Ch149 - Old Friends

The night was still.

But tonight, the murderous intent had spread like the moonlight, climbing behind everyone.

Xie Zishe’s voice was astringent: “Dian Kingdom…there are more than 300,000 people.”

If it was as Lin Shu had thought, then Northern Xia would attack by manipulating living corpses…The number of enemies would be very target oriented, and even the fighting power would be very, very terrifying.

And Northern Xia had produced 200,000 troops, it didn’t even need a lot of trouble to transport the troops,… Just a bottle of blood poison!

As for why the Dian Kingdom agreed to such a self-destructive strategy, it was probably due to the agreement reached between Northern Xia and the royal family of Dian Kingdom–such as how much land would be allocated to them after the conquering of Southern Xia.

Mortals always had endless greed. As long as they received  enough benefits, they would take this great risk and cooperate with Northern Xia, even though it would be tantamount to seeking skin from a tiger.

Shangling Grandmaster said: “The Academy’s Medical Institute has developed a medicine that could defend against the blood poison a year ago, and has produced a lot of it.”

Xie Zishe looked at him abruptly, and asked a series of questions: “How many people can use it? How to use it? If they have been infected, can they be cured? ”

Shangling Grandmaster’s eyes were heavy, and he shook his head: “It can only be used as a precautionary measure. Once infected, it is not easy to cure. There are enough medicines…but currently it is only effective for immortal cultivators. Medicines that could be used by mortals are still being developed.”

Xie Zishe’s eyes sank: “If this blood poison comes into contact with mortals, how long before it will take effect?”

Shangling Grandmaster said: “Six hours.”

Xie Zishe immediately passed down an order: “Request, Zhao Shangshu and Xin Pushe.”

Shangling Grandmaster said: “I’ll go back to the Academy.”

Xie Zishe nodded.

Lin Shu leaned against the tower alone, with nothing to do, but silently reciting the sword techniques.

Ling Fengxiao had given Xie Zishe a great deal of power, and the Grandmaster also trusted Xie Zishe very much. It could be seen that the Elder Martial Sister really had her own advantages.

She sent down commands quickly one after another. After knowing about the blood poison, she not only withdrew the troops, but also evacuated the people–they should not let the people in the eight cities become living corpses to be controlled by Northern Xia!

The Minister of Military Affairs said, “In two days, the enemy will arrive, and while we wait to guard Jinguan City, we will mobilize the garrison in the north, or we can wait until the reinforcements come. Each of the three checkpoints in the north have  an Immortal Lord in Crossing the Tribulation realm. If we can invite them to come …”

“No!” Xie Zishe frowned: “The garrison in the North must not move!”

The Minister of Military Affairs: “Why do you say that? The situation is urgent… ”

“If the Northern Xia army strikes the East and the defense of the Northern territory is weak, what crime should you commit?” Xie Zishe raised her voice slightly: “Not only must it not move, but also send orders to the three northern border gates to stand by, the Northern Xia army will advance at any time!”

After that, her voice relaxed a little: “If Northern Xia has a little foresight, they will not make their own army into living corpses. The northern territory should be able to block it.”

Another burst of orders were passed, the gates were opened and closed several times, and the flying horses sending messages in all directions.

Xie Zishe finally came back over where Lin Shu was waiting, and now it was time to wait for news to come back.

She left the table and walked towards Lin Shu.

“Are you in Crossing the Tribulation realm now?” Xie Zishe asked.

Lin Shu: “Yeah.”

“I don’t know about the Immortal Sects. But listening to the meaning of the Grandmaster, only the Immortal Cultivators have the power to fight against the enemy this time.” Xie Zishe looked into the distance and said: “Fortunately, there are many Immortal Sects in Shu Prefecture. Four of the nine martial arts schools are in Shu Prefecture … plus the Shangling Academy, the situation may not be bad.”

Lin Shu gave a faint “Um”.

It was true that the military strength in Shu Prefecture were not as strong as those in the North, but in terms of immortal cultivators, Shu Prefecture had the most troops.

