Longzang

Chapter 521 Another battlefield

At dinner time, Li Zhi rushed over, found Wei Yuan, and asked with concern, "Mr. Cai has left. I asked him why, but he didn't say anything."

Wei Yuan said helplessly, "He said I was unrighteous and disdainful of associating with me."

Li Zhi was taken aback: "Is it because of sending mortals to the front lines?"

Wei Yuan nodded.

Li Zhi frowned and said, "Mr. Cai is a learned man, but he cherishes his reputation and has always kept himself pure. He can indeed sacrifice himself for righteousness when necessary, but he is also somewhat pedantic and inflexible. Alas, I was too hasty at the time. It would have been better if I had waited until the war was over before recommending him."

Wei Yuan said with a wry smile, "It's hard to say whether we can win now, and it's too early to say the war is over. If we wipe out all the new refugees from Zhao and Jin, and the Wu tribe still doesn't retreat, we'll have to think of other ways."

"What is the current ratio of Qingming to refugees?" Li Zhi asked.

"About 10% are Qingming residents, and 90% are refugees."

Li Zhi looked at Wei Yuan inquiringly and asked, "This proportion..."

"The ratio doesn't have any special significance; it's simply because this ratio results in the highest overall combat power and allows for greater endurance."

Li Zhi then understood. With Qingming falling into the hands of the Wu tribe, none of the local inhabitants had a chance of survival, so they would fight to the death. However, the outside refugees didn't think that way; most of them chose to remain refugees and flee to another place.

Therefore, Wei Yuan used a small number of Qingming residents to support the majority of refugees. During the great battle, there were supervisors from the rear. When his comrades charged forward, the refugees followed suit, and then a bloody battle naturally ensued. If they didn't fight, they would die.

If all the inhabitants of Qingming are killed in battle, and with a formidable enemy at hand, the refugees will surely scatter in all directions.

Li Zhi pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, “I know Mr. Cai very well. He won’t just leave; he will definitely write an article to criticize you. He’s quite famous in literary circles, and such criticism will be very bad for your reputation. Before he goes far, I’ll send someone to deal with him.”

Wei Yuan asked, "Did he take all his disciples with him? Did he say anything when he left?"

“When I went to persuade him to stay, he only took half of his disciples with him and left the other half behind. He said that once Qingming Academy was built and the first batch of students graduated, he would gradually withdraw his disciples. He said that I was unrighteous and immoral, but the people were innocent, and these students who were eager to learn could not have their future cut off because of this.”

Wei Yuan sighed, "This Mr. Cai can be considered to have seen things through to the end."

Li Zhi replied, “This is just a small matter. Anyone else could have done it, and if Fang Hetong were here, he might have done it even better. But one article from him could ruin your reputation, and it might be difficult to overturn your case in the history books. Many of the historians who compiled histories in various countries were his fellow students. These people can edit the Spring and Autumn Annals, and they can also distort the truth. Those who achieve great things are not bound by trivial matters, nor can they be constrained by petty sentiments. I will do this for you.”

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Ultimately, Mr. Cai and I have different ideologies. If he wants to write an article to criticize me, I can write an article to criticize him back if I have nothing better to do in the future. If I don't have time myself, I can hire someone to write an article to criticize me back."

But killing him would be excessive and unnecessary. Once I defeat the Witch Clan, protect Qingming, transform it into Qingzhou, and create a paradise, the world will judge for itself.”

Li Zhi sighed, glanced at Wei Yuan, and said, "You... are truly naive! My dear brother, you are invincible on the battlefield, but you underestimate the darkness in people's hearts. The hearts of people in this world are also a battlefield, and one that is most unpredictable. Just because you think you are right doesn't mean others will agree with you! Many people oppose you, perhaps simply because they dislike you and hope you will fall from power."

Unpredictable individuals like Mr. Cai can cause far more trouble than you imagine. The best course of action is prevention.

Wei Yuan frankly said, "Then it seems I'm not cut out to be an emperor. Mr. Cai did help me after all, so I still can't bring myself to do it."

Li Zhi shook his head and finally said, "Forget it, let's talk about the immediate matter. My Zhenshan Army has suffered heavy losses, and morale has been low lately. Give me five thousand soldiers to replenish the ranks, and I also need one hundred thousand refugees to send to the front lines. To the outside world, I will say that this is my own decision. Mr. Cai has received financial assistance from my Li family, so since I am involved, he might be a little more restrained when writing his article."

"Thank you!" Wei Yuan hugged Li Zhi.

Li Zhi raised his hand and patted Wei Yuan on the back, saying, "There's nothing to thank me for. If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. If your Qingming falls, my realm will also perish."

Ten days later, Wei Yuan rebuilt several fortresses on the ruins of the original Ding'an City, and reinforced the rear towers and artillery positions. Now, the towers are topped with steel fortresses to protect the city's defensive cannons inside.

After more than ten days of good food and drink, and rigorous training, the physical condition of the large number of refugees has significantly improved. As war approaches, they have been deployed in batches to forward camps close to the front lines.

From the moment they entered these camps, they received only two orders: advance and hold their ground.

Any slightly complex command would cause chaos, as would any command that required thought. Wei Yuan had a keen intuition about this, so from the very beginning, he gave the refugees no opportunity to create confusion. Therefore, all commands were simple and straightforward, requiring only execution, not thought.

The Wu tribe continued their advance, finally halting construction a hundred miles into the canal. Hongye actually wanted to continue, but Wei Yuan suddenly launched several high-speed missiles. The missiles arrived with incredible speed, catching the entire Wu tribe off guard. The Wu tribe's main defensive forces were concentrated at the altar, so they could only watch helplessly as the missiles struck the canal construction site, instantly killing tens of thousands of Wu laborers.

