Chapter 149: The Original Cause

  "Kan Ge, I'm Qian Guang. We've known each other for over a decade! You were in Huai Zhou, right? Seven years ago, when we went out on a mission together and our identities were exposed, it was me who took a knife for you. Look, the scar is still on my body." Qian Guang said as he retreated.

  Liu Ning heard Qian Guang say this and his face turned red with anger, saying: "Enough, it's no use saying these things now. Xiao Linzi and the others are already dead. Even if I kill you a thousand times, I won't be able to quench the flames of anger in my heart."

  "Qian Ge, you know that I still have elderly at home. I was forced to, Liu Ge, spare my life!" Qian Guang's face is full of pleading expression.

  Liu Ning walked up to Qian Guang, raised the long sword in his hand, took a deep breath and said: "Qian Guang, you can rest assured on your way! Your parents at home, if I don't die, I will take care of them for you."

  Qian Guang heard Liu Ning's words, and his originally pleading face revealed a sinister smile: "Liu family. You've forgotten the kindness you received and want to kill me? Go ahead! Don't pretend to be a good person, in the underworld I'll wait for your arrival, hahaha!"

  Qian Guang's laughter had not yet finished when a sword light flashed by, and Qian covered his own neck with both hands. A stream of fresh blood spurted out.

  "Ah!" Qian Guang fell to the ground and rolled around a couple of times, convulsing several times before finally calming down.

  "Lock!" Liu Ning threw away the long sword in his hand, and with a thud, he knelt down in a certain direction and said: "Little Linzi, did you see? I, Liu Ning, have avenged you, rest in peace!"

  "The dead are gone, and the living should not let the dead be regretful."

  A cold and carefree voice sounded in Liu Ning's ear.

  Liu Ning wiped away the tears on his face, stood up, and bowed to Leng Xiao Yao: "Thank you"

  "Ah!" Leng Xiao Yao's face slightly changed, and he quickly stretched out his hands to support the fallen Liu Ning. After checking him, a faint smile appeared on his face. He picked up the unconscious Liu Ning and disappeared into the forest after a few flashes of movement.

  Liu Ning felt that he had a very long dream, in which his brothers were willing to sacrifice their lives to help him escape the siege. He dreamed of himself fleeing and running all the way, until he was forced by the enemy to the edge of a cliff, where he jumped off without hesitation.

  "Ah!" Liu Ning woke up with a start, let out a loud cry, and opened his eyes to find himself lying on the ground. Beside him sat a figure. A blazing fire lit up the surroundings.

  The crackling of the fire broke the silence of this quiet night.

  "Wake up." A cold and carefree voice rang out, and he saw him holding a roasted piece of meat in his hand, handing it to Liu Ning, smiling: "Since you're awake, your stomach should be hungry too. Eat something first, we'll talk later."

  Liu Ning swallowed a mouthful of saliva, smelling the fragrance of meat on the wooden stick, and only then did he feel that his stomach was very hungry. After taking over the wooden stick, he opened his mouth and said: "Thank you, senior."

  Leng Xiao's face wore a faint smile. He returned to the bonfire, picked up a bloody piece of meat and strung it onto a wooden stick, continuing to roast it.

  "Woof woof"

  Judge, fellow, and so on. What's your hurry? You'll get yours.

  "Eh!" Liu Ning, who was eating hastily, heard a strange cry and stopped eating. He looked at Leng Xiangyao with surprise in his eyes. Only then did he realize that there was a cute little animal lying beside Leng Xiangyao's feet. However, this animal seemed to be one that he had never seen before on the Maya continent. Could it be a new species?

  "Alright, alright, it's almost done, here you go first, don't rush."

  Liu Ning shook his head, continuing to devour the roasted meat. For the first time, he realized that roasted meat was so fragrant and delicious. How come he hadn't noticed it before? This senior not only had high cultivation but also excelled at roasting meat. No wonder he was a figure often mentioned by the Fifth Prince.

  After Liu Ning finished eating a piece of roasted meat that weighed about four catties, he finally felt his body warm up. He stood up, moved his limbs, and found that the wounds on his body had been treated by someone. Without needing to think, he knew who had helped him treat his wounds. So he walked over to sit down in front of the fire pit.

  "Thank you, senior." Liu Ning's tone was full of respect.

  "It's just a small matter." Leng Xiao Yao didn't even lift his head, focusing on the barbecue in his hands.

  The scene suddenly became quiet again, and only the domineering one standing at Leng Xiao Yao's feet stood up. A pair of black small eyes turned around, extremely cute.