And Phoenix Mountain Villa was located in Liang Prefecture, not far from Shu Prefecture.

Shangling Grandmaster was there to send information to the academy and all the sects. There should be hundreds of disciples in Yuan Ying cultivation bases who could gather and fight, and there may be more than three people who were on crossing the tribulations.

It might be feasible to block the torrent of living corpses.

But one must also consider the Great Wizard.

Xie Zishe looked at  his expression, and said: “Do you think it’s bad?”

Lin Shu: “Perhaps.”

Xie Zishe’s voice was cold and clear and she said with finality: “We will fight to the death.”

She continued: “The enemy’s army is not a regular army and they do not carry heavy weapons. If the Immortal Cultivators could stop the living corpses, Jinguan City has artillery, catapults and many other heavy weapons, and there might be a small chance of winning.”

She said, kneading her brows.

The night wind blew through her wide robed sleeves, making her look a little thin.

There was a moment of silence at the tower until they heard a sound of very light footsteps.

“Meow.”

A ball of black shadow climbed onto Lin Shu’s body.

The cat tried to sit on Linshu’s shoulder, but this move made it a little bit difficult for its size.

The cat tried to sit on top of Linshu’s head, and this move was even more challenging.

The cat jumped down and circled anxiously at Lin Shu’s feet: “Meow.”

Lin Shu: “…”

Xie Zishe said: “Ahh!”, squatting down and stared at the cat: “Somewhat, you look familiar.”

The cat went to her flatteringly and was held in her arms.

Xie Zishe’s expression softened a lot.

Lin Shu was puzzled by the fact that such a fat black cat, with its cheekiness, could be captured by Xie Zishe.

Xie Zishe: “Is it afraid?”

Lin Shu took a closer look, and found that it really became a ball, meowing anxiously, burying its head on Xie Zishe’s chest, its body trembling imperceptibly.

Xie Zishe scratched its ears, and said warmly: “Good boy, don’t be afraid, many immortal cultivators will come.”

Lin Shu: “……”

Elder martial sister, don’t you know that this cat is a Land Immortal?

Even if all the immortal cultivators in Crossing the Tribulations realm from all the sects in Southern Xia gathered together, they were no match for this cat..

If it was the Great Wizard…

If the Great Wizard came and the cat was there, you won’t need to worry too much.

He just didn’t know how much the cat had done for people like them to be able to pay off the cause and effect.

Once all the cause and effect were paid off, it would immediately ascend and disappear.

The cat borrowed into Xie Zishe’s arms deeper and deeper. Naturally, after a while, Xie Zishe said, “You are… so heavy.”

The cat “meowed” softly.

Lin Shu thought that Xie Zishe was not an immortal cultivator man, but a scholar and a woman. She was delicate and weak. How could she be able to hold the fat cat for a long time?

Xie Zishe made a move to put it down.

The cat was desperately flattering her, and refused to be put down.

Lin Shu initially wanted to pick it up, but the Imperial Guard named Wei Zhou took the lead and said, “Lord Xie, let me take it.”

Xie Zishe gave him the cat.

Wei Zhou was dressed in black, standing straight and expressionless, holding the cat, looking straight ahead without narrowing his eyes, only slightly smoothing the cat’s fur with his fingers, showing a strange contrast.

The Land Immortal continued to tremble in Wei Zhou’s arms.

After half an hour, a message came from the front.

The enemy troops were marching far faster than expected, and indeed most of them were made up of living corpses.

Xie Zishe gave the order to abandon the three of the eight cities and ordered them to defend and stall the enemies. During this period of time, the remaining five cities must be evacuated, and they must be emptied before dawn today!

Objectively speaking, this decision was somewhat cruel.

Two hours ago, Xie Zishe still said “to hide one's strength and nourish one's obscurity“. At this moment, after all, she did not hesitate to “kill ten thousand people to save one hundred thousand people”.

The stars and the moon were bright and clear, and people were in a panic.

The horses flew into the capital, reporting the news on the front line; The three cities were destroyed.

