Xuanjian Xianzu

Chapter 1356 Thoughts
As those two words were uttered, cries of grief rose from the surrounding area, spreading from near to far. In the gradually dissipating rain, the sobs could still be faintly heard echoing through the mountains.
'My lord!'

'Our ancestor has passed away!'

The people down the mountain also heard the commotion, and faint cries rose from all sides. Li Ximing just kept his head down. The old man's bones on the ground had gradually turned into a pool of green water. He had taken a lot of good things in his life. Although his life force was almost gone, he was not an ordinary Qi cultivator.

Amidst the rippling water, his robes were stained on the ground, and the bamboo tube that Li Zhouming usually used to select actors was also spilled. A few scattered bamboo sticks lay on the ground, looking particularly glaring.

Li Ximing kowtowed, then put the water and robes into the box, picked up the six gold beads one by one, and spread them on the clothes. Li Quewan also knelt down and picked up the bamboo slips scattered on the ground, inserting them back into the bamboo tubes one by one.

Li Ximing seemed not to have seen it. He pondered deeply for a moment, then finally picked up the jade knife and put it in the box. Only the bamboo skewer remained hidden in his sleeve, untouched.

So he stood up, held his hands, and staggered out of the hall. The younger generation on both sides came to look, and knelt down on the ground crying. In an instant, cries of grief filled the air.

After the demonic calamity of that year, very few members of the Li family's Chengming generation remained. Li Minggong, who was always reserved in his emotions, only knelt to the side wiping away tears. Now, the Zhou Xing generation had the most members. Li Xinghan and Li Zhouluo had received guidance from this old man, and they were now sobbing uncontrollably. Li Zhoufang was older and his hair was already completely white. He knelt on the ground with a sense of loss.

Only Li Zhouda, this man, burst into loud sobs, muttering incoherently, not knowing what he was saying, biting his lip until it bled without realizing it, and Li Jiangchun wiped away her tears and went to help him up.

The sage walked out of the ancestral hall, respectfully carrying the offerings to the two main halls, but suddenly stopped, staring blankly at his grandson kneeling before him, and softly said:
"The old master likes you the most... come here..."

Li Zhouming's eyes were already red. Compared to Li Zhouda's unrestrained wailing and Li Zhoulu's low sobs, he seemed preoccupied. He stood up like a walking corpse, took the gift with both hands, and walked forward blankly.

A crowd of people escorted them forward, their cries deafening. Li Ximing then turned his head and said weakly:
"what happened?"

Li Quewan, standing behind her, lowered her head, handing over the hempen robe while taking out a jade talisman from her sleeve, saying:
"Before King Wei left, he instructed us... Once we respond, go to the cave on the island."

Li Ximing put on his clothes and said softly, somewhat wearily:
"Who?"

Li Quewan's expression turned slightly somber:
"Suining, he's still in his cave. He hasn't even come to deal with the old master's business. Something must have happened!"

Li Ximing paused slightly, glancing reluctantly at the departing crowd below the mountain. He lowered his head and took a step into the void. In the pitch-black darkness, he finally secretly pulled up his sleeve, revealing the bamboo stick he held in his palm.

He removed his thumb from his face, his gaze sweeping over the three blood-red characters. He slowly closed his eyes, lowered his hands, and Li Quewan watched him with concern, gently lifting the bamboo tube in her hand.

Li Ximing glanced at the woman, shook his head wearily, and gently placed the stick into the container, mingling it with the other sticks, leaving only the soft clinking sound of the stick against the bottom of the container.
"Attsu."

……

"Both the North and the South have their own troubles."

The candlelight was dim, and hurried footsteps echoed in the cave. The man in the silver robe paced anxiously back and forth in the main hall, sorting through the messages and prioritizing them in his mind, his breathing sometimes light and sometimes heavy.

"The current situation in the north... on the surface, should appear clear..."

Li Zhouwei and Li Jiangqian, one in the east and one in the west, had already conquered several passes. Chuncheng seemed to be indefensible and a smooth road ahead. But Li Suining knew that the greatest and most convenient danger in the world was the Great Master himself!

'Whether it's Fu Tanjian or Jiang Yan, they are actually hidden forces, lurking in the north, waiting for us to step into the quagmire of this war…'

He now understands completely.

'It's because Gu County is so special...that's why we misjudged it in our previous life...'

'The territory of Gujun has a legitimate claim to power, so the True Lord cannot directly command it, nor can the Buddhist monks attack it arbitrarily. Therefore, they are all waiting, waiting for Gujun to suffer a major defeat, to be on the verge of collapse, or even for Chuncheng to be lost, and for Gujun to be occupied by Mingyang.'

"On the other hand, they are trying to force the Zhenren of Gujun to retreat to other places and cede territory, thus breaking this nominal status with Mingyang. Once the two sides begin a tug-of-war, Dayangshan, which has maintained neutrality since its inception, can legitimately disregard Chuncheng's various backgrounds and immediately intervene."

