Chapter 18 Delia (Seeking Recommendations)

Black Mountain.

Cavalry galloped, bringing billowing dust.

Zhong Shenxiu pulled on the reins, gazing afar at the Black Mountain Great Rift.

He hadn't felt it before, but after receiving a portion of the Heisting Count's memories, he could confirm that this desolate place was indeed the ritual site of Heisting County in the past.

"Felix Family's remnants, are they planning to use the power of the bloodline to reawaken that existence again?"

He looked at the great rift, silent.

The Black Mountain Great Rift was rumored to be a dangerous and ominous place, but Su Daoshi had explored it before.

Thus, Zhong Shenxiu knew that there actually... was no danger there.

The real danger was that, at the right time, in the right place, through a mysterious ritual, one could connect across spatial and even temporal barriers to a mysterious existence!

"Now it seems... the right time, the right place... The last key is the Felix Family's bloodline used as a key?"

Zhong Shenxiu felt somewhat guilty.

"Perhaps... what those remnants are plotting is not any Evil God, but just something within me?"

While he pondered, several riders approached from afar, coming to meet up.

These riders of the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry had been sent out by Feng Xixi to patrol the area.

Her Xuanjia Iron Cavalry consisted of only one squad, fifty people, leaving Zhong Shenxiu again as a simple squad leader.

However, cavalry was always more precious than infantry, a single ordinary cavalryman, in terms of status, was nothing less than a common squad leader, not to mention other benefits.

Those in the squad with Zhong Shenxiu looked down on him as a "fortunate one."

Now these riders, coming arrogantly, showed no intention of slowing down as they reached their destination and headed straight for Zhong Shenxiu, clearly intending to make him look bad.

Zhong Shenxiu's face wore a mocking smile, and internally he cursed.

He wasn't eagerly trying to get close to Feng Xixi, and from how the other party had treated him since they met, no matter how he had performed in any martial selection, in the end, he would have been deployed by Feng Xixi.

He also wanted to stay away from the trouble of Feng Xixi, but that seemed unlikely.

And these fools, were they targeting him just for that reason?

Zhong Shenxiu scoffed coldly, flicking several stones with his fingers, secretly energizing them.

His hidden weapon skills were supreme and utterly silent when executed; in his past life, he had defeated the man known as "Golden Rain of Floral Showers," the number one hidden weapon expert in Jianghu.

This time, he was cautious, targeting not the riders but the horses' hooves.

Pop!

With a flick of his finger, success was immediate. The foremost horse stumbled, immediately falling to the ground, bringing down its rider as well.

Fortunately, the rider was highly skilled in martial arts. He merely rolled, propped himself up with a hand on the ground, and forcefully stood up.

The two cavalrymen behind him hurriedly pulled their horses' heads, narrowly avoiding trampling their comrade.

They didn't even realize what Zhong Shenxiu had done.

"Wang Lun, brother, are you injured?"

Zhong Shenxiu dismounted, approaching leisurely, with a look of concern.

Wang Lun shouted, "My Wind Stepping Colt has always been stable; how could this happen? It must be your doing!"

Without saying anything else, he reached out to grab him.

During the move, the technique was precise—indeed, it was the Azure Dragon Cloud-Exploring Hand.

"Cloud Dragon Probe Claw?"

Zhong Shenxiu smiled internally, "It even possesses the power of the second level, unfortunately..."

With a gentle wave of his hands, he blocked Wang Lun's attack and, seizing the moment, he executed the move "White Dragon Carrying Corpse"!

The claw move was sharp, secretly assisted by Innate True Qi!

This move, also one of the killer moves of the Azure Dragon Cloud-Exploring Hand, easily grasped Wang Lun's neck and hoisted him up.

"What are you doing, Su Daoshi?"

The two knights behind him hurriedly shouted.

"Humph, you should ask Wang Lun first why he attacked me. Personal combat is already forbidden in the army, and now it's during a mission period. Do you want to face military law?"

Zhong Shenxiu glimpsed Wang Lun's purple face, sneered, and then threw him to the ground, too lazy to say anything else.

As for the horse and other matters? He definitely wouldn't admit to it; as long as the evidence that Wang Lun struck first was solid, there would be nothing to fear.

"Why should brothers of the same squad act like this?"

Another knight, named Ma Jing, openly tried to mediate but internally felt a bit fearful: "This Su Daoshi, I thought he was just lucky to catch the Colonel's eye. Now it seems he not only has advanced to Innate but his Azure Dragon Cloud-Exploring Hand skill is also profound—not some weakling..."

With this thought, his expression softened greatly, and he quickly said, "It's all a misunderstanding. Don't let it get out; none of us would benefit, right?"

"That's exactly right," Zhong Shenxiu answered cheerfully, since he was not the one at a disadvantage.

Only Wang Lun felt utterly humiliated and kept his head down in silence.

He didn't know that Zhong Shenxiu only spared him because it was inconvenient at the moment to kill him.

After all, he would have more chances in the future; he did not have the habit of fostering enemies.

The knights discussed briefly and, finding nothing unusual nearby, returned to report back at Black Mountain Castle.

...

Black Mountain Castle, at a particular place.

An officer dressed as a squad leader walked into his own dwelling.

Even a low-ranking soldier at Black Mountain Castle had an individual dormitory, so the squad leader's dwelling was naturally much larger. Several people were seated inside at that moment.

The squad leader knelt on one knee and saluted, "The brightest pearl of the Felix Family, Miss Delia, you have finally come."

A man looking like an ordinary soldier wiped his face.

Countless fleshy growths spread across his face, layer by layer receding to reveal another set of skin as smooth as milk and eyes as blue as the ocean—a beautiful face.

This was the scion of the Felix Family—Delia Felix.

"Uncle Fei She, thanks to you, we were able to infiltrate the military camp... No matter how the Yan Han people search, they would never think that we were hiding here."

Delia said smilingly.

"All for the restoration of our ancestors' glory!" Fei She firmly pressed a fist to his chest, solemnly speaking.

"Our ancestors' glory..."

Delia's expression became slightly dreamy, "At this point, how many remember that the original Fufeng Protectorate should be our nation?"

"As long as Miss reinstates the sacrifices, you will surely obtain power that overturns everything. All this is recorded in the secret scrolls of our family..."

Fei She asserted, "Since the rise of the Second Yan Han Empire, our family has been secretly prepared. It's also because of this preparation that Miss's branch survived without being persecuted, safely preserved until an opportunity arose... Now, with the struggle among the princes of the Second Yan Han Empire more intense than ever, and a major treason case in recent years, they won't bother with us, these remote lands."