Chapter 357: Red Longhu

The name Red Longhu existed long before the Great Awakening Temple arrived.

There are roughly two versions regarding the origin of its name:

The first is relatively simple: it is rumored that decades ago, someone at Qinghe Ferry witnessed a red flood dragon fly out from the clouds and vanish into the lake.

The second says that because the lake is winding and narrow, resembling the shape of a dragon, and because the lake water suddenly turns bright red like blood every February, it was named Red Dragon.

Xu Ning stayed in Hexia Village for half a year and inquired about many rumors regarding the area around Qinghe Ferry. Since the Great Awakening Temple is on Red Longhu, he naturally focused his attention on this area.

"This place is a bit... eerie!"

As Xu Ning followed the dozen or so men in black through the meditation courtyard and saw the Great Awakening Temple built on the lakeshore from a kilometer away, a strange feeling instantly welled up in his heart.

The entire Great Awakening Temple, apart from a five-meter-high yellow perimeter wall, consisted only of a three-story-high bright white palace.

White buildings are already extremely rare, let alone one this bright. Moreover, it was currently daytime, and under the cold light, the palace shone crystalline like jade, reflecting an intense white light that added a sense of holiness, inexplicably stirring a strong desire in people to worship.

Xu Ning looked down at the silver jade pendant in his hand, which showed no reaction, frowned slightly, and continued to follow behind the dozen or so people as they approached the Great Awakening Temple.

Those dozen or so men in black were all dispersing and approaching from different directions, and their speed was very fast; in less than ten breaths, some had already approached the perimeter wall.

Xu Ning turned his head to look at the great battle on the west side of Qinghe Village, understanding that every second counted now. Not daring to waste time, he avoided those men in black, quickly detoured to the south side, and then charged straight at the Great Awakening Temple's perimeter wall.

"Whose side are you on? Your strength is so weak."

When he was still over a hundred meters away from the wall, Xu Ning suddenly heard a voice of confusion from beside him. He turned his head and discovered that a few dozen meters to his right, there was a man in black who, just like him, was charging straight at the wall.

It was a coincidence; Xu Ning had only temporarily infiltrated Qinghe Village this time, so he had also changed into black clothes. If one didn't look closely, his attire really was quite similar to these men in black.

The other party had mistaken him for someone from the Jiuzhen!

After Xu Ning realized this, he naturally didn't dare to speak. Saying anything at this time would easily give him away, so he could only continue to run toward the wall.

The man in black said his strength was weak, and Xu Ning did not refute it. He had just discovered that he couldn't discern the strength of any of those dozen or so men in black.

One must know that he was not far from the peak of Cold-Resisting, with a base strength as high as eighteen zong. If even he couldn't discern it, it meant the strength of these men in black was at least twenty zong or higher, perhaps even more.

"Although your strength isn't great, you have some guts. Speed up! The twenty-eighth of every month is the day those official bhikshus fast and listen to teachings under the Master. This is our only chance; we must seize it."

Although the man in black talked a lot, it happened to let Xu Ning know why the Eight Towns chose to act at this time today.

After the man in black finished speaking, he quickly hugged the wall. Like the other dozen or so people, his speed was more than a notch faster than Xu Ning's.

Fortunately, the distance wasn't too far, so less than four or five breaths after the group of men in black jumped onto the wall, Xu Ning had already arrived at the base of the wall.

Just as he was about to jump onto the wall, he looked up and suddenly saw a bizarre scene.

The man in black who had jumped onto the wall just before him suddenly stiffened, motionless.

Xu Ning's expression froze violently. He turned his head to look at other positions and discovered that it wasn't just the one beside him; the remaining dozen or so men in black were all facing the direction of the temple interior, also frozen on the wall, motionless.

"Is this... seeing something terrifying?"

Because these men in black were all facing away from him, Xu Ning couldn't see their expressions. After speculating in his heart, he gritted his teeth and didn't choose to jump onto the wall like them. Instead, he leaped lightly, grabbed the wall with both hands, and then stretched his head out to look into the Great Awakening Temple.

Inside the temple, what met his eyes was a circular plaza. The plaza floor was paved with a layer of magnificent green glaze. Coupled with the temple's only crystalline white palace and the yellow perimeter walls, the three complemented each other. The entire temple interior was shimmering with light and solemn, making one dizzy while simultaneously unable to help but feel a strong sense of yearning.

Xu Ning shook his head violently. After his gaze cleared, he looked toward the front of the plaza, which was the main entrance of the Great Awakening Palace, and his face was instantly filled with horror.

"This..."

In front of the main entrance of the Great Awakening Palace, hundreds of bald official bhikshus in white robes were gathered. Their expressions were calm, and they all looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old. They were standing with their backs to the Great Awakening Palace, eyes tightly closed, lips slightly parted, continuously chanting scriptures.

