'Hmm, why did this person have such a huge reaction upon seeing me? He even shouted the name 'Li.' Does he know me?'
Li Yan's mind raced, but his expression merely showed a timely look of surprise, so that others did not notice anything unusual about him.
Li Yan knew that every mortal dynasty had cultivators watching over it. The Imperial Dynasty was no exception, and it was under the jurisdiction of the Malevolent Spirit Sect's affiliated cultivation forces.
Of course, the Malevolent Spirit Sect would not personally send people to stand guard over such a minor matter. The ones protecting the imperial family in the Imperial Dynasty were disciples sent by some of the nearby cultivation forces.
Therefore, Li Yan's first thought was whether his identity had been exposed and spread by these cultivators.
But then he immediately felt it was impossible. Not many people in the Malevolent Spirit Sect knew him in the first place, and now more than half of them had perished.
As for the remaining few, he understood their backgrounds, and none of them came from the Imperial Dynasty.
And apart from Baili Yuan and the others, how could the few people who might know him casually spread his portrait around?
Moreover, when Li Yan went out to train, apart from Zhao Min, not even his Master Wei Zhongran knew where he had gone!
At the same time, Li Yan also looked carefully at the old man. At first glance, his heart also jolted. He actually felt that the other person's face was somewhat familiar.
'Is he a descendant of someone I know?'
For a moment, memories surged in Li Yan's mind as he quickly recalled any relevant impressions related to this person.
He could first confirm that the other party was definitely not a descendant of his Li family, because he didn't feel the slightest bloodline connection from him.
As Li Yan's thoughts raced, he ran through his memories, from Marshal Hong and Strategist Ji to Chen An, Li Yin, and even some people he had met in the army like Liu Chengyong.
But this old man's appearance was clearly not similar to any of those people.
Seeing their General's expression, the gentle-looking middle-aged man and the others, startled, quickly locked their gazes on Li Yan's position.
It was obvious the General had seen something wrong with this young man; otherwise, with his state of mind, how could he lose his composure like this?
And just as everyone was reacting differently, Duke Cui also realized his lapse in composure. He forcefully suppressed the shock in his heart.
He looked at Li Yan carefully again and again, his heart only growing more and more shocked.
"Your name is… Zhang Ming?"
He slowly sat back down, his tone somewhat strange as he asked.
"Greetings, Your Grace. This one is Zhang Ming!"
Hearing Li Yan speak again, the waves in Duke Cui's heart, which had just calmed, stirred once more.
'That's right, I can't be mistaken. It's that voice, just without the authority of giving commands. Apart from the short hair being different from before, he's almost exactly the same as back then…'
Duke Cui calmed himself, then suddenly turned to look at the few people beside him, his gaze finally landing on the gentle-looking middle-aged man.
"I am returning to my study first. Yisheng, bring Young Hero Zhang over later!"
His words left the few people, who were already surprised, stunned once more. They didn't know why the General had such a big reaction just now, and then he was even going to meet this person alone without testing his martial arts.
But as subordinates who had followed the old man for decades, they knew well that the General's words must never be disobeyed, and they dared not ask further questions.
"Yes!"
The gentle-looking man immediately bowed and replied. The others just looked at each other, completely bewildered.
In front of a study in the back courtyard, after a few light knocks on the door, Duke Cui's aged voice came from inside.
"Just let him in. Yisheng, you may withdraw."
"Young Hero Zhang, please!"
The gentle-looking middle-aged man moved slightly to the side, gently pushed open the door with one hand, and turned to gesture for Li Yan to enter.
He could, of course, tell that there was no killing intent in his General's tone. A private meeting could be either good or bad. His attitude towards Li Yan immediately became a few degrees more polite.
Hearing this, Li Yan's face still showed a hint of hesitation. Under the urging gaze of the gentle-looking middle-aged man, he had no choice but to step inside.
The gentle-looking middle-aged man gently closed the door behind him and then walked quickly away, disappearing in a few flashes.
The moment Li Yan stepped into the room, the expression on his face instantly turned to one of indifference.
At this moment, in the vicinity of this study, not only were there the five martial arts masters, including the gentle-looking middle-aged man, circling the area, but there were also more than a dozen soldiers in iron armor whose martial arts were slightly inferior to the five.
Their eyes were all extremely cold, showing no trace of emotion. It was clear at a glance that they were extremely cold-blooded killing machines who had slaughtered countless people.
In fact, the moment the old man had called out "Li," Li Yan had been trying to figure out how his identity had been exposed, but he still hadn't figured it out.
Seeing that the other party had him heavily surrounded, a formation like this would be enough to deal with a major figure in the mortal world. But if Li Yan wanted to kill them, it would be as easy as blowing a breath.
Since the other party had seen through his identity, he no longer planned to hide it. He wanted to personally question this so-called Duke Cui about the reason he recognized him.
If it didn't touch upon any of his taboos, he would just need to modify this person's memory and then leave.
This technique could be used on anyone whose Divine Sense was weaker than his own. And the higher the caster's cultivation, the more stable the other person's memory would be, making it more difficult for them to awaken.
It was just like how Shuang Fengyan had cast a spell on her clansmen; those people might not be able to find that piece of memory even if they reached the Spirit Transformation stage.
But if the people here touched upon Li Yan's bottom line, he would kill them all, even if they were important officials of the Imperial Dynasty, even if they were mortals.
