I am the villain in the book

About two quarters of an hour later, the two groups parted ways on this mountain peak, continuing their journey in the north and south directions respectively.

Yang Liu Shi's greatest advantage was her efficiency. Since she understood that splitting up was the best approach, she left decisively, even without objecting to Wei Changtian assigning Lu Huang to accompany her.

Although Lu Huang following Wei Changtian would undoubtedly be a great help to the latter.

However, with Wei Changtian's strength, unless he had to fight his way into the enemy camp after arriving in Ji Country, Lu Huang's presence wouldn't make much difference.

But she was different.

With fifth-rank strength, traveling in this Tianshan Mountains wasn't very safe.

In case something happened and she unfortunately died, the blow to Wei Changtian would be immense.

Yang Liu Shi wasn't afraid of death herself, but she didn't want Wei Changtian to be heartbroken by her death.

Therefore, she didn't say much and quickly turned around with Lu Huang, heading straight for the mountain temple.

Two days later.

"Young Master, this is the place!"

The snow-capped mountains stretched endlessly, frozen for thousands of miles.

Three figures darted out from among the rocks, standing beside a small lake.

"Last time, this humble one escorted the envoy from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to Ji Country, and we also passed by this lake, which means we haven't gone the wrong way."

After carefully observing the shape of the small lake, Huang Sheng said with some excitement, "If this humble one remembers correctly, after going north from this lake for most of the day, we should be able to leave the Tianshan Mountains."

"At that time, as long as we stand on the mountain peak, we can see the Nanshan Prefecture City of Ji Country."

"..."

Facing the small lake, Huang Sheng earnestly introduced the situation.

Wei Changtian listened while walking to the lake, cupping the water and washing his face.

After three days in the mountains, he was finally approaching the border of Ji Country.

Thanks to the good weather, the speed was faster than expected.

If there were no unexpected circumstances, the armies of Jue and Ji countries should still be two or three days away from entering the mountains, giving them plenty of time.

"Zhang San, is there any news from Liangzhou City?"

Wei Changtian shook the water droplets from his hands and turned back to ask, "Have Liu Shi and Lu Huang returned yet?"

"Young Master, not yet."

Zhang San shook his head, "However, it has only been two days. It's normal for Madam and General Lu not to have returned to the city yet."

"Mm."

Nodding, a trace of worry flashed across Wei Changtian's face.

Before entering the mountains, they hadn't anticipated that they would have to split up, so they didn't bring many Mother-Child Jade pendants.

Because of this, Wei Changtian couldn't directly contact Yang Liu Shi at the moment, and could only ask Liang Zhen to inquire whether the latter had returned to Liangzhou City.

Two days, and she hasn't returned yet.

Zhang San was right, the time was indeed still within a reasonable range.

Besides, with Lu Huang escorting her, even if they encountered a strong enemy, they should be able to escape even if they couldn't defeat them.

No big deal.

Slowly standing up, Wei Changtian shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

The top priority now was to continue on the road and try to keep an eye on the vanguard of the Jue and Ji armies as soon as possible, otherwise he wouldn't feel at ease.

In addition to this, there was another thing that made him somewhat uneasy.

"Has Li Zimu found anything on her end?"

"Reporting to Young Master, not yet."

Zhang San replied truthfully, "In the past three days, General Liang and General Han have met many people with Miss Li, but they haven't found out anything."

Three days had passed, and Li Zimu still hadn't found out who had leaked the military intelligence.

So, were these people hiding too deeply? Or were the Jue and Ji countries using other methods to identify spies in the army?

Wei Changtian felt like there was a fish bone stuck in his throat, making it difficult for him to feel at ease, because he couldn't understand how more than a hundred undercover agents from different organizations were discovered at the same time.

And since there was no progress on Li Zimu's side, perhaps he could only wait until he arrived in Ji Country...

Wait!

Suddenly, Wei Changtian's eyes narrowed, as if he had remembered something.

Liangzhou City, the state government office.

