Chapter 718

Chen Dynasty·Xijing·Huangcheng Side Hall

Before the huge map, the atmosphere was different from usual.

Chen Wen did not stand with his hands behind his back.

He held a freshly delivered urgent report from the Pinhole observation post, the ink still wet.

Zhao Lao Nian stood to one side, his face showing the fatigue of consecutive nights without sleep, but his eyes burned with two small flames.

Zhang Cheng also arrived, standing silently on the other side, his gaze moving between the jumping red dot over Huai Xi on the map and the ever-expanding dark blue area in the north.

"Four columns of smoke…"

Chen Wen put down the urgent report, his finger lightly tapping that red dot.

"Roughly symmetrical at the four corners, they ignited simultaneously, lasting about half an hour…"

"Afterward there was a regular pattern, likely light-and-shadow disturbances caused by flag semaphore movements…"

He raised his head and looked at Zhao Lao Nian.

"You confirm, this is absolutely not a natural phenomenon? Nor an illusion created by interference from the Iron Crow Army?"

"Impossible!" Zhao Lao Nian said firmly, "Natural smoke is chaotic and disorderly; a slight change in wind distorts it. These four smoke columns appeared almost simultaneously, maintaining a straight form far longer than usual, and their position secretly matches the four-corner layout of the camp."

"As for the Iron Crow Army..." he paused, "If it wanted to create a deception to mislead us, it could easily make it more 'convincing,' for example by simulating a clearer signal pattern. But it would never use this… clumsy, manpower-laden method. This does not fit its lofty style of manipulating the 'historical script.'"

"This is more like..." Zhang Cheng said slowly, "a person stranded on an island who, seeing occasional planes pass overhead, desperately burns anything flammable, waves rags, trying to attract attention."

Chen Wen nodded slowly.

"It's a response."

"Moreover, it is an active response with clear intent."

"He is telling us that he received the fragments of information we previously sent."

"He is telling us that he understands that was an attempt at communication."

"He is further telling us, in his only available way—that he saw it, he is still there, and furthermore, he is willing to engage in this extremely difficult dialogue across the barrier."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Only on the map, the dark blue representing the Jurchen forces seemed to have diffused outward a little.

"It is of great significance." Chen Wen spoke again, his tone solemn, "This is not merely a signal confirmation."

"This proves that Zhu Yue, this person, possesses extraordinary resilience, able to survive and develop under the continuous pressure of the Iron Crow Army."

"More importantly, he possesses strong initiative and creative thinking."

"He did not passively wait for the next 'heaven-sent message'; instead, in conditions of extreme scarcity of resources and extremely limited cognition, he actively designed and implemented a primitive communication scheme based on physical principles."

"Such a trait..." Chen Wen's eyes became profoundly deep, "is more worthy of our attention and investment than a thousand warriors who only obey orders."

He turned to Zhang Cheng.

"What is the latest assessment from the Jing'an Office regarding the northern Jurchen movements?"

Zhang Cheng immediately replied: "Based on information fragments pieced together by the Bei Jing intelligence station, as well as scattered rumors drifting from the script world, it can be confirmed: the integration of the Jurchen Eight Banners is nearly complete, their abnormal combat power has been verified multiple times. The number of fallen Eastern Liaoyuan forts of the Yuan army has risen to eleven, all massacred. Panic is spreading southward along the Liaoxi corridor."

"Their raiding actions show clear planning and purpose, targeting places with weak defenses and ample supplies, striking then withdrawing quickly, not seeking battle, not lingering. It seems they are… accumulating resources and probing the Yuan court's bottom line."

"Various indications show that behind them there is indeed an extraordinary 'force' systematically guiding and arming them."

Chen Wen fell silent for a moment.

His finger slid from the red dot over Huai Xi, slowly toward the dark blue in the north, finally landing between them, in the vast and chaotic central plains of the script world.

"One is a tiger forced to mature, armed to the teeth, with a puppeteer standing behind it."

