Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1359 The Eve of War

In the night battle of Xingyin, the former emperor killed the evil star in the palace and defeated the evil army, winning a great victory.

There are not many records in Wei history, perhaps due to the limitations of that era. Of course, it may also be the traditional saying that the fewer characters, the greater the event.

However, the demons were indeed fleeing. Riyou and Yeyou, as the first two Yin generals to leave, naturally saw from a distance the scene of the demons being chased everywhere by the heavenly soldiers and generals.

"Even if the emperor sacrificed himself to sustain most of these people, he would still have shortened his lifespan. How could the true immortals' intentions be so easy to imitate?" Ye You gently stroked his chin, "Even if you and I have been in the human world for dozens of times, it is still difficult to judge the behavior of these people."

"Then don't think about it. We will go on our own way." Riyou replied.

"You can think less, but I will think more." Yeyou laughed, "Ah, the half-blood who was branded by me is dead, Riyou, but I feel that the connection is completely broken, and she did not become a lackey."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Ye You said, "Two strange things happened. One should have become a lackey, and we lost contact after he died; the other should have accepted my personality, but he rejected me directly. Humans are really hard to figure out. Maybe we really need to go to Saibei and learn a thing or two from the demon star who is most like a human."

Riyou nodded, suddenly raised his hand and pointed into the distance.

"The guiding light is here."

Ye You also put away his relaxed demeanor: "Repeatedly interfering with the world, it seems that wherever there is, there is a disaster of the collapse of the immortal rules."

"Heaven beyond Heaven, Fengdu, I wonder where the next one will be." Riyou put his hand down, "Want to go take a look?"

"No, since we have already left one quagmire, why should we go to another?" Yeyou shook his head, "Let's go, Dayyou."

The two Yin Shuai looked at each other, and then walked into the darkness together.

The "guiding light" that was pointed out is now right in front of Lu Ning.

It was parked quietly not far from Duanlong, with the driver wrapped in rags sitting in front of the carriage. The "old chariot" was right in front of her, and this time, it seemed to be waiting for her.

Lu Ning paused in front of it for a moment, and was about to leave and find another way to the capital, but she found that countless roads appeared around her, and the scenery of each road was exactly the same.

"Walk……"

The driver uttered a word in a leaky voice and pointed to the car behind. Lu Ning took a look inside the tattered car, then looked at the endless roads around her, knowing that she probably had no choice now.

She touched the imperial edict which was still warm in her arms and climbed onto the mysterious "old chariot".

After she got on the car, the driver reached out and adjusted the lamp hanging on a wooden pole, making it dimmer, then lightly cracked the whip and drove towards one of the roads.

The car was not going very fast, but Lu Ning felt as if she had traveled through thousands of mountains and rivers in an instant. The darkness in front of her eyes was constantly changing. At a certain moment, the air around her suddenly became very fresh, even making her slightly dizzy.

Then, brilliant colors came from the monster's eyes.

...Yes, Lu Ning could now see all the colors she had seen and had not seen before. This even forced her to temporarily suppress her demonic vision to prevent herself from being dazzled by the overly colorful world.

"What is this place?" she asked the driver.

However, the driver did not say anything. The vehicle drove into a mountain path. Lu Ning could see all kinds of demons jumping and chasing in the mountains, like wild animals. They did not have the vicious aura of the demons from the outside world, and they did not seem to have the wisdom of those demons.

Perhaps there is only one place in the world where so many demons live freely.

Lu Ning was quite calm at this time. She had originally thought that they were here to hijack the imperial edict in her hand, but now it seemed that it was not the case. There was no need to mobilize so many troops to deal with her alone.

The old chariot passed through the forest and headed into the deep valley. Gradually, the colors in the field of vision began to fade. In the valley, all the trees and grass began to become sparse, and the rocks began to turn black, until the bottom of the valley was completely covered by large areas of black rocks.

At the bottom of this valley, there sat a man.

At present, Lu Ning can only temporarily define him as a human being, because the aura on his body seems to be a mixture of various colors, similar to the huge rock beside him.

"Get off." said the driver.

Lu Ning jumped out of the car and stared at the man.

"May I ask... Is this the Mountain of Ten Thousand Monsters?"

"Yes."

The one who answered her was not that person, but the huge rock that almost covered the valley bottom, which opened nine eyes.

Despite its huge size, the sound it makes is quite clear and not ear-shattering.

