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Combining the military report previously sent by Fifth Uncle with his own caution, Li Hao had some speculations in his heart. Maybe it was just his own overthinking, but it was always better to be on guard.
Ren Qianqian's eyes widened slightly, the amount of information in Li Hao's words was quite substantial, and she had some difficulty digesting it all at once.
She only caught one point, that the Demon King didn't even have the guts to offer any compensation when facing Li Hao?
What on earth had Li Hao done outside that pass?
Soon, Li Hao finished writing the letter and handed it to Ren Qianqian, instructing her to deliver it to Li Hongzhuang to be sent to Fifth Uncle, Li Xuanli.
Having done all this, Li Hao withdrew his thoughts and resumed painting.
...
The boy Bird Demon, under the watchful eyes of many martial artists and soldiers, flew out of the new city at the frontier pass, trembling with trepidation, then shot straight up into the sky.
After entering the clouds, he began to accelerate until he was seven or eight hundred miles away before he slowed down slightly. A few birds were waiting in the clouds ahead as he approached them.
"Why did you even steal a military flag to bring back?"
One of the red birds transformed into the figure of a girl in a red dress, recognizing the military flag in the boy Bird Demon's hand as Li Hao's banner, she couldn't help but speak with an incredulous tone.
The boy Bird Demon almost choked upon hearing this, steal?
Did I eat too much and decide to steal that guy's military flag?
"Protector, I didn't steal it, that kid forced it into my hands," the boy Bird Demon explained, referring to the young man simply as "kid."
"Hmm?"
The girl in the red dress looked puzzled and asked, "Why would he give you his military flag?"
"He asked me to plant it on a mountain he's flattened. And the flag must not be damaged, otherwise he said he'd trouble our Tianji Palace again and carry out another massacre beyond the pass," the boy Bird Demon said indignantly.
The girl in the red dress and the three birds beside her were astonished. Wasn't that a bit too overbearing?
"What about the task he entrusted you with? How did the probing go?"
As the girl in the red dress glanced toward Heavenly Gate Pass, she inquired further.
"That kid is too shrewd. I only mentioned it slightly and nearly got caught by him," the boy Bird Demon recalled the prior events with a hint of trepidation in his voice, saying, "From what he implied, he really isn't planning to leave Heavenly Gate Pass, that agreement is real."
The girl in the red dress furrowed her brows and asked him to recount the events carefully.
After listening, her frown deepened further. "This young man is indeed a great concern for us. It's time to inform Longmen and Shenggong. Such a hidden danger, if not eliminated, could lead to endless troubles in the future."
"Indeed."
The boy Bird Demon nodded in agreement.
"But judging by the situation, he probably won't leave Heavenly Gate Pass easily to take part in the war in Liangzhou. When that Elder of Longmen is out, we can just take care of him then," the girl in the red dress said, glancing at the military flag in his hand and instructed, "Let's go, plant this flag, as if sealing off a mountain for him.
Just send a message to the surrounding demons to stay clear of that mountain for now, let's avoid the sharp edge for the time being."
"Understood."
The several birds immediately flew off to even farther distances.
...
Liangzhou, western region.
A Blood Eagle flew into the military camp and landed on the arm of a deputy general's retainer, who retrieved an oil-paper wrapped letter the eagle spit out and swiftly handed it to Li Xuanli inside the tent.
"A letter from my sister?"
Li Xuanli, upon hearing the deputy general's retainer's report, was somewhat surprised. He'd only just sent a letter to Heavenly Gate Pass and had already received a reply.
Now was a delicate period, frequent correspondence was not a good thing, as it was easy for messages to be intercepted.
He hastily opened the envelope and skimmed through the letter, his expression soon turned grave.
"Demons intend to attack Liangzhou?"
"How did Hao Er find out?"
Li Xuanli was surprised that the letter was actually from the young man, and while he felt astonished, he was also somewhat incredulous.
The letter did not explain the reasons, only mentioned his guess and asked him to pay attention to the movements of the demons.
Considering the previous retreat of the demons outside the borders, a chill ran through Li Xuanli's heart. Could it be that the withdrawal of the demons was just a feint and they never really intended to leave Liangzhou?
He put away the letter, immediately summoned his deputy general's retainer, and strictly ordered them to closely monitor every blade of grass and tree beyond the pass. He tasked the original scouting teams to search even further afield.
...
...
Time flew by.
Heavenly Gate Pass, Cangya City.
Shortly after the boy Bird Demon left, Li Hao set off once again for the territory beyond the pass. Upon cleaning up areas where demons had roamed anew after his last patrol, like mushrooms after the rain, they were easily dealt with.
Reaching the furthest mountain top, Li Hao saw the military flag he had planted. There were no demons in sight, as if the area was sealed off. Spotting secret bird watchers, Li Hao was satisfied and proceeded to patrol from east to west.
Everywhere he went, Tianji Palace seemed to be facing a formidable enemy, hurriedly signaling the demons in all areas to take urgent precautions.
The demons fled in panic from their not yet fully established lairs, only to slowly return after the young man flew past.
Yet, this harrowing existence had grown wearisome for some demons, who could no longer endure it and chose to move away from this place in search of other lands.
Even if it meant squeezing into territories already ruled over by other Great Demons, it was better than living in such unrest.
Once peace returned beyond the pass, Li Hao summoned his warriors and instructed them to use their connections to spread word. They were to seek out masters skilled in the Art of Painting and Chess Tao, inviting them as guests to Cangya City.
During this period, Li Hao dissected the corpse of the ghost woman, along with other Great Demons, cooking them daily to prepare meals for the group.
His experience in Cooking soared, reaching Seventh Stage. Now, a full 500,000 points were needed to level up to Stage Eight.
A single Great Demon from the Four Stands Realm could provide a massive thirty or forty thousand experience points, which for the original hundred thousand experience bar, was nearly half full per demon.