The mountain in Stronghold 111 was called Mt. Ginkgo. In autumn, the mountain would be covered in a golden glow. But when winter came, the leaves of the ginkgo trees would fall into the valley, leaving only withered branches behind.
The prosperity would come to an end and be crushed into the mud.
Qing Zhen stood where he was and looked at the withered scene in the valley. Then he suddenly laughed and said, "What a pity."
These were probably Qing Zhen's favorite words.
Next to him, Secretary Zhou frowned and said, "Men, take off Qing Zhen's shoes and escort him up Mt. Ginkgo!"
Secretary Zhou got angry when he saw the soldiers in charge of guarding Mt. Ginkgo did not move. "How dare you disobey my orders!"
However, the two soldiers still did not move. It was as though they could not bear to do such a thing.
Qing Zhen looked at the younger soldier with a smile and said, "I remember you. Your name is Zhang Yuge, and you used to be one of my soldiers. You performed a meritorious deed when we attacked the Pyro Company."
The soldier named Zhang Yuge got excited. He stood up straight and shouted, "I'm Zhang Yuge of the 5th Combat Brigade. I didn't expect you to still remember me."
Qing Zhen turned to look at the other soldier and said with a smile, "Your name is Wang Hang, and you're also one of my soldiers. Is your mother feeling better?"
Wang Hang's eyes reddened. "Thank you, sir. I didn't expect you to still be concerned about such a trivial matter."
Qing Zhen sighed to Secretary Zhou and said, "These are all elite soldiers who should be out fighting. But because of me, they ended up being tied up here and used as watchdogs. What a pity. Don't make things difficult for them. I'll do it myself. "
Secretary Zhou said coldly from behind Qing Zhen, "Do you know that none of the Shadows in the history of the Kyung Clan are like you? They've all bowed to you!"
Qing Zhen smiled. "But I'm Qing Zhen."
It was as though the name "Qing Zhen" had some kind of magic to it. Pride was born from his bones, and he would not bend his knees no matter what.
With that, Qing Zhen took off his shoes and socks and walked up the mountain where all the leaves of the ginkgo trees had withered.
The cold winter wind whistled along the mountain path, and the ground was as cold as a knife.
However, no one could see the pain and frustration on Qing Zhen's face. After walking for a while, Qing Zhen suddenly pointed at a col and said, "When I was young, I used to play in the mud with Luo Lan there. At that time, the stream was very cold, so we would freeze the persimmons we stole in it. After a while, they would be especially delicious. At that time, Qing Yun was still following us, but he seemed to hate me since he was young. "
Secretary Zhou was silent. No one had expected that Qing Zhen would be so carefree even when he was about to die.
"But there are hidden sentries there now. They won't let us go, right?" Qing Zhen said with a smile.
Suddenly, blood splattered in the sky. Qing Zhen's fair feet stepped on the thin layer of snow, leaving a row of footprints on the mountain road.
At first, the snow was white, and the footprints were black. As soon as one stepped on it, the ground beneath was revealed.
Secretary Zhou shouted in the wind and snow behind him, "Have you thought it through?!"
As the snow gradually thickened, Qing Zhen turned a deaf ear to it.
As he walked, red footprints were left on the snow on the mountain road.
As he walked, it felt like he would never see the end. However, Qing Zhen still stood straight.
When Qing Zhen passed by, the soldiers at the sentries all turned to look out of the mountain.
As he walked, Qing Zhen's feet became numb. He could not remember how far he had walked.
With every step he took, it was as though he was thinking.
Secretary Zhou suddenly asked, "Why did you withdraw your troops last night and trap the Yang Clan?"
"Oh, you're talking about that," Qing Zhen said with a smile.
"At that time, Qing Yi had clearly not taken over the military power yet. You also knew that Luo Lan was still with the Yang Clan." Secretary Zhou frowned and said, "The Yang Clan must have arrested Luo Lan by now. Now that a lot of people know that you were summoned back to Stronghold 111, they might think it was Qing Yi who gave the order."
Qing Zhen smiled and said, "Because I knew that y'all would come to arrest me."
"What do you mean?"
