One of the masked men spoke as he placed the knife in his hand to his lips. He licked the blood on the blade, his eyes gleaming with arrogance.
It was a kind of innate arrogance that came from the bottom of his heart.
"What are you talking about? The domain chief is still waiting. Take off the clothes of these two humans. The two of you will dress up as them! "The other masked man ordered coldly.
"Yes sir!" The man immediately kept his knife, his arrogance turning into respect.
The wind blew past, carrying with it a faint scent of blood. Very quickly, a group of beasts were attracted. Then, they discovered the two naked corpses.
"Roar!" Several of the beasts pounced, devouring the corpses in an instant.
Sometimes, things were just so miraculous. Perhaps these two corpses were born into a noble family and lived a luxurious life, but when they died, they were just corpses in the end …
...
Fang Zhengzhi did not know that Wu Yuer would bring him so far away from the capital. If he had to take a detour to the capital, it would take up a lot of time.
Most importantly, there was no point for him to go to the Flame Capital City.
He headed straight for the Stable Mountain Gate.
However, after what Wu Yuer had done, the biggest problem in front of him was that he did not even have a single soldier in his hands.
No soldiers?
How was he going to participate in the combat examinations?
This was like asking you to skate in an ice skating rink, but not giving you any shoes. Skating barefoot? That was not a problem. However, not only was it slow, it was also too cold!
Participating in the combat examinations alone?
This was probably one of the oddities in the court examinations.
He did not know if this was a blessing or a curse.
A week later, a figure appeared in the Stable Mountain Gate. He was dressed in a blue robe, riding a horse of an unknown breed.
The person who had rushed to the Stable Mountain City at this time was either Fang Zhengzhi or the beast hide vendor.
The answer was the latter.
Fang Zhengzhi looked at the green stone buildings around him. There was also a passing peddler dressed in all kinds of clothes and a strict soldier holding a long spear.
Right now, he had two choices.
The first was to find the general guarding the gate, identify himself, and then... He tried to borrow some soldiers to play with. To do this, it depended on his character.
The second was to enter the Southern Mountain Range alone and enjoy the pleasure of being a lone ranger.
Before making his final decision, Fang Zhengzhi decided to have a good meal. These few days, they had been hurrying on the road and finally arrived at Stable Mountain Pass with great difficulty. They couldn't possibly go hungry, right?
As it was close to the Southern Mountain Range, the Stable Mountain Pass naturally had a lot of wild animals.
All kinds of wild beasts were hung in front of every restaurant.
"Freshly slaughtered. You can cut them wherever you want to eat!"
"Would you like to come in, sir?"
The cries meant that the business here was booming. Even though it couldn't be compared to the Flame Capital City, it was still authentic and didn't sell fake meat.
Fang Zhengzhi casually picked a restaurant with good business, then found a place with the most people and sat down leisurely. He then called the waiter over. He ordered a few dishes of wild game and a pot of wine, minding his own business and eating.
The reason why he chose a place with the most people was to gather information.
Restaurants had always been the most convenient place to gather information. Fang Zhengzhi had been roaming the world for many years and knew this.
The location was good and he could gather information easily.
As more and more customers came and went, Fang Zhengzhi heard the chatter around him. Most of them were talking about the combat examinations.
Fang Zhengzhi listened in. Along with the rumors he had heard along the way, he slowly gained a better understanding of the combat examinations.
"The Great Xia Dynasty sent out a total of 100,000 soldiers."
"Every candidate will lead 2,000 soldiers and will be called a general in the examination."
"The Crown Prince, Lin Tianrong, will personally lead over 40,000 soldiers to assist him."
"The criteria for the examination is to see who has the most soldiers left and defend the settlement!"
Fang Zhengzhi leisurely ate and drank his wine. As he sorted out the information, he was also thinking about how to conduct the combat examinations.
On the surface, his biggest problem now was that he did not have any soldiers. However, in reality, this was not the biggest problem for Fang Zhengzhi.
The problem he was thinking about was...
The purpose of the court!
This was like... If you want to answer a question, you can't just look at the surface of the question. You can also guess the thoughts of the person who came up with the question. Why did he come up with such a question? What's the point of coming up with such a question? What are the clues? Where are the hints?
The court examinations.
This was the most important examination of the Great Xia Dynasty. It was also a test of strategy, intelligence and power. Yet, the rules were so simple. All they had to do was defend the settlement and conserve their soldiers?
