Zhuge Liang's Journey to Dominate the World: Starting from Another World

Kongming smiled lightly, "Your Highness is overthinking it. I still hope to cooperate deeply with Your Highness, so why would I fight you to the death!"

With that, he waved his feather fan lightly, and the Zhangtian Ruler disappeared from the table.

A fierce glint flashed in Temujincheng's eyes before he turned to leave.

"Your Highness, please wait!"

Kongming suddenly called out to Temujin.

"What else do you want?" Temujincheng turned around and stared at Kongming, looking like he wanted to devour him.

"Five days later, after Your Highness returns the Heavenly Ruler to the treasury, you can ask several more guarding cultivators to capture that scapegoat. This is a protective talisman I set up for you! Remember!" Kongming instructed.

"Hmph! This is none of your business."

Temujincheng snorted coldly and strode away. If anyone was the most uneasy right now, it would definitely be Temujincheng.

He took a huge risk to steal the Heavenly Ruler, so he would definitely have cleared up all the doubts. How could he have left any evidence, including against Zhuge Liang?

Seeing that Temujin had left, Kongming also took advantage of the night to escape outside.

Now that the Heavenly Ruler is in hand, it must be replicated as soon as possible, and the materials used are quite ordinary.

Kongming already had a plan in mind.

He knew that although the Heavenly Ruler appeared ordinary, it contained profound secrets that could not be fathomed by the naked eye.

If he hadn't accidentally unlocked the secret of the Jade Void Seal and obtained information about the Heavenly Ruler, he probably wouldn't have been able to see through the extraordinary disguise...

Late on the fourth night, Kongming quietly returned to his residence, placed the replica of the Heavenly Ruler on the table, and left a note underneath it.

He then got up and left the temporary hideout. For safety's sake, this place had to be abandoned. Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows, let alone Zhuge Liang.

As for Zhao Yun, he didn't need to worry. After all, Temujincheng himself wouldn't dare to make public what he had done. Besides, with Tie Yuanzhu's support, there wouldn't be any danger for the time being, unless Kongming's identity was exposed.

As for Zhao Yun, it was a move left by Kongming for the subsequent retreat.

"Elder Qingyang, how is the matter progressing?"

Upon arriving at the second cave, Kongming couldn't wait to ask.

"During this period of time, I have thoroughly investigated all the rivers that you marked as connecting to the sea area, and there are no large numbers of sea vessels at all. Zhuge Kongming, if you don't explain yourself clearly today, I'm not finished with you!"

Elder Qingyang felt like he had been tricked, and for a moment he spoke angrily.

Kongming lightly flicked his feather fan and smiled. He knew that this old fellow was starting to get restless. If he didn't reveal some inside information to him soon, he might become unruly.

cough cough...

He then cleared his throat and revealed that An Lushan's side was also smuggling warhorses into the Yuan Dynasty.

Of course, Kongming didn't mention how he obtained the information, since everyone has their own channels and secrets, and Elder Qingyang couldn't possibly delve into it.

"You...you mean we should give him a 'fairy stealing peaches' performance?" Elder Qingyang's eyes flashed with a sharp light, his anger vanished instantly, replaced by barely suppressed excitement.

“That’s right. This not only saves us a huge amount of gold coins, but most importantly, An Lushan has even arranged how we get out of the pass!” Kongming squinted, looking like someone who would be hated.

"Brother Zhuge, your plan is brilliant! I will definitely report this to the sect and have you credited for it!"

At this moment, Elder Qingyang's eyes became kind again, and then he was troubled again.

"Brother Zhuge, we have searched all the rivers leading to the sea, but we have not found it. How do you explain this?"

Kongming paced back and forth, fanning himself with a feather fan, when he suddenly ordered the disciples of the Jade Cauldron Sect, "Bring me the map!"

A disciple hurriedly took out a map and hung it on the wall.

Kongming stared at the map. "I don't believe An Lushan has any supernatural abilities. How could such a large number of ships possibly disappear?"

“An Lushan is indeed remarkable. To transport hundreds of thousands of warhorses, he would need at least a thousand large ships. That’s a huge undertaking!” Elder Qingyang said to himself.

They had always been thinking about smuggling warhorses out of the country by land, but they had never considered this possibility.

After all, to build a ship specifically for transporting warhorses, it not only had to be large, but its interior also had to be specially designed. Otherwise, if all the warhorses were gathered together and encountered a storm, countless would probably die or be injured before they even arrived.

Suddenly, Kongming raised his head and stared intently at Qingyang.

"Brother Zhuge, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Elder Qingyang looked completely bewildered.

"Elder Qingyang's words are truly a wake-up call. So many ships couldn't have been specially built, much less sailed from the three An states. After all, a thousand large ships arriving in the Yuan Kingdom's waters would inevitably attract attention. An Lushan would never reveal these before he succeeded."

"What's the difference?" Elder Qingyang asked, completely bewildered.

"Hmph! Then there's only one possibility: these ships must have been hired from all over the Yuan Kingdom."

"Brother, the more you talk, the more confused I get. Who cares where the ship comes from? As long as it works, isn't that enough?" Elder Qingyang said, scratching his head.

"Elder Qingyang, if we intend to transport warhorses by sea, would you dare to openly order the shipping company to modify them in the Yuan Kingdom?"

"Well... to be on the safe side, we certainly wouldn't dare let Yuan Kingdom craftsmen modify it. After all, ships transporting warhorses need special railings, and anyone with eyes can see that it's obvious!" Elder Qingyang answered truthfully.

“That’s right! So I suspect that An Lushan must have concealed the true purpose and rented these shipping companies.”

Kongming, fanning himself with his feather fan, slowly analyzed the situation.

"Brother Zhuge, do you mean that An Lushan gathered all the ships together and then specially modified them?" Elder Qingyang said, seemingly enlightened.

“Absolutely! So what we need to find now is this secret place where the ships are being modified.” Kongming nodded and said in a deep voice.

"But the Yuan Kingdom is so vast, where are we supposed to find this secret place?" Elder Qingyang couldn't help but feel troubled.

"To modify the ship, a large amount of timber will be needed. Elder Qingyang can start from this aspect!" Kongming said after thinking for a moment.

"That's right! I have to admit, Brother Zhuge, you can't argue with that!" Elder Qingyang slapped his thigh and said.

With Kongming's guidance, they only needed to keep an eye on some large timber bases.

The ship could come from hundreds of shipping companies, and you wouldn't be able to find out anything about it. But there's no need to hide the timber, since it's hard for others to associate it with ship modification, and the other party will definitely leave some clues.

"From now on, keep a close eye on the hidden islands outside the estuary. If there is a large amount of timber being transported, it must be a place where seagoing vessels are being modified!"

Kongming waved his feather fan, seemingly implying that a single word could decide the fate of the world...