Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1337 Long Battle
It was obviously difficult to sleep in the palace, especially after knowing part of the truth. Lu Ning tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep.

"The setting sun is fading, and war is coming again. I still remember the prosperous Jinguan Pass when I was young. The iron cavalry marched through the camps, and the cold swords and shields were opened. The beacon fires were hidden in the moonlight, and the white dew was reflected in the sun in the morning."

Lu Ning pushed the door open and saw a middle-aged man pacing in the yard outside.

Although he was dressed like a scholar, his face was weathered, and his palms were not well-maintained like those of a scholar, but were dark brown with many calluses on them. The moonlight tonight was bright enough for Lu Ning to see that this person had a sad face, and she knew in an instant that this person was probably someone similar to her.

"Hello?" Lu Ning walked out the door and greeted.

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then said apologetically: "Did I disturb your rest? I'm sorry."

"No, it just so happens that I don't intend to fall asleep either." Lu Ning said, "Why are you pacing here so late at night?"

The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and lifted his robe. Lu Ning saw that one of his feet was actually made of wood.

"I think you can see that I came back from the northern frontier... Because of my disability, I couldn't join the war, so I could only come back to do what I could. Master Qin fought hard, but I couldn't help at all."

"You came back from Saibei?"

"Yes, for someone like me, my family still has some money, but I also want to contribute to the border defense, so I come to participate in this water and land ceremony. Otherwise, with a disabled body like me, I am afraid I will never have the chance to see His Majesty in my lifetime."

The middle-aged man paused and asked again: "Girl, why can't you sleep? Most people here have gone to bed after a day of competition. If I didn't have something on my mind, I wouldn't come to the yard."

"I just know that this water and land ceremony is not a path to heaven." Lu Ning said, "In this Xingyin City, there is a situation of multiple parties fighting each other. The demons and the emperor are preparing for a huge sacrifice. I am afraid that we are just consumables in the sacrifice."

"What? But..." The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then shook his head helplessly.

"You seem to know something, too."

"I heard about some things in the capital when I was at the border. After returning to the capital, I tried my best to make arrangements so that I could know some things about the court. The current emperor wants to restore the glory of the Wei Dynasty, but he is powerless. The court is short of talents and officials are redundant. Even if he wants to eliminate the malpractices, there are not many available people around him. If he wants to realize this wish, he must use the few available people to accomplish something great."

"Master Qin, aren't Prime Minister Yuan and others trustworthy and useful people?"

"First, both Grand Tutor Qin and Prime Minister Yuan are old, so-called available people should be replaced in a cycle to form an official ladder. However, there are no such people among the newcomers now. Second, the emperor wants to use officials from the royal family, not officials from Grand Tutor Qin or Prime Minister Yuan. I believe that the current emperor is still on guard." The middle-aged man said, "I slowly realized these after returning to Beijing. Alas, the border is still better, there are not so many twists and turns."

"After all, we have no other way to change the situation," Lu Ning said.

"yes……"

"What's going on at the border?" Lu Ning suddenly asked. "When I was traveling around the world, I often heard people discussing border issues. There were even enthusiastic people rushing to the border to help Grand Tutor Qin subdue demons and fight against the demon star. Is the demon star that suddenly appeared at the border really so powerful?"

“How could the demon star not be strong…” The middle-aged man found a stone bench in the yard and sat down. Lu Ning sat opposite him and listened to him.

"I joined the army the second year after Grand Tutor Qin arrived at the border. At that time, the people who fought the most at the border were the third prince Jin Yaozhen of the northern frontier, and the general Zhamuhe. Although these two people were capable, they were no match for Grand Tutor Qin after all, and were defeated by him in several battles. Then, demons appeared in the enemy army. They used some of the demons' natural abilities to poison, plague, natural disasters, strange noises... Everyone scolded them for joining forces with demons, but the northern barbarians had no sense of propriety, righteousness, and shame, so scolding them was of no avail."

"They have already joined forces with the demons."

"Oh, relying on the power of the demon star, they have already suffered a great loss! When I left, Jin Yaozhen and Zhamuhe had already turned into demons. I'm afraid they have become minions over the years." The middle-aged man snorted coldly, "With such a monarch, the country of the northern Hu people is probably no longer alive. It has become a country of minions of the demon. The border war has not been settled for a long time because the minions are much stronger than ordinary people and are very difficult to kill. Even if Grand Master Qin has developed some countermeasures, there will be changes within two or three months. Grand Master set up a platform to perform magic and divine the sky and the earth, but he still doesn't know who the enemy leader is, so he knows that the demon star must have appeared."