This can actually be seen from the Yang family's attitude.

Why did Yang Ruiyi hesitate?
It's because all the ancestors of Gujun were True Lords, and many of their predecessors were disciples of True Lords. The relationships are complicated, and you never know which favor you might have to do, which could cause trouble for your family.

It's not entirely true that he was absolutely wary of it.

'For them, these are unnecessary troubles; maintaining appearances is best. They'll only go through the trouble of pushing someone aside if they're truly in their way…'

This is why Dayang Mountain and Dayu Road initially entered Gu County under the banner of annihilating Mingyang, but after Li Zhouwei retreated, they had a fierce clash with Jiang Yan and others, which eventually led to a great battle!
"Because it's all the same thing: they are the future bulwark of Mingyang. To destroy them is to destroy Mingyang! They are arrogant and refuse to bow down now, but we must not allow Mingyang to weaken its own bulwark!"

In that brief moment of thought, he had already reached a conclusion:

The North cannot be allowed to fight any longer!
A thought flashed through his mind:
"At this moment, all five passes—east, west, south, and north—are in the hands of the King of Wei, who even holds Gu You imprisoned! This is the perfect opportunity!"

Li Suining only knew the name of this Heshui Grand Master, but not his prestige—because he was the first Grand Master to die in Chuncheng, and would even die suddenly within ten days.

This person is also a cultivator in the cave heaven. To say that he has a profound background is not necessarily true. To be precise, he is from a small clan in the Longkang clan cave heaven. I heard that he has a bad temper and others can't stand him and like him, but that Longkang True Person definitely feels sorry for him!
'With this man imprisoned, King Wei attacked Chuncheng, attracting Fu Tanjian. Once this Great Master intervenes, he will seize Long Kangyao's position, wielding great power, and will naturally refuse any peace talks with King Wei.'

Gu You was forced to his death during those ten days or so.

Li Suining had some understanding of the details—Gu You vowed never to surrender, Chuncheng refused to respond, and being in Li Zhouwei's position, he could not let the tiger return to the mountain. Yang Shi was also wary of offending him, and as time went on, he had no choice but to eliminate him in the end…

This led to Long Kangyao's hatred until the very last moment, and also caused discord between Long Kangyao and Fu Tanjian, ultimately resulting in their own disarray and mutual loathing...

"King Wei currently holds a decisive advantage. Chuncheng's arrogance has greatly diminished. Apart from Long Kangyao, almost no one wants to continue fighting. The best option is to stop before the situation deteriorates further, negotiate with Long Kangyao, release Gu You, and in exchange for the return of the greatest possible benefit!"

Furthermore, it's not just that Gu You's actions were meant to persuade Long Kangyao, but rather for a sinister purpose.

Strengthen the power of Gujun!
If Gu County is a chicken egg, then all parties are waiting for Li Zhouwei to make a hasty move, break the shell of the fox borrowing the tiger's might, and then divide and eat it... As long as Gu You is used as a bargaining chip to compromise with Gu County, they can share the spoils without bloodshed, and more importantly, they can maintain the defensive strength of Gu County!
'Dayang Mountain can wait, but the Great Desire Path cannot. Once that Peacock Miyo is alive, she will surely attack from all sides. Even without Mingyang's preemptive action, she will eventually clash with Gu County.'

With Long Kangyao as the main force and Gu You, Jiang Yan, and Shangguan Wu'an as his assistants, they managed to avoid a mutually destructive conflict with the King of Wei, which was enough to establish a solid defense against the Great Desire Path.

'And at this time… King Wei will just be returning to reinforce; let's clear out the area right next to our bed!'

His mind suddenly cleared:
"Once the desert is pacified... the great battle in the north will inevitably be fierce. Lotus Temple has already closed due to internal strife within the Buddhist and Taoist communities. If we can steadily advance northward from the Jianghuai region, seize Lotus Temple's territory, connect to Luoxia in the west and Raoshan in the north, we can sit back and watch the tigers fight, relieve Gu County, and utterly defeat the Buddhist and Taoist forces!"

'In this life, I will switch the positions of King Wei and Dayang Mountain.'

He picked up his pen without hesitation and began writing rapidly on the bamboo slips, carefully reviewing the text in his mind, thinking to himself:

'The first step is to quickly negotiate peace with Gujun!'

This step cannot be delayed. Even if King Wei stops in front of Chuncheng and does not provoke Fu Tanjian to come down, as long as the war in Western Shu breaks out, or Jiang Yan comes out of the pass, the advantage of King Wei's side will be curbed. With Long Kangyao's extremely stubborn temper, knowing that the south is attacked from both sides, chaos will inevitably arise again!

