The young officer who entered at the call was very young, with fine eyebrows and long eyes, a slender face, and a clean, fair complexion. He looked frail and easy to bully.
His features were handsome, but unremarkable—someone you would forget easily after seeing him, making it extremely difficult to remember him. There were plenty of such people in Darkflame, at least fifty or so.
Indeed, Qian Ye had never seen this face before, but he recognized and was quite familiar with the person behind it.
“Miss, what are you doing here?” Qian Ye’s face was full of worry.
This young officer was Ji Tianqing in disguise. Wherever she went, trouble always followed. It seemed that he truly needed to go with her to prevent any mishaps.
Ji Tianqing appeared somewhat incredulous and asked, “How did you recognize me?”
Her disguise was flawless, not only altering her appearance completely, but even her body shape. She somehow managed to make herself taller, now standing at Qian Ye’s height. Anyone who saw her would think she was an unfamiliar young man and would never associate her with Ji Tianqing.
Even with such a perfect disguise, Qian Ye still saw through it, which made her quite frustrated. However, for Qian Ye, this question was hard to answer. After thinking for a while, he honestly said, “Intuition.”
Ji Tianqing felt an urge to explode. No matter how Qian Ye answered, she wouldn’t believe him, but the answer being “intuition” left her no room to argue.
Song Zining then interjected, “Is everything ready? Qian Ye came a bit early, but it’s just as well. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can finish the task. I’ve already prepared the vehicles and personnel, so you can depart shortly.”
Song Zining was incredibly efficient; within half an hour, several off-road vehicles were waiting at the command building entrance. They quickly boarded, heading straight to the airship landing field, where an airship was already waiting.
What was absurd was that the floating ship, which looked like an ordinary cargo vessel, lowered a boarding ramp, and the off-road vehicles drove directly into the hold. As the ramp retracted and the hatch closed, the airship ascended and headed toward Guanlan City. Throughout the process, Qian Ye and the others didn’t even need to get out of the vehicles.
Feeling the pressure as the airship ascended, Qian Ye suddenly said, “This must be a regular high-speed transport ship of the Imperial military. With this approach, what’s the point of disguising it?”
Indeed, the ship’s acceleration during takeoff and flight was on par with a warship. In wartime, such transport ships needed to follow the fleet. Although it was disguised as a cargo ship, its speed betrayed its true identity. Which cargo ship could be this fast? Even civilian high-speed vessels couldn’t match half of its current speed.
Moreover, the direct boarding of combat vehicles was a unique feature of military transport ships. This way, no matter how well the exterior was disguised, it was pointless.
Ji Tianqing spent the journey resting her eyes, and at that moment, she said, “We’re not trying to hide anything this time. We want those families to see our power, so they will listen.”
Qian Ye nodded and said, “If they don’t listen, we’ll have to act. But we don’t seem to have brought any experts.”
Ji Tianqing pointed at herself, “Isn’t the general here an expert? And you’re not bad either.”
Qian Ye chose not to comment, silently recalling the strong individuals he had seen in Guanlan City, comparing and analyzing them to prepare for the upcoming battle.
Guanlan City was not far from Nanqing. Even though the high-speed transport ship was fast, it wasn’t much faster than if Qian Ye and Ji Tianqing had run there themselves. Seemingly to show their power, the ship sped up as it approached Guanlan City, hurtling toward it like a meteor.
Chaos erupted on the city walls as the blaring alarms sounded. The ballistae on the two towers struggled to turn and lock onto the unexpected intruder. However, the old-looking cargo ship was too fast, and the officers operating the ballistae, exhausted and red-faced, could not get a lock on the target.
If the ballistae couldn’t aim, the arrows they fired were even less likely to hit the target. The commander in charge of the defense was sweating profusely, shouting and directing the city guards to their positions.
This high-speed ship was both a display of power and a threat. It flew directly over Guanlan City, then turned and returned to the gate, positioning itself with its side facing the city walls.
If it were a warship, this would be the standard posture for a broadside salvo. Though there were no visible ballistae on this cargo ship, the fact that an old cargo ship could move so fast suggested it might be hiding many weapons. A single volley could potentially destroy the city walls.
“Take cover! Take cover!” The general in charge of the city’s defenses shouted in despair. The city walls were filled with soldiers who hadn’t yet reached their positions, and the ballistae were still slowly turning, only halfway there. From the warship’s perspective, there were plenty of easy targets.
