Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 674 Masked
After sending Li Hongjiu away, Ming Chaofeng beckoned the errand-running general over with a glance and asked in a low voice, "That Shi Chun, did you make arrangements with the person who went to supervise the Heavenly Court team?"

The general whispered, "It's all been arranged. They'll contact us as soon as they find Shi Chun's squad. However, he's never seen what Shi Chun looks like, so he probably won't be able to figure it out for a while."

Ming Chaofeng: "When you first go in, people have to pass right in front of him, so he's the easiest to identify. I've never seen Shi Chun's group before, but I know that Wu Jinliang is a very tall guy. Wu Jinliang is his follower. Where there's Wu Jinliang, there's Shi Chun."

The general suddenly realized what was going on and quickly cupped his hands, saying, "I understand. I'll go and remind them right away."

After saying that, he quickly turned and left.

In the capital of the Northern Kingdom, armored warriors gathered like clouds.

One of the sallow-faced men participating in the battle was the leader of the 79th team of the Northern Battle Team, named Xie Yunzhao. When he saw a patrolling general passing by, he immediately called out to him and cupped his hands to indicate that he had something to ask for his advice.

So the general gestured for him to leave, and after they were out of sight of others, the general whispered, "Sixteenth Master, why are you urging me to meet at this time? It's not appropriate."

Xie Yunzhao pressed, "Where's Shi Chun? Which team is he on? Have you found out yet?"

Lai said helplessly, "Sixteenth Master, I promised to help you investigate, and I will. Why are you in such a hurry? Right now, apart from the core members of the Heavenly Court team, no one knows how those hundreds of thousands of people were divided. We can't figure it out in a short time. We can only investigate slowly after we go in. But Sixteenth Master, the matters entrusted to us by our superiors are more important. Don't let things go wrong!"

Jie Yunzhao sneered, "A mere Shi Chun is nothing to worry about. He'll just be a piece of cake. Damn it, he used Blood Escape twice in a short period of time to escape, which damaged my essence and caused my cultivation to drop below the Heavenly Immortal realm. I haven't recovered yet. Otherwise, why would I get involved in this mess? It's all that bastard Shi Chun's fault. I won't be able to quell my hatred until I kill him with my own hands."

Lai Jiang said helplessly, "I've already made arrangements with the people over there who are supervising, and I've given them the mother-child talismans. As soon as they find Shi Chun, they will inform you immediately. Please be patient, Sixteenth Master."

Jie Yunzhao: "This isn't a matter of patience. Once we're inside, and things start happening above, there'll be no time to play games with them. It's better to resolve things quickly to avoid causing problems later."

Upon hearing this, Lai Jiang understood. After a moment's thought, he whispered, "Okay, I understand. I'll have them go in and guard the entrance to check everyone who goes in. The problem is, he hasn't seen Shi Chun before."

Jie Yunzhao: "He has a follower named Wu Jinliang, who is quite tall. If we compare his age with that, we'll be pretty much right. Finding Wu Jinliang is the same as finding Shi Chun."

"Oh, I see. Having obvious features makes things easier. Okay, I got it. You can go back now; we're about to leave."

In Tiandu, the army began its grand march, with only one gate, Xunmen, serving as the entrance and exit from the Demon Realm.

While Shi Chun and his group, who were at the very back of the line, were still waiting for their turn to move, they were all craning their necks to see what would happen, guessing that it would be a while before their turn to move.

Just then, Shi Chun suddenly noticed a reaction from the mother-child talisman on his body. It was a message from Situ Gu. He didn't know what Situ Gu meant by sending a message at this time. He took it out and looked at it discreetly, and was immediately taken aback.

Situ Gu told him that Zhen'er had also signed up for the Great Amnesty War and joined the Beiju team, and asked Shi Chun to take care of her if he had the chance.

Shi Chun hurriedly replied to ask what happened. Naturally, he found it strange. He felt that with Situ Gu's status and position, it was impossible for him to be unable to protect the truth in such a matter and let Situ Gu's disciple participate in the battle. How dare the commander of the Beiju Battle Team do that?

Situ Gu was also helpless. He said it was an oversight. He had seen that Zhen'er had been focusing on her cultivation all these years and had been well-behaved when she went out. He thought he could rest assured. He never dreamed that Zhen'er would take the initiative to sign up for the battle. He had scolded her, but it was no use. She had signed up and he couldn't cancel it. No matter who he asked, it was no use.

He also knew that Shi Chun and Zhen'er were not on the same team, but given their relationship, Situ Gu even suspected that Zhen'er signed up for the battle because she knew that Shi Chun was participating, and that she was targeting Shi Chun.

In addition, Shi Chun's ability and experience in handling this matter seemed to have merit. After thinking it over, he felt that informing Shi Chun might provide Zhen'er with an extra layer of protection.

