Chapter 1074: Xu Dihu
"I agree with this," Niu Xiaosan said in agreement.
He had been around Thunder Tiger for a long time and knew his character well. He would never fight a battle he was not confident of winning. Now, Thunder Tiger was still in his mansion without any movements, signaling that everything was ready except for an east wind.
The other two generals nodded in agreement as well. Red-eyed Eagle found herself in a dilemma; splitting the three Commander’s Seals was a very dangerous matter. When she took over as the leader, her mother, the former leader, repeatedly advised her never to split the Commander’s Seals in her possession. Doing so would easily give others an opportunity to exploit.
But with the situation at hand, she couldn’t stay calm. Considering the internal and external troubles, a single careless move could lead to falling into an enemy trap and total annihilation.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
At this moment, there was a series of knocks on the door. Red-eyed Eagle loudly asked, "Who is it?"
"Reporting to the leader, there’s someone called Xu Dihu requesting an audience!" a subordinate outside the door said.
"Oh? Let him in!"
Xu Dihu was selected by the Black Alliance through a competition, later serving under Red-eyed Eagle, covertly infiltrating Huaxia to help the Black Alliance conquer. He had performed quite well over the past few months.
Xu Dihu was actually Hao Jian, who after escaping prison, underwent a disguised surgery and changed his face.
In a little while, Hao Jian pushed the door open and entered. As he walked in, Xue Kong was startled; this was clearly Hao Shuai’s younger brother, Hao Jian, who turned out to be Xu Dihu.
Instantly, Xue Kong seemed to figure out many things. It turned out everything was Hao Shuai’s doing.
However, Xue Kong clearly didn’t care about these matters. All this was unimportant to him; he had only one goal - to bring down the Black Alliance.
"Dihu, come and sit down. Given that you’ve just returned, you must be aware of the situation, right?" Red-eyed Eagle asked.
"Yes, the Eight Major Sects have approached the city gates. But I think they are of no concern; they seem to have only a few hundred people and yet imagined they could wipe out our Black Alliance, are they joking?" Xu Dihu displayed his usual style, with his characteristic roguish demeanor, which ensured that Red-eyed Eagle had no doubts.
"Dihu, don’t underestimate the enemy. Now is a critical moment; the main focus should not be on outsiders but on keeping a close watch on Thunder Tiger," Red-eyed Eagle reminded him. "This Thunder Tiger is so calm now, I suspect something unusual. Xue Kong just reported that there are five thousand elite warriors from the Qilin Tribe outside the city. This means Thunder Tiger had been prepared. I fear the battle is on the verge of breaking out."
"Then let’s fight. We have over a hundred thousand troops, and they have only a few thousand. What is there to fear?" Xu Dihu said nonchalantly.
"Xu Dihu, are you doing this on purpose? Didn’t the leader just say not to underestimate the enemy?" Lin Xiaoting couldn’t bear it any longer. She couldn’t understand why Red-eyed Eagle would take this person as an insider; Lin Xiaoting always found him displeasing.
Seeing this, Red-eyed Eagle also felt a headache. Despite having a firm hold over the armed forces, she still felt uneasy, as if something big was about to happen.
This was the first time in her life she felt so unsettled.
"Leader, just tell us what we should do now," Xue Kong inquired again.
"Split the forces into three groups. Niu Xiaosan, you’re in charge of thirty thousand soldiers to guard the city gates. Xue Kong, take thirty thousand soldiers and ambush the area around Thunder Tiger’s residence. If anything happens, catch them immediately," Red-eyed Eagle instructed as she took out three Tokens.
These three golden Tokens were the crucial Commander’s Seals of the Black Alliance.
"Dihu, you go with the seniors and lead thirty thousand troops to block at the foothills behind. I’m afraid the enemy might use other means to infiltrate us from behind. If so, we would be completely defenseless."
But the mistake Red-eyed Eagle made was not seeing the true faces of those two people.
Xue Kong and Hao Jian were both Hao Shuai’s people.
"As you command!" the crowd acknowledged and, without any delay, exited the room.
After the three forces went out, Lin Xiaoting felt somewhat uneasy. Although the fate of the Black Alliance had little to do with her, Red-eyed Eagle would be the first to suffer if the alliance were breached.
"Xiaoting, what’s wrong?" Red-eyed Eagle looked at Lin Xiaoting, who appeared pale-faced, and asked with concern.
"Nothing, I just feel a little uneasy," Lin Xiaoting expressed her intuition.
"Haha, don’t worry. Xue Kong is my confidant and has been with me for three years. I know his character well; he’s always been loyal and couldn’t possibly betray me," Red-eyed Eagle assured.
"As for Xu Dihu, I trust him. Despite his carefree demeanor, the tasks I give him are always well executed. More importantly, he’s already under my Heart-Eroding Gu!" Red-eyed Eagle suddenly smirked.
"Oh? So that’s it." Hearing this, Lin Xiaoting finally felt relieved. If Xu Dihu truly was under the Heart-Eroding Gu, he wouldn’t dare defy Red-eyed Eagle.
Only Red-eyed Eagle had the antidote, and it was only a temporary one, administered once a year. If Red-eyed Eagle were to fall, Xu Dihu would slowly be tortured to death by the Heart-Eroding Gu.
This was Red-eyed Eagle’s contingency plan. As for Niu Xiaosan, he was a trusted confidant of the former leader, so there was no way he would betray her, something Red-eyed Eagle felt very certain about.
About five minutes later, they began to walk out of the main hall and sat on the sofa.
At this moment, a group of children emerged from the inner room. Red-eyed Eagle greeted them with a smile and quickly called out, "Come over here, everyone. You’ve been with the Black Alliance for half a year now, and have learned quite a lot during this time. I’m now deciding to reward each of you with a Qi Gathering Pill to help you advance."
"Thank you, leader!" The little girl in front was very familiar to Chen Tianlong; she was Zhao Qing.
"Haha, little Zhao, you’re the most sensible one. When you grow up, you’ll surely be a talent of the Black Alliance," Red-eyed Eagle praised.
"But leader, I am a Huaxia child. This place isn’t my home. When I grow up, can I return home?" Zhao Qing said adorably. She wouldn’t have come if her grandfather hadn’t sent her.
"I am also from Huaxia," Red-eyed Eagle lowered herself, touching Zhao Qing’s little cheek, and then smiled, "How about this, once this situation settles down, I’ll take you to visit Huaxia. Once you see there’s nothing much to hang onto, you can return to the Black Alliance, how does that sound?"
"Sounds great. Thank you, leader sister," Zhao Qing said happily.
Over the past six months, under the special training from the Black Alliance coaches, she finally successfully surpassed Yellow Dao One Star. To be able to surpass Yellow Dao and become a practitioner at such a young age was already an admirable feat.
Moreover, Red-eyed Eagle had discovered that this little girl had extraordinary talent, with quick learning ability and a remarkable capacity for enduring hardship, making Red-eyed Eagle very fond of her.