CHAPTER 707: CHAPTER 436: WHERE DID MY GRANDSON GO?

Lu Ban Mountain.

Lu Mansion.

Lu Qingshan’s obese body lay in a massive wheelchair, and as his chest heaved violently, the red nutrition tank behind him made a gurgling noise.

Puh puh puh...

Lu Dongsheng sat in the Taishi Chair next to him, his head down as he sipped the steaming Dragon Well tea in his hand, seemingly uninterested in the upcoming conversation.

Not uninterested, but he was till in the dark, and the surprise in his heart had yet to subside...

Was this a game of spy house?

Lu Zhiyong stood in front of Lu Qingshan, eyes downcast and a smile on his face, he asked, "Grandpa, did you want to see me?"

Suddenly being called over by both Great-grandpa and Second-grandpa, and only him...

It made him feel uneasy, as if it were not going to be good news.

"Zhiyong..." Each word seemed to take a great effort for Lu Qingshan to say, and his speech was extremely slow, "Tell me the truth, who exactly is Tang Fei?"

"Who is Tang Fei?" Lu Zhiyong pondered briefly then said with a smile, "Isn’t he the kid that Big Brother brought back? Big Brother said, a foundling picked up from the Old Land..."

"He said that was his son, my own grandson," Lu Qingshan interrupted Lu Zhiyong, saying it straight.

"Is that so?" Lu Zhiyong’s expression turned strange, he didn’t dare to hesitate too long, and quickly continued the conversation, "Maybe so, Big Brother is tight-lipped, he never mentioned this to me, so I really have no idea."

"You two are so close, he didn’t tell you the real identity of Tang Fei?"

"No," Lu Zhiyong shook his head and said, "Every time they met, they hid in a secret room to chat, I never knew what they talked about."

"But now, outside, everyone is saying that Tang Fei is Tang Li’s son... The son has come back for revenge on his father."

"Is that so? Rumors can’t always be trusted..."

Lu Zhiyong said, somewhat guiltily.

Although Lu Ban Mountain was encircled by a hundred thousand-strong army, the communication devices within Lu Ban Mountain could still be used normally.

You must be joking, the Lu Family is the ancestor of mechanical and electronic communication devices.

They could block others’ communication devices, but no one could even think about blocking theirs.

Even if national power could achieve a Starlink blockage, they have their own means of communication...

Therefore, they have been able to receive information from the outside world as usual during this time.

Court turmoil, Zhong Tianyi pressing for power, Zhong Daolong imprisoned, the Shen Family holding their forces at bay...

To ordinary people, these were deep secrets, but to one of the nine major families, the Lu Family, these were not secrets at all.

They had their own private information network, and even with Phoenix Palace tightly shut, it made no difference whatsoever.

Thus, the news that Tang Fei was the son of Tang Li spread to many ears.

Lu Qingshan was no exception.

"If Tang Fei is Tang Li’s son..." Lu Qingshan’s breathing became even more labored, his eyes wide open, staring fixedly at the ceiling, "then where did my grandson go?"

"..."

"Where did my grandson go?" Lu Qingshan’s eyes were bloodshot as he cried out in a heart-wrenching scream.

Lu Zhiyong dared not answer.

Nor could he answer.

------

With Lu Ban Mountain at the center, within several miles, the Undying Army, the Flame-Bathed Legion, and three ace brigades of the Phoenix Army, nearly a hundred thousand troops in total, were stationed.

The officer in charge of this ’encirclement’ mission was Liu Zhishen, the Undying Army Deputy Commander, a direct descendant of the Shen Family, personally promoted by Shen Wuxiang.

For such an important mission, Shen Wuxiang naturally entrusted it to his own people.

Liu Zhishen was an academy officer, having entered the Imperial Maritime College for university study, after four years of advanced study he joined a frontline unit for hands-on experience, and due to his exceptional performance and fearless style, he caught the eye of Shen Wuxiang and progressively rose to his current illustrious position.

When Liu Zhishen first received the Military Minister’s order, he was full of confidence and ready to make a big move.

This was the descendant of the Mechanical Ancestor, the millennium-old noble Lu Family.

If they were to fall or be persuaded to surrender by his hand, he too would be immortalized in history.

If he handled things beautifully and the Military Minister was pleased, the ’Deputy’ prefix in front of Deputy Commander could be dropped.

The Undying Army was known as the Shen Family’s "personal army," and who rose and fell was ultimately a matter dictated by a single word from the Military Minister.

Unfortunately, after such a long wait, the order received was still "surround but do not attack," which somewhat cooled the burning impatience in his heart.

After the officers’ meeting was concluded, Liu Zhishen followed his usual practice and took a walk around the Undying Army’s camp.

