Demon, don't come any closer!

Chapter 32 The Black Ice Platform in Action

Lang County, Dou Mansion.

After spending most of the day making a fuss, we returned to the mansion once again.

Dou Changsheng was quite satisfied with his trip. Although he did not improve his own strength, he did gain a trump card. Although it was an external force, it was the most suitable for the current situation.

While it's impossible to instantly gain seventh-rank combat power by enhancing one's own strength, external forces can achieve this, especially since it's Xiang Ji. A seventh-rank fighter against a sixth-rank fighter would be a piece of cake for him.

If it weren't for the uncertainty about how many Jin Yuwei were coming and the inherent danger, Dou Changsheng would be celebrating his success right now. Although he still had some concerns, Dou Changsheng believed the problem was minor.

With Xiang Ji around, the sky won't fall down.

Even a ten-year-old Xiang Ji is still Xiang Ji.

After returning to his residence, Dou Changsheng first took a bath and then went straight to bed. He had been worrying about the future and hadn't been eating or sleeping well lately. Now that he felt more at ease, he could finally get a good night's sleep.

Dou Changsheng lay down comfortably, but the wind in Lang County had already begun to blow.

Completely unaware that his own mansion had become an office of the Black Ice Guard, Zhao Gao took out a talisman from his sleeve and slowly affixed it to the wall in a side room not too far from where Dou Changsheng was sleeping.

A beam of illusory light appeared out of thin air and immediately began to spread out, eventually reaching behind the wall before abruptly stopping. This was a ninth-grade barrier talisman, capable of preventing the leakage of sound and aura, and also possessing a certain degree of defensive capability.

It takes ten attacks to break through a ninth-rank martial artist's defenses. Even an eighth-rank martial artist can withstand one or two blows. In the Great Chu, not everyone in the Golden Jade Guards can be equipped with such a weapon.

A small team is required to apply for carrying it, but for the Great Qin Black Ice Platform, this kind of ninth-grade talisman is just an everyday consumable. Zhao Gao did not use it to resist the enemy, but to eliminate sound and prevent the following conversation from being transmitted.

Normally, such conversations would be fine if the voices were kept low, but Zhao Gao directly used a ninth-grade talisman. The reason was that the Qin Dynasty was wealthy and powerful. After swallowing up the five kingdoms, the Qin Dynasty was stronger than ever before. As long as the mission could be completed, he did not care about the cost.

Therefore, after the Qin Dynasty launched its attack on Chu, it never had the idea of ​​a quick war to destroy Chu and unify the human race. Instead, it relied on its strong national power to confront Chu and use its strength to directly wear down Chu.

This is not a new way of fighting; it is a long-standing tradition of the Qin Dynasty. Only the weak can win by surprise. After the Qin army pressed in, they began to build strongholds and fight a war of attrition. By relying on this kingly method, they were invincible and won several wars that determined the fate of the nation.

After Zhao Gao sat for a quarter of an hour, the door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man dressed in blue entered, carrying a broom and looking like a servant. Upon seeing the man, Zhao Gao immediately stood up, bowed respectfully, and said, "General!"

The Black Ice Guard system is similar to that of the Golden Jade Guard, with generals of hundreds and thousands, and above them are captains. This is slightly different from the Golden Jade Guard, which had a hundred-household commander, a thousand-household commander, and then a ten-thousand-household commander.

The Black Ice Guard general, holding a broom, said solemnly, "You have done very well recently. The news you have received is of great importance to us. We in the Black Ice Guard have always rewarded those who have made contributions and punished those who have made mistakes."

"From this day forward, you are officially a member of the Black Ice Guard and will establish the Lang County Intelligence Group, where you will serve as its leader. If you achieve further merits, I will personally apply to the higher authorities for a reward of the title of Duke."

"Now that we're deep behind enemy lines, all ceremonies have been cancelled, which is a real inconvenience for you."

Zhao Gao suddenly looked up, his eyes burning with fervor, and quickly said, "I am not wronged."

"To be able to serve the Qin Dynasty is my long-cherished dream."

"I am deeply honored to officially become a member of the Black Ice Guard today. I will definitely continue to work hard and dedicate my life to the Great Qin."

His eyes were filled with longing for the title of Gongshi. Although it was the lowest of the twenty ranks of nobility in the Great Qin Dynasty, it was the starting point for becoming a Chehou. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Only by taking this step could one be considered to have officially integrated into the Great Qin system.

To truly become a Qin person, and no longer an outsider.

General Bai nodded in satisfaction and said, "Our Great Qin embraces the world, without regard to national boundaries, and only values ​​talent. Whether you are from Wei or Zhao, as long as you have real ability and are willing to serve Great Qin, you will be given important positions."

