Chapter 182: Tip Of The Iceberg In The Southern Border
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish_Creek
Cloud Chasing Pirate s.h.i.+p flew for over a day and finally reached Surging River. The s.h.i.+p sailed up to the camp at the southern bank.
Lizhou Prefecture had set up a ma.s.sive military force along the river. The army had linked over two hundred river camps and there were numerous soldiers and horses. When they reached here, a fierce battle had just ended and there were s.h.i.+ps rampaging on the river surface. Some s.h.i.+ps were already destroyed and thick smoke billowed out from the burning masts and deck.
Corpses floated on the river surface.
There were soldiers scattering fis.h.i.+ng nets on the s.h.i.+p, fis.h.i.+ng the corpses out. They then hooked the corpses with hooks and hung them at the aft of the s.h.i.+p, intending to bury them after dragging them to sh.o.r.e.
Qin Mu opened his Green Heaven’s Eyes and looked towards the opposite sh.o.r.e of the river. There was a dilapidated city on the opposite sh.o.r.e and there were still sporadic fightings because there were still all kinds of rays bursting forth from divine arts.
However, they were only skirmishes. It should be the army of Eternal Peace Empire eradicating the enemies in the city.
Fan Yunxiao slowed down the s.h.i.+p and gradually descended down towards the camp. There was a soldier who flew up to the s.h.i.+p to enquire and when he knew they were the scholars of Imperial College, he immediately waved his flag and made the archers below lower their bow and arrow.
The s.h.i.+p gradually landed in the camp and Fan Yunxiao looked towards the sporadic fightings on the opposite sh.o.r.e with one black eye and one white eye. He then took a glance at Chen Wanyun, Yun Que and the rest before shaking his head, “Old Brother Qin, these scholars will only hold you back and not be of much help. With a battle of this scale, the few of you scholars are completely no help and it’ll be difficult for you guys to survive. I’m leaving, when I find enough black iron and blueprint of the treasure s.h.i.+p, I’ll come and find you again!” After he was done, he made the bandits on the boat activate the furnace and flew away.
Yun Que and the rest were demoralized and Chen Wanyun sneered, “This person’s ability isn’t bad, but there’s a problem with his judgment.”
A general walked over and asked, “Are you scholars from Imperial College?”
Qin Mu nodded his head and said “Is Lizhou Prefecture Young Magistrate at the frontlines? May I trouble you to inform her, just tell her River d.y.k.e County Qin Mu request for a meeting.”
That general was astonished and didn’t dare to neglect his words as he hurried away.
Not long after, the clanking sounds of armor sounded out and everyone looked towards the source of the sounds. They saw a female general clad in armor walking over with a helmet under her underarm. She had a heroic look and her facial features were also extremely beautiful. Her face powder, eyebrow liner and red lips were unforgettable.
She should have just come back from the battlefield and there were still bloodstains on her body.
“So it’s Little Brother Qin Mu.”
Yuyuan Chuyu’s gaze fell on Qin Mu and her eyes lighted up, “The little brother who walked out of River d.y.k.e County a few months ago has made a name for himself. I’ve heard my elder brother mentioning about you and now you’re considered to have stood above others. I’m also happy for you.”
“Big sister, you flatter me.”
Qin Mu blushed with shame and said, “I didn’t tell big sister before that I was actually from Great Ruins.”
Yuyuan Chuyu said, “When you had left, I was still thinking when there was a Qin Family in River d.y.k.e County which could groom such an outstanding child. My elder brother sent a letter over and mentioned you later, and only then I knew you were from Great Ruins.”
Yun Que, Yue Qinghong and the rest were secretly astonished. Lizhou Prefecture was the place of lodging for all imperial scholars that came out for experience. Never did they expect that Qin Mu was actually well acquainted with Lizhou Prefecture Young Magistrate!
Being the high official of such a place, she was already the commander of the borders. In addition to that, Yuyuan Chuyu had an extraordinary background. She was the princess of Yuyuan Empire back then and the other crown prince of Yuyuan Empire was Yuyuan Chuyu who had become the great general in the capital city.
Qin Mu was clearly the abandoned person of Great Ruins, how did he get affiliated with Yuyuan Chuyu?
