Discuss with you

Chapter 725 Puppet Soldiers
“I did not hand it over to anyone else,” Lu Qing said with a smile, shaking his head and stuffing the waist token into Situ Jing’s hand. “I entrusted it to the general for safekeeping temporarily.”

Since we left the main camp, our friendship has been so strong that we've risked our lives for each other. Leaving aside family backgrounds and social standing, I trust the general's character alone.

He then took out the other half of the waist token from his pocket: "Besides, the general sent Bian Yong and others to help me many times before. For all that, how could I not trust you?"

Upon hearing this, Situ Jing no longer declined, nodded solemnly, and carefully placed the gold-masked censor's waist token into his pocket.

"You must be exhausted from your journey." After putting away his waist token, he finally had time to say something else, especially when he saw that Zhu Yu was also among his companions. "I can't guarantee anything else, but you can definitely rest assured in my Qinzhou camp. Why don't you stay here for a few days and see how my soldiers are preparing?"

“We still need to go to Bian Yong’s place, so we won’t stay any longer.” Lu Qing shook his head. “We’ll rest for the night and leave tomorrow.”

"Since that's the case, then I won't try to keep you any longer." Situ Jing was a proper soldier who had practically grown up in the military. Compared to people like Lu Yan and Zhu Feng, he had less sentimentality. Once he heard that Lu Qing had already made arrangements, he stopped trying to keep him. "Do you need me to send some men with you?"
"Isn't it a bit unsafe to have just the four of you traveling like this?"

“At this time, traveling with a group of people will only attract more attention,” Lu Qing declined his offer. “Besides, this place is of utmost importance for you, and we cannot afford to make any mistakes.”

I've already arranged for the antidote sachets to be delivered to you from Lan Di. Judging by the time it's done, it should be within the next few days. Have your people carefully check them. If there are any shortages, send word immediately to replenish them. It's better to have too much and not need it than to need it and not have it.”

“I’ve noted this down, don’t worry.” Situ Jing trusted Lu Qing’s words completely and answered with exceptional decisiveness.

Early the next morning, Lu Qing and Zhu Yu set off again with their talismans and incantations.

This time, they went straight to the mountain stronghold where Bian Yong and his men were stationed, without lingering anywhere else along the way.

Along the way, all four of them chose to take side paths and avoided the main road.

When they were only a day's journey from the village, they encountered a large group of soldiers. Fortunately, the four of them hid on a hillside next to the official road and were not discovered.

Zhu Yu looked at those people and saw that although they were wearing the uniforms of the Jin Kingdom's Imperial Guards, their appearance, demeanor, and even their gait were clearly different from the Jin Kingdom's Imperial Guards he had seen before.

Those people walked briskly without saying a word. From the moment they appeared until they disappeared from sight, apart from the two leaders who exchanged some words, none of the hundreds or thousands of other people uttered a single word.

In such a long line, from beginning to end, no one looked around, no one whispered, and not even one yawned or rubbed their eyes.

Apart from footsteps, nothing else could be heard.

The scene looked somewhat eerie, which involuntarily reminded Zhu Yu of the puppet farmers they had first seen outside Fairy Castle, who went out to work in groups.

Those people still had empty eyes, as if they were sleepwalking, and thus they would utter some words as if in a daze.

Those that just passed by were even more bizarre; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them walking corpses.

However, she didn't dare to speak at this moment, and waited and waited until the group had gone far away before she whispered to Lu Qing, "These people... were they also deranged and turned into puppets?" "It does seem possible." Lu Qing's gaze was still fixed on the departing figures of the group, and he frowned.

“This direction…” Zhu Yu turned to look at the path they were going to take, then at the direction those people were heading, “Are they going to Congzhou? Towards the capital…”

Lu Qing stood up and pulled Zhu Yu up as well, brushing the dust off her clothes as she said, "We must wait for the other side to make a move before we can respond."

We need to let them seize the initiative in this matter so that we can act legitimately.

"Then His Majesty..." Zhu Yu was somewhat worried about Emperor Jin's safety.

If we only consider how Emperor Jin treated Lu Qing, Zhu Yu didn't feel much sympathy or worry for him.

However, as the ruler of the world, chaos is beginning to emerge in various places. If he were to suddenly encounter misfortune at this critical juncture, the world would inevitably descend into chaos, and they would be powerless to reverse the situation.

From this perspective, I wish Emperor Jin peace and safety.

Lu Qing could tell what was troubling her, and said with a smile, "Don't worry. Think about how long it took to plan and arrange all of this to get to where it is today."

Since the other party has the patience to gradually erode power, it is probably because they do not have the strength to rightfully rebel. If they were to directly assassinate the emperor and seize power, their status would be illegitimate.

Why has everyone who coveted the throne throughout history sought a pretext to justify their ascension to the throne?
Because if there is no justification, he can take what is rightfully his today, but tomorrow other unjust people will take his place.

Therefore, until the time is right and everything can be legitimate, there is no need to worry too much about the Emperor's safety.

After listening to him finish speaking, Zhu Yu smacked her lips at his words and gleaned some insights from them. Thinking about this, she couldn't help but sigh with a touch of melancholy: "So in the end, Lu Ze thought he was a mantis stalking a cicada, but he might just be a mantis in the dark."

“That’s true, but don’t worry. Now that things have come to this, I’m going to take the lead.” Lu Qing helped Zhu Yu onto his horse. “After all, my senior brother is dead, but my junior brother is still alive. My family’s revenge hasn’t been completely avenged yet.”

Thinking of Ishan, the mastermind behind all this, Zhu Yu couldn't help but grit his teeth and nod emphatically: "Let's go, while I'm still seething with anger just thinking about that bastard who's done so many bad things, let's keep going! Let's turn our anger into strength!"

And so, they traveled day and night for another four or five days, finally evading all possible eyes and ears along the way, and successfully returned to the mountain village where they had been saved.

Looking into the distance, the forest, which was just beginning to show a faint layer of lush greenery, was quiet and still. There were no people or sounds, except for the occasional bird song.

As Zhu Yu rode forward, he looked around cautiously.

She was certain that this was the same grove of trees from before.

But where are the people who were supposed to stay? I can't see a single one of them.
Could something have happened?