"Very well. I have already explained all the necessary matters on our way here. Simply act according to the rules of the manor. Otherwise, you will have only yourself to blame for any punishment you receive. The rules here are no different from those in the military, but there are benefits to such strictness; it ensures the safety of the Duke's Manor. Of course, if you perform your duties well, the year-end rewards will not be lacking. The old Duke is not a stingy man in that regard; in fact, his generosity may surprise you!"
With that, Lin Yuxing turned and left. Since he had failed to get any useful information out of the boy, he needed to return to the general as soon as possible to confirm a few things, lest the general's plans go awry.
Li Yan, facing Lin Yuxing's departing back, clasped his fist in salute. "Understood!"
After Lin Yuxing was gone, Li Yan pushed open the gate and entered the side-courtyard. It consisted of two and a half rooms: a bedroom, a reception hall, and a latrine. The furnishings were extremely simple, just ordinary tables, chairs, a bed, and some daily necessities like water cups. There were no facilities for cooking in the courtyard; meals were to be taken at a communal dining hall up front, where cooks prepared food specifically for the Courtyard Guard Instructors. Of course, one could also take the food back to their own courtyard.
Li Yan walked straight into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. Soon, he was lost in thought.
After Cui Feng had confirmed his identity, Li Yan had been the first to ask questions, and Cui Feng had answered them all.
It turned out that after Li Yan had left for Green Mountain Pass alone, Cui Feng only received news on the evening of the fifth day. The message came from Li Du, a trusted subordinate who had been sent in pursuit of Li Yan with a group of men. He reported that the Marshal's Residence at Green Mountain Pass had been burned to a smoldering ruin, with no survivors. Kong Xiao had been killed by a single arrow. Furthermore, they learned from captured traitors among the government troops that Marshal Li had only shown his face once outside the city before being taken away by a person in silver armor. The one who had killed Kong Xiao was also that silver-armored person.
This news had thrown Cui Feng into a state of alarm. Li Yan was the stabilizing force of the military; if anything happened to him, problems would arise on all four borders of the Imperial Dynasty. The smaller, restless nations might even take the opportunity to ally with larger ones and launch a joint invasion.
Cui Feng quickly arranged the deployments and defenses at Fallen Immortal Slope before rushing to Green Mountain Pass alone through the night. There, he finally found Li Du, who was overseeing the city.
Upon meeting, Cui Feng urgently asked who else knew of Li Yan's disappearance and whether Li Du had already reported the matter to the Son of Heaven.
As one of Li Yan's trusted men, Li Du was himself a General and naturally understood the implications of Cui Feng's question. He told Cui Feng that he had personally interrogated the traitors and had, for now, only reported the news to Cui Feng, who was closest. His next step was to go to the capital himself and report the matter to the Emperor.
Cui Feng breathed a long sigh of relief. Li Yan's disappearance had to be kept secret from outsiders, or the Imperial Dynasty would surely be besieged by its enemies. Firstly, when Kong Xiao had rebelled, only the traitors on the wall had seen Li Yan, which at least kept the city's populace in the dark. Secondly, Li Du's actions were correct. Cui Feng's fear had been that Li Du, not understanding the gravity of the situation, would have immediately dispatched a memorial to the capital. By then, the classified memorial might have been intercepted before it even reached the Emperor. Who knew if there were spies from other nations among those who might see it? It would have been too late to properly deploy their forces.
However, a matter as significant as Li Yan's disappearance could not be kept from the current Emperor. He had to be informed as soon as possible so he could be prepared. Li Du's plan to travel to the capital himself and report directly to the Emperor was much safer.
Subsequently, Cui Feng and Li Du came to an agreement and had all the captured traitors massacred to ensure the secret would be kept for as long as possible.
Cui Feng later learned that Li Du had interrogated the traitors in detail, asking for a description of the person who had taken Li Yan. Since the person was completely clad in silver armor, no one had seen their face. However, Li Du guessed that it was Dongling Min, the very person their Marshal had let go.
This left both men confused, unable to understand what had happened. According to the traitors, they had pledged allegiance to the State of Meng. But why would Dongling Min, a member of the Meng imperial family, kill Kong Xiao? It was like killing one of their own. It made no sense. Thus, they dismissed the idea that Dongling Min had been the one to rescue Li Yan, yet a lingering suspicion remained that it had to be her. The soldiers' descriptions of the archery technique used to kill Kong Xiao perfectly matched the Dark Tide Three-Layered Wave, an internal strength technique that was the signature art of the Yuanqing Sect.
Cui Feng and Li Du were both masters of martial arts. Just from the descriptions, they could basically confirm that the archery technique used was the Dark Tide Three-Layered Wave, and the silver-armored person's build and attire were nearly identical to Dongling Min's.
Everything became muddled and unclear. They couldn't figure out what kind of scheme the State of Meng was plotting.
Setting that aside, their greatest fear was a sudden change on the front lines, a vision of Li Yan's head held high on a pike by Dongling Min. If that happened, the secret would be out.
But to Cui Feng and Li Du's ultimate relief, that never happened. In fact, after that battle, they never saw Dongling Min again. It wasn't until the truce seven years later that they learned the other side had also been searching for Dongling Min, who had gone missing on that very same day. But that was a story for later.
The series of measures taken by Cui Feng and Li Du bought the Imperial Dynasty precious time. Before Li Yan's disappearance could be discovered, they managed to make a series of adjustments. Whether through intimidating smaller nations or allying with distant powers to attack nearby ones, they achieved some success.
Afterward, Cui Feng steadily climbed the ranks of his military career, eventually reaching the pinnacle and being granted the title of "Duke of National Defense."
