Wu Jinghan, the tenth year, the end of June. The battle of Liangshan in Shandong, caught in the midst of the massive drama of the Wu Dynasty's southern suppression and northern conquest, did not cause much of a stir at the time. Although those with keen senses could feel something from it, compared to the boiling state of the overall situation, even if someone could seriously consider the situation here, the information obtained would always seem insignificant. The saying that Ning Liheng, the "Heart Demon," broke Liangshan in three days, which became extremely popular in later generations, was still overshadowed by Tong Guan's timeless achievement of recovering Yanyun. Like a small tributary in the tide of history, it was ignored and disappeared into the forest in the blink of an eye.

During the time when Tong Guan, Liu Yanqing, Guo Yaoshi, Xin Xingzong, Fang La... were active, and even in the grand scene of Wanyan Aguda leading the Jin people to rise in the north and Xiao Gan of the Liao Dynasty supporting the final afterglow of a great empire, the appearance of Ning Liheng's name was just a small proof to the saying "heroes emerge in great numbers" at this time. At least in the Wu Dynasty not long after, with the continuous propaganda of the great achievement of recovering Yanyun, a feeling that a great era had arrived filled everyone's heart. Similar sayings like "heroes emerge in great numbers" had also filled the idle talks on the streets, giving people an extremely intense and surging mood.

Few people knew that in a few years, all of this would become the afterglow and remnant of an empire, becoming a silhouette of a more vast era. And in this era, the strongest and most decisive torrent originated from here. When historians of later generations traced back from the future, they repeatedly wanted to peel away all the fog, peel away the noisy curtain of the era, push aside Yanyun in the north and Fang La in the south, and try to focus their eyes on Shandong, to see clearly where the small stream that darted into the forest began to become a vast river...

At the end of June, in the military camp of the Wu Rui Army, a total of more than a thousand prisoners from Liangshan were kept. In that battle of Liangshan, each of these thousand-plus people had taken the heads of more than three comrades. Regardless of the means, after their identities were filed, they were all kept.

Being held as prisoners in the military camp, the first days were not easy. Most of these people who wanted to exchange heads for wealth understood that they had been tricked. The soldiers of the Wu Rui Army would not give them a good look. During the month-long imprisonment, almost every day was spent under the threat of death and starvation. The news from the outside came little by little, including Song Jiang's capture and execution, the cleansing of the entire Shuibo area, and the mutual killing of comrades left outside...

The collapse of the overall situation eroded much of their will to resist. The Wu Rui Army was indeed a bit不堪 when facing Liangshan head-on, but at this time, they were absolutely ruthless against the prisoners. It was basically useless to protest. For them, neither the local officials nor the generals of the Wu Rui Army held an attitude of not releasing them. After a month of hunger and training, most of these thousand-plus people were dispersed and incorporated into the army of the Wu Dynasty at this time. Like a drop of water into a great river, not many of them would survive more than ten years later.

Among them, a total of five hundred and seven people signed ten-year contracts at that time and joined a merchant called Bamboo Mark (Zhu Ji). In about a few months, more than a hundred people were sent to the army one after another. After the initial batch of screenings, a total of three hundred and eighty-two people were accepted by Bamboo Mark (Zhu Ji).

These people at this time had no awareness that they would join some major event or be heavily recorded in history in later generations. Of course, to later generations, these three hundred and eighty-two people were merely a symbolic number. It was not necessarily that they supported anything, merely because they signified the beginning.

And this beginning was not necessarily bright and great.

In late July, when Ning Yi first came to the Wu Rui Army, he decided the fate and destination of these thousand-plus people. He frankly told these people the surrounding officials' views on their stay or departure: either join the army and gain freedom after achieving merits, or join Bamboo Mark (Zhu Ji), sell themselves for ten years, and after that, all their affairs, livelihoods, etc., would be borne by him.

At that time, Ning Yi's complexion was not very healthy, and his words were plain and indifferent. Here, the thousand-plus people who had been starved for more than a month did not dare to raise too many protests. The entire selection process was completed within two days, and then Ning Yi fully distributed the rewards for each head, especially to those who joined the army, while distributing the money, he exhorted them that money was external, and when they went to the military camp, they could grease the palms of those above and below so that they could have a better time. Later, some people benefited from this, and a small number of people were harmed because of these silvers.

Regarding these matters of Liangshan, in addition to Qin Si Yuan's Right Chancellor's Office, the most direct observers actually had the strength of the Grand Commandant's Office participating in it. Initially, they may have just paid a little attention. After learning about the methods Ning Yi had shown when breaking Liangshan, taking advantage of the chaos of others denouncing him as the "Heart Demon," Gao Qiu sent an order to Zhou Tong, who happened to be passing by here. For him, this was a convenient move after learning about Ning Yi's friction with his family. After the failure, the Grand Commandant's Office, unwilling to confront the Right Chancellor's Office head-on, fell silent, and both put this matter in their memory.

