The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 673 If I want to find the Immortal Sword, do I have to join the army myself?
Shen Le carried his sword down the mountain.

Heading straight for Ye City.

— He almost got conscripted.

"Come out! Come out, everyone! Let's go! Keep up!"

Shen Le was groggily awakened, groggily the door was kicked open, and groggily someone reached out and pulled her:

"Hurry up! Stop standing there!"

The entire inn was as noisy as a pot of boiling water. Torches flickered, spreading far out from the corridor, illuminating everyone's faces in shifting light and shadow, as if they were on the boundary between light and darkness.

Footsteps were hurried, shouts, curses, and pleas for mercy filled the air, occasionally punctuated by the whistling of whips and a suppressed scream.

Doors were kicked open, and people were dragged out and roughly herded into the line. Someone pleaded softly:
"Sir, this batch of goods is to be delivered to Yecheng tomorrow..."

"Shut up! Hurry up and follow! The enemy is about to attack, and you still refuse to go and defend the city. Are you planning to betray your country and defect to the enemy?!"

"Enemy forces? What enemy forces?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Le finally grasped the crux of the matter and asked a question.

The soldier who was pulling him glared at him impatiently, raised his scabbard to strike, but before it could land, a white light flashed before his eyes:
"Zheng!"

With a soft sound, the scabbard in his hand, the knife at his waist, and even a patch of hair on his forehead were all sliced ​​off. Shen Le stood quietly in place, a white light rising from his body, illuminating his bright eyebrows:
"I'll ask you one more time, what enemy forces?"

"A demon, a monster?" The soldier stared wide-eyed, trembling as he looked at him. A moment later, he cried out, collapsed to the ground, and stumbled backwards towards the door on all fours.

"Help me—"

At this shout, a thunderous sound of footsteps echoed outside, and a troop of soldiers rushed in, their weapons and spears standing in a forest, though they all looked rather tattered.

A squad leader swaggered out and shouted:

"What—a celestial master?"

Shen Le remained silent with a stern face. A dazzling white light emanated from his body, and the long sword at his waist rang out with a clear sound, automatically extending three inches from its sheath.

He frowned, enduring the stench rising from the room and the increasingly suspicious water stains on the floor, before finally reaching out and waving his hand forward:
A gust of wind swept out, carrying with it the stench and water stains, along with the soldier who hadn't yet crawled out of the room, throwing them all far away. Only then did he fix his gaze on the squad leader:
"What enemy forces?"

The squad leader trembled, speechless. The commotion escalated, one ripple after another, until the squad's commander rode up on horseback:

"Immortal Master? -- This brat is blind and doesn't recognize his esteemed status, offending the Immortal Master. This official will teach them a lesson immediately! Guards! Take him away—"

"That's enough." Shen Le frowned slightly and raised his hand to stop him.
"What enemy forces? Where are they attacking from? Why are they arresting people like this?"

"Yes, yes, it's Zhou Jun!" The officer clearly knew much more about the situation than his soldiers, and his reply was quite fluent.

"The Zhou army has attacked! According to the latest military reports, they have already captured Jinyang and are heading straight for the capital!"

Has Jinyang also fallen?

Shen Le was slightly dazed. Jinyang, now Taiyuan, was a famous city in the world, exceptionally fortified, capable of withstanding the attacks of a million-strong army for several years without a problem.

How could such a city have fallen?
Speaking of which, this incident sounds familiar...where have I heard it before?

“Yes!” the officer said indignantly. Judging by his gold and silver ornaments, he was clearly of noble birth and well-informed about inside information. He stepped forward, lowered his voice, and said resentfully:

"It's all that wicked concubine's fault! His Majesty led us in defending the city, and we were doing just fine, when that wicked concubine insisted she was scared and wanted to return to Ye City! So His Majesty took her back, and then..."

"Ah, this... an emperor personally leading an expedition, guarding the city, and even bringing his concubines? That's even more outrageous!" Shen Le hummed in agreement. The officer, seemingly encouraged, lowered his voice and continued his rant:

"You know that vixen, right? That woman named Feng Xiaolian... What respectable lady would have such a name!"

"Little Lian's jade-like body lay prone in the night, already reported that the Zhou army had entered Jinyang..."

Shen Le couldn't help but softly recite it. It matched perfectly; it all matched the jumbled historical knowledge he had learned before.

He tilted his head slightly, gazing towards Ye City in the night, his hand on the hilt of his sword, gripping it tightly, releasing it, gripping it tightly again, releasing it again:

What should I do if I suddenly don't want to kill the emperor anymore?
As far as I can remember, less than a year passed between the fall of Jinyang and the complete demise of the Northern Qi dynasty. Whether this emperor was killed or not seemed to make any difference?

