Fourteen, The Five Great Treasures (Part 1, Third Watch)

  In Kanto, there is a righteous man who raises an army to punish the villains.

  This is the opening two lines of a poem.

  This poem is called "Grassland Travel", and its author is Cao Cao, Cao Mengde.

  Because of this poem, Tan Yu can easily guess that Xi Zilan and Jin Wei are mostly under Cao Cao's command.

  Eight years ago, in the first year of Chuping (AD 190), Cao Cao and Yuan Shao joined forces with more than a dozen warlords to attack the national thief Dong Zhuo. As a result, the various factions were too self-interested and lacked strategy, so Cao Cao left in anger. It was around that time that he wrote this "Poem of Sorrow and Indignation".

  "Grassland Journey" is one of Cao Cao's early representative works, which was quite famous in later generations. As a cultural and refined planner and editor, Quan Yu still has some foundation in classical literature.

  It was unexpected that Cao Cao actually used the name of this poem as a synonym for a... dark organization.

  Hao Tong Xiang, meaning that when a person dies, they wither away. "Hao Li" refers to the place where the dead are located. Looking at the roles played by actors such as Xi Zhi Lan and Jin Wei, they are either assassins or spies, which coincidentally matches the meaning of Hao Li quite well.

  Is it really Zhi Ge?

  According to historical records, among Cao Cao's advisors, Xi Zhi was a tragic figure with extremely bad luck, dying very early and even more miserably than Guo Jia. Guo Jia at least performed magnificently on the battlefield in Hebei several times before passing away with a smile, whereas Xi Zhi... Qian You thought for half a day but couldn't recall any remarkable achievements of Xi Zhi that were worth recording in history books.

  Tan Yun hesitated for a moment, and finally let the playful Zhi Lan flash out of the cave and hide in the woods, without continuing to ask further.

  He sat alone in the cave thinking, Cao Cao's dark hand had actually reached all the way to Jingzhou?

  These shady dealings, of course, would not be found in the official histories. However, since I've encountered them, I should carefully consider whether they are good or bad for me.

  To stand firm in Wuling, apart from the local forces of Wuling, the greatest enemy is probably Zhang Xuan, the governor of Changsha who has a huge influence over the three counties of Changsha, Lingling and Guilin.

  Zhang Lu had to resist Liu Biao and must first integrate the four southern prefectures of Jing Province, his invasion of Wuling was only a matter of time.

  But he himself wanted to take Wuling as the base, absorb a large number of brave mountain barbarians from Wuling, train them and build a strong and independent mercenary team.

  Both sides inevitably produce all kinds of conflicts.

  From Cao Cao's perspective, supporting Zhang Xiu against Liu Biao was almost a necessary process to achieve the goal of dividing the eight counties of Jingzhou and consuming half of the potential power of the south.

  However, Qian Yu thought that if he could seize the opportunity and quickly demonstrate his potential, he might still have a chance to rise to power by hitching a ride on Cao Cao's chariot.

  Even in modern times, if a country's CIA goes to another country to support local anti-government forces, it will certainly spread its investments and reap the benefits, rather than hanging itself on a single crooked tree.

  So doing usually ends up being hanged on that tree.

  Is Xie Zilan's older brother Xie Zhicai?

  Tan Yun was somewhat disconcerted by this unexpected event and deliberately slowed down his cultivation pace, thinking carefully for nearly half an hour.

  In the end, he concluded: Under current circumstances, the Cao clan's power can be used as an ally, but cannot be made into an enemy.

  Even that notorious guy who pulled off the Lop Nor heist had accepted CIA funding and training to counter the Soviets.

  After figuring it out, Qin Yu put this matter aside for the time being, and continued his cultivation state.

  Although the knife wound on his back was not small, due to the protection of the leather jacket and the Stone Skin Jade Muscle Technique, the skin was only slightly broken. Qin Yu had been thinking at the same time, trying to use the Golden Needle Transcendence Technique's mental method to transport blood and energy. Unexpectedly, he found that a certain strange acupoint on his back had stretched and contracted several times, and once again established new blood circulation around the wound, quickly stopping the bleeding.

