Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1384: Peeling off the cocoon

When Lu Ning saw this group of people again, their appearance seemed to have not changed much from before, but their spirit was quite different.

Back in the south, although Xuan Yangzi and the others possessed all kinds of miraculous abilities, they all lived in a rather miserable state, doing shameful work all day long. People like Liu Zhi even raised little ghosts, something that any decent person would kill if they saw them.

But now, each of them is much more energetic and their backs are straighter. After all, they know what they are doing and they all look proud of it.

Lu Ning glanced at the crowd. After serving in the army for a while, Xuan Yangzi, Liu Bozi, and Wujie all had some scars on their bodies. However, Bai Tieyi and Fang Huaisu protected Jin Bao and Yin Bao very well. Now the two children were each holding a half-cut sweet potato and eating it happily.

Monkey Hand not only had the monkey beside him, but also two dogs at his feet. He was teasing one and rubbing the other, looking like a friend of animals. Six Fingers was teaching Nannan how to play Pai Gow carved out of bamboo. Lu Ning heard him muttering, "Nannan, if you learn this, I'll take you to play cards. When the time comes, you stand behind my opponent and tell me what cards they have..."

"This is not banned in the army." Lu Ning pointed at six fingers and asked Tao Xuanzu.

"In the army... this is Lingce Camp." Tao Xuanzu smiled bitterly.

Liu Bozi slapped Liu Zhi on the head. Liu Zhi was furious. He then turned around and saw Lu Ning. He immediately showed a flattering smile and quickly put all the Pai Gow cards into a box.

"Long time no see, lady." Xuan Yangzi was considered to be a more serious person among these people, although Lu Ning also knew this person's true nature very well.

"How is the battle of Gou Chen going? I have not been here long, so I don't know the specific situation in the city."

"Although there are many wars, they are all minor frictions. I heard from the veterans here that there were battles all over the mountains and plains before, and a major battle would be fought almost every two or three days. But now, after a battle, the casualties are probably only around a few thousand people, which is considered a small number compared to the past." Xuan Yangzi said.

"Besides, with the protection of the formation, the Wei army will have the upper hand in a fight." Liu Bozi added, "We originally wanted to join a large formation. After all, people like us who have no worries are not afraid of joining the sacrifice. But... there is no chance."

Lu Ning thought for a moment and said, "There may be a chance."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, but Xuan Yangzi was the first to react: "Lady, you mean..."

"Don't worry." Lu Ning waved her hand. "The core requirement for joining the formation is not strength, but trustworthiness. Although we know each other, there are different levels of trustworthiness."

"Yes." Liu Bozi was the first to speak. "Even among us, we can't be sure that we will protect each other when our lives are in danger. Don't look at me, I don't even dare to say that I have this intention."

"Not counting Jinbao and Yinbao." Bai Tieyi touched the heads of the two children, "Protect them both, I will follow the heroine and promise to obey your orders."

Fang Huaisu immediately said, "Me too, we two are at your disposal."

Seeing this, Lu Ning was a little surprised: "Why are you two so anxious?"

"Shangxuanying...is not full of people like you." Bai Tieyi said with a wry smile, "And Jinbao and Yinbao are gifted, and someone there wants to take them in as apprentices."

"It is common in the martial arts world to be excited about seeing prey and want to recruit disciples."

"Lingzhou is not a good place to recruit disciples. Besides, we don't want Jinbao and Yinbao to take the path of martial arts. They are naturally intelligent and learn things very quickly. With such abilities, it would be better for them to study."

Lu Ning looked at the two children. They did have a clever look in their faces, but...

"In troubled times, if you want to study, you also need to have the ability to protect yourself."

"That goes without saying, but if we join a martial arts sect, we will waste such talent, and we don't want to go down that path. But the Shangxuanying has an extraordinary status, and this kind of thing is considered normal here. Before they use special means, we can't do anything. But once they really use other means..." Bai Tieyi looked helpless, "We can't be on guard all the time."

"You want to seek shelter with me and use my identity to stop them." Lu Ning looked at the two people, "Come to think of it, are you a family of four? I didn't ask."

"Not originally, but now it is." Fang Huaisu spoke before Bai Tieyi could. "Tieyi is a very good man. Although he is a little dull, we can actually be considered as people he rescued. If you don't believe me, you can believe him."

