"It's still early; the Bailong people probably haven't all gathered yet. Go verify their numbers at the docks."
Qiu Hu acknowledged the order and hurried off.
He Lingchuan turned to Lei Ni. "What about our stone sculptures?"
"They've long been set in place, and the profound crystals have been inserted." There had been ample time to prepare.
"Did anyone notice?"
"Every island has been undergoing major construction lately; everyone's used to it by now." Building stone was everywhere, clanging and chiseling echoed non-stop, so who would bother looking twice at a dusty construction site?
Meanwhile, Min Tianxi finally brought He Lingchuan good news:
"We found the Bailong people's families."
He Lingchuan's gaze sharpened. "How did you find them?"
This news could not have come at a better time.
"I figured settling all those dependents wouldn't be easy, and at the very least food would be in short supply. The Bailong would have to haul supplies there every few days, which gave us a trackable lead. So I hired two peddlers to hawk household wares on Heiye Island. After waiting a long time, a Bailong man with a small pigtail at the back of his head finally bought a rattle drum and two beaded hairpins. The peddler took the chance to crush a clutch-bee pupa and smear it over them."
Men generally did not wear beaded hairpins, so they were presumably bought for his wife and daughter.
"Yesterday morning, the clutch-bee compass finally led us to the Bailong stronghold ashore. Turns out it's in Baisha County right beside Blade Harbor. They're hiding in an abandoned coastal village, mostly women and children. The derelict village is ringed by mountains, with a water source though the farmland has long since fallen fallow. That place actually sits right across the water from the Yangshan Archipelago. Sailing north from Suoding Island, as long as one avoids the undercurrents, the straight-line distance is only about two hours."
He Lingchuan felt a wave of relief and said, "Good, good!"
Sheltering in an abandoned village could only be an expedient measure; they would eventually have to find a permanent foothold. From that alone, he could deduce that Moqi Song harbored ill intentions.
Still, having found the Bailong's families, he had his thumb on their weakness, securing a safety net for this battle.
He Lingchuan patted Min Tianxi's shoulder. "Splendid work! I'll credit you with a merit!"
He turned back to Lü Qiuwei. "Where is Yu Zecheng?"
"Still in his guest room, hasn't budged," Lü Qiuwei replied. "He knows full well we're watching him. When he went downstairs to eat twice, he even smiled at me."
"Each knowing what the other is up to," He Lingchuan remarked. "Keep your eyes on him."
"Yes, my lord." Lü Qiuwei turned to leave.
But He Lingchuan caught his expression and suddenly asked, "Are you feeling a bit uneasy?"
Lü Qiuwei turned back at once and said, "I am willing to go through fire and water for my lord."
"Come off it, no need to pledge loyalty right now." He Lingchuan couldn't help a chuckle. "Be honest, are you feeling unsure of yourself?"
Lü Qiuwei hesitated. Seeing that the others nearby had not crowded over for the moment, he admitted, "Your subordinate simply did not expect that we would meet the people of Beijia on the battlefield so soon."
As a native of Mount Rong, he already had no fond feelings toward Beijia. But his lord had only just arrived overseas, holding a foothold for less than two months, and was already clashing head-on with visitors from Beijia—something Lü Qiuwei had never anticipated.
Most people would avoid such a confrontation at all costs.
"The struggle between Yu Zecheng and me began the moment I refused to hand over Zhu Erniang. Tonight is merely the continuation and escalation of that conflict. Heh, this day was bound to come sooner or later." He Lingchuan patted his shoulder and said gravely, "We are still far from meeting Beijia in open war. Tell the brothers not to worry. This dynamic is safe and under control; I will manage the boundaries myself."
Whenever He Lingchuan gave his word, he never failed to deliver. Lü Qiuwei immediately nodded. "Your subordinate understands."
"Beijia is Beijia, and Yu Zecheng is Yu Zecheng. He cannot represent all of Beijia. Remember, Beijia's might does not equate to Yu Zecheng's personal might, and crossing Yu Zecheng does not necessarily mean crossing Beijia. Do you understand?"
Lü Qiuwei did not agree right away; instead, he pondered it carefully before nodding in enlightened relief. "Understood!"
"Go on, back to your duties."
Watching his departing figure, He Lingchuan knew it was only natural for his subordinates to harbor misgivings about such a clash. After all, the enemy's backing was no ordinary one.
Facing Beijia directly, who wouldn't feel the pressure and doubt?
Yet this also served as a reminder that governing troops in the future meant governing hearts first; before any action, they had to be properly rallied.
Hearts needed unity, and consensus needed to be forged.
After being rejected by Zhu Erniang and He Lingchuan, why did Yu Zecheng still linger on the island? Naturally, to find an opportunity to scheme and retaliate against them.
The mere presence of this band of Beijia people was a form of pressure in itself, affecting even a bright, perceptive Mount Rong disciple like Lü Qiuwei.
Yu Zecheng wanted He Lingchuan to feel like thorns were at his back, acutely aware that Beijia had its sights set on him every single day, every single hour.
If He Lingchuan couldn't handle the pressure and overreacted—let alone killing Yu Zecheng—even forcibly expelling him would provoke Beijia.
The Yangshan Archipelago was indeed outside Beijia's sphere of influence, and the empire could not dispatch an army to wipe them out. Yet military might was hardly Beijia's only way to influence the archipelago. Even a power as formidable as Mou Kingdom, currently at war with Beijia, had never severed interactions among their common populace. The sons of high officials and prominent nobles in Mou Kingdom still took pride in traveling to Lingxu City to study, not to mention the brisk trade between the two realms. Not a single merchant wished to forgo Beijia's business, nor was any merchant willing to offend Beijia.
Beijia needed only to issue a few casual bans against the Yangshan Archipelago, or press Qing Kingdom and Ya Kingdom to teach Yangshan a lesson—just that slight bit of intervention could easily disrupt the future operations and development of the islands.
Yu Zecheng hoped even more that He Lingchuan would buckle under the pressure and yield. Then his mission would be complete, cheap and efficient—the exact script Beijia's foreign envoys were most accustomed to playing out.
At first glance, the Yangshan Archipelago would seem to suffer no obvious losses on the surface. But from then on, whatever demands Beijia made, He Lingchuan would have to weigh them subserviently, lest they send more people to watch and target him.
After all, who told him to bow his head and cave in this round? When encroaching upon minor nations and small territories, Beijia had always pressed every advantage relentlessly.
In truth, Yu Zecheng had used the exact same tactic against Zhu Erniang: exerting pressure, harassing her, and mobilizing surrounding forces.
Zhu Erniang had moved several times, forced to wander in displacement; had the Yangshan Archipelago not taken her in, she would soon have reached the end of her rope.
Known as the northern demon kingdom, Beijia was indeed far more adept at handling great demons than human nations, often without even needing to dispatch its supreme powerhouses.
When the power of such a colossal empire was pitted against an individual or a tiny place like the Yangshan Archipelago, it was truly as vast and crushing as a mountain.
It had endless time, energy, and patience. If you drove off one subordinate, or even a hundred, it could simply send a hundred and first to hound you without end.
Even an ancient demon immortal like Zhu Erniang, with all her formidable prowess, had been worn down to utter exhaustion without ever touching the enemy's core.
What was more, had they truly refrained from deploying supreme powerhouses?
Once the time was ripe, once Yu Zecheng uncovered He Lingchuan's weakness, this shadow war would escalate into an open clash.
Chapter 976