  Once the bleeding has stopped, closing a relatively large wound is no longer a problem.

  Tan Yu was overjoyed and once again realized the wonders of the Golden Needle Tribulation Technique.

  "This is just the beginning of developing Ren Mai and its affiliated extraordinary points. If in the future, one advances to a higher level and opens up all 36 extraordinary points, adding to the original 12 regular meridians and 8 extraordinary meridians, wouldn't it be possible to form hundreds of independent qi-blood circulation systems within the body? Each system can be fully developed... Thinking about the various terrifying potential within his body, Qin Yu couldn't help but feel a sense of longing. It turns out that the human body can actually be developed to such an extent."

  He was itching with anxiety, eagerly awaiting Shi Huang's return, so he could ask him about some profound principles of martial arts.

  Three quarters of an hour later, Shi Huan returned, covered in snow, with eyes like blood.

  It seems like I've been battling with little buddies in the snowy field for a whole day and night.

  "Old man, you've run into Deng Qianwan again?"

  Qin Yu was stunned, and didn't bother to ask him about the difficulties of martial arts. He quickly used his own discarded jacket to gently sweep away the ice and snow on Shi Huan's outer garment, seeing that he had no external injuries, and the blood stains were likely from others, slightly relieved.

  "Almost got ambushed again." Shi Huang lay in the cave for about three minutes before struggling to sit up, still fuming.

  It turned out that the Shennong Auction, which was held once a decade, would open in two days. Shi Huan had been working hard to accumulate chips in his hands in order to obtain a certain treasure at the auction. He was ambushed by Deng and his wife because he wanted to exchange for a rare item in Deng's hand. The three of them were old acquaintances and didn't have any deep grudges, so Shi Huan trusted them and went there without hesitation.

  After being poisoned, Shi Huan spent the past few days setting up a suspicious formation to confuse people's ears and eyes. At the same time, he was desperately searching for useful trading chips. Unexpectedly, he was deceived by his fellow practitioners again and almost fell into an ambush. Fortunately, Shi Huan learned from his mistakes and reacted quickly, retreating as soon as he sensed something was wrong. However, the opponent's strength was formidable, and they pursued him relentlessly, leading to a fierce battle. In the end, Shi Huan whipped out his anger and killed over ten people in a row before breaking through the encirclement and leaving.

  Tan Yu secretly licked his tongue, wondering what kind of stunning thing Shi Huan wanted to get, and he was willing to fight for it at all costs. He already had the heavy treasures of Zhang Bian and Pan Gong Zhong, couldn't they be exchanged for that coveted treasure?

  However, Shi Huan claimed that he had no grudges against Deng and his wife, which Qin Yu strongly disagreed with. How could a triangular relationship not have any conflicts? You might be carefree and settle the past with just one sentence, but the couple is filled with resentment, refusing to let go until death.

  Shi Guang heard his unclear muttering, and his eyes widened in anger: "You stinky brat, how dare you insult me in your heart? Human emotions and worldly affairs, am I inferior to you?"

  "Your old man is not inferior, but rather, he doesn't bother to be on an equal footing."

  "What's going on here?" Shi Huan was also very angry, but he was secretly shocked. "This time, not only Deng Qianwan and her husband, but even Qin Sanzhuan suddenly turned against me, leading the crowd to attack me. Am I really that bad at being a person?"

  In the past few days, both sides have made progress in learning from each other, and their relationship has improved significantly. Shi Huan no longer calls himself "Ben Guan" but instead uses the self-appellation "Lao Fu". Qin Yu, on the other hand, has changed his respectful address to "Lao Da Ren", "Lao Ye Zi" and other such obscure titles, which leaves Shi Huan at a loss.

  Tan Yun heard a certain name, her heart skipped a beat, this person...this person also came to Shennongjia?