Zongwu: Eavesdropping on the inner voices, the female warriors have become strange

"I've had enough of life. It's boring."

Chen Liu thought for a moment and said, "Do you know the current situation outside?"

"I don't care about what's happening outside." Lu Miaozi said.

"The world is in chaos now," Chen Liu said. "Yang Guang launched three campaigns against Goguryeo, and the people of the Sui Dynasty are suffering. With no way out, the common people have no choice but to revolt. Rebellious armies are everywhere in the Sui Dynasty. The largest rebel groups are Dou Jiande in Hebei, Zhai Rang in Wagang, and Du Fuwei and Li Zitong in Jianghuai.

"The Guanlong nobles and aristocratic families haven't yet met their end. When they do, the Sui Dynasty will enter a period of fierce competition among warlords. Pegasus Ranch is in Nanjun and still has tens of thousands of war horses. Do you think that after the chaos in the world, those ambitious people and warlords will target Pegasus Ranch?"

Lu Miaozi was silent for a moment, then said, "Pegasus Ranch has an ancestral precept not to get involved in disputes in the martial arts world or the imperial court. No matter how chaotic the world is, it has nothing to do with Pegasus Ranch."

"Do you really think so?" Chen Liu laughed. If Lu Miaozi really believed this, then his reputation as the world's greatest all-rounder was nothing but empty praise.

Lu Miaozi smiled helplessly.

With the world in chaos, who cares about ancestral teachings? Lu Miaozi certainly knew how tempting tens of thousands of war horses were to any faction. The southern region was particularly short of horses, and the value of Pegasus Ranch was even more enticing to the rebels and warlords there. To strengthen their own power and weaken the enemy, no faction would let go of the Pegasus Ranch's warhorses.

Furthermore, war horses were extremely expensive, with ordinary war horses costing hundreds of guan (approximately 100 strings of cash), and tens of thousands of war horses costing at least a million guan (approximately 100 strings of cash). Even if the enemy could afford them, it would severely damage the economy of a faction. At that point, it was inevitable that some faction would have ulterior motives and turn buying into robbing.

Lu Miaozi could imagine that when that situation came, Pegasus Ranch would become a piece of fat meat, and no force would let Pegasus Ranch go.

If Pegasus Ranch wants to maintain its independence as before, it must have a strong enough military force to deter the warlords and rebels in the world who want to take over Pegasus Ranch. This is definitely not enough relying on Shang Xiuxun and the thousands of slaves at Pegasus Ranch. It must have a master in charge.

Lu Miaozi understood Chen Liu's intentions. After his death, Shang Xiuxun would be left without support, and Pegasus Ranch would become prey to the warlords. Could he watch Shang Xiuxun suffer that fate? He certainly couldn't, so he couldn't die yet.

Lu Miaozi's eyes flashed with a smile, revealing a hint of admiration for Chen Liu. Chen Liu not only had a keen eye, but also possessed powerful martial arts skills. At such a young age, he had already reached Grandmaster status, and in all likelihood, would reach Grandmaster status in the future. If he could become the umbrella for Pegasus Ranch, then even if he died, Pegasus Ranch and Shang Xiuxun would be safe.

Lu Miaozi looked up at Chen Liu and said, "What do you think of Xiu Xun, my friend?"

Chen Liu was slightly stunned, but soon understood what Lu Miaozi meant. Lu Miaozi wanted to entrust Shang Xiuxun to him. Chen Liu was a little speechless. He used things that would happen in the future to threaten Lu Miaozi, and Lu Miaozi set his sights on him.

"I have a wife."

"And there's more than one. The mall owner should still be chatting with my three ladies in the castle."

Lu Miaozi: ...

Well, just as he was about to set his sights on Chen Liu, he was knocked back by a club.

While Chen Liu was chatting with Lu Miaozi, Wang Yuyan was also chatting with Shang Xiuxun and Lian Xing.