Inside the room, the aged figure stood with his back to the door, staring at a wall. The wall was not hung with any calligraphy or paintings.
Instead, an enormous map covered the entire wall. If one looked closely, large areas of cities, territories, and rivers were drawn on it in different colors.
In many places, dense small characters were marked, and even small flags of different colors were drawn in different areas. This was something Li Yan, who had once been in a military camp, recognized at a glance as a military map, marking all sorts of fortresses and passes.
The scope was the entire Imperial Dynasty, and even some important military locations in different countries at the border connections were shown on it.
Hearing the soft creak of the door behind him, the old man did not turn around, his eyes still fixed on the huge map in front of him.
"Is your name really Zhang Ming?"
He did not turn around, but his words came over.
At this moment, Li Yan had lost his previous respectful demeanor. He crossed his arms over his chest and replied in an equally indifferent voice.
"My surname is Li. Didn't you already say it? Do you know me?"
It was that familiar voice, etched into his very bones. Hearing Li Yan's calm, wave-less reply, the old man's robust body first trembled, then he spun around abruptly.
"Is your esteemed father named Li Yan?"
Then, his pair of tiger-like eyes shot towards Li Yan's like two sharp, bright blades.
This time, it was Li Yan, who had been leaning against the door with a calm expression, who was taken aback. He frowned and asked in return.
"What do you mean? My esteemed father?"
As the old man turned around, he once again saw that familiar face. Countless past events flooded his mind, but hearing Li Yan's question, he just slightly quirked the corner of his mouth.
"Oh, could it be that you have not heard the name Li Yan?"
At the same time, his heart also tightened.
'As I thought, no matter how strong the bloodline, how could the offspring look exactly the same? Did that person only leave behind his surname, change his own name, and leave his descendants in the dark? Or do those people know of the resounding fame he left in the army back then, and that we had some friendship? Is this a disguise? But what is the purpose?'
The old man's thoughts raced. The events of today had been too great a shock for him. It was only because he had been in command of an army of millions for decades and his mind was extremely resilient that he hadn't lost his composure.
However, he momentarily overlooked the difference between the current Zhang Ming and the previous one. His respectful attitude was worlds apart.
"Oh? Of course, I've heard the name Li Yan. And as it happens, that's my name. Could it be that Your Grace knows someone else who looks like me and is also named Li Yan?"
Li Yan's frown deepened. The thought of using Soul-Searching had already arisen in his mind.
He was confused on his end. On the other end, the old man, upon hearing this, suddenly let out a strange "hehehe" laugh.
"Are you sent by the State of Meng, the State of Xianyu, the State of Tong, or perhaps a certain prince? Why not make your disguise a bit older? Wouldn't a resemblance be more convincing that he is not dead! Hehehe…"
Although he was laughing, the sound now reaching one's ears carried an overwhelming scent of blood. For a moment, Li Yan felt the smell of blood rush to his nose.
'What intense killing intent. This is a true bloodthirsty hegemon.'
"Forget it. I'll just use Soul-Searching."
Li Yan sighed helplessly in his heart. He knew that this kind of person would never tell the truth. Even if you broke his bones one by one, he might not reveal the facts.
He didn't want to waste any more time either. After searching his soul, if he found it was really related to the Immortal Sect behind the Imperial Dynasty, he would go directly to that Immortal Sect and settle the accounts with them.
And just as Li Yan was about to make his move, the old man opposite him suddenly struck out with a claw without a sound. His sensitivity to life-and-death crises was extremely keen.
He had also sensed Li Yan's killing intent, and a sense of horror rose in his heart. He did not hesitate to act immediately.
This study was Duke Cui's favorite place to be, so it was also where he often summoned his subordinates.
Therefore, when it was built, it was different from common studies, more like an extremely large reception hall. The furnishings, however, were those of a study, with bookshelves and ancient scrolls all in place.
The two were originally a full three zhang apart, but with a tap of the old man's foot, his entire person was in front of Li Yan in an instant.
A claw shot towards Li Yan's shoulder. The wind whistled between his five fingers, and with a "whoosh," it was already above Li Yan's shoulder.
Three zhang distance, and an old man moved with surprising speed, arriving almost in an instant.
If the people outside had seen this, they would have only seen a shadow flicker, and the two would have been almost pressed together. In their eyes, such speed could probably only be achieved by a terrestrial immortal.
At the same time, the old man let out a low shout.
"You dare to defile the Marshal's great name! Regardless of your origins, you will die afterward!"
The old man's aura exploded. He did not call for help; he alone was enough. The moment he moved, he was truly like a fierce tiger emerging from its cage.
But today, he was facing a real "terrestrial immortal." So his so-called lightning-fast movements, in Li Yan's eyes, were like a toddler who had just learned to walk, staggering towards him.
Li Yan couldn't even be bothered to dodge such an attack.
And just as he was about to make his move and take down the other party directly, he was startled again by the old man's shout.
'Marshal? Why does that form of address sound so familiar?'
He lightly dodged, and his person had already slid several feet away.
But at this moment, in the old man's eyes, his palm was still continuing to press down, and Li Yan's body was still standing in its original spot.
Li Yan's mind raced, his eyes fixed intently on the old man's face. He had felt that this person looked familiar before.
But he just couldn't remember whose descendant he was!
Because any mortal who knew him should be at least one hundred and seventy or eighty years old. Such a person would not have been too old at the time, so how could he not remember such a person?