Chapter 540

Killing cries shook the heavens, blood clouds filled the sky.

Hundreds of turtle-shell shuttles went back and forth, the desperadoes fought madly. Countless bizarre natives of the northern frontier barbarian wastes howled in attack; among them were many strange tribes that even Wu Tie, whose mind held a vast store of knowledge, sometimes needed a while to react.

Such as the frenzied attackers now, they were a group of tall, thin men clad in feathered robes.

The desperadoes struck viciously; upon contact they immediately greeted them with strong bows and hard crossbows, arrows like streaming light, straight for the vital points of those tall, thin men's chests. Immediately afterward, an astonishing thing happened—all the arrows easily pierced through the chests of those tall, thin men.

Their upper bodies' feathered robes exploded apart, revealing their empty chests.

Near their chests, they were born with a hole as thick as a sea bowl; truly, one does not know how their hearts, lungs, viscera, spinal bones, etc., could grow to allow them to maintain their present form.

The arrows passed through, exposing their hollow chests; the desperadoes, startled, hesitated slightly in their attacks, and those tall, thin men simultaneously let out a long whistle, the holes in their chests suddenly flaring, then streams of blood-colored light howled out, heavily striking the desperadoes.

Blood light sprayed; those desperadoes struck by it quickly saw fine beads of blood seep from their pores, then blood kept gushing out; after a few breaths, threads of extremely fine blood spurted from their pores like fountains, their faces rapidly turning deathly pale, their breath swiftly waning.

Immediately after, a sky‑filled piercing whistle came; countless birds, their bodies spraying fire, with only a single foot beneath their bellies, constantly emitting the "Bifang" screech from their beaks, came from all directions, their eyes fierce, fearless of death, turning into streams of light that rapidly rammed the turtle‑shell shuttles.

"Boom, boom boom," these birds struck the turtle‑shell shuttles and instantly exploded into balls of flame; the powerful impact shook the shuttles, making them tremble continuously.

Each bird's self‑detonation roughly equaled a full‑force strike of a peak‑level Life‑Pond cultivator; its damage to the turtle‑shell shuttles was negligible, but countless such birds surged like a tide, with hundreds or thousands of the little birds striking the shuttles every finger‑snap.

The heavy light‑screen on the surface of the turtle‑shell shuttles violently rippled, sending out large waves. As the birds kept exploding, plus the blood light continually sprayed from the hollow‑people's chests aiding the battle, after a quarter‑hour of fierce fighting, finally one turtle‑shell shuttle blew apart with a roar.

After the first turtle‑shell shuttle blew up, then the second, the third, the fourth…

Each about the size of two fists, covered in golden fur, with faces like baboons, sharp unpleasant cries, and a ferocious, vicious aura, the monkeys screamed shrilly, stepping on the backs of the sky‑flying birds as they rushed forward.

These monkeys held small knives carved from unknown bone fragments; whenever a turtle‑shell shuttle was broken, they would huddle and lunge, quickly clinging to the desperadoes' bodies, brandishing the knives to stab and slash at them wildly.

The monkeys moved with flying speed, even much faster than the motions of Fetal‑Storage body cultivators; their bodies trembled, turning into fine golden flashes; their bone knives looked unimpressive but were extraordinarily sharp, a single jab drawing a blood line.

Moreover, the bone knives were coated with some unknown strange drug; desperadoes cut by them immediately wailed heaven and earth, then burst into uncontrollable loud laughter, each like a madman dropping their weapons and scratching themselves wildly with their nails.

The tiny monkeys seized the moment, slashing wildly at the desperadoes' eyes and throats.

Corpses fell from the sky one after another; the desperadoes began a frenzied counterattack, so the hollow people, birds, and monkeys also suffered heavy casualties. Bodies exploded, blood mist condensed in the air into vast blood clouds; sunlight poured down, and through the blood clouds, blood‑colored light turned the mountains for hundreds of miles around a deep crimson.

Old Master Hu led his Hu‑clan descendants in quietly watching the battle.

They did not overly care how many desperadoes died or were wounded.

Desperadoes were essentially cannon fodder, items shaped like humans used to be consumed. They were waiting, waiting to see if a more dangerous tribe would intervene; such things had happened frequently over the past ten‑odd days.

After fighting for several hours and losing hundreds of desperadoes, Old Master Hu finally waved his hand.

Hu Tu and four others struck simultaneously, five immensely powerful innate treasures unleashed at once; instantly five‑colored divine light swept the void, large swaths of hollow people were cleared away, countless burning birds shattered into fragments, great hordes of monkeys running like electricity were slaughtered without number, only a few three‑to‑five hundred monkeys shrieked, turning into golden light and fleeing.

Old Master Hu's fleet continued onward; no peril or obstruction could block his path forward.

Wu Tie had not taken part in these battles these days; as someone Old Master Hu valued, having rendered great service and likely to become a fortunate son‑in‑law of the Hu family, Wu Tie received exceptionally generous treatment.