Only the five hundred people who were left became the most realistic problem placed in front of Ning Yi at that time. Whether it was Wang Shanyue, Zhu Biao, or Lu Hongti, etc., they all initially raised objections. Could they be at ease by taking these people into Bamboo Mark (Zhu Ji)? Would it be safe? It was a big problem. In these years, with money, one could hire experts in the Jianghu, recruit slaves, and buy those poor people who could not afford to eat from the human traffickers. These people at least had no hatred in their hearts, and their loyalty was much more reliable than the five hundred-plus people from Liangshan.

Historians of later generations who investigated to this time occasionally raised similar questions, but the process of how these people were later trained and even brainwashed by Ning Yi seemed to have been deliberately obliterated by Ning Yi, and not much information was left. The participants at the time also did not talk about this matter too much later. If someone really wanted to delve into this matter, they might find some fragmented things.

After handling the sale contracts of these people, Ning Yi and others established a closed camp near Du Long Gang. Ning Yi stayed here for about a month. After everything was on track, he ordered Su Wenyu to be responsible for the whole thing. In the memory of the residents of Du Long Gang, the training in the camp was basically just simple standing, sitting, and walking, and in the evening, it was often a group of people sitting together and talking, and sometimes the voices inside would be very loud.

In addition, there were several riots, all of which were suppressed.

After about three months of such things, the camp turned to semi-closed. The nearly four hundred people left here would come out to do some things for Du Long Gang, such as cutting dry firewood in the cold winter and putting it outside Du Long Gang or at the door of some people's houses. Some people would put down the silver taels they had saved.

At this time, the residents of Du Long Gang still hated the remnants of Liangshan. Every such action required Zhu Biao and others to gather people to prevent the villagers from making excessive actions. But not many people understood why these people would become like this in a few months.

This matter became an unsolved mystery for a long time afterward. Three months later, the semi-closed camp entered the second batch of people, which were more than three hundred young people bought from various places when winter came. After that, this group of young people was probably trained in a one-on-one manner inside for half a year and became part of Bamboo Mark (Zhu Ji). After the third batch of young people came out, the three hundred and eighty-two people belonging to Liangshan were finally dispersed to various places of Bamboo Mark (Zhu Ji)... These are all matters for later.

In early August, on the hillside at sunset, Hongti sat there, watching the camp gradually being built below the mountain. Ning Yi came from behind, looked at the sunset, and sat down beside her.

Far away, the five hundred-plus people below the mountain were practicing neat formations—under Ning Yi's harsh demands and the threat of death, the formation was really excessively neat.

"I'm still a little worried about you keeping these people by your side," Hongti said. "If you train them like this, ordinary people can certainly obey orders, but they have grudges against you in their hearts after all. You let those monks come over to tell them great principles every night, and they may not understand them."

"They will understand," Ning Yi smiled.

Hongti shook her head: "I'm always worried about your safety. I'm not smart. You... tell me seriously, will it really be useful to let them talk about the wrong things they did these few nights?"

Ning Yi was silent for a moment: "What I'm afraid of... is more than just being useful. Don't think too much about it. This is not a good thing, and I will only use this method once..."

"Mysterious."

Hongti glanced at him, hugging her knees. For the past few days, when in front of people, Hongti always maintained the temperament of being Ning Yi's master. She wore a veiled hat and the dress that Ning Yi had picked for her that had the aura of a "female knight" and "grandmaster." When she was by Ning Yi's side, not many people dared to ignore her. Especially now that her record of chasing and killing the people of Liangshan had been made public, the name "Iron Sword of Rivers and Mountains" Lu Hongti had spread throughout the Qilu area, and together with the "Heart Demon," she was about to become a killing star demon that no one dared to provoke.

The people of Du Long Gang, such as Zhu Chaofeng, had to salute her respectfully, sit at the head of the hall when in the living room, and take the seat of honor when eating. Hongti was originally indifferent and didn't care about such things. Ning Yi was enthusiastic about this and often raised her seniority, making Hongti have to act like an expert. Zhu Biao had asked her for a few moves, and he was disarmed within a few moves. Only Luan Tingyu could exchange a few moves with her, but he couldn't beat her either. The people of Du Long Gang now had great awe for this female grandmaster.

Only when there was no one else could the two of them be casual. Speaking at this time, her tone was not displeased. She just felt that Ning Yi was very powerful and had some pride in it.

Ning Yi smiled and put his arm around her shoulders: "I will have a sense of proportion. But you, you must be careful when you return to Mount Lüliang. Don't always risk your life. Wait for me to come find you."