“Big Sister Chuyu, what happened to Corpse Immortal Cult?” Qin Mu asked.
“Corpse Immortal Cult has already been eradicated by me but there are still some remnants that have escaped to the southern borders.”
Yuyuan Chuyu brought them to the city walls and said, “The rebel army from everywhere have already gathered in the southern borders. There are also rebel sects from everywhere. All sorts of forces meet and mingle together here. The troops get stationed in all the cities along the river and are taking strict precaution. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg and the current situation doesn’t look good.”
“Tip of the iceberg?” everyone was stunned for a moment.
Yuyuan Chuyu smiled, “In the world today, do you know who is loyal and who is a traitor? For example me, I’m the princess of the vanquished Yuyuan Empire, how would you know that I would not rebel the next moment?”
Chen Wanyun and the rest broke out in cold sweat, afraid that this heroic looking female general would kill them in the next instant and announce that she would rebel.
Yuyuan Chuyu said indifferently, “Imperial court’s relation to the old generations is too close. Imperial Preceptor wants to create a brand new generation on top of this foundation but all he could use were always the power of the old generation. His new generation could not break free from the influence of the old generation therefore who knows which sect or which official would rebel next?”
Monk Yun Que asked while s.h.i.+vering, “But Lord Magistrate won’t rebel, am I right?”
Yuyuan Chuyu looked at him and gave a bone-chilling smile as she said softly, “You can make a guess. If you’re right, you can not die.”
Yun Que turned ashen-faced as he was scared witless.
Yuyuan Chuyu this commander had nurtured a great grandeur around her. Even though she was a woman, her cold expression could crush a person with terror.
Yuyuan Chuyu gave a gentle laugh and summoned a general over. After giving her instructions, the general immediately deployed an army with about a thousand men.
Yuyuan Chuyu walked down the city halls and strode onto the river surface. Behind her, a thousand soldiers also strode over and stepped on the river surface as they moved to the opposite sh.o.r.e.
Qin Mu caught up with her and stood on the river surface. Vital qi burst forth under his feet which held him up stably as he smiled, “Big sister, don’t scare him.”
Chen Wanyun and the rest also hurried over and executed their own vital qi to let themselves not sink into the water.
They could sprint on water but to walk calmly on water, it was slightly strenuous. Other than controlling the water, they also needed to have a dense cultivation.
Yuyuan Chuyu was slightly interested, “Little brother think I won’t rebel against the imperial court?”
Qin Mu shook his head, “Because this rebellion is a set-up by Imperial Preceptor to purge the imperial court and the ordinary people. Big sister is a wise person and could see that very clearly. If big sister was dumb, you would have rebelled long ago and not wait until today.”
Yuyuan Chuyu smiled, “You’re right and also wrong. The reason why I didn’t rebel is not that I was clever enough. There were quite a number of people who came forward and urge me to rebel. They were all full of confidence when they came over, thinking they would definitely make me rebel, however, they were all wrong. My Yuyuan Family doesn’t value our royal position, we value our people of Yuyuan. When Yuyuan Empire was still around back then, Eternal Peace Empire had already become great and they could wage a war over anytime. My father knew if a war was to break out, the empire would definitely be ruined and the families would be torn apart. However, Imperial Preceptor came to Yuyuan and discussed the path with my father. Back then, all the civil and military officials were there and what they discussed was how to govern an empire and their people. My brother and I were also at the imperial court. Then, we lost.”
Her expression remained calm as she said, “We suffered a crus.h.i.+ng defeat, which we accepted wholeheartedly, of the debate on the path of governing an empire and the path of people’s welfare. My father relinquished the t.i.tle of the emperor and allowed my elder brother to succeed him but my elder brother didn’t accept it and pa.s.sed the t.i.tle to me. I…”
She gave a smile. No now knew if she was mocking herself or if it was a genuine smile, “I had told Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, I’m inferior to you in governing an empire and I’m also inferior to you in looking after the people’s welfare. In that case, I’ll hand Yuyuan Empire to you. If your governance and people’s welfare is not to my satisfaction, I will rebel against you in the future. Imperial Preceptor agreed and let me govern Yuyuan, which is also the current Lizhou.”
