173: Prince Daqian
Outside the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
On the official road from the heartland of the Great Gan to Yunzhou Prefecture City.
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A convoy was moving slowly forward.
The convoy looked unremarkable, and the carriages were ordinary green-canopied carriages without much decoration.
But if one observed carefully, one could discover that the horses pulling the carriages were all sweat-blood horses from the Western Regions; each one was exceptionally magnificent and worth a thousand gold pieces.
The seemingly ordinary green canopies were actually woven from rare water-and-fire-repellent brocade, and there were even faint traces of a Formation circulating around them.
Amidst the low-key appearance, an indescribable luxury and nobility were revealed.
At the head of the convoy was a snow-white horse without any mixed colors, and a teenager of about seventeen or eighteen years old on its back was looking into the distance.
The youth wore a moon-white brocade robe, with a warm mutton-fat jade pendant tied at his waist.
His face was youthful and quite handsome, with an innate nobility faintly visible between his brows, as well as a kind of arrogance fostered by long-term high status.
Recently, Yunzhou Prefecture City had been plagued by severe drought and war, and there was no shortage of refugees selling their children on both sides of the official road.
The youth's gaze swept over, as if he had seen something fresh that he had never seen before; there was no pity in his eyes, but rather a kind of novelty and excitement.
He was closely followed by more than a dozen guards, including both men and women, all dressed in tight-fitting outfits, with their internal energy restrained.
Ordinary people couldn't tell the depth of their skill, but if a cultivator were to look, they would naturally be able to see the prowess of these people; they were all experts of high rank.
There were even two among them whose eyes flashed with sharp light when they opened and closed, clearly powerhouses who had already entered the Middle Third Rank.
Such a luxurious lineup of guards, just to escort this one youth, showed his status.
The youth sent people to inquire about the prices on both sides of the road.
Those sallow and emaciated children, nearly starved to death, clearly could not catch his eye. After learning the price, only a light chuckle was heard.
The reason was that the price was not even as expensive as the fodder for the horse between his legs.
"Your Highness, the front is Yunzhou Prefecture City."
A guard rode forward and said respectfully in a low voice beside the youth's horse.
"Let's move faster; I'm about to be stunk to death by these beggars."
The youth frowned and waved his hand to urge them on.
An hour later.
Inside Yunzhou Prefecture City, the most luxurious inn had its doors tightly shut today, declining all outside guests.
The entire inn had long been booked by this group of people.
Inside the upper room, sandalwood incense curled.
The youth had changed into more comfortable casual clothes, lying back on the grand master's chair, with a frivolous smile on his lips.
On the desk in front of him lay a thick stack of intelligence documents.
Several guards stood around like javelins, vigilant against any movement around them.
A Gray-robed Old Man walked quickly into the room, holding a newly arrived secret letter, knelt on one knee, and said respectfully: "Your Highness, the latest news has come from the border."
The youth's hand movement paused slightly.
"Tell me quickly."
"Yes."
The Gray-robed Old Man opened the secret letter, scanned it quickly, and then his expression became solemn.
"Not long ago, Northern Barbarians shamans gathered and set up the Ten Thousand Gu Devouring Heart Formation before the battle line."
"Our army's commander, Qin Zhengqing, personally led the troops to charge the Formation. Although he broke the great Formation, he inadvertently fell victim to the Witchcraft Poison planted by the Northern Barbarian Great Shaman."
"Although Old Marshal is a Martial Arts Grandmaster, that Witchcraft Poison is strange and vicious, constantly eroding the commander's heart veins and vitality."
"Now he can no longer personally go into battle to kill the enemy, and the morale in the army is wavering."
Hearing this, the youth frowned slightly, "Old Marshal is the pillar of the country. What are the imperial physicians and those guest masters accompanying the army doing? They can't even solve a mere Witchcraft Poison?"
The Gray-robed Old Man smiled bitterly: "The Witchcraft Poison is a secret transmission of the Northern Barbarians and is extremely difficult to remove. His Highness the Crown Prince accompanying the army is also quite anxious about this matter and has issued several urgent orders to summon famous doctors and Dao experts from all over the world to go to the border."
When mentioning the words "Crown Prince," a sharp light flashed in the youth's eyes.
"That imperial brother of mine has always been known for his benevolence and virtue."
"Now that Old Marshal is poisoned, he might even be quite happy in his heart."
"After all, if he cures Old Marshal, he can use this to buy a batch of hearts."
Listening to the dialogue between the two, the youth was also a Great Gan Prince.
"However..." The Gray-robed Old Man changed the subject, "According to the alchemist accompanying the army, it is not that there is no way to solve this Witchcraft Poison."
"It's just that one of the main ingredients needed for the antidote, called dragon blood grass, is an extremely rare Heaven And Earth Treasure, which only grows in extremely yin places, and requires the blood of a True Dragon or a Jiao Dragon to irrigate it to survive."
"Recently, a master under the Crown Prince's command performed divination and obtained a glimmer of heaven's secret; that dragon blood grass needs to be searched for in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains."
"The Hundred Thousand Great Mountains?"
The youth raised his eyebrows: "That is the territory of the Yao Race, right?"
"Exactly." The Gray-robed Old Man nodded.
"Old Marshal poisoned... dragon blood grass..."
The youth muttered to himself, then stood up, his gaze looking towards the rolling and misty mountain outlines in the distance.
"Since Old Marshal is our Great Gan's commander and is poisoned, as a prince, I naturally cannot stand idly by."
A confident and arrogant smile appeared on the youth's face: "Pass the order down, after resting for a day, we will enter the mountains to find the medicine."
If he could find this dragon blood grass before his imperial brother and save Old Qin...
The youth did not continue, and the smile on his lips grew richer.
"But Your Highness, the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains are extremely dangerous, and I heard that a powerful snake demon has recently appeared in the mountains..." A guard said with some worry.
"Snake demon?"
The youth sneered, his eyes full of disdain: "A mere wild Prodigy; if it dares to block this Prince's path, I will just cut it down."
He waved his hand, a rather powerful Qi flowing from his body.
"Say no more, it is decided."