabouts—whether they were accidental woodcutters, hunters, or night watchmen in small villages—be ruthlessly killed, their bodies and any traces carefully disposed of. Like an icy undercurrent, they silently infiltrated the vast northern territory of Daqian.
Thanks to Qin Ming's transfer of major forces north, the suppression of rebellions in the south, and the complex post-war reconstruction efforts, the defenses of Daqian's northern hinterland had indeed developed numerous gaps. The local prefectures and counties had enjoyed a prolonged period of peace, and their garrisons had become complacent, lacking sufficient vigilance against threats emanating from the "pacified" northern border.
Hua Yunhong took advantage of this precisely.
Relying on his extraordinary memory and the maps he collected before the war, he was always able to find the weak points in the defense line.
Sometimes they were in the blind spots of the mountains and forests at the junction of two counties, sometimes they were in a section of dilapidated border wall, and sometimes they even disguised themselves as a team of civilians transporting building materials, taking advantage of the loopholes in the frequent flow of materials after the war, and boldly passed through the checkpoints with lax inspections.
They work day and night, without stopping.
Everyone's eyes were bloodshot, their faces gleaming with fatigue and wolfish ferocity, yet their movements remained astonishingly efficient and silent. Hua Yunhong was especially so. He seemed tireless, his narrow eyes constantly burning with icy flames, and every decision he made was decisive and ruthless.
Along the way, they would also attack some extremely small and remote official post stations or granaries of local tyrants in the countryside to replenish supplies, but they never fought to the end, and would leave after one strike, leaving no one alive. The chaos they created was quickly attributed by local officials to "bandits" or "ruined soldiers" and failed to attract enough attention from the top leaders.
This team was like a poisoned dagger held by Hua Yunhong himself. The tip of the blade ignored everything along the way and locked its sight on the defenseless and magnificent capital in the south that was getting closer and closer.
……
Daqian, the capital.
The capital city in late autumn is still bustling and prosperous.
The war seemed far away, but news of victory trickled in, and the market was filled with optimism and pride. Within the imperial city, since the emperor had not yet returned, the prime minister and the remaining officials were in charge of government affairs. Everything was in perfect order, yet there was also a subtle sense of relaxation, a sign of a lack of leadership.
No one would have thought that a deadly cold wave was quietly approaching from the north, which they thought had been pacified and safe.
On this day, more than a hundred miles north of the capital, on the edge of a royal hunting ground called "Heisonggang".
A small cavalry unit of about twenty from the City Patrol was on a routine patrol along the perimeter of the hunting grounds. Leading the team was a young captain who seemed a little absent-minded, wondering where to go for a drink after his shift.