"So the purpose of your coming to Pegasus Ranch this time is not to buy horses, but for that dead old man?" Shang Xiuxun was very unhappy.

"Yes."

"Leave! We don't welcome you at Pegasus Ranch." Shang Xiuxun had always believed that Lu Miaozi had killed her mother, and her relationship with Lu Miaozi was extremely bad. She even wanted to kick Lu Miaozi out of Pegasus Ranch. Now that she heard that Chen Liu had come to Pegasus Ranch to see Lu Miaozi, her mood suddenly turned extremely bad. No matter who Chen Liu was, she didn't want to have anything to do with them anymore.

Shang Xiuxun stood up and walked out of the castle, heading towards the small cottage in the secluded forest where Lu Miaozi lived.

When he arrived at the Youlin Cottage, Shang Xiuxun saw Chen Liu and Lu Miaozi drinking tea and chatting.

"Master, you haven't stepped into my comfortable home for more than two years. How come you suddenly have time to come and see an old man like me today?" Lu Miaozi smiled when he saw Shang Xiuxun with a gloomy face.

"You old man, you broke the agreement with me. Am I here today to ask you to leave Pegasus Ranch?" Shang Xiu asked.

Lu Miaozi sighed and said, "How did I break my promise to you? What was our original agreement?"

Shang Xiuxun sneered, "Two years ago, when Mother passed away, you promised her that you would never get involved in my ranch's affairs and would never leave the back mountain. That's why I allowed you to stay. Now you've met with guests from my Pegasus Ranch. Isn't that a violation of the agreement?"

"Does meeting guests count?" Lu Miaozi was speechless.

"Whatever I say is final." Shang Xiuxun said viciously.

"I didn't go to see him, he came here on his own." Lu Miaozi pointed at Chen Liu.

"I don't care about that." Shang Xiuxun said, turning to Chen Liu and said, "And you, leave Pegasus Ranch too. We don't welcome you at Pegasus Ranch."

Chen Liu glanced at Lu Miaozi, then looked at Shang Xiuxun and said, "Your father is dying."

"What?" Shang Xiuxun was stunned when he heard that.

"I'm talking about him." Chen Liu pointed at Lu Miaozi and said, "He's dying. Well! If nothing unexpected happens, he has at most one year to live."

Shang Xiuxun was in a daze for a moment, then asked, "You damn old man, are you going to die?"

"Yeah!" Lu Miaozi nodded.

Chapter 292 Lu Miaozi (Part )

"It's better to die. The sooner you die, the sooner you can be reborn." Shang Xiuxun cursed viciously, turned around and left, but her steps seemed a little unsteady, indicating that she was not calm.

"I have a way to save him." Chen Liu said to Shang Xiuxun's back.

Shang Xiuxun paused, but she didn't turn around. Instead, she said in a vicious voice, "It's none of my business."

"Although her attitude towards you is bad, she still seems to care about you." After Shang Xiuxun left, Chen Liu smiled at Lu Miaozi.

A hint of a smile appeared on Lu Miaozi's face, but after a while, Lu Miaozi put away the smile, sighed slightly, and said, "I am sorry for her and her mother."

Chen Liu thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps I can try to restore your relationship with her."

"How to do it?" Lu Miaozi immediately became anxious upon hearing this. If Chen Liu had said he could heal his injuries, he wouldn't have cared much. After all, he had been living in regret ever since Shang Qingya's death. For Lu Miaozi, living was more painful than dying. But when Chen Liu said there was a way to restore his relationship with Shang Xiuxun, he had no choice but to pay attention.

"I can't guarantee success. It all depends on how much she cares about you."

Shang Xiuxun left Youlin Cottage and returned to the castle. He took a deep breath before entering the castle. He forced a smile towards Wang Yuyan, Lianxing, and Wanwan, who were still sitting there drinking tea. He said, "I'm sorry, Sister Yuyan and Sister Lianxing. I was in a bad mood just now and neglected you."

