Secular world: My destiny has no taboos

Chapters 560 & 570: Contending for Supremacy (Part 1)

"stop!"

"That's it!"

The night was as still as water, and the crimson glow of the sky intertwined with the darkness of the night, like a stroke of red ink smeared on one's heart.

Thirty li is not a long distance for a secular army, and they arrived at their destination in no time.

On the vast plain, the reflection of the mountain valley from which we came can still be faintly seen at the end.

The army of ten thousand soldiers from the Li Dynasty was stationed next to the camp of the Beiming Army. This time, the Fox Spirit God did not allow Liu Yu to lead the soldiers of the Li Dynasty into the camp of the Beiming Army.

Liu Yu didn't think there was anything wrong with this, so he ordered his men to set up the camp as soon as possible, while he, led by a servant named Hu Xian, entered the Beiming army camp.

"Don't I need to remove my armor?" Liu Yu looked down at the swords and armor on his body, hesitated for a moment, and then asked.

"No need," Hu Xian's attendant replied softly.

Liu Yu nodded upon hearing this. Since the other party didn't care, he didn't need to say anything more.

The two passed through tents and soon reached the inner perimeter of the camp, where another person came out to greet them.

Hu Xian's attendant bowed to the visitor and then turned to leave.

The newcomer looked at Liu Yu and said, "You must be General Liu."

"And who are you?" Liu Yu looked Hu Xian up and down.

She was tall and slender, wearing a crimson robe. Like the other fox spirits I had seen, she had a fox head and a human body, but her fox face was more delicate and charming.

"I am Hu Miao, and I will take you away from here."

"Thank you very much!"

Liu Yu thanked Hu Miao and followed him into the largest tent not far away.

Before he even entered, he could hear constant chatter coming from inside the tent, and in the candlelight, he could see a variety of figures.

Some were tall and strong, some were hidden in the shadows with only their outlines showing, and some were elderly farmers...

These strange people sat in various poses inside the tent, and when they saw Liu Yu enter, they all looked at him.

Under these scrutinizing gazes, Liu Yu felt as if mountains were pressing down on him.

"Mortal gods, so many mortal gods!"

Liu Yu slowly walked into the tent, looked around, and couldn't help but hold his breath.

This was the first time in his life that he had seen so many mortal gods gathered together, and the overwhelming pressure made it hard for him to breathe.

"These are the people sent from the previous dynasties? They don't look very impressive."

A sinister voice sounded beside Liu Yu.

It was a huge shadow, without a physical form, with only a pair of reddish eyes visible.

At this moment, the fox spirit sitting in Lin Beixuan's seat rubbed his temples wearily.

“You sit down! You fought a battle with the servant god and were injured, yet you're still talking nonsense here. It seems your injuries aren't serious enough. If any enemy mortal gods come again, you'll have to go.”

"No, no, I was wrong this time." Upon hearing this, the Shadow God's shadow immediately disappeared from Liu Yu's side, turning into a black shadow leaning against the candle.

Liu Yu quietly raised his head and looked at the other side of the camp. Most of the people there were burly and strong human cultivators, but some of them had rough faces and looked like aliens.

Wu Huo noticed the gaze and looked at Liu Yu, a chilling smile spreading across his face.

Liu Yuqiang pressed down on his wildly beating heart and withdrew his gaze expressionlessly.

He originally thought that so many mortal gods would be surprising enough, but he didn't expect that the soldiers of the Northern Underworld Army would be just as formidable. The overwhelming stench of blood must have come from killing countless people to accumulate to this extent.

As expected, a general reflects the soldiers; a general who can control those frenzied soldiers is unlikely to be a gentle and refined gentleman.

This Northern Underworld army tent was basically filled with a bunch of brutes.

With a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, Liu Yu bowed and cupped his hands in greeting to the Fox Spirit God.

Fox Spirit God waved his hand. They had all gathered here to discuss their next move, but stopped when they noticed Liu Yu approaching.

Her purpose in summoning Liu Yu here was simple: she needed to use the army from the previous dynasty.

She didn't bother with beating around the bush and went straight to the point.

"General Liu must know what happened recently. The Zigu Goddess's side has begun to send out mortal gods, and my Beiming Army also has mortal gods to fight back. The battle between the two sides will probably become even more intense. I need some help from General Liu's side."