To spread this news, Situ Gu made a special trip to the Heavenly Capital, knowing that someone like him would attract attention wherever he went.

After some hesitation, he managed to make it in time. If he had arrived any later, he would have lost contact with Shi Chun once he entered the Demon Realm.

What could Shi Chun say? He could only say that he understood.

After putting away the Mother-Child Talisman, he thought of how Zhen'er would hug and kiss him and say she wanted to have children with him. He felt a toothache and helplessness. He didn't expect that the woman would still have the same old habits after twenty years.

He also felt that Zhen'er had signed up for the fight because of him.

When he later told Wu Jinliang about the news, Wu Jinliang immediately said, "Go to hell! No one's helping, they're just causing trouble."

He also believed that Zhen'er did this because she knew that Shi Chun had signed up to fight.

After waiting for a while, the procession, which gradually stretched out like a long snake, finally reached them. The three thousand-strong squad, which was the tail of the snake, followed the body of the snake forward and gradually approached the Xun Gate. Once inside, they turned around and found that the entrance behind them had been blocked by a group of Heavenly Court troops.

And gradually darkness fell ahead.

After traveling through what seemed like a long and twisting space, a glimmer of light ahead gradually grew larger. Once the light in our vision was fully unleashed, we had entered another world. The temperature had dropped sharply, and there was a light, scattered snowfall, but no snow accumulation on the ground.

A somewhat gray world, with obvious signs of destruction on the mountains and land, resembling ruins, barren of vegetation, with dark clouds hanging in the sky, and swirling gusts of evil energy occasionally sweeping by.

Before coming here, everyone had done some research on the Demon Realm, knowing that it was originally the most intense ancient battlefield, which was turned into a broken world. It is said that a powerful being cracked the entire earth, leaving it unbroken, resulting in strange and unpredictable weather.

Looking around, Wu Jinliang suddenly became wary, sensing something was amiss. He noticed several pairs of eyes staring at him from both sides of the exit.

It's not the kind of person who targets someone just because they're tall; it's the kind who targets someone and scrutinizes them closely. It's clearly different from the way people notice tall people. There was a noticeable difference on the spot.

There were no speeches or instructions to gather people together. It wouldn't be appropriate to gather hundreds of thousands of people together and shout at them. People came and went, and each team could find their own place and search for the enemy.

The rules to be explained were all written down and distributed to individuals in advance.

There is also a map, which shows five Xun Gates equidistantly distributed in five locations in the Demon Realm. These are the entrances for the enemy and allies after entering the Demon Realm. Those who intend to launch a surprise attack can choose for themselves.

After the great battle, the five Xun Gates will be reduced to one, which will be controlled by the victorious side as the sole access route and will also represent the ownership of the territory.

There's no need for the members of this team to kill each other. The five teams have a total of 15,000 centurion tokens. Only by seizing tokens from other teams can you earn battle merits. Tokens from your own team are only counted in the total score, not in battle merits. So, it's useless to steal a lot of tokens from your comrades.

The standard for victory among the five teams is whoever accumulates the most Centurion Tokens at the end. In other words, whoever accumulates 7,501 tokens first will win, provided that they keep their score until the end.

The battle was scheduled for three months. The scattered squads either met to discuss the situation, went their separate ways, or made contact with each other to discuss forming a united front.

Shi Chun and his group watched from a distance not far from Xunmen.

Near the Xun Gate, there is a large, temporarily erected platform. In front of the platform are two huge images: one is a reflection of the Heavenly Mirror, and the other is a scene of the magical treasure Mountain and River Map. There are five clusters of bright lights of different colors on them, which are the displays of the various teams and forces that have entered the Demon Realm.

The Heavenly Court team is displayed in gold, the East Victory team in white, the West Ox team in black, the South Salvation team in red, and the North Union team in blue.

Manxi and the others on the high platform were staring intently at the reflection in the Sky-Gazing Mirror, where the scenes at the entrances of the various battle teams were constantly being displayed.

The Sky-Gazing Mirror allows commanders to observe the battle situation on the ground, while the Landscape Map enables them to keep track of the movement of troops from all sides. The centurion tokens held by each squad can be used to communicate with this place, all of which are convenient for command purposes.

Mulan, who was also on the stage, fixed her gaze on Shi Chun and the others.

Shi Chun, who was observing the situation, saw that his own overhead mirror could reflect the entrances of other houses, and immediately realized that other houses could also see the entrances here. He quickly called out, "Let's go!"

He turned and ran, trying to avoid being seen by other people's astronomical mirrors. He was afraid of being recognized and even more afraid of being locked on because of it. He had suffered from the astronomical mirrors many times and had learned from his mistakes.

The Mingshan Sect members were experienced and knew that following their leader was the most reliable way to win in such a competition. Upon hearing the call, they followed without hesitation, catching Mulan Qingqing off guard, and she hurriedly caught up.

