After the dinner with Lan Ganhen, Xiao Zheng returned with Leng Ruobing to the hotel. No sooner had they reached their room and prepared to lie down than someone knocked on the door and entered the room.
"Paying respect to Mr. Xiao."
As soon as the person entered the room, they knelt down on one knee with reverence.
"TW720? What’s the matter?"
Xiao Zheng recognized the person at a glance.
People from Sky Net each had a codename, prefixed with TW, followed by a number. Those who had a codename were the elite within Sky Net, the true powerhouses, totaling 1000 people.
Out of these 1000 people, Xiao Zheng could call each one by name, because within Sky Net, everyone was brothers, rather than just superiors and subordinates.
"Not long ago, Mr. Long Qie received intelligence that Hozon appeared at Gourd Mouth. Coincidentally, the second batch of 50 elite members arranged by Sky Net in Southeast Asia had reached Country T, and Mr. Long Qie has already taken them straight to Gourd Mouth.
He asked me to tell you, in three days, he will surely return with Hozon’s head in hand!"
TW720 said respectfully.
"Hozon appeared at Gourd Mouth?"
Xiao Zheng’s expression changed slightly.
He felt something was amiss in his heart.
"Stand up," Xiao Zheng said before taking out his cell phone, calling the intelligence agency of Sky Net, and without waiting for the other party to speak, he directly said:
"Send me all the intelligence regarding Gourd Mouth!"
"Yes!" The intelligence agent sensed an unusual tone in Xiao Zheng’s voice and promptly responded.
The phone rang, and the intelligence collected by Sky Net about Gourd Mouth had already been sent to Xiao Zheng’s phone. He looked through it with a heavy expression.
The more he read, the uglier Xiao Zheng’s face got.
Finally, with a slap, Xiao Zheng smacked his palm hard on the table, and the massive force instantly splintered the table into pieces.
"Long Qie has been tricked!"
Xiao Zheng’s face was as heavy as water.
He had just looked at the intelligence regarding Gourd Mouth. Gourd Mouth was located in deep mountains, with inconvenient transport, easy to defend and hard to attack, and it even lacked mobile phone signal.
With Hozon’s methods, if he truly intended to hide here, all it would take was a little effort to utilize the geographical environment, and how could he possibly be discovered?
Hozon, cunning like a serpent and even more cautious in his actions, would never make such a low-level error!
Therefore, the only explanation was that this piece of news had been deliberately released by Hozon!
He wanted to lure Sky Net’s people in and annihilate them at one stroke by taking advantage of the terrain!
"I must catch up to Long Qie immediately, or it’ll be too late at one point!" Xiao Zheng inwardly sighed, not even bothering to think as he rushed out of the room and headed for Gourd Mouth.
"Hozon, if my brothers come to any harm, I’ll make sure you die a terrible death!" Xiao Zheng’s eyes were brimming with boundless fury, his entire being exuding an intense aura of killing intent.
Meanwhile, deep within Gourd Mouth, inside a secret base, Hozon listened to his subordinate’s report and a cruel smile curled the corners of his mouth.
"The big fish has taken the bait, it’s time to close the net."
At the border between Myanmar and Country T, mountain ranges stretched continuously, looking from afar like giant dragons roaring and galloping, with endless primeval trees stretching to the sky.
This place was rarely visited by people, hardly trodden throughout the years.
However, the tranquility was shattered today.
Within a narrow mountain path, a troop of black cavalry advanced, like a tide of darkness, thundering from a distance. Every face was as cold as ice.
It was none other than Long Qie and his group!
"Huuuh..." At the forefront, Long Qie let out a sigh, and his black steed, which had been charging forward like a tank, received the command and, in an extremely short time, let out a long neigh and came to a stop, still as a mountain as it had been swift as a torrent!
The knights behind him also stopped one after another.
"Hehehe, we’ve arrived."
Long Qie grinned and pointed ahead.
All were startled at first, then turned their gaze forward, only to see a valley’s mouth suddenly appear at the end of the downward sloping path.
A great river, roaring and tumultuous, howled past beside this valley.
From a distance, it looked like a white giant dragon circling the valley, like a natural moat, truly deserving the description of an easily defensible and difficult to assault location!
"Hahaha, this Hozon indeed has good vision; he chose such a good place. However, no matter how good the place is, it won’t stop us. Let’s go destroy it now!" Long Qie laughed heartily.
Having said this, Long Qie flicked his riding crop and his warhorse neighed long, like a dragon’s chant, hooves tumbling, like a black arrow flying towards the valley’s mouth.
"Brother Long is right, let’s charge in and fight our way in and out three times!"
"Hmph, a bunch of barbarians dare to provoke our Sky Net, today we shall cut them down so they won’t recognize their mothers."
Seeing this, the Sky Net elites behind him also burst into laughter, brandishing their whips, and followed behind Long Qie, galloping as if they were dragons amidst the wind and smoke!
The commander can influence the spirit and character of a team. Long Qie himself was full of boldness and unrivaled dominance, like a roaring tiger in the forest.
Therefore, the knights following behind him had naturally developed similar characteristics, each one of them was as fierce as a dragon and as bold as a tiger, replete with sharp spirits!
The group had already arrived in front of the great river.
"Crossing this river on horseback is impossible, and furthermore, the terrain within the forest is complex; bringing horses would be of little use. Everyone hide your warhorses well, and we will cross the river directly."
Having assessed the situation ahead, Long Qie pondered briefly before issuing the order.
The men immediately obeyed Long Qie’s command, dismounting one after another. The mountains here were thick with foliage, and they easily found a place to hide all the warhorses.
"Let’s cross the river now; there’s a crossing right there."
After seeing everyone had done as instructed, Long Qie pointed to a crossing up ahead.
Next to the crossing stood a stone stele, covered with green moss and the marks of time, showing it had stood there for a very long time.
Vaguely, one could make out the words "Great River Crossing," written in traditional Chinese characters.
This wasn’t surprising; in ancient times, most of Southeast Asia was under Huaxia’s suzerainty, adopting Huaxia’s scripts and languages.
By the crossing, a few boats were moored. After checking to ensure they were still usable, everyone boarded them and set off for the opposite bank.
The river was both deep and wide. If it weren’t for these small boats, they might have had to chop down trees to build rafts, which would have caused a delay.
Soon enough, they had traversed the river and reached the other side.
Long Qie looked towards the valley mouth ahead and with a sweep of his hand, he declared, "Let’s go in now."
The group immediately entered the Gourd Valley through the mouth of the valley.
Little did they know what awaited them.