Chapter 144: Locked Realm

translate!All the grand imaginings of the future can be found in the idle chatter of young people.A few brothers ate a few bites and chatted for a while. Except for Linghe, who never drinks, the rema...The Sihai Merchant League's trade routes are very mature. Even in Yang Guo, a place with large-scale ferocious beasts within its borders, it maintains its own safe passage—of course, a large part of this relies on Yang Guo's official roads.

In order to allow a massive business organization like the Four Seas Merchant Alliance to enter and develop within the territory, Yang Ting made many concessions.

Chen Yong, the bald head guard commander who fled from Qingyang Town, led his team along the trade route of the Four Seas Merchant Alliance. He left Rizhao County directly and entered Qi State from Baichuan City, a border city of Qi State.

There has been no formal announcement within the Four Seas Merchant Alliance regarding the plague mutation.

As for the Sihai Merchant Alliance, they put in a great deal of sincerity to secure the entire Yangguo disaster relief "business." They invested heavily in manpower and resources in Yangguo, and were reaping profits. Unless absolutely necessary, they would never be willing to cut their losses and leave.

For this, they would rather have some of their subordinates “take a risk”.

qian shi was informed through his personal channels and fled immediately without notifying anyone else.

Chen Yong, the guard commander who had been shaved bald in Qingyang Town, also managed to get word through personal connections. He was a man of righteousness and directly brought back his entire guard unit.

Of course, if the news is false and he leaves that matter in Qingyang Town alone, he also needs to take responsibility.

But compared to life safety, those things are nothing.

The name "Hundred Rivers City" doesn't come from the fact that there are a hundred rivers near the city. In fact, there aren't any particularly famous rivers within the city limits.

This city's name originates from the idiom "He Na Bai Chuan" (海納百川), which means "embracing all rivers." As for which "hundred rivers" are being referred to, that is a matter of personal interpretation.

Baichuan City belongs to Dingyao County. When Jiang Wang came to Yang Kingdom, he also traveled through Fengxian and Dingyao, taking this route to reach Rizhao County in Yang Kingdom.

He was unstoppable back then, but now Chen Yong's Allied Guard Corps has been stopped at the city gates.

To be more precise, it is at least three miles away from Baichuan City.

“Halt! We are ordered to seal the border. Any who approach further will be slain without mercy!” A voice boomed from afar.

The sound came from a squad of heavily armored soldiers from the State of Qi.

Chen Yong's cold sweat immediately welled up.

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

All those underlings who, in the past, had been arrogant thanks to their Four Seas Merchant Alliance reputation were now as quiet as mice. They all stood there meekly and obediently, afraid that any wrong move would lead to misunderstanding.

This is a regular Qi state soldier! Judging from this level of elite, it's even possible...that he came from among the nine top soldiers.

Chen Yong could even hear the sound of the crossbow being drawn.

Large-scale use in the military, the outlawed ballista is a weapon specifically designed to counter extraordinary cultivators. It's not circulated on the market at all; buying and selling it is a serious crime.

Let me know if you have other text you'd like translated!

A volley of forbidden-law crossbows rained down, and at this level, even a transcendent cultivator couldn't stand a chance.

"General! General!"

Chen Yong didn't dare to move, and shouted: "We are all Qi people! We are honest and kind folk, please don't harm us!"

"Qi person"

He heard a voice ask.

Then a man resembling a general stepped out of the ranks, still keeping a sufficient distance from these people.

How do you prove that you are people from Qi

Throughout the entire Yang kingdom, people admired Qi culture. There were countless people who wore Qi clothes and spoke Qi language, so it was already difficult to distinguish between genuine and false simply from their words.

"I am a guard of the Four Seas Merchant Alliance. I have an ID badge on me, and you can check it yourself! I would never dare to lie!"

The general said: “No one is allowed to approach, throw your waist badge over here.”

Chen Yong dared not disobey, so he did as instructed.