As for Li Du, he died in battle on the northern border of the Imperial Dynasty eight years after Li Yan's disappearance. He was posthumously granted the title "Marquis Who Pacifies the North." After his death, the great lance of Li Yan's that he had always carried with the army was lost. When Cui Feng later learned of its disappearance, he expended immense manpower and resources to finally recover it from a military aide-de-camp.
Back in the underground chamber, Cui Feng, in his excitement, had wanted to drag Li Yan to the capital to present him before the current Emperor. But Li Yan had refused, saying it was inappropriate.
Li Yan explained that the current Emperor, who was the former emperor's crown prince, no longer shared the same bond of sovereign and subject with him as before. In his current guise, even a loyal old subordinate like Cui Feng had found it hard to believe it was him. How could he expect others to? They would simply think Cui Feng had gone mad, or even suspect him of ulterior motives.
He had come looking for Cui Feng this time because, after escaping the perilous place that had trapped him, he found that everything had changed and was vastly different from his time. Given his current situation, he had intended to live in anonymity. But after hearing of Cui Feng's name and deeds, he decided to try his luck and see if it was the same man. Now that he had confirmed it was his old subordinate and learned of the current state of affairs, he was even less inclined to serve in the court.
Cui Feng tried to persuade him, but seeing Li Yan's resolute attitude and acknowledging the truth in his reasoning, he could only give up.
In truth, even now, Cui Feng still hadn't fully accepted everything that had happened. Thinking of how others would react upon learning Li Yan's identity, he knew their disbelief would be even greater.
After speaking, Li Yan had intended to leave. But when Cui Feng learned he was alone and had no place to stay, he refused to let him go. He wanted Li Yan to stay temporarily, with plans to find him a high-ranking official position later. After all, how many people still remembered the original Li Yan? With Li Yan's literary talent and military strategy, he could surely help the Imperial Dynasty flourish for decades more, perhaps even ushering in a century of peace after pacifying the surrounding nations. After some thought, Li Yan agreed to stay for the time being but refused any high official position, saying he'd rather be a Courtyard Guard Instructor.
Cui Feng, of course, would not agree at first. How could he let the Great Marshal he respected most, a Martial Saint and Grandmaster, guard his home? Seeing this, Li Yan was about to turn and leave. Left with no choice, Cui Feng had to agree. In reality, he also wanted to use this opportunity to further confirm Li Yan's identity, and at the same time, he didn't want to see him wandering the world alone again.
As for Li Yan, he had his own reasons for staying.
Staring out the window at the fading light of dusk, Li Yan's mind was a mess. There were so many things he couldn't figure out, and a sense of vexation weighed heavily on him.
First, he was certain he had never been any kind of marshal.
Second, that experience had been a manifestation of an Inner Demon—a dream, to put it plainly. But how had it all become real?
Furthermore, the current Cui Feng was one hundred and thirteen years old, which didn't match his calculations. Cui Feng's two sons had already passed away; they had only cultivated to the first-rate realm, with the eldest living to his nineties. As for the other so-called generals who had served under him, none were still alive. People like the current Lin Yuxing were from a "younger generation" who had started following Cui Feng when he was nearly seventy; otherwise, they wouldn't be alive today. They had only heard of Li Yan's great name and were not personally familiar with him.
So, even if Li Yan wanted to seek out others to get more information, there was no one left.
Li Yan sat on the edge of his bed, his brow furrowed in deep thought.
If his calculations were correct, that Inner Demon manifestation had occurred over one hundred and sixty years ago. At that time in the dream, Cui Feng was already over sixty. By that count, wouldn't he be over two hundred years old now? That was a lifespan even low-level cultivators struggled to achieve. A cultivator might be able to live that long by consuming some life-extending exotic fruit, but it was an age beyond the mortal limits of someone like Cui Feng.
Li Yan had also carefully examined Cui Feng's body with his Divine Sense. It was a mortal vessel of flesh and blood, without a trace of Spirit Power. Only his qi and blood were exceptionally vigorous. However, Li Yan's Divine Sense detected that while Cui Feng's qi and blood were strong, his life force was already that of a man in his dotage. Barring any accidents, Cui Feng had at most six or seven years left to live.
To confirm these timelines, Li Yan had earlier probed with some indirect questions. The answer he received was that, according to Cui Feng, his disappearance had occurred sixty-two years ago. At that point in time, Li Yan was still struggling to find a way out of the underground secret grotto on the Verdant Continent. By then, a century had already passed since he entered the Inner Demon dream. None of it added up.
This plunged Li Yan into a deep state of confusion. He knew there were three key points involved.
First, he needed to go to Green Mountain Pass to investigate and see if a marshal named Li Yan had truly existed.
"I will have to go to Green Mountain Pass to investigate. I need to see if what Cui Feng said is true, if there really was a person named Li Yan, and what exactly happened in that great battle sixty-two years ago. But I won't go immediately. There are still many questions about this Cui Feng that need looking into. I'll deal with that later." Li Yan thought quickly.
"Second, the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. That was where my Inner Demon appeared. Inner Demon… Inner Demon… Both Senior Ping Tu and Master said I have some hidden, unknown knot in my heart. Could it be related to this? If I solve this mystery, will I find the opportunity to break through to the Nascent Soul realm? But this must wait until after I've been to Green Mountain Pass. After all, this place is much closer to Green Mountain Pass than to the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda."
Li Yan calculated his options.
The third point was the underground secret grotto of the Hellsoul Clan on the Verdant Continent. The timing of the "Fallen Immortal Slope" battle that Cui Feng mentioned coincided exactly with the time he was trapped there.