His aide-de-camp, Wang Zhong, advised, "Commander, why don’t you go back and rest? I’ll take over the patrol for you. It’s just the same old guarding routine anyway; there’s nothing much going on."

"How can that be?" Liu Zhishen immediately rejected the offer, saying, "Patrolling three times a day is one of the three great principles I learned while serving with the Military Minister."

"No matter the situation, military leaders must always remain close to their brothers below. Otherwise, if soldiers don’t know their general, and the general doesn’t know his soldiers, when the real battle begins, who would be willing to lay down their life for you?"

"Today I might let you stand in for me on patrol, but what about tomorrow? If we start this precedent, it might become difficult to stop. By that time, my role as the Deputy Commander might well be over."

"Yes, I’ve learned a great deal," Wang Zhong responded with a salute, puffing his chest out and saying, "I will keep the Commander’s teachings close to my heart, and take you as a model and example, striving to improve myself."

Liu Zhishen patted Wang Zhong on the shoulder and said, "Good to hear. You can’t always be my aide; after this affair is over, I plan to send you out to be a general. That’s when you’ll need to have your own unique way of leading troops."

"I don’t understand all that," Liu Zhishen said with a simple smile, rubbing his head, "I’ll just copy the Commander’s methods, like drawing a gourd from the model. If I can even learn a fraction, I’ll be more than satisfied."

Hearing that the Commander wanted to send him out to be a general, his heart was naturally thrilled.

A soldier who doesn’t want to become a general isn’t a good soldier; an aide-de-camp... no matter how prestigious, is just the Commander’s lackey.

He still wanted to be the emperor of his own little team, relishing the shouts of "Commander" from the soldiers around him.

How delightful, how delightful...

Of course, he couldn’t be too obvious about it.

If his eagerness to leave was noticed by the leadership, that wouldn’t be so wonderful.

Sure enough, Liu Zhishen was quite pleased with Wang Zhong’s reply, offering reassurance, "No matter, nobody becomes a general on their first day. You learn as you go, and come to me anytime you have questions."

"Naturally, who says I don’t have a good leader?" Wang Zhong said with a sycophantic smile.

After the patrol ended and seeing there was still time, Liu Zhishen said to Wang Zhong, "Get some small dishes, let’s have a couple of drinks."

"Right away!" Wang Zhong agreed, then went out to arrange everything.

Soon, the table was laden with beef and mutton, along with a plate of fried peanuts—a drinking divine artifact.

With a bottle of Xi Feng aged wine opened, the two began to drink.

"Commander, we’ve been surrounding them for some time now, when do we attack?" Wang Zhong asked as he poured wine for Liu Zhishen.

"Who knows?" Liu Zhishen responded, "We follow the Military Minister’s orders. He holds grand strategy in his heart, following his lead is never wrong."

"That’s true, the Military Minister is our god of war. Victorious in a hundred battles, when has he ever made a mistake?" Wang Zhong agreed.

The leader’s word was law.

"Still, just surrounding them isn’t a solution," Liu Zhishen said with a furrowed brow, "Over time, it wears down the morale of our soldiers."

"Our Undying Army is manageable, with me keeping watch they dare not grumble. But it’s not so simple with the Phoenix Dance Army and Flame-Bathed Legion..."

"Especially the Phoenix Dance Army. Born of nobility, filled with offspring of the Royal Family and the nine major families... They won’t be polite with us, spouting more offensive talk than the next."

"At the high-level military meeting today, they questioned me to my face, full of sarcasm, it was utterly infuriating."

"How dare they confront the Commander, next time they come to our camp for a meeting, the brothers will make them suffer a bit."

"Don’t you act rashly," Liu Zhishen glared, cautioning them, "When three armies come together for battle, there’s bound to be internal conflict; it’s hard enough getting them to work together."

"Don’t mess up and cause real trouble; I can’t save you if you do."

"Yes, we’ll follow the Commander’s orders. It’s just too infuriating... thinking of them daring to talk back to the Commander makes me want to spike their coffee with something strong."

"Forget it, the bigger picture is more important," Liu Zhishen waved it off. Compared to the success he was about to achieve, all other matters were trivial.

"Yes, yes, the Commander’s vision is broad, just like the Military Minister. Truly deserving of being the Military Minister’s most trusted student."

"Hahaha, come on, let’s drink, drink."

Just then, an ear-piercing alarm suddenly rang out above Lu Ban Mountain.

The two men exchanged a look, and Wang Zhong’s face showed surprise: "An enemy attack?"

------

Dressed in black. Donning Black Armor.

Qin Jianyi stood atop a Cobra fighter aircraft, the fierce gale unable to sway him in the slightest.

Gazing at the dense array of the Undying Army’s camp ahead, he swung his long sword and loudly commanded, "Attack."