Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1406 Evil Object
The demons' announced siege was not only being watched in Lingzhou, but also in the capital. Although the officialdom in the capital was in a state of panic, it was ultimately an internal power struggle.

After leaving the morning court session, Li Zhuoyu unconsciously looked north. In reality, by this time, it was just a matter of confiscating property and imprisoning officials; the voices of those who opposed him in the court had long since disappeared, and now no one would oppose him... not even the emperor.

The emperor was only five years old. It was already a miracle that a five-year-old emperor could sit peacefully on the throne until the morning court session ended. Li Zhuoyu recalled the chaos of that initial period with lingering fear. From the court to the harem, there were still many who coveted power and tried to control the emperor; he was better off than Pei Yingfu. Pei Yingfu no longer had the energy to be a powerful minister, but he could still manage it.

He has now restored order to the capital, but the outcome of the battle in Lingzhou ultimately depends on Grand Tutor Qin's side. Only a day has passed; battle reports couldn't possibly reach the capital so quickly, and judging from previous correspondence with Grand Tutor Qin, the situation doesn't seem very optimistic.

"Li Xiang!"

A man dressed as a guard hurriedly paid his respects. Li Zhuoyu recognized him; he was one of the guards serving the Prefect of the Capital. The reason he was a guard rather than a yamen runner was because he was assigned to Li Zhuoyu—the capital had been in too much chaos lately.

“In recent days, several strange incidents have occurred in the inner city. The Prefect of the Capital has ordered me to deliver this file to you.” The guard took out a thick paper package from his pocket and handed it to Li Zhuoyu.

Yes... this is also one of the matters he needs to handle.

After dismissing the guards, Li Zhuoyu opened the paper package. The situation regarding "Return to Origin" had been mentioned in Grand Tutor Qin's previous letter; it would likely spread indiscriminately throughout the entire Great Wei. The capital city, shrouded in the Azure Dragon Emperor's Qi, might be affected more slowly, but it was impossible for them to remain completely unaffected.

Methods to address the phenomenon of reverting to the original state are currently under research, but no results have been found yet.

Moreover, the seriousness of the situation has become increasingly unacceptable—among these files is a record of a pig raised in the city giving birth to bizarre offspring, which was dealt with immediately by the Demon Suppression Bureau.

First birds and beasts, will humans be next?

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Gou Chen reacted very quickly. Because of the Commander's strong counterattack, the result of fighting to the death was that someone was still able to relay the situation of the Demon King Qi Mei. The upper limit of the "Myriad Laws" enhancement is difficult to predict, but since it is also a ritual, it can be considered to have virtually no upper limit.

However, the Soul-Slaying Array happens to be a counter to it. The Blazing Flame Array and the Howling Wind Array are both more powerful offensive rituals, while the Soul-Slaying Array is more functional. Qin Shu quickly received a command from the person in charge of the Soul-Slaying Array and began to cast the spell.

As Gouchen's Soul-Sinking Formation fully unfolded, all the souls that had perished on the battlefield were drawn in, falling to the earth. The special abilities bestowed upon them by "Myriad Laws" also began to weaken as their souls dissipated. Qi Mei immediately realized that her unparalleled speed could not be maintained for long. She then sneered, ceasing her pursuit and choosing to retreat.

After discovering Gouchen's counterattack, Di Xin considered for a moment, launched one last round of artillery fire, and then withdrew his troops.

The new ritual was bound to be unstable in its use, and Di Xin knew he couldn't get any more troops or supplies at the moment. That Demon Star Lord had already left the northern border region along with his eight top demon kings, including demons, monsters, and supernatural beings, and probably wouldn't be back for a while. The teachers of those Demon Star Lords couldn't be relied on either; they weren't there for any status within the demon race, but simply to see how far Huang Kui could go.

This was not good news for Di Xin, a demon who loyally followed Huang Kui and had been given a name by him. But what could he say?

"Tomorrow...to continue."

As for the defenders of Gouchen, they had finally made it through the day. Although there hadn't been any real close combat, the probing attacks from the demons alone had taken their toll. They weren't exactly exhausted, but they had been quite busy.