"Why?"

"The demon star is not a symbol of strength or fame, but a destiny. According to records, the demon star has been replaced several times, which is also due to the loss of destiny and the instability of the star position. Among the demons, the demon stars are said to inherit the destiny of heaven and be sealed by the decree. The existence of such people cannot be predicted by divination. However, because it is difficult to predict by divination, it can be determined that the demon star is in the world."

When Lu Ning heard this, her heart moved. She stood up and asked the middle-aged man to wait for a moment. She went into the room and took out a pair of iron plates from the package.

She walked out of the house and handed the pair of iron plates to the middle-aged man.

"Please take a look at this pair of iron plates. I wonder where they came from? What is their relationship with the demon star?"

The middle-aged man took it and looked at it, but he did not show any surprise or serious expression as Lu Ning expected.

"I'm sorry, young lady... I'm not very knowledgeable and only know a few things about demons, but I don't know their origins. You must be a demon catcher to get this item. Since you don't know, I can't tell you its origins."

"This pattern." Lu Ning pointed at the symbol on it, "Haven't you seen it before? For example, who uses it as a representative of themselves?"

"None of the northern barbarians use this pattern, and now almost all of them are under the command of the evil star, and they all use this pattern."

The middle-aged man picked up a dead branch and drew a pattern in the flowerbed which was no longer covered with flowers.

The pattern was an inverted triangle with a snowflake inside. Lu Ning couldn't figure out the meaning of the pattern, but she knew it was definitely different from the one she got.

"Does each demon star have its own pattern?" Lu Ning asked again. She had not seen any mention of demon stars having their own representative symbols in the previous book that introduced the power of demon stars.

"This..." The middle-aged man was a little embarrassed, "I don't know either."

Lu Ning was a little disappointed, but she knew that she couldn't blame the middle-aged man. He was just an ordinary person who had played a role in the confrontation with the demon star, and he only knew what he had seen in the army.

"I am overstepping my authority." Lu Ning took the iron plate back. "But I don't know who I should ask if I want to know the origin of this thing."

"If you want to know the exact result, it would be best to ask Grand Tutor Qin. But Grand Tutor Qin is now in the northern border, in Xingyin City, so I don't know." said the middle-aged man.

"Thank you, sir." Lu Ning put the iron plate back into his arms.

"If you want to serve your country, you might as well go to the northern border to seek refuge with Grand Tutor Qin. Although Xingyin City can accompany you and protect you, it cannot display your abilities." The middle-aged man advised again.

"If possible, I would of course go. But now, let alone Xingyin City, even this palace, you and I can't leave." Lu Ning said helplessly.

"Yes..." Those who were brought here were all the top players in various competitions. When people came out the next day and met each other, it was a lively scene.

Everyone knew that there would be a competition in front of the emperor tomorrow, so they would not fight bravely on this day. After all, they were in the palace, and people were not stupid. If a fight really broke out, they would not even need to be tried on the spot.

Lu Ning noticed that in this row of rooms, there were no people competing in literature or skills, only martial arts.

The warriors were more straightforward in their interactions, and soon, they started chatting and bragging with each other in groups of three or five. Being locked up in such a place, no one was impatient, and everyone was looking forward to the competition in front of the emperor tomorrow. There were also a few people who were commenting on their daily practice, laughing and joking, which was quite harmonious.

Lu Ning walked to the corner and stood in front of Han Younian who was standing against the wall.

"I never thought that we would meet again here." She looked Han Younian up and down with her demonic eyes, "Have you found your father's whereabouts? Why do you have the leisure to participate in this water and land ceremony?"

"I...found it." Han Younian lowered his head and said in a low voice, "I didn't find it either."

"how to say?"

"Before my father disappeared, he was investigating a major case for the Demon Suppression Division. If he had succeeded, he would have been able to obtain a high position and ascend to heaven in one step. However, during that investigation, my father disappeared, and no one in the Demon Suppression Division knew where he was. If the Demon Suppression Division doesn't know, the whole world can be asked, except the Imperial Astronomical Observatory. I want to take the lead and ask the Emperor to show mercy and ask the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to predict a fortune for my father." Han Younian raised his head slightly.

His gaze was different.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Lu Ning knew that Han Younian was a tourist, but now his words and behavior were more and more like a native of the scene. Finding his father was indeed important to Han Younian, but for a tourist, there were many better ways than going directly into this dangerous place.