Hongti nodded: "The Liao Kingdom has been defeated. Mount Lüliang should be peaceful for a while. If the Wu Dynasty really recovers the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, there will be no more attacks on the border villages in the future."

"If that can really happen, it would be a good thing, but... don't be careless..."

"...Yeah."

As one of the top martial arts experts in the world, she leaned on her lover's shoulder, looking at the sunset, and there was some longing in her eyebrows.

The news that Tong Guan had recovered Yanjing had spread throughout the Wu Dynasty. Under the orange-red sunset, the evening breeze blew the withered grass on the hillside, flying to the sky, blowing the two people's clothes and hair, carrying the woman's longing and the man's caution, and drifting into the distance. Although the subsequent development of events may not be as good as expected, the scene of the two sitting together and the warmth in their hearts could often be remembered...

Even if she returned to the harsh mountains and fields again and fought against all the malice, she would no longer have any confusion in her heart. Because outside the mountains and fields, there was someone who was cutting through thorns to come in. Thinking of this, her heart and sword would both be quiet, and it would also support her to become a truly iron-blooded sword guarding the entire Mount Lüliang.

Not long after, in a small room in the Miao Jiang Blue Universe Dong, a girl named Liu Xigua sat there, looking at the few rays of sunlight that shot in from the window, and tears slid down her cheeks. Because on this day, she received news that just a few days ago, the government troops broke Qingxi, outside Zhitong Cave, the Sacred Duke Fang La led the remnants to break through but failed. He died of exhaustion after three days of continuous battles, and Empress Shao Xianying had also committed suicide. Fang Qifo, Fang Baihua, and others led a very small number of remnants to escape.

Liu Tiannan brought tea from outside the door: "Girl, don't be sad anymore... this matter..."

Liu Xigua raised her face, the sunlight shining on the rolling tears: "I insist on it."

"Sigh..." Liu Tiannan put down the tea, and finally retreated.

After all, the Overlord Blade Camp had risen with Fang La. After the Battle of Hangzhou, only eight hundred strong men who could fight were left, and they also had to protect one or two thousand family members, old and weak. Ning Yi had originally made the plan for the transfer and establishment of a foothold. Xigua had also unilaterally chosen to separate and sever ties with Fang La, who had lost his power. Now that things had come to this, she could only guarantee the survival of the Overlord Blade Camp.

Afterward, Chen Fan led some people away to return to Qingxi to save people. When the battle situation there was critical, some hot-blooded men also wanted to help these comrades who had fought together before. Xigua rejected these things without yielding. In fact, her feelings with Fang La and others were much deeper than the ties between others and Fang La.

In a sense, since Liu Dabiao's death, the Sacred Duke Fang La, Shao Xianying, Fang Baihua, and others were almost her closest family members.

She had persuaded Fang La to flee far away, but Fang La refused. And at this time, what kind of feeling was in her heart when she sat idly by and watched these relatives die for the sake of the survival of the Overlord Blade Camp, Liu Tiannan and some people in the Overlord Blade Camp who were closer to her could empathize with her.

After Liu Tiannan left, Xigua sat there in a daze for a long time. Finally, she took out a few pieces of paper from her sleeve. At this time, the quality of the paper was not good in the first place. Perhaps it had been read many times. The few large and small pieces of paper were all old. It was the news of the "Heart Demon" Suppressing Liangshan that had come from the outside not long ago. She later inquired about it, and in total, she got these few pieces of paper, but she couldn't piece together the whole picture of the event.

"Ning Liheng..." She sniffed, then wiped away the tears with force. "I can't let him look down on me!"

She didn't say anything more, but looking at the light shining in from the window, the feeling of wanting to cry welled up again.

Where... are you...

——After Fang La was beheaded, the Yongle disaster that was raging finally came to an end.

In the tenth year of Jinghan in the Wu Dynasty, the north and south were both settled. At the end of August, Ning Yi returned to Bianliang, which was a scene of singing and dancing in the clear autumn. Soon after, a chain commercial system called Bamboo Mark (Zhu Ji) stretched its tentacles on the land of the Wu Dynasty, expanding like a monster...

The curtain of a great era has already been drawn.

****************

ps: The fourth volume ends here. The entire fourth volume, from the perspective of its theme, is a volume for laying the groundwork for the later plot lines. Many foreshadowings have been laid down here, including the Bianliang plot line, Guo Yaoshi's plot line, Lin Chong's plot line, Zhou Pei's plot line, and so on, and Ning Yi's reasons for why he is doing things can finally take preliminary shape here. In terms of the concept of connecting the past and opening up the future, what should be done has been done.

There is no need for a summary. The name of the fifth volume is still "The Feast." I have a bit of a cold. This chapter started writing in the afternoon, and it has taken until now to revise and complete it. Asking for monthly tickets ^_^