Chapter Ninety-Three: The Man

  "General Jaison? It seems we've never offended this man before?" Han Jin scanned around: "Which of you knows him?"

  "I've only heard of his name." Lei Zhe said.

  "Master Blacksmith?" Keli suddenly stood up and said loudly: "Is that Master Blacksmith named Vilar?"

  "Miss... are you familiar with Lord Villar?" The one-eyed dragon spoke in a trembling voice, his body already starting to sway slightly, clearly on the verge of mental collapse.

  "Familiar! Of course familiar!" Qili gritted her teeth and said: "I will never forget him!"

  If Villar had only absconded, Keli would not have hated him so much, but since Villar killed someone and then ran away, the nature of things has completely changed.

  "When did Villar become an adult?" Han Jin shook his head.

  That one-eyed dragon wanted to explain, but suddenly felt a blackness in front of his eyes, and his body went soft and fell down.

  "Do you know that Villar?" asked Lei Zhe.

  "Just look at Keli and you'll know." Han Jin said in a low voice, "What I'm curious about now is that it seems we don't owe Vilar anything? Where did he get the courage and reason to come looking for trouble with us?"

  "There are all kinds of people in this world." Mo Xinke said angrily: "At that time, we should have killed Vilar!"

  "Since you say so......" Lei Zhe paused for a moment: "Then he can't stay." Lei Zhe kicked the one-eyed dragon with his foot.

  Just then, Xian Ni'er walked in from outside. Han Jin asked: "Where did you go?"

  "I'll wait outside for a bit. See if anyone else is following us." Xanthe's gaze swept over everyone's face: "What's going on?"

  "We used to have an enemy...” Han Jin recounted that experience in detail. Finally, he added: "Villar should have escaped directly to the Western City. Then got acquainted with General Jason. It seems...he is highly valued here."

  "Is Villar's forging level very high?" Xanier asked with a frown.

  "Mm." Kelly nodded.

  "That's understandable, a master craftsman like that would be valued wherever they go." Xanier sighed.

  "My suggestion is... we should leave Western City now. Go to Ninth Town, my friend is there, he will protect us."

  "Remember when we discussed this before? Weren't you worried that it would bring trouble to your friends?" Han Jin said.

  "But do we have any other choice?" Lei Zhe smiled wryly: "You are also my friends, I think he will be very happy to meet you."

  "What's your friend's name? He seems quite influential?" Xanier asked.

  "My friend is called Lang Ning, a great knight and captain of the First Cavalry Regiment of the Torrent Guards."

  "Raging Torrent Legion? Lang Ning?" Xian Ni'er asked with a changed expression.

  "Is it the Torrent Legion that is headquartered in Beit City?" Mo Xingke also showed a surprised expression.

  "Are there other torrential legions in the Byter Alliance?" Lei Zhe asked with a smile.

  "As the commander of the Rapid Stream Legion... I do believe he can protect us." Xanier paused for a moment: "But how did you get to know him? Are you close?"

  "We grew up together as childhood playmates."

  "How is that possible?" Xanthe asked in a skeptical tone. "I was briefed on the intelligence about the Torrent Guard when I was in Wilder City. Langning is the most dazzling new star of the Torrent Guard, with an unyielding personality and extremely strong military qualities, highly valued by the former commander-in-chief Konrad, who publicly stated that Langning is his ideal successor. Moreover, Langning is also the son of Benedict, the former deputy commander-in-chief of the Torrent Guard. You're playmates with him?"

  "Is there a problem?" Lei Zhe asked.

  "You... you're Leizel?" Xanier's mind flashed with insight, suddenly recalling an unremarkable introduction she had read: "You're the son of Commander Connard? That good-for-nothing who's been causing trouble since he was a kid?"

  "Miss Xian Ni Er, I'm not that bad yet..." Lei Zhe said with a mixture of tears and laughter.

  "Are you really Conner's son?" Sasuke asked. His expression also seemed to have heard of the name Conner.

  "Can this kind of thing be lied about?" Lei Zhe asked back.

  "I'm even more confused now, you're Connor's son. How dare they lay a hand on you?" Xanthe asked.

  "My father has been dead for several years, and... you don't understand."

  "If even I don't understand it, then no one here will."

  "You..." Lei Zhe was taken aback, he felt that Xian Ni'er was being a bit too arrogant.

  "Xian Ni Er was involved in a war twenty years ago, the Silver Flying Horse Legion, you should know? Sasou laughed and said that Leizhe joined later and didn't know Xian Ni Er's past, and Xian Ni Er wouldn't brag about his past honors everywhere. So it's necessary to repeat: 'It was in that war that Xian Ni Er became a true commander and led the elves back to Wild Willow City safely.'"

  This time, it was Leiz's turn to make a move. The surprise attack launched by the Silver Flying Horse Legion and the Elf Archers had become a classic in military history, and for more than a year, they had been roaming day and night, rushing around, slowly putting a noose around Lord Kasar's neck. Not only did Zagunede study and learn from that battle example, but his father, Commander Konrad, also highly praised that surprise attack.