The mission is coming!

Liu Yu's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately clasped his hands and said, "Our army has been entrusted by His Majesty to come here to help the Beiming army. Please feel free to ask if you need anything."

“Very well, then I won’t hold back anymore. I hope your Li Army can help us build some defensive measures at the front.”

"???"

Liu Yu looked somewhat bewildered upon hearing this. Had he been summoned simply to have his 30,000 Li Army build a defensive line for the Beiming Army?

Liu Yu, somewhat unconvinced, said, "Sir, I think you can assign me some more important tasks, and I guarantee I will complete them."

Upon hearing this, the smiles on everyone's faces vanished at the same moment, replaced by coldness.

Liu Yu also sensed that something was wrong, and his voice gradually became softer.

The fox spirit's expression remained relatively normal, but his tone was no longer as gentle as before, and he spoke frankly.

"General Liu, there are some things that we both know, so I won't hide them from you."

"If Your Majesty the Emperor truly intends to aid Liangzhou, then our Beiming Army will naturally welcome him with open arms. However, in reality, Emperor Li has a deep mind, and his fundamental purpose is not limited to this."

Fox Spirit stared at Liu Yu and said calmly, "If it weren't for the existence of a great mortal god in my Northern Underworld army, I probably wouldn't have discovered that there is another army of warriors following behind you."

"Judging from their military bearing and posture, they are far superior to yours. I wonder if General Liu is aware of this?"

Liu Yu quickly shook his head and said, "Please understand, Your Excellency, we were unaware of this."

"I see. So it seems your emperor is using you as cannon fodder in his plan."

The fox spirit's tone was light and casual, yet it struck Liu Yu's heart like a heavy hammer. Liu Yu's Adam's apple bobbed, and all color drained from his face.

Although he had long suspected Yang Guang's motives, he never imagined that the other party was using their 30,000 men as cannon fodder in a plan.

Inside the tent, the candlelight flickered, and the cold air swirled around, sucking away the warmth. The chill seeped into Liu Yu's bones through the gaps in his armor.

He forced himself to remain calm, but his voice trembled slightly as he said, "Please rest assured, my lord. I have only received His Majesty's decree to aid the Northern Underworld Army, and that order remains in effect. I will complete the construction of the defensive line within half a day."

"Hmm." Fox Spirit God nodded simply and waved for Hu Miao to take Liu Yu away.

Only after Liu Yu left did the Shadow God stagger out of the candlelight and look at the Fox Spirit God with a puzzled expression.

"Why should we tell him about another army from previous dynasties? What if he gets in touch with that army and launches a surprise attack from within?"

A ghostly blue flame flickered between the five fingers of the Fox Spirit Goddess's palm as she played with the flame, her expression somewhat gloomy.

“Yang Guang won’t intervene while we are fighting the Evil Spirit Lord and the Goddess Zigu. He’s not that stupid.”

"If he attacks us early on and weakens our strength, he will end up doing all the work for the Evil Spirit Lord and the Goddess Zigu."

"What he wants is to take over all three sides and wipe out all our forces without wasting any troops. Therefore, he will definitely not make the first move, but will wait until our army has defeated Zigu Goddess and Evil Spirit True Lord and suffered heavy losses before making his move."

Fox Spirit God took a light breath: "Everything is almost exactly as the Lord of the Prefecture expected. If I hadn't asked Kang Xing God to personally investigate the route of this Li army, we really wouldn't have been able to find where the other Li army was hiding."

"Since the Lord of the Palace went into seclusion, there has been no news of him. The Goddess Zigu and the Evil Spirit True Lord have arrived. I'm afraid a decisive battle will break out soon."

“Our Beiming Army is outnumbered and we don’t want to expose our backs to the Li Army hiding in the shadows. So, in order to focus on the front lines, I need to cause some trouble for the Li Army behind us.”

Shadow God frowned in confusion: "The Lord should have directly refused the aid from the previous dynasty back then, and nothing would have happened now."

The Fox Spirit smiled and shook her head: "Have you ever considered that the Lord of the Underworld might also want to control all three?"

Upon hearing this, Shadow God suddenly realized what was going on and burst into laughter.

Wu Huo, who was standing nearby, squinted and stepped forward: "Does the Ancestor have an idea to try and turn Liu Yu's army to our side?"

