175: Chapter 175 Li Feng's Transfer, The Silent End (3)

Lu Changyuan looked at the signature.

The ink of the signature had already dried completely—the black color settled on the paper surface without any trace of bleeding.

"When does he leave?"

"Today."

Commander Tie Zhan closed the transfer order and handed it to Adjutant Tie, who was waiting outside the tent.

Adjutant Tie took the order and turned to walk outside.

The direction he was walking was the fortress Pier.

That evening, there was no one at the fortress Pier to see him off.

Right Commander Li Feng stood on the boarding platform at the end of the Pier's trestle bridge.

He was wearing the full set of dark gold battle armor of a Right Commander—the armor plates reflected a cold light under the setting sun.

Every piece of armor from shoulder to knee had been polished—there were no salt stains or scratches on the armor's surface.

His right hand gripped a standard heavy sword for a Golden Core Stage Cultivator—the wrapping on the sword hilt was newly replaced; the old wrapping had been crushed and cracked by him at the oath-taking ceremony three months ago.

There was no one on the Pier to see him off.

The black-armored guards standing on both sides of the trestle were not there to see him off—they were there to escort the ship.

Right Commander Li Feng did not look at them.

He stood on the boarding platform—his gaze swept from the trestle toward the fortress.

He did not sweep his gaze quickly—from left to right, he scanned the entire trestle of the Pier.

There was nothing on the Pier except for the sea breeze.

His three trusted aides had been executed—Vice Commander Han Yi had been taken away—and none of the outer perimeter death squads had returned.

He had stayed in the fortress for eleven years—when he left, not a single person came to see him off.

He withdrew his gaze—turned around—and stepped onto the transport ship heading toward the Deep Water Zone.

The transport ship had been allocated by the Command Headquarters—the wooden planks on the side of the hull had three old marks where they had been rammed by sea beasts, and the canvas sails had two patches of different colors.

There were only four guards on the ship—four old soldiers at the Qi Refining stage, the edges of their battle armor already worn white.

Right Commander Li Feng stood at the stern of the ship.

When the ship sailed out of the Pier—he looked back once at the fortress.

The Array Pattern on the outer walls of the fortress shimmered with a faint metallic luster under the setting sun—exactly the same as what he had seen when he first stood here eleven years ago.

He turned his head back—looking at the darkening sea surface directly in front of him.

Lu Changyuan stood at the entrance of the Central Army's main tent—watching that ship sail out.

The ship's sails moved out through the gaps between the trestles—after moving out of the Pier, the sails were billowed by the sea breeze, and the patches on the canvas appeared even lighter in color under the evening light.

The ship headed east—toward the Deep Water Zone.

The setting sun was directly in front of the ship—stretching the ship's shadow into an extremely long black line spread across the surface of the sea.

Commander Tie Zhan stood beside him.

He was not looking at the ship—he was looking at the row of old, paint-peeled flagpoles at the end of the Pier's trestle.

The signal flags hanging on the flagpoles were pulled eastward by the sea breeze—all the flag surfaces pointed toward the Deep Water Zone.

"The last page of the transfer order—the material quota column is empty."

Commander Tie Zhan moved his gaze away from the flagpoles—shifting it to the ship's shadow, which was becoming smaller and smaller on the sea surface.

"No reinforcements. No extra supplies. No reserve troops. He is going alone—"

Commander Tie Zhan stopped mid-sentence.

He did not finish the second half of the sentence.

He pulled a vermilion brush from his sleeve—this was the same brush he had used to sign the draft of the military order just a moment ago.

He used the vermilion brush to write a character on his palm.

After finishing, he placed the vermilion brush back on the brush rack—then turned and walked into the tent.

The horn outside the tent sounded.

It was the warning horn on the fortress walls—the sound spread from the highest point of the walls in all directions.

The direction of the spread was toward the Deep Water Zone.

The horn sounded five times—each of the five sounds separated by two breaths.

Five horn blasts were the fortress's early warning signal—meaning something was approaching the defense line from the direction of the Deep Water Zone.

Lu Changyuan stood at the tent entrance—he looked back once at the ship's shadow, which was becoming smaller and smaller on the sea surface.

The ship's shadow was already so small that only a black dot remained—the black dot was moving toward the boundary line between the deep blue sea surface and the dark gray sea mist.

