The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

After Shen Tingzhi and his companions changed their clothes, they followed a mountain path and climbed up Wuya Mountain.

The terrain of Wuya Mountain is not high, and climbing up is easy, especially for Shen Tingzhi and his friends.

After successfully entering the valley, Shen Tingzhi and Yu Sheng determined their location and quickly found the exit.

Yu Sheng's lightness skills are better than Shen Tingzhi's. When he walks, people can hardly feel his presence, so the task of dealing with the guards is given to him.

Soon Yu Sheng came back with the clothes she had stripped from the guards. "Master, there were only two guards at the exit. I knocked them out and tied them up."

Shen Tingzhi nodded and took a set of clothes from Yu Sheng and put them on.

His movements were skillful and without any hesitation, which stunned everyone around him. They knew that Shen Tingzhi was a person with severe mysophobia.

When he was leading troops in battle a few years ago, he always kept his clothes clean and tidy. No matter what the circumstances, daily bathing and changing clothes were essential.

Even if conditions do not allow it, we must create the conditions to do it.

Wearing someone else's clothes like you are doing now is simply impossible. Don't even think about it.

But now this old man took it off the guard's body without thinking and put it on himself. This is really shocking.

Shen Tingzhi had no idea what everyone was thinking. After putting on his clothes, he raised his head and looked at everyone with surprised and somewhat strange eyes.

"What's wrong? Is there any problem?" Shen Ting subconsciously touched his face, thinking that there was something dirty on his face.

"No, no, there is no problem." Wang Zongyuan then took another set of clothes from Yu Sheng and put them on himself.

Yu Sheng, whose hands were suddenly empty, looked at Wang Zongyuan hesitantly, wanting to say something. The clothes that Wang Zongyuan took away were left for her by him, so that he could accompany Shen Tingzhi to go out and gather information.

Now that the clothes are on Wang Zongyuan, it would be impossible for him to get them back.

"What are you looking at?" Wang Zongyuan glared at Yu Sheng in dissatisfaction. How could he not know Yu Sheng's little thoughts?

Want to leave him aside and follow Shen Tingzhi out to gather intelligence? Humph! Don't even think about it! It's impossible!

Wang Zongyuan agreed to Shen Tingzhi's plan and followed Shen Tingzhi in with the purpose of keeping a close eye on Shen Tingzhi and ensuring his safety.

In a nutshell, no one in Wuya Mountain can separate him from Shen Tingzhi.

Shen Tingzhi looked up at Wang Zongyuan. His thoughts could not be hidden from Shen Tingzhi.

"Yusheng, go get some more clothes." After giving Yusheng instructions, Shen Tingzhi said, "Uncle Wang and I will go out and explore the route first. Once you're dressed, come over."

"We'll meet up in the chestnut woods ahead later. Everyone, please be careful."

After saying this, Shen Tingzhi took Wang Zongyuan away.

Shen Tingzhi and Wang Zongyuan went out together and found many problems after just a simple investigation.

Although the people here are just Shen Pingzhi's private soldiers, most of them in recent years do not look like well-trained soldiers at all.

His casual and relaxed look made him seem no different from ordinary people.

Except for a few people wearing soldiers' clothes, the rest were wearing ordinary clothes, like farmers.

Moreover, most of these people did not have any weapons or equipment, only some wooden sticks, bows and arrows and the like.

Shen Tingzhi and Wang Zongyuan looked at each other and realized that the problem in Wuya Mountain was as simple as raising private soldiers.

The two men walked up the mountain along a small path, and stopped in a secluded place where no one was.

"There is definitely something wrong with this place." Wang Zongyuan spoke before Shen Tingzhi could speak.

"Well, not only is there a problem with driving, it's a serious problem." Shen Tingzhi frowned. It seemed that he had thought the problem too simply.

Originally, he thought that the people here were all private soldiers raised by Shen Pingzhi. As long as their commander was controlled, all problems would be solved.

But now it seems that things are much more complicated than he imagined.

"I think most of the people here are from the surrounding area, or they were captured from far away. Just now, Wang saw some people from the Western Regions and Uighurs among them."

