Chapter 269: Searching for Books in the Demon Nest

Xiling Gorge, the river water surging.

Dark clouds gathered, like ink staining the firmament, as if heavy mountains were pressing down on the sky.

On the river surface, war drums beat, roaring like thunder.

Several warships broke through the waves; they were sharp at the bottom and wide at the top, with high bows and sterns, the hulls cast from sturdy wood, as stable as Mount Tai in the wind and waves.

These were the Great Xuan Navy, Jiujiang-style patrol ships.

Sails billowed, soldiers ran back and forth on the deck, patrolling and keeping watch. Some also climbed the masts, looking from a height to check the movements in all directions.

On both sides of the ship, there were rows of cannons and crossbow machines; the wolf-tooth arrowheads as thick as an infant's arm at the front flashed with cold light.

The Great Xuan Dynasty was at its peak, and the navy's equipment was also luxurious.

These crossbow machines were all made by people proficient in mechanism arts from the Mohist school of the Ministry of Works; they could kill enemies, and the rear was connected to ropes, allowing soldiers to fight along the ropes to board enemy ships.

And these cannons were also not simple.

Long before the opening of the seas, there were Frankish people raiding in the southwestern seas, using sub-mother cannons with rapid firing speeds.

After the Great Xuan Navy defeated them, all the captured Frankish cannons were sent to the capital, and the Emperor ordered them to be copied.

Based on this, the Ministry of Works produced a complete set of "Thunder Fire Sub-Mother Cannons," with various styles, which were equipped in large numbers due to their advantages.

Of course, they also had weaknesses: short range and low accuracy.

Therefore, according to Great Xuan military regulations, they would be coordinated with long cannons that were good at attacking distant targets and had greater power, but slower firing speeds.

But the true town-army divine artifact on the ship was a giant cannon in the center of the deck, the barrel pitch-black, covered with oilcloth, with two teams of men specifically assigned to guard it.

This was the new-style cannon.

Because the manufacturing cost was high, the entire Dongting Navy only had five.

On the deck, banners fluttered, flying fiercely.

The highest commander of the Great Xuan Navy was the "Navy Governor," with many "Regional Commanders" under his command, responsible for operations in various water areas.

A fleet commander was a "Regional Commander," and the captains of each ship were mostly "Vice Generals," with "Battalion Commanders" and "Squad Leaders" under their command.

The Vice General of this ship was named Luo Yao.

Looking at the Unlike Yichang Commandant Office Seal-Holding Battalion Commander Yuan Kejian beside him, Luo Yao asked carefully, "Sir, is the situation in Zigui very urgent?"

To tell the truth, he belonged to the navy, so he occasionally cooperated with the Commandant Office, but they belonged to different departments, and their official ranks were about the same.

But what kind of people were the Commandant Office?

They supervised all officials; one careless move and they could throw you in. Even if he lowered his posture, he did not want to offend this person.

But some things had to be asked.

The urgent order from the army this morning was for him to sail to the Zigui battlefield, clearly intending to use this big treasure of the navy.

If he didn't ask clearly, he would always be a bit uneasy.

Yuan Kejian did not hide it this time, saying in a deep voice, "Several rebellious Tusi cities have built a large camp on the south bank of Zigui."

"Over in Zhushan County, the reinforcements from various places have just arrived; it will take some time to wipe out the turmoil in the mountains."

"The imperial court's strategy is to break them one by one, keeping losses to a minimum. The rebel army in the southwest is restless, so we are enabling the divine artifact to deter the rebels and prevent them from merging."

"So that's how it is."

Vice General Luo Yao suddenly realized, and then became somewhat excited.

They had secretly tested the power of this treasure, but this was the first time it would be used on the battlefield; he didn't know what kind of effect it would have.

With the Commandant Office moving out, hounds naturally followed.

In the sky, several hawks flew up and down.

A Commandant Office Squad Leader noticed something wrong and immediately stepped forward to salute, "Reporting to Sir, the hawks are warning; there is an ambush on the cliff!"

Yuan Kejian was not surprised at all, his expression calm as he said coldly, "Just as this official expected, do it!"

"Yes, Sir!"

The Squad Leader immediately turned around, took a firework tube from his waist, pulled it fiercely, and a crimson firework shot into the sky.

At the same time, accompanied by a harsh whistling sound.

On the cliff, figures immediately emerged; they were all elite soldiers of the Commandant Office, moving nimbly like flying apes, climbing and jumping on the steep cliffs.

At the same time, on the left cliff, shouts of killing suddenly arose.

