Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains-Chapter 491 - 234. Life and Death Entwining Love Gu

New Yu Era 1322, the tenth day of November

It was the heart of winter, and the cold wind was biting.

On both sides of the west Official Road outside Guangling Prefecture City, the branches and leaves of the trees had completely withered, maintaining a standoff for a whole year. The movement of people within the Prefecture had always been scarce, and with this year’s exceptionally cold winter, the Official Road was nearly deserted.

Hou Yuxiao and Hou Yujie, each on a horse, had left the Prefecture City and traveled three miles west when Hou Yuxiao stopped first, looking south.

"Big Brother?" Hou Yujie, who had been thinking about hurrying back to Long Guan, looked puzzled when he saw Hou Yuxiao suddenly stop.

"How’s the situation at Long Guan? Zhan Taiqing didn’t say we needed to rush over right away, did he?"

Hou Yujie, who had come from Long Guan, naturally understood the situation there. He nodded and said, "Gu Tianyun’s army is basically still holed up in the Prefecture City. They used to send out small troops to probe, but since the news from Zhongzhou came over, even the probing has stopped. Both sides seem to have tacitly ceased fighting.

Zhan Taiqing knew I was coming to the Prefecture City to bring you a message. He specially sent me to notify Zhang Zhenwei. He didn’t say we had to rush over!"

After answering, Hou Yujie noticed Hou Yuxiao’s gaze fixed to the south and immediately guessed, "Big Brother, are you thinking of going to Lingyuan Prefecture?"

Hou Yuxiao nodded slightly and said in a low voice, "Aren’t you curious about the Wuwei King from Great Jin... Hou Jing?"

At the mention of "Hou Jing," Hou Yujie’s expression froze for a moment.

Although he was stationed in Wanyang for a long time, he was aware of the news from Hedong. He certainly knew of the Wuwei King from Great Jin who had conquered the entirety of Lingyuan Prefecture.

Hou Jing, Hou Jing...

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Hou Yujie murmured to himself twice, then looked up and asked, "Do you think, Big Brother, that he has something to do with our father?"

"That’s uncertain, which is why we need to make a trip to Lingyuan Prefecture. It would be best to visit him personally. His army should be in Lingyuan Governor’s City, about thirteen hundred miles from here. At our pace, we need only about five hours. A round trip would take just one day at most, a quick there and back in a single day!"

Hou Yujie nodded and said, "Then let’s not delay, let’s set off right away."

Hou Tong died in the year 1919, and by all accounts, it had only been four years since; the fate of the five siblings had already undergone earth-shattering changes, yet their memories of Hou Tong hadn’t faded in the slightest. It was precisely because of these memories that their hatred for Qinjian Villa remained undiminished as well.

Therefore, they were also incredibly eager to know all the details about their father’s past. The recently emerged Wuwei King Hou Jing, not only had piqued Hou Yuxiao’s curiosity for quite some time, but Hou Yujie, stationed in Wanyang County, as well as the other three siblings, felt the same.

Having reached a mutual understanding, the two changed their route, whipped their horses, and sprinted southwards across the wilderness. Riding war horses and with their cultivation now much stronger than before, traveling through the wilderness was unlikely to pose any trouble, provided their luck wasn’t horrendous.

Lingyuan is derived from "the world overturned and the nation’s depth became a command," meaning a place of utmost beauty. The reason is that both Yong and Xu states belong to flatland regions, with the majority of their territories being boundless plains. However, Lingyuan Prefecture is situated in a depression, and with the tributaries of Tongtian River crossing the land, an abundance of mountains, rivers, and lakes were formed. The vegetation thrives so vigorously that the sceneries are picturesque all year round, hence its name "Lingyuan."

Like any other prefectures, Lingyuan Prefecture is composed of six counties: Tianshui, Fufeng, Yunmeng, Wuxi, Yuquan, and Tianning. Among them, the Governor’s City is located between Yunmeng and Wuxi Counties. As the two men headed south to Lingyuan Governor’s City and chose to take the wilderness route, they only needed to pass through Yunmeng County.

Upon entering Lingyuan Prefecture territory, the array of mountains, rivers, and lakes became noticeably more abundant. Even in winter, not all the flowers and grass had withered. Some winter-blooming flowers were actually competing in beauty across the wilderness through which the two riders passed. If Fifth Brother Hou Yuduan were there, he would certainly have indulged in lavish praise and then composed a few lines of poetry.

Unfortunately, with urgent matters weighing on their minds, the two men did not indulge in idle chatter, nor did they spare attention for the picturesque scenery on either side. They simply rode the fine black steeds from Yongzhou, and after charging for a little over two hours, Yunmeng County City came into view.

"Once we’re past Yunmeng County, there’s only a little over a hundred miles left to the Governor’s City. It should take us just over half an hour. Let’s enter the city to rest our feet and see if we can find out any useful information!"

From a distance, Hou Yuxiao saw the soldiers on guard outside the city, all clad in gold and black armor. A flicker of strangeness passed through his eyes. Hou Yujie followed his gaze and immediately understood, following him towards the city gate.

Since the Wuwei King had conquered the entirety of Lingyuan Prefecture, Yunmeng County City would naturally be no exception. That meant the current soldiers controlling the city gate must be members of the Wuwei King’s Tianwei Army.

Since both Guangling and Lingyuan Prefectures were amidst wartime, there were hardly any people entering or leaving the city. The two quickly reached the city gates, and at less than ten meters away from the gates, they assessed the cultivation of the five or six hundred soldiers on duty, finding them on par with the elite of the Holy Land in Guangling Prefecture. Both men immediately became slightly more cautious.

"The lowest among them are at the Ten Layers of Body Openings in cultivation, with more than a dozen Warriors of the Gang Qi Realm. On the city walls, there are even two Grandmasters keeping watch. This is just at the city gate; there must be more experts inside the city. This single Yunmeng County is already so formidable. Now that the six counties of Lingyuan Prefecture are all under the Wuwei King’s army, there must be hundreds of Grandmasters and tens of thousands of Warriors of the Gang Qi Realm."