Chapter Fourteen: Investigating the Causes

  "Boss, can you bring the airship down so I can meet with Lang Ying and the others?" Irina obviously intentionally leaned her fiery, sexy body against Tang's, her charming eyes seeming to be coquettishly flirting with her beloved.

  "This is, well, not impossible. But..." Tang Chao pretended to be fully focused on driving the airship, but in fact, he couldn't help sneaking glances at Irina's firm and full breasts with the corner of his eye from time to time.

  "What a big chest! It seems much bigger than Lan Xin's two small baskets." Tang Dynasty's mind suddenly popped up with this thought: "I wonder how it feels to the touch."

  "Boss, what conditions do you have? Just let me know and I'll make sure to satisfy you." Irina brought her fiery lips close to Tang's ear and whispered softly: "If that little girl Lan Xin can do it, I believe I can do better than her."

  Tang Dynasty casually placed his hand on Irina's soft waist, pulled her into his arms with a forceful hug, and stared at her eyes that seemed to speak, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth. "Irina, don't play with fire, be careful not to get burned yourself."

  Irina smiled and gently lifted Tang Dynasty's chin with her fingers, coquettishly saying: "Boss, I'm not afraid."

  "You're not afraid, I'm afraid!" Tang Chao sighed with a bitter smile and didn't dare to accept Irina's invitation. Before figuring out the true nature of this demoness in front of him, Tang Chao really didn't dare to have any improper thoughts about her.

  The Tang Dynasty was struggling to control a swarm of bees that were drilling into its brain, calmly driving the airship to land slowly on a relatively flat patch of yellow sand, less than fifty meters away from Lang Ying and his group.

  Lang Ying and his brothers stared blankly at the massive object that had fallen from the sky, with several of them even rubbing their eyes hard with the back of their hands, fearing that their own eyes were playing tricks on them.

  As the airship stabilized, Tang Dynasty didn't let the engine die down, lowered the cabin door gangway, and secretly ordered the special guards hiding in the guard cabin to be on high alert.

  Irina also took out a makeup box from somewhere, looked left and right in the mirror, didn't find anything wrong, then smiled, slowly walked to the cabin door, held the handrail of the gangway, and stepped down step by step.

  The moment Irina appeared at the cabin door, Langying led four men and rushed towards the airship with a quick pace.

  As they ran, they all shouted in unison: "Irina sister, Irina sister."

  Tang Dynasty smoothed out his leather jacket, waiting for Irina and Langying to meet up with them, and then he slowly appeared at the gangway.

  "Everyone come here, I'll introduce you to this person. He is your lifesaver and the benefactor of the entire Tang family, our big boss, Mr. Tang Chao." Irina introduced Tang Chao and Lang Ying and his men with a serious expression: "If it wasn't for the boss's sudden idea to investigate the surrounding areas of Cang Long Ridge, Lang Ying, you few would definitely be in a precarious situation today. Don't you hurry over to thank the boss for saving your lives?"

  Lang Ying and his four subordinates, upon hearing this, immediately wiped the smiles off their faces, their expressions becoming exceptionally solemn. The five of them stood in a row, marching in unison to stand before Tang Chao, about three meters away. Unanimously, they dropped to one knee, clasped their fists, bowed their heads, and declared in unison: "Lang Ying (Meng Baoyin, Lang Cuo, Du Xiaofeng, Fei Zijie) representing the entire Seventh Reconnaissance Squad, pays respects to Mr. Tang, thanking him for his great kindness in saving our lives. If you have any orders, sir, we will brave boiling water and walk through fire, willing to die a thousand deaths without hesitation!"

  Tang Chao stood on the gangway, looking down at the five young men in front of him, who were all exuding a strong and fierce aura. Judging from their names, it could be inferred that these five people belonged to at least three ethnic groups: Han, Mongolian, and Tibetan.

  Among the five, Tang Dynasty had the deepest impression of Lang Ying, because when Tang Dynasty's eyes fell on Lang Ying, he felt that he was facing not a person, but a wolf that would devour people at any time!

  Lang Ying's stature was not tall and majestic, about 1.75 meters in height, the shortest among the five people, but Tang Chao could see at a glance that Lang Ying's muscles hidden under his clothes were full of terrifying explosive power. That sharp face with clear edges, like a knife cut, gave people a sense of tenacity, toughness and stubbornness.

  Especially when Tang Dynasty's gaze met Lang Ying's, that pair of sharp and wild eyes intersected for a moment, Tang Dynasty almost suspected that he was not looking at human eyes, but wolf eyes.

  "Everyone, please get up, there's no need for such courtesy." Tang Dynasty gathered his thoughts and stretched out his hands to gesture for everyone to rise from their bows. With a calm smile, he said: "We're all lucky to have met each other like this, it's fate that brings us together. Since we're all brothers of the Iron Rider Alliance, we're naturally one family. However, as far as I know, the land under our feet should still be within the Iron Rider Alliance's sphere of influence. What makes Black Wind Fortress people so bold and daring to chase and kill you in broad daylight?"

  "Reporting to sir, the reason why Black Wind Stockade sent so many people to hunt us down is that we inadvertently stumbled upon a major conspiracy between Ma Zhongqiang and Niu Fumin, the county magistrate of Ruoshui County, who secretly colluded to launch a surprise attack on our Iron Rider Alliance!" Lang Ying's face was filled with indignation as he replied: "My scouting team left the main stronghold five days ago to conduct a routine patrol around the Qinglong Ridge area. Yesterday, when we passed by Ruoshui County, we just found out that the news of the Mu family breaking the thousand-year-old evil curse in Duanhun Gorge had spread, and rumors about the countless treasures hidden within Duanhun Gorge were circulating widely."