After the five cities were evacuated, the enemy troops went unimpeded all the way, and their marching speed continued to increase. At dawn, it might be the moment when the enemy troops attacked.

The moon was setting on the West, the sky was starting to lighten.

A man suddenly descended beside Lin Shu: “Brother Lin!”

Lin Shu turned his head and looked at Cang Min.

Three years had passed, and Cang Min had grown taller, but his delicate baby face had not changed, and he was still smiling foolishly at him.

“Brother Lin, it’s been a long time since I saw you!” Cang Min said, “The Academy said that you are actually the Pavilion Master of the Sword Pavilion…I had always thought that Brother Lin was different from others, but the Pavilion Master of the Sword Pavilion is really suited for you.”

Lin Shu looked at him, but for a while, he didn’t know what to say.

Cang Min was not bothered by the silence, and said, “The Grandmaster will be here soon! Except for the younger disciples and the disciples whose cultivation level is less than Yuan Ying, everyone is coming here.”

As he was talking, Yue Ruohe’s figure gradually appeared in the air behind him, saying: “You are too careless about what you say. Among the younger disciples, there are disciples who have a cultivation level of Yuan Ying, and among the older disciples there are also those who have a cultivation level that is less than Yuan Ying. The two overlap with each other, regardless of you and me, and cannot be compared at the same time.”

“Roll, roll, roll!” Cang Min said: “Then what should I say according to your misconceptions?”

Yue Ruohe was speechless for a while.

At the next moment, Yue Ruoyun appeared beside them in the same way and said with a smile: “It should be said that… the younger and less than Yuan Ying disciples, the older but less than Yuan Ying disciples, and the younger but less than Yuan Ying disciples!”

Cang Min said: “We will finish this discussion, after we fight Northern Xia.”

As they spoke, more and more disciples of the Academy came one after another and scattered on the city wall. Among them, there were many familiar faces.

After a while, a flying boat came, and pieces of green scattered on the wall. It was the disciples of the Dream Hall.

Shangling Grandmaster gave a salute to the Hall Master of Dream Hall: “Thank you, elder brother Gao Yi.”

The Hall Master of Dream Hall said: “This is how it ought to be. The Grandmaster doesn’t need to thank me.”

Many people from the Nanhai Sword sect, the Magic Sea Tower and the Jingtao Villa  also came one after another.

When the sun slowly peeked in the corner towards the East, Ling Baochen patted Lin Shu on the shoulder: “Little Immortal Lord, you have grown taller!”

Baoqing and Baojing girls still laughed like they did three years ago.

However, their swords were wiped clean, and in the early morning mist, the cold glint of their swords flickered.

These girls had always yelled “Big Miss” and “Elder Miss” to Ling Fengxiao. Some people always thought that they were Ling Fengxiao’s maids, but they were not.

They were the inner disciples of the Grandmaster of Phoenix Mountain Villa, their status in the Villa was second only to the Grandmaster, the Big Miss, and several elders. Accordingly, their cultivation level was definitely not low.

Ling Baochen said to Lin Shu, “Wait for a while, our Grandmaster will come. The Big Miss has been raised by the Grandmaster. You are going to see your mother-in-law!”

Ling Baojing said: “Xiao Lin Shu, have you seen the Empress?”

Ling Baochen clapped her hands and said with a smile: “Other people have only one mother-in-law in the world, but you have two!”

After a moment, Lin Shu said quietly, “At this time, you should be more serious.”

Ling Baoqing said: “We kindly just want to relieve you out of the mood, but you don’t appreciate it!”

Cang Min said, “Brother Lin, I haven’t seen you for three years, why are you less talkative?”

Yue Ruohe said, “Brother Lin seems to have changed a little.”

Ling Baochen seemed very proud, and said, “The young Pavilion Master of the Sword Pavilion, of course, is more elegant and imposing than you little disciples!”

Lin Shu thought, they didn’t know that he had cultivated the Heartless Dao.

But at this moment, looking at these old friends around him, he suddenly thought, ‘Heartless Dao, what was it again?’