No one under Lu Ning's command was killed, but several people were injured by flying stones. One unlucky guy was hit on the head by a flying piece of brick. If he hadn't been wearing a helmet, he would have been cracked open on the spot.

This was only because the ice array provided some defense; in fact, even the ice array couldn't withstand the destructive shrapnel from thousands of kilograms of stones.

Lu Ning told them to go to the military doctor for treatment first. Tonight's patrol mission wasn't hers, so they could rest for a bit. But judging from the situation of the attack, they probably wouldn't have much time to rest.

When she returned to her residence, she received even worse news from Lingjiang. After a long struggle against a demon king, Ye Cong and the demon king had finally stopped fighting. The demon king's death spell ultimately failed to penetrate Lingjiang City, but the price was that Ye Cong collapsed inside her own formation at dusk and didn't wake up until she returned.

In this state of mutual attrition, Ye Cong knew very well that his physical condition couldn't hold out for long. And the demons were virtually endless. Today he could thwart their offensive with his mastery of the ice formation, but tomorrow, the day after, as the Demon King became more proficient in the rituals of the demon army, problems would inevitably arise.

Ye Cong told Lu Ning to prepare. He didn't need anyone to support Lingjiang right now, but if one day he had to risk his life, then the next leader of the Frost Array would need to take over immediately.

One piece of information after another, neither good nor bad, was being relayed. The limited communication network painstakingly established between the three cities began to exchange information rapidly. The good news was that the battles to defend the cities had all been won, but the bad news was that this victory came at a considerable cost. In Lingjiang, Ye Cong, who commanded a significant amount of power, had been expended, while in Guanyuan, the entire city had to rely on some powerful curse to mitigate the effects of the ritual. Neither of these solutions could be considered a long-term solution.

Therefore, the Wei army, which had been counterattacking in Lingzhou for a long time, had to switch from defense to offense once again. If they allowed the demons to attack the city, they would be in a passive position forever.

Grand Tutor Qin ordered that, with the Golden Light Array, Blazing Flame Array, and Crimson Sand Array as the core, elite troops be selected to counterattack the demon army camp. If possible, targeted destruction should be carried out on the three sacrificial rites of Myriad Laws, Myriad People, and Myriad Things.

In the study of rituals, humans far surpass demons. Every city has its own dedicated ritual masters, many of whom come from specialized institutions such as the Imperial Observatory. While their own combat strength may not be particularly high, they can quickly analyze the intricacies of even newly emerging sacrificial rituals.

Lu Ning knew she wouldn't be idle, but she didn't expect to receive orders early the next morning to assemble at Qin Luo's place. Left with no other choice, she could only instruct Zhao Yuqiao to guard her courtyard and, if any unforeseen circumstances arose, to try and escape with everyone, finding a way to survive. She already realized that the objective implied by the mission was approaching.

As expected, Qin Luo summoned four commanders and a team of elite soldiers, and told them about this mission: to find the camp of the demon siege army, try to kill some of the threatening demon kings, and then, if possible, destroy the key components of the ritual to prevent the demons from using the ritual to create something that they cannot defeat.

The other three commanders naturally obeyed orders directly, but Qin Luo needed to explain a bit more to Lu Ning. After all, Lu Ning was already the first commander, and her status was quite important, especially since Qin Luo hadn't taken his own first commander with him.

“Lu Ning, you are the only one with a record of killing a demon king during the previous demon siege. We were not confident of winning against the demons’ long-planned attack, but you were able to kill a demon king under those circumstances, which shows that you have the ability to adapt. Moreover, you already had the record of killing a demon king before that.”

Lu Ning was not Qin Luo's direct superior or subordinate, so the commander spoke quite tactfully. However, Lu Ning also knew that the most direct reason was that she was one of the commanders who had rested last night, while most others had not had any rest at all.

The number of troops guarding Gouchen was not abundant, so every inch of their strength had to be used. Moreover, even Qin Luo, the commander, had been mobilized, so Lu Ning didn't feel there was anything wrong with her going along.

"Please give the order."

"All personnel are assembled. The necessary equipment and supplies are ready. This operation is expected to last about five days. After five days, even if we haven't achieved complete success, we must return. Listen carefully, we will not wait for anyone. Even if I am unable to return on time, you must return to Gouchen immediately!"

