Chapter 485: In the Wind

“Whether they care or not, establishing a coalition is better than not doing anything!” Golden Rooster sighed, “To what extent it will develop depends on luck!”

“Yes, it depends on luck!” Zhou Bao smiled as he watched Golden Rooster leave.

…

It was the fourth year of Yongping of the Jin.

Mingyi School, one of the three biggest sects of the Jin, had been destroyed by a mysterious expert. The first pillar of the Jin had collapsed. Afterwards, there were frequent and unusual travel activities within every well-known family. In the end, the situation at the Jin that had been full of promise was now becoming very odd.

For this time the destruction of Mingyi School was different from the last time when Zhou Bao broke into it. Last time, Zhou Bao defeated their experts but was driven away by their Individual Immortals. Mingyi School lost face, but did not lose its foundation. However, all their Individual Immortals were killed this time round. It had lost its foundation. And so many of its experts were either wounded or had fled. Just as the saying goes, when the tree topples, the monkeys will scatter.

Mingyi School fell, and the whole of Jin was in chaos.

After all, Mingyi School was not just any ordinary gang in Jianghu, nor was it a sect among the common world. The imperial court was too deeply involved in it. For thousands of years, in the land of the Jin, the name of Mingyi School was synonymous with great righteousness and truth. Not only its military, almost all the literati in the land when it was governed by the Jin and even the dynasties before the Jin regarded Mingyi School as a holy place of worship. Countless learned men and scholars came from there, and innumerable students were proud to attend the lectures conducted there. Even at the current imperial court, two of the three Ducal Ministers were disciples of Mingyi School. Moreover, its disciples also worked in the Six Ministries and served as governors. It could be said that 80 percent of the officials, from major figures in cabinet to inferior officials in villages, were affiliated to Mingyi School and bore its imprint with pride.

Now their holy place had fallen. Its collapse had led to chaos throughout the Jin.

It could be said that the situation led to a maelstrom of changes.

What would happen after this? Suddenly there was a change in the leadership at court. Those well-known families that had been under suppression previously were now in full control. They arrested all the local officials related to Mingyi School and replaced them with their own officials through a series of edicts to the throne. At the same time, nine of the largest well-known families of the Jin jointly wrote a pronouncement, which directly accused Mingyi School of poisoning the world with its evil theories and thus should be banned. They also said that there were still many remnants of Mingyi School at the current court, occupying high positions, who had evil intentions, and they should be replaced and denounced. The list included the Three Ducal Ministers, the principal officials of Four Ministries of the Six Ministries, officials in each Yamen (government officer in Feudal China) and local governors, totaling more than 1,200 persons. This shocked the whole world.

The northwest of the Jin became a Pure Land at a time when the whole world was in trouble. Great changes were taking place in this desolate land known as Wuyang Region. Every day, there were countless caravans carrying goods and numerous people to Wuyang Region in an endless stream. Outside Yunzhou, there was a direct road that led straight to Wuyang Region. This road was perceived to be the biggest miracle that had happened in the entire Jin for thousands of years. The road was 100 feet wide and hundreds of thousands of kilometers long. At every 15 kilometers, there was a courier station. Thus, along the road, 20 to 30, 000 courier stations had been built specially as a guide for the goods and human traffic that traveled to Wuyang Region.

Therefore, this road was also called Wuyang Road.

It was the longest and safest road in the Jin, even the Central Mainland Region and the Seven-deity Regions. Anyuan Store would guarantee your safety as you traveled on this road. It didn’t matter if you were a refugee, a homeless person or a beggar. As long as you were on this road and were willing to stop at Wuyang Region to settle down, Anyuan Store would ensure that you had a safe arrival to Wuyang Region. Whether you had a skill or not, as long as you were willing to work hard, you would be able to find a job in Wuyang Region and even start a family. This was definitely good news for people who were displaced.

Could there anything better than that?

Hence, since the road was constructed, the number of travelers on the road had gradually increased. At the beginning, it was mainly merchants. To merchants of the Jin, Wuyang Region in the northwest was undoubtedly a treasure. It was a bit desolate, but there were lots of mines that could not be found anywhere else in the Central Plains. In particular, the northwest regions were extremely rich in some rare mineral deposits. Above all, the road was safe for businesses. It was altogether a safe and profitable place.

Thus, for a long time, most of the people on this road were businessmen, until the Jin greatly changed all that two months ago. This occurrence had taken place ever since Mingyi School had been destroyed by a mysterious expert, and the nine well-known families signed a joint edict and had asked the emperor to get rid of “evil” ministers and existing remnants. From then on, the Jin became restless. These well-known families suppressed local officials who were related to Mingyi School. Naturally, these local officials would not take it lying down. Mingyi School had a very deep foundation in this land, and it was not easy to uproot it. As a result, the conflict between the two sides quickly escalated into war. In just two months, the Jin was in the throes of war, so to speak. Wuyang Road was gradually filled with people.

