Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1389: The Lawyer

Three days later, Lu Ning's team set up camp on the outskirts of the former Liujiazhuang village.

The topography of Lingzhou varies greatly. There are large plains outside Lingjiang and mountainous areas near Gouchen. Liujiazhuang was originally a place surrounded by mountains and rivers, otherwise there would not have been a village, but it is now a ruin.

Lu Ning knew how to build stoves, dig trenches, and set up sentry posts. She knew that she could gather people because she could provide shelter, but how much power she could get these people to exert depended on her own performance.

Fortunately, nothing had happened so far except for a small encounter. As for the so-called small encounter, it was also an encounter with a few wandering demons. The fight between the two sides was over almost in an instant. The lethality of the ice array was not something that a few ordinary demons could resist.

But even so, Lu Ning also found the incoordination in the formation. Although the people in the Spiritual Strategy Camp were all from the martial arts world, they were still not that good at fighting in a legionary style. It was just like when many martial arts sects fought each other, each fighting their own.

This resulted in almost no coordination or cover between them. Even though they crushed several monsters, two of them were slightly injured.

This is not okay.

"Xuan Yangzi, what do you think of their performance yesterday?" Lu Ning asked.

Xuan Yangzi was a little embarrassed. He still had some tactical knowledge and knew that the battle, which could not even be considered a combat, was really too ugly. If it weren't for Lu Ning's backup and the ice formation's strong enough defense, there might have been casualties.

"No." That was all he could say. Lu Ning didn't need him to say anything more.

"Right? No." Lu Ning pointed at the two wounded soldiers, "And the core problem is that the two of us who were injured did what they were supposed to do according to the positions of the formation."

"It's... it's the others who failed to complete the support."

"I know very well that when people suddenly gain power that can rival or even suppress demons, they will inevitably be excited and fall into a state of arrogance for a while. But the price of arrogance is the lives of friendly forces. I hope they can understand this. I am not looking for them in the Spiritual Strategy Camp to find a group of inexperienced recruits to retrain."

"You can scold them as much as you want." Xuan Yangzi said, "They know how to calculate the responsibility. If they don't even dare to take responsibility for their mistakes, then there is no point for them to come here."

"I won't give too many chances." Lu Ning stood up. "I know my prestige is not enough to convince everyone. It may only take one time to establish my prestige, but trust requires long-term accumulation. Xuan Yangzi, the war is imminent, and we don't have that much time."

Xuan Yangzi nodded to show that he understood.

Lu Ning gathered everyone together, reviewed yesterday's battle, and explained how the two people were injured in the battle. Then, she also recorded those who launched attacks without authorization and left their defensive positions.

"Time is urgent. I am not going to use too complicated rules of merit and demerit. As one of the ultimate formations, the Ice Formation does not need to follow the military system. I will follow the rule of offsetting merit and demerit. If you leave your post without permission, you will have to make up for it later. If you cannot correct it, go back to Gouchen. I don't need such subordinates." Lu Ning announced, "I don't care whether you did it intentionally or unintentionally, whether it was due to your own lack of ability or external factors. I only look at the results."

As it was getting dark, Lu Ning announced that they would have a meal and rest, and would go to Liujiazhuang to investigate the situation tomorrow.

The three villages that Lu Ning was going to search this time were similar. They were all places where special altars were set up after being burned down by the army of the northern frontier. These altars had also been destroyed, but there were always small groups of people from the northern frontier who came to secretly set them up again. Gou Chen had no plan to expand his defense range, so he could only send troops to sweep them regularly. If he was lucky, he could also take down some spoils of war. After all, the altars also required some special instruments.

Referring to the data of the previous operations, Lu Ning thought about the plan for entering the village this time. She didn't even need to guess, just watching the evil spirit coming out of the village from a distance, she knew there was something wrong, and now she needed to consider how to train the troops.

=
Under the same night sky, Wen Rong happily received a bowl of hot porridge from an old man.