"I think this place is not just where Shen Pingzhi keeps his private soldiers. It's very likely that there are some more unspeakable secrets hidden here."

As a veteran who had been on many battlefields, Wang Zongyuan became nervous for no reason at this moment. Everything in Wuya Mountain seemed unusual and strange.

Wang Zongyuan is good at fighting, but when it comes to playing tricks and solving puzzles, he has to admit defeat.

Now she placed her only hope on Shen Tingzhi, the man beside him who had more than eight hundred schemes.

Shen Tingzhi looked up at the mountain below and had already made up his mind. No matter whether Wuya Mountain was a den of dragons and tigers or a place of ghosts and demons, he must find out the truth and eradicate these evils.

"Uncle Wang, the most important thing now is to find Liu Hu first and see if we can get something out of him."

Although Liu Hu is now Shen Pingzhi's man, he still has some friendship with Wang Zongyuan.

Shen Tingzhi planned to first appeal to Liu Hu's emotions and reason to see if he would be willing to take the initiative to explain the problem because of their past friendship.

To take a step back, if Liu Hu does not remember their old friendship and refuses to change his ways, then they will use force. In any case, they must take over Wuya Mountain this time.

"Tingzhi, I have a bad feeling. Something might have happened to that kid Liu Hu."

Wang Zongyuan had a bad feeling when he came in and saw the scene in front of him. The person who is now managing Wuya Mountain is probably not Liu Hu anymore.

"Ah?" Shen Tingzhi didn't understand what Wang Zongyuan meant for a moment.

"Although I didn't bring up Liu Hu, I know exactly what kind of person he is."

"The generals who left our Shen Family Army have all received the most rigorous training and the strictest military discipline. This is something that is engraved in our bones and has become a part of our lives. It cannot be changed in this lifetime."

"When Liu Hu was young, he trained with the soldiers. This kind of habit formed from childhood often stays with a person throughout his life."

"Besides, Liu Hu is a very stubborn guy. It's hard for him to change his mind once he's made up his mind."

"If he were still the leader of this group, he would definitely not tolerate the free and undisciplined behavior of those people outside."

The most terrifying one is indeed a game played with familiar players, because they know each other too well, so knowing both themselves and their opponents, they can win every battle.

Shen Tingzhi frowned after hearing what Wang Zongyuan said. This was indeed a problem.

The most important thing now is to quickly find out what exactly happened here.

Why have these private soldiers, who were originally raised by Shen Pingzhi, now become a group of guerrillas?

"Uncle Wang, let's find Liu Hu first."

Now the only person who can solve the mystery for them is Liu Hu.

"Okay, Tingzhi, you go to the chestnut forest and wait to meet up with them. I'll go down the mountain alone to explore the way."

What Wang Zongyuan feared most was that something might happen to Shen Tingzhi, so he would never say that the two of them should act separately.

Shen Tingzhi smiled and nodded, saying, "Uncle Wang, Yu Sheng and the others will be here soon, so we can go together then."

Shen Tingzhi was not worried about Wang Zongyuan's fighting ability, but he was worried about Wang Zongyuan's temper. If he really found any problem, he was afraid that he would explode immediately, which would alert the enemy and cause trouble.

Wang Zongyuan glanced at Shen Tingzhi. He knew that Shen Tingzhi was worried about him. Was he, Wang Zongyuan, such an unreliable person?

If Shen Tingzhi knew what Wang Zongyuan was thinking, he would definitely despise him.

"Don't worry, this old man knows the priorities. I used to be a scout with the Marquis."

"I'll be back soon, don't worry."

After Wang Zongyuan said this, he didn't wait for Shen Tingzhi's response. He took big strides and didn't look back, as if he was afraid that Shen Tingzhi would stop him. He disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Shen Tingzhi looked at the disappearing figure and could only sigh helplessly. He knew that this old man would not obey him.

Now we can only wait for Yu Sheng and the others to arrive before making any plans. I hope Wang Zongyuan can do what he says and not cause any big trouble.

Shen Tingzhi waited in the chestnut grove for a while before Yu Sheng arrived with the rest of the people.