"Don't worry, I will consider your matter. I also prefer to use people I know, but... there are not enough people yet."

Wujie heard this and said, "We have met a lot of people here. The atmosphere in Lingce Camp is very good. Many of us have fought together before. Although they were all small battles, they can be regarded as friendships worth risking our lives for."

"Twenty people." Lu Ning said a number, "I have the ability to take twenty people away from here to form my formation, but I require that these people are all completely trustworthy. If I find any clues, that person and the introducer will have to leave. Of course, for requests like Bai Tieyi's, I can agree and provide protection, but you must also understand that I will only provide these within my formation."

"Of course." Bai Tieyi nodded quickly, "If you can't trust us, or if we don't have a close relationship, we won't bring it to you."

"Not now." Lu Ning raised her hand to stop the man who was about to take action. "You can ask around first. I need to solve some things first, and then I can deal with your problem. It won't take too long."

Lu Ning looked at Six Fingers again. Raising a little ghost was not a big problem for her, but it was not certain whether it could be coordinated with the ice formation. She did not say much, but just handed the matter to Xuan Yangzi for supervision and left the Ling Ce Camp.

Qin Luo's summons came soon. The whole city was in the absolute formation, and the messenger found Lu Ning directly and took her to the general's mansion.

Gou Chen's general's mansion was still of a very conventional style. Lu Ning walked through the heavily guarded gate and into the mansion. The surroundings were quiet and solemn. It was not until she entered the lobby that she could hear the conversation between the two people.

One of them was Qin Luo, and the one who could sit and talk with him was probably another general here.

Qin Luo, probably because he was the son of a Grand Tutor, had the demeanor of a Confucian general. The man sitting opposite him and talking was a typical military general, with a strong body, a slightly protruding belly, and a square face. He looked older than Qin Luo.

On the left and right sides of the hall, Qin Shu and Tang Ye stood on both sides, and there were some generals that Lu Ning didn't know. When Lu Ning was brought in, the two generals turned their eyes to him.

Lu Ning did not miss the moment their eyes lingered on her arms, where the ice formation flag was located.

"Your Excellency, Lu Ning is here!"

"Okay, go down." Qin Luo waved his hand to dismiss the guards, and then said to Lu Ning, "Wait a minute, I have two more guests invited."

Two more? Lu Ning nodded. Someone brought in chairs. Qin Shu, Tang Ye and the others sat down. Lu Ning also sat on the seat that was moved next to her.

Not long after, two guests walked into the lobby. One was Zhao Yuqiao, whom Lu Ning brought with him, and the other was someone Lu Ning also recognized—Lou Lingzhu.

She didn't expect to meet the successor of Zhixinggu here again.

"General Qin." The two of them clasped their fists and bowed. Qin Luo also nodded: "No need to be polite, the situation is urgent, we need to understand something, please take a seat."

When the two saw Lu Ning, they were a little confused, but they sat down as they were told.

"Lu Ning, first tell me the results of your investigation into Huang Kui," Qin Luo said.

Lu Ning immediately stood up and described the situation of the family that was suspected to be Huang Kui's relative. Everyone listened very carefully, and Lu Ning tried to describe it accurately.

After she finished speaking, Qin Luo's eyes immediately turned to Lou Lingzhu: "Miss Lou, Zhixing Valley has always recorded major and minor events in the martial arts world. According to Lu Ning, the disappearance of the person suspected to be Huang Kui happened only a hundred years ago, at most one hundred and fifty years ago. In other words, Huang Kui is a monster that was created after the establishment of the Wei Kingdom. Monsters are born and enter the world, even if they deliberately hide, there will always be some traces left behind."

"General, do you want to know what happened in the world during this period of time?" Lou Lingzhu asked.

"There are very few disciples of Zhixing Valley here, and the only one who can be invited is the young lady. But I know this is not easy, so even if the young lady doesn't know, it is also human nature."

Lou Lingzhu smiled softly upon hearing this: "General, you are also lucky. I heard Lu Ning's story and happened to know some things."

Now everyone's expressions were obviously more relaxed.

"Zhixing Valley collects secrets from all over the world and also seeks the truth behind these secrets. What the general said does have a corresponding case, but no one involved in the incident is named Huang Kui." Lou Lingzhu did not keep the suspense and immediately began to narrate, "However, one hundred and fifty to one hundred years ago, there were three major events in the martial arts world without a beginning or an end. Of course, if they are called major events, no one would know anything unless they were related to the people involved."

