Chapter 231: Chapter 155: The Fall of the County Town
Translator: 549690339
“The county town has been captured, the County Magistrate fought to his death, and the Five Poison Sect has taken over Baling City?”
Deep into the night within the grand tent, Lu Yuan had no choice but to leave the hiding place of his camp. After meeting the messenger who had rushed from the north, his face was filled with shock.
“Yes, General.”
The Messenger kneeling down was a burly man, who at this moment was disheveled from the long journey, with dew still clinging to his hair. He said breathlessly, “It happened five days ago when the Five Poison Sect suddenly dispatched troops, surrounding the county town.
Their Holy Maiden, Lan Cai’er, personally took action, breaking through Baling City’s gate with one strike, enabling the city’s defenses to be breached, and the Miao Soldiers of the Five Poison Sect stormed into the city.
Then Lan Cai’er continued to take action, as a Grandmaster, she massacred the city’s defenders, and even the County Magistrate was poisoned by her hands and died in the city.”
As of now, Baling City has been captured by the Five Poison Sect, Yueyang Prefecture has also been invaded, and I’m afraid it has already fallen too.
With Miao soldiers on the move inside Changsha, I, ordered by the Prefect of Changsha, beseech our General to lead the troops north immediately, for the defense against the Miao people’s southern invasion.
If Changsha falls, the gates of Hengyang and ShaoyangPrefectures would be wide open, and the momentum of the Miao people would become unstoppable.”
The burly messenger reached this point, then immediately knelt down and knocked his head to request help from Lu Yuan.
At this point, within the entire Dongting area, or rather the region south of Yueyang Prefecture, the only force capable of stopping the Five Poison Sect was this Brave General before their eyes.
The fate and safety of the four prefectures of Changsha, Hengyang, Shaoyang, and Luyang depended on him, and if Lu Yuan did not send troops, Changsha would truly be in danger.
“You get up first.”
Lu Yuan looked at the messenger kneeling on the ground, frowned slightly, digested the news in his mind, then asked sternly, “I recall that there were 5,000 county soldiers in Baling city, and outside the city, there are more elite veterans from the Northern Border. With such formidable forces, how could the county town be lost?
And the Holy Maiden of the Five Poison Sect, Lan Cai’er, since when did she become an Inborn Grandmaster? Hasn’t the Inborn Grandmaster of the Five Poison Sect always been their leader Lan Zhaoyun?”
Since a year ago, when the Five Poison Sect and Li Xiong assassinated Wuyang Marquis Li Gui together, the news of the Sect possessing an Inborn Grandmaster had become widely known in Jianghu.
Although the confirmation of the Five Poison Sect’s Inborn Grandmaster was made, the identity of this Inborn Grandmaster had never been confirmed.
However, most of them in Jianghu believed that Lan Zhaoyun, the leader of the Five Poison Sect, should be their Inborn Grandmaster.
After all, ten years ago, Lan Zhaoyun was already a first-rate master who had cultivated four meridians. Now that ten years have passed, it is highly probable that Lan Zhaoyun could break through Innate with the support of the Five Poison Sect’s resources.
As for Lan Cai’er?
She was barely twenty years old, and it had been only five or six years since she broke into first-rate. Her age and cultivation level didn’t make her seem like she could break through Innate.
As for such a rumor, the Five Poison Sect, after learning about it, didn’t bother to deny it. Instead, they even encouraged it, promoting that the Inborn Grandmaster of their sect must be Lan Zhaoyun.
Thus, it was now officially recognized.
As a result, the information about Lan Zhaoyun being an Inborn Grandmaster was arnrmea In tne eyes or tne world.
Lu Yuan undoubtedly fell victim to this official announcement. For the past year, he had always believed that Lan Zhaoyun was the Inborn Grandmaster, and was mainly on guard against him.
However, it now seemed that this was just a smokescreen?
Hearing these questions, the messenger below cried out, “The Five Poison Sect has been deceiving us all along. Their real Inborn Grandmaster is their Holy Maiden Lan Cai’er. As for their leader Lan Zhaoyun, he merely serves to divert the attention of outsiders.
As for the elite troops from the North near the county,
half a month ago, the Zhou soldiers from Xiangyang Prefecture of the Northern Zhou Country suddenly marched southward, with an army of 100,000, besieging Tianmen Prefecture.
Tianmen Prefecture is a key town, with Wushan Prefecture to the west, and it involves the rear of the Army of Pacifying Shu, so it cannot be lost at all.
Therefore, in order to fight back against the Zhou soldiers, the 50,000 elite troops of the Northern Border stationed outside the county town went to reinforce Tianmen Prefecture.”
The messenger recounted all the information he knew.
After hearing everything, Lu Yuan was greatly shaken, and immediately realized what had happened.
‘So it was all a scheme?’
He now clearly understood that the so-called invasion by the Zhou soldiers from the north and the pincer attack on Shaoyang Prefecture were just parts of a conspiracy.
The deep calculations of the Five Poison Sect had long deceived everyone. Their leader Lan Zhaoyun was simply bait to mislead others.
He made outsiders believe that he was an Inborn Grandmaster and led the troops to invade Shaoyang Prefecture himself, creating the illusion that the strength of the Five Poison Sect was focused on connecting the South and the North, confusing the judgment of the Government.
Behind the scenes, he sent Lan Cai’er to lead the surprise attack, taking advantage of the absence of the elite soldiers of the Northern Border who had been lured away by the Zhou soldiers, launching a surprise strike on the county town and capturing Baling City in one fell swoop.
Admittedly, this plan was very successful.
It not only successfully deceived Lu Yuan but also the county government officers, causing the 50,000-strong army near the county town to be transferred, successfully creating an opportunity to capture the city by surprise.
Pondering this series of conspiracies and their consequences, Lu Yuan broke out in a cold sweat.
The Five Poison Sect’s plan was too insidious.
He couldn’t imagine what the result would be if the target of this smokescreen changed from the county town to himself.
‘In the face of a Holy Maiden who obscures her true strength and is extremely deceptive, I’m afraid nine times out of ten, I’d fall right into their trap, wouldn’t I?’
Lu Yuan did not underestimate the wisdom of others and did not think he was much smarter than others. He did not believe that he could handle the carefully calculated schemes any better when facing them.
Fortunately, the target of the Five Poison Sect this time was not him, but the county town, and the County Magistrate in the city..