Some rebel Miao soldiers from the Tusi cities emerged from the cliff top like swarming ants, occupying the high ground, either drawing bows and shooting arrows or lifting chaotic rocks to smash down.

However, the navy had long been prepared.

Soldiers on the ship raised their shields to block the arrows.

As for those chaotic rocks, most did not hit; even if some fell toward the warships, there were masters in the army who leaped up to kick the gravel away.

And the people from the Commandant Office followed closely behind.

They bent their bows and shot arrows, also mixed with quite a few bamboo thunder arrows, which fell into the rebel army and immediately exploded with a bang.

The formation of the ambushing rebel army was in chaos, and the masters of the Commandant Office had already rushed into it; blade light flashed, and the sounds of shouting and killing shook the gorge.

The people of the Commandant Office were clearly a cut above in both skill and equipment, and plus they had the numerical advantage, immediately suppressing the rebel army.

"Ah!"

From time to time, rebel soldiers screamed and fell from the cliff top.

Landing on the reefs by the shore, fresh blood splashed, soon dyeing the water surface red.

Soon, the ambushing soldiers had their courage broken and knelt on the ground begging for mercy.

Great Xuan soldiers had long been accustomed to this kind of small scene; Vice General Luo Yao's eyes were full of disdain. "Sometimes I really can't understand these people; clearly the imperial court has already given preferential treatment, yet they still act like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, overestimating their own strength."

"Do they really think that by stirring up turmoil, the imperial court will compromise?"

Yuan Kejian's expression was calm, shaking his head. "It is precisely because of the imperial court's preferential treatment that those Tusi sit in one corner, like a country within a country, and the common people only know the Tusi and not the imperial court."

"The imperial court wants to open the seas, so it must stabilize the rear, reform the Tusi system, and unify the Divine Land; this is the general trend."

"Those Tusi naturally know this; they just inherit it generation after generation and are unwilling to lose their power, harboring lucky thoughts."

As he spoke, his eyes suddenly turned cold. "The Tusi rebel army is still easy to talk about; the most hateful are those traitors who occupy high positions and sell out the imperial court's intelligence at will—none of them should think of escaping!"

Vice General Luo Yao beside him felt a chill in his heart upon hearing this.

He knew that there would likely be quite a few more officers whose heads would fall.

Yuan Kejian glanced at him and said in a deep voice, "Sir, just fight ahead; we are only assisting, and we will definitely not let the soldiers ahead bleed while someone stabs them in the back!"

While speaking, the navy had already passed Xiling Gorge.

Leaving this most dangerous place of the Three Gorges, the water surface suddenly became wide and flat, and several warships slowly lined up and sailed in formation.

In the distance, at the Zigui County wharf, a navy camp had already been built.

Although it was built temporarily, it had brick and stone walls, with both marching docks and high fences; arrow towers stood in rows, and aside from crossbow machines, they all had Thunder Fire Sub-Mother Cannons.

The entire river surface was controlled by the navy.

As the war progressed, the importance of Zigui County suddenly became prominent; it was like a nail, dividing several rebel forces.

As long as Zigui County did not fall, the imperial court's strategy could succeed.

At the moment, 50,000 troops had gathered here, supplied by Unlike Yichang and Bashu simultaneously, defending but not attacking, deterring the Tusi cities in the southwest.

In the Tusi city, there were also those who could see the situation clearly, so they also built a large camp on the south bank of the Yangtze River, but it was a wooden structure, and one could vaguely see dense crowds of rebel soldiers coming and going.

Their purpose was naturally to break Zigui.

Seeing the fleet arrive, someone from the imperial court's navy camp immediately sailed over to convey the military order.

Vice General Luo Yao understood immediately, hurriedly ordering the warships to move, while simultaneously uncovering the oilcloth on the giant cannon on the deck.

Clatter!

The oilcloth was uncovered, and a fierce beast immediately appeared before everyone's eyes.

This was a large cannon, shining with a pitch-black, oily luster, with complex gears on the base, and silver dragon-shaped decorations on the pitch-black barrel.

One look and it was clearly not an ordinary object.

At the same time, the navy's battle gongs and drums sounded, and over a dozen warships sailed out of the dock; in front were Mengchong and Zouge ships used for assault.

And in the rear were several tower ships, the rear like a bunker, the front with rows of giant wooden door panels erected to block arrows, which could be lowered to become floating bridges.

On the wide deck in the center were murderous armored cavalry, as well as infantry and crossbow and cannon handlers.

Their mission was to take down the opponent's camp.

Vice General Luo Yao saw this, waved his command flag, and said loudly, "Quick, adjust the direction, prepare the sub-cannon!"