"Our Qin Dynasty's prime ministers have come from various states throughout history. To say nothing of the distant past, let's take our Black Ice Platform as an example. Our current leader is a man from Wei. After entering Qin and serving in the government, Your Majesty entrusted the Black Ice Platform, a vital national treasure, to our leader."

"The Chief has lived up to the King's trust, and the Black Ice Platform has made great contributions to the Qin Dynasty."

"The harmonious relationship between the ruler and his minister is a celebrated tale."

"I have high hopes for you. You come from the royal family of Zhao, although it's a branch, you still have a strong lineage, which puts you far ahead of others."

"You have no shortage of martial arts skills, no shortage of knowledge, the only thing you lack is opportunity."

"Now, of the seven kingdoms under heaven, my Great Qin has conquered five, leaving only the Chu kingdom standing. This is your only chance."

"Without this war of national annihilation, it will be much more difficult to achieve merit in the future. Fighting against demons and monsters and battling against foreign races will be far less easy than it is today."

Bai Jiang patted Zhao Gao on the shoulder and continued to paint a rosy picture: "You must understand, when we are infiltrating the Chu Kingdom, we are all human, just with different lifestyles and accents. As long as we are careful, we will be fine. But among the demons, it is a different race. The difficulty of infiltrating is too great. If you are not careful, you will die. There is no room for error."

"So you need to be bolder, seize every opportunity you have, and never waste it."

Zhao Gao was thrilled and thumped his chest repeatedly, saying, "Your words, sir, will be remembered."

"I will certainly live up to your expectations and make new contributions to our Great Qin."

After Bai Jiang exclaimed "Good!", he got straight to the point: "Lang County is a remote and small county. We wouldn't normally need to send you here, but because of Cui Shuyu, the son of Emperor Yan, the Black Ice Guard has started to pay attention to Lang County."

"Now that the situation has changed, the higher-ups are paying more attention to Lang County. Now you only have one task, which is to get Lang County to raise troops and rebel against Chu."

"I don't care what you do, as long as you can complete the mission and bring opportunities to the front lines of my Great Qin, then being promoted to a hundredth or even a thousandth general is not a problem."

Zhao Gao did not speak immediately, but pondered for a moment before asking, "I have developed a spy. The other party is a member of the powerful Wang family in Lang County. It was through the Wang family that I was able to push the situation forward and get them to sign a blood oath and get on the same carriage."

"They have a great admiration for my Great Qin Dynasty. Recently, they have been constantly asking me if I can obtain a noble title and an official position."

"If I were to take action, I would definitely have to promise them official positions and titles, otherwise these people, who can't stand the benefits, wouldn't take the risk. I haven't agreed to the Wang family's offer because I'm not qualified to do so. Now, General Bai, could you give me a definite answer?"

Without hesitation, Bai Jiang said, "In the Great Qin, no one can be granted a title without military merit. To ask for a title is wishful thinking. If this precedent is set, the country will surely fall apart. I can give you authority in terms of official position. As long as you can make meritorious contributions, becoming the lord of a county is not a problem."

"After successfully destroying Chu, we cannot appoint all outsiders to Chu as officials, as that would cause conflict with the local powerful clans and families. We must make good use of some Chu people. Rather than those who have made no contribution but have a prominent family background, it is better to give them to these meritorious officials who have made great contributions."

"If the rebellion of Lang County against Chu succeeds, it will surely shake the state of Chu."

"If we can withstand the first wave of attacks, we can use this to persuade other powerful local lords to raise an army together. The rear of Chu will be in chaos, with smoke signals everywhere. The soldiers on the front lines will have no will to fight, and our Great Qin will surely win."

"After destroying Chu, we will both be heroes."

After pausing for a moment, Bai Jiang continued, "The merit of destroying Chu is enough to produce several Marquises, and you and I may well be among them."

Zhao Gao smiled bitterly to himself. Did this superior not know that too much of a good thing can be bad?

You might think about a ninth-rank title like the Fifth Rank, but Zhao Gao never even considered the highest of the twenty ranks, the Marquis.

I was already exhausted from holding back that much hot blood, and now I have to get that same boiling blood again. Don't you know that's too difficult?

Zhao Gao became enthusiastic again, acting like he was about to devour a pancake. Not daring to continue for too long, he quickly changed the subject, not wanting his superior to see through his act.

"The key to getting Lang County to rebel against Chu lies with Dou Changsheng."

Bai Jiang's attention was indeed diverted, and he said in a deep voice, "I've only been in Lang County for a little over a day, but I've already heard of this person."

"It is said that he has connections everywhere and can get anything done, especially colluding with demons and doing business specifically with demons."