"Five... six... seven, eight hundred. At least eight hundred. There are actually so many official bhikshus. This..."

Xu Ning's mind was shaking violently. He had been lurking in Qinghe Village for these five days, and it wasn't without gains; he had accidentally heard others mention the strength of the Great Awakening Temple's official bhikshus.

All of them were above twenty zong!

Eight hundred official bhikshus above twenty zong—what kind of concept was this?

Namo bhagavate... prabha... tathagataya... arhate... bhaisajye... bhaisajye... samudgate... svaha...

A dense string of Sanskrit sounds suddenly entered his ears. The violent shaking in Xu Ning's heart instantly calmed down. He suddenly realized something and raised his eyes to look toward the main entrance of the Great Awakening Palace.

At this look, his entire person instantly froze.

It was a pair of eyes.

A pair of eyes with fluorescent green pupils, not like those of a normal human.

Xu Ning could clearly perceive that the owner of those eyes was currently looking at him from inside the Great Awakening Palace. The main entrance was clearly wide open, yet he just couldn't see the person's appearance clearly; he could only continue to stare into those eyes.

Xu Ning was terrified in his heart, because he discovered that not only could he not shift his gaze, but his body was also completely unable to move. He then realized with a start that the reason those dozen or so men in black had stiffened wasn't because of the eight hundred official bhikshus below, but because of these fluorescent green eyes!

Om...

Xu Ning suddenly felt his liver, located below his chest, twitch violently, and then a strong tearing sensation came from within his body. He clearly perceived that something was approaching his head from inside his body.

His only remaining left eye suddenly felt a stinging pain. Although fresh blood was gushing out from it, his vision was not affected in the slightest; he could still clearly see those fluorescent green pupils.

Xu Ning struggled frantically, trying to rotate his eyeballs to see the condition of the other men in black, but he couldn't do it at all. Finally, thinking of something, he settled for the next best thing and used his peripheral vision to scan the person closest to his right hand.

Sure enough, he could see!

After Xu Ning scanned the condition of that man in black with his peripheral vision, his heart trembled uncontrollably.

From the man in black's two eyes, spiritual light was continuously flying out; it was clear that something inside his body was being extracted. After the spiritual light flew out, it flew directly into the Great Awakening Palace.

No need to think; it was the work of those fluorescent green pupils.

In less than five breaths, the spiritual light inside that man in black was exhausted. As no more spiritual light came out, the man in black's body also went limp and fell directly outside the perimeter wall.

"If it's extracted, you die!"

Xu Ning realized this point, and his heart instantly became flustered.

Xu Ning was of course afraid of death, but what he feared more was that he would be unable to transmit these important pieces of information he had gathered back to Xia City and hand them to the Lord and the Deputy.

The bizarre and powerful Great Awakening Temple, the Five Great Masters, the movements of the Jiuzhen, the five thousand tonsured bhikshus, the eight hundred bhikshu crowd, the Xia Hou Army leader, and the Vajra Master who had injured Xia Houzhang the moment he appeared.

Of course, there was also this moment, these bizarre fluorescent green pupils...

He knew very well how important this information was to Does Does Da Xia.

Many things are valuable because of the first-mover advantage; whoever holds the initiative has the upper hand.

Does Does Da Xia was able to successfully annex Longyou because it first opened up the Mirror Valley thoroughfare and took down the Beehive while Longyou was unaware.

"No, I absolutely cannot die here. If I must die, I have to die after returning!"

Xu Ning struggled frantically in his heart, trying to shift his gaze, but those men in black with stronger strength couldn't do it, so how could he?

In fact, from the outside, Xu Ning's body had not moved even once from beginning to end. He could only let the thing inside his body drill into his brain, then turn into wisps of spiritual light, fly out along his left eye, and fly toward the Great Awakening Palace.

Xu Ning's state at this moment was exactly the same as those men in black just now. If one had to find a difference, it might be that he only had one left eye, so the efficiency of the spiritual light being extracted seemed to be much slower than those men in black.

One breath... two breaths... three breaths... four breaths...

After four breaths, Xu Ning felt his mind was in chaos, and his sanity was almost on the verge of collapse, but the obsession in his heart was still at work, unwilling to give up.

"Cannot die, cannot die..."

Chi!

The silver jade pendant Xu Ning was holding in his hand suddenly heated up and turned red, emitting a heat flow that directly wrapped around his body.

It was also at this moment that the spiritual light continuously overflowing from Xu Ning's left eye was suddenly cut off by the heat flow, and a small portion of the spiritual light even drilled back into his eye.

"Ah..."

The moment the spiritual light was cut off, Xu Ning clearly endured some unimaginable, intense pain. After letting out a miserable scream, his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Those at the Cold-Resisting level all have the experience of skin-membrane remodeling, and their tolerance for pain is already far beyond that of ordinary people. To be able to make Xu Ning let out such a miserable scream, the intensity of this pain was absolutely far beyond imagination.

