Chapter 1154: The Ageless Mountain in the Tide
Guan Feibai’s body trembled slightly.
When they left Li Mountain, the senior brother had prepared a brocade pouch for each of them, saying it could only be opened at the most critical moment.
A few days ago, when the Northern Third Camp was surrounded and the national religion cavalry’s rescue had yet to arrive, he noticed Liang Banhu tearing open that letter and reading it by the campfire for a long time.
The next day, Liang Banhu died in battle.
Today, was it his turn?
He took out the brocade pouch and opened it. Inside was a letter and a medicinal pill.
In the letter, Qiu Shan Jun said that this pill was the same one Xiao Zhang had once wanted to use to help him break through his cultivation realm, only for it to ultimately send him into qi deviation.
Swallowing this pill offered a partial chance of greatly increasing one’s power, possibly even breaking through a realm, but a far greater probability was that all one’s meridians would snap—at best, like Xiao Zhang, one would have to spend over a decade of bitter cultivation to recover; at worst, one would die on the spot.
Bai Cai didn’t see the letter’s contents, but from the change in Guan Feibai’s expression, he vaguely guessed something and desperately tried to dissuade him.
Guan Feibai, expressionless, held the pill and completely ignored whatever Bai Cai was saying beside him.
Bai Cai turned to Xu You Rong and said tearfully, “Why did you have to remind him of this?”
“How can this be blamed on the junior sister? In the end, it’s our own choice.”
Guan Feibai’s expression was calm. After saying this, he swallowed the pill.
The next moment, he fell asleep.
“It’s a sedative. The senior brother asked me to have Chen Changsheng prepare it.”
Xu You Rong said to Bai Cai, “Liang Banhu’s brocade pouch also had one. I don’t know why he didn’t take it. Could the letter’s contents have been different?”
Bai Cai watched his senior brother being carried away like a drunkard, instinctively touched his head, and said, “I haven’t opened my letter yet. I don’t know if it’s the same.”
Xu You Rong reached out and touched his head, saying softly, “Then come with me.”
Only then did Bai Cai realize she had been tricking him into revealing information.
……
……
The force attacking the Eastern Route Army was indeed the main demonic force. Besides over ten thousand wolf cavalry, there were several times that number of warriors from various tribes.
The most important evidence was that the commander of this demonic army was the Demon General.
From over ten li away, the massive silhouette of that inverted mountain tusked beast could be clearly seen.
That inverted mountain tusked beast had died at Nuorilang before; no one knew where the Demon General had found another one.
Wang Po, holding his saber with one arm, sat in a patch of muddy swamp, leaning against a tree that had died many years ago. His eyes were closed, ignoring the sounds of slaughter and life and death beyond the thin mist.
His injuries were far from healed. If he wanted to hold off the Demon General, he had to conserve every bit of strength.
Why had the demonic race abandoned the central army camp to attack the Eastern Route Army? The reason was simple, and anyone could see it.
Because everyone could see that small hill on the outskirts of the battlefield.
On the hill was a carriage.
In the carriage was a little Daoist.
The little Daoist was flying a kite.
Beneath the kite was tied an enormous painting.
The painting depicted the burning of the Galan Temple.
……
……
The wolf cavalry surged forward like a tide, but when they were still several li from that small hill, they were blocked by the black-armored cavalry.
The war was conducted with exceptional directness and brutality. Their strategic intentions were extremely clear, so there was naturally little room for tactics.
The entire plain seemed to feel the tremors coming from the east, to hear the sounds of slaughter there.
“I don’t know if they can hold out over there. I only know that I’m about to reach my limit.”
Ling Hai Zhi Wang spoke to Chen Changsheng in a tone that was, very rarely, human and personal.
Because he was indeed under immense pressure. Now, whenever he stepped out of his tent, countless gazes would fall upon him.
Those gazes held questions, unease, contempt, and encouragement—extremely complex and very dangerous.
The main demonic force was attacking the Eastern Route Army, and that small hill could be swallowed by the black tide at any moment.
At such a time, everyone wanted to know the Pope’s stance.
The vast majority of clergy and soldiers hoped he would issue orders as soon as possible, sending the main army to rescue them.
Yes, even General He Ming didn’t have the authority for such an order; only Chen Changsheng could personally give it.
“There’s no news from over there. No movement.”
Chen Changsheng said.
