High Above

Xiahui Lake is one of the three holy places for the mountain people. Although it cannot be compared with the majestic and sacred Qiangang Mountain, nor can it be compared with the Steel Dragon Nest where the Dragon God rests, its value is so great that it can be said to be the sublimation of the entire mountain people. the core of the system.

The Xiahui grass produced in the Xiahui Lake in the past was an important component of many inherited magic medicines of the mountain people. The psychic nourishing extract extracted from it can effectively promote the development of many psychic and spiritual organs. This This is also the reason why the alchemy skills of the mountain people in the past were quite low, but there were still many high-level sublimators - materials are a very important part.

As the most critical step in the policy of restricting the inheritance of mountain people two hundred years ago, Xiahui Lake and the surrounding areas were completely cut off and handed over to the management of the Laian family, who was born in the Xuanfeng tribe and was intermarried with the imperial nobles. With the use of new planting techniques, the resources and fertile land of Xiahui Lake have been effectively utilized, and a steady stream of spiritual nourishing extracts have been transported throughout Nanling and even throughout the empire.

Only the mountain people seemed to be forgotten. As the former owners of this place, many mountain tribes did not receive any benefit at all. Only a few "privileged mountain tribes" such as the Ryan family and the Xuanfeng tribe were secretly reviled as "imperial compradors" by most of the mountain tribes. The tribe can gain wealth from it.

But now, everything has changed.

As Ian Silverfeng led his steel armor to crush the rebel mountain people's troops, and successfully took over the military, fiscal and taxation power in Xiahui City, the ancient mountain people's holy land once again welcomed a new owner.

But this time... this young, handsome, but ruthless Lord Bai Zhimin actually claimed to have the blood of mountain people.

This matter itself is already outrageous. Although the Yinfeng family is indeed a 'mountain people' in the Yinfeng Mountains at the back of the empire in terms of ancestral origin, this is not the same thing as the mountain people of the Dragon God's people.

And he even claimed to be the messenger of the Dragon God!

——What a joke.

Most of the mountain people who knew the news had this idea in mind at first. Do you really think they didn't know the history of the Cejalrovo family's exile? Changing the name does not mean that the origin can be changed!

But what’s even more incredible is that he actually is!

Not just dragon blood. The rekindling of the sacred mountain sacrificial fire and the fact that the Holy Land of Qianggang Mountain is once again blooming with light makes all the mountain people have to believe that this white people who calls himself the Dragon God's envoy...may really represent some kind of destiny trend.

If he were not a spy from Feiyan, Gama promised that he would definitely serve this lord who brought many miracles and changes. Not to mention anything else, Ian alone easily suppressed all the middle-level officials in Xiahui City. Class, the smooth operation of reorganizing the power structure of the Alchemy Workshop, and taking back tax power and the military power of the Self-Defense Forces is enough to prove that he is a very skillful person.

The sooner you follow such a lord, the better. He will definitely have a brilliant future and a bright future.

Gama really wants to send his grandson to the "advanced professional training class" mentioned by the city hall right now. This class accepts people from eight to twenty-two years old. No matter how old they are, they will go to "adult training". Vocational school' too.

"But who told my stupid son to marry a stupid woman..."

The man with a chubby round face let out a long sigh. He now knew what it means to make a wrong step and make a wrong step.

His daughter-in-law was indeed the daughter of a scholar in Nauman City, but the scholar died because of being involved in the political struggle in the city. The surviving daughter kept her name anonymous, hating the empire that took her father's life, and wanted revenge with all her heart, but was killed by Fei Yan. ground absorption.

She originally wanted to marry someone with a higher status, rather than the son of a rural village official like her son, but because the geographical location of Xiahui Territory was too important and it was one of the holy lands, for the goal of Feiyan Land, The woman still got married and even gave birth to a child.

Then...what else can be done?

Over the years, Gamma has leaked most of the building distribution and street maps of the former Leian City and Nauman City to Feiyandi, and because he was in charge of municipal construction at the beginning and had access to many caravans, so he was also One of the maintainers of Feiyandi's secret supply line in Nanling.

