Chapter 120: The Shadow Guard

Outside the military camp on the outskirts of Fengli County, within the commander’s tent, Du Long sat proudly in the seat of honor. Huo Feng and Xia Qinglian occupied the chairs to his left. The assembled officers and soldiers stood in two neat rows below, having rendered their salutes.

“I hereby announce the establishment of an intelligence division within the Fengli County territory, named the Shadow Guard!” Du Long proclaimed loudly. “Here are the Shadow Guard’s tokens, three in total. Each token bears a unique pattern naturally formed on jade—none are identical. Commit these patterns to memory!” He then called out, “Sun Lin!”

“At your service, my lord!” Sun Lin immediately stepped forward, bowing respectfully.

“From now on, the Shadow Guard will be under your sole command! Come forth and receive these tokens, then distribute them among all the officers present for careful examination!” Du Long instructed.

“As you command!” Sun Lin responded, stepping forward to respectfully accept the three tokens symbolizing the highest authority of the Shadow Guard. He then circulated them among the officers one by one.

Once the tokens returned to Sun Lin’s hands, Du Long continued, “Very well! Henceforth, whenever the Shadow Guard presents these tokens, you must fully cooperate with their work without fail! The first commander of the Shadow Guard, Sun Lin, will be directly overseen by me, your lord.”

“Next, an important announcement! Since Sun Lin has taken command of the Shadow Guard, General Xu Yin will now lead the Brave Cavalry Corps! From this day forth, General Xu Yin is the commander of the Brave Cavalry Corps. All other officer appointments within the corps are at his discretion!”

“Understood, my lord!” Upon hearing his name, Xu Yin promptly stepped forward and asked loudly, “May I ask, Lieutenant General, how many troops comprise the Brave Cavalry Corps?”

Momentarily caught off guard by the question, Du Long replied with a sigh, “I just returned from the Forest of Beast Demons. Before I left, the Brave Cavalry Corps numbered six to seven thousand. It’s been several days since then, so I’m not sure if the numbers have changed. Sun Lin, do you know the current strength of our Brave Cavalry Corps?”

“Reporting, Lieutenant General! Recently, the Brave Cavalry Corps has grown by over a thousand, now totaling 8,035 men. Five hundred of them have been recruited into the Shadow Guard. After deducting the one thousand soldiers dispatched to the Forest of Beast Demons, there remain 6,535 soldiers in the camp,” Sun Lin responded promptly.

Upon hearing that just over six thousand remained in the camp, Xu Yin’s expression shifted slightly. As a general commanding tens of thousands in the Loyal Martial Corps, leading a few thousand felt like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Du Long observed this but chose not to dwell on it. Instead, he addressed Sun Lin, “Though your Shadow Guard has just been established today, the tasks I assigned earlier must proceed swiftly. Until your work is complete, it will be difficult to assign positions to the various officers under General Xu Yin’s command.”

“I understand, my lord. If there is nothing else, I shall get to work,” Sun Lin replied.

“Good! Go ahead,” Du Long waved him off.

After Sun Lin departed the command tent, Du Long smiled and said to General Xu Yin, “General Xu, to be frank, the Brave Cavalry Corps is made up entirely of newly recruited soldiers. They will require rigorous training.”

“Recently, many spies from various factions have infiltrated Fengli County. It’s possible some have slipped into our Brave Cavalry Corps! That’s why I tasked Sun Lin with thoroughly vetting the new recruits. I hope you can assist him as much as possible during training over the next few days.”

“I will certainly do my best to cooperate with Lord Sun,” Xu Yin replied, though a hint of confusion lingered on his face. “But I don’t quite understand why you’re so concerned about secrecy within the Brave Cavalry Corps.”

From his perspective, the Brave Cavalry Corps, a modest force in a small place like Fengli County, hardly held secrets worth spying on.

Du Long chuckled softly. “In a few days, General Xu, you will understand why I am so vigilant about maintaining the corps’ confidentiality.” He was reluctant to reveal his true reasons prematurely. “Anyway, General Xu, I entrust the Brave Cavalry Corps to your command. Three days from now, you will lead two thousand troops to accompany me into the Forest of Beast Demons.”

“Lieutenant General, may I ask the purpose of this expedition into the Forest of Beast Demons?” Xu Yin inquired, puzzled by Du Long’s emphasis on the timing.