The general took the waist token from afar, examined it carefully for a while, and then asked: “Are all these people behind you from Qi”

“We are all registered in the Sihai Merchants’ Alliance. A general can check the roster and know for sure, how could it be fake” Chen Yong said with flattering words: “General, please do us a favor, we are truly all Qi people, homesick and yearning to return. I dare ask, why aren’t we allowed back home today”

"The borders are sealed. Even a native of Qi cannot return to the country at present." The general casually said this, and then ordered, "Bring these people from the Four Seas Commercial Alliance to the camp and detain them, just like before!"

Chen Yong trembled, unsure what "as before" referred to. But Qi's military was renowned for its strict discipline and its nine soldiers were famous throughout the world. Once an order had been given, there was no turning back.

He also absolutely dared not speak up.

As he was led far into the camp by Qi's soldiers, Chen Yong gradually started to figure something out.

Given how strictly these soldiers maintain their distance, it's possible they already know about the changes to the Yang Guo plague. Perhaps the border lockdown is a result of this.

This makes sense, as the people who returned from Yangguo were temporarily detained.

It's still just about separating the inside from the outside.

Here is your text translated to English:

Thus, they are currently quite safe, as long as they haven't contracted the plague and aren't causing trouble in the army.

After understanding this point, Chen Yong felt much calmer in his heart. He also had the leisure to joke with the group of confused and anxious brothers who followed him.

"What are you afraid of With our invincible Great Qi army escorting us, when would there be a safer time than now"

A younger guard sniffed. "I don't know how long we'll be held... Speaking of which, why are we being detained Are we not even allowed to return home"

>

“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t!,” Chen Yong scolded him harshly. He raised his eyes to see the soldier leading the way ahead, who remained unaffected, and only then did he let out a sigh of relief. He comforted the others, “Sihai is Qiguo's largest trading firm. Everything in Qiguo, from food, clothing, housing, to transportation, relies on us! We haven’t done anything wrong, so they won’t keep us detained for long. Besides, if we really need to go home quickly, we can just bleed a little more and have Qian Shi take us out!”

From beginning to end, the soldier leading them remained silent. He didn't react even when Chen Yong hinted at bribery, showing excellent discipline.

This made Chen Yong and others consciously or unconsciously become more well-behaved, following obediently.

Chen Yong's confidence disappeared after he saw Qian Shì.

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

That was the second day he had been confined to the barracks.

A soldier came over and took him aside.

I was uneasy the whole way, trying all sorts of polite phrases, but they just ignored me.

> Ask too many questions, and you'll be kicked out. So just keep your mouth shut.

He initially thought it was something like extortion and had mentally prepared himself for a huge financial loss. He even imagined the horrors of military law and capital punishment—in a helpless and bewildered situation, people become more frightened the more they panic.

But luckily, the other party only asked him to go out and identify a person.

It didn't seem to be any better, because the person he needed to identify was precisely Qian the Steward...

>

He was still counting on Qian Shi to bail him out! As it turned out, the other party was in a tight spot themselves and was even asking for his help right now.

Chen Yong walked to the Qi army's checkpoint and saw Qian, the steward, from afar.

At that time, the person did not know who had chopped off their hair bun. They knelt far away on the ground, their whole body slumped with despair, their demeanor completely gone.

Please note that the original content was empty. I have kept the HTML tags as you requested, but there is no text to translate.

Wasn't Qian Shi the one who left for Qi state a day in advance

What happened in the middle of this

How could he only arrive at Bai Chuan City today He was even a day later than himself

Qingyang Town... Jiang Wang... Sihai Merchant Alliance... Qian Shi... Yang Kingdom... Qi Army...

>

Chen Yong only felt his head in disarray, a chill running down his scalp.nd directly. Do not look back."Li Jianqiu sheathed his sword and left, never to return.This tag means the end of a paragraph.On her way back to the city, Jiang Wang saw a person holding an orange-yell...