If that was the case, why did they send 40,000 soldiers to assist them? What kind of assistance was this so-called assistance?
To ensure the safety of the candidates?
It seemed reasonable, but when he thought about it seriously, he felt that it was not as simple as it seemed.
After all, Fang Zhengzhi knew that he was the top scorer in the court theory examination. Wu Yuer had told him this before he left.
To put it simply, the policy discussion in the court examination was focused on "war".
Since the strategy of the court examinations was about war!
Then, the Emperor's goal was also to fight!
To fight...
How could it be as simple as an examination? There had to be a hidden motive. However, the Emperor could not possibly announce it to the public.
Furthermore, Wu Yuer once told him that the Southern Mountain Range was almost under the control of the Demon Race. This almost meant that the Demon Race had yet to fully control it!
If not, they would not have ended up like this. They would have gone to war.
Fang Zhengzhi trusted the intelligence of the Shadow Sect. However, he did not think that the court of the Great Xia Dynasty was filled with idiots who only knew how to eat.
It was impossible for the court to be completely unaware of what the Shadow Sect knew.
The reason why they did not announce it...
They were probably afraid that the announcement would cause panic among the populace. Or perhaps, the Emperor did not intend to discuss this openly.
Fang Zhengzhi's eyes lit up when he thought of this.
"I understand now! Indeed, this combat examination is not as simple as it looks on the surface. Protecting the tribe, on the surface it looks like protecting, but in other words, it can be described as controlling. "
The first step was to take control of the Yan Ya, Shi Zun, Thunderous Lion and Icy Monkey Tribes in the name of the combat examination. Then, he would use these four tribes as a base. When the time comes, if the situation in the Southern Mountain Range changed, the Great Xia Dynasty would be able to attack the Sagely Mountain City from these four tribes.
The second step...
Fang Zhengzhi could not think of it yet.
After all, the current situation was far from that stage. He did not know what the Emperor was planning or what the Imperial Court was planning.
If he did not know, he would not be able to judge.
However, Fang Zhengzhi was certain of one thing.
The Great Xia Dynasty wanted to use the combat examinations to control the four settlements and deploy 100,000 troops. Would the Southern Mountain Range agree? Would the demons agree?
Definitely not.
Then, there would definitely be open and secret fights. In Wu Yuer's words, there would probably not be many people who would be able to leave the combat examination alive.
This had nothing to do with the court's ruthlessness.
If he guessed correctly, there must be a deputy under every candidate. These deputy generals should have a secret order in their hands that could stop the exam at any time.
If the combat examinations could proceed as planned, then everything would be fine.
Once there was a big change, the deputy general would take over the military order and immediately reorganize the army. The 100,000 strong army would instantly become a solid iron plate.
When he thought of this, Fang Zhengzhi was impressed by the Emperor's strategy.
This was indeed the best way to deal with the current situation. They could attack or retreat. If the Southern Mountain Range surrendered safely, then this would be a test of peace and friendship between the two countries.
If there was a movement in the Southern Mountain Range, then it would be the start of a war.
Most importantly, it would calm the hearts of the people.
Everyone thought that this was a combat examinations. As such, they did not think too deeply about the Great Xia Dynasty's motive for attacking the Southern Mountain Range.
Fang Zhengzhi raised his cup and took a sip.
It was a little spicy.
Indeed, all the alcohol in the pass was strong.
Fang Zhengzhi's alcohol tolerance was average, so he could not drink a lot. As such, he could only take a small sip.
Now that he had more or less guessed the Emperor's true intentions, the next step would be his own problem. Under such circumstances, how was he going to take first place in the combat examination?
Without soldiers...
He would not be able to participate in the fight for the tribe. As such, he would not be able to score well in the examinations.
As such, should he borrow soldiers?
But what should he do after borrowing the soldiers?
Sneaking into the four main tribes, would they be like those scholars who foolishly thought that it was an examination and fight until their faces were swollen?
That would be too vulgar.
He was an elegant person, how could he be compared to them?
Furthermore, if he could think of something, Yan Xiu and Wu Feng could think of it too. As for Nangong Hao...
Of course.
Fang Zhengzhi was never one to underestimate his opponents. Nangong Hao was able to give him such a question during the theory examinations. He was not stupid.
It was possible that Nangong Hao was peeking at the secret order of his deputy general.
Alright...
Here comes the problem.
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