In January 795 of the Great Zhou calendar, the Chinese army and barbarians led by the Marquis of Long Wei met in Daping, Nanling Prefecture.

Daping is a rare flat place in the south of Nanling Mansion, where Long Weihou lined up early, and hundreds of thousands of people waited for the brute beasts to come up with bows and arrows.

The initial battle was uneventful, with the first weak brute beast to rush forward suffering eighty percent casualties in the overwhelming array of arrows. Under the attack of Lingwu's large-scale spiritual consciousness storm, the poisonous wolves fell to the ground without snorting in groups, and the rest of them were so frightened that they retreated.

What happened next was even more unexpected, the barbarian who originally thought it was difficult to deal with was about to charge immediately, and Lingwu was already ready to carry out a spiritual attack. Who knew that there was a low roar from the opponent's formation, and all the barbarians retreated without looking back. Tens of thousands of barbarians, led by the red-haired leader, ran as fast as they could, and disappeared into the reckless jungle in a moment. The generals of the army were baffled by the situation in front of them, and did not dare to pursue, so they had to watch the barbarians disappear in front of them.

The marching governor sent a large number of men to reconnoiter around, but found no sign of the barbarians in the vicinity. In the end, Long Weihou ordered the whole army to continue to advance, first go to the vicinity of the Qingshui River to see where the advance was, and what was going on.

Many days have passed, and the Qingshui River still flows in the cold wind. Long Weihou and Lingwu and his party stood by the Qingshui River, and the scene along the way stunned everyone. Although these people were all generals born from the bloodshed of war, the blood-soaked land and the corpses with only white bones and no flesh still made everyone shudder.

Soldiers cleaned up the battlefield on both sides of the river and buried the remains of the fallen soldiers. A group of soldiers on the south bank found Zhang Rulong's saber, which was stuck in the corpse of a barbarian, piercing through the chest. Long Weihou held the knife in both hands, shook it slightly, raised his head and closed his eyes for a long time before saying, "I'm sorry Brother Yuzhang!" ”

He solemnly handed the knife to Lingwu: "Lingwu, treasure your uncle's knife well!" ”

Lingwu rubbed the word "brave" engraved on the knife, and tears kept dripping on the knife. Uncle loves to practice martial arts all his life, has experienced a hundred battles, always takes the lead, is brave and fearless, and is indeed worthy of the word bravery. It is really a knife like a person, and a person is like a knife.

Lingwu was squatting by the river and weeping sadly alone, when he heard someone report to Hou Ye. Someone came to ask Hou Ye to go to a distance before speaking, the feeling of the spirit priest is not something that ordinary people can understand, he vaguely heard it as if he had found the body of a suspected general. Lingwu was stunned, immediately stood up, and asked loudly, "Where is it?" I'm going to check it out. ”

Hou Ye walked over, grabbed him and persuaded him: "Don't go, it's just a bit like, I'll go over and take a look." Listen to me, can't you still believe me? You are a spiritual warrior, different from us who are purely practicing martial arts, it is better to look at these less, don't affect your cultivation mind, just wait here. ”

Lin Zhi also persuaded each other bitterly: "It's not okay, if it is, how can the young master be worthy of his relatives?" Let's leave a good impression on your uncle in my heart! ”

Long Weihou went for a long time, and when he returned, the soldiers who followed him held a large wooden box. Seeing that Lingwu and the other generals just nodded, raised their heads and sighed: "God, how can I explain to Brother Yuzhang?" ”

The Zhang family is a spiritual cultivator, and they don't have any great martial arts practices. In fact, Zhang Rulong has been practicing martial arts with Long Weihou since he was a child, and Zhang Rulong is his apprentice and son-in-law. That relationship is not much worse than that of parent-child. Speaking of this, Long Weihou's face was already full of tears, and everyone was in pain.

The army was stationed on the south bank of the Qingshui River for several days, and only after the battlefield was cleaned up did it set off towards Zhennanling.

