Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1376 Entering the City

When daytime came, Lu Ning woke up from a not-so-good sleep.

Staying awake during someone else's momentary scene was no less than a nightmare. After wiping off the cold sweat from her forehead, she gathered herself together and rode towards Gouchen City.

The city in the valley had scars of war on its walls. Although they had obviously been cleaned many times, the bloody smell could not be wiped off.

When Lu Ning approached the position where he could not move forward in his previous dream, he felt as if he had passed through a boundary. Then, on the hills outside the city, arrow towers rose from the ground, and even the terrain of the mountains changed its appearance. Lu Ning was originally on the flat ground, but in a blink of an eye, he was already in the deep mountains and jungles.

This instantaneous change was the most superficial defense method outside the Gou Chen City. Ordinary soldiers would be drawn into the maze in an instant if they just approached. Lu Ning also immediately noticed that many eyes were falling on him, some from the arrow tower, some from the distant city, and some even from the sky and underground.

These gazes were full of scrutiny and exploration. Lu Ning stood there without moving. After a while, she felt that the gazes had decreased a little.

Then, a man covered in grass branches came out from the mountain, holding a strangely shaped crossbow. Although he was not aiming at Lu Ning, he had already loaded the crossbow arrow.

"Who are you? Do you have a pass?"

"People in the martial arts world, after hearing about the war in the northern border, hope to do their part to help." Lu Ning said in a clear voice.

"Wait."

After the man answered, he went back into the forest.

It seems that Gou Chen City does have a way to deal with it, so Lu Ning doesn't have to worry about it.

After a while, a whistling arrow was shot out from the mountain, and then several people dressed in linen clothes, who looked like woodcutters but whose skills were definitely not inferior to those of the top martial arts masters, jumped out from the front, back, left and right, surrounding Lu Ning. This scene made Lu Ning more vigilant even though he still believed in Qin Zhong's army.

"People in the martial arts world must first test their martial arts skills before deciding on their direction." The man in hemp clothes in front of Lu Ning said, "Please make the first move, young lady."

"Oh?"

Judging only from her martial arts, Lu Ning might only be considered first-rate in the martial arts world, not even at the top. But considering her various skills, that might not be the case.

"That……"

She was not prepared to hide her weakness at this juncture. After she drew out her sword, cold mist rose, and a layer of yin energy instantly wrapped around the sword edge. Then, the fresh air she had been breathing in for many days continued to strengthen, and the cold mist quickly condensed into ice crystals and extended. The long sword extended more than twice its length and pointed at the leader.

"Come."

As soon as the word came out, they both moved at the same time.

The man in hemp clothes was very good at light Kung Fu. With a step, he came to Lu Ning's side with light steps. The weapon in his hand was a machete, which was shorter than Lu Ning's ice sword. Everyone knew the principle that an inch longer is an inch stronger, and this man was no exception.

However, the ice sword in Lu Ning's hand could almost be considered an extension of her limbs.

She just slightly turned her wrist, and a section of ice spikes suddenly extended from the sword tip, slashing towards the man in sackcloth like a sickle. The man in sackcloth immediately raised his sword to block, and the two sides' weapons collided, and with a buzzing sound, they knew the strength of the opponent's internal force.

Lu Ning is slightly better.

The look in the sackcloth-clothed man's eyes also changed. Considering Lu Ning's age, internal strength is something that needs to be accumulated over the years. To be able to have internal strength stronger than his at this age, it means that she is either gifted or the internal strength she has practiced is unique and unparalleled.

"That's great inner strength, but this alone is not enough."

The man in hemp clothes immediately started to attack with his sword, swinging his broadsword, attacking like a violent storm. Lu Ning knew that she was weak in terms of moves, so she immediately focused her energy on her dantian, took a defensive stance, and countered the moves. She had a strong eye and learning ability, and she had learned how to seek opportunities to counterattack in this situation during the sparring with the demon in the Meteoric Moon Mountain before, so she was not panicked at all.

In such a competition, if the attack fails for a long time, the attacking party will naturally consume more energy. Lu Ning's internal strength is better, and her defense is so stable that the people in Mai Yi feel frightened. But she didn't want to attack at all. Even if she deliberately revealed a few flaws, it didn't lead to the opponent's attack. The offensive knife force seemed to be squeezed by countless walls, and it was he who gradually found it difficult to continue.

