New and dark light years

Chapter 506: Just like sixty years ago, a coward.
Lu Ying knew about 'dual cultivation' more than two years ago.

Liu Shen would occasionally mention that Li Lin's dual cultivation technique was very powerful. When she visited Li Lin's house and chatted with Hong Luan and others, she would hear them mention dual cultivation from time to time. Although it was just a casual remark, she remembered it.

Therefore, she was always curious about what dual cultivation felt like.

Of course, she was only willing to cultivate with Li Lin.

After one night, she finally understood why dual cultivation was so fascinating and addictive.

The snowflakes were still falling sparsely, and the sky was as gloomy and overcast as it had been yesterday.

But Lu Ying was in a very cheerful mood.

She stood on high ground, watching the army depart into the distance, watching the people she cared about most gradually turn into tiny dots and disappear into the distant horizon.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she breathed a sigh of relief and, filled with joy, skipped and hopped towards Jin County.

The number of paper figures protecting her increased from four to seven.

After a night of dual cultivation, the vital energy in her body was transformed into spiritual energy.

Although the amount of spiritual energy was still small, it gave her a feeling of being reborn.

If it were her now, and Xu Chen and the others were chasing her again, she was confident that she wouldn't need to run, and could even fight back.

She stood on the high ground for almost half a day, and only after the entire army disappeared from sight in the afternoon did she turn around and walk towards Jin County.

The snow seemed to be falling even harder, but she felt very happy, very happy.

Following the official road, evening soon arrived, and she was still in a state of excitement and joy.

They found a secluded, low-lying spot by the roadside, had the paper figures do the work, and gathered some dry branches and leaves from nearby to set up a makeshift shed to shelter them from the wind and snow.

It's fortunate that she can now control seven paper figures; otherwise, it's hard to say when this little shed would have been built.

Lu Ying increasingly felt that the technique of making paper figures was truly amazing and incredibly useful.

Then she started another fire, sprinkled the surrounding area with Imperial Powder, and threw down small paper figures used to monitor the area.

After doing all this, she took out some dry rations from her bundle and ate them slowly.

The wind howled around them, and there were occasional strange cries, but Lu Ying wasn't scared at all.

The spiritual energy within her, though not much, kept her body warm.

The Imperial Powder can prevent the surrounding monsters from entering and from seeing her.

After she finished eating, she took a thin blanket out of her backpack and spread it on the pile of leaves.

He added some more firewood to the fire and then lay down on his side to rest.

In a daze, Lu Ying dreamed of Li Lin again. Just as she was feeling happy, she suddenly opened her eyes.

She rolled over, grabbed a handful of sand from the side, and covered the fire with it.

Then the seven paper figures returned to her side, protecting her in the middle.

The outer paper figure sent a message: something has arrived.

The rustling sound came from afar, gradually becoming clearer, and in less than three breaths it was already close at hand.

Lu Ying tried to hide, but it was too late.

A person completely covered in black cloth, with only their eyes showing, appeared in front of Lu Ying.

A disguise!
It's a complete set. Generally speaking, only the government can provide such a complete set of disguises.

Lu Ying looked at the other person's exposed eyes, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Xu Chen!"

The other party did not speak, but looked at the seven paper figures beside Lu Ying with apprehension.

Lu Ying made a hand seal, and the man in black quickly retreated, hiding under a large tree.

This action made Lu Ying frown slightly.

If it were Li Lin, he would have immediately unleashed the Lightning Strike Curse.

Even if there are big trees to block the view, they will still kill people and trees together.

However, Lu Ying's spiritual energy was not as abundant, and she was indeed not as talented as Li Lin in the Lightning Strike Technique, which resulted in her Lightning Strike Technique being somewhat less powerful.

Most of the lightning strikes hit the tree trunks, which has little effect and wastes spiritual energy.

However, Lu Ying smiled and turned to leave.

If you're so capable, then don't come out from under the tree.

When Lu Ying left the Yu Jie fan circle, the surrounding ghosts sensed her blood aura and surged towards her in dense numbers.

Each of the strange creatures is a child, with its mouth wide open like a black hole, making "ya ya ya" sounds.

But when they got within ten feet of Lu Ying, they were frightened away, as if they had seen something terrifying.

Lu Ying smiled and subconsciously touched the sachet at her waist.

Inside was a fragment of bone, a precious gift from Liu Shen. It carried Liu Shen's scent, deterring most strange and dangerous creatures from approaching.

During this time, she was able to spend each night comfortably in the wild, largely thanks to this piece of debris.

According to Liu Shen, it was a scale on the back of her neck.