And that woman was diligent and thrifty, and was a good daughter-in-law, not to mention her hatred for the empire. However, due to excessive depression, she contracted an illness and died during her second pregnancy. Her stupid son was heartbroken and drank every day to drown his sorrows...

It's already too late.

Things have come to this point, and he no longer expects to be forgiven, let alone naively thinking that surrendering will lead to good results... He can only pray that none of this will happen, as long as all the rebel mountain people are dead. fell, and peace returned to Nanling again.

Even Feiyandi can only lurk.

Only then can your life return to peace.

perhaps.

But, just this night.

Gamma's fantasy was shattered by the hard facts.

At first, everything was as usual.

After work was over, Gama returned home and cooked dinner for his well-behaved and sensible grandson.

The elf grains sold in the city hall taste really good. Crush the red moon fruit and mix it with fine rice to stew fruity sweet porridge. The mist pomelo can be used as an afternoon dessert for children. The fried pomelo peel also tastes good.

Coupled with rice cakes steamed with bacon, this meal was quite hearty even before the food disaster.

This is why Gamma believes that Ian can definitely do great things - he can prepare enough food for the territory under such circumstances, and he is not like some stupid lords and officials who want to take advantage of the food disaster. Make a fortune and sell all the food at a fair price.

Being able to do this kind of thing is enough to prove Ian's ability and restraint of desires.

Some money cannot be earned. If you earn it, you will have no descendants. It sounds simple, but many people just don't understand. This is why the greed of businessmen is disgusted by everyone.

In addition, the new lord also renovated new roads in almost the entire city and built new roads as far as Golden Leaf Town.

The slogan of the city hall is 'If you want to be rich, build roads first'. This is absolutely true. The original Xia Hui Ling did have money, but it was only related to the alchemy industry, and money could not buy it. No matter what good things, many people want to buy some comfortable furniture, they have to ask someone to transport it from Nauman City.

In the final analysis, transportation is still inconvenient. Most of the territories around the Agate Stone Plain are like this. The nobles sandwiched between Nauman City and the mountain people enjoy the life of their native emperors and are unwilling or even afraid to have contact with the more advanced empire.

It’s not even just them—isn’t it the same in Port Harrison and Boya Territory? Most of the nobles in Nanling are on the fringes of the empire and were exiled here for various reasons.

But that's not the case with Ian.

He doesn't care about the small authority in his territory. What he wants to do is to become a member of the empire's big stage.

Although Gamma hated his identity as a spy, it was precisely because he was forced to deal with the Flying Flame Land and the Empire that he was able to see the current situation in Nanling more clearly.

The arrival of Ian and the merger with the Avod tribe is a signal... The Nanling nobles, led by the Marquis of Barton, will take the opportunity of confronting Feiyandi to integrate all the Nanling nobles and mountain people into one .

The rebellious mountain people certainly caused big trouble, but they also exposed all the restless elements.

Sometimes, many things can only be done easily if they show their opposition.

"Little Dale, get ready for dinner!"

As he was doing work in his hands, the thoughts in his head would drift away. It wasn't until dinner was finished that Gama put his thoughts back and shouted into the room: "The sweet porridge you like, and the bacon patties."

"Okay grandpa!" A child's voice full of vitality came flying with the pattering steps. Soon, a boy with bright orange hair came behind Gama, looking at the porridge maker with bright eyes. Cauldron: "Wow, it smells so good!"

"Didn't you go out to play today?" Gama noticed that his grandson's clothes were very clean, and couldn't help but feel a little strange. Little Dale snorted and replied: "What kind of 'underground pipes' are being built outside today...many people are digging in the open space." We dug holes in the ground and we went to Paco’s house to play.”

"Then you have to go and say thank you next time. You naughty kids, God knows how much mess you have made in other people's homes." Gama shook his head slightly. The underground pipeline was also one of the municipal projects that the new lord wanted to do - he wanted to Complete the underground pipeline system of Xiahui City and flow it out along the Ai Lei River.

This is a big project, and Xiahui City is not a big city that needs underground sewer projects, but judging from the determination of the young lord, he is obviously serious.