Shang Xiuxun's attitude towards Lu Miaozi was indeed very bad on a daily basis, but Lu Miaozi was her biological father after all. If Lu Miaozi was healthy, she could naturally maintain her previous dislike for him, but now she suddenly heard that Lu Miaozi was dying and had only a year left to live, which made Shang Xiuxun feel a little overwhelmed.

Shang Xiuxun is feeling a little confused now and doesn't know what to do. Logically, she should be happy that Lu Miaozi is dying, but she can't be happy at all now, and even feels a little hesitant and helpless.

And after Chen Liu said that he had a way to save Lu Miaozi, she subconsciously didn't want to let Chen Liu leave.

Chen Liu chatted with Lu Miaozi for a while, then got up and left to return to Shang Xiuxun's castle.

After returning to the castle, Shang Xiuxun was chatting with Wang Yuyan, Lianxing and other girls. Seeing Chen Liu coming back, Shang Xiuxun immediately stood up and prepared to leave, seeming a little embarrassed to face Chen Liu. After all, she had treated Chen Liu badly before and even drove him away.

"Yuyan, Lianxing, let's go." Chen Liu ignored Shang Xiuxun and said to Wang Yuyan and Lianxing and other girls.

"Husband, are you leaving?"

"Ok!"

"Okay." Wang Yuyan and Lianxing also stood up.

"Wait." Shang Xiuxun became anxious when he saw Chen Liu, Wang Yuyan, Lianxing and the other girls were about to leave. He quickly stopped Wang Yuyan and Lianxing and said, "Sister Yuyan, why are you leaving so quickly? Why don't you stay at Pegasus Ranch for a few days first?"

Wang Yuyan smiled and said, "I have no say in this matter. I only listen to my husband."

Shangxiu Xun: ...

"Well, is he really dying?" Shang Xiuxun hesitated for a while, then asked Chen Liu embarrassedly.

"Almost dying." Chen Liu nodded.

"What's going on with him?"

"Thirty years ago, he was struck by a palm strike from the Yinkui Sect's Yin Queen, Zhu Yuyan, and was severely injured. Furthermore, Zhu Yuyan's true energy still remains within him, tormenting him day and night. His body is now unable to bear the strain. If he doesn't eliminate that true energy, he won't survive for more than a year."

"Can you save him?"

"I can't say I'm completely certain, but I'm still 70% to 80% sure."

"what do you want?"

"Ask your father, he knows."

After all, blood is thicker than water, and since Lu Miaozi's life was involved, Shang Xiuxun finally softened his heart.

Five days later, with the cooperation of Wang Yuyan, Chen Liu finally used the Beiming Qi to slowly absorb and assimilate the Tianmo Qi that Zhu Yuyan left in Lu Miaozi's body.

After Zhu Yuyan's Qi was absorbed by Chen Liu, Lu Miaozi suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of relief. Although his body had been tortured by Zhu Yuyan's Qi for the past thirty years, and his body was already overwhelmed, as long as there was no more Qi torment, with his cultivation level, he would be able to recover quickly and would not die in the short term.

Lu Miaozi also kept his promise and gave the design drawings in Yang Gong's treasure house to Chen Liu.

As Lu Miaozi saw Chen Liu off from Pegasus Ranch, he watched Chen Liu, Wang Yuyan, and the other girls riding away on horseback. With some regret, he said to Shang Xiu, who still spoke harshly to him but whose attitude had improved considerably, "What a pity! I thought I was dying soon, so I wanted to entrust you to him, but he already has several wives."

"You old fool, don't think that just because I let you stay at Pegasus Ranch, you can take charge of my business." Shang Xiuxun stomped his feet in annoyance and turned away.

Chen Liu is a very good person. If he were still single, Shang Xiuxun would not mind letting him marry into the Pegasus Ranch. However, Chen Liu already has a wife, so asking her to be a concubine is absolutely impossible.