The soldiers below hurriedly shook the gears; the giant cannon slowly turned its direction, and at the same time, others cleaned the barrel and worked together to put the heavy sub-cannon into the rear cabin.

These soldiers were specifically responsible for the new-style cannons; they had trained hard in peacetime and were already familiar with them.

Soon, the giant cannon had adjusted its angle.

Vice General Luo Yao's face was full of excitement, his eyes wide with anger, waving his command flag, and shouting loudly, "Fire!"

Ssh!

The soldiers immediately lit the fuses.

Boom!

Only a loud bang was heard, as if a thunderclap had exploded out of thin air on the river, and the whole ship jerked backward.

Some soldiers didn't hold on tight and were actually shaken into the water. Of course, the others couldn't care about these unlucky ghosts; as navy soldiers, if they drowned, it would be better to feed the turtles early.

Everyone's attention was entirely on the south bank.

Only to see that on the opposite camp, a huge gap had appeared, fire soaring into the sky, earth and stone collapsing and flying; the scene was extremely terrifying.

The new-style cannon's ammunition was also specially made, like fireworks; after landing, it would release a large number of sub-mother cannonballs.

The entire large camp was directly destroyed by a small half.

"Good!"

Yuan Kejian was full of excitement, slapping the ship railing fiercely. "Truly a divine artifact; it can be a treasure of the Great Xuan to guard the country!"

Vice General Luo Yao's voice was even trembling with excitement. "Quick, change to Fire Dragon Shells!"

The soldiers below heard this and immediately cleaned the chamber while replacing the sub-cannons painted red on the side.

Boom!

!.

Another thunderous roar.

Everyone on the ship felt their heads buzzing.

The Fire Dragon Shells they replaced were filled with large amounts of kerosene and white phosphorus, also using new-style gunpowder; they were a kind of special cannonball with an extremely complex manufacturing process.

The cannonballs landed, and fire dragons splashed everywhere.

The entire Tusi city camp fell into a sea of fire in the blink of an eye.

The camp walls collapsed, and the tents were all burning.

The cries of the enemy army rose one after another.

Boom boom boom!

On the imperial court's navy camp, a row of drums roared.

The navy warships took the opportunity to break through the waves.

Soon, they reached the south bank.

Boom!

The giant wooden boards of the tower ships were lowered, splashing mud and water on the shore; the armored cavalry on the ships immediately spurred their horses and rushed out, charging and killing the fleeing rebels.

This battle had no suspense at all.

On the Jiujiang-style patrol ship, Yuan Kejian watched with unfinished interest, shaking his head. "Why only fire two shots? It's not satisfying."

"Sir is joking."

Vice General Luo Yao said helplessly, "This divine artifact is powerful, but the cannonballs are also expensive. The Regional Commander only allowed me to fire two shots; if it weren't to test the power, he wouldn't have given me the Fire Dragon Shells at all."

Yuan Kejian was stunned and asked, "How expensive is it?"

Vice General Luo Yao sighed, "These two shots are the entire annual tax of a lower county; if I fired them freely, the Regional Commander would run over himself to cut off my head."

"Uh."

Yuan Kejian also felt a tremor in his heart, shaking his head. "Never mind, good steel should always be used on the blade; this cannon is used for attacking strongholds and is invincible."

"Rest assured, my Great Xuan is flourishing; after quelling the rebellion, we will find enough mineral deposits, and in the future, we definitely won't be so constrained."

Clatter!

Just at this moment, the hawks in the sky flapped their wings and landed.

Yuan Kejian took the bamboo tube letter and looked at it, immediately letting out a sigh of relief.

Vice General Luo Yao hurriedly asked, "Another military order?"

"Nothing."

Yuan Kejian shook his head. "There was a bit of trouble in Dangyang; evil people sneaked into the rear to cause trouble, but they have already been quelled by several righteous martial artists."

As he spoke, he looked toward the south bank, his eyes becoming sharp.

"Once the war in the southwest starts, no state will be peaceful; the rebel army will send masters to cause trouble, and evil people hidden in peacetime will also appear one after another."

"This concerns the national destiny of the Great Xuan; it depends on whose methods are higher!"

Having said that, he waved his hand, and the hawks flapped their wings and rose, soaring in the sky.

And in the mountain forest opposite, there were already people from the Commandant Office disguised, following the rebel army and drilling into the vast mountains...

………………

Dangyang County, in the northwest mountain forest.

Under the shade of the dense forest, Lu San held Rat Big and Rat Two, squeaking non-stop, while in the mountain forest, mice ran left and right from time to time.

The inheritance he learned was only proficient in beast-taming methods.