"I understand. ... I'll go take a look." He waved to the officer, used his escape technique, and covered several meters in an instant, half running and half flying towards Ye City.

According to our sect's experience, the first target for finding a suitable sword is various antiques, and the second target is the essence of metals found deep in the mountains.

The reason why the Immortal Sect cooperated with the Northern Qi royal family to design plans and create Soul-Suppressing Figurines was partly out of pity for the innocent people, and partly because of the fact that the Immortal Master was using his identity to search for treasures in the royal family's secret treasury.

The sword at Lou Yun's waist was retrieved from the secret treasury of the Northern Qi imperial family. It was said to have been recast from spoils of war brought from the grasslands by the founding emperor during his campaigns against the Turks and Rouran.

Shen Le, familiar with the route, crossed the Zhang River and scaled the city wall. Under the cover of night, he headed straight for the palace. Though the night was deep, the entire palace was bustling and noisy, as if it were daytime.

"Quick! Quick!"

"Is the procession ready? Flags and drums! Carriages! Check it one last time! —Why is there a layer of black mud on these wheels? Go and wipe them clean right away!"

"Is His Majesty's robe ironed yet?"

"His Highness the Crown Prince's robe—"

Shen Le stood bewildered in a corner, watching the palace servants and eunuchs rushing about, their feet barely touching the ground. After eavesdropping for a while, she finally caught a useful sentence:

"Tell me, is it even useful for His Majesty to pass the throne to the Crown Prince at this time? The Crown Prince is only eight years old..."

"Are you out of your mind?!"

Shen Le opened his mouth, closed it tightly, opened it again, closed it tightly again, and shook his head speechlessly. He originally thought that with the Jin army at the gates, Emperor Huizong of Song abdicating the throne to Emperor Qinzong of Song was already the pinnacle of abstract maneuvering;

I never expected there to be something even more anthropomorphic here! But well, the emperors of the Gao family in Northern Qi were basically all anthropomorphic beings, so it's normal for them to do all sorts of strange things...

Since the palace is preparing for the enthronement ceremony, they probably won't have time to pay attention to him for the time being. Shen Le carefully concealed his presence, winding his way into the depths of the palace, occasionally casting a spell to locate the famous sword and the essence of the five metals.

Taiji Hall, no; Zhaoyang Hall, no; Hanguang Hall, no; Liangfeng Hall, no…

They ventured deeper and deeper, from the halls used for grand court assemblies to the pavilions used for regular court sessions and confidential meetings. In the Cool Breeze Hall, the wind howled mournfully, and the spirit of Hulü Guang, unwilling to accept his fate, seemed to still linger—

Even so, there was no magical reaction, no specks of white light to guide Shen Le.

"Sigh, what am I hoping for..."

Shen Le sighed softly and continued walking inside. He even dared to sneak up to the Northern Qi emperor's side and walk around his bedchamber, but unsurprisingly, he still found nothing.
That incompetent, lustful emperor who indiscriminately killed meritorious officials—even if he possessed a top-grade sword, the sword spirit would automatically annihilate and refuse to stay by his side.

Shen Le shrugged and had no choice but to continue inside. He turned left, then right, finally entering the secret vault. He cast a hand seal, but the vault remained completely dark.
"No way..."

Shen Le craned his neck, stood on tiptoe, and strained to look around, then slumped back in disappointment. Walls were covered with swords and armor, shelves overflowing with bronze vessels and wine cups; the entire area was filled with metal objects—

Can't you even find a single piece of fine hardware?
Not a single one?
Are there not a single one of those famous swords, armors, and bronze artifacts worthy of being collected into the royal treasury, or those that are qualified to appear in national ceremonies, that embodies enough essence?
The Northern Qi is really a makeshift operation; they don't have much of a collection... Perhaps the Immortal Sect was too ruthless before, taking away everything usable?

They didn't even leave me any...

Shen Le silently complained as he walked in, glancing left and right. He would cast a spell every five or six steps, then another seven or eight steps, and then cast it again.

With the entire vault nearly explored, Shen Le was exhausted. He casually tossed out a spell as he walked towards the door, when suddenly he stopped:
White light.

A faint white light.

It was warm and white, somewhat different from the sharp metallic aura he had seen on the immortal mountain, but it was still a white light that could respond to magic.

