Chapter 235: Mountain Rain is Coming

Quliu Town.

When the sky was bright, Yuan Qingyan had already finished his morning lessons and handled half an hour of official business. He rose every day before dawn, washed and changed after getting up, and then sat in meditation for an hour; after finishing his practice, he handled official business while his mind was clear.

Since becoming an official, it had been like this every day. In terms of diligence alone, few people in the entire imperial court could compare to him.

The attendant brought in clear porridge and small side dishes; this was Yuan Qingyan's breakfast. The only special thing was that the rice was spiritual rice and the vegetables were spiritual vegetables. This was a provision specifically issued by Western Jin for officials with ranks. As a Commandery Governor, he was allocated a fixed amount of low-grade spiritual food every month, which was one grade higher than millet.

In the dim light, Yuan Qingyan focused on eating, chewing slowly; he had to chew every mouthful of rice seven times before swallowing, pious to the point of being artificial. Political enemies even impeached him for this, saying he was "faking piety and fishing for fame."

But during this time that could least be disturbed, the attendant actually pushed open the door of the study directly and said, "My lord, someone outside is asking to see you."

The attendant entered without even knocking on the door, which would have been enough to be beaten to death with a staff under normal circumstances. But Yuan Qingyan did not get angry; sure enough, a soft and charming voice rang out from outside the door: "Don't blame him, he can't control himself right now."

A woman wrapped up until only her two eyes remained walked in, and with a wave of her hand, the attendant went out on his own and closed the door well, looking even more attentive than when serving Yuan Qingyan.

Yuan Qingyan held a scroll of books and said slowly: "Shaman cultivation is not easy; daring to enter my study, is it that you think you have lived too long?"

The woman smiled lightly, her laughter pleasant to the ear: "I wanted to come and be friends with Lord Yuan."

"Friends?" Yuan Qingyan smiled self-deprecatingly and said: "Who in the entire imperial court doesn't know that Yuan is a loner, without even a single friend. Now a Great Shaman wants to come and be friends with me?"

"Two smart individuals can become friends, the kind with limited cooperation."

"How do you want to cooperate?"

"I brought a piece of news: the Shaman tribe is about to launch a large-scale attack on Azure Void soon. This time the intensity is unprecedented, similar to the military strength of the last confrontation with Commander General Yue Jinshan. Azure Void is mostly likely unable to hold."

Yuan Qingyan remained calm and said: "When the lips are gone, the teeth are cold; this principle, this official still understands. Such important military intelligence, if true, what do you intend to exchange it for?"

The woman said: "Giving you this piece of news is enough to exchange for what I want. You smart humans all like to say things in reverse, don't you?"

Yuan Qingyan said slowly: "May I ask the Great Shaman's name?"

"Meiying. I am from a small tribe; although I am a Great Shaman, I am squeezed out everywhere and cannot get resources, and the road ahead is exhausted." After the woman finished speaking, she added another sentence, "Just like you."

After the woman left, Yuan Qingyan sat still, pondering something.

At this time, a cry of surprise rang out from outside the door, and the butler came to report: "My, my lord, your personal attendant just jumped into the well and committed suicide."

"Oh, find a place to bury him."

Yuan Qingyan spread out the brush and ink, picked up the brush, and wrote a letter to Chen Dao: "Recently, there have been unusual movements by the Shaman tribe, seemingly about to advance troops into Azure Void, and the military strength is strong, with the intention of follow-up..."

In the entire letter, there was not a single mention of General Yue Jinshan.

Outside the Xu family's large mansion on the north side of Quliu Town, a woman with only her eyes exposed stood several dozen zhang away, looking at the several large mansions from afar. Inside the large mansions, there was the sound of strings and bamboo; early in the morning, there was drinking, feasting, singing, and dancing, which was truly extravagant and indulgent.

The woman stood for a while, did not get close, but turned and disappeared.

In that remote small courtyard, an aged face appeared on the ancient tree again, saying: "This place is already so desolate, why are there still Shaman tribes coming back and forth? What does she want to do?"

The charming woman in red still sat by the window, and without raising her head, she said: "She thinks she understands the human race very well and wants to sow discord."

The old tree chuckled and said: "Stupid Shaman. The relationship between people is so complicated, how could she possibly sow discord?"

"If there are no accidents, she has already succeeded."

The old man's smile froze on the tree trunk. Fortunately, his movements were slow to begin with, so this freezing was not obvious.

The smile on the old tree's face disappeared quite a bit, and he said: "Should we trick her in and kill her? I've been feeling a bit malnourished lately."

The woman did not speak, so the old tree did not bring up this topic again. The woman turned a page of the storybook and asked somewhat nonchalantly: "Since you have already discovered me, why didn't you say anything the few times people from the main family came?"

"I still want to live a few more years."

"Xu Jingfeng sits in that position, and you can accept it too?"