Zhennanling is the southernmost border of the Longwei Marquis, and after passing here, it enters the territory of the Western Lianghou. This is also the place where the southern Mangmang Mountain and the Dalong Mountain meet, and the Dalong Mountain comes from the north, and this is its southern end. Dalongshan is cut off from the southern mountains here, forming a natural pass, which has been the throat of the Longwei Marquis to the west and south since ancient times, and it is also one of the frontlines of human defense against brute beasts. From here to the west and south through the border of the Xiliang Marquis are the mountains of Mangmang, and to the north can reach the Longxi Marquis.

At this time, the vicinity of Zhennanling is no different from the Qingshui River, Huang Qingshan has been around for a long time, crying several times, and he has lost all his capital here. Every night lately, he's blaming himself. If he was even a little cautious and took advantage of the terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, he only needed to hold on for a few more days, and Zhang Rulong's army would be able to rush here. Everything will be completely different, not only himself, but also the fate of the 200,000 soldiers in the forward will be completely different. It's just a few days away, and everything is irreparable. What do you do now to make a comeback?

Long Weihou convened a military meeting of the generals at Zhennanling to discuss the defense of the southern border and the next move of the army. Many people have proposed to consider withdrawing their troops, and Ji Longhai and Ji Longshan suggested staying for some time to prevent the brute beast from coming back, and everyone has a dispute, each with its own reason. There is only one thing that everyone agrees on, that is, Nanling Mansion must arrange long-term town guards. The main points are in two aspects, one is whether Huang Qingshan is still the head of the house? As soon as Ji Longhai raised this matter, Hou Ye denied it. The second is that the main force of Nanling Mansion has basically been lost, where does the defending army come from? The stakes are high, and everyone is arguing.

Nanling Province is located in the southernmost part of the Hou Kingdom, although the military position is very important, there are many mountains. But this place has been infested by wild beasts for a long time, and the population has been depleted every year, and the village has been destroyed. This is not the most difficult, if you don't do it well, you won't be able to save your life, Huang Qingshan is the most vivid example. Especially at this juncture, everyone is pushing around, and no one wants to be the lord of this mansion. And this mansion master is not someone who wants to be able to be, at the moment this beast has not gone far, to be this mansion master must have the ability to deal with possible attacks, Zhang Rulong and Huang Qingshan's precedent is clear here, where to find people who are stronger than them?

Long Weihou was also very troubled by this, and the two with the highest martial arts under his command were Zhang Rulong and Ji Longchuan. The eldest son was already planning to be his heir, so it was impossible to consider this. It is really embarrassing that the other bravery and stratagem are difficult to bear, but it is impossible for the army to stay here for long, and someone must bear it.

When it was difficult to make a decision, Ji Longhai made a suggestion that surprised everyone: "Young Master Lingwu is the most suitable candidate. The south has been invaded by brutes for a long time, and it is necessary to mention a person who can deal with brutes to rule the southern provinces, and the most suitable person to deal with brutes is the spirit man. Although the young master is young, he has shown extraordinary insight and ability along the way, and no one is more suitable than him. You can consider enclosing all the lands of Nanling and the associated Yaling and Anling Prefectures to the young master, and the young master can command the land and population of the three prefectures, and compete with the brute beasts with the power of the young master's spiritual warriors, so as to ensure that the south is worry-free. No one else has this qualification, nor is he capable of receiving such a reward, so I said that the young master was the only candidate, and asked my father to consider it. ”

Ji Longhai was right, his suggestion was agreed by most people, but Long Weihou knew the situation of his three sons. Although the three sons behaved reasonably in front of him, they were very happy to carry him on their backs. The two mansions of Yaling and Anling are the territory of the master's mansion, and Lingwu is here to command the three mansions. The son said this just staring at Guiling Mansion and Jiangling Mansion. Guiling and Jiangling Mansion are both near Shuanglong City, which were originally directly under the jurisdiction of the Hou Ye and the master, and were later given to Zhang Rulong and Lingwu, which is related to the safety of Shuanglong City. Besides, Long Weihou was absolutely unwilling to leave his most important assistant in the future, Lingwu, too far, nor would he be willing to hand over the Guiling Mansion to others. Master Zhang's current situation is that one day is counted as one day, and the position of master is none other than Lingwu, which is a big deal.