“Well… aside from delivering some urgent supplies, we’ll also train the new recruits inside. There’s an important task I intend to assign you as well,” Du Long offered vague explanations.

“Training new recruits within the Forest of Beast Demons is a sound idea,” Xu Yin nodded approvingly. “I often lead troops there for training. In times of peace, having soldiers combat those beasts is an excellent way to sharpen their skills.”

“Ha! That’s great to hear!” Du Long laughed. “General Xu, please ensure you send only the most elite two thousand soldiers. I have a surprise in store for you!”

“A surprise?” Xu Yin asked, intrigued.

“Heh heh,” Du Long chuckled nervously. “Since it’s a surprise, it wouldn’t be fun to reveal it now. You’ll see soon enough—I promise you won’t be disappointed!”

...

Under Sun Lin’s leadership, the Shadow Guard launched a comprehensive investigation of every soldier’s background within the camp. Five hundred Shadow Guards, clad uniformly in black leather armor, made their debut before the officers and soldiers.

Following Du Long’s orders, members were recruited from all across Fengli County’s nine towns and thirty-seven villages. Their primary mission was to gather intelligence throughout the territory, with the first priority being to identify any spies masquerading as locals within the Brave Cavalry Corps.

This strategy proved effective. After a single sweep, five or six impostors were uncovered and immediately arrested. Sun Lin assigned two trusted subordinates to interrogate them.

Their origins quickly became clear: all were spies dispatched by various factions, half of whom were sent by the Fan family.

Sun Lin held off reporting these developments to Du Long just yet. Instead, he led several hundred Shadow Guards in a second round of screenings among the thousands of Brave Cavalry soldiers.

In the initial sweep, they had found dozens whose identities were uncertain, as well as a couple hundred who were not native to Fengli County. The second screening aimed to clarify the identities of those dozens of questionable men. As for the non-natives, Du Long had decreed they be transferred directly to the city guard.

They would not allow any unknown figures to remain in the Brave Cavalry Corps, as long as these individuals were kept away from the territory’s core secrets.

Excluding the Forest of Beast Demons, Fengli County’s nine towns and thirty-seven villages were not vast. Assigning several hundred Shadow Guards to investigate a few dozen individuals yielded results within a day.

Among the questionable group, most were cleared after thorough checks. However, two more impostors were uncovered, and five or six still remained unverified.

Sun Lin promptly reassigned those unverified individuals to the city guard, while the two impostors were imprisoned after interrogation.

With these tasks complete, two days had passed. Sun Lin immediately compiled all the information and hastened back to the lord’s residence to report to Du Long.

Upon hearing the report, Du Long smiled. “Ha! Sun Lin, it seems my grandfather’s decision to appoint you as the chief intelligence officer of Fengli County was wise! You worked quickly. In just two days, you’ve completed the task ahead of schedule!”

“Thank you for your praise, Lieutenant General,” Sun Lin said humbly. To be honest, as this was his first time handling such intelligence work in Fengli County, he had pushed himself hard, scarcely sleeping for the past two days.

“Sun Lin, are you certain there are no longer any unknown or non-local personnel within the Brave Cavalry Corps?” Du Long asked keenly.

“My lord, to be certain, I had my team re-verify the records of thousands of soldiers. I can now assure you that all identities are legitimate. Those with doubtful backgrounds have been reassigned to the city guard, as you instructed,” Sun Lin answered promptly.

“Excellent! I never expected the Shadow Guard to achieve such success immediately after its founding. I will record this merit for you all. Once we confirm the Brave Cavalry Corps is entirely secure, I will reward you accordingly,” Du Long said with satisfaction.

“Thank you, Lieutenant General,” Sun Lin said excitedly.

“Besides that, I have another task for you. The blacksmiths and miners assigned to the Black Obsidian Iron Mountain secret base differ from those sent to the gold mines. You must also vet these individuals carefully. As before, anyone whose identity cannot be confirmed must not be allowed into the Black Obsidian Iron Mines. Apart from the blacksmiths who will remain in the city for other duties, all unverified miners should be sent to the gold mines,” Du Long instructed.

“As you command,” Sun Lin replied respectfully.

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Chapter Two...