Putting the porridge and meatloaf on the table, Gama planned to go upstairs to see his son who was probably drunk and unconscious. This loser would be better off dead. Sometimes Gama really hates it. How could I have given birth to such a coward, but what can I do? Children cannot choose their parents, and parents cannot choose their children.

But at this moment, a sound that made Gama's body tremble came from the edge of the street not far away.

It was the hum of electromagnetism and the sound of heavy steel objects trampling the streets.

Gamma was horrified. He left his grandson with a puzzled expression behind and quickly came to the window. The chubby, round-faced man carefully opened the curtains.

He saw several magnetic storm armors marching slowly forward on the street, with a convoy following closely behind.

Magnetic storm armor is also the latest weapon brought by the lord. This equipment allows ordinary people to have the power to compete with the sublimated ones, even if it is only for a short time. Compared with the real sublimated people, their steps are slower, but their destructive power But there is no doubt.

By now, it has become the representative of the core armed force of the Lord's Mansion, and its dispatch... definitely means that something big is about to happen.

It's winter now, and the chill on the streets contrasts with the warmth of the lights in the windows of every house, but now Gamma's heart is as cold as the water of Xiahui Lake.

Gamma felt guilty.

How could he not feel guilty?

He is a real spy, one of the important people in Feiyandi's supply box in the empire, and now the guards of the Lord's Mansion are coming with magnetic storm armor to patrol the streets... They knock on the door door to door, ask questions, and then take away a person. Two people……

Isn't this the process for vetting spies? !

Gamma held his breath. He watched the escort ringing the doorbells of one house after another, and then entering the house under the puzzled gaze of the house owner, asking questions... The lucky people were only asked some questions, while the unlucky people were asked questions. He held a sword to his neck and was dragged out of his home in a panic.

Wails, screams, cries and excuses... all can only make the short, urgent sound at the beginning, and then are interrupted by the dull knocking sound.

The Guards don't need to listen to people's excuses, listen to people's tears, and listen to people's insults of fear and hatred - they don't care about these, they are the sword and shield of the lord, and they only need to perform their tasks.

He can't escape.

"dad?"

Drunk questions rang out, and Gama heard the sound of his son Levin coming down from the bedroom on the second floor.

Looking back, a disheveled and unshaven man was holding a wine bottle and asked in confusion: "What happened outside? Why... hiccup, someone screamed?"

He burped.

"...Go back to your room."

Gama was silent for a while, then he turned to look at his son: "Go drink your wine and don't come out!"

"Take little Dale and don't come out!"

For a moment, the drunken man was also awakened by his father's stern gaze. He was leaning against the wall with a bottle of wine at a loss, and looked at the confused little Dale who didn't know why he didn't eat dinner, and then looked at Eye gamma.

He suddenly understood: "Did something happen?"

Levin put down the bottle in his hand and stood up as straight as possible. He showed an expression of relief. A kind of relief that 'it's finally my turn' appeared on the man's face: "Then let me go. Dad, little Dale still needs someone to take care of him, and I, a loser...can't do it."

"You know you're a loser, and you still expect you to take the blame?"

Gama shouted in a stern tone: "Fortunately, you are a waste, and you can probably still survive - don't drink anymore, and take good care of little Dale. If it doesn't work, just move to the countryside further south. It's better than losing your life."

"Dad..." "Grandpa..."

Gamma calmed down. He had no time to lament or regret. He listened to his family's instinctive plea to stay. The static noise caused by the magnetic storm armor was already very close, and the footsteps of the escort team had already arrived at the door of the house.

Thump, thump, thump.

There was a knock on the door.

Gamma left the window and the warm and sweet kitchen. He would soon leave his home...and probably never come back.

But he took steps anyway.

"Is it Director Gamma's family?"

The voice of the guard outside the door was calm, even with a hint of kindness, but it did not give anyone any comfort. When Gama opened the door, he did not reveal himself at the beginning, but pretended not to know: "Everyone in the guard team? Excuse me, is this... "

"Gamma, let's open the skylight and speak frankly."

The round-faced man heard a familiar voice. Old Farr walked out of the escort, and Scott, the lord's deputy, also stood beside him.

