Chapter 302 - 181: No Entry Without Signing_4
The atmosphere in Zhenbei Prison had also undergone an earth-shaking change.
There were rarely any negative incidents.
In a blink, three months passed.
The sixth year of Tianwu.
Early spring.
Dragon Capital was covered in heavy snow.
Jiang Feng, hand resting on the saber at his waist, led Uncle Huo and Prison Chief Wang as the three of them patrolled the perimeter of the prison. They circled all of Zhenbei Prison, leaving behind three sets of footprints in the more than ten centimeters of accumulated snow.
Ever since his promotion to Vice Commander, the situation in the south, which had started off stabilized, had now become increasingly severe.
The Rebel Faction and the Demon Sect had resurged, and their members had already entered the Jingzhou region.
The Blood Wolf Army reawakened half a month ago.
The Imperial City Sword Immortal had, just yesterday, departed Dragon Capital for Jingzhou.
With his rise in rank, Jiang Feng had learned more and more of the truth.
After the Second Prince went south, he never returned. From Han Dong’s words, Jiang Feng realized the Second Prince had used the power of the Divine Sect to retake Nanfu City. Afterward, the Six-armed Giant returned to the Divine Sect.
Not long after.
The Blood Wolf Race crossed Chishui County, entered Demon Fang City, then Nanfu City in succession, and the Second Prince along with the Court’s troops suffered consecutive defeats.
The Six-armed Giant’s furious roars did not halt the Blood Wolves.
In the end, the Sword Immortal descended.
Within the Blood Wolf Army, he made an agreement with the Blood Wolf King. The Blood Wolf tribe halted outside Jingzhou City, and even began to retreat toward the Forbidden Forest.
But half a month ago, inexplicably, the Blood Wolf Race revived. Packs of blood wolves, like a crimson sea, surrounded Jingzhou City.
The Rebel Faction and Demon Sect members who had originally been plotting outside the city were forced to invade Jingzhou earlier than planned. The situation there was now even more dire than it once had been in Nanfu City.
Moreover, the northern National Gate faced constant harassment from the Turkic. Xiao Zhan had shifted from offense to defense, then to offense again, and now returned to defense.
The Emperor of the Great Tang had already acutely sensed that the Turkic meant to drag Great Tang into a war of attrition, using the Rebel Faction’s chaos and blood wolf invasions to wear them down.
For this, the Emperor of the Great Tang sent envoys three times to negotiate with the Turkic King, the most recent being five days ago. As for the result, neither Jiang Feng nor Han Dong knew anything.
"Lord Commander, the snow keeps falling. There’s a little tavern up ahead. Why don’t we stop for a drink and warm up?"
In the southwest direction of Zhenbei Prison, there was a small tavern. As Jiang Feng and his companions patrolled there, Uncle Huo finally couldn’t hold back and, seeing no one else around, suggested it.
"Alright."
Jiang Feng saw Uncle Huo bundled up inside his padded coat, his eyes always on the little tavern. In the past, he and Uncle Huo often went there for a drink, sometimes even with Han Dong.
Now with his rank elevated,
to avoid trouble and to earn Fortune Points, Jiang Feng and Uncle Huo drank together much less. But since only Uncle Huo and Prison Chief Wang were there, Jiang Feng didn’t refuse.
"I’ll go ask the shopkeeper to warm the wine."
Uncle Huo jogged off, his hands hidden inside his coat, neck shrunk and body hunched, like a child who’d just spotted candy, dashing over eagerly.
"Commander Jiang, please sit."
Prison Chief Wang brought Jiang Feng a chair with a backrest.
Uncle Huo fetched some dishes to go with the wine.
He had a high tolerance for liquor and, with a higher stipend now that he was a Prison Chief, he ordered four pots of wine straight away.
The three drank merrily inside the little tavern.
Relaxing for once, Jiang Feng even joked around with Uncle Huo and the others.
After the four pots of wine were finished,
it was time for Uncle Huo and Prison Chief Wang to change shifts. The three parted at the prison gate, Jiang Feng returned to the third floor, about to enter his courtyard to rest.
He suddenly saw Han Dong carrying a bundle, as if preparing for a long journey.
"Sister Dong, where are you off to?"
Jiang Feng couldn’t help but ask.
"South. The Blood Wolf King invaded Jingzhou last night. I fought the Wolf King and took a hard loss. I have to find him."
Han Dong replied casually.
"I’ll leave Zhenbei Prison to you while I’m gone."
With a word of warning, she hurried off.
Jiang Feng silently watched Han Dong’s back. With Han Tieshan severely wounded, there was no way he could stop Han Dong.
"The Sword Immortal has left, Han Tieshan is gravely injured—could it be Jingzhou won’t hold?"
Jiang Feng frowned.