As soon as Mulan Qingqing left, Han Bao quickly followed, clearly intending to be her personal bodyguard.

The so-called trash teammates were indeed as obedient as Manxi had said. When they saw that the centurion didn't utter a single word and just abandoned them and ran away, they panicked and chased after him desperately, afraid of being left behind.

They are incredibly obedient.

On the map of mountains and rivers, four lines gradually appeared on the various colored orbs, and judging from their directions, they all seemed to be heading straight for the other four families, clearly representing the vanguard warriors of each family who dared to fight.

The 79th team of the Northern Battle Team was one of them. Centurion Jie Yunzhao led the team directly towards the central direction of the Heavenly Court Battle Team.

Along the way, he suddenly took out the Mother-Child Talisman and glanced at it. It listed several suspicious squads with tall men and marked their approximate destinations. Among them, the tall man in the Third Thousandth Squad, which was specially marked with the character "Tian", seemed to be the most suitable in terms of age.

“Three thousand…” Xie Yunzhao muttered as he put away the mother-child talisman, a cold smile playing on his lips, his resolve to leave growing ever stronger…

After a swift flight, they spotted a sheltered spot at the foot of a cliff. Shi Chun immediately flew down to hide, followed by a group of people.

"The chief's move is brilliant..." Before he could even understand what was going on, the old man Cai Wenwu, who had just landed, stepped forward to flatter him.

Shi Chun shoved the useless idiot aside and said directly to Wu Jinliang, "You're good at making things, so hurry up and make a few big hats for everyone to cover up."

He raised his hand and made a gesture to block the view above. Wu Jinliang understood immediately and knew what he wanted to block. He chuckled and said, "Okay, I'll make the brim bigger."

Feng Chi, who was standing close to Shi Chun, asked curiously, "Boss, why are you making hats?"

Shi Chun explained, "It's not appropriate to be targeted by the Sky-Gazing Mirror."

Upon hearing this, Feng Chi immediately understood. She knew that this person had learned from experience and offended many people. After thinking for a moment, she tore off a piece of cloth, covered her face, and asked, "Will you be able to recognize me like this?"

To be honest, with armor and helmets already on, it was indeed difficult to recognize his true face when he was masked. Shi Chun immediately called out to the eager Wu Jinliang, "Alright, stop bothering, a mask is enough."

He did it as he spoke, and he went even further, poking two holes in the cloth, tying it to his face, making him even more unrecognizable. He took out a mirror, looked at himself, and kept saying how good it was.

Wu Jinliang, who had been itching to show off his skills, became a little deflated and glanced at Feng Chi with slight displeasure, but in the end he still followed suit and did the same.

The Mingshan Sect members had all shown their faces on the Heavenly Mirror, resulting in irrefutable evidence and their expulsion from the sect. They had a painful experience and naturally understood Shi Chun's good intentions even more. They all followed suit and made two holes in a piece of cloth to cover their faces.

Mulan Qingqing hesitated for a moment, but she also felt that Shi Chun's decision in this environment was definitely better than hers. The lesson of the Meteor Shower was still fresh in her mind, and she couldn't deny it. So she also pulled out a piece of white cloth, poked two holes in it, and covered her face.

Not only them, but the other eighty or so accomplices also immediately followed suit without being told, constantly adjusting the size and spacing of the two holes.

Han Bao was a little confused. What was all this stuff? He looked at everyone and then at Mulan and Qingqing, and realized he was the only one who didn't fit in.

Mulan Qingqing thought he was short of fabric, so she kindly tore off a piece and handed it to him.

Han Bao was speechless for a moment, then finally accepted it and started poking holes in his face to cover it.

Before long, everyone had finished their disguises, but the fabrics they used were not uniform, with various patterns and some even using floral prints, making them look like women.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang looked at this group of people speechlessly, wondering what these good-for-nothings were doing getting involved in the fun, and what business it was of theirs.

After everyone finished, they began to look around at the people. Suddenly, someone exclaimed in surprise, "Oh dear, you're covered up so well, I can't recognize you! Who are you?"

With their armored and masked attire, the uniformity was so high that it was indeed difficult to distinguish them by appearance. Since they hadn't known each other for very long, they were so masked that even their own people couldn't recognize each other.

Everyone looked at each other, and there was indeed a moment of confusion.

"Don't look at the face, look at this, look at this..." someone pointed to the name on the collar tag.

So everyone started to look down and read each word carefully as soon as they met.

The key is that we haven't known each other for very long. Out of a hundred people, how many of them do you remember whose names and appearances you can immediately match?
Fortunately, the leader's belt had an auspicious cloud on it, but it still made people want to check the name on the companion's belt to confirm.

(End of this chapter)