The emperor faked his death? Never mind, I will ascend the throne directly!

Outside the small hole was a piece of rag of the same color as the cave, which blocked the hole tightly. If you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't be able to find the hole.

It was only night time now, and the light from inside still shone through the cracks.

The secret guard did not rush in.

After feeling his way around the cave and finding no other entrance, he returned to Xiong Haikuo first.

"There are people patrolling the cave. Besides that, there is another secret entrance inside the cave. I didn't want to alert the enemy, so I didn't go in to check it out."

Hearing this, Xiong Haikuo snorted coldly.

"Search this forest thoroughly for me! Don't miss any holes or these rats will have a chance to escape!"

"Yes!"

Soon, the patrolling soldiers came back to report.

"General, we have checked carefully and there are no other holes."

After receiving this answer, Xiong Haikuo allowed them to return to the team.

"Follow me into the cave to capture them! This time we must catch them all in one fell swoop!"

……

Everyone sneaked into the cave, and the patrolman came around the corner and was knocked unconscious before he could even make a sound.

Led by the shadow guard, they found the hidden entrance to the cave.

After entering quietly, I found that there was a different world inside.

This cave is even larger than the space outside. Shirtless men are standing in front of the furnace, holding red-hot iron blocks and hammering them continuously.

The ground was littered with scattered weapons and casting tools.

The people responsible for carrying the weapons ran back and forth without touching the ground.

There was a supervisor with a whip standing guard nearby, and anyone who moved a little slower would be whipped.

Xiong Haikuo and the hidden guards were unable to react for a moment. Who could have imagined that this cave would be a place for casting weapons!

"Capture them all, leaving a few alive is enough!"

He whispered an order and then rushed out from the darkness with his men.

They arrived suddenly, and the followers of the Changsheng Sect were subdued before they could even react!

Looking at the laborers who were still standing there and had not yet reacted to the situation, a soldier spoke loudly.

"We are the guards of the Fifth Battalion. We received a tip-off and are here to suppress the bandits. If you don't want to die, surrender and squat by the wall with your head in your hands."

Upon hearing this, the people who were captured and forced to do hard labor all ran to the wall, holding their heads and huddled together.

The only ones still resisting were those from the Changsheng Sect, but they were powerless. Except for a few who were left alive for questioning, all the other believers were killed!

"Take some people to search the cave carefully again, and make sure there is no escape." Xiong Haikuo ordered, kicking away the body of the cultist lying on the ground.

The cave was filled with a strong smell of blood, and the people in the corner turned pale and trembled.

A moment later, the soldier in charge of the search came back.

"General, we've searched the cave. Everyone in the cave is here."

Upon hearing this, Xiong Haikuo ordered his soldiers to take all the civilians out of the cave.

He left a small group of people to guard the cave, and went back to report with the captured weapons and prisoners.

……

While Xiong Haikuo was searching the cave, the secret guard had already returned to report to Li Chengfeng.

When he learned that Xiong Haikuo and the others had returned, he stood up and planned to go directly to interrogate them.

The guards brought a throne and placed it in the middle of the backyard, with Chen Tingshu and County Magistrate Gao standing below.

Li Chengfeng sat on the armchair, holding an arrow in his hand, which was the weapon he brought back from the cave.

When the laborers who were brought in saw Li Chengfeng sitting in the main seat, they immediately kowtowed and shouted.

"Sir, please spare me, sir, please spare me!"

Xiong Haikuo kicked them and said, "Open your dog eyes and see clearly. This is the emperor of our Daqian."

The people were all shocked, "Your Majesty?!"

Then he kowtowed even more vigorously, "Your Majesty, please spare my life! Your Majesty, please spare my life!"

"Oh? Tell me how you can spare my life?" Li Chengfeng looked at them expressionlessly.

"You are secretly developing iron mines and forging weapons. You deserve to be executed! I will chop off as many heads as you have."

The man who led the kowtow turned pale. "Your Majesty, we didn't know it was illegal! We were forced! They said they would take us to the Changsheng Sect and that we could have enough food, so we went!"

"Only after we got there did we realize they were making us work non-stop. If we didn't do our job well, we would be beaten, and they often didn't give us food."

They complained to each other and begged the young emperor to have mercy on them.

Li Chengfeng raised a disdainful smile and said, "If you want me to spare you, it's not impossible."

"You can escape the death penalty, but you can't escape the punishment of life, Magistrate Gao."

The latter stepped forward and said, "I am here."

Li Chengfeng waved his hand. "I ordered them to build the dam and do the hardest and most tiring work. Send someone to keep an eye on them. If they dare to slack off, they will be punished with a stick."

"Yes."

Magistrate Gao accepted the order and turned to the people, saying, "Why don't you quickly thank His Majesty for not killing me?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty." The people kowtowed one after another, and then were taken away.

After a while, the remaining leaders of the Changsheng Sect were also brought over.

"Why don't you pay your respects to the Emperor Daqian?"

The soldiers pressed their heads and made them salute Li Chengfeng.

Those leaders just stood there with their necks stiff and refused to bow.

"What a bullshit emperor! He's just a young boy with hair still growing out. Only you guys take him seriously!"

"puff."

The soldier raised his sword and killed the man.

The hot blood splattered onto the leader next to him, and the leader's eyes almost popped out of his head in shock.

They had been brainwashed by the Changsheng Sect for a long time and never took the emperor seriously.

Unexpectedly, the emperor killed their people without even saying hello!

Seeing that they had obeyed, the soldier shouted, "This is the emperor of our Daqian. Bow down!"

Those leaders no longer dared to speak nonsense and saluted the emperor tremblingly.

Li Chengfeng nodded in satisfaction: "Can we talk properly now?"

In troubled times, severe punishments are used. He knows that they will not be afraid unless blood is shed.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... Please."

One of the leaders spoke quickly.

"The arrow you cast is... a bit rough." Li Chengfeng held the arrow and smiled playfully.

The latter broke out in sweat on his forehead. "This...this...this is how the drawing is drawn."

Li Chengfeng raised his eyebrows, "Oh? There are also blueprints?"

"Yes Yes..."

After putting the things down, he continued to ask, "How long have you been in this cave?"

"Your Majesty, I have been here for three years."

three years?

His eyes suddenly became sharp, "Where did all these weapons go?"

But the person in front of him was clueless. "This...this...I don't know either."

"After the weapons were cast, special people came to transport them away. They didn't let us ask any more questions, and only told us to cast more weapons. We will benefit a lot in the future..."