Fortunately, the cargo ship hovered quietly in the air, motionless, until the ballistae were almost locked on, then it suddenly drifted sideways, retreated, and escaped the range of the ballistae.
The defending general was drenched in sweat; this was a standard evasive maneuver for a high-performance warship. The problem was, where in the neutral territory could such a ship exist? The general had only seen such maneuvers in textbooks, and he found it hard to believe his eyes.
Finally, the floating ship began to descend slowly.
Inside the ship, a noble-looking man approached the off-road vehicles, tapped on the window, and said to Ji Tianqing, “General, we’ve played with them enough. You can disembark now.”
Ji Tianqing nodded, and several off-road vehicles drove out of the transport ship, heading straight for Guanlan City.
The defending general stood on the city wall, anxiously watching the convoy. Suddenly, he heard a faint click, and his eyelid twitched. Turning his head, he saw a soldier aiming a gun, with the bolt already pulled back, ready to fire.
He immediately grew furious, slapped the man down, and roared, “Who told you to fire! Listen, no one is to fire without my order! Not even to aim!”
The city guards quickly understood and lowered their guns, and the ballistae stopped rotating. It was clear that the people descending from the unprecedented floating ship, who dared to come so boldly, were not afraid of the city’s defenses. If they opened fire rashly, they might provoke the powerful individuals on the other side.
This order, while diminishing the city’s prestige, could save their lives.
The defending general leaped down from the city wall and stood alone in front of the gate, blocking the path of the off-road vehicles.
Ji Tianqing remained in the vehicle, while an officer from the lead vehicle got out and said to the defending general, “Give this to the Xue family; they know what to do. Also, our lord is very busy and will wait only ten minutes.”
The general was shocked; ten minutes was barely enough to run a round trip to the Xue family residence. Even if he saw the Xue family patriarch immediately, there wouldn’t be enough time to say much. He didn’t care what the emblem in his hand was and turned to run back to the city to deliver the message.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to run far. He soon met a group of warriors rushing to the gate, led by an elder of the Xue family. He hurriedly approached, handed over the emblem, and quickly explained what had happened.
The elder’s expression changed slightly upon seeing the emblem, and he asked, “Where are they?” before speeding toward the gate.
A short while later, Qian Ye and Ji Tianqing entered the Xue family mansion and sat down formally.
Elders gradually filled the room, and it seemed that all the influential members of the Xue family were present. Among them, Xue Wu stood out.
Initially, some elders had been confrontational when entering, but upon seeing Qian Ye, their faces paled, and their arrogance faded. They found seats and sat quietly. Throughout the meeting, only a few dared to look at Qian Ye. Clearly, the impact of Qian Ye’s battle in Guanlan City was still fresh in their minds.
Once everyone was seated, the Xue family patriarch looked deeply at Qian Ye and said, “You two distinguished guests have come a long way. But may I ask what this emblem means?”
Qian Ye remained silent, as he was only responsible for sitting and fighting. The specific matters were to be handled by Ji Tianqing.
The young officer, Ji Tianqing, smiled lightly and asked, “Does the patriarch truly not recognize this?”
She looked young, seemingly weak, and her attitude was somewhat frivolous, which immediately provoked the elders’ displeasure. However, due to Qian Ye’s presence, they dared not speak out. This young face, no matter how annoying, could not compare to Qian Ye’s fighting prowess.
The Xue family patriarch coughed and said, “I admit I don’t recognize it.”
Ji Tianqing smiled again, “If you truly don’t recognize it, let me explain. But, are you sure it’s alright for all these people to hear?”
The elders stirred again, as Ji Tianqing directly questioned their right to know important secrets. This was a significant affront to their authority, more intolerable than questioning their strength.
The patriarch responded decisively, “This matter concerns the survival of the Xue family. I cannot make the decision alone; all the elders who can participate in the decision-making must be involved.”
Ji Tianqing smirked, “I thought the patriarch was decisive, but it turns out not to be so. If a similar situation occurred in a battle, would all the elders need to convene? What if someone disagreed, would things still proceed?”
Some elders couldn’t hold back and were about to raise their voices, but Qian Ye suddenly opened his eyes and glanced at them, making them swallow their words and sit down again.
The patriarch said, “It’s not because I’m indecisive, but because this matter is too significant. Such a decision ensures the unity of the Xue family.”
“Since the patriarch has decided, I’ll tell you, but I hope you won’t regret it.” Ji Tianqing tapped the table lightly and was about to speak when Xue Wu suddenly stood up and said, “Wait! I think, aside from the Great Elder, the others should step out.”
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