After a hundred moves, the man in hemp clothes jumped back hastily to avoid the cold air spreading from Lu Ning's sword: "Stop! Haven't you ever thought about attacking?"

"If I give you another hundred moves, your body will become stiff and you won't be able to continue my moves. Why should I attack when there is such a sure way to win?" Lu Ning smiled and dissipated the coldness on the sword. She lowered her head and saw that the grass and trees on the ground were already covered with ice crystals. That was the effect of the coldness around her body.

The products produced by the distribution center are indeed extraordinary.

"Well, your skills are enough to go to Shangxuanying. Come with me."

The man in hemp clothes gestured to the people around him, asking them to disperse, and then he took Lu Ning and walked into the mountain road.

"If you just follow Gou Chen City, you won't get there at all. Someone must lead the way to this place."

On the way, the man in sackcloth began to give a brief introduction to Lu Ning.

In fact, being able to walk in safely had already ruled out the suspicion that Lu Ning was a demon. The reason why those eyes spent a long time examining her at first was because of her demon eyes - yes, the only demon organ in Lu Ning's body could not be hidden from those eyes.

However, since the demon-suppressing officials also did this, Lu Ning's trait obviously allowed him to pass the inspection. If he was judged to be a demon, the three sacrifices set up in Gou Chen City would take effect immediately, strangling the invading enemy here.

The second one was the one who questioned them at the beginning. Those people were ordinary civilians, but they had lived here for a long time, and their physical fitness was no less than that of the new recruits who had just started training. They were responsible for questioning those who had gone through the initial screening. If they were civilians who had fled, they could receive them on their own. If they were imperial envoys, people from the underworld who had come to join the army alive, these hemp-clothed people would be responsible for handling them.

The man in hemp clothes who called himself Huo Shiba was one of the first people to come to Saibei. He was originally a man of the underworld, and had been here for a long time to join the army. He also knew how to receive people according to their identities. For example, people like Lu Ning who came to join the army would be divided into four different camps according to their martial arts skills.

Shangxuanying is where the people with the highest martial arts skills are located. Usually, people with high martial arts skills will not obey military orders, and it is a pure waste to train them as ordinary soldiers, so special matters need to be handled specially.

The Spiritual Strategy Camp was where those who specialized in those strange and erotic skills were assigned. These people possessed some Jianghu skills, and although their martial arts skills might not be high, they could sometimes play an important role, so a special camp was set up for them. Others were assigned to the Red Crown and Black Crown camps.

Those who are willing to obey discipline and form an army will be in the Red Crown Camp; those who are unwilling to obey discipline but are not capable enough to join the Upper Mysterious Camp will be trained in the Black Crown Camp. Of course, people from these two places can be transferred to each other at any time until they can be assigned to the army.

There is no more detailed division because it is impossible to do so in places like the border. Too many processes will only interfere with the speed at which commands take effect.

Each of the four camps has a general as the general leader, and each has four deputy generals under him. Shangxuan Camp is a camp with "many experts", and the leader is also the most important one among the four camps. Qin Zhong's third son, Qin Luo.

Of course, it is only the status that is important. Qin Luo and the generals of the other three battalions have the same military rank.

Huo Shiba told Lu Ning about the general situation here while pushing aside the grass and trees to move forward. When the grass and trees were pushed aside, some of them would naturally move left and right, revealing the road behind. Lu Ning couldn't help but sigh at the magic of the mountain protection formation outside the city. She even saw that she was walking farther and farther away from Gou Chen City, and was almost going to a place where she couldn't see. But after Huo Shiba circled around several trees in a random order of left, right, and right, a cave appeared. After walking nearly a hundred meters from the cave, it suddenly became bright, and Lu Ning found herself standing in front of the magnificent city gate.

"The city gates cannot be opened casually." Huo Shiba pulled out a whistle from his collar and blew it, and two hanging baskets were lowered from the city wall.

The two of them got on the hanging basket and were pulled up to the city. After landing on the city wall, Lu Ning saw a group of soldiers with serious expressions, and everyone's weapons were pointed here.

Huo Shiba took out three tokens from his waist and handed them to three soldiers wearing the same clothes. They took them and checked them with their own badges, then returned them to Huo Shiba.