"Before our father left, he insisted on calling Luo Lan to his side and asking him to protect me. But you know what kind of person he is." Qing Zhen was amused. "He eats and sleeps, and he's extremely reckless. Why would I need his protection? I should be the one protecting him."
"So you got the Yang Clan to arrest him?" Secretary Zhou said with a frown. He did not understand the logic behind this. However, it had to be said that Qing Zhen always had more plans than others.
"If I didn't get them to arrest him, he would probably have rushed up to Mt. Ginkgo to fight those old fogeys." Qing Zhen sighed and said, "The Yang Clan won't kill him. A fatty alive is more valuable than a dead one. Before they extract something valuable from him, the Yang Clan won't kill him. It's better than letting him rush back here."
"But they'll still kill him in the future, right?" Secretary Zhou said calmly.
"I've already prepared an escape route for him," Qing Zhen said.
Therefore, Qing Zhen tore up the alliance with the Yang Clan for no other reason than to keep Luo Lan in Stronghold 88 and not let him come back here to die.
That was because even Qing Zhen was not confident he could survive today.
Qing Zhen stood barefooted on the edge of the cliff on the winding mountain road. He looked at the falling snow outside and said, "If I die today, that fool, Luo Lan, would definitely cry his heart out. That deadbeat of a father of ours always said that a family should be harmonious. Only when there's a family can there be people. "
Secretary Zhou asked, "Then why did you still go against the wishes of the Kyung Clan's patriarch?"
Qing Zhen looked into the distance and seemed to have figured something out. He said, "Now that I think about it, there's only Luo Lan and I in our family. The others don't count."
At this moment, Qing Zhen turned around and looked ahead. He suddenly smiled and said, "I didn't notice, but we're almost there! Let's go! "
As Qing Zhen walked in front, Secretary Zhou asked loudly again, "Your time is almost up. Have you thought it through?!"
Heavy snow was falling, and the mountain wind was howling.
Qing Zhen said softly in the wind and snow, "I've thought it through."
In front of them was the Kyung Clan's villa on the mountainside of Mt. Ginkgo. The place was still brightly lit. Qing Zhen stood outside the vermilion gate and said with a smile, "Come to think of it, it seems like I've only been here a few times."
Secretary Zhou escorted him into the main hall. Qing Zhen's feet left bloody footprints on the clean and extravagant marble floor. The servants in the main hall kept quiet out of fear, and no one dared to wipe the bloodstains off.
Qing Zhen walked inside. The door of the meeting room was open, and the presidium members of the Kyung Clan were sitting inside.
Qing Zhen walked through the long corridor and the long hall. He walked alone, and everyone followed him from a distance.
Suddenly, some people felt that Qing Zhen's back had been straight until this moment, and he had never bent.
When Qing Zhen walked into the meeting room, he went straight to the end of the conference table and sat down.
There was no one next to Qing Zhen. All the presidium members were sitting on the other side of him, as if he was against the entire Kyung Clan.
The old man sitting at the head of the table said calmly, "Do you know what you did wrong?"
Qing Zhen also said calmly, "What did I do wrong?"
The old man narrowed his eyes. He did not expect that Qing Zhen would not bow down to him even after walking 21 kilometers of mountain roads.
"Murder, usurpation of power, privately raising an army, and disrespecting the law." The old man said, "All of these crimes together warrant the death penalty."
Qing Zhen asked, "Do I have to die?"
"If you don't die, I won't be able to rest easy."
These were the thoughts of all the Kyung Clan presidium members. The shadow clone that disregarded the rules had scared them.
They had never been so afraid of a shadow clone before, so this shadow clone had to die.
…
At this moment, Qing Zhen's troops had been scattered. Some of them had been incorporated into the various fighting forces to be tamed, while the stubborn ones were chained up in the stronghold and ordered around like dogs. Qing Zhen's influence in the military seemed to have been weakened to the point that it was as insignificant as a strand of hair.
Luo Lan was placed under house arrest in Stronghold 88.
It seemed like Qing Zhen had lost his last source of support.
So when the dagger was revealed, the Kyung Clan presidium was certain of victory and insisted on killing Qing Zhen.
Qing Zhen got up and walked barefooted to the French windows of the conference room. Someone shouted angrily, "Qing Zhen, how dare you still act so arrogantly at a time like this!"