Bang...

Xu Ning had been in a posture of grabbing the wall the whole time. The moment he let out the scream, his whole person also fell directly from the wall. After trembling on the spot for two or three breaths, he suddenly realized that he had regained control of his body. Without thinking, he gritted his teeth, stood up, and fled toward the south side.

Directly in front of the Great Awakening Palace, a bald bhikshu in white robes suddenly opened his eyes, stood up, turned to face the interior of the main palace entrance, and bowed piously with palms pressed together:

"Master Wusheng, a wicked beast has run away. Shall this disciple go and chase it?"

"Running away is useless. With most of its soul body lost and its sanity on the verge of collapse, it cannot bring out any useful information. Do not worry; continue chanting the mantra with this Master."

"I will strictly follow the Master's decree!"

Hearing the response from inside the palace, the bald bhikshu immediately sat back down, turned his back to the palace, and continued chanting scriptures.

Outside the southwest of Qinghe Village, Xu Ning's figure swept across the snow. After changing his route, he ran wildly toward the area on the west side where Bai Yang was located. Even though he knew he was already seven or eight kilometers away from the Great Awakening Temple, he still didn't dare to relax in the slightest.

Originally, there was only terror in his eyes, but soon a trace of turbidity flashed through them from time to time, and even his footsteps became somewhat uncoordinated.

"What exactly was extracted from me just now?"

"My brain is becoming increasingly chaotic; my sanity seems to be collapsing. The thing that was extracted just now will affect my spirit!"

"No, if this continues, it will be useless even if I return. I must find a way!"

His expression became increasingly anxious, and his mind was frantically thinking of countermeasures, not noticing at all that the three vertical blood-colored holy patterns on his forehead had been completely revealed and were emitting a faint red light.

Accompanied by the holy patterns' red light, which was sometimes strong and sometimes weak, Xu Ning's gaze also continuously switched between states of clarity and turbidity. Clearly, the fact that he could barely maintain a state of sobriety at this moment was entirely due to the holy patterns.

"Write it down, just write it down. As long as I can rush back to Bai Yang territory and be discovered by Does Does Da Xia's people, the information will definitely be able to be transmitted back to Xia City!"

Soon, Xu Ning thought of a countermeasure. Without the slightest hesitation, he tore a piece off his clothes and then used his fingers to dip into the blood on his cheek, quickly writing on the rag.

"In the meditation courtyard on the east side of Qinghe Village, there are over five thousand gray-clad tonsured bhikshus, all with strength above three zong; inside the Great Awakening Temple, there are eight hundred official white-robed bhikshus, all with strength above twenty zong;

Among the Five Great Masters, the Vajra Master has an astonishing physique, with strength above the Xia Hou Army leader Xia Houzhang; the other four masters have not appeared, but their strength can basically be determined to be at the Xianyang level; those fluorescent green pupils just now are highly likely to be one of the remaining four masters. As long as you make eye contact with him, something inside your body will be extracted;

Spies from the Jiuzhen are all lurking in Qinghe Village, likely to gather information on the Great Awakening Temple. Remind the Lord and the Deputy to prepare early..."

Relying on this last bit of sanity maintained by the holy patterns, Xu Ning wrote down all the information he considered important in a concise manner on the rag.

Of course, he completed the entire process while running at high speed.

After all, writing it down didn't count; only by sending it back to Xia City would it be considered a success.

Qinghe Village is north of Hexia Village. One has to walk nearly thirty kilometers west to reach Bai Yang territory. In the past, Xu Ning always complained that this distance was too short, fearing that one day people from Qinghe Ferry would find the Bai Yang outpost and then discover Does Does Da Xia.

At this moment, he only felt that these thirty kilometers were the longest stretch of road he had ever walked. The light of the holy patterns on his forehead became weaker and weaker, his gaze began to gradually become turbid, he only felt his head becoming heavier and heavier, his body becoming more and more uncoordinated, and his speed also began to slow down significantly.

Bang...

Xu Ning didn't know how Longhe had been walking west. Under the unbearable burden on his body, he finally collapsed onto the snow and fell directly into a coma. Before losing consciousness, he still clutched the rag in his hand tightly, not daring to relax in the slightest.

Does Does Da Xia Year 7, September 24, Daytime

Xia City, inside the Political Affairs Hall.

Zhao Long, Watching Yue Feng, Meng Yi, and Hou Tong were standing inside the hall, looking up at Xia Chuan in front of them, their expressions all exceptionally spirited.

"Reporting to the Deputy, the recruitment of soldiers for my Hunting Eagle Army has been completed."

"Reporting to the Deputy, the thousand men for the Shanhe Army have also been recruited."