Beyond that boundary line—deep beneath the sea surface—a shadow, massive enough to change the direction of the water currents, was slowly floating upward.

It was the same shadow he had seen on the Generals Review Platform on the day of the oath-taking ceremony.

He closed the tent door.

Early in the morning of the third day.

The Spirit Stone lamp inside the Central Army's main tent was still lit—Commander Tie Zhan had not extinguished the light for two consecutive nights.

He sat on the tiger-skin armchair—an old military robe was draped over the back of the chair, the position where the sleeve cuff was worn out was the same as it had been three days ago.

Spread on the low table was the defense map of the Deep Water Zone defense line—the map marked seventeen patrol lines and the shift-change times for three sentry posts.

Every half-hour, a sentry post confirmation signal was transmitted back from the Deep Water Zone direction—over the three days, the signal had not been interrupted.

When Adjutant Tie lifted the tent curtain to enter, the movements of his hands were nearly twice as fast as usual.

The tent curtain was pushed from the outside in by him—the force of the push was so great that the curtain fabric whipped against the back of his hand.

He was clutching a battle report Jade Slip in his hand—the front of the Jade Slip was engraved with the military seal of the Deep Water Zone defense line, and around the military seal was a circle of dark red urgent report patterns.

When the Jade Slip was gripped tightly, the urgent report patterns were still seeping out a very faint red light.

Commander Tie Zhan took the Jade Slip.

He used his thumb to rub open the military seal's sealing pattern on the slip's surface—when the sealing pattern broke, it emitted a very subtle sound like cracking ice.

He pressed the Jade Slip against his palm to read—reading for about ten breaths.

Then he placed the Jade Slip on the low table—and picked up the teacup next to the Jade Slip.

Inside the teacup was cold, overnight tea—the tea leaves were swollen at the bottom of the cup, and the tea water had already turned dark brown.

He did not drink—he lifted the teacup to his lips and then put it down again.

Then he picked up the Jade Slip again—and read it through once more.

This time, the reading time was nearly twice as long as the first time.

After finishing the second reading, he placed the Jade Slip back on the low table—when he set it down, the Jade Slip bumped the teacup, and the cold tea in the teacup sloshed.

A drop of tea splashed onto the low table—splashing onto the outermost edge of the defense line marked on the Deep Water Zone defense map.

"Right Commander Li Feng is dead."

He only said these four words.

After finishing speaking, he moved his hand away from the Jade Slip—the knuckles on the back of his hand stood out under the light.

He pushed the battle report Jade Slip to the other side of the low table—pushing it to the position of the easternmost end of the Deep Water Zone defense line on the defense map.

The battle report was written very briefly.

On the second night after Right Commander Li Feng arrived at the Deep Water Zone defense line—a vanguard unit of the Haiyuan Clan's main force sneaked up from the direction of the Deep Water Zone.

The attackers were two Golden Core Stage Haiyuan Clan warriors—leading at least over a hundred vassals.

The defenders on the defense line were bypassed by the Haiyuan Clan's main force from both sides—the method of bypassing was exactly the same as described in the Deep Water Zone battle damage report from three months ago: the main force feigned a frontal attack to attract the defenders to form a formation, while the elite forces infiltrated to the rear from the underwater undercurrent channels on both sides of the defense line.

Right Commander Li Feng stood at the array eye of the defense line—he held the front line by himself.

He held out for about half an incense stick of time—there were no reinforcements.

The defenders on the defense line numbered less than three hundred—among the three hundred, the highest cultivation level was the Late Foundation Establishment Stage.

They could not withstand the underwater Spiritual Pressure of the Golden Core Stage warriors—within half an incense stick of time, the formation was torn open with three gaps from both sides.

When Right Commander Li Feng died, he was standing at the array eye—he had not retreated.

The Right Commander's dark gold battle armor on his body had been shattered on one side—the broken armor plates collapsed from the shoulder downward, revealing the inner lining beneath the armor plates.

The inner lining had been slashed open by the Haiyuan Clan's bone blades in more than ten places—every single gash was seeping blood.

His right hand was still gripping that standard heavy sword for a Golden Core Stage Cultivator—the sword edge bore three notches caused by the impact of Golden Core Stage Spiritual Pressure.

The wrapping on the hilt was newly replaced—the same as when he had left the port three days ago.

His eyes were open—the direction he was looking was toward the fortress.