She reached out subconsciously, only to find that she had come in a hurry and had not brought the book box with her.

But actually, there is no need to do so. As a disciple of Zhixing Valley, she has already memorized all these stories.

"The first one was the assassination of Xuanli Hou, who was very famous in the Wei Dynasty at that time. The second one was the disappearance of Xie Linyuan, the world's number one swordsman. The third one was the case of the theft of treasures in the twenty-seven prefectures of the eight states."

"We all know the first one." Qin Luo said.

This matter concerns the royal family. Although the military generals present are not as particular about etiquette as the civil officials, it is still not appropriate to reveal such royal secrets in front of so many people.

"Just talk about the important ones." Another general said with a smile.

Lou Lingzhu also realized that it was inconvenient to talk about it here, so she said, "I will skip the cause and effect. The first thing is that although the assassin was caught on the spot, no evidence was found, and the mastermind behind him could not be found. I won't say much about the rest. As for the second thing, few people know it. After all, Xie Linyuan was a hero who traveled around the world at that time and had no fixed place to live. So it was not until a long time later that people heard no news about him and gradually realized that he was missing. But there are always new things in the world. When people really realized that Xie Linyuan had disappeared, in fact, not many people remembered him."

When Lou Lingzhu said this, he suddenly raised his head with some pride.

"But Zhixing Valley will not miss such an event. As for the disappearance of the world's number one swordsman, we sent a large number of disciples to various places in the martial arts world to inquire about his last trace. We finally confirmed that Xie Linyuan was last seen in Changting Town in the 19th year of Longshuo."

When Qin Luo heard this, his expression changed slightly.

"Then the third incident was the thief who stole treasures from the eight states and twenty-seven prefectures. Back then, this thief basically traveled to all the major states and prefectures in Wei, and he went to any place that was a little bit wealthy. He also stole a lot of treasures - but because most of the people he stole from were wealthy families, and few were government officials, even though it was a big case at the time, it gradually died down after many years of not being solved. Although many officials were dismissed because of this case, after so many years, you probably don't know much about this case."

That's true. The military generals present here who have not been transferred from the position of trial judge will basically not come into contact with this kind of files.

"Every time this treasure thief steals something, he will leave the same mark on the wall. The last time he appeared was in the sixteenth year of Longshuo, when he stole a sword from Yitian Mansion."

"The connection between these three things..." Qin Luo frowned, "Didn't you see it?"

Lou Lingzhu helplessly stretched out three fingers and counted on them: "The sixteenth year of Longshuo, the nineteenth year of Longshuo, the first year of Hongzhu... these three events spanned seven years. General Qin, many events of all sizes happened during these seven years. It was only because you mentioned the major events and Lu Ning discovered the general direction of the south that I brought up these events. If I didn't say it, who could tell that these three events were related just from the chronological files? They are just close in location, but the time is too long for us."

"But for the demons, it was a very short time." Zhao Yuqiao stroked his beard and said, "What do you think Huang Kui was involved in?"

"I can't see what the connection behind it is, but if the demon is hiding its identity and planning something, it does make sense. But there are still many things that cannot be explained clearly," said Lou Lingzhu.

"I will report this matter to Grand Tutor Qin and check the files from that year." Qin Luo nodded, "Thank you for your help. We can discuss the second thing now."

Lu Ning was stunned. How could such a thing just pass like that? But it seemed that other people didn't have any objections.

"Mr. Zhao, could you please take out the instrument that started the 'return to the origin' and have a look? Don't worry, the absolute formation is here, and ordinary influences cannot cause overflow." Qin Luo looked at Zhao Yuqiao.

"it is good."

Zhao Yuqiao reached to his waist, picked up his medicine box and opened it.

"It wasn't like this when I first got it, but now..."

He put on deerskin gloves and dug something out of the box.

It was square in shape, but attached to the glove, and green pus kept flowing out of the holes in its body. The pus fell into the medicine box, stirring up layers of white mist, but it was ultimately unable to escape from Zhao Yuqiao's hands.

"This thing has killed half of the people in Huazhou. I brought it out to prevent the spread of the plague. After all, there is probably nothing there that can contain it." Zhao Yuqiao said.