Under the night sky, the starlight is dim.

  Fang Lingde made a slight gesture and followed Liu Zhengxin, who was leading the way, with Liu Hualiang and several guards quietly moving to the right.

  Those few Xiongnu soldiers shouted outside the village for a while, but except for causing a burst of barking dogs and crowing chickens, there was no other response. It seemed that the villagers were afraid of the Xiongnu's ferocity and did not dare to respond.

  The Xiongnu leader stood at the gate for a moment, then suddenly shouted in broken Chinese: "People inside, listen! We have come with the noble Chanyu's orders. As long as you do not resist and do not disobey the Chanyu's commands, we Xiongnu will not harm you and treat you equally."

  His words were extremely fluent, obviously having been recited many times before, and it was unclear how many times he had already shouted them.

  Liu Zhengqi was extremely puzzled in his heart. The Xiongnu people had always been notorious for their bloodthirstiness, and wherever they passed, nine out of ten houses were empty. Why did they suddenly become so talkative now?

  He raised an eyebrow, widened his eyes, and had a look of surprise with a hint of disdain. But just for a moment, the original mocking expression faded away bit by bit, and his face gradually became solemn.

  Liu Zhengqi looked at him and asked in a low voice: "What's wrong? Is anything amiss?"

  Zhang Zihua raised his head and slowly spat out two words: "Human heart."

  The Hun shouted after finishing speaking, and led the crowd to ride horses into the village.

  According to his intention, he just wanted to take a census of the villagers. Before this village, he had been to five villages already. Under the threat of his sword, no one dared to disobey him.

  So he came to the house at the head of the village with ease, just as he was about to knock on the door, his neck suddenly hurt, and a sword tip had somehow pierced through his throat.

  His eyes widened to the extreme, staring incredulously at the sword tip on his neck, and at the same time, he heard the sound of screams and wails rising from behind him. The sword tip at his throat was suddenly withdrawn, and as he struggled to turn his head to look around, he saw an old man in gray clothes staring coldly at him, his eyes filled with intense hatred. His throat let out two gurgling sounds, and he finally collapsed, never to get up again.

  There were twelve Xiongnu people in this group, except for four who stayed outside the village, the rest entered the village. They still thought it was just a routine matter, so they didn't have much defensive intention, but unexpectedly they were suddenly attacked, and the attackers all had extraordinary martial arts skills. In a few moments, they all lost their lives.

  Inside the fight sounded together, outside four Xiongnu soldiers suddenly knew something was wrong, one of them drew back his hand and pulled out a bow and arrow, opened the bowstring, and was about to shoot an alarm arrow into the sky.

  However, an arrow shot through his throat first, and he fell to the ground, dying on the spot. At the same time, several black shadows rushed towards them quickly.

  The remaining three Xiongnu people were shocked, drew out their horse knives, and faced the enemy in the dark night. They were not afraid at all. One of them shouted and pulled the horse to leave, while the other two charged forward with all their might.

  Liu Zhengzhong knew that he couldn't let him escape, so he drew his bow again. As the commander of the Yellow Dragon Army, he wasn't just a figurehead - one arrow shot out like a meteor chasing the moon, and it flew into the body of the fleeing Xiongnu man with an ethereal quality.

  That Xiongnu man let out a miserable cry, fell on his horse, but the horse under him was exceptionally divine, carrying its master to flee quickly, leaving others unable to catch up.

  Liu Zhengzhong suddenly put down the bow and arrow in his hand, looking at the distant horses, the stubbornness of the Xiongnu people was beyond his expectation, and in the end, he still failed to achieve his goal.

  At this time, Liu Hualiang had already led his men to deal with the remaining two Xiongnu people. He ran to his side, looked at Liu Zhengzhong who was full of disappointment and guilt, and said: "Let's go see the lord."

  Liu Zhengzhong nodded silently and followed him without saying a word.

  Xu Haifeng's temporary residence was just one of the countless small villages in the Great Han Empire, but its geographical location was relatively good, and the distance from the capital was only a day's journey, making it a stopping point for merchants and travelers coming and going. With more people passing through, there was also more atmosphere.

  However, the environment here is indeed not very good, and it can't be compared with Xijing City and Wolong City of the Huns Empire, let alone the capital of the Great Han Dynasty.

  The upper floor of the hostel is relatively clean, but the surrounding environment is very poor. Except for the building where they live, all the other buildings are crowded together in a disorderly manner, and the roads around them are bumpy and form puddles of water everywhere. They are the result of nearby residents dumping dirty water indiscriminately. The places where dirty water has been dumped are filled with swarms of flies and a foul smell fills the air.

  Xu Haifeng casually closed the window and suddenly realized that he had unknowingly developed a sense of disgust towards the dirtiness here.

  He stopped in his tracks and pushed open the window again. Everything before his eyes was so familiar yet strange.