When night grew deep, Wu Tie sat in his cabin, by the bright glow of a few night‑pearls, smiling as he looked at the gazette in his hand.

Although far away, the connection between Old Master Hu and the Governor of Anyang was extremely close; on Old Master Hu's flagship there was a specially constructed minor teleportation array used solely to transmit the latest gazettes. As the eldest son of Linghu Qingqing, Old Master Hu was especially concerned about the situation in Anyang City, particularly the internal movements of the Linghu main house.

Besides the publicly copied, empire‑wide gazette, Old Master Hu also had his own intelligence network, providing him with more confidential information.

The gazette in Wu Tie's hand was the popular version, the one circulated throughout the realm.

"Lord of Yuzhou was demoted three ranks, now he's a first‑rank Marquis of Yuzhou? Tsk, the hand is really harsh; fortunately they didn't strip Yuzhou of its fief, otherwise I'd truly have to fight to the death with the old Linghu." Wu Tie flipped through the gazette, shaking his head repeatedly.

"Princess Jingcheng is implicated in the grave treason case of colluding with foreign enemies to throw the Great Jin into chaos? Tsk, that black pot is really stuck on her."

"Ah, the gazette even has gossip sidebar news? It's said that Princess Jingcheng ordered rebellion, and a palace maid loyal to the state ruined her appearance?" Wu Tie stared wide‑eyed, fixed on a small paragraph in the gazette for a long time, then finally gave a slight shake of his head: "This report probably needs to be read backwards. No matter how stupid Princess Jingcheng is, why would she plot treason for no reason?"

"She is already supremely wealthy and noble; unless she wants to become empress, why would she rebel?"

"Hmm… this point is very important… Prince Xuan Sima Yi governs laxly, unable to hold the post of Commander‑in‑Chief of the Imperial City's Army; it's given to Prince Cheng Sima Du… this Prince Cheng Sima Du is the father of that scoundrel Sima Yu, his consort is a lady of the Linghu clan, that is to say, Sima Du belongs to the Linghu people?"

"All right, the reorganized Twelve Guards of the Three Palaces—this is like a meat‑filled bun dropping into a dog's mouth."

Wu Tie muttered to himself while reading the gazette.

"Your Majesty the Retired Emperor, what are you preparing to do? Counterattack! Counterattack! Rise up and counterattack…… If you don't strike hard, you're probably……" Wu Tie shook his head, tossed the gazette casually onto a nearby desk, and leaned back against the soft cushion behind him.

"You won't, you only sent out my detachment, right? But even if I were all iron, how many nails could I drive by myself?" Wu Tie calculated on his fingers: "At most, I could help you plot against Old Master Hu's whole family, self‑destruct those five items, and slaughter them to the last."

"But that would be of no avail."

"Where exactly is your hidden move?"

Wu Tie again recalled the news he had spread; Sima Wuyou should know what Old Master Hu is doing over here by now, right? He ought to have taken some action; surely it's not the case that Sima Wuyou just watches Old Master Hu sweep through a round of heavy treasures, bring the loot back to Anyang City, and directly swallow his Sima clan's foundation, is it?

The massive fleet continued onward toward the north.

Wu Tie also couldn't figure out exactly where they were now; anyway, along the way the fleet's speed was slow, and at any moment a vicious, evil tribe might suddenly appear, charging the fleet with a frenzied hack‑and‑slash.

These tribes were myriad and strange; many of them Wu Tie had seen in the knowledge base of the Old Iron inheritance, in classics such as the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Especially those bizarre dragon species, which truly are "water‑land‑all‑present," having all sorts of odd things—flying in the sky, swimming in water, crawling on the ground, burrowing in the soil. These tribes gave Old Master Hu's fleet great trouble.

But no matter how great the trouble, the fleet continued forward resolutely.

The gazette continued to be delivered every three days without cease.

Wu Tie read the gazette carefully each time; from these public reports he knew that Princess Jingcheng's situation was dire, the Twelve Guards of the Three Palaces were being heavily purged by Prince Cheng Sima Du, and many low‑born officers suspected of rebellion had been thrown into the great prison.

Moreover, because of that night when nine urgent imperial edicts shot up from the east gate of Anyang City, many royal princes holding real power were also stripped of authority and confined to their mansions awaiting investigation results.

That night, the civil officials of Anyang City also suffered heavy losses; over this matter, Gongyang Sanlü and Linghu Qingqing had a direct confrontation in the court. Both men were old and stubborn; a disagreement led them to start fighting openly in front of everyone.

Astonishingly, Gongyang Sanlü, who usually kept his composure and was famed for excelling at "nurturing qi and cultivating the mind," in public gave Linghu Qingqing a few blows that left her nose bruised and eyes swollen; had it not been for a group of martial‑family experts stepping in to stop him, Gongyang Sanlü might even have pressed her to the ground and beaten her severely.

The court was in an uproar, yet Sima Xian had not attended to state affairs for over a month; all governmental matters were handed over to Linghu Qingqing and Gongyang Sanlü to manage. And these two top‑rank ministers of the realm actually ended up brawling in public.