Tomorrow was the time to refine the cinnabar pills. He was considering whether to cancel this batch and save his energy for the decisive battle that might follow.
Because the cinnabar pills hadn’t saved the people he wanted to save.
The battlefield was the fastest place for a person to mature.
Guan Feibai’s hands were cold.
His heart wouldn’t lose its warmth because of this, but it would be much tougher than usual.
Ling Hai Zhi Wang hesitated for a moment before saying, “Is it possible… that they’re not in a position to speak?”
For a master to have to beg his student for help—especially given their famously strange relationship—was indeed a very difficult thing.
If that were the case, and Chen Changsheng didn’t take the initiative to go to the rescue, what would happen if something went wrong?
Shang Xingzhou was a saint, with unfathomable cultivation, but he was old in years, his body aged and frail.
According to news from Luoyang, he had grown much older in recent years.
Shang Xingzhou couldn’t be allowed to fall, because he was the spiritual leader of the human race.
No matter how much one disliked him, this fact had to be accepted.
Thinking of the scene he had seen by the hot spring—the tightly bound black hair and… the white that could no longer be fully hidden—Chen Changsheng was silent for a while. In the end, he just waved his hand.
……
……
As the war continued, the pressure from all sides grew more real. The gazes turned into red eagle messages, and some generals even tried to force their way into the tent to see Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng received those generals but didn’t agree to their requests.
Xu You Rong said, “The situation over there is indeed grim. The Northern Third Camp won’t move, but the Fourth Camp might have to go up again.”
Chen Changsheng said, “I know.”
Xu You Rong said, “The pressure will only get greater.”
Chen Changsheng gazed at the dust and smoke between the distant plains and mountains, was silent for a moment, then said, “When I was a child in Xining, whenever pressure came, the senior brother shielded me. When I went to the capital, there was the uncle master and Archbishop Merisal, and later you. But actually, I’m quite good at bearing pressure.”
Having faced the shadow of death since he was ten, no one could bear pressure better than him.
He continued, “The war started too early. There’s a problem.”
Yes, even if the grain in the Snow Old City was scarce, they should have held out a bit longer, at least until the weather turned colder.
Xu You Rong thought so too and asked, “What do you think?”
“The master didn’t ask me to help, so he doesn’t need my help. I don’t know what he’s planning—I’m not very good at that kind of thing—so I can only cooperate as usual…”
He looked at her and said, “Like back in White Emperor City, when you and the master had everything figured out, I just followed along.”
Xu You Rong thought it over and realized he was right.
In essence, she, Shang Xingzhou, and the Saint Empress were one type of person, while Chen Changsheng was another.
Humanity’s survival needed the former, but the latter was the goal. Perhaps that was why she liked him so much?
“I like you.”
Xu You Rong looked into his eyes and said very seriously.
Such a sudden confession was truly startling.
Most crucially, there were many people around, and people inside the tent too.
Their conversation hadn’t been deliberately kept from anyone.
Ling Hai Zhi Wang carefully wiped the artifact in his hands, as if he hadn’t heard a thing.
General He Ming’s hand, lifting the tent flap, froze in midair, like the smile on his face.
An Hua looked at Xu You Rong with stars in her eyes, thinking the Holy Maiden was truly remarkable.
……
……
Such scenes could only appear occasionally—lucky little flowers blooming in blood and fire. The main theme of the battlefield was, of course, still war.
Fighting was everywhere. Chaotic battles, bloody battles raged continuously across the plains stretching hundreds of li south of the Snow Old City.
The soil here was rich with humus, a black so deep it was intoxicating, so fertile that blood falling on it didn’t stand out particularly.
But as the snow fell these past days, the plain was first coated in white, then welcomed so much red and green blood, the scene became horrifying.
Even the most radical painter in the Snow Old City couldn’t have imagined such a color scheme, such a clash of brushstrokes.
Feints, diversions, suppression, encirclement and division, pushing forward like a tide—after all the little tricks were exhausted, the situation remained as clear as at the start.
The most tense and brutal fighting still occurred between the wolf cavalry led by the Demon General and the Left Route Army.
The demonic wolf cavalry and the black-armored cavalry collided, ceaselessly tearing at each other, devouring each other.
Like the place where a river meets the sea.
Waters of different colors clashed endlessly, stirring up sky-high waves, swirling into a great vortex that could swallow the entire sky.
At the center of that vortex was that unremarkable small hill.