"One is a spark struggling to survive, yet displaying astonishing spirituality and resilience, trying to comprehend the principle of fire itself."

"The Iron Crow Army's board is now clear."

"It intends to unleash the tiger southward, first to shred the Yuan court, already a rag full of holes, then to crush Zhu Yue's spark that could become a prairie fire."

"Finally, using this tiger, fattened and tinged with netherworld power, it crouches outside our fence, eyes gleaming."

He withdrew his hand and clasped it behind his back.

"But we are not merely spectators."

"Zhao Lao Nian."

"Your servant is here!"

"The 'Pinhole' project's resource priority is raised to the highest. On the premise of guaranteeing basic defense needs in Bei Jing, all allocatable Fortune Momentum reserves will be supplied to you first."

"I want you to send something more valuable in the next communication window."

"Not a vague concept, but an extremely condensed 'knowledge seed' pointing to something clearer."

"For example… basic identifiers of high-temperature measurement principles, or descriptions of the most typical phenomena that different minerals might undergo at high temperature."

Zhao Lao Nian's spirits lifted, but then he looked troubled: "Your Majesty, this… the information volume will be greater than before, the encoding more complex; under current interference levels, distortion and loss are likely…"

"Do your best." Chen Wen interrupted him, "Even if only one additional effective 'keyword' gets through, for him it might mean spending a month less groping in the dark."

"We need to accelerate his growth."

"Before that tiger in the north truly pounces."

"Yes! Your servant will exert all effort!"

"Zhang Cheng."

"I am here."

"The Bei Jing defense line enters second-level readiness. All plans and drills of the Lecture Martial Hall must be implemented. Tell Yue Fei, I don't want to hear 'roughly' or 'possibly'; I want every beacon tower and every wall garrison to know exactly what to do first and second when encountering cavalry with blue eyes and abnormal strength."

"At the same time, dispatch elite scouts to try to infiltrate Liaodong; they need not obtain core intelligence, only to confirm the general movements and scale of the Jurchen main force's logistical buildup."

"Yes!"

The two received the orders and hurried away.

Chen Wen looked again at the map.

His gaze shifted back and forth between the red dot in Huai Xi and the dark blue in the north.

One side was a weak, actively flashing signal.

The other side was a silent yet rapidly expanding shadow.

His game had already had a piece placed.

Huai Xi – Blade Plow Camp

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) stood beside the third iron-smelting furnace, which had not yet fully cooled.

The furnace fire had died, but heat still scorched the air.

He held a bark booklet containing the memories that Guo Rong and several other Liaodong refugees had been piecing together these days, which he himself had organized and recorded.

On it were written in disarray:

"Where the baleful star passes, plants first wither, then grow strange dark‑blue branches."

"The stream changes color, turns bitter, and livestock refuse to drink."

"At night, black shadows roam, shaped like dogs but larger, with blue‑tinged eyes, fearing fire, yet ordinary torches cannot drive them far."

"Those wounded by the baleful star but not killed suffer festering wounds that are hard to heal, they fear cold, and their strength wanes day by day……"

This is not a system report, merely the fragmented memories and intuitive fear of survivors.

But Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) distilled from it several key points:

One, the contamination is persistent and brings systemic changes to the ecological environment.

Two, there may exist locally eroded and altered organisms.

Three, nether‑energy damage appears to carry a kind of "negative energy" quality that suppresses vitality and recovery.

He set the bark booklet down and picked up the nearby wooden board that recorded the details of signal transmission and a crude "response" plan.

Smoke columns and flag signals.

This is the boldest attempt within his capabilities.

He did not know whether it could be "seen."

But just as shouting in a dark tunnel, even if no echo returns, at least it proves the existence and unwillingness to stay silent of the one who cries out.

"Brother." Xu Da approached, his face worried, "The brothers on southern picket report that troops seem to be mustering again toward Haozhou, on a larger scale than before. Moreover, the 'black shadow' that Guo Rong and the others spoke of—our Hunting Team glimpsed one in the old woods twenty li to the west, though they couldn't see it clearly, it just felt… wrong."