Many a times, this Wuyang Road, which was 100 feet in width and hundreds of thousands of kilometers in length, acted as a haven.

Why was this the case?

It was because no conflict or killing was allowed on this road. This iron clad rule was made by Wuyang’s Earl, Zhou Bao, the son-in-law of the current emperor and the most powerful man of the Jin. No one was allowed to defy it. Even the nine biggest well-known families of the Jin would not resort to pursuit and murder on this long road of hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Therefore, this road was also called Peace Road and Bodhisattva-blessing Road by the common people of the Jin.

No matter who you were, what kind of difficulties you encountered, once you were on this road, you were basically on safe ground.

It sounded absurd but was true. At first, some people were skeptical about this, and some groups of robbers pulled off several robberies on the road. A few days later, the heads of these robbers were piled up at the scene of their crime, on display for all to see. There were even some Level Five and Six masters of martial arts among the dead robbers. No exceptions were given and no pity shown to these criminals.

The members of the well-known families trod carefully on this road. Even the most arrogant disciples of well-known families dared not stir up trouble here and cause any provocation.

But one day, six hours after the sun rose, the rule seemed to have been violated.

“Gee, gee一 ”

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Six swift horses galloped out of Yunzhou, the dust from their hooves swirling around on Wuyang Road.

“Get out of the way, get out of the way, we’re from the Qin Family, get out of the way!”

These boisterous horses went so fast that they did not pay heed to anyone at all. And since it was the busiest time on the road, many people were knocked down by these rampaging horses. The noise was so loud that men walking in front were alerted to the situation behind and scampered to get out of the way. The passageway ahead was cleared only after 13 people had been hit by the six horses.

These knights thought they got away with this, but an hour into their journey, they were stopped in their tracks.

It was a common looking middle-aged man who stopped them. The man’s Qi Power was not very strong. He seemed to have practiced martial arts with cultivation of Internal Qi just at Level One or Two. He stood in the middle of the road with a serene face and blocked the knights’ way.

“We’re from the Qin Family, get out of the way!” Seeing the situation ahead, the leading knight roared in anger. At a distance of 30 feet from the man, he suddenly raised the whip in his hand. The whip turned into a black shadow which swung violently towards the man in gray.

The man’s expression changed abruptly. He reached out to his waist, as if trying to get something, but it was too late.

By the time his hand touched his waist, the whip had hit him. The black whip curled around him like a snake and caused him a lot of pain. Then, feeling lightheaded, he was thrown into the air by the whip and landed 100 feet away. After struggling for a short while, he fainted.

“Humph, how dare you stand in the way of our Metal Horse Carriage of the Qin Family!” The leader took back his whip and glanced at the man in grey icily. Then without slowing down, he sped on as if nothing had happened.

What they didn’t notice was that after their departure, the faces of passers-by who had witnessed the whole process had changed.

“God, who are they? How bold they are!”

“Yes, not only did they ride into Wuyang Region and hurt people, they even injured Wuyang Region’s ancient courier. Are they looking for trouble?”

“Heehee, there will be a showdown soon. They will get their comeuppance then!”

“Not necessarily. Didn’t you hear them saying that they were from the Qin Family? The Qin Family in South Mountains is one of the nine biggest well-known families in the Jin. Maybe they really have something important to do!”

“Humph, the nine biggest well-known families are nothing. They should remember who built the road and who sets the rules here!” Another person said with a sneer, “Isn’t the Wang Family one of the nine biggest well-known families? But he didn’t give them any face and even swallowed up their territory!”

“SHH, shut up. Don’t say dumb things. Who told you that he swallowed up the Wang’s territory? The emperor gave it to him!”

“Yes, you’re right, the emperor gave it to him. Whose side do you think he will be on this time? The emperor or the well-known family? Though he is the son-in-law of the emperor, he is also a man of Tian Long Taoism. And Tian Long Taoism is closely related to these well-known families!”

While chatting, they deviated from the original theme. Then there was a heated discussion.

The six knights went on riding for more than 15 kilometers after they had wounded the man in grey robe. Suddenly, the leading knight’s expression changed, and he pulled up the reins sharply.

Yu Yu Yu一[this was the person giving his command to the horse]

The boisterous horse that he was riding on gave a long whinny because of his sudden tug. The horse backed up, and its front hooves kicked wildly in the air for several times before it slowed down.

The five knights behind him did the same thing.

They stopped their horses and looked sullen.

There was no one on the strangely quiet Wuyang Road. The wind was blowing strongly, and Wuyang Road appeared to be very bleak and empty.

The six knights had an intense look on their faces as they felt the murderous intent hovering in the air, even though no one was in sight.

They were in a valley of a low mountain.