The old man's dark golden pupils looked at the astonished Gamma. Farr smiled calmly and nodded slightly to his old friend: "All the actions today are for you. This is your only chance to survive. "

"You have no right to refuse, unless you want your son and grandson to die in front of you. I never hesitate to threaten, because I don't want anyone to misjudge the lord's determination - think of Xilin, this is my last advice."

"Next, I say, you listen."

…

In the last ten days of the year 773 on Terra, the large-scale spy arrest operation that took place in Xiahui Territory was the event that attracted the most attention from local residents after the resumption of the sacred mountain sacrifice.

In just one week, hundreds of "spies", "spies", "criminals" and "sympathizers of the rebel mountain people" were arrested in Xiahui's territory. A considerable number of these people were indeed arrested by mistake, but they His daily actions are quite suspicious, and even the relatives and friends of these people have to admit - after all, he does not go home at three o'clock in the night, but goes out to fish. Except for the fishing guy, even his family members will doubt him. Is there some secret mission?

The list is very long, and most of them are quite respectable. Some of them are former Xiahui officials, and some are family members and relatives of civil servants who have been recruited in recent times. These people may not be spies, but according to past customs, They used the materials in the city hall warehouse to line their own pockets and make ill-gotten gains. They thought that this was a common practice and it would be strange not to do it, and the lord might not care, but it turned out that everything they did was in the eyes of the lord.

And the lord cares.

The vast majority of those who took bribes and corruption were removed from the civil service and then sentenced to hard labor. There are many hard labor in the territory waiting for people to do it, and those who were punished did not even dare to refute, because their fate was good enough. , after the hard labor is over, if you promise to change your ways, you can still stay in Xiahui Ling.

And those other real spies and spies... don't say they can't stay in Xiahui Territory.

They can't even stay in this world.

"...In this difficult period, how many compatriots in Nanling are unable to have enough to eat? Both the mountain people and the imperial people are in a bad situation due to the food disaster."

"Some people say that the residents of Nauman City still have enough food supply, but the mountain people can only suffer from hunger - this is wrong. I have walked all the way from the imperial capital and have seen the situation in all important cities and regions in Nanling , whether it is Nauman City or Shuangshu Town, the prices of all food-related commodities have increased by more than 80%. Everyone's life is very difficult. At this point, everyone is the same, suffering from the biological warfare in the Flying Flame Land. "

"Only our Xiahui Territory - because I spent a lot of money to buy grain from the Central Great Plains and grain and fruits from Canaan Moore, the food prices in the territory are relatively stable, and the reconstruction work is also quite smooth, but this has also become a thorn in the enemy's side. .”

"They used various methods to destroy the achievements we have made, including poisoning grain warehouses, contaminating water wells, intending to burn down warehouses and other vicious methods."

"It's them - my people, these people - they have infiltrated into us and even become civil servants in the territory. They used to be a group of people who lived a good life in the territory, but who would have thought that for them For their own glory and wealth, for the pathetic and ridiculous amount of funds provided by Feiyandi, they are going to make everyone else hungry and poison the food that we all rely on for a living?"

"The sin of doing evil for the sake of selfish desires is absolutely unforgivable. Their only end is death."

"Right now, right now."

The young lord's announcement in the square resounded throughout the city.

What followed was waves of fanatical cheers.

The Xiahui Territory is purifying itself, eliminating all criminal and disharmonious factors. The power of the Lord's Palace and the City Hall has once again been expanded. Many squires and families in the city are peacefully silent. They swear that they will follow the policies of the Lord's Palace and never speak again. Don't dare to deviate in any way.

Theoretically speaking, if Xia Hui is executed in a short period of time and hundreds of people are forced to do hard labor, it will cause unrest in any case.

But who is to say that most of those people are confirmed spies, or are they vicious moles who want to prevent everyone from having enough to eat?

Not to mention those hateful officials who were corrupt and bribery. The lords wanted to hang them, but the ordinary residents would only welcome them with ten thousand people, and they even wanted to have their blood spattered on them to join in the fun.

At the end of the day, compared to being taken away by someone you don’t know or know well...