"I never thought that I could find a place to rest here. I thought I would have to eat dry biscuits in the wilderness before I reached Guanyuan."

"Girl, you are lucky. You can still see our Wanshikou Village even when it's dark. This place is deep in the mountains and it's hard to find even during the day." The old man scooped a bowl of hot water from the pot and placed it on the table for Wen Rong.

Wen Rong smiled and thanked him. Hot porridge and hot water. It was not easy for this village to serve hot food. During the war, there was no surplus food in Lingzhou, and even hunting did not yield much. Ordinary people hid in the three cities, and only a few were still hiding in various hard-to-find corners.

Wanshikou Village is in the valley, and it also belongs to the situation mentioned above. It is called a village, but there are only ten families in it, all of whom hid here to avoid natural disasters and man-made disasters in the early years. The old man lived here with his daughter and son-in-law, but Wen Rong arrived late, and the two had already gone to bed. The old man was awake because he didn't sleep much, so he entertained her.

"Father, I wonder how far Guanyuan is from here?" Wen Rong asked.

"Just one more day's walk and we'll be there."

"Oh... so close." Wen Rong sipped a mouthful of porridge, "Then why don't you go to Guanyuan? I heard that place is pretty good. It's guarded by Grand Tutor Qin, so we don't have to worry about encountering any Saibei troops, let alone monsters."

"What are demons? The barbarians from the northern frontier came here once or twice, but they didn't find our village. Besides, what good things are there in the ravine that would be worth their coming here?"

"Yeah." Wen Rong nodded thoughtfully, "But what is that wooden rack behind the village? I have some knowledge. That thing is probably not used to dry things, right?"

The father-in-law took out a piece of dried stuff from his sleeve, put it in his mouth, chewed it and swallowed it.

"I'm old and I won't live long." He suddenly talked about something irrelevant. "But people just want to live, girl, do you understand?"

"Yes, of course I understand. I work so hard just to live and live a better life. If one day I think I'm going to die, then something must have happened that even my heartless conscience can't accept." Wen Rong put down the bowl with a smile, "So I understand your desire to survive, and I know that you... no, the whole village has fled to Saibei because of this?"

"We have no choice, girl. The invisible law guides us here and allows us to stay in the world. For people like us, being able to overcome death is already a blessing from heaven and earth..." The old man raised his arm, and in the light of the slightly swaying candlestick, there were some inconspicuous scars on his arm, which was rough and black due to the wear of time.

"It's corpse spots... old man." Wen Rong took out a mirror from his arms, "Many years later, if the demon really does become a thing, perhaps the historian will record it like this... The sage spread the principles of survival and saved everyone from the suffering of death. Haha, no, I can't say such flowery words."

"Girl, I don't want to hurt you. You have to know that everything has changed. I'm still alive... No, it should be said that when I was still confused, we all died. We didn't die from the attack of the Saibei Army, but from the tools we used day and night. They came alive and killed us in our beds. I, an old man, ran away, but I was about to die. My cry for help attracted our benefactor. It cast an invisible law into this land, built an altar behind the village, and then extradited our souls to be reborn in self-discipline. It's a pity that the invisible law is not complete after all, and we still have to use the dead skin. It's not bad. We don't need to eat or sleep anymore, we won't get sick, and we won't die."

Wen Rong heard footsteps outside the house. Noisy and chaotic.

"If others don't accept it, I can't do anything about it, but we have lived here for decades and will continue to live like this..."

"You are neither demons nor lackeys, you are truly magical. It seems that Qiu Suying is right again this time, but he is always right, who makes him such a genius?"

Wen Rong raised the mirror and gently stroked the back of it. As a stream of fresh air was introduced, a sound was heard from the mirror.

"Huang Kui really didn't just create an automatic method of summoning souls. This research spirit deserves recognition. When it is uncertain whether a method of summoning souls can correctly generate corresponding rules, multiple experiments are necessary. As long as it is still alive, it can sort out previous failures. The invisible law is probably one of the means of failure."