Xu Chen became anxious as he watched Lu Ying leave.

Although he didn't understand why Lu Ying could move freely in the wild without wearing the disguise, he knew very well that if Lu Ying escaped again, he wouldn't be able to catch up with her.

He was able to keep up with Lu Ying simply because, for some reason, Lu Ying stayed with the soldiers of Jin County for an extra day and night, which he saw from a distance.

If Lu Ying were to leave now, he would have no chance of catching up with her.

"Don't go! Our Prince Lu's Mansion means no harm!" Xu Chen shouted.

Lu Ying didn't believe it and ran even faster.

Just as Xu Chen was about to chase after him, he immediately felt a chill directed at him and shrank back under the big tree.

"The King of Lu has long admired the reputation of Temple Master Lu and wishes to invite you to Lu County to discuss important matters."

Lu Ying glanced back, then disappeared into the darkness with the seven paper figures.

Xu Chen sighed and leaned helplessly against the tree trunk.

He didn't leave in a hurry because he was worried that Lu Ying was lying in ambush for him in the distance.

However, he was very curious as to why Lu Ying could move freely at night without needing to wear a disguise.

This matter must be related to Li Lin.

Now he regrets it a bit. Originally, the Prince of Lu sent him out for two reasons: first, to pacify the martial arts tournament, and second, to find Lu the Temple Master.

After hearing that Lu Miaozhu was also participating in the martial arts tournament, Prince Lu became interested in this woman.

It wasn't romantic love; he wanted to extract the secret to Li Lin's powerful paper doll making from her.

Originally, he was supposed to properly invite the person, but Xu Chen felt that... if a mere woman from the martial arts world wasn't suppressed, what if she offended the Prince of Lu when brought before him!
However, this very idea has led him into his current extremely troublesome situation.

All his comrades died in battle, which was already a huge mistake. If this temple priest Lu cannot be brought back, he will probably face the death penalty.

"A mere woman from the martial arts world has become such a big problem, how hateful."

Xu Chen muttered to himself.

He leaned against the tree trunk, stomping his feet from time to time.

The snowy night was very cold, and even though he had vital energy protecting him, he still felt cold.

After waiting for about an hour, Xu Chen figured that Lu Ying should be far enough away that she wouldn't be ambushing him nearby, so he came out from under the big tree.

He first went out into the woods, looked around, then quickly returned into the woods. After waiting a while and confirming that no one was nearby, he walked onto the main road with peace of mind.

The snow was already quite thick, and it crunched underfoot. He had just stepped onto the main road when he felt something tangled around his foot; he initially thought it was some kind of vine or grass.

When he looked down, he saw several pale purple paper figures hugging his right leg.

Paper dolls!?
Not good!

He was about to run away when he pulled hard and discovered that behind these little paper figures were other paper figures being held.

These paper figures were hidden in the trees. With his effort, he pulled more than thirty paper figures out from under the snow, as if pulling on vines.

But he remained motionless in the same spot.

Then, he looked up abruptly and saw three purple lights forming above his head.

"Spare me!" Xu Chen shouted.

But the booming thunder drowned out his screams.

……

Twelve days later, the Jin County army passed through Yu County.

Along the way, no one dared to stop him, even though there were still about 20,000 remnants of soldiers in Yu County, and even though the prefect of Yu County disliked Li Lin.

But he made no comment, instead ordering the counties along the way to send provisions to the army.

I dare not not deliver it.

What if I anger this madman who dared to kill even the crown prince, and he takes a dislike to me and cuts me down with a single sword strike?
Send money and food, get the people out of here first.

Once you leave Yu County, it's only a few days' journey to the capital, Daliang.

The troops of Jin County were stationed in a small mountain town.

Inside the black command tent, the supervisors, led by Xiao Chunzhu, were already in place.

Li Lin pointed to the map and said, "According to reports from scouts at the front, the Di people are now engaged in battle with Zhang Fei's rebel army. I personally estimate that the rebels will be defeated within a few days, and then they will escape along these three routes..."

As he spoke, he pointed to the three official roads below the capital.

He continued, “These rebels are scattering and fleeing, which will cause great harm to the people of Yu, Chu, and Huai counties. I need you to block the passes on these three official roads in advance to stop them from heading south.”

Xiao Chunzhu asked, "Sir, what benefit do we get from doing this?"

"Firstly, we can win the hearts of the people in the south," Li Lin smiled. "Secondly, after the rebels are blocked by us near the capital, they will have no way to retreat and will have no choice but to fight against the Di people and the capital's garrison. At that time, we will be the ones who reap the benefits."

“This plan is excellent, Your Excellency is wise,” Xiao Chunzhu said sincerely.