A smile appeared on the old tree's face again, and he said: "Jingfeng, this child, was not bad to begin with, and after experiencing hardships, he is even more outstanding; he can naturally sit in this position. As long as he still has the surname Xu, it doesn't matter which side his butt is sitting on. I am old, and I just like to have black pieces in one hand and white pieces in the other."

The woman did not answer, and the old tree tentatively asked: "The previous few great battles, why didn't you make a move?"

"Sitting here reading is more important."

The old tree asked suspiciously: "There is nothing here, and the only secret treasury was also taken away by that kid in Azure Void. What is the point of you sitting here? Don't look at me, I am an old man and very afraid of death; everything is negotiable."

Speaking of this, the old tree said self-deprecatingly: "When I was a human, I was still very brave; I didn't expect that now that I have become a tree, I am afraid of death instead. Girl, if you are willing to tell me why you are sitting here without moving, I will give you my treasured storybooks; they are all unique copies."

The woman in red said lightly: "Considering the gap in our cultivation, is it appropriate for you to call me girl?"

"Respecting the old and cherishing the young has existed since ancient times. Besides, you are not old, and I am more than enough to be your grandfather's grandfather. Stop talking nonsense, do you still want to read storybooks or not?" The old tree was rarely tough for once.

!.

The woman in red said: "This place is currently the most important Feng Shui node, which can affect the luck of the entire region. I am sitting here so others cannot see this node."

"Can affect the luck of the entire region? I have been a tree here for over a hundred years, why haven't I noticed it?"

The woman in red wanted to explain, but immediately gave up and said: "Feng Shui luck is too complicated; you are not very smart, so even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."

——

Dusk.

Wei Yuan stood on the main peak, looking northwest, faintly feeling uneasy. The green intent in the northwest had already rushed straight into the sky, full of killing intent, ready to go; the great battle might be tonight.

Wei Yuan returned to his room and began to readjust the Feng Shui array. He added another drop of laurel immortal tree sap to the array disk, but still felt it was not enough; looking at the dense green luck that was increasing every day, he gritted his teeth and threw several hundred strands of green Qi into the array in one breath.

With the great battle imminent, Wei Yuan wanted to push his luck infinitely high and form a luck depression in the surroundings; only then would it be possible to survive in a desperate situation.

At nightfall, bursts of desolate horns resounded through heaven and earth. The horns originated from the Wucheng, but they could also be clearly heard at the center of the realm hundreds of miles away; the heavy sound of the horns seemed to have the power to seize souls, and many ordinary people fell to the ground in pain upon hearing it, until the light of Wood-Born Profound began to flash on their bodies, and only then did they slowly stand up.

The sound of bells also rang out within the realm, and countless people woke up from their dreams, immediately put on armor according to their daily training, picked up the newly issued weapons, went to the designated places to assemble, and waited for further orders.

The fragrance of food wafted up in the camps everywhere, and officers carried baskets of steamed buns to distribute to the fully armored warriors. The warriors wolfed them down, finishing them in a few bites, and their auras were clearly a bit stronger.

These steamed buns were mixed with flour made from millet, and also added with medicine prepared by Sun Yu. After eating, not only could it replenish vitality, but it also made one's spirit excited, and it would be fine even if one did not sleep or rest for several days. Although one would be seriously ill after the medicinal effect wore off, Sun Yu's original words were that if one didn't eat this medicine, one might die, and wouldn't even have the chance to be ill.

The dull sound of war drums rang out. Wang Yu originally intended to hold the hammer to beat the drum, but was snatched away by Xu Yi. Her long hair flew, and she beat the drum with all her might; looking from afar, she was like a fairy descending to the mortal world, making the entire army's blood boil.

Wei Yuan also praised secretly; Xu Yi beating the drum had an effect that was more than a little better than Wang Yu's.

In the distance, the Wucheng was brightly lit, and the military aura rushed into the sky; then the main gate opened wide, a high platform was slowly pushed out, and then squads of soldiers poured out from every city gate, merging into a torrent, covering the sky and earth as they came toward Azure Void.

Wei Yuan estimated the time and expected that the Shaman army would arrive at the edge of the realm at midnight, which was the moment when the Shaman army's combat power was strongest.

Just at this moment, Wei Yuan's pupils condensed, and he saw many mountain-like black shadows appear in the Shaman army formation.

Wild Beasts?

Wei Yuan immediately pointed to the sky, and a scarlet light shot into the night sky, and then the entire realm boiled over. Originally, Wei Yuan's order was that among those who had not forged their bodies, the elderly over fifty and children under ten did not need to assemble to participate in the battle. But now that the assembly order was issued, except for children under seven or eight, everyone who could move picked up weapons and marched toward the six cities of Xuanwei.

Looking at those mountain-like figures in the distance, Wei Yuan's expression was solemn. Wild Beasts had always been used in important battles, and in recent years, they had basically been deployed on the northern battlefield against the Liao tribe. Now that Wild Beasts had actually appeared here in Azure Void, it made Wei Yuan wonder if he had added too much luck to the Feng Shui array, and as a result, it was counterproductive, and his place had become a luck depression instead?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 236 =====