The people still prefer to see corrupt officials hanged.

Ian's approval ratings skyrocketed.

Gama stood in the audience with a dazed look on his face. He watched several 'old acquaintances' whom he also knew to be Feiyan's spies being hanged on the gallows. While feeling a tightness in his neck, he felt I couldn't help but feel a surge of joy, and a heartfelt gratitude for the young lord's magnanimity.

- He survived. The price is another betrayal.

In other words... abandon the darkness and turn to the light.

"That's it, Gamma. Continue to deliver the news to Feiyandi, telling them that the most critical new alchemy workshop in the territory is located in the new camp outside the west square of the city."

The voice of his old friend Farr echoed in his ears: "As long as you can do this and let the Feiyan Land send their elites to raid the west of the city...then your sins can be wiped off."

"Don't worry about the future of your son and grandson. The Lord is not interested in these things. He doesn't care about your past loyalty. As long as you are loyal to him forever... he will be merciful and keep you. This little life.”

"But remember - never betray again."

--certainly. certainly.

Gamma thought so.

Of course he will be loyal - in the short time he came to Xiahui Territory, he easily caught so many spies. This lord who is rumored to have the power of observation can easily see through anyone who thinks he will not be discovered. 'Spy' bar.

What's more, since my grandson has been taken away for 'specialized education', I have no choice.

So, a few days later.

Feiyandi Special Operations Brigade Nanling Base.

Captain Naimo, who had been in a bad mood after learning that the Xiahui leader had launched a large-scale cleaning operation, finally received information that made him a little happier.

Most of the shallow spies and bribers in Xiahui's territory were swept away, leaving only a few spies with the deepest hiding and the shallowest connections. The latter is irrelevant, and the former dare not report intelligence because of the recent bad situation, making it impossible for the entire special force to obtain relevant information about Xiahui Leader.

You must know that the rebel mountain people are about to fight the decisive battle with the empire-supported mountain people in the Frodo Autonomous Region. Naimo cannot interfere in this internal struggle of the mountain people. The only thing he can do is to eliminate all unstable factors and control the Xiahui Territory. The trend is also one of them.

And now, he finally got it.

Get the news he wants.

"Suppression of bandits...purification...territory reconstruction, underground waterways and new alchemy workshop - this guy really treats Xiahui Territory as his own hometown. The Cejalolvo family back then is now the Yinfeng family. It seems that he wants to take root in Nanling and has no plans to return to the imperial capital."

Captain Naimo browsed the vague information sent by Gama and deduced the situation of Xiahui Leader. He knew very well that Gamma could not do better. Rather, it was better to say that the other party was willing to continue serving Feiyandi. The reason why the path has reached its darkest point and there is no way to turn back.

Naimo knew clearly at this moment that Xiahui Leader had neither the will nor the energy to participate in the decisive battle among the mountain people. Yes, according to Gamma's intelligence, Xia Hui understood to support a batch of magnetic storm armors to the Avod tribe. It was indeed a strong support, but there were also people from Feiyandi within the Avud tribe. This group of powerful armed forces was destined to fail. A way to deliver it to the battlefield.

Even, they will be transferred by them midway!

"When it comes to intelligence warfare, these people in Nanling are all amateurs!"

When the matter reached the professional field, Naimo was extremely confident. He carefully read the information sent by Gamma again, and then nodded: "Sure enough, Nauman City wants to use Xiahui Territory as the strongest supply point on the edge of the Baisen Mountains. , even if the mountain people regain their independence, the Xiahui leader who controls the mouth of Guyan Peak will also have the power to take the initiative."

"When these new alchemy workshops are built, a steady stream of magnetic storm armors and even armor parts will be assembled here - by then, things will become troublesome."

"It is necessary to delay, stop this trend, or even destroy it completely."

After thinking about it, he picked up another communication device: "After the Mountain King left, the dragons have been idle for so long, so it's time to do something serious."

Just when the Feiyan Special Operations Brigade finally grasped the 'correct' information, they were ready to call the dragons and launch a surprise attack.

Ian, who has finished reorganizing his territory, is about to start his long-prepared ‘raid operation’.