Dragon Canon

There was only one source for the secret letter from the Xu Clan of Ningxi: the current patriarch, Xu Jingfeng.

In the letter, Xu Jingfeng stated that both merchant caravans had arrived at Hanyang Pass, and they had received the grain they had ordered. However, as they were about to leave, they suddenly encountered a ban: no large shipments of grain was allowed to leave the pass unless they received permission from the garrison headquarters. Furthermore, only merchant caravans escorted by royal troops were permitted to transport grain; private caravans were strictly prohibited from doing so.

Wei Yuan knew that the garrison commander[1] Xu Zhongxing, was a member of the Xu Clan. He was even not too distantly related to Xu Jingfeng. Before this, the Xu Clan of Ningxi had been able to transport all manner of contraband at will. Naturally, routine supplies such as grain weren’t a problem—until now.

Ever since Ningxi became the Shattered Realm, all realm stones had either been removed or destroyed. Without the domains of the realm stones, the region could no longer be self-sufficient in grain. Thus, the mortals still living in the Shattered Realm heavily relied on the grain shipments from Inner Jin to survive.

This was why the two merchant caravans Wei Yuan had Xu Jingfeng arrange appeared perfectly normal. If there was one incongruity, the quantity of grain being transported was slightly greater than usual, totaling to three million catties.

The 80,000 people from Willow Ash Town had just arrived at the realm of Qingming. Now was the time they needed those grains. He never expected trouble to strike at this very moment.

The letter also mentioned that Yuan Qingyan, the commandery administrator, had sent word to the three counties to the east, ordering them to block the eastern and western grain routes. At the same time, he had dispatched his own troops to seal off the northern and southern passages, declaring that not a single grain of rice would be allowed to cross the borders.

Wei Yuan knew that this was Yuan Qingyan’s retaliation.

To the north of the Shattered Realm lay thousands of li of continuous mountainous terrain. It was dotted with cliffs and precipices that were thousands of zhang deep, and even several chasms that were tens of thousands of zhang deep, making the area completely impassable. To the west lay the Shaman realm. Thus, closing off the eastern and southern borders were enough to cut off the realm’s food supplies completely.

However, judging by the blockade lines described in the letter, Wei Yuan estimated that there were still at least thirty or forty thousand people scattered throughout the area within those lines. These people usually hid deep in the mountains and forests, and relied on trusted individuals to travel to market towns at regular intervals to exchange for grain, salt, sugar, and other provisions. Cutting off the grain routes meant slowly choking off these people’s means of survival.

Wei Yuan crumpled the letter into a ball and slowly ground it to dust. Originally, he had harbored some expectations for Yuan Qingyan. After all, he had an innate fondness for scholars. But now, this single incident had caused all his expectations and goodwill to evaporate into thin air. It could only be said that, while there were many scholars in the world, some were good and some were bad.

Fortunately, Wei Yuan had acted quickly. Yuan Qingyan was still unaware that he had already relocated the three eastern counties to the west and taken advantage of the vacant territory they left behind, purchasing a total a million catties of grain. It was barely enough to sustain them for a little while longer.

It would be another two days before Yuan Qingyan realized that the three eastern counties no longer existed. However, it didn’t mean that the situation was easy to handle in the slightest. Including Niu Jinbao, the magistrates and the military officers of all four counties, including their troops, were still alive. They had simply been relocated to a different jurisdiction.

Whether or not Yuan Qingyan decided to remove them and appoint new officials, or retain some of them and reestablish the four counties, a report would have to be submitted to the royal court regardless. The back-and-forth process would probably take at least a month.

But this was the standard procedure. What if he didn’t follow it?

Wei Yuan began to ponder what he would do if he was in Yuan Qingyan’s position. He eventually broke out in a cold sweat.

Suddenly, Wei Yuan sensed someone approaching his room at high speed. He looked up just in time to see the door swing open, and Hsu Yi flying toward him. The normally sweet, lovely girl currently had red, swollen eyes and a face streaked with tears.

The moment she saw Wei Yuan, the pent-up sorrow she had been holding back burst forth like a broken dam. She threw herself into his arms and wept uncontrollably.

For a time, Wei Yuan was at a loss. At the same time, he could feel multiple searing hot spots behind his back as if several immortal swords were aimed at him—which, to be perfectly honest, was more or less what was happening.

That said, Wei Yuan knew that the more critical the situation, the more he needed to stay calm. Slowly, he raised his hand and, acting as if he had no idea anyone was watching from afar, gently patted Hsu Yi on the shoulder. He then helped her to her feet and asked, “What happened?”

Wiping away her tears, Hsu Yi choked out, “Someone yelled at me.”

So that’s what it is… Wei Yuan frowned slightly and tried to make the situation seem more serious than it was. “Has there been some sort of unrest in the city?”

Hsu Yi shook her head.

Wei Yuan silently cursed his luck. If she’d thrown herself into his arms and started crying over just a minor grievance, he’d really be in a bind.

Hsu Yi explained, “The new commandery administrator just sent over an envoy, and he’s so barbaric! I happened to run into him while passing by and tried to argue with him for a bit. As a result, he started swearing at me using the most vile language! He said… he said I was consorting with horse bandits, and that I’d already been everyone’s wife. He said that no one would want me even if I were sold to a brothel!”

An envoy from the new commandery administrator? That would be Yuan Qingyan’s envoy, wouldn’t it?

Such insults would have been unbearable for any ordinary girl, let alone Hsu Yi, a direct descendant of the prestigious Hsu Clan. What she had recounted must have been a toned-down version as well; the original words were likely a hundred times worse.

Wei Yuan asked, “Where did you run into the envoy? Take me there.”

“All right.” Hsu Yi wiped away her tears and took the lead as they flew swiftly toward the southwest.