After giving her some stern instructions, Lu Ning called her men to set off. Apart from the unfortunate guy who had suffered a head injury, he was still dizzy and vomiting. Zhao Yuqiao said it was a concussion and he would need to rest for a while to recover.

Leaving Gouchen, turning through the mountains and forests, and entering the hilly area. The area around Gouchen is basically a mix of hills and plains, and there are very few suitable places to set up camp—at least for the human race.

Demons are thick-skinned and tough; even if they take on human bodies, they cannot change their extraordinary resilience and indifference to their environment. They can eat anything, and they don't even need to set up tents to sleep; in the most extreme cases, they can all hide in mountain gullies and sleep alone.

Previously, when they fought against the northern army, they would set up camp according to human customs, but now that the demons no longer conceal themselves, it's hard to say what they will become.

However, the demons' siege will continue. As long as they can track the enemy and find the location of their main camp, it's feasible. Especially for Lu Ning, those who can conceal their demonic aura are extremely rare; even the marshal of this demon army probably couldn't do it.

As expected, the demon army planned to attack the city again today. However, this time they didn't bring out their powerful stone cannons, but instead used a bunch of catapults. Their range was shorter than that of the stone cannons, so the demon army moved a little closer to Gouchen.

This led to Qin Luo's group, who had set off early in the morning and relied on the maze for cover, actually managing to get behind the demons' catapult force.

“General, we are just in time…” a general immediately suggested.

"No." Qin Luo rejected the idea before he could finish. "This isn't the previous skirmish. While an attack from behind might inflict heavy casualties on this catapult force, it would also make the demons realize the problem. Their application of military strategy is indeed very crude... no, it should be said that they haven't had any formal training in marching at all. We must seize this opportunity to do something that can directly change the course of the battle, rather than wasting it on defeating one or two armies."

Lu Ning could naturally see how crude the demons' tactics and strategies were, but she still felt that it might not be that simple. After all, she had seen demons like Xu Fu and Li Ji, who had probably already completely mastered all the things that humans were good at, but perhaps they just hadn't had enough time to teach all the demons.

The demon who might be sent out as marshal, with his immense fire elemental aura, is by no means a novice.

"Follow the trail left by the demons to find where they placed their siege equipment! If they could hide themselves, how could they hide their things?"

Stone cannons were far too threatening. The stone cannons made in the Great Wei dynasty simply couldn't fire such heavy projectiles, because the cannon barrels would have to be correspondingly increased in size, making them impossible to move, even turning them at an angle, rendering them practically useless strategically. The demons solved most of the problem with their unreasonable brute force, but one thing remained unchanged: the stone cannons themselves were inevitably enormous and heavy, and it was impossible for them to remain completely unscathed!

Under Qin Luo's orders, several teams dispersed to search for traces. Lu Ning headed towards the water's edge, where the soil was softer than on the plains, and artillery vehicles would surely have left tracks.

However, the demons were obviously not that stupid. Lu Ning searched some small rivers and valleys but did not find any obvious signs such as broken trees or tire tracks on the ground.

Just as she was starting to laugh at herself for overthinking things, suddenly, Liu the Cripple arrived with two men at top speed. Liu the Cripple gestured, indicating that he had found something. Lu Ning immediately sent a signal to the others to gather, and then followed Liu the Cripple through a low grove of trees, heading deeper into the woods.

Soon, she came to a small lake—no, it was more like a small puddle, not very large, but the area around it was densely packed with fallen corpses, some already rotting and seeping into the soil, making it impossible to examine their wounds. However, judging from their clothing, they were all dressed in the attire of the northern frontier.

Strangely, despite the large number of rotting corpses, there was not a trace of stench emanating from them. Even the rotten mud formed from blood, bones, and flesh accumulated in the small puddle in the center instead of spreading outwards.

There were obvious signs of tampering, so Lu Ning immediately called the thief over and asked him if he could try touching the puddle to see if there was anything there. The thief glanced at the puddle with disdain, and then, without anyone noticing, a bronze-colored broken sword appeared in his hand.

Lu Ning could see the fierce and evil aura emanating from the sword even without her demonic eyes. The thief threw it to the ground with a shout, rubbing his hands together and muttering something like "no offense intended."