Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Sun Zhengheng led a thousand elite Feathered Forest Guard troops, returning to camp in the middle of the night.

They carried blazing torches, with most of their mounts flanked by boxes or bulging sacks, each with an expression of excitement and exhilaration.

A picture of a group returning fully loaded!

Upon meeting, Sun Zhengheng told Wang Chen with a beaming smile that their gains were tremendous this time, not only completely destroying the White Wolf Thieves' lair, but also seizing the bandits' treasure trove.

Besides countless gold, silver, food, and medicinal supplies, the Feathered Forest Guard also captured a large number of armors, spears, bows, arrows, and heavy crossbows and other weapons.

These pieces of equipment were all of excellent quality, not falling short of the standard military weapons at all, and some even surpassing them.

And clearly, this was unusual!

Because ordinary horse bandits would not be able to store such an abundance of equipment and weapons unless they had other schemes.

The White Wolf Thieves were definitely not just any horse bandits, and these equipments also proved from another angle the rumors about their connections with Great Yan.

After all, excellent armors and weapons could not be made by just any artisan, let alone in such quantities!

Wang Chen was struck by a thought and asked, "How did you deal with these things?"

The Feathered Forest Guard led by Sun Zhengheng were light cavalry in and out, and besides the visible gold and silver treasures, they could not carry much else.

"All including the grain was sealed up."

Sun Zhengheng lowered his voice, "All the bandits have been executed, and the lair has been burned down."

Wang Chen nodded, "Good."

Sun Zhengheng's approach was flawless.

Those who remained in the lair were definitely numerous family members of the horse bandits, including the elderly, women, and children, but Wang Chen did not consider them innocent.

"Oh, right."

Sun Zhengheng handed over a sandalwood box to Wang Chen, "Protector Wang, this is your share."

In this fight against the horse bandit coalition, completely routing the White Wolf Thieves that had rampaged across the West Sea Great Prairie for many years, Wang Chen's contribution was the most outstanding.

It was only natural for him to take a share of the spoils, and moreover, he deserved the lion's share.

The wooden box Sun Zhengheng handed to Wang Chen looked small, but it contained an extraordinary fortune.

Wang Chen unceremoniously accepted: "Hmm."

Took it directly.

Of course, apart from Wang Chen, the other two thousand Feathered Forest Guard who stayed at the camp also received their rewards.

It was a joy for everyone.

The entire camp stayed awake all night.

Consequently, it wasn't until close to noon the next day that the peace-making envoy departed camp.

The journey afterward went smoothly, and no bandits were encountered as they crossed half of the West Sea Great Prairie.

Seven days later, the peace-making envoy arrived at the West Sea Prefectural Government and stayed in this prefectural city for three days.

On the evening of their arrival in the prefectural city, the heads of three main leaders of the White Wolf Thieves were hung on the flagpoles in front of the city gates for public display.

Hundreds of thousands of city residents celebrated wildly!

Over the years, the White Wolf Thieves had frequently raided merchants traveling across the prairie, attacked the local pastoral tribes and villages, causing grave disasters to the people of West Sea.

The various trade guilds despised them to the bone.

Now, with the White Wolf Thieves entirely annihilated and all three leaders beheaded, the dreaded plague of West Sea Prefecture was eradicated.

The joy of everyone could only be imagined.

Thus, when the marriage procession departed from the Prefectural City, countless citizens came out to see them off, creating an impressive spectacle.

And Wang Chen also took with him his deserved reward, amounting to over a million taels!

After passing through the Prefectural City, the marriage procession traveled for another five days, leaving behind the West Sea Great Prairie.

They entered the territory of Hanhai Prefecture.

Hanhai Prefecture is the second-largest prefecture of Great Liang, its area second only to West Sea Prefecture and more barren than the latter.

Heading west, the prairie gradually turned into Gobi desert, with towering snow-capped mountains in the distance, and within hundreds of miles, there was no sign of human habitation, only animals such as wolves, rock sheep, and snow hares dwelling therein.

This borderland was part of the division between Great Liang and Great Yan, and it was also a notorious place of exile within Great Liang, where countless criminals were sentenced to serve their punishments at the frontier to atone for their crimes through military service.

Due to the harsh environment and sparse population, the marriage procession encountered no bandits along the way.

It's not that there were no horse bandits or thieves in Hanhai Prefecture, but small groups of thieves dared not approach such a large procession.

Only a large band of horse bandits like the White Wolf Thieves would choose the lush West Sea Prefecture.

However, half a month after the procession entered Hanhai Prefecture, a vast oasis appeared at the foot of the snow-capped mountains in everyone's sight.

Hanhai City had arrived!

Hanhai City was the Prefectural City of Hanhai Prefecture, the only large city, and concentrated most of the prefecture's population.

This ancient city, with its history spanning hundreds of years, was also an extremely important fortress and gateway, guarding the essential route leading to Great Yan.

The reason why Great Liang and Great Yan had always maintained friendly relations was not only because of the common enemy, Great Qi, but Hanhai City had also played a significant role.

Before the arrival of the marriage procession, Hanhai City had already received the news via carrier pigeons, so preparations to welcome the procession were made in advance.

After a grand welcome ceremony, the marriage procession was arranged to stay inside Mingyu Palace.

Mingyu Palace was a royal palace for the Emperor of Great Liang to use when inspecting the borderlands, but this palace located in the center of Hanhai City had received emperors only on very rare occasions since its establishment.

After all, Hanhai Prefecture was too remote and barren, and also concentrated a large number of exiles.

Nevertheless, the palace was vast enough to comfortably accommodate the marriage procession of over three thousand people.

According to the plan, the marriage procession would rest for five days in Hanhai City before passing through the Hundred Mile Gorge.

After the Hundred Mile Gorge, they would be in the territory of Great Yan!

As the journey over the past few days had been really tough, after settling down in the palace, the three thousand Feathered Forest Guards completely relaxed.

"Lord Wang, Lord Sun..."

A fat man with a round face bowed and scraped to Wang Chen and Sun Zhengheng, saying, "The Prefectural Governor sent me to deliver three hundred fat sheep as a reward for the Emperor's personal troops, and a thousand jars of fine wine."

This fat man was clearly a merchant, seeking to curry favor with Princess Qingyun through connections with the Prefectural Governor.

Sun Zhengheng smiled and said, "The Prefectural Governor is so courteous; it would be rude for us to decline!"

The fat man bowed repeatedly, "It's only right, only right!"

He brought not only the fat sheep and fine wine but also supplied chefs, kitchen staff, and general hands.

Thus, with Princess Qingyun's approval, bonfires were quickly raised in Mingyu Palace, and the fat sheep, stripped and cleaned, were placed over the fires, roasting until crispy and dripping with fat.

The rich aroma of roasting meat permeated throughout the palace, making the Feathered Forest Guards drool with desire!

When the sheep were roasted to perfection, the chefs in charge of the barbecuing took out large handfuls of spices, sprinkling them generously, making the scent even more tempting.

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