Outside a quiet room, Liang Zhen had been pacing back and forth in the corridor for hundreds of times.

Just as he passed by the door of the room for the one hundred and fifth time, the tightly closed door finally slowly opened, and a woman in a green jacket walked out.

Although the woman's expression was calm and steady, her not-yet-fully-developed figure proved that she was not very old.

However, facing such a young woman, Liang Zhen didn't show any negligence.

"Miss Li, how is it?"

"It wasn't him."

Li Zimu shook her head gently and turned back to close the door.

She glanced at the somewhat disappointed Liang Zhen, hesitated for a moment, and then continued, "General Liang, this little girl has something to say, but I don't know if I should."

Liang Zhen nodded, "Please speak, Miss."

"Yes."

Li Zimu looked at Liang Zhen, her tone quite serious, "General, I don't think it's necessary to investigate any further."

"Hmm?"

Liang Zhen was stunned, "Why do you say that, Miss?"

"Because you won't find anything even if you continue to investigate."

Li Zimu sighed, "Alas, instead, it will make the generals in the army feel uneasy, which is actually more harmful than beneficial."

"What you say makes sense, Miss."

Liang Zhen also had a bitter expression at this time, "But if we can't find out who leaked the secret, I'm afraid the harm will be even greater."

"Although that's true..."

Li Zimu paused, then looked directly into Liang Zhen's eyes and said softly a sentence that suddenly stunned the latter.

"But is the General so sure that there really is someone who leaked the secret?"

Ji Country, Nanshan Prefecture, a camp of 800,000 troops.

In a certain large tent, an old and a young man were sitting and discussing matters.

The old man was wearing casual clothes, with a corner of a gold fish bag showing at his waist, proving that he was a high-ranking official of the third rank or above.

It's just unknown whether he was an official of Da Jue or Ji Country.

The young man was dressed in black, with no other decorations on his clothes.

This kind of pure black clothing was very similar to night clothes. Even if an ordinary person wore it, they would easily be mistaken for a thief.

What's more, this man already had a rather sinister appearance.

"..."

"Lord Luan, you don't need to be nervous."

The tent curtain swayed slightly, and the black-clothed man said with a smile, "As long as I don't use my mind-reading powers, I won't know what you're thinking."

"Cough, Young Master Tang is joking."

The old man was obviously of higher status, but he looked a little unnatural at this time.

He forced a smile and took out a token from his sleeve, pushing it in front of the man.

"Young Master has made great contributions in the past few days. After hearing about this, His Majesty was overjoyed and specially ordered this old minister to come and give this token to Young Master."

"Young Master Tang, with this token, you can move freely in the army, and you can also mobilize thousands of soldiers or less at any time for your use."

"Although this power is not very great, it is unprecedented. I hope Young Master can make good use of it."

As if somewhat afraid, the old man stopped talking after saying these words, only looking at the man opposite him.

The latter held the token in both hands, stepped back after getting up, and knelt down on both knees with a serious expression.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great kindness!"

"Tang Chen will never fail His Majesty's trust!"

"..."

The golden sun was overhead, and dust was flying.

Soon, the tent curtain was lifted, and the gold-fish-bagged old man walked out quickly, taking the servants outside the tent and walking away after a few breaths.

The man named Tang Chen was still standing in the tent, looking at the token with black characters on a gold background and smiling.

For more than two years, he could finally show his great ambitions.

And this token was the beginning of his soaring into the sky.

Putting away the token, he turned to look at a corner of the tent.

A black shadow was lying there, its body like a pig, but with an elephant's trunk, surrounded by black mist.

More importantly, this thing had been lying in the corner, but the old man had never looked at it.

《Classic of Mountains and Seas · Classic of the Western Mountains》: The Fierce Leopard is the Tapir Leopard, the sounds of Tapir Leopard and Fierce Leopard are close and change. They wait for people to walk alone, and they eat people's brains.

[5: Ghost Valley Sect, Outer Disciple, Tang Chen]