  "I really didn't expect it, but there's actually a spirit hero here." Lei Zhe sighed.

  "Alright, now let's talk about your situation. Why did they dare to lay hands on you?" Xanier said slowly, she wasn't intentionally prying into others' secrets, but the slightest change in the upper structure would have a profound impact on the lower levels, and could even alter the relationships and policies between different lord groups.

  "The four city lords all want to take command of the Torrent Guards. When my father was alive, they didn't dare make a move. Now... now no one can restrain them." Lei Zhe sighed: "When my father passed away, he gave an order for Lang Ning to become the commander of the Torrent Guards, but it was vetoed by them on the grounds that she was too young and lacked experience."

  "Then who is the legion commander now?"

  "No." Lei Zhe shook his head: "They all want their own people to become legion commanders, and in the end no one has the upper hand."

  "Rai Zhe, then why didn't you become a warrior and instead became a thief?" Sasou asked slowly. In fact, he wasn't asking about his profession, but rather the inheritance of status and identity. In this world, it was only natural for children to inherit their parents' positions. Although the Flowing Stream Army wasn't owned by anyone, the situation was special - none of the four city lords could overpower the others, and the Flowing Stream Army wasn't controlled by the city lords. If Commander Konrad had wanted to support Rai Zhe's rise to power, the city lords would have been powerless to stop it, but the soldiers of the Flowing Stream Army wouldn't have agreed if he tried to promote someone with an illegitimate status. The generals might even think they were more suitable than Lang Ning! In the end, Commander Konrad chose someone else's child, and things ended up like this. It must be deeply related to Rai Zhe.

  "Because my father lived too hard, I don't want to be like him." Lei Zhe didn't want to talk about these things, his tone was very slow. There was a bright, shining thing flashing in the corner of his eyes: "Dealing with several city lords, worrying about logistics and supplies for the army, training must also be guaranteed. When the Beit Alliance is invaded, the Jiliu Army must strike at the first moment, it's too hard... My father was less than 40 years old, his hair had already turned gray, a high-ranking Knight of Light, a tenth-level professional, was actually struck down by illness in his 40s, don't you think that's a huge joke?" Lei Zhe showed a bitter smile at the end. Obviously, he had always been haunted by his father's premature death.

  "No one can deny that Commander Konrad is a noble and just knight." Xanthe said slowly.

  "Noble? Justice? Ha……" Lei Zhe suddenly became agitated. But he immediately realized it was inappropriate, took a deep breath, and controlled his emotions. He thought to himself, if he hadn't seen with his own eyes how his father's nobility and justice had been repaid, how could he have reconciled himself to taking another path? But saying these words would be meaningless, he didn't hope for anyone's understanding, and was even more worried about causing unnecessary misunderstandings. The thousands of words in his heart all turned into silence.

  "Alright, now let's talk about our own affairs." Han Jin saw that Lei Zhe's emotions were a bit off and quickly changed the subject: "Xian Ni Er, what do you think?"

  "Then let's go to the ninth town, I've always been curious about this Lang Ning."

  "I guarantee you won't be disappointed." Lei Zhe said in a low voice, "I'll deal with this guy first, then everyone get ready, we'll leave Xicheng within two or three days."

  "Are we going to move again? Damn it... when can we finally settle down?" Mo Xinkai exclaimed.

  "Is this unbearable?" Xanier laughed.

  "Hold on! Xian Ni Er, I'm afraid we can't compare." Mo Xin Ke shook his head.

  Lei Zhe bent down and put the only remaining one-eyed dragon on his shoulder, walking slowly out of the room. Han Jin looked at Lei Zhe's back and said slowly: "At that time, I felt that Lei Zhe's family background should be very unusual, I didn't expect him to have such a prominent father."

  "I've seen evaluations of Leiz in the intelligence reports, haha... they were very poor. I felt sorry for Commander Konrad back then, but now it seems that what's in the reports isn't necessarily true." Xanier smiled: "Maybe... he did it on purpose to make others lose hope in him? Or was there some other reason..."

  "I didn't understand." Xilena asked strangely, "Is it that his father wants him to be an official, but he is unwilling, so he deliberately does bad things to make everyone disappointed with him?"

  "It's almost there." Han Jin said softly.

  "He's not a good man!" Xilena retorted: "A man shouldn't let his loved ones down!"

  "What do you know?" Mo Xinke shouted, and Lei Zhe was at the door. Xilina's unbridled words would hurt people's hearts. "I..." Xilina was about to retort, but she backed down, because she wanted to show her elegant side. However, her gentleness often required a furrowed brow as a prerequisite, which made her seem a bit strange.

  Lei Zhe's face suddenly turned pale, but he didn't say anything, and silently turned around, disappearing in front of the door.