Astral Apostle

540 Intimidation and Secret Connection (1)

On the other side, Ling Fengzi, who had finished with his “killing”, slowly flew back to the main camp.

As soon as he landed, he was informed by a soldier that Ma Zhen and the other high-ranking generals had invited him over for a chat.

Ling Fengzi naturally had no reason to refuse.

When he arrived at the main tent, he saw Ma Zhen, Yuwen Yan, and the others in neat armor waiting there. Their expressions were solemn.

“Previously, I had a report that the villain surnamed Chen attacked our vanguard camp in the night. Perfected One, you had rushed over to help. Now that you have returned, have you managed to repel him?”

Ma Zhen asked in a deep voice.

When Chen Feng attacked the frontline camp, a scout urgently reported to the main camp before Ma Zhen sent Perfected Master Windwalker to provide support.

However, the subsequent military intelligence had yet to be sent back. Ma Zhen did not know the situation yet, because Ling Fengzi flew faster than the spies and returned to the camp a step earlier. He could only ask Ling Fengzi first.

Hearing this, Ling Fengzi shook his head and explained, “Chen Feng and I are evenly matched and can’t do anything to each other. After fighting for a long time, Chen Feng retreated on his own. It’s not good for me to chase after him alone, so I stopped while I still had the advantage.”

“Then I wonder how the situation at the front line is?” Ma Zhen asked.

Ling Fengzi sighed, “The soldiers at the front line were slaughtered by Chen Feng and have already been completely wiped out. The troops that went to support in the surrounding camps have also been scattered.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of the officers present changed slightly.

Ma Zhen frowned, “The Perfected One has fought with Chief Chen many times and has always managed to come to a draw. Why were you not able to restrain him this time?”

Ling Fengzi glanced at him and indifferently spoke out,

“General Ma, are you criticizing me?”

Ma Zhen’s expression changed slightly, and he was immediately dissatisfied with Ling Fengzi.

Although he only realized that it was a little offensive when he spoke, he got offended when he heard the reply… As the commander-in-chief of the three armies, his authority could not be provoked or questioned. Even if Perfected Master Windwalker was the person he had invited to help, the latter could not casually brush him off in front of the generals.

Seeing this, Yuwen Yan coughed and quickly interrupted with a smile,

“Perfected One, don’t misunderstand. We’ve always respected you. Chen Feng suddenly attacked tonight, and our preparations are limited. As the saying goes, if you know yourself and the enemy, you won’t be defeated in a hundred battles. I hope you can explain the situation in detail so that we can formulate a strategy to face the enemy.”

Ling Fengzi did not try to force an answer out of them as well. He sighed and explained,

“In the past, when I fought Chen Feng, I always fought alone in front of the formation and tacitly avoided the troops of both sides. However, tonight, Chen Feng attacked the soldiers’ camp and turned our formation into a battlefield. Although I could match him, I did not have the time nor ability to also protect the soldiers of our army, causing heavy casualties.”

The officers looked at each other.

Without waiting for everyone to continue asking, Ling Fengzi continued,

“In this Daoist’s opinion, that Chen Feng could have done what happened tonight long ago. It’s just that he’s arrogant and belligerent by nature. In the past, when he fought me alone, he might have wanted to fight me fair and square and suppress me. But now, he’s become ruthless and will do anything. It’s most likely because the officials chased the villagers away to fight and angered the bandits, which led to revenge… If Chen Feng continues to attack the camps in this manner, it’ll be difficult for me to restrain him.”

Most of these words were specially instructed by Zhou Jing when they parted ways, asking Bill to come back and talk to the generals of the Imperial Court.

Hearing this, Ma Zhen’s expression changed again.

In his opinion, it was normal for two armies to fight by hook or by crook. However, when he first adopted the strategy of driving the commoners in front of their attacks, Ling Fengzi was quite dissatisfied and mentioned that this move would offend the heavens.

At this moment, upon bringing this topic up again, Ling Fengzi was naturally taking the chance to complain once again. This made Ma Zhen secretly unhappy.

In addition, the Perfected One had personally admitted that it would be difficult to restrain Chen Feng if he continued in this manner, which gave him a headache.

Actually, it was not as if they really had no choice. As long as Perfected Master Windwalker was willing to imitate Chen Feng and use his divine power to attack the enemy armies, it would have the same effect.

However, Ling Fengzi refused to relent. He had always expressed that he was unwilling to kill innocents with his own hands.

Even if Ma Zhen were to order him, he would not move, so there was nothing their side could do.

He could not use the same method to restrain the bandit army. It was equivalent to only being beaten up and not counterattacking. He was extremely depressed.

“Report!”

At this moment, the scout finally returned and rushed into the tent.

Ma Zhen perked up and immediately commanded,

“How’s the situation at the front line?”

“Marshal, the garrison at the front line has been completely wiped out, and there are many casualties. According to the soldiers, the camp was broken through by Chen Feng alone. He even chased after the stragglers for a long time…”

“Ridiculous. How can Chen Feng can cause such damage alone?”

Ma Zhen was shocked and angry.

Hearing this, the scout subconsciously looked at Ling Fengzi beside him and hesitated.

Seeing the strange expression on the man’s face, Huang Ping asked in a deep voice, “Do you have anything else to say?”

The scout swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said carefully, “The soldiers at the front line also said that many of the deaths of their comrades seem to be caused by the divine powers of the Perfected One. If not for the real person, the casualties might not have been so tragic…”

As soon as he finished speaking, all the officers present turned to look at Ling Fengzi with weird expressions.

“Perfected One, this…”

Ma Zhen frowned, his tone inexplicable.

Ling Fengzi revealed a helpless expression and sighed, “The soldiers were all pulled in by the aftershock of our battle, and there’s nothing I can do. The only way I could have avoided that was to not fight with Chen Feng and retreat… But no matter what, the deaths of these soldiers are still related to me. This killing will naturally fall on me. It’s against the path I cultivate and will damage my cultivation.”

Hearing his words, everyone could not say anything else.

After all, they still had to rely on Ling Fengzi to continue dealing with Chen Feng. If he felt that it would harm his cultivation and decided to return to the capital, they would be at a loss.

“In order to stop Chen Feng from slaughtering our men, you’re willing to harm your cultivation. It’s indeed a loyal and patriotic act. There’s nothing to blame. If you want to blame someone, blame the other party for being extremely vicious.”