Chapter 1 The Battlefield of the Final Battle

"Do you know where the battlefield of this final battle was?" Jiang Cheng detected a subtle aura from Treasurer Qian's narration. Connecting it to recent encounters, Jiang Cheng was certain that there was some unknown connection between this Marquis of Zhennan and Guo, the former dynasty's general. It was probably more than just a treasure in the lake.

Unexpectedly, Treasurer Qian's eyes widened slightly at this. "What? Didn't you know, sir? The final battle broke out on Spring God Lake. It was a naval battle. It’s said it started late at night. The place is remote, and the people in our city didn’t know about it. In the end, before dawn the next day, a team of light cavalry galloped over, opened the city gate, and welcomed the army into the city. That's how we knew General Guo had been defeated. Later, more and more rumors spread, saying that General Guo, along with his most powerful personal guards, were all killed by the Marquis on Spring God Lake. That night, blood dyed the lake red."

Spring God Lake again... All the clues pointed here. Before Jiang Cheng could think further, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Jiang Cheng glanced at it casually. It was a text message from Fatty, telling him to hurry up. After delaying for so long, the soldiers sent by the Marquis's mansion were already suspicious.

Treasurer Qian seemed to know only this much. There was no point in asking further. Jiang Cheng looked at Treasurer Qian with a half-smile, planning to shut him up. "Treasurer Qian, I'm glad you've told me everything you know. But if the Marquis knows you know so much, what do you think he'll think? Do you know?"

Treasurer Qian's face turned pale, and he looked at Jiang Cheng with frightened eyes. "Sir, sir, don't worry. Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know. To tell you the truth, after today, I plan to close this shop and go back to my hometown to farm. I'll never come back."

"Treasurer Qian, you're a smart man. You understand some things even if I don't say them. In this world, sometimes being a little confused... hehe, isn't a bad thing," Jiang Cheng said, his tone half threatening, half advising.

"I understand! I understand!"

"Also, I won't stop you from closing the shop, but it can't be today, and it can't be tomorrow."

Treasurer Qian thought for a moment and immediately understood. "I understand, sir, I understand. You just arrived today, and I'm closing the shop. It's hard to guarantee that others won't associate it with something. You're very thoughtful, sir."

Treasurer Qian was quite flattered by Jiang Cheng's "care". He immediately turned around, rummaged through the counter, and then walked back quickly, took out two silver ingots from his sleeve, and forced them into Jiang Cheng's hands with a smile. "Sir, I will never forget your kindness. I hope you... I hope you can give me a chance to show my respect."

Seeing that Treasurer Qian was so sensible, Jiang Cheng reluctantly accepted them. As soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of rapid footsteps outside. The soldier from before had found them. He pushed open the door, and the soldier's tense expression eased after seeing Jiang Cheng. Fatty chased after the soldier, "I said, why are you running so fast? The person isn't going to disappear. My stomach still hurts."

Treasurer Qian immediately recognized the special patterns on the soldier's uniform, which was the Marquis of Zhennan's insignia. Seeing how polite the soldier was to Jiang Cheng, Treasurer Qian was even more certain that this outstanding young man was from the Marquis's mansion, and held a considerable position.

Ignoring Treasurer Qian, Jiang Cheng, Fatty, and the soldier left together. Fatty complained that his stomach hurt and he couldn't walk, so the three of them chose a place to rest and slowly drink tea.

When it was almost time, the three of them rushed to the agreed location to meet. Zhang Qi, Yao Shunyu, Li Bai, and Zhao, the watchman, arrived one after another. Li Bai was carrying a few small packages.

At this time, the sky slowly darkened. It was supposed to be 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon, but it seemed like night had already fallen. After returning to the Marquis's mansion, the long-lost feeling of suffocation rushed over again. Fatty looked around vigilantly. Only two rows of paper lanterns hung in the huge mansion. The lanterns were dark red, swaying slightly in the wind, like pairs of wide-open dead men's eyes.

Not long after entering, they ran into General Yuwen. The general told them that the rest of the people had already met the Marquis. Now that it was getting late, he told them to settle down in the mansion and especially reminded them that the Marquis would send someone to summon them later. Then, he arranged for someone to take them to their residence to rest.

The so-called residence was relatively remote. They didn't see anyone along the way. After passing through several long corridors, they arrived at a separate courtyard. The person who brought them stopped not far from the courtyard gate, raised his hand and pointed inside. "Everyone, you will be staying here tonight. After entering the gate, follow the light of the lanterns until the end."

After speaking, without waiting for Jiang Cheng and the others to react, he left in a hurry and disappeared in a few breaths.

Fatty stretched his head and glanced into the courtyard, then immediately shrank back. Jiang Cheng and the others' expressions also became strange because this courtyard was different from all the places they had passed before. The lanterns in this courtyard were white. The large white lanterns swayed in the night wind, like pale human faces.

"Don't go in yet, I'll make a call." Jiang Cheng took out his phone, thought for a moment, and chose to call Zhu Jie. After receiving a positive answer, Jiang Cheng and his group walked into the courtyard.

Using the pale light, everyone walked cautiously for a while, and finally found a room with lights on. At this moment, the room door was open, and Zhu Jie and Tang Qisheng were standing behind the door waiting for them.

Stepping into the room, Lu Qin and Shao Tong, who were remaining, were also there. Everyone had finally reunited. Tang Qisheng closed the door and summoned everyone to sit down at the table.

"How is it? What clues have you all found?" Tang Qisheng asked. His face didn't look good, obviously he hadn't had a good time recently.

"Let's talk about you first. I heard you met the Marquis of Zhennan." Jiang Cheng pushed the question back without showing any emotion. He could share the clues he had, after all, the current situation was not optimistic, but he hoped that the other party could reciprocate with the same sincerity.

Fortunately, Tang Qisheng didn't mind and nodded slightly. "Not long after you left, we were called in. This Marquis of Zhennan is very strange. He received us from behind a layer of gauze, and he was wearing a mask on his face. No, to be precise, it was half a mask, only covering his right face."

After a pause, Tang Qisheng lowered his voice: "Also, what we can't figure out the most is that this Marquis of Zhennan, who is said to be a fierce general on the battlefield and has made great achievements in capturing cities, is actually an extremely thin person. He was wearing clothes and sitting there, and his whole body couldn't even support the clothes. He hardly moved, as if there was no body under the clothes, but a skeleton."