He knew well that with the Sword Immortal in Jingzhou, if it weren’t impossible to withstand the Wolf King, someone with Han Tieshan’s strength wouldn’t have needed to fight him himself.
Now, gravely wounded, it meant the Sword Immortal hadn’t gained the upper hand either against the Wolf King.
Jiang Feng sensed the gravity of the situation.
If Jingzhou fell,
the road north would be wide open.
Blood Wolf Race’s offensive could sweep forward unstoppably, killing their way all the way to Dragon Capital.
Maybe it was time to leave?
Night fell.
Snow swirled thickly.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
Three streaks of light shot out in succession from within the Imperial City, heading south.
Soon, they reached the South City Gate and vanished into the night sky.
"Snowy Owls?"
Jiang Feng frowned.
He climbed to the roof of the third floor of Zhenbei Prison.
With the naked eye, he saw the white streaks—three demon birds, all feathered snowy white, wingspans over ten meters, their speed like flashes of silver lightning—three Snowy Owls.
Jiang Feng didn’t know much about demon birds.
But he’d once shot down a Beast Master’s Black Phoenix on White Tiger Mountain, and had also seen the Demon Suppression Bureau’s Hunting Falcon flash by with Liu Yun on its back.
As for whether the demon birds flying out of Imperial City were Snowy Owls, he wasn’t sure. But he could clearly sense that each Snowy Owl was anything but ordinary—their claws could swat a Primordial Realm expert to death with ease.
"Hulah!"
Just as he was puzzled,
from the Demon Suppression Bureau’s direction, a Hunting Falcon swooped over.
"Sister Dong!"
Jiang Feng spotted Han Dong on the back of that falcon.
She’d gone to the Demon Suppression Bureau to find Liu Yun and had Liu Yun pilot the Hunting Falcon to take her to Jingzhou.
Indeed,
since Han Tieshan was badly hurt, life or death uncertain, if Han Dong rode a horse—even a Thousand-Mile Horse—it would take days; having Liu Yun take her was the fastest way to get to Jingzhou.
At that moment,
the Hunting Falcon swept over Zhenbei Prison’s rooftops.
"Strange?"
Liu Yun and Han Dong rode atop the falcon, and with an extra passenger, its speed was slightly reduced, but still extremely swift.
Sitting above, Liu Yun glanced down toward the prison, spotting Jiang Feng standing on the roof of the third level.
Just now, those three Snowy Owls had streaked past.
The wind howled in the dark night, making a commotion.
Many people came out to watch.
Numerous figures stood atop rooftops everywhere.
But Zhenbei Prison was a forbidden zone; outsiders couldn’t get in. The only person on the prison’s rooftop was Jiang Feng.
Liu Yun looked down.
This scene felt strangely familiar to her.
"What is it?"
Han Dong asked.
"Last time I went south and passed through White Tiger Mountain, I think I saw Jiang Feng standing on the summit."
Liu Yun wasn’t quite certain.
She was a top-tier Beast Master, her Soul Power much stronger than Li Zhang’s. On that day, Jiang Feng had stood on the summit, disguised, but that solitary figure had stuck in her mind ever since.
"You’re sure?"
Han Dong was startled.
What was Jiang Feng doing on White Tiger Mountain then?
She’d only just returned, heard the prison had uncovered an underground palace, and that a large number of Prison Guards were idling at home. Why hadn’t Jiang Feng stayed in Dragon Capital, but run off to White Tiger Mountain?
"Maybe I mistook him for someone else."
Liu Yun couldn’t be sure.
No need to overthink it. Even if the man had been Jiang Feng, so what? Standing on White Tiger Mountain broke no laws; not like he could be hiding something up there.
"Probably so!"
Han Dong nodded, not pursuing the matter further.
The wind howled.
The Hunting Falcon flashed past.
Their quiet words didn’t reach Jiang Feng. Seeing Han Dong seated on the falcon’s back, he waved from afar, hoping she’d return safely.
Ten days passed in a blink.
Outside Dragon Capital, another wave of refugees appeared. Hundreds of thousands—from Jingzhou—headed north, and every city in the south was packed with people.
The Emperor of the Great Tang sent the Seventh Prince on a diplomatic mission to the Turkic, to negotiate with the Turkic King as his representative.
Early one morning, Jiang Feng saw a team of Thousand-Mile Horses ride out the North City Gate, heading for the Turkic Empire.
"If negotiations succeed, Jingzhou can be saved and Dragon Capital secured. If they fail, I’ll need to arrange my own retreat,"
Jiang Feng thought to himself.
The Sword Immortal who left Imperial City had failed to defeat the Blood Wolf King—what could he, with mere Celestial Profound Realm cultivation, hope to do?
Playing the hero, turning the tide, saving the world—he wasn’t qualified for that, not yet.