Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains-Chapter 776 - 343, Nanjiang Allied Forces_2

Upon hearing the number two million two hundred thousand, Hou Yucheng immediately expressed his confusion, "Two million two hundred thousand troops? Didn't elder brother say that Qing Xuan and the Rakshasa Holy Sect conspired to kill Heigu in Qingmiao City, and the other four Miao should currently be in internal turmoil..."

Hou Yucheng's words came to an abrupt halt as he suddenly grasped Hou Yuxiao's meaning. The possibility of the four Miao uniting that Hou Yuxiao spoke of was clearly a worst-case scenario. If the four Miao were indeed in internal turmoil, they really should not be attacking proactively but rather wait for them to fight among themselves and then take the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

"Qing Xuan did kill Heigu, but I'm also unsure how the remaining three Miao will react. Old Fifth once said that among the Nanjiang Five Miao Tribes, the Black and White Miao have the worst relations. The Qing and Ziquan factions support the Baimiao, while the Hong Miao supports the Hei Miao, thus dividing them roughly into two major factions," Hou Yuxiao explained, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

With Heigu overthrown and no concrete information about the other four Miao, charging in recklessly was definitely not an option. Yet, there remained the variable of the Rakshasa Holy Sect, and how many Sub-saints of Martial Dao Duanmu Hong needed to kill to repair the Chi Li Heaven Barrier was still unclear to him.

Having already killed Heigu, if only two were needed, then killing one more—Hong Ju—would suffice. Thus, Duanmu Hong and Qing Xuan could completely ally with Bai Tong and Ziquan by first killing Hong Ju. In this case, Qing Xuan could likely sway the fifty-million-strong army of the Hong Miao as well.

If this were indeed the case, then what they would be facing next might truly be an army of two million two hundred thousand. In such a scenario, let alone a proactive attack, if Qing Xuan with the allied forces of the four Miao swarmed in, he might even need to consider retreating. While the Red Flame Army was strong, even their combined force with the four hundred thousand Zhaoyang Army, would not likely be a match for an over two-million-strong army—a self-awareness Hou Yuxiao still possessed.

If repairing the Chi Li Heaven Barrier required sacrifices of more than two Sub-saints of Martial Dao, then it should be quite lively around Qingmiao City by now.

If that were indeed the case, he could completely sit back and watch how things unfolded, and wait until Qing Xuan and Duanmu Hong had mostly exhausted themselves fighting with the other three clan leaders before he led his troops to attack. That would be most cost-effective.

Now, the key was to ascertain specific information.

"Old Fifth is still in Qingmiao City, and no news has come out for so long, suggesting that Qingmiao City must have been sealed off. To learn the specifics, I'm afraid, I need to make a trip there myself," Hou Yuxiao suggested.

"Elder brother, let me go!" Hou Yucheng volunteered.

Hou Yuxiao didn't even think before declining Hou Yucheng's suggestion, "Duanmu Hong, Qing Xuan, Bai Tong, Ziquan—four Sub-saints might be in Qingmiao City at this crucial juncture. The situation is surely tense, and if Second Elder goes and gets caught, that could spell disaster."

"Stay here and keep calm. We still don't know the exact situation with the four Miao. Just in case their army decides to take a detour and heads straight here, you'll need to lead the army in defense. I'll go and have a look myself. Even if I'm discovered, they can't hold me, don't worry!" Hou Yuxiao reassured.

Right as Hou Yuxiao was about to leave for Qingmiao City, his expression suddenly changed, and he turned his head towards the southeast.

"Someone is coming, and the presence is strong!"

Hou Yuxiao, taking Hou Yucheng with him, moved swiftly towards the southeast and intercepted the newcomer halfway. Upon seeing the appearance of the visitor, they were momentarily stunned.

The newcomer was an old man with a rugged countenance, bearing the distinctive face of a man from Nanjiang, his face etched with urgency. What stunned the two of them was that the old man appeared pale as a ghost, gasping more than breathing, with a frail martial spirit shadow behind him, evidently having sustained serious injuries.

Martial spirit shadow, Sub-saint of Martial Dao!

A seriously injured Sub-saint of Martial Dao was arriving from the southeast.

Although Hou Yuxiao had a faint suspicion in his mind, he did not speak up.

The old man also paused upon seeing them, but upon recognizing their Yongzhou attire and the two-colored Divine Lotus emblem on their chests, a look of relief appeared on his face.

"I am Chief Hong of the Hong Miao Tribe. I urgently need to see the Family Head of the Hou Family. Would you brothers kindly relay my message? I would be much obliged!"

Chief Hong could sense the cultivation levels of the two, one a Broken Realm powerhouse and the other at Great Perfection of the Three Realms of Yuan Dan, likely high-ranking figures of the Hexi Hou Family. Under normal circumstances, he would not treat the two with such courtesy, but given the direness of his current situation and his injuries, his tone was unavoidably much softer.

"I am Hou Yuxiao. May I ask, Chief Hong, what this is about..." Hou Yuxiao asked.

"You are Hou Yuxiao?"

Chief Hong's expression suddenly darkened, his immediate thought being that this young man in blue was deceiving him. The Hou Yuxiao of Hexi, who had fought a battle with the World-Honored One Fahai at Wanglong Mountain four years ago, was well-known even in Nanjiang. If he were capable of battling the World-Honored One Fahai, then Hou Yuxiao must surely be a Sub-Saint of Martial Dao.