Zhao Gao nodded and said, "Dou Changsheng is the biggest traitor in Lang County. It's not just a matter of colluding with demons; he's in cahoots with them."

"I have conducted a thorough investigation and have solid evidence. Dou Changsheng, a newcomer to the industry, fed a constable with whom he had a strained relationship to the ferocious tiger. The second time was even more cruel; he fed a young girl to the ferocious tiger as well."

"There was no reason at all; it was purely out of cruelty and perversion. From then on, it was unstoppable. After gaining the support of the ferocious tiger, it immediately established a foothold in Lang County."

"Emperor Yan's son, Cui Shuyu, was manipulated by our Black Ice Guard. They wanted to use the reputation of the Cui family of Qinghe to undermine the morale of the Chu Kingdom. Some members of the Golden Jade Guard were unwilling to do so, so the struggle began."

"Cui Shuyu wanted to kill him to silence him, which gave Dou Changsheng the opportunity. The two sides hit it off immediately and began to collude. Dou Changsheng did not hesitate to take risks to contact Fang Ziyu, a centurion from the Jinyuwei."

"Dou Changsheng is a dangerous person. Although he is not strong, he is very eloquent and can play innocent, pretending to be a victim and an innocent white lotus."

"What's truly remarkable is that Dou Changsheng himself believed it, that he was a good person. He was able to deceive himself to such an extent that it's rare to see such a thing in history."

Bai Jiang, who had been listening calmly, couldn't help but speak up at this moment: "Throughout history, countless martial arts masters have fallen at the test of their own conscience. They can deceive outsiders by pretending to be good people, but they cannot deceive themselves."

"I never expected that such a talent would exist in such a lowly place as Lang County. It's a pity that he was willing to be a lackey of demons and a traitor. He must be dealt with. Otherwise, if he had joined my Black Ice Platform and served the Great Qin, he might have become a pillar of the Great Qin in the future."

Zhao Gao continued, "Fang Ziyu was deceived by Dou Changsheng's innocent facade, thus falling into Dou Changsheng's evil trap and going to meet the ferocious tiger together."

"The final result is self-evident: Fang Ziyu died."

"In this battle, Dou Changsheng proved his worth and was immediately introduced to others by Cui Shuyu. Dou Changsheng became a gangster boss in Lang County."

"In just a few days, he climbed to this position. Dou Changsheng is really amazing. A normal person would know when to stop and start to consolidate his position and strengthen his foundation after reaching this point. But Dou Changsheng is still not satisfied. While promoting his ability to kill demons while warming wine to expand his reputation, he is also secretly keeping an eye on Lang County."

"Dou Changsheng knew that Jin Yuwei would not give up and would continue to send people. After waiting for two days, Dou Changsheng finally got his chance and discovered the three people from Jin Yuwei."

"This centurion and his two deputy centurions died such an unjust death."

Even though Zhao Gao was their enemy, they couldn't help but feel indignant on their behalf, shaking their heads and sighing. Their expressions were not pretentious, but heartfelt.

He continued, "Dou Changsheng knew one thing well: even though he helped Cui Shuyu solve her problems, he still had a ceiling. The old steward was an indestructible barrier, firmly blocking Dou Changsheng's path to power."

"Cui Shuyu wouldn't trust him; he would only trust the elders brought from his own family. That's why the old butler died, tragically killed by the claws of a ferocious tiger."

"By taking advantage of the Jin Yuwei's threat, they turned around and coerced Cui Shuyu. Cui Shuyu was a coward and a wimp, and Dou Changsheng succeeded directly. This time, the gamble completed the reversal of status."

"I thought that was all, but I didn't expect Dou Changsheng to have such a shady trick up his sleeve. He used the old steward's death as a pretext to frame the three Jin Yuwei as murderers, and even summoned a sixth-grade forbidden talisman. He also mobilized troops and set up a battle formation to launch a sneak attack."

"The three Jin Yuwei were powerless to resist and died in a muddle. Moreover, even after their deaths, they were not spared. They were used by Dou Changsheng to drag County Magistrate Lin and Constable Wang into his schemes, and eventually, the entire county was dragged into it."

"I simply went with the flow and facilitated the appearance of the blood oath, thus uniting all the powerful figures in Lang County into one force."

"From an ordinary person to the ruler of Lang County, Dou Changsheng completed this magnificent rise in less than half a month."

"This person is terrifying. I suggest that after Lang County rebels against Chu, we should take action against him immediately, otherwise he will become a major threat to our Great Qin sooner or later."

"To be honest, I was always on edge whenever I saw Dou Changsheng."

"He's too smart."

"That's terrifying!"