Guo Yuan thought for a moment and said, "My lord, could we recruit some of the rebels?"

"We didn't bring that much food, so we could only take in a small portion of it."

Transporting military supplies northward was inherently a difficult task, and supplies would be depleted along the way.

Initially, several thousand shi of grain could be transported out, but by the time it reached Yu County, only about a thousand shi remained.

It's barely enough to keep the army running.

If we take in more prisoners, we won't have enough food.

"Do we have to kill them all?" Guo Yuan asked.

He felt a little reluctant.

Li Lin smiled and said, "We'll see. If we can get grain from the big officials and wealthy families in the capital, it shouldn't be too difficult to feed tens of thousands more able-bodied men."

Upon hearing this, everyone understood what Li Lin's plan was.

They all laughed, their expressions particularly sinister.

Beijing.

At this moment, in the imperial palace's council hall, Zhu Jing sat on the dragon throne with a solemn expression.

No one spoke, and after that period, no one spoke at any court assembly.

Liu Song has resigned from his position as Privy Councilor and is recuperating at home.

Currently, the highest-ranking military officer is the Commander-in-Chief.

In simpler terms, he was the commander of the Imperial Guards.

Dai Sheng, the commander of the Imperial Guards, was drenched in sweat at this moment.

Even though it was winter and snowing outside, he was covered in cold sweat, which shows how much he was suffering.

After a while, a eunuch strode in from outside the palace, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, the Di people have started fighting with Zhang Zouzhi's rebel army, about five li east of the capital."

This was expected.

Zhu Jing thought for a moment and then asked, "Where is Li Lin's army?"

"According to a message sent by a scout from the Imperial City Guard stationed outside the capital, Li Lin, the military governor of Cangwu, has ordered his army to be divided into three routes to guard the passes of Yu, Chu, and Huai."

At this moment, there was a low table in front of Zhu Jing, on which was a map.

Zhu Jing got up and walked to the map. After looking at it for a while, he laughed angrily and said, "Good, good, good! Li Lin's wolfish ambition has been exposed. He actually blocked the gates of the three prefectures, letting the Di people, the rebels, and us fight to the death near the capital."

These words made everyone feel ashamed.

Li Lin's ulterior motives are already common knowledge.

His actions, ironically, aligned with everyone's predictions.

Zhu Jing snorted and sat back on the dragon throne. Although his expression was serious, everyone could tell that he was not nervous at all.

"Do any of you gentlemen have a good strategy to repel the enemy?"

As usual, no one spoke.

After a while, Yue Zhong stood up, clasped his hands and said, “Your Majesty, we do not need to leave the city to repel the enemy. The capital has plenty of grain stored up. Even without the import of foreign supplies, the grain stored up is enough for us to eat until next spring. But the Di people and the rebels do not have that much grain. It will take them at most three months, or at least one month, for both sides to retreat.”

Since the Di people marched south sixty years ago and besieged the capital for a month, only to be repelled by the evil phoenix, the imperial court has prepared many cellars and wells specifically for storing grain in order to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

These old grains are replaced every three years. Although some large rats have recently eaten some of them, causing some discrepancies in the quantity, overall, there is still enough to eat.

Zhu Jing snorted: "How ridiculous. My mighty Qi is actually acting like a coward, waiting for the enemy to retreat on their own. And none of my fierce generals dare to go out of the city to resist the enemy."

The court officials were waiting to die.

But at that moment, a woman walked out from the side.

The other person was wearing a purple queen's robe.

"Your Majesty, would you like me to go out and take a look for you?" the woman said with a smile.

Zhu Jing shook his head and said, "Great-grandmother, there's no need to trouble you with this matter any further."

"At worst, I'll just take off my phoenix robe again! Hahaha."

The woman's sarcastic laughter echoed throughout the hall.

The evil phoenix, now possessing Yang Yourong's body, looked at the assembled officials with her beautiful eyes and laughed, "Just like sixty years ago, when we encountered the Di people, all the officials looked the same, shrinking their heads and looking extremely unsightly. No one dared to step forward, no one dared to speak up, for fear of being sent out to their deaths. In the end, it was still up to me, a weak woman, to repel the enemy."

No one spoke.

The ministers looked grim, and the emperor's expression was no better.

"What about Li Lin?" Xie Feng suddenly asked. "He seems alright. Why not just send him to repel the enemy?"

Xie Feng was always immersed in his own world of perception and didn't know much about the outside world.

Zhu Jing smiled bitterly and said, "Great-grandmother, that Li Lin is the most troublesome enemy of our Zhu family."

(End of this chapter)