'Right now, the life of Gu You, a dignified Grand Master, is one of the very few conditions that could make this proud and stubborn Golden Core disciple bow down!'

He was so engrossed that he didn't even notice the brilliant sunlight filling the cave and the white-robed immortal stepping in until his face felt warm, at which point he looked up in surprise.

"Real person!"

Li Ximing was already dressed in white linen clothes, with a white cloth around his forehead. His eyes were filled with sorrow, yet he still carried the dignity of a real person. The woman behind him was also dressed in white, with tears in her eyes.

Li Suining stared blankly for a moment, only to feel a chill seep into his head before belatedly realizing the pain.

'My lord!'

His face paled, tears welling in his eyes. Even though he had experienced this more than once, his heart still ached terribly, as if a piece of his flesh had been ripped out. Yet, he dared not delay for a moment. He knelt on the ground, raised his head, and lifted his hands upward, whispering:
"I have an urgent matter to report to the King of Wei immediately!"

Li Quewan's expression changed slightly. Li Ximing glanced at his extremely pale face and noticed the bloodstains on the bedside. He lowered his eyes for a moment, then picked up the wooden slip with lightning speed, glanced at it, and his expression changed drastically.

"Withdraw? Talk peace?!"

He pursed his lips. This Master Zhaojing was surprisingly cold-blooded. Without hesitation, he said softly:

"Suining, that's probably impossible."

Li Suining eagerly raised his head, only to be met with the unwavering resolve in the man's eyes. He froze, standing there. Li Ximing seemed to be waiting for him to speak, but didn't hear the answer he wanted. He understood something and whispered:
"The King of Wei is about to enter Chuncheng."

This was neither an explanation nor a doubt, but rather a blunt statement. He didn't say a word more, yet the man dressed in mourning clothes remained calm, revealing an unwavering resolve.

'this…'

Li Suining felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck his mind, and a chill ran through him.

'The state of affairs under heaven…who in Wei is unaware of it?!'

Li Suining has reincarnated in the past and knows about all kinds of changes. Could it be that the King of Wei is on the front line, caught between various forces, and would he not notice?

Of course, Li Zhouwei certainly didn't know about Fu Tanjian, nor did he know that Jiang Yan had a powerful figure supporting him, and he couldn't possibly know about the coup in Western Shu. But to say that he didn't know about the power struggles and schemes of various forces, or that attacking Chuncheng would provoke a counterattack from the cave, would be a sign of contempt for this White Qilin!
'But in his past life… he still resolutely conquered Chuncheng.'

He finally understood where that strange feeling had come from during his earlier thoughts:
'He absolutely must capture this city. He's confident he can stabilize the situation. What's beyond his expectations isn't Fu Tanjian and his group—in his previous life, he also fought against many and successfully defeated them. What truly disrupted all these arrangements was Western Shu, the Battle of the Desert, and the will of a True Lord!'

'He had already anticipated this. If it weren't for the great turmoil in Western Shu, and Yang Ruiyi's sudden and unexpected retreat, he would still have withdrawn with a small cavalry force, remaining stationary in the west and observing the changes in the east from a high vantage point.'

This caused Li Suining's heart to darken for a moment, but the next instant, he raised his head, his eyes brightening:
"If I can figure out how to balance the situation in the north, surely King Wei can too? What I want to change is the great war on the desert. As for the affairs in the north, my role is not to offer advice, but simply to report the situation—nothing more. Ultimately, whether to fight or not, whether to advance or not, is up to King Wei to decide."

He said softly:

"I understand."

Then he stared intently at Li Ximing and said:
"I have something to say, please convey it to King Wei."

Li Ximing lowered his head slightly, listening to the junior's solemn words:
"The people from the grotto are approaching. Jiang Yan has been out of the pass for several days. There has been a disturbance in the Western Palace. The Shu army has mobilized and reached the desert. There is a danger of their formation being broken. Please return immediately."

Li Ximing's expression suddenly changed. He narrowed his eyes at the person in front of him, who was staring intently at him, and said:
"Please, sir, spare no expense and bring it to us as quickly as possible."

Before he finished speaking, Li Quewan had already sensed the danger. She flipped her hand, revealing a small female water lotus, and handed it to the elder beside her with a worried look in her eyes.

The True Man Zhaojing remained silent, casually accepting the gift. He gave him a deep look, his radiance shining intensely. Without hesitation, he stepped into the void, transforming into a shimmering golden light, and recklessly used his supernatural powers to head straight north.

Li Suining watched him leave, then looked at Li Quewan standing quietly in front of him, bowed deeply, and spoke with slight awkwardness:
"Master, a great battle is about to rage in the desert..."

He resolutely raised his head and met the woman's gaze:
"Master Lin is a longtime friend of my family, and we also have relatives by marriage who rushed to the aid of the desert... We absolutely cannot let him perish!"

(End of this chapter)