Then Qing Zhen suddenly turned around and asked Secretary Zhou loudly, "Zhou Qi, I've already made up my mind. Have you made up your mind?"
On the 21-kilometer mountain road, Secretary Zhou had raised the question twice. But this time, it was Qing Zhen who returned the question.
Outside the French windows, the mountains and rivers were magnificent, and the sky and land were lofty!
He did not want to be the shadow clone anymore.
He wanted to be the leader of the Kyung Clan.
Breaking the wind, shattering the realm, breaking the mountains and rivers, and not turning the world back!
Qing Zhen asked again loudly, "Have you made up your mind?!"
Secretary Zhou smiled. "I'm at your service."
At some point, Secretary Zhou, who was standing behind the old man, grabbed a stream of water out of thin air. The transparent stream of water seemed to be created out of thin air as it flowed towards the necks of the presidium members.
Someone's exclamation alerted the security personnel outside the conference room. However, Secretary Zhou was already prepared for this. The clear stream of water split off again and shot out through the conference room's thick, solid wooden door. Screams could be heard coming from outside, but it went silent after a while.
Intense gunfire also rang out from the mountainside. An intense battle had probably broken out.
At the foot of the mountain, the soldier named Zhang Yuge suddenly shouted, "Everyone, today is the day to make a name for yourself!"
As he spoke, a large group of soldiers suddenly emerged from the wilderness. Although they had charged up together with him, the blood that flowed from their bodies during the battle flowed down the mountain road and melted the thin layer of snow.
Meanwhile, in Stronghold 111, the manhole covers in the sewers were suddenly lifted. Groups of black troops rushed towards all of the strategic locations in the stronghold.
When they encountered the stronghold's regular troops, these black troops were exceptionally brave and unafraid of death!
A soldier in black slowly sat down on the ground after being shot. A comrade tried to help him up, but he grabbed his comrade's hand and said with a smile, "This day has finally come. Go on, don't worry about me. Tell the commander that we've been waiting for too long!"
…
Secretary Zhou smiled at Qing Zhen and said, "You didn't let Luo Lan come back because you were worried about me? We were friends who played in the mud together when we were young. You've really broken my heart."
Halfway up the mountain, Qing Zhen had said that he and Luo Lan had played in the mud and iced persimmons together by the stream. But what he did not mention was that Zhou Qi was among those children.
A lot of people thought that Secretary Zhou viewed Qing Zhen as a thorn in his side. This was also the reason why the Kyung Clan's Board liked to use Secretary Zhou to target Qing Zhen.
However, Qing Zhen and Zhou Qi had never been on bad terms. In the early years, they had already come up with the idea of changing the world.
When questioned by Zhou Qi, Qing Zhen also laughed. "I'm indeed a little worried about you. After all, a fortune-teller told me that you had a rebellious streak in the back of your head when you were young."
Zhou Qi choked on his words. "That's fucking bullshit!"
Secretary Zhou, who used to look like a gentleman, was no longer a gentleman.
The old man in the conference room said coldly, "Aren't you afraid that Qing Yi will send his troops back to kill you?"
Qing Zhen said, "What a coincidence, Qing Yi is also one of my people."
"What do we do now?" Zhou Qi asked, "We've already rebelled, so we can't leave any loose ends."
Qing Zhen said, "Just kill them. I was thinking of letting them walk 21 kilometers in the snow, but now that I think about it, there's no need to be angry with them."
A winner should have the bearing of a winner.
As soon as he finished speaking, the "water ropes" around the necks of the Board members suddenly tightened like shackles of death.
Zhou Qi looked at Qing Zhen, who was standing by the window in a daze, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Qing Zhen came back to his senses. "Oh, I was just thinking that I might not have time to plant flowers in the future."
When Zhou Qi heard the gunshots coming from halfway up the mountain, he adjusted his glasses and said, "Damn it."
The Board members did not die immediately. They wanted to tear off the ropes around their necks, but they realized that the supernatural beings' methods were not something they could withstand. The water in the stream was like a steel rope.
The loser was the bandit, and the winner was the king!
The Kyung Clan had changed hands.
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