Shen Le was somewhat delighted. Following the light, she turned her head and saw that a box in the corner had a small crack, and white light was flowing out from inside, calm and peaceful, without flickering or dazzling.

He casually lifted the box, inside which was a jumble of things, including a set of armor, stored in a very messy manner, which did not look like it was very precious.

Shen Le picked up a piece of breastplate, shook it, and put it aside; then he picked up a piece of greaves, shook it, and put it aside as well.

These suits of armor looked battered and bruised, clearly having protected their masters in battle and endured countless bloody fights; yet, none of them emitted a white light...

Are they still down there?

Shen Le sighed as he carried the armor. He arranged the armor pieces one by one according to the shape of a human body, forming the shape of Nezha who was not connected by lotus root threads.

Even though he had personally repaired a piece of Tang armor, his knowledge of armor was not very deep. He could only tell that it was armor used by generals and nobles, and that its owner was of very high status.

As for whether it was a product of this era, or from the previous dynasty, the dynasty before that, or even the Jin and Three Kingdoms period, Shen Le couldn't say...

After laying out everything from the helmet to the boots, he finally pulled out the white-glowing object from the very bottom of the box.

Raise both hands, look at them from the front, then from the back, and then cover your face with them:
"It is you……"

A mask.

A thin, delicate mask shaped like a demon, capable of covering the entire face without obstructing vision.

There are straps on both sides that extend outwards, which can be tied to the back of the head, or probably fixed to a helmet; the area is made to be extremely large, not much different from the Nuo masks in museums.

Shen Le gently stroked the mask in his hand. With each stroke, he could feel a faint stinging pain that traveled from his fingertips to his heart, and then caused the sword at his waist to vibrate slightly.

While there are many masks, Shen Le could only think of one that could emit white light and cause such a strange phenomenon:
"Lanling Wang, he's finally dead..."

Yes, yes... Prince Lanling, Gao Changgong, died the year after Hulü Guang's death, poisoned by someone sent by Emperor Gao Wei...

He died without resistance, and all the princess could think of was to see the emperor and plead for his life, but she couldn't even do that.

"How can I ever see the Emperor's face again?" This was the final sigh of this renowned general from the imperial family...

"Or maybe we should use it... or forget it... but there's no other one... but..."

Shen Le held the thin, exquisite mask, picking it up and putting it down, then putting it down and picking it up again, hesitating.

This mask is the only thing in the entire vault that can trigger spells. In other words, if Shen Le had missed it, he would probably have had to search for it for who knows how long in the vast sea of ​​people.
However, it is also the most significant relic left by Prince Lanling, Gao Changgong, and should not be destroyed by him or used to forge swords.

However, if we look at it from another angle, the Northern Qi was about to perish. When the Northern Zhou conquered the land, the relics of Prince Lanling might not be properly preserved and would still be destroyed by the war.

Thinking about it further, Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yong, once granted a general amnesty to celebrate the death of Hulü Guang. He would probably also respect a famous general like Prince Lanling...

Shen Le struggled and struggled, unable to make up her mind. Deep inside, two voices were constantly battling:

"I am a cultural relic restorer. These valuable cultural relics should not be destroyed in my hands!"

"What are you doing! This is the memory of the Porcelain Tower, the life of that Lu family scion. If you don't make full use of all the conditions, do you not want to pass the level?"

The two voices clashed and roared, neither willing to yield. After a long while, Shen Le suddenly sighed deeply, bent down to put the mask back, and then carefully arranged the armor pieces one by one, stacking them back into the box.

When it comes to cultivating immortality, the most important thing is to have a clear and unobstructed mind!

Protecting Gao Changgong's relics and not destroying important cultural relics related to him—that is my guiding principle!

So what if you can't become a sword immortal in your lifetime?
If all else fails, I'll just restart. Haven't I restarted countless times already?

He slapped several talismans on the box to ensure it could not be opened, thrown away, destroyed, or burned at will, and strode out.

Stepping out of the secret vault, I leaped onto the top of the Taiji Hall, watching a ray of dawn rise from the east, seeing the loud music and drumming below, and witnessing the absurd abdication ceremony taking place before me.

Looking at the rising aura within the palace, which was not even enough to activate his magic or break his secret technique for concealing his form, it was clear that this country had fallen to its lowest point.
Watching the sun rise and set, time pass, watching Emperor Gao Wei flee in panic with his son, watching the Northern Zhou soldiers swarm in, and seeing the famous city beneath our feet fall and change hands...

"So, where am I supposed to find the famous swords and blades I want, the refined metals of the West? Am I supposed to join the army myself?"

(End of this chapter)