"What Long Hai said also makes sense, but it has been nearly three years since the young master left the master's mansion. The master is seriously ill and looks forward to the young master's return day and night, how can I separate them for a long time? Besides, I have other plans for Lingwu, so don't talk about this anymore. ”

"Nanling Mansion is our southern front, facing the threat of barbarian beasts and other forces, there must be no mistakes here, and we need someone who absolutely trusts us to take charge. I thought about it repeatedly, and decided that it would be better for Long Hai to stay here, and I would leave the army of 200,000 to be led by you, and you would be the general of Zhennan and the lord of Nanling, Anling, and Yaling Mansions. The three southern provinces are all under your unified control, and you must govern them wholeheartedly and guard the south gate for me. I also have to step up my martial arts training on weekdays, and one of your three brothers must become a god general, otherwise who can inherit the Hou country? ”

Ji Longhai originally wanted to get his people near Shuanglong City so that they could compete for the throne in the future. Now that the positions of the Gangneung Mansion Lord and the Nanling Mansion Lord are vacant, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You must know that people who practice martial arts have a long lifespan, and there are so many positions of the lord of the mansion, and there are few generals who can get the position of the lord of the mansion. Last time, Hongning Mansion was finally empty, but the master arranged it in a word. This time, there were two empty at once, so I'll have to get one. The decision is in the hands of his father and the master, and he takes retreat as advance, and recommends Lingwu to get two mansions on the surface, but arranges his own people to two fat shortages, which is the most likely and cost-effective. Unexpectedly, my father arranged for me to stay in the south, and on the surface I had an extra house, but in fact, my father was still favoring my eldest brother.

Ji Longhai didn't dare to disobey his father's arrangement, so he had to agree: "How dare the child disobey his father's arrangement." It's just that my martial arts are mediocre, and Nanling Mansion is so important, I'm afraid that my lack of ability will miss my father's big things. ”

"It's because it's important here that you take on it! Now your eldest brother and you are the strongest among the generals, and they also have some experience in dealing with brute beasts. Just leave the land you originally led to your subordinates to take care of, you have to concentrate on managing Nanling Mansion well, don't let me down. ”

"Lingwu, hurry up and pack up, lead the men and horses of your headquarters, and return to Shuanglong City in advance, so that you won't be with our army. Your grandfather's health is very worrying to me now, I don't know how much time it will take to go back this way, you should go back to accompany him early. When you encounter the rear army, you and Lin Yun will lead the rear army to retreat, and you are originally the head of the guard of the rear army. I don't even know how to tell your grandfather about your uncle right now, and I want to tell him when you get to Ssangyong City. All of Rulong's family members are in Jiangling Mansion, according to the rules of my Great Zhou Empire, if Rulong is gone, he should be resettled, and he can no longer enjoy the treatment of the mansion lord and general, and I don't worry about handing it over to others. After much consideration, I decided to appoint Lingwu as the head of Gangneung Mansion. Your uncle's family will be arranged by you, so that it is also in line with the regulations of the Great Zhou Empire, and you will not be wronged like the spirit of the dragon in the sky. ”

Unexpected results happened again and again, and everyone didn't expect that the best Gangneung Mansion would be vacant for Lingwu to go. In fact, some people have privately speculated that there were masters and Zhang Rulong in the master's mansion in the past, and no one can compare with each other, and even the Hou family's family is inferior, so no one dares to compete with the Zhang family. Now that the master's life is hanging by a thread, he may leave at any time, Zhang Rulong died on the battlefield again, and the Zhangjia Mansion has collapsed. Even if there is a Lingwu, it will take many years to recover, but it is impossible to be as majestic as Master Zhang. There are even more ill-intentioned people who estimate that Hou Ye has listened to the master a lot of time, and now he may want to weaken the power of the Zhang family, and the current Hou State should be the time for Hou Ye to be the master alone. I didn't expect Jiangling Mansion to be given to Lingwu, I really don't understand what Hou Ye means.