Chapter 80: Lady Zhushan's

Hanping Prefecture, Dongcheng Pass, atop the city wall.

The moon had already shifted west, and dark clouds drifted by.

The wind was filled with the scent of blood and the smell of dew and vegetation before dawn; there were fresh sprouts and withered, rotting wood.

Insects chirped in the distance, and crows flew all around.

Although death is sorrowful, victory can also stir the heart.

"We drove the barbarians back, they're nothing much!" an armored soldier shouted excitedly, "Nothing much at all!"

"Right, barbarians are human too; they die when cut by a blade! Those demonic beasts are terrifying, but we have experts from the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall!" another soldier added.

Bustling, clamorous.

General Yuan did not stop them, only watching silently as his subordinates gathered the corpses.

Song Cheng put away his Mechanism Shield, then walked over, cupped his hands, and praised: "General, your command of troops—I have truly seen it now; it is truly exquisite and miraculous."

General Yuan was stunned for a moment; he had been pondering this very thing for quite a while.

In his daily life, he conducted drills and suppressed bandits, but this was his first time in a battle of true life-and-death struggle.

This feeling was as if he had suddenly gone from a low-level match to a high-difficulty one.

And in this high-difficulty match, he had felt powerless several times, feeling as if everything were about to collapse, because he had never fought at this level—yet it never collapsed, as if helped by the gods.

The military situation, which seemed on the verge of a sharp turn for the worse, would always turn from urgent to slow in a "bizarre curve," giving him time to react and allowing him to quickly deploy his troops.

What was going on?

But, General Yuan thought again, perhaps the art of commanding troops is inherently profound and mysterious; perhaps he, Yuan, had truly improved, or perhaps he was a military talent born for such grand battles.

General Yuan, who had been trembling with fear, suddenly found a shred of confidence.

Hearing this now, he stopped overthinking and smiled slightly: "It is still thanks to Mr. Song and the two External Affairs Envoys for fighting so valiantly; otherwise... even if I were commanding, what use would it be?"

As he spoke, the sound of "thump, thump, thump" footsteps came from the stone stairs of the city wall, and it was the two External Affairs Envoys, Hong and Shi, coming up.

The two had led troops out through the side gate earlier, and after a bloody fight, their entire bodies were now stained red and tattered.

Besides the blood of barbarians and demonic beasts, their clothes had also been torn, and there were many white marks left on their skin.

In short-term combat, these "Form Realm Martial Artists" who had cultivated Qi are very resistant to damage; as long as the opponent does not have an expert who surpasses them, they will not die.

However, every solid hit they took consumed their Qi; as time passed, it became difficult to sustain their Qi, and if they remained trapped in the enemy ranks, they could face a fatal disaster.

But if the gap in military strength between the two sides reached a certain level, something terrifying would happen: a soldier, or even a general, would use the gathered military momentum to suddenly pierce their defenses with a blade and put them to death.

Such events, recorded in history books, usually consist of four words: died in the chaotic army.

The true battlefield is extremely terrifying, ever-changing, and the graveyard of martial artists.

Previously, both had been in martial arts halls and drifting in the pugilistic world, at most suppressing bandits for practice.

This was also their first time clashing with barbarians and demonic beasts.

Now that they had returned safely, they were both uncontrollably excited.

Hong Juguang patted Song Cheng on the shoulder, then walked past him and gave General Yuan a bear hug, saying: "Good! I have finally witnessed the importance of you military strategists!

The strength of one person on the battlefield is truly negligible; different generals commanding will bring about completely different results. Good! Little Yuan!"

General Yuan felt quite pleased, but said modestly: "Just luck. Are the two External Affairs Envoys injured?"

The two shook their heads.

Shi Zhongjian glanced at Song Cheng and discovered that this blind man was disheveled, his black robe stained with blood, and the indifference from when they first met had vanished.

He took the initiative to step forward and patted Song Cheng on the shoulder.

Song Cheng also smiled; he clearly saw that this External Affairs Envoy Shi's favorability had risen.

Having been on the battlefield together and fighting for victory in the same camp really is different.

After the great battle, many people sat directly on the city wall, chatting with one another.

Song Cheng also sat cross-legged, sitting next to Shi Zhongjian, and chatted casually.

"Is External Affairs Envoy Shi's son about my age?" he took the initiative to start the topic.

Shi Zhongjian looked at the sky, pursed his lips, and finally sighed, saying: "About the same."

Then he added: "At his strongest, he couldn't compare to half of you, let alone now."

Song Cheng smiled and said: "But I am a blind man; External Affairs Envoy Shi's son can at least see the colors of the sky and earth, and can see beautiful women, can't he?"

Shi Zhongjian was stunned for a moment and turned his head to look at this young blind man.

Black hair stained with blood, a resolute face, the black cloth wrapping his eyes fluttering in the bloody wind.

This muscular man said: "Brother Song is truly a good person."