So Shen Tingzhi simply explained the situation and was about to assign tasks.

Suddenly, a slight noise was heard not far ahead. Without waiting for Shen Tingzhi's order, Yu Sheng had already pounced over.

Then I saw a man standing there with his eyes wide open in fear.

Without thinking, Yu Sheng picked up the person like a chicken and brought him directly in front of Shen Tingzhi.

The scene was indescribable, yet harmonious.

The man who had just come up to relieve himself unexpectedly fell into the hands of others and became a prisoner.

When the man recovered and was about to shout for help, Yu Sheng seemed to have predicted what he was going to do next and appropriately stopped the sword less than an inch away from his throat.

The man, who had never seen such a scene, really wanted to faint on the spot, but he didn't dare to actually faint because he was afraid that he would never wake up again.

The man swallowed nervously and stammered, "Don't, don't kill me. I, I, I am a good person."

Shen Tingzhi looked at the nervous man in front of him and said, "Don't worry, we won't kill you. I'm going to ask you a few questions now. If you answer honestly, I'll let you go."

The man blinked his eyes. He saw that Shen Tingzhi looked like a handsome young man, unlike the man who pointed the knife at him, who looked ferocious and seemed to be able to eat people. The fear in his heart could not help but be reduced a lot.

"You ask, but I will answer honestly whatever I know."

Seeing that the man in front of him did not look like an ordinary country bumpkin, but rather looked like someone who had been educated, Shen Tingzhi ordered Yu Sheng to put away the sword.

Without the threat of the sword, the man breathed a sigh of relief and took the initiative to say, "What do you want to ask?"

"I want to know who is in charge of Wuya Mountain now? What is the current situation here?"

Shen Tingzhi didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

The man hesitated for a moment before saying, "Wuya Mountain used to be under the jurisdiction of General Liu Hu. However, General Liu has been seriously ill for the past six months, so a man named Lou has taken over."

"After that Lou arrived, he took a large number of soldiers away. He also brought in some refugees and civilians from somewhere. Oh, and there were also some people from the Western Regions, Uighurs, and Xirong people."

"I heard that after a while, they'll take him somewhere to work as a miner and earn money."

Something had indeed happened to Liu Hu. It seemed that even Shen Pingzhi might not know what happened here.

Although no one knows the origin of this man surnamed Lou, judging from the attitude he showed in the letter he wrote to Fu Sheng Ruoming asking for food and money, he should be acquainted with Shen Pingzhi and Liu Hu, and is very familiar with the situation in Wuya Mountain.

Wuya Mountain is under the jurisdiction of Jiangzhou. Judging from the current situation, Jiangzhou is probably not peaceful anymore.

"Who is the governor of Jiangzhou?" Shen Tingzhi asked with a cold face.

"The current governor of Jiangzhou is Puqi. The previous governor was Yuan Qing. About half a year ago, while investigating a case, Yuan was suddenly attacked and his whereabouts remain unknown."

"The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Punishment are both investigating this matter, but there has been no result so far."

As the captain of Shen Tingzhi's guard team, Yu Sheng is not only responsible for Shen Tingzhi's safety, but also for knowing everything he should and shouldn't know.

Shen Tingzhi immediately understood in his heart, how could it be such a coincidence, Yuan Qing's accident happened half a year ago, Puqi was transferred here half a year ago, and Wuya Mountain was also taken over by a man named Lou half a year ago.

The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the dispatch of officials. If there is something wrong with the Minister of Personnel, then there is no way Yuan Qing can be found.

"Send someone to the Ministry of Punishment to tell them to stop investigating Yuan Qing's whereabouts and instead investigate the Minister of Personnel, Yin Qihui."

Officials have always protected each other in the officialdom. Once a problem occurs, it cannot be the fault of one person, and a large number of people will always be involved.

But this is also a good thing. It is a good opportunity to clean up the court, get rid of these parasites, and promote a group of new talents.

In addition to ensuring the normal operation of the court, fresh blood can also be added to give new life to those that are already old and corrupt.

But the most important thing right now is to find Liu Hu. If Liu Hu was still alive, things would be much easier.