Pressure never ceased.

The south is a continual extermination threat.

The north is a distant yet ever‑closer horror tinged with the supernatural.

And within the camp, food, iron, fuel, manpower… each is stretched to its limit.

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) lifted his head and gazed eastward.

There lay rolling hills and a vaster sky; at the horizon's end, nothing could be seen.

But he knew that beyond the field of view, there might be an "audience."

"Speed up the construction of the fourth furnace." He withdrew his gaze, voice calm yet firm, "As we discussed last time, try using different proportions of limestone and clay for the lining, and record the changes in fire resistance and iron purity."

"Increase the Hunting Team's manpower, equip them with the finest iron spearheads and torches, focusing on reconnaissance and avoiding deep entry into unknown areas."

"Moreover…"

He paused.

"Starting tomorrow, I will select twenty of the cleverest, steadiest‑handed youths, regardless of gender, and personally teach them to recognize some simple symbols and counting methods."

Xu Da blinked: "Literacy? Now? Isn't that…?"

"It's not literacy, it's laying a foundation." Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) said, "We need more people who can read simple diagrams, record experimental data, and perhaps someday operate more complex machinery. Our vision must reach far."

Xu Da half‑understood, but out of his enduring trust in Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang), he nodded and said, "I'll go pick them right away."

The camp remained busy, danger lurking everywhere.

But Zhu Yue's (Zhu Yuanzhang's) thinking, beyond survival struggle and technical verification, had quietly extended into deeper realms.

Understand the enemy.

Elevate oneself.

And attempt to forge even the faintest link with unknown, possible allies.

Gloomy Dimension: the consciousness of the Iron Crow Army's master

A vast consciousness formed of countless compound eyes, like a cold nebula suspended in the viscous nether‑energy sea.

It simultaneously "gazes" at multiple focal points.

In the north, the Jurchen forces are like vines injected with wild growth hormones, frenziedly entwining and devouring the Liaodong flesh of the scripted world under the nourishment of the nether energy it pours in; each captured stronghold, each successful raid, feeds back pure "historical deviation force" and "fear energy," making it more delighted and stronger.

In the south, Huai Xi's stubborn red dot continues to flicker. Its earlier "environmental suppression" persists, though the effect seems to have plateaued. The variable named Zhu Yue is like grass in a stone crack, using laughably primitive methods, yet it actually takes root little by little in the barren, polluted land—and perhaps… tries to wave a hand toward the other side of the barrier?

It "saw" those four ridiculous smoke columns and the feeble sway of the flag signals.

It also "saw" on the far side of the barrier the subtle yet genuine ripples in rules and energy shifts produced by the Chen dynasty forces.

"Connection…… is attempting to be established……"

Its consciousness rippled with a cold assessment.

"Futile struggle."

"How can a material connection budge the weight of rules?"

But it did not ignore it.

On the contrary, this fragile attempt at connection quietly raised its threat rating for the variable Zhu Yue by half a notch.

Not because of how strong he is now.

But because the "possibility" he displays resonates with the greatest variable source on the far side of the barrier—Chen Wen.

"We need to speed up……"

Its "attention" is more directed toward the north.

It is directed toward Nurhaci, who is establishing absolute authority among the wolf pack, and toward the shamans and commanders whose eyes grow increasingly fervent under the immersion in yin energy.

"Give more……"

"Catalyze the toughness of bones……"

"Endow the blade with a deeper chill……"

"Let their hooves shatter every established 'possibility'……"

The yin‑energy ocean boils up, and more undercurrents surge toward the north.

It wants this blade to be quenched faster, to fall sooner.

Sever that faint thread of light that had just tried to connect.

Also shatter every restless "possibility" that deviates from the script.

Three‑sided perspective.

One side accelerates its move, one side takes root to survive, one side urges the forging of the blade.

On this accelerated late‑Yuan chessboard, the invisible lines have already been drawn taut.

Collision is merely a matter of time.