71 Waiting for an Opportunity
The contents of the diary came to an abrupt end in the 93rd year of the Great Yan Dynasty. All that was left was a mark on the last page, which seemed to convey a sense of yearning.
“It seems like there was either an accident or he turned into a pile of bones!” Jiang Ming muttered to himself. The Great Yan Dynasty, which was now known as the country of Yan, had been established for nearly two hundred years. No matter how vigorous the Grandmaster was, he could not resist the power of time. Now, he was probably a pile of bones.
It was unknown how many people had owned this diary before it finally fell into the hands of Zhang Zhushi and his gang.
Jiang Ming stared at the slightly frenzied handwriting at the end and muttered to himself.
Jiang Ming calmed his mind and pondered, “This person went to the snowfield and the Nine Dragon Lake. There might be some things that he hasn’t discovered in the Cloudy Dream Mountain Forest and other mysterious places! There’s always a limit to a man’s power. Even a Grandmaster can only live for a hundred years. The King of Medicine in the Cloudy Dream Mountain Forest appears every hundred years. Perhaps there are similar opportunities in other places. Perhaps they take even longer to appear.”
Jiang Ming memorized all the secret places recorded in the diary one by one. The thing he did not lack the most was time. When he became a Grandmaster in the future, he would go to these places one by one.
In addition, the Grandmaster named Zhou Jingyu said that he had also collected some mysterious items and scriptures in the process of searching for the immortal encounter.
Jiang Ming pondered for a moment and then shook his head. He did not have much hope.
“This Grandmaster had been dead for more than a hundred years. In addition, he had been searching for immortals all his life and had never established a force. Those things must have long been lost. I have a new main goal now. Only when I reach the peak of martial arts and become a Grandmaster will I be qualified to explore these things.”
* * *
Three days later, the news of the Green Mountain Army’s defeat finally reached Great Cloud City. All kinds of rumors flew everywhere, and it was a mess. Some forces that had once toyed with the idea of joining the Green Mountain Army were now unable to sit still.
“I wonder how the Shi family is feeling?”
In the small courtyard, Jiang Ming finished his martial arts practice and drank the tea made by Zhou Wenxiu unhurriedly.
A few days ago, the news of the Shi family’s disciple killing the Green Mountain Army’s leader on the street and the Shi family breaking off relations with the Green Mountain Army had spread all over the city.
In addition, some busybodies had spread rumors that the Shi family was waiting for the deserters of the Green Mountain Army to pass by Great Cloud City and would intercept and kill them. This was to atone for their crimes and show their loyalty to the Imperial Army.
As soon as this rumor came out, it also quickly spread, and the more it spread, the more exaggerated it became.
Jiang Ming just wanted to cause some trouble for the Shi family, but he did not expect it to turn out like this. It seemed that the Shi family was really unpopular, and many people were hoping that the Shi family would fall.
“However, it’s not the time to act yet.” Jiang Ming took a sip of tea.
No matter what, the Shi family was still a first-class force. If they were to fall from power just because of some rumors, it would be too much of a joke.
The Green Mountain Army was not stupid. They completely ignored the rumors. Now, they were busy with their own affairs and running for their lives. Where would they find the energy to fight to the death with the Shi family?
Not to mention that the Shi family also had another identity. They were the dogs of the Liang family.
The Green Mountain Army had fallen, but the soldiers were the ones who suffered.
Those manipulative officials might still be waiting for a day to be recruited and replaced. They might even be colleagues with the Liang family. How could they be so blind as to kill the Liang family’s dogs?
“However, the Shi family will definitely lose a layer of skin if the locusts pass through,” Jiang Ming muttered to himself and decided to continue to wait and see.
However, he could not stay idle either. That day, Jiang Ming went to the Wang family’s medicine shop to buy a lot of medicinal herbs and continued to drink ten bowls of Spirit-Clearing Soup and three bowls of Blood-Strengthening Soup every day.
“I’ll try to increase the frequency of the activation of my heightened perception.”
* * *
Another half a month passed, and groups of deserters from the Green Mountain Army finally appeared within the borders of Great Cloud City. They continued to flee toward the north in a chaotic manner.
These deserters were no longer as kind and amiable as they were when they went south. One by one, they threw away their helmets and armor, robbed as much as they could along the way, and killed anyone they did not like.
It was chaos everywhere. Countless people had lost their homes and fled in all directions. It was even more miserable than when the Green Mountain Army had attacked the city South.
Peace Town was slightly better off. With the intimidation of the martial artists of the major forces, a few groups of deserters passed by and wanted to rob them, but they were cut off by the neck before they could even try. But even so, there were still many villagers who were robbed. Those old men only cared about themselves and would not care about the lowly commoners who were just a wall away.
However, in the midst of this chaos, a group of mysterious men from the woods quietly appeared in the chaotic towns.
They claimed to be the subordinates of the Flying Cloud Castle and did not promote any slogans. They just rushed up and killed the deserters who were rebelling and distributed their silver and wealth to the displaced people.
They killed, split the money, turned around, and left, rushing to the next place where deserters appeared. These heroes came and went like the wind, their swift and decisive actions leaving a deep impression on everyone.
Gradually, the reputation of the Flying Cloud Castle spread rapidly in the surrounding towns and counties of Great Cloud City. Many people began to look forward to the appearance of the Flying Cloud Castle in their own towns and villages.
“What a good method.” When Jiang Ming heard the news, he could not help but think of the gentle young man, Wei Yan.
Although there was no information, Jiang Ming had an intuition that this move was made by Wei Yan.
“The Flying Cloud Castle is waiting for this opportunity to step on the corpses of the Green Mountain Army to establish their prestige and achieve their own hegemony!”
Two days later, the news about the Shi family reached Peace Town.
A general of the Green Mountain Army returned with his troops. After hearing the rumors related to the Shi family, he was furious. He led his troops to surround the Shi family and personally fought with the head of the Shi family. He only stopped after destroying more than a dozen courtyards.
It was rumored that the head of the Shi family was seriously injured and had compensated the Green Mountain Army with tens of thousands of silver taels, along with countless gems, weapons, and rations.
“Wait a little longer!” Jiang Ming’s eyes were bright. The Shi family could rise so quickly, and they would not be defeated so easily. Maybe they had some hidden cards.
Now that someone was ready to make a move, they would be the first to stand out.
The Green Mountain Army had retreated to the northernmost city, ready to defend the northern border.
The Imperial Army would arrive at Great Cloud City in a few days. time. It was the time to fish in troubled waters.