Song Cheng asked: "What happened to Brother Shi's son?"

"He was struck by Rotten Poison."

"Rotten Poison?"

"The Soul slowly rots, the years age rapidly; a few years pass by like someone else's several decades. In a while, when I walk down the street with him, others will think he is my father."

"..."

"During the last Ghost Tide, he encountered an exceptionally powerful Ghost servant and was struck by this toxin.

The Ghost Tide receded, and I wanted to beg Lady Zhushan to save him.

In this Prefecture City, if there is still one person who can save him, it must be Lady Zhushan.

But Lady Zhushan did not appear."

Shi Zhongjian sighed heavily, "I understand, she was also injured, but by now she should have recovered."

Song Cheng could not help but sigh inwardly: every family has its own difficult scripture to recite; if someone ignores you, it might not be directed at you, but rather that they cannot walk out of their own pain.

He asked: "Is Lady Zhushan also a doctor?"

Shi Zhongjian said: "A first-class divine physician."

What is sold in Qianzhen Ge, she can make.

What is not sold in Qianzhen Ge, she can also make.

Qianzhen Ge is actually opened by her."

Song Cheng was stunned for a moment; this Lady Zhushan and the Young Mistress, the head of his own household, were in the same "profession."

He silently noted this in his heart, and then chatted with Shi Zhongjian about some trivial matters from his past in Tanghe Village and Shanghe County.

Just as they were chatting, suddenly an armored soldier patrolling the city wall shouted: "They're retreating! The barbarians are retreating!"

General Yuan and the External Affairs Envoy hurriedly stood up and looked into the distance, and sure enough, they saw the wolf cavalry and magic eagles gradually retreating. Hong Juguang asked curiously: "Why did they suddenly retreat?"

General Yuan thought for a moment and said: "The barbarians have deep ranks of magical beasts, but their provisions are insufficient. If they realize they cannot take a location, they will never fight to the death, but will retreat quickly and switch to attacking elsewhere."

Having said that, he smiled and said: "In this battle, we held our ground."

Hearing this, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Song Cheng stood on the city wall, gazing into the distance at the black and white, blood-tinged silhouettes of the army, then looked up at the gray, hazy distance. He could not see clearly.

The situation was truly impossible to see clearly.

One could only struggle to cope.

He suddenly said: "Is it possible that this unit is just scouts? Are they here to probe the defensive strength of the Prefecture City?"

General Yuan pondered for a moment and said cautiously: "It is not impossible, and that would be troublesome. However, I will dispatch scouts to investigate everywhere, so we will not be taken by surprise."

Song Cheng felt an inexplicable heaviness in his heart.

If this were a battle between humans, that would be one thing.

But there are also Ghost servants.

What exactly do the Ghost servants want to do? Currently, he knows of three Ghosts: the Drowning Ghost, the Human Skin Ghost, and... the Ghost that can infect people with Rotten Poison.

The human heart is treacherous, the barbarians are fierce, and the evil Ghosts are unfathomable.

He could not help but think of Zhushan Temple, which dominates the ten passes south of Hanping Prefecture.

Perhaps he should take the initiative to make contact.

Because the south might be the only place where one can retreat unscathed.

And Lady Zhushan's behavior made him feel that this lady must also want to slip away, or at least had left herself a sufficient path of retreat.

As for today's victory, it actually had no impact on the overall situation.

A victory not worth rejoicing over.

A defeat, however, would be total destruction.

This is a predicament.

A dead end.

The young man thought this, and suddenly his heart stirred as he looked into the distance.

He always felt someone was spying on him. This feeling had actually existed since he was killing barbarians in the early morning, but at that time many people were looking at him, so this sense of being watched was submerged among them. Now that the barbarians had scattered, this sense of being watched had become very clear.

If his Soul were not strong, it would be impossible to detect this sense of being watched, but now... he was becoming increasingly certain.

Someone is watching him.

Who? The barbarians had retreated, and Song Cheng, a Guest Elder who had come to provide support, could naturally leave. This battle had made the relationship between him and the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall of Hanping Prefecture even closer.

He sat back in the carriage and was sent by the disciples of the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall to the An Mansion in the west of the city.

Those disciples held him in even deeper respect.

Everyone had seen with their own eyes how fierce this Guest Elder had been during the slaughter in the middle of the night yesterday.

Although they were far from being able to perceive that "every move Song Cheng made was actually suppressing the enemy's momentum with unimaginable keenness, breaking the momentum the enemy was about to gather time and time again," they did see the scene of this Guest Elder being as violent as a tiger, holding a shield in one hand and a saber in the other, charging left and right, unstoppable. No one could deny the role this Guest Elder played last night.

Without him on the city wall, it was uncertain if it would have actually fallen.

Martial arts hall disciples still admire the strong, especially when that strong person is their own Guest Elder.

"Mr. Song, we have arrived."

The disciple respectfully stopped the carriage and then took the initiative to