"Reporting to the Deputy, all members of the Heroic Martial Army are awaiting orders at the East City barracks."

"Reporting to the Deputy, the thousand men for the Northern Zhao Army have also been recruited and are ready."

The decision to add four armies—Hunting Eagle, Shanhe, Heroic Martial, and Northern Zhao—was made on the 11th and 12th of September. Today, a full half-month had passed, and the recruitment of soldiers for the four armies had naturally been completed smoothly.

Xia Chuan turned to look at the spirited expressions on the four men's faces, nodded slightly, and then, remembering something, asked with a smile: "I heard that for the first half-month, you four were blocking people at their doors and gambling with each other to snatch soldiers, making quite a few jokes in Xia City. Is that true?"

Hearing this, the old faces of Zhao Long and the other three turned slightly red. Clearly, they hadn't expected that these trivial matters could actually reach Xia Chuan's ears.

Seeing the four men's reactions, Xia Chuan chuckled and shook his head, not meaning to blame them.

Adding four armies at once and recruiting four thousand soldiers simultaneously—it was perfectly normal for the four of them to snatch high-quality soldiers to improve the army's combat effectiveness. If they had all been picking soldiers casually, then he would truly be worried.

Since the establishment of the four armies was complete, the next step was to begin training the troops.

Xia Chuan looked up at Watching Yue Feng among the four and asked: "Watching Yue Feng, you just returned from Longshan. How is the situation on the Lord's side?"

Watching Yue Feng is the Longshan Guardian Envoy and originally should have stayed in Longshan. Recently, with the new designation of the Shanhe Army, in order to personally select soldiers, he had been running back and forth between Longshan and Xia City almost every day for the past ten days or so, so he understood the situation in Longshan.

"Reporting to the Deputy, as of the day before yesterday, the Lord, leading the great army, has already cleared out two silver mines and is currently dealing with the third. I went to see when the second one was being cleared. According to this progress, it is expected that all five silver mines in Longshan can be cleared out by early October. At that time, the great army can set off for North Mang Mountain to deal with the last two."

"So fast?"

Hearing Watching Yue Feng say that all five silver mines could be cleared out by early October, not only Xia Chuan but also the faces of Zhao Long and the other two revealed deep shock.

Cold beast groups are entrenched in the silver mines, so naturally, they must be cleared before the mining process can begin. Xia Hong arrived in Longshan on the 14th; today, counting fully, it has only been ten days. Solving the cold beast groups on two silver mines in ten days—this efficiency is truly somewhat astonishing.

"There's no help for it; the Lord's strength is truly too strong..."

Unlike Xia Chuan and the others, Watching Yue Feng had personally witnessed how Xia Hong led the great army to deal with the cold beast groups. Recalling the situation of Xia Hong's battle, he sighed slightly before continuing to smile bitterly at the three: "The beast kings on those two silver mines were simply no match for the Lord. Before Deputy Si Zheng could lead the great army to kill through the cold beast groups, the Lord had already beheaded the beast king. Both times were like this."

Hearing this, Zhao Long, Meng Yi, and Hou Tong's faces instantly rose with deep horror. Clearly, none of them had expected that Xia Hong's strength would be powerful to such a degree.

Xia Chuan, on the other hand, didn't have much of a reaction after hearing it.

On the day of the Ancestral Sacrifice on the 9th of September, which was the night Xia Hong came out of seclusion, he had already fought one against three in the Arrow Bamboo Forest, beheading two beast kings in succession and driving one away. If the beast kings entrenched in the silver mines had average strength, naturally, they would be even less likely to be Xia Hong's match in a one-on-one situation.

Xia Chuan had personally witnessed that scene, so he wasn't surprised.

Zhao Long and the other three, including Watching Yue Feng, were not present that night, so it wasn't strange that they would have such a reaction now.

A trace of motivation appeared on Xia Chuan's face as he continued to ask Watching Yue Feng: "Listening to your meaning, following the Lord to deal with the silver mine cold beast groups this time isn't very dangerous? How are the casualties?"

Hearing this, Watching Yue Feng immediately nodded and replied: "The six armies almost didn't have any combat attrition. At most, there were some minor injuries, and occasionally a few serious injuries, but with medicinal pills for treatment, it was of no consequence."

"Since that's the case, you four armies prepare now. Set off directly for Longshan after nightfall, replace the Cloud Dragon, Dragon Martial, Dragon Slayer, and Tiger Leopard armies, and notify Director Yu Wen Tao to lead the four armies back to Xia City first."

Hearing this, Watching Yue Feng was stunned, but immediately reacted. Xia Chuan was giving them a chance to go to Longshan to train the troops. He hurriedly bowed: "This subordinate obeys!"

Zhao Long and the other two also reacted and bowed: "This subordinate obeys!"