However, Lu Ning had to bow slightly to show respect.

The demon star "Jiuli", this was the first time Lu Ning saw a demon star.

"The guiding light led this person here, old friend, can you see the clue?"

"It's just a matter of cause and effect." The man replied in an old voice, "If one of the guides you appointed dies, there should be another to take his place. I'm afraid the guiding light just found the most suitable one nearby."

"However, the carriage is gradually broken, and the lights guiding the way will also be extinguished. At this time, there are only a few lights in the outside world." Jiuli looked at Lu Ning, "And she may not want to do it either."

The man glanced at Lu Ning.

His face was not clear, and Lu Ning could not recognize his appearance. She could only vaguely tell that he was an old man.

"Tell me your name," said the old man.

"Lu Ning."

"To be honest." Jiuli closed his eyes for a few seconds and continued, "She doesn't recognize you, just like everyone else who comes here."

"Human life span is no more than a hundred years, but now it has been several dozen generations." The old man smiled and said, "Humans are good at forgetting, which is a good thing."

"Why?"

"You can forget the suffering and look forward," said the old man.

Jiuli also chuckled and said to Lu Ning: "If you often read history books, you may have seen his title. He is the first king of mankind. He is better than me and has established the foundation of this world for the human race."

"Greetings, Human King." Lu Ning saluted.

"No need to be polite. I am just a ghost, staying here to accompany my old friend." The old man waved his hand, "You are not the only visitor here in the past thousand years. The guiding light will bring all the predestined people. Some become guides, while others get a chance to leave."

"What is a guide?" Lu Ning asked. "The person driving the lantern calls the driver to bring the person who is destined to meet here." Jiuli replied, "You can drive the lantern and come and go freely. You can walk along the Yellow Springs Road and meet all kinds of people."

"What is a chance?"

Jiuli said again: "Even if there is no chance to lead the way, you can still learn a method that suits your heart from here, just to deal with this cause and effect. At this time, the true immortal has gone, and all the immortal methods have been lost. The fragments here may be of benefit to you."

Then Jiuli winked at the old man.

The old man asked, "Lu Ning, are you willing to be the guide?"

"I don't need it." Lu Ning shook his head and refused. "Since I'm here, I'd like you to help me solve some of my doubts."

"You want to ask about the true immortal." Jiuli said.

"You are right."

"We don't know where the mystery of the True Immortal is. He disappeared overnight and has been gone ever since. The rules set by the True Immortals are based on the victory or defeat we decided back then, which is not reasonable. Now, the changes in the world have far exceeded the rules set back then, and the rules of the True Immortals should be broken."

"After it's broken, what happens next?"

"New rules can be drafted by humans and determined by monsters. Whoever implements the new rules will be the new master of the world. When the old rules are broken, the world will belong to the time when we first established them. Both humans and monsters will camp in tribes, and there will be endless wars. This is the Great Wilderness." said the old man.

"So...war is coming?"

"War is inevitable." Jiuli said, "and there are no true immortals in the world. I don't know how long it will take before new rules can be established."

"How different are the rules set by the immortals from what I see now?" Lu Ning asked again.

Jiuli laughed.

"You will find out soon enough."

"several years?"

"In just a dozen years, the immortal rules will completely collapse." The old man stretched out his hand and stroked the black rock for a while. "Wan Yao Mountain will not intervene in the war. This place is the paradise built by Jiuli according to the method I used to defeat it. Although it is far away from the human world, it is also the last paradise that does not follow the immortal rules and is centered on Jiuli."

As the old man gently stroked it, the black stone began to fade slowly and gradually turned into the shape of tombs.

"This place is a grave, but also a place of life. We will not leave, and you can handle this matter at your own convenience."

Jiuli then asked: "What do you want? What do you seek? Among the fragments here, there is something that can give you the answer."

"I..." Lu Ning opened her mouth, but after thinking for a while, she asked, "Can you lend me the old sedan chair that brought me here... which is also the guide lamp, to use it twice more?"

"Is that all?" Jiuli asked.

"I don't need immortal methods. I've seen people try to merge immortal methods with mortals, but that's not reliable." Lu Ning shook her head gently. "You also said that the immortal rules are about to collapse. So if I want them, it's just to salvage some useless things from the past. It's better to have some material possessions. And I will convey the news you two mentioned. I am a human being, I will stand on the side of humans, and if there are any monsters who are willing to listen, I will not hide anything."