Fox Spirit nodded: "I do have some thoughts on that, but I know it's impossible."

"The families of these soldiers are all in the state currently controlled by Yang Guang, so it will be very difficult to persuade them to defect to us."

"So these people can only be used to cause some trouble for another army."

"I have already arranged for people to infiltrate the Li army and spread this message to the soldiers. I believe it won't be long before their army is in turmoil. Then we'll see what the other Li army does."

"To be honest, I still don't quite understand what those emperors of past dynasties were trying to do. Did they really intend to use these 30,000 people as cannon fodder?"

The candlelight in the tents shone until dawn the next day before going out. Following the instructions of the Fox Spirit God, Liu Yu led his army to the front line and began to help the Beiming army build defensive fortifications.

At first, things were fine, and everyone was working hard. But gradually, some people suddenly threw their tools on the ground and couldn't help but curse.

"What do they take us for!" The speaker was a young man with a somewhat thuggish air about him, who seemed to have good relationships with people in the military.

"Throughout this journey, even though we were their helpers, the Beiming Army never gave us a second glance. They either made us clean the camp or send us to the front line to build positions. We did all the dirty and hard work."

These words resonated with many people in the military.

Indeed, the past few days spent with Bei Mingjun were quite different from what they had imagined.

Although they didn't have to go to the front lines to fight those monster armies, they weren't happy to be doing all the dirty and tiring work for them every day.

Ultimately, they were still the Li Army, not the Beiming Army. It was one thing to be disregarded by the other side, but to be forced to collect night soil for others was something no one could tolerate. It wasn't until today that the conflict finally erupted.

"Since they don't want us here, we'll just leave. Good deeds don't always get rewarded, and nobody wants to stay here."

The sounds of people saying they were leaving grew louder and louder. When Liu Yu learned of this, he arranged for people to try to suppress the noise, but to his surprise, it not only failed to work, but also caused an even bigger riot.

"I heard that we are just cannon fodder sent to the front lines. There is an even larger army hiding in the shadows, planning to come out and take advantage of both the Beiming Army and the enemy when they are exhausted. They want to take all three."

"Heh, what a brilliant plan! Aren't we just bait? What will we do then? How will we face the wrath of the Northern Underworld Army?"

"Those people at the top have really played a grand game, using 30,000 of us as cannon fodder. Don't our lives matter?"

"Where is General Liu? Let him come out and give us an explanation."

……

Various voices rose and fell, almost covering the entire front line. More and more people chose to strike, and the military governors sent by Liu Yu could not suppress them at all. Even many people in the military governors' ranks were infected and joined the strike.

After all, they were among these 30,000 people, and no one wanted to become bait or cannon fodder and die in vain. They all had wives, children, and elderly mothers to support.

Liu Yu never expected that his first mission assigned by the Fox Spirit God would end in failure. He was both angry and anxious, and his pessimistic mood grew stronger as a result.

In recent times, he has received far more disdain and contempt from the Northern Underworld Army than his soldiers, but he has kept it all bottled up inside.

Influenced by the morale of the entire army, he angrily slammed his hand on the table in front of him and summoned someone.

"General Qin, please tell me, what exactly does His Majesty intend to do!"

Liu Yu stared at the person in front of him with icy eyes, a hint of madness in his gaze.

The general named Qin Yue frowned and looked at Liu Yu, asking, "General Liu, what is the meaning of this?"

Liu Yu's chest heaved: "I know your background. You were once Huo Jun's deputy general. If our army has an army from a previous dynasty behind us this time, it will definitely be led by him."

"I don't know what you're talking about, General Liu," Qin Yue said expressionlessly.

Liu Yu was furious: "Even at this point, are you still going to pretend you know nothing?"

"Thirty thousand soldiers! They are the pillars of countless families!"

“We are on the front line now. The Northern Ming Army arranged for us to come here under the pretext of building a defensive line, which gives them an excuse not to let us withdraw.”

"When the evil spirit army and the demon army attack, how can our 30,000 men possibly withstand them? Does His Majesty really intend to treat us as disposable pawns?"

Hearing Liu Yu's sorrowful confession, Qin Yue's calm face finally showed a slight change.

He turned around and looked behind him; there were panicked and bewildered faces.

Behind these people are families anxiously awaiting the safe return of their loved ones.

(End of this chapter)