"It's so boring." When Chen Liu left Pegasus Ranch, Huang Rong on Peach Blossom Island began to go crazy.

Huang Rong was a fearless person. Although she was frightened by Murong Bo at Mantuo Villa before, two months had passed and she could no longer bear the loneliness and began to get restless.

Besides, practicing on Peach Blossom Island all day was too boring. Huang Rong was not a patient person to begin with. After experiencing the fun of the martial arts world, it was already quite good that she could hold on for two months without leaving the island.

Mu Wanqing's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she quickly said, "Sister Rong'er, let's go find my husband."

"I'm going too." Zhong Ling jumped up upon hearing this. Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing were also people who couldn't stand loneliness. When they heard they were going to Chen Liu, how could she bear it? In fact, it wasn't just Huang Rong who was bored; she felt very bored too.

Mu Nianci hesitated and said, "This is not good. My husband said that the Great Sui is very dangerous now and he won't let us go."

"What's the danger?" Huang Rong said nonchalantly, "Brother Chenliu is just too cautious. Grandmasters and Grandmasters are extremely concerned about their status. Unless we provoke them, ordinary people won't attack us juniors. And if ordinary people want to harm us, with our abilities, are we afraid we can't handle it? You know, we have five innate masters here."

After a pause, Huang Rong said, "If you're afraid of danger, then you can stay on Peach Blossom Island. I'll go with Sister Wanqing and Sister Ling'er."

"Add me in." Zhou Zhiruo said.

"I'll go as well."

Yue Lingshan, Shui Sheng, Qu Feiyan, Hong Lingbo, Lu Wushuang, and Jiang Yuyan also jumped out, leaving only Mu Nianci, Lin Shiyin, and Cheng Ying hesitant. Mu Nianci was the most stable, while Lin Shiyin disliked the fighting and killing in the Jianghu, and Cheng Ying, Huang Yaoshi's apprentice, felt it was not appropriate for her to get close to Chen Liu.

But except for the three of them, everyone else was leaving. Cheng Ying didn't care, but if Mu Nianci and Lin Shiyin didn't follow, it would seem a bit out of place.

Chapter 293 Daxing City

If you haven't experienced war, you'll never understand how miserable the people were during it. Starving people ate anything: leaves, bark, and even dead rats, bugs, and cockroaches.

Chen Liu, along with Wang Yuyan, Lian Xing, and the other women, made their way north. The further north they went, the more chaotic the situation became. Inside the city, the army maintained a certain level of order. But outside, chaos reigned. Bandits, rebels, rebel armies, and refugees were everywhere, leaving the people struggling to survive. Aside from the city's outskirts or the manors of the aristocratic families, where crops could still be seen, the areas beyond the reach of the city's defenders were a scene of exposed bones and no roosters crowing for miles.

Especially in places where bandits and rebels frequently appeared, large tracts of fields were deserted. In many villages, only a few old people with skin and flesh as thin as firewood, numb faces, and lifeless eyes were left, waiting to die. In some villages, there was not a single person to be seen. Either they all died, or they could not survive in the local area and ran away.

Along the way, Chenliu had seen countless waves of people migrating southward due to the war, and most of these migrants died along the way.

Historically, during the chaotic late Sui Dynasty, the population peaked at around 50 million, nearly 60 million. However, over the first decade of the Tang Dynasty, the population plummeted to around 15 million, less than one-third of its original size. The vast majority of these deaths were attributed to war, famine, and epidemics.

In this world of comprehensive martial arts, the Sui Dynasty was not much better off. Chen Liu and Wang Yuyan and other women traveled northward and encountered countless bandits and robbers, most of whom were civilians who could not survive.

Chen Liu even witnessed cannibalism. Initially, Chen Liu had saved a dozen little girls out of pity for Wei Zhenzhen, but later on, there were too many such incidents to handle. Furthermore, the presence of more than a dozen little girls seriously slowed down Chen Liu's progress.