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The commotion in the main camp alerted everyone. Soon, the other two commanders, Hu Cai and Li Le, also arrived.
"Guo Niujiao! Speak! Did you kill Chief Guo Da?!" Han Xian roared.
Guo Niujiao, bound on the ground, shook his head frantically. "No! It wasn't me! How could I kill my own second uncle?!"
Yang Feng frowned, thinking for a moment, then said, "But just a few days ago, when you were being punished, weren't you the one constantly cursing the 'old fool'?"
"I... I was... I was..." Guo Niujiao stammered, "I was just confused by the pain then..."
Li Le sneered coldly from the side. "So today, once your wounds healed, you came over 'confused'?"
Han Xian suddenly spoke, "Wait, something's not right..."
Guo Niujiao was overjoyed, thinking Han Xian had finally believed and understood him. He looked at Han Xian with hope, only to realize Han Xian wasn't concerned about him at all but was asking about the whereabouts of the two guards who should have been in front of the tent.
The bodies of the two guards from Chief Guo Da's tent were soon found, discarded in a corner not far from the tent. Both men had black blood trickling from their mouths, and remnants of a roasted chicken and a pot of wine were discovered near the corpses.
The guards' bodies and the leftover food were thrown in front of Guo Niujiao, kicking up layers of yellow dust.
Han Xian looked at the chicken remnants and the wine, ordering a soldier, "Go get a dog!"
"Ah, yes!" A soldier ran off a couple of steps, then ran back and asked, "Um, where should I get one?"
Han Xian roared, "The rear camp, you pig brain! Didn't we catch a few wild dogs in the rear camp a couple of days ago?"
The soldier, frightened, retreated two steps, then said quietly, "That... they've already been eaten... Commander Han, you even had two bowls yourself..."
"Ah? Hah... cough cough..." Han Xian nearly choked on his own saliva, coughing repeatedly. "Cough cough, then go catch some more!"
Han Xian roared in shame and anger, completely ignoring the fact that with a large camp like this and limited resources, all the edible cats and dogs in the surrounding area had long been scavenged down to the bones. Where could one find any wild dogs at a moment's notice...
"No need for such trouble," Yang Feng said. He bent down, picked up the leftover chicken and a bit of the remaining wine, and held them in front of Guo Niujiao. "Commander Guo, if you believe you are wrongfully accused, then eat all of this. If you do, we'll believe you..."
Guo Niujiao looked at the two guards who had died horribly nearby. Even a fool would know there was something wrong with this food and wine. He refused to eat, pressing his lips tightly together and shrinking back.
As Yang Feng stepped closer, Guo Niujiao retreated further...
Hu Cai, who had been watching quietly from the side, finally spoke, "Enough, Commander Yang. There's no need to test him. This was definitely the work of this ungrateful wretch! Yesterday, I heard that Chief Guo Da specifically had someone bring him some chicken and wine to help this beast recover sooner. Who would have thought... sigh..."
Yang Feng stopped, his expression complex. He threw the chicken and wine onto Guo Niujiao, also heaving a long sigh, and straightened up.
Guo Niujiao cried out, "No! I ate all the chicken and wine from yesterday! I finished it all... This chicken and wine isn't mine... Wuwu, it really isn't mine..."
Li Le let out a derisive snort and said mockingly, "Then you'll surely say this knife found on you isn't yours either?"
"Yes! Yes! This knife was also something I found! It's not mine! I found it right in front of the main tent!" Guo Niujiao exclaimed, seemingly missing the sarcasm in Li Le's tone.
Han Xian took the knife, caressed the beautifully crafted leather-covered scabbard, and slowly drew the ring-pommeled sword. The ornate fish-scale pattern on the blade held everyone's gaze like a magnet...
Similarly, everyone saw the dark red stains on the very tip of the blade...
"This is a fine blade, forged with at least fifty layers. If sold on the market, it would fetch nearly ten thousand coins..." Han Xian stroked the sharp blade, looking at Guo Niujiao as if he were already a corpse. "...You say you found this knife? Hahaha, if this knife were yours, would you just casually throw a ten-thousand-coin knife on the ground?"
Li Le curled his lip disdainfully. "Damn it, this beast! Didn't this beast raid a village down the mountain some days ago? This knife... Hmph! Tell me, who else on this mountain would have such a fine knife?"
Han Xian snorted coldly, suddenly lunged forward, and raised the knife to strike, but Yang Feng grabbed his arm. Han Xian glared, his brows furrowed, staring at Yang Feng. "Commander Yang! What is the meaning of this?!"
"I just think cutting him down with one stroke is letting him off too easily. We should cut out his heart and liver in front of Chief Guo Da's spirit to give Chief Guo Da some vengeance..."
Han Xian was taken aback, then laughed heartily. After a couple of laughs, his face twisted into a ferocious expression. "You're right! Men, drag this beast in front of Chief Guo Da's spirit! Cut him open! I want to see if this beast's heart and liver are all black!"
×××××××××××
Chief Guo Da was dead.
The once formidable Chief Guo Da, who had built the mighty White Wave Army from nothing, was just... dead.
Dead.
And that was that.
No one knew Chief Guo Da's past, no one remembered his real name, and naturally, no one cared what his name really was.
A hole was dug in the yellow earth, and he was buried.
It was like a bowl used for meals; if it accidentally broke, there might be a moment of regret, but by the next meal, it was forgotten.
Guo Niujiao also had his heart and liver cut out as an offering to Chief Guo Da. His troops and followers were promptly divided among the remaining four commanders. But the problem now facing these four commanders immediately arose.
Where to go from here?
Previously, such decisions were made by Chief Guo Da. Now, they had to decide for themselves.
"If not, let's go to Yan Mountain," Hu Cai suggested after a long silence. "After all, there are brothers from the Dao there too."
Li Le grunted twice. "Go to Yan Mountain? Fine. But if we go, who gets the final say? Us or Chief Zhang?"
The four fell into silence. No one spoke.
After all, having finally climbed to this position, who would willingly step back down?
"If not, let's go to Ji Province. There are plenty of resources there. One good haul would keep us fed for a good while!" Hu Cai thought again and proposed.
"Fool! To get to Ji Province, you leave the Lüliang Mountains and it's flatlands! Sure, there's plenty there, but damn it, there are also plenty of commandery troops! If we get surrounded, we won't even know how we died!" Li Le said loudly, still utterly dismissive of Hu Cai's second suggestion.
"Damn you! This won't work, that won't work? If you're so capable, why don't you come up with a plan?" Hu Cai, having his suggestions rejected twice in a row, roared impatiently.
Li Le retorted, "Anyway, all your ideas are rotten!"
"Then where do you say we should go?"
"Anyway, not the places you mentioned!"
Han Xian sat imposingly, legs apart, watching Hu Cai and Li Le argue incessantly. It gave him a headache. Suddenly, he turned and saw Yang Feng sitting to the side without a word. He couldn't help but ask, "Commander Yang, where do you think we should go?"
Hu Cai and Li Le also stopped their dispute and turned to look at Yang Feng.
Yang Feng lowered his head in quiet contemplation for a while, then slowly raised it and said, "Going to Yan Mountain is one path. But if we go, it means we'll be following others. Going to Ji Province, while also not bad, has the issues Commander Li mentioned about the commandery troops. There's another problem: the Yuan family has influence in Ji Province now. If we go..."
Four generations of Three Dukes... They knew their own capabilities. To directly confront one of the most powerful clans in the land?
Were they truly tired of living?
"Therefore... my suggestion is—head to Hedong!"
*****
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