"What else are you doing?" she asked.

"Finding my father's whereabouts is the top priority, and all other matters can be put aside for now. Miss Lu, thank you for your help before. If there is anything I can help you with during the competition before the emperor, I will definitely do my best to help you."

"That's not necessary. If I ask for help from others, I'm afraid I won't be given the top priority." Lu Ning shook his head, turned and left.

She didn't know what had happened to Han Younian. It seemed like he had become an indigenous person. This situation was very dangerous and she didn't want to stay in this scene.

After noon, most people who had finished their meals went back to their houses to rest, while the middle-aged man went to a secluded pavilion with a few people to chat. Lu Ning walked over, and the middle-aged man waved and beckoned her over.

"I haven't told you my name yet. My name is Gu Tong, and I'm from the Chinese phoenix tree." The middle-aged man bowed to Lu Ning. "I'm not very knowledgeable, so I can't tell the origin of the thing in your hand, but the two of you here may be able to help you solve your doubts."

Lu Ning looked over and saw three people sitting next to the middle-aged man. The two he pointed at were a man with few hairs on his head and a big wart at the corner of his eye; a young man with a big birthmark on his neck, who was obviously young but hunched over. The last person was a fat monk, holding a wine gourd and grinning, but his eyes were dazed, and he was probably nine-tenths drunk.

"Hou Sanli." The man pointed at himself and spoke in a gentle voice that was different from his rough appearance.

"Fang...Fang Zichuan." The young man said timidly.

Gu Tong asked Lu Ning to sit down, and then said, "Brother Hou is a man of the world. He has done all kinds of things, such as shamans, shaman dances, and acrobatics. He has come into contact with and heard a lot of things about demons. Brother Fang comes from a family of scholars, and his family has a deep research on demons."

In that case, Lu Ning took out the two iron plates.

The two of them took a glance and said in unison: "Demon Star Order."

The name is not surprising at all.

"Please help me solve my doubts." Lu Ning said.

Hou Sanli touched the marks on the iron plate and said, "When the demon star dies, if there is time, I will transform this thing and pass it on. The demon star token will be born with a new demon. The demon that gets this token will have the ability to replace the demon star."

"Then can you two tell which demon star this demon star order belongs to?" Lu Ning asked again.

Fang Zichuan sighed: "Eyes, scratches, on the grassland, the Lord of Yellow Sand, the record of the soul crossing of the Nine-winged Gray Wolf."

"Is that the one in front of the Northern Demon Star now?" Gu Tong was also a little surprised.

"The demon star in the northern frontier has been replaced several times. The origin of the current demon star is unknown, but since there is a demon star in place, this thing is not very useful. To replace the demon star, one must have the demon to hold the order, and two, the star position must be unstable. And that demon star has been able to confront Master Qin for so many years, so I don't think the star position is unstable." Fang Zichuan frowned, "Alas... why am I here..."

"Mr. Fang, aren't you coming to the palace to participate in the competition?" Lu Ning asked.

"I just encountered a demon on the road, and I didn't want to see people suffer, so I suppressed it. That demon was just a new one, not very strong. I was planning to leave, but was brought here by the people from the Imperial Observatory." Fang Zichuan shook his head.

Oh, same as me, Lu Ning said to herself.

“These guys…” Gu Tong was about to speak when he was interrupted by the fat monk: “I am going to the northern frontier to join the Qin Taishi’s subordinates and see how powerful those monsters are!”

"Master is awake?" Gu Tong asked with a smile.

"Tsk, not awake yet." The monk rubbed his eyes. "The wine in this palace is good, but it's a pity that this is not a place for me to stay."

"How did the master get here?" Lu Ning asked.

"Ha, I was drunk and saw someone fighting, so I wanted to try it too. I ended up falling down and was dragged here by several officers. Luckily, I had enough wine!" The monk laughed.

"These three all wanted to go to the northern frontier, and came to Xingyin on the way. Unfortunately, they were admitted to the imperial palace because of their abilities." Gu Tong said to Lu Ning.

unfortunately?

Lu Ning didn't really believe in coincidences. She herself was plotted against by Zhao Yuqiao. Was this a coincidence? But were these three people similar to her?

In today's environment, similar things mean that some kind of power is holding the reins of fate. I'm afraid that the ritual that belongs to the emperor and is shrouded in Xingyin City has the effect of attracting the talents the emperor needs to him no matter what, and that's why Lu Ning and the others are here.

This was just a guess - but Lu Ning didn't dare to just treat it as a guess.