Now, with the improvement of his cultivation, his abilities were even more extraordinary; he only needed to borrow the demon creatures he had subdued to command their kind on a large scale.

To describe it simply, he used to be like a shepherd, able to communicate with animals through sound and sorcery, but sometimes it wasn't so smooth.

But now, he was a bit like a Mountain God.

The aura of Rat Big and Rat Two was enough to make all the mice in the mountain obey his every command; no matter what the order, it could be executed precisely.

Li Yan and the others waited quietly to the side.

"Found it!"

Hearing the squeaking sound from afar, Lu San hurriedly spoke.

Sha Lifei's eyes lit up, and he said anxiously, "Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up, don't let some thing in the mountain ruin it!"

Their trip this time was to find Liu Gang's lair.

The harvest in the Earth Immortal Cave was not small, but it was mainly a few treasures; the rest were all those wicked things of the Ghost Sect.

Of course, there was also some important intelligence, which were letters between Tongtian Tongtian San Niang and dark agents in Unlike Yichang, Jingzhou, and other places.

The trouble with the Ghost Sect was that it lured people with desire.

Human desire is endless; many times, the more you have, the deeper your desire.

Especially some wealthy officials and gentry; they didn't seek food or drink, but sought fame and profit, sought longevity, and were also bold enough to defy the heavens.

In Ezhou alone, there were quite a few officials and gentry who had secretly colluded with the Ghost Sect, which was why the Ghost Sect could remain hidden until now.

Seeing several names on the letters, Zheng Battalion Commander's expression changed drastically, and he left in a hurry with the letters.

Just by clearing out these people, the situation in Ezhou could improve a lot.

And Li Yan and the others took the opportunity to loot Liu Gang's lair.

Aside from the things given to Li Yan, there was nothing left in the giant tiger's belly except for some materials used for casting sorcery.

Liu Gang had cultivated a demon body, so many human sorcery techniques were difficult to use, so most were strange arts like demon fire and fierce poisons.

Even the originally precious tiger bones had lost their spiritual charm under the burning of Tongtian Tongtian San Niang's sorcery, becoming brittle and soft.

Originally, this harvest was already shocking enough, but Liu Gang happened to mention that he knew the true inheritance location of Wang Daoxuan.

This was what Li Yan and the others were looking for.

The group followed the mice forward, passed through several mountain ridges, and finally arrived at a valley; the bamboo forest was dense and difficult to pass.

An array was clearly set up here; after walking a few steps, one could see animal skulls hanging on the bamboo, but now it had long since stopped operating.

Finally, passing through the bamboo forest, an old Mountain God temple appeared before everyone's eyes; half of it was embedded in the mountain, the outer walls and tiles mottled and covered in moss, and one didn't know when it was built.

But stepping inside, it was clean and spacious.

Liu Gang was not a real tiger demon after all; even hiding here, he kept the room very tidy.

On the stone offering table of the Mountain God temple, the statue had long been moved away, and it was covered with bear skin, with tiger fur still sticking to it, clearly Liu Gang's usual resting place.

The few caverns inside were also distinct from each other.

Some were filled with all sorts of strange vines and flowers, and poisonous insects were raised in pottery jars, clearly a place for refining gu poison, which were all eaten clean by Lu San's poisonous bees...

Some were hung with human skulls; a rough count revealed over three hundred, which should have been the containers for those thrall ghost physical bodies, refined and controlled by Liu Gang...

As for any Dharma artifacts or treasures, there was not a single one; clearly, Liu Gang had invested in a tiger fetus and had become somewhat destitute, and the only supreme treasure, the "Mystic Yellow Heavenly Talisman," had also fallen into Li Yan's hands...

And the most important thing was undoubtedly the few ancient books on the bookshelf.

"Be careful, don't break them!"

Wang Daoxuan was somewhat nervous, carefully instructing everyone.

These ancient books looked somewhat old and broken, as if they were often flipped through, and could be destroyed at any time.

Everyone gathered in front of the bookshelf, checking them one by one.

But the result left them somewhat puzzled.

"Five Star Complete Book," "Nine Star Transmission Change," "Yellow Pouch Classic," "Suspecting Dragon Classic," "Shaking Dragon Classic," "Inverted Staff Method"...

"Why are they all Feng Shui books?"

Sha Lifei asked suspiciously, "Could it be that this old ghost Liu Gang was learning Feng Shui?"

Li Yan picked up an "I Jian Zhi" on the shelf, flipped it open, and looking at the dense annotations and small characters on it, his expression gradually grew solemn.

"No, he was looking for something..."

The second update will be later.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 270 =====