All the laborers and slaves scattered and fled, forcing the witch clan to halt their canal project. The nobles expended great effort to restore order.

In the center of the great lake, nine hundred miles from Qingming, a magnificent altar has now been erected. Within the altar, blood gathers, churning and surging as if boiling.

The holy shaman hurriedly walked to the top of the altar, arrived at the blood pool, and stood quietly waiting.

The blood in the pool churned, and within it, streaks of dark gray-black energy swirled and churned with the blood waves, yet remained condensed and unyielding. At this moment, a vortex appeared in the center of the pool, from which a crimson leaf slowly rose. However, only its upper body was visible; its lower body remained submerged in the blood.

The Holy Sorcerer glanced at the blood pool and saw wisps of grayish-black energy rising from Red Leaf's body and dissipating into the pool. He closed his eyes tightly, trying his best to stabilize his breathing.

"How are you now?" the holy witch asked.

Hongye slowly opened her eyes and said, "They have the power of immortals, and their status is extremely high. I've only cursed and killed less than 200,000 people, and the karma is already starting to feel the strain. The karma generated by killing a human in Qingming is at least five or six times that of other places. I can only use curses like the Starry Sky Collapse one more time at most, but it's best not to use them at all. Do you have any good news from your side?"

The Holy Witch said, "There can be no good news. The people of the Sniper's tribe have already obtained his body, and the tribe's ancestor is extremely angry. He has already complained to the City of Heaven. If you cannot give a satisfactory answer, they will try to make the Ancestral Witch withdraw his favor towards you."

Hongye was greatly surprised: "How did the corpse of the Sniper end up in the hands of his clansmen?"

"The Wild Ancestor Tribe managed to obtain the corpse of the Sniper from the human race and handed it over to his tribesmen."

A murderous glint flashed in Hongye's eyes: "Day of the Great Wilderness! He's courting death!"

The Holy Witch shook his head: "You can't touch him. The Great Ancestor of the Sniper Feather has promised to protect the Desolate Ancestor Tribe. Unless you want to start a war with the Spirit Witches now, it's best not to touch the Desolate Ancestor Tribe. By the way, you don't really think you can beat the Spirit Witches, do you?"

Hongye said, "The Desolate Ancestor Tribe and the Human Race are so close, how come I haven't heard a thing?"

"In the past, the only person who was close to the human race was a minor character named Tianyu. Back then, he wasn't even a Great Shaman. So I didn't pay much attention to him and didn't follow up afterward. The current situation obviously has nothing to do with Tianyu."

Hongye seemed to be deep in thought: "You mean the Desolate Ancestor Tribe is being instructed by someone behind the scenes? Could it be that esteemed Spirit Shaman?"

The Holy Witch shook her head: "I don't know about that. But it's not just that lord who might make a move. You've seized the initiative now, but there are many potential enemies."

Hongye suddenly smiled and said, "You're right about one thing: I've already seized the initiative. Others can only follow up after I have results. Until I fail, they can only watch."

Suddenly, a topographical map appeared before the Holy Witch, showing the battlefield surrounding Qingming. On this map, a long canal could be seen extending all the way to Qingming; it served as both a waterway and part of a massive, terrifying array.

"My troops are in position. We will attack at midnight tomorrow. You will lead the tribe's sorcerers to oversee this battle, but there's no need to engage the humans in magical combat. We will focus on attrition warfare on the ground. I want to see how many men Qingming has left, and how many more battles they can withstand!"

The Holy Witch said, "Our spies within the human race have sent back a lot of information, some of which is quite interesting. One is that the Xu family is constantly increasing their troops at Hanyang Pass, perhaps hoping to reap the benefits after we suffer a defeat."

"We will not fail."

The shaman added, "Yesterday we captured a scout team from the Xu family. They want to open a new trade route with us."

"Trade routes? What do they sell?"

"Yun Jin".

"Aren't there any offerings?"

The sage said, "They are just a few scouts; they don't know much."

"I want offerings, the more the better. I don't care if they have brocade or not. If they agree, we'll open trade routes; if not, then forget it."

"Okay, I'll tell them."

"Any other news?"

"There's something else interesting. According to our scouts, Wei Yuan has been recruiting refugees from Zhao and Jin and then filling the front lines of the battlefield with them. Most of the casualties we've suffered in our previous battles were these completely worthless refugees."

Hongye said in a deep voice, "I've noticed it. It's a very effective strategy, and I don't have any better solutions. Wei Yuan is no fool; he's a very difficult enemy to deal with! However, the refugees' movement speed is limited, and he can only recruit so many refugees within a certain period of time. Once they're all gone, he won't be able to replenish them. Moreover, the refugees won't fight to the last person; if too many die, they'll mutiny first."

The Holy Witch said, "What's interesting isn't that, but rather that his actions seem quite unacceptable to some people in the human race. Some people are said to hate this very much. So we just need to bribe a few people in their court and have them attack Wei Yuan fiercely, and perhaps the human race will cut off Wei Yuan's support on its own."

Hongye found it somewhat unbelievable: "For some refugees who are no different from our slaves and commoners, they would attack their own tribe's general who is guarding the border? When did humans become so foolish?"

"How would I know? But it's said to be true. I've heard that what Wei Yuan did is called cruelty and inhumanity among humans."

Hongye immediately said, "Good! It won't cost much to bribe a few people, let's bribe as many as possible! Let's get all the officials in their court who are willing to take money on board!"

(End of this chapter)