"Genuine through and through, I am indeed Hou Yuxiao!" Hou Yuxiao responded.

Guessing what Chief Hong was thinking, Hou Yuxiao took out a golden seal from his person and tossed it in front of Chief Hong.

Red Ju took over the golden seal, saw the "Hou" character engraved underneath, and felt the Divine Dynasty seal energy emanating from the seal; his face instantly revealed a hint of astonishment. Although he was from outside the Nanjiang region, he had some understanding of the powers in Shenzhou, and knew that only seals of Earth Level powers and above possessed the Divine Dynasty seal energy.

"Chief Hong, cultivation does not equate to strength."

Red Ju, wearing a look of urgency, bit his teeth and was unwilling to spend more effort discerning.

"Master of Hou Family, my Hong Miao are willing to submit under Hexi, only asking that Hexi send troops to aid our Hong Miao City. As long as you can lift the siege of Hong Miao City, Red Ju will henceforth be at the command of the Master of Hou Family; our Miao Clan, too, is willing to serve Hexi hereafter!"

...

"Chief Hong, did Qing Xuan make a move against you?"

Red Ju looked stunned and immediately looked up at Hou Yuxiao.

"The night before last, Qing Xuan, in collaboration with Duanmu Hong, attacked Heigu. I was also in Qingmiao City at the time and immediately guessed that the Rakshasa Holy Sect and Qing Xuan were attacking Heigu to repair the Chi Li Heaven Barrier. It seems now that killing just one Heigu is not enough; they want you dead as well..."

"So the man Duanmu Hong was chasing that night was the Master of Hou Family!"

After Red Ju finished speaking, his face immediately showed anger, and he bitterly said, "Ziquan and Bai Tong are also in cahoots with Qing Xuan. After Duanmu Hong left the city to chase you, he joined forces with Bai Tong and Ziquan to try to kill me. Unfortunately, their plan was just short of success, and I barely escaped from their hands."

This matched almost exactly with what he had guessed.

Hou Yuxiao's expression shifted slightly, and he asked, "Does that mean the Qing, Bai, and Zi clans have already united, and they are also preparing to make a move on Hong Miao City?"

Reminded by Hou Yuxiao's questions, Red Ju recalled his purpose for this trip, and the anger on his face instantly faded away, replaced by a tinge of worry as he nodded, "After learning that the Master of Hou Family had defeated Hei Miao City, they have now formed the Nanjiang Allied Forces, amounting to one million seven hundred thousand. My Hong Miao City is located on the right wing of the Baimiao, and I, being seriously injured, fear that if Bai Tong leads a large army to attack, my Hong Miao City will surely fall." freewebnσvel.cѳm

"I am aware that Master of Hou Family, your current trip southwards is for Nanjiang, and although the thirty thousand of Red Flame Army are strong, they alone cannot withstand the Nanjiang Allied Forces. My Hong Miao still has a large army of five hundred thousand; as long as Master of Hou Family calls for more troops to come down from Hexi, with the support of my Hong Miao, defeating the Nanjiang Allied Forces will not be a problem!"

"Chief Hong, why not sense how many troops the city currently has."

Red Ju looked shocked; he had already heard about the thirty thousand Red Flame Army from Hexi decimating Hei Miao City. Those thirty thousand belonged to the Red Flame Army, but he still heeded Hou Yuxiao, releasing his Qi to sense the situation in the city.

This sensing gave him a sudden shock!

"Master of Hou Family, have you already deployed additional troops?"

"Apart from the Red Flame Army, Hexi has also brought four hundred thousand elite troops from the Zhaoyang Army. If we add Chief Hong's five hundred thousand troops, then we will have a total of one million two hundred thousand..."

"With this, facing the Nanjiang Allied Forces, we definitely have a fighting chance!"

Red Ju's expression was exhilarated as he took over from Hou Yuxiao.

One million two hundred thousand against one million seven hundred thousand might seem much less, but the thirty thousand of the Red Flame Army from Hexi are capable of standing against the elites of the Holy Land; once recalculated, Hexi's strength is absolutely not weak.

Of course, it all depends on whether his Hong Miao's five hundred thousand strong army would stand together with Hexi.

"Chief Hong, you are severely injured, why not rest here while healing? Give me an item of proof, and I will go to Hong Miao City to investigate the situation first. If Baimiao is indeed attacking, I, Mr. Hou, will directly intervene to help. Besides, I will call for more troops from Hei Miao City to aid the relief efforts. If Baimiao has not yet attacked, I will have them meet up with the Hexi troops first, and then have a final showdown with the Nanjiang Allied Forces, how does that sound?"

While Hou Yuxiao asked this, his eyes were fixed on Red Ju's face, not wanting to miss any small detail of his expression.

Red Ju apparently realized something, and his face first showed hesitation, then, after biting his teeth, he heavily nodded to Hou Yuxiao, taking out a red token from his body.

"In that case, I would trouble Master of Hou Family. My Hong Miao City is currently defended by my son Hong Kui, who commands the army. When Master of Hou Family arrives, just find him!"

"Your politeness is noted."