"Do they look like they can be saved?" Wen Rong asked.

"Of course not. The body is still decaying. It may be fine now, but in a hundred years, it will rot into a skeleton. Oh, of course, if they think they are alive in that form, it's okay." Qiu Suying said calmly, "Did you drink their stuff?"

"Do you underestimate me? Pretending to be drunk is an old trick I use to deceive people all over the country." Wen Rong smiled, "Then Qiu Suying, what do you think I should do? After all, I am responsible for teaching you the law. Now I will follow your instructions."

"Kill him. If the invisible law is still in operation, I want to see how it operates. I don't know what kind of sequelae this incomplete method will have. I don't like unnecessary trouble. It's very inefficient."

"I understand." Wen Rong put the mirror back into her arms, stood up and looked at her father-in-law, "It's been so long, everyone in the village should have gathered here, right?"

"That's right." The old man took out a rusty short knife and said, "Girl, no matter what you think now, we can't let you go. If Guan Yuan finds this place, we will be in danger. We can only leave your soul in the Invisible Law."

"That won't work." Wen Rong suddenly pushed the table towards the old man, but the old man opened his hands and easily caught the table. Then, the door was kicked open with a clang, and two men and women with blue faces rushed into the room with machetes, shouting.

"Damaged vocal organs? Oh, yes, you said they were killed by tools--"

Wen Rong glanced at the stranglehold on the two men's throats, and suddenly realized what was going on. Then he drew his sword and thrust it out, pushing aside the man's machete. Then he swung his left hand and a three-edged dart pierced directly into the woman's forehead, knocking her back two steps.

"His physique is the same as a zombie's, with no vital points."

"The corpse has no vital parts. This is roughly how the invisible law works." Qiu Suying's voice came from her arms, "Test the first human law."

"Ah? Aren't you still not done debugging?"

"I reiterate that I am just a person who is good at learning and regulating myself. I am not a genius, nor do I have the ability to interpret all the so-called rules at a glance. I also need trial and error, but after stepping on the wrong path of Huang Kui, my vision is much clearer."

"Yes, yes, you are just an ordinary person, and you are content to live an ordinary life..."

Pure light covered the blade of Wen Rong's sword. Her sword was not special. She just bought it on the way here. But now, it seemed like an unparalleled divine weapon, and it showed its power for the first time in this remote village.

"Ah, I still don't understand. I've already started to make new rules, but why is the first rule still——"

The sword flashed and pierced into the old man's chest. The old man paused and began to tremble. He lowered his head slightly, and for the first time, panic appeared on his face.

"People will be born, grow old, get sick and die?" Wen Rong gently pulled out the sword.

"I am a narrow-minded person, Wenrong." Qiu Suying's cold voice came from the mirror, "I am not philanthropic enough to expand the definition of human beings to all known types of life. In my opinion, human beings should look like human beings. Anything else is abnormal."

"Hey, aren't you quite racist?" Wen Rong moved quickly and stabbed the man and woman again in an instant. The sword only scratched them and they fell to the ground. Their stiff bodies finally stopped moving.

"Racism? I just insist that each race should have its own characteristics. And this is also the basic logic of the rules of this world - human? Monster? If you want to be either side, please meet all the characteristics of that side."

Wen Rong walked out of the door and saw the villagers gathered outside the door standing in the night. Their dead faces were still looking at her with the same expressions as before. Seeing this scene, Wen Rong couldn't help but sigh: "Although I don't agree with you so much, but from the horror movie-like situation in front of me, at least now, you are right."

Under the shining white light, death finally returned to its original form, and the people in this small village also welcomed a death that was several years late.

Finally, Wen Rong stepped onto the altar.

"The invisible law is indeed invisible to the naked eye." She looked at the empty altar, opened her hand, and let the keyhole fall into her palm. There was no point in hiding it, she could open the hidden things in the world, and nothing could escape her.