"Business!"

"Join the army and go to Shangxuanying." Huo Shiba said.

"Lieutenant General Tang Ye is in the barracks today. You take the men there." The soldiers made way for him. Huo Shiba nodded and led Lu Ning into the city.

Gou Chen, as a war city specially set up by Qin Zhong, is naturally different from ordinary cities. First of all, more than half of the area here is barracks and military facilities, and only about a quarter is a civilian area, used to collect refugees, select soldiers, and train talents. There is no business in this place, and all purchases are handled by the military, and they will not be put into the city. Daily entertainment activities are allowed in the residential area, but places like gambling houses and music houses are impossible. Even if there are places to eat, there are at most a few restaurants, and there are no restaurants.

However, having said that, because the area of ​​Gouchen City itself is much larger than that of an ordinary city, even if it is only a quarter of the residential area, it is not yet fully occupied.

There was basically a sentry every ten steps on the street, and there were patrolling soldiers everywhere. Their mental state was pretty good, and they didn't seem too tired. However, these soldiers looked very intimidating in the eyes of outsiders, but Lu Ning could tell that they were probably just new recruits who had been trained for a short time.

She saw the location of Shangxuanying. These three words were written neatly on the wooden sign at the door. There was no ordinary military training ground inside the place. Instead, it was built more like an inn, with many courtyards of different sizes.

A handsome young general was sitting in the courtyard at the entrance, reading a military book with great interest. But when Huo Shiba led Lu Ning in, he immediately stood up.

"Eighteen? You actually brought someone here today?"

"Haha, General Tang, the last time was about ten days ago."

"I wasn't here last time." Tang Ye smiled and glanced at Lu Ning, "This lady is..."

"Lu Ning." Lu Ning bowed and gave his name.

Tang Ye raised his eyebrows slightly: "The young lady's name sounds very familiar, is it possible that she has made a name for herself in the capital?"

"Maybe? But I probably didn't have much fame when I was in Beijing." Lu Ning said.

"In that case, I am also overstepping my authority. Miss, please enter the Shangxuan Camp. You will need to register your identity, and we will also do some investigation on your identity. I hope you can understand."

"War is inevitable and there is nothing wrong with it."

Tang Ye led the two of them to a side room, took out a registration book, and placed it in front of Lu Ning. Lu Ning thought she only needed to sign, but she didn't expect that she would need to write five pages of information on the front of the book.

"…All of this?"

"After all, the Shangxuanying has great capabilities and will be responsible for more important matters in the future. If something goes wrong, it will be too late to regret. Therefore, every member of the Shangxuanying must be registered separately. The content at the back will naturally be filled in by the military. You only need to fill in the detailed information at the front." Tang Ye said with a smile.

From name to birth date, from special skills to resume, it asked almost everything that could be asked of a person. Lu Ning even had a headache about how to fill in some of the questions, such as elders - she could only fill in the names of her parents, and she was really not familiar with other people in the Lu family.

"If there is any inconvenience, you can skip it first. We will supplement it for you if we can. After all, people in the martial arts world who can come to Shangxuanying have some legendary experiences." Tang Ye added later.

Lu Ning nodded and quickly filled in all the information she could. Except for the item about the imperial edict, there was nothing wrong with the rest of the content.

After she briefly wrote about her experience, she put down her pen. Huo Shiba also came up, turned a page, and signed his name on that page, proving that Lu Ning was the person he was responsible for bringing in.

"Okay, then Miss Lu Ning can stay here for two days. Your identity needs to be verified and your badge needs to be prepared. All your future achievements will also be counted according to your badge."

"Can I know who lives here?"

"Once your badge is ready, everyone will know you. As for the room..." Tang Ye reached out and took a bunch of keys from a cabinet, took one of them out and handed it to Lu Ning, "Room No. 26, just go in from here and turn left."

“Can I talk to someone here?”

"From the perspective of military regulations, it's best not to. But Shangxuanying is the weakest place in the entire Gouchen City's military regulations. As long as it's acceptable on the surface, it's fine." Tang Ye laughed, "Miss, I believe that Lu Qingxu's daughter knows where the limit is."

Lu Ning also smiled: "Thank you, General."