“So that’s how it is,” everyone suddenly realized.
Hu Ling’er cried out astonis.h.i.+ngly, “Sister, so you were actually a female emperor!”
Yuyuan Chuyu smiled and said, “Being a female emperor for a day, I can tell you, that’s no fun. If you want to be an emperor, you can just find any place and proclaim yourself as the emperor. The only problem is how many people you can have jurisdiction over.”
She looked at the billowing smoke and fire on the river surface and retracted her gaze. She then smiled as she looked at Chen Wanyun and the rest, “It’s your fortune you guys are able to follow little brother. His abilities are very extraordinary.”
Yue Qinghong and Yun Que looked at each other and didn’t know how this female general saw Qin Mu’s abilities as extraordinary.
Yuyuan Chuyu remembered the time when she had discovered the red corpse beetles scattered throughout the entire mountain at the north of Tiger Sun County. Other than the red corpse beetles, there was also a skeleton which had its flesh and blood melted away, leaving only the bones and the clothes. From the clothes, she could determine that it was an expert of Corpse Immortal Cult.
Even though she couldn’t see who this expert of Corpse Immortal Cult was, from the method of controlling the corpse beetles and amount of corpse beetles, that expert’s cultivation had probably already reached Seven Stars Realm.
Corpse Immortal Cult was proficient in corpses and poison thus their cultivation realm was not that high. But when one clashed with Corpse Immortal Cult, even people with a higher cultivation and battle prowess than them would find it very hard to defeat them.
Yet this expert of Corpse Immortal Cult had died from being poisoned and the one that poisoned him would have been this little brother beside her who looked honest and naive.
Back then, this little brother had even deceived her, making her write a travel permit for him and recommended him to go to the capital city.
In Yuyuan Chuyu’s heart, for Chen Wanyun and the rest to be able to follow such a crafty fellow out for experience, they would be even safer than if they had followed the directorates, therefore she had said it was the fortune of Chen Wanyun and the rest.
When they reached the opposite sh.o.r.e, the buildings in this city on the opposite sh.o.r.e had already collapsed, killing G.o.d knows how many people.
Yuyuan Chuyu led the army into the city and said, “Just now I said this was just the tip of the iceberg. There is still another reason other than that. Look at this, taking down Deer County was a walk in the park. We easily invaded and took over this place so aren’t the rebel army a little too weak?”
Qin Mu was slightly stunned, “Enticing the enemies to enter deeply?”
“This is not only enticing the enemies to enter, the old foxes haven’t even made their moves.”
Yuyuan Chuyu’s gaze flickered, “The three old monsters that injured Imperial Preceptor still haven’t appeared. The old monsters of the old generation might not just be the three of them. There are Pa.s.sion Parting Palace Master Qiu Dieyi, the three castle lords of Three Wonders Castle, high officials that have rebelled, Dragon King of Dragon Rider Sect and as well as other strong pract.i.tioners of the cult master level and none of them have appeared yet. Other big and small cult masters, sect masters, are all very quiet. Furthermore…”
She said in a low voice, “Who knows if there are any G.o.ds that had survived from the old generation?”
Qin Mu gave a few cold shudders.
Chen Wanyun and the rest also felt their blood run cold.
Yuyuan Chuyu obviously knew many things about the old generation but she didn’t delve into details, “You guys can be at ease, these old monsters wouldn’t easily make their move on the younger generation like you. Their target is Imperial Preceptor and the first-ranking high officials of the imperial court. Deer County was seized by a sect not much bigger than Corpse Immortal Cult which is called Nine Spectres Sect. Now that the rebellion in Deer County has just been quelled, and there are still some remnants from Nine Spectres Sect escaping. I’ll give you an easy task, eradicate all of the remnants.”
Her gaze shone brightly as it landed on Qin Mu and the rest, “Nine Spectres Sect is proficient in dressing up as G.o.d and playing the devil. They say they could invite supernatural beings forward to a.s.sist them in battle, therefore, you guys have to make some preparations. When the other scholars are here, you guys will go forward to eradicate them.”