Along the way, Wei Yuan learned the details of what had happened. The envoy had been stopped by a patrol at the edge of the realm, and a conflict had erupted. However, how could the patrol possibly be a match for the envoy’s delegation? Hsu Yi happened to be passing through the area and, filled with indignation, intervened. She had single-handedly held her own against the four Dao Foundation stage cultivators from the delegation.

To her surprise, though the envoy couldn’t defeat her in combat, his attitude remained extremely arrogant. He began to hurl insults at Hsu Yi. When a scholar hurled insults, they were often quite creative with it. Since Hsu Yi hailed from a distinguished family, she had never encountered anything like this before. Naturally, she was reduced to tears on the spot. Later, someone from the realm appeared to calm the situation, but Hsu Yi was so furious that she had rushed straight to Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan’s power was boosted within Qingming’s domain, so he flew at incredible speed and reached the edge of the realm in the blink of an eye. From a distance, he could see over a hundred cultivators facing off against a small squad of soldiers. Among the soldiers were one civil official and three military officers, all of whom were Dao Foundation cultivators.

When the official saw Wei Yuan descending with Hsu Yi in tow, he immediately said, “What did I tell you? The whore has already found herself another lover!”

Wei Yuan asked coldly, “Who are you, and what brings you here?”

The official had intended to hurl more insults, but the moment his gaze met Wei Yuan’s, he suddenly shuddered and found himself unable to utter a single word of the speech he had prepared.

A chill ran through him as he realized that the man before him was a figure of authority. He stammered, “I-I come on the orders of Lord Yuan Qingyan, commandary administrator of Ningxi, to summon Wei Yuan, lord of this realm, for a meeting! Who are you? Anyone uninvolved should step aside at once! Also, hurry and bring Wei Yuan out to see me!”

“Why do you wish to see the realm lord?”

The official glared at him and sneered, “To hold him accountable, of course! He has colluded with horse bandits to plunder the common people. If he knows what’s good for him, he will bind himself and confess his crimes immediately before an army arrives at his doorsteps!”

Wei Yuan replied, “The realm lord only bought those people because he could not bear to see them suffer. You claim to be the people’s representative, yet you could not even protect the common folk under your rule. What face do you have to sit in a courtroom? What face do you have to meet the King of Jin? Why are you still alive when you should’ve already killed yourself to atone for your crimes?”

The envoy flew into a rage and pointed a finger at Wei Yuan, roaring, “You insolent scoundrel! How dare you spout such nonsense! I think you’re—”

Before the envoy could finish speaking, the hand he was using to point at Wei Yuan suddenly flew into the air! The next moment, he felt an excruciating pain and let out a piercing scream.

It wasn’t just the envoy; the right arm of three other Dao Foundation stage cultivators had also been cut off. Yet, they didn’t react at all until their arms hit the ground, at which point they began to scream in agony.

Wei Yuan was still standing where he was and looking as if he hadn’t made a move. He said calmly, “The one downside about the western regions is that there are just too many horse bandits! Look, these gentlemen had had their hands chopped off because of a moment’s carelessness.”

The envoy remained defiant, though. Suppressing his screams, he roared, “Nonsense! It was clearly you who struck us! Mark my words: you have severed my arm today, but I’ll exterminate your family to the nine generations in the future!”

Wei Yuan sneered. “With which eye did you see me strike you?”

“I saw it with my own eyes—” Before the envoy could finish, another agonized scream erupted from his throat. Both of his eyes had been reduced to a pair of bloody eye sockets.

Wei Yuan held a pair of blood-soaked eyeballs in his palm. “No,” he declared, “you didn’t see a thing.”

Wei Yuan then turned to look at the royal troops and asked, “Or did anyone else see me do it?”

The soldiers’ faces turned ashen, and every one of them shook their heads.

“All right, you may go. Make sure you don’t run into any horse bandits on your way back.”

The envoy tore off a piece of his robe with one hand and bound his eyes with it. He then tightly wrapped another piece of cloth around the stump of his severed arm. Remarkably, he did not utter a single cry of pain throughout the entire process. The royal soldiers quickly led his horse and set off back the way they had come.

Suddenly, the envoy turned back and shouted, “When I get back, I’ll report everything exactly as it happened to the commandery administrator! You’re all as good as dead!”

Wei Yuan replied calmly, “In this part of the world, if I said something was done by horse bandits, it was done by horse bandits. You can say whatever you like when you get back, but it won’t do you any good.”

As the envoy’s delegation gradually receded into the distance, Wei Yuan suddenly asked Hsu Yi, “Did you tell him you’re a member of the Hsu Clan?”

“I did. I was hoping to use that against him….” Hsu Yi lowered her head.

Before she could finish, Wei Yuan ordered the cultivators, “Give chase and kill them all! Leave not a single one alive!”

The cultivators immediately caught up to the group of soldiers and, in the blink of an eye, cut them all down. Wei Yuan moved swiftly and stood before the envoy, asking, “Do you have any last words?”

The envoy, having been stabbed several times by the cultivators, was on the verge of death. Recognizing Wei Yuan’s voice, he snarled, “You shameless scoundrel! You broke your word!”

“I just thought it would be more entertaining to let the commandery administrator rack his brains trying to figure out where you’d gone. Do you have any last words?” Wei Yuan asked again.

The envoy gasped for breath a few times before responding, “Tell my son to avenge me when he grows up!”

“Got it. But too bad for you, I don’t have the time to pass on your message. You’re going to die unavenged.”

Wei Yuan flicked his finger and shattered the envoy’s sea of consciousness after saying that.

1. His official title and prefix is Commander-in-chief, but he can be called a garrison commander, a pass commander, an imperial official, so on and so forth. Just in case some of you are confused.