  To verify whether the news was true or not, we didn't rush back to Canglong Ridge overnight and decided to stay in the county town to secretly investigate. As a result, we unexpectedly discovered the conspiracy of Heifeng Stronghold and Niu's family joining forces to deal with our Iron Rider Alliance. Ma Zhongqiang and Niu's people wanted to take advantage of our Iron Rider Alliance's unstable foothold in Duanhun Gorge, gather all their troops to surround Canglong Ridge, and try to wipe us out in one fell swoop. When we withdrew from the county town, our men were discovered by Heifeng Stronghold's people and were entangled with these scoundrels for a day and night, losing three brothers and unable to shake off their pursuit.

  "Damn it! Ma Zhongqiang is simply daydreaming! Irina spat on the yellow sand with a scornful look, "Just because Ma Zhongqiang wants to destroy our Iron Rider Alliance, I think he doesn't even know how to write the word 'death'!"

  "Lang Ying, how many men and horses are there in Hei Feng Fortress? How many troops does the Yu Qiang Bao An Team have?" Tang Chao didn't pay attention to Irina, but instead looked at Lang Ying with a very serious expression.

  "Hei Feng Village has recruited a large number of people recently, according to the intelligence sent back by our brothers who have infiltrated their ranks. The current Hei Feng Village is said to have 2,000 men, with each person armed with a quick-firing gun." Lang Ying reported truthfully: "Yu Qiang has two new army battalions, one Han-Hui infantry battalion and one Han-Hui cavalry battalion, each with 500 people. However, due to the official army's habit of embezzling funds, the actual troop strength is at most equivalent to one battalion. The cavalry has 368 men, and the infantry has 246 men. The battalion commander is Niu Huai-de, who is a cousin of the county magistrate Niu Fu-min."

  "If it's as you say, then wouldn't the entire Wujiang become the domain of the Niu family?" Tang Dynasty asked thoughtfully.

  "The Niu family is a well-known and respected clan in the Ruoqiang region." Lang Ying explained, "For several generations, the Niu family has had officials serving in Aksu, and in Ruoqiang, they are considered to be deeply rooted and influential. The majority of pastures and farmland in Ruoqiang belong to the Niu family. Apart from Niu Huade's new army, the Niu family's private guards and estate staff number over 500 people. Not a single bandit or outlaw in southern Xinjiang dares to provoke the Niu family. Even our Iron Rider Alliance has openly clashed with them."

  "Haha, this Niu family is indeed arrogant. Tang Dynasty nodded calmly and smiled slightly, "Lang Ying, in your opinion, can our Iron Rider Alliance handle the joint attack of the Niu family and Hei Feng Gang?"

  "The terrain of Canglong Ridge is treacherous and easy to defend but hard to attack. Even if the main camp is breached, Ma Zhongqiang and Niu Huade will have to pay a terrible price!" Lang Ying's eyes were firm as he replied: "My life was given by Mu Da, I will swear to live or die with the Mu family!"

  "News spreads so fast, in my opinion, our Iron Riders Alliance is not as united as it seems!" Tang Dynasty sighed and said: "Risks and opportunities often coexist, let's see if the Iron Riders can pass this test."

  "Boss, if Heifeng Gang really joins forces with the Niu family, we must get this news back as soon as possible." Ivana looked at Tang Chao with a worried expression.

  "Uh-huh!" Tang nodded and smiled at Lang Ying: "Captain Lang, we'll leave this to you to handle. If the seriously injured prisoners are not convenient to take away, give them a quick death. The flying boat is something we must keep secret for now, it will be our secret weapon against Hei Feng Zhai and Niu Jia."

  "I understand!" Lang Ying nodded firmly, "Please rest assured, Mr. Tang, I know what to do and guarantee that not a single rumor related to the airship will leak out from us."

  "Then I won't disturb you anymore." Tang Chao extended his right hand to Lang Ying, smiling: "When you have the chance to come to Tangjia Fortress, I'll treat you to a drink."

  "Is that the Tang Family Fortress in Duanhun Gorge?" Lang Ying asked, his voice trembling: "Is it true? Is there really a Tang Family Fortress in Duanhun Gorge?"

  "Lang Ying, Lang Ying, I think you're clever for a moment, confused for a moment, didn't you hear that the boss's surname is Tang?" Irina chuckled and said: "I estimate, now our Iron Rider Alliance, only you few kids don't know that the Iron Rider Alliance has been fully merged into the Tang Family Fortress. The boss is the founder of the Tang Family Fortress."

  "Sister, so to say, we really occupied the Duanhun Gorge?" Lang Ying asked excitedly: "I heard that inside the Duanhun Gorge there are endless vast grasslands, and fertile land that can produce anything you plant, is it true? Have you seen it?"

  Irina didn't answer but instead gave a sideways glance at Tang Chao.

  Tang Dynasty smiled lightly and nodded in response: "That's right, the legends are all true. The land owned by Tangjia Fortress is one of the most fertile and rich lands in the entire Western Regions, even in the entire Great Western North. This land has been free from pollution by various worldly impurities for thousands of years, it is a unique haven, a pure land among humans."

  "No wonder the Niu family would agree to join forces with Heifeng Village." Lang Ying muttered to himself, and a fierce glint appeared in his wolf-like eyes. "Mr. Tang, we absolutely cannot let the Niu family and Heifeng Village's plot succeed!"

  "Heh heh." Tang Chao smiled and nodded, "Duan Hun Gorge, where people's souls are broken. If they want to defy the master of Duan Hun Gorge, they'll have to see if their ancestors' tombs are emitting a green glow."

  A new week has begun, please continue to support everyone, the ghost is here to bow!