  "How did Qin Hao become the fifth prince of the Southern Dynasty?"

  Liu Ning heard Leng Xiao's question and was taken aback for a moment. He replied, "Doesn't senior know that the royal family of the Southern Dynasty is surnamed Qin? Of course, Your Highness is still Your Highness."

  "Is the royal family of Nanchao Country surnamed Qin?" Leng Xiao Yao raised his head and took a glance at Liu Ning, then smiled to himself. He really didn't know that the royal family of Nanchao Country was indeed surnamed Qin.

  "Alright."

  "How did I know my name?"

  "Because I once saw a few portraits in the study of the temple, and the portrait of the senior was hung first, and there were some other portraits of seniors."

  "A painting?" Leng Xiao was stunned for a moment, and the next moment, a wave of warmth surged up in his heart. He immediately understood the significance of Qin Hao's move. It seemed that this kid had never forgotten their brothers who had gone through life and death together. Not bad, it seemed that he hadn't saved this kid in vain, and he still knew how to be grateful. He didn't need to think about it, he already understood whose other paintings they were.

  "Alright."

  Wisdom, Ten Thousand

  "When will this kid return to Southern Dynasty? What happened again? Why did he go to Fengyu City to ask for troops from General Bai?"

  "Your Highness, the Fifth Prince returned to the Southern Dynasty three years ago. At that time, Your Majesty saw that the Fifth Prince had returned safely, so he rewarded him with a city to manage and announced in the grand hall that each of the five princes would be in charge of one city. If the prince who managed his city the best would be appointed as the Crown Prince." Liu Ning stopped here, gazing at the barbecue being cooked by Leng Xiao Yao, thinking to himself: "If the prince can gain the support of this senior, it seems that his chances of becoming the Crown Prince will greatly increase."

  "Keep talking, don't stop." Leng Xiao Yao said, still focusing on the barbecue in front of him, while Ba Dao at his feet was busy devouring a piece of already cooked barbecue.

  His Imperial Highness was not helped by the senior officials in the court at that time, so he was assigned to the westernmost and poorest city of the Southern Dynasty. His Majesty did not give His Imperial Highness a chance, but His Imperial Highness smiled and accepted it. He then took some loyal attendants from his early years to govern the city. The city under his governance became the most prosperous and had the strongest military among all the cities governed by other princes. This made several princes jealous, especially the eldest prince, who repeatedly made things difficult for His Imperial Highness and even hired assassins to kill him several times. Fortunately, His Imperial Highness was lucky enough to dodge each attempt. However, in the previous month, a powerful bandit army suddenly appeared on Mount Longhua in the northwest and repeatedly attacked the city. At first, we thought this bandit army was just a group of scattered people, but it turned out that they had heavy siege weapons and their equipment was no worse than that of regular soldiers. After a month of fighting, our side suffered heavy casualties, and even civilians in the city took up arms to fight against the enemy. His Imperial Highness could not bear to see his people suffer, so he led us to seek support from the Second Army Group in the south. However, when we arrived there, His Imperial Highness was unexpectedly detained and accused of rebelling against the emperor. If His Imperial Highness had not seen through the situation and ordered us to escape from the military camp first, I'm afraid we would have been caught too.

  "What's happened to Qin Hao? Is he in danger?" Leng Xiao Yao was concerned about Qin Hao's life and death, as for the imperial family's struggle for power, he really had no interest at all. If it wasn't for Qin Hao having shared life and death with Leng Xiao Yao before, if it were someone else, he wouldn't even think of asking.

  "The Fifth Highness is still in the hands of the Second Army Group. But I think they don't have the guts to make a move on the Fifth Highness. After all, the Fifth Highness's identity is there, and if anything happens to him, Your Majesty will definitely be furious, and at that time, Tang Yijian will lose his head even with the support of the Grand Highness."

  "So you're so sure that General Bai will send troops to reinforce?" Leng Xiao didn't need to think about it. He also knew that Liu Ning's Tang Yijian was the commander of the Second Army Group, and in the Southern Dynasty, only the First Army Group led by Bai Mang could suppress him. After all, the title of the First Army Group wasn't obtained easily.

  Liu Ning shook his head, a bitter smile on his face: "Since you're not an outsider, I'll be straightforward. The prince isn't asking for General Bai's troops to save him, but rather to rescue Fengzhou City."

  "Fengzhou City?" Leng Xiao Yao pondered the name of this city in her mind.

  Liu Ning heard Leng Xiao's question and hastily explained: "It's the city allocated to the Fifth Prince, the one at the westernmost corner."

  "This kid." Leng Xiao Yao shook his head, starting to worry about Qin Hao. He's so worried about the country and its people. How can this kid be an emperor? However, everything is based on the people, if this kid was a bit more decisive in his killings, he might not be a bad ruler.

  Liu Ning suddenly remembered that the imperial edict given to him by the Emperor was still on Leng Xiang's body. He asked, "Senior, do you know about the imperial edict that I had stuffed into your sleeve?"

  "What's this?" Leng Xiao Yao was taken aback for a moment, then immediately understood that Liu Ning's "hand order" referred to the small piece of paper he had thought little of. He racked his brains for a moment, and only then did he recall that he seemed to have thrown it into the fire before leaving.

  Liu Ning saw the expression on Leng Xiao Yao's face and his heart skipped a beat. He knew that without this imperial edict, he wouldn't be able to meet Bai Meng even if he arrived at Feng Yu City. With a glimmer of hope in his heart, he asked softly, "Senior, what about the imperial edict?"

  Leng Xiao said a sentence that shattered the last shred of hope in Liu Ning's heart.

  "I threw that note into the bonfire."

  "Senior Liu Ning is now so sad that he can't cry! Without the imperial edict, whether or not to go to Fengyue City makes no difference anymore. If I had known it would be like this, I'd rather have died in battle. Now things are at a point where I'm stuck and don't know what to do."

  % positive

  Leng Xiangyao glanced at Liu Ning's face, which looked like it was about to cry. A faint smile appeared on his face as he said, "What's gone is gone, I'll accompany you to Fengyu City."

  Liu Ning's originally dull face suddenly lit up when he heard Leng Xian Yao's words, and his face was filled with anticipation: "Does Senior have a relationship with General Bai?"

  "Affection?" Leng Xiao Yao was taken aback for a moment, his facial expression changing several times before he nodded and said, "A bit."

  "That's great, thank you so much." Liu Ning's originally disheartened mood suddenly lifted. If Cold Impermanence and White Marshal had a good relationship, then White Marshal would definitely send troops to rescue Fengzhou City. At that time, he could ask the senior again, and perhaps the senior would directly find White Marshal to come forward and rescue the Fifth Prince, so Fengzhou City would be saved and the Fifth Prince would return safely. Unfortunately, no matter how hard Liu Ning thought about it, he wouldn't know that Cold Impermanence's relationship with White was not as he imagined.

  Leng Xiao didn't respond to Liu Ning's words. At this moment, he was also very confused in his heart and couldn't figure out whether he had a relationship with Bai Meng or if they were just family. If Xue Er hadn't died, he would have become Bai Meng's son-in-law in the future. Even though Xue Er was dead, she was still his wife in his heart, and as her father, Bai Meng was naturally his father-in-law. What he feared most now was that Bai Meng would blame him for his daughter's death, which was what he worried about the most.

  "It's been three years, it's also time to go see Xue Er." Leng Xiao Yao stood up and let out a long sigh. His eyes gazed in the direction of Feng Yu City, his heart secretly thinking.

  Liu Ning saw Leng Xiao Yao suddenly stand up. He was startled and quickly stood up as well, but when he saw the pleading expression on Leng Xiao Yao's face, he suddenly felt that this young senior in front of him seemed very lonely, very lonely.

  One night without a word, when the morning sunlight had just lifted its head, Liu Ning opened his eyes and quickly stood up. He looked around and saw that there was only a pile of ashes left on the ground, while everything else was quiet. A bitter smile appeared on his face as he thought to himself: "It seems my hopes have been dashed again."

  Just as he was thinking, a horseshoe sound came up. Cold Xiao rode a war horse to Liu Ning's side, with a rein in his hand, and another war horse followed behind the war horse.

  "Mount up, let's go."

  "Yes, senior." Liu Ning's face showed a trace of wild joy, and he quickly took over the reins. With one flip of his body, he was riding on the war horse.

  Leng Xiangyao glanced at Liu Ning and said calmly, "Since Qin Hao won't be in danger, there's no need to rush. Your wounds haven't fully healed yet, don't make them burst open again. Let's go."

  "Thank you for your concern, senior. My injuries are nothing compared to the lives that will be lost if General Bai's army arrives a day late. Please don't worry about my wounds," Liu Ning replied. But in his heart, his respect for Leng Xiao Yao was growing higher and higher.

  Leng Xiao Yao heard Liu Ning's words and looked at him with a look of approval. "Not bad," he said, opening his mouth. "Let's go."