From afar came again the strange roar of a wild beast, followed by a great deal of clamor.

Wu Tie lowered the gazette, stepped out of the cabin, leapt onto the deck's roof, and gazed into the distance. Roughly a thousand li away, a mountain shaped like a palm stood towering, its height hundreds of li, majestic and imposing, as if within arm's reach. The Five‑Finger Mountain was lifelike, even the fine lines on the palm could be seen.

A great flock of giant peng birds, their bodies entirely wrapped in golden thunder‑light, rose from the dense forest beneath the Five‑Finger Mountain, wingspans ranging from ten‑odd zhang to dozens of zhang, emitting piercing cries, spewing blinding bolts of lightning from their beaks, turning into heavenly serpents of electricity that thundered toward the fleet.

The aura of these peng birds was extraordinarily fierce, not inferior to that of Fetal‑Storage cultivators; among them were dozens with wingspans over a hundred zhang, and their presence made even Old Master Hu and the others' faces change involuntarily.

"Ahead lies our goal; beneath that Five‑Finger Mountain there is a marvelous treasure—whoever can extract it will be gravely wounded… as frenzied as a bear, gravely wounded. Old Master Hu, I am what sort of person; you brothers all know that as long as one can earn merit, I will not shortchange my own kin!" Old Master Hu stood on the prow and shouted loudly, just about to order the attack, when suddenly from behind countless piercing columns of light came screaming toward them.

The light columns grazed past the decks of the three great vessels under Old Master Hu's command, then plunged headfirst into the dense throng of peng birds.

The light columns exploded with a boom, fire scattering everywhere; the temperature in the void rose straight up, countless peng birds turned to blue smoke in the intense flames, only a handful of the strongest peng birds had their feathers scorched to a crisp, shrieking as they barely managed to burst out of the blast.

Wu Tie suddenly flung himself onto the roof of the ship's upper deck.

Just then the main guns fired in unison, dozens of main-gun light beams almost grazing his scalp as they swept past.

If the person controlling the main guns so much as twitches, Wu Tie will be hit squarely by a main-gun blast. Although with his current cultivation, ordinary main guns couldn't harm a single hair on him, Wu Tie still didn't want to take a beating for no reason.

Hu Lao Ye suddenly turned his head and saw, in a mighty array, at least thirty thousand large warships neatly arranged in a volley formation, speeding over from a thousand li behind.

Those thirty thousand large warships were clearly standard vessels of the Great Jin military; at the very front, a flagship 1,500 zhang long bore Linghu Qingqing, clad in dark‑red heavy armor like congealed bruises, standing there with her hands behind her back.

Wu Tie stared at Linghu Qingqing in astonishment.

According to the imperial bulletin, earlier that day Linghu Qingqing had been fighting Gongyang Sanlü on the Nine Heavens Palace, where Gongyang Sanlü had beaten her savagely, leaving her face bruised and swollen and causing her to lose face.

How far away is Anyang City? A fleet of this magnitude could not be assembled in a short time, let alone appear here so quickly.

Especially Linghu Qingqing……how could she possibly have come here in person?

Hu Lao Ye's face shifted through a myriad of expressions in an instant, finally breaking into a radiant smile across his round, chubby cheeks.

Hu Tu, Hu Nau, Hu Shuo, Hu Si, and Hu Xiang, the five sons of Hu Lao Ye, likewise twitched, then forced out radiant smiles, each gazing with deep affection at the rapidly approaching Linghu Qingqing.

"Is that Five Finger Mountain ahead the target?" Linghu Qingqing stepped across a thousand li in a single stride, instantly appearing on Hu Lao Ye's flagship, smiling as she pointed at that Five Finger Mountain.

"Yes, yes, yes, that's exactly where the target is." Hu Lao Ye said with a smile: "I just don't know what's been nurtured beneath that mountain… Hey, why have you come out personally? Aren't you going to attend to the affairs inside Anyang City?"

Linghu Qingqing looked at Hu Lao Ye with a winsome smile: "If I hadn't come, it would have been your younger brother sneaking people over… You and your younger brother, hehe… after some thought, it's better to let your younger brother hold down Anyang City while I, the father, make this trip myself—for everyone's benefit."

Linghu Qingqing lightly patted Hu Lao Ye's shoulder and said softly: "The great undertaking is not yet complete; in family matters, harmony is paramount."

Hu Lao Ye laughed and nodded repeatedly, without saying a word.

The Hu Tu brothers and their entourage all broke into especially bright, harmless smiles, grinning like a bunch of truly open‑minded, plump fatties, their faces shining with oil—so much you could scrape it off and fry vegetables.

The two fleets quickly merged into one, and under Linghu Qingqing's personal command they surged forward to a point less than three hundred li from Five Finger Mountain.

Tortoise‑shell boats were deployed, and the desperadoes steadily closed in on Five Finger Mountain.