"I know what form the demon takes. If there is no destiny, there is nothing to be gained." Jiuli closed his eyes completely. "Old friend, give her two bells and let her go."

The old man nodded, dug his fingers into the rock, took out two old, rusty bells, and threw them to Lu Ning.

"The guide lamp can take you twice. I don't know what you will do with it, but leaving this place is not yours. Just tell the driver where you want to go."

"Thank you." Lu Ning accepted the bell and bowed to the man and the demon again. Then he turned around and saw the car parked not far away.

She jumped onto the old chariot again. She was not too curious about the Ten Thousand Demons Mountain. After all, she was just suddenly invited here.

"Send me to the capital."

=

The Spring Festival was approaching, and having just experienced the snowstorm in Xingyin City, Lu Ning even felt a little happy when she came to the dry outskirts of Xingyin City. However, she soon calmed down and rushed to the city gate.

When the Wei Dynasty established its capital, it had a detailed plan for the capital. Lu Ning had also lived here for a period of time. Although it was not her personal experience, she had corresponding memories. She kept the emperor's entrustment in mind and did not enter the city with a big fanfare with the imperial edict. Instead, she entered the city first as a commoner, then inquired about the location of Yuan Weinong's residence, knocked on the door with a token, and after entering the door, she directly met the Prime Minister Yuan.

However, Yuan Weinong was already bedridden at this time.

Lu Ning could smell the scent of herbs in the room, mixed with the deathly aura of a dying person. However, although Yuan Weinong was ill, he realized that this matter was serious and must be dealt with as soon as possible, so he pulled himself together and met Lu Ning.

After learning about Dong Zai's actions, Yuan Weinong let out a long sigh.

"Dong Tian... So this is what the emperor thinks?"

"Isn't he the crown prince?" Lu Ning asked, "I heard that the emperor went on a tour and the crown prince was the regent."

"However, the prince is only five years old. We advised Your Majesty to appoint a prince because the country cannot be without a crown prince. After all, Your Majesty inherited the throne at a young age, and we thought there would be enough time to raise the prince to adulthood." Yuan Weinong sighed, "Now that Your Majesty has issued an imperial decree, the rest of the matter will be difficult."

The old prime minister coughed a few times before explaining to Lu Ning, "Dong Tian is a relative of the royal family, one generation younger than your majesty, but not much older than your majesty. Dong Tian is fond of martial arts and has been assigned to fight in the army for several years. He has gained considerable prestige in the army, and he is also ambitious. If there is an imperial decree to confer the title, he will really become the emperor."

"Isn't that just right?"

"However, most of the court officials still believe that the crown prince should be the legitimate heir. Even though the crown prince is young, there are many young people who ascended the throne in history. Moreover, if a young emperor ascends the throne, it means the ruler is weak and the ministers are strong, which is welcomed by the court officials. If a person with great military achievements were to inherit the throne, some people would not be happy about it."

"It's already this late, and they're still fighting over these things?" Lu Ning already understood why Dong Zai made this decision. After all, the crown prince was young, and a group of ministers were engaged in serious family struggles. At this time, there had to be a strong-willed person sitting on the throne to lead the subsequent battles for survival between humans and demons.

Then, she relayed to Yuan Weinong what Jiuli and the King of Man had said.

When Yuan Weinong heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then Lu Ning felt that he looked a little older.

"I will do my best to promote the execution of His Majesty's will. But child, I do not recommend that you be made public. Let's keep it a secret who sent back the will."

"Why?"

"Because I am old and I don't know how long I can hold on. If the situation changes, someone has to watch the wind and act accordingly." Yuan Weinong patted Lu Ning's shoulder and sighed, "I still have the power to assist in the administration. I will reinstate your father and will pass on anything through your father. If you find that something is wrong later, you can go north to seek protection from Grand Tutor Qin."

After hearing this, Lu Ning had already vaguely felt that the matter of succession might not be that simple.

But she had no other choice. After all, the affairs of the court were beyond her ability, and she could not kill those court officials who were in her way on impulse.

"Perhaps when the other two prime ministers return to the capital..."

"I am forced to do things for the sake of profit. I have no choice." Yuan Weinong shook his head. "I will prepare a decree for you. You can take it back to your father. He will teach you about the rest."

"Thank you, Prime Minister Yuan." Lu Ning bowed.