  Before he joined the army, the village where he lived, Xujiacun, was even poorer and more backward than this place, and he was not calm and unaware.

  But in recent years, he has been away from the sea of suffering.

  That's right, it's a sea of bitterness, it's the kind of life that ordinary people who are struggling on the poverty line have to live.

  He has ascended to heaven, bringing his family and clan with him, and their lives have also undergone a complete transformation.

  So he hadn't seen such a scene in a long time.

  Power is a good thing.

  No matter how many years of baptism, power will always exercise its unique and unparalleled effectiveness.

  Innumerable people are infatuated with it, and it is more addictive than opium. This is an unalterable fact.

  Xu Haifeng's two eyes stared tightly at his own open hands, as if he wanted to see something from them.

  Since he truly entered the realm of the grandmaster, a kind of enlightenment rose in his heart. The cultivation of martial arts is lonely and arduous, and the road to dominating the world is also lonely and arduous, but the two are absolutely different, at least in terms of atmosphere and psychology.

  The way of martial arts emphasizes openness and integrity, swift justice for grievances.

  The way of contending for hegemony emphasizes intrigue and cunning, plotting and scheming.

  How can the two be confused as one, no wonder those who have entered the realm of masters are like immortals who do not eat the smoke and fire of the mortal world, and they don't bother with this aspect.

  Even if Cheng Xuanfeng and Tuo Heti wanted to take action against him, it would still be fair and square.

  Throughout the ages, how many wise and powerful rulers and ministers have there been? They were brilliant and far-sighted, dominating their time, and among them were also those with high martial arts skills. However, among them, a master-level figure has never appeared.

  Jiang Kung-ming had also said that heroes and villains are two vastly different paths, and now he was like standing at an important fork in the road of life. How to choose, it all depends on his thoughts.

  Everything in the past flowed through his mind like a tide, and every figure, whether living or dead, was vividly recreated in his heart, until finally all the images disappeared, leaving only Jiang Kongming gently swaying his feather fan with a smile on his face.

  Xu Haifeng suddenly woke up and burst out laughing.

  "Second brother, what's wrong with you?"

  Fang Mingzhu lives next door, he had a big battle today, exhausted, was sleeping soundly under the quilt, but was woken up by his laughter, jumped up and rushed in, asking loudly.

  Xu Haifeng turned his head and smiled slightly at him, saying: "Nothing, just suddenly realized something, so I was a bit out of sorts, startling big brother, my fault."

  Fang Xiang didn't seem to understand what he meant and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

  Xu Haifeng composed himself and said seriously, "Big brother, I want to send Houxiai ahead to inform Military Advisor of the changes in the capital. What do you think?"

  Fang Ming nodded without hesitation: "That's right."

  Xu Haifeng immediately had someone bring him a pen and ink, and in the presence of the messenger, he wrote a letter. Apart from describing the changes in the capital, he also made it clear that after February, he would be going to the northern border to fight against Li Zhi, at which time he would definitely be fighting alongside the 100,000 troops of the Fang family and defeat the Xiongnu.

  He stated in the letter that in order to prepare for a battle with Li Zhi, he would no longer bother with worldly affairs, and all matters in Wulong City would be handled by Jiang Gongming.

  After finishing reading the letter, Fang Xiang furrowed his brow and was about to speak but hesitated.

  Xu Haifeng naturally understood that he was wondering why he would trust Jiang Kongming so much, but this question was not easy to explain, and could only be brushed off with a laugh.

  Xu Haifeng summoned the monkey boy and handed him the letter, instructing: "You're fast, immediately return to Wòlóng City and hand this letter over to Military Advisor, don't make any mistakes."

  The monkey child responded with a sound, and in the blink of an eye, he had vanished into thin air.

  Although he had long known that this person's lightness was unparalleled in the world, and had also seen it many times before, Ling Xiang still couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine.

  Xu Haifeng was about to persuade him to continue resting when he suddenly looked surprised and listened intently with his ear tilted.

  Direction Ming saw the situation, also concentrated and listened, after a moment, heard more than ten people's footsteps hastily rushing towards here, arrived at the inn before, they stopped their footsteps, and almost simultaneously, the inn's gate was opened as if it had been agreed upon beforehand.

  "What about him?"

  "In the guest room upstairs."

  "How many people?"

  "Forty-one of them were killed, one was seriously injured and left with just a breath."

  A few sentences of obviously suppressed conversation reached their ears, making them aware that the target they were going to deal with was precisely this line of people.

  The two brothers looked at each other in dismay, who were these people?

  It's impossible for them to be Xiongnu, they just conquered the capital and are busy with post-war affairs, with a million things to do, there is no way they can spare manpower to sweep through surrounding towns.

  Moreover, they knew how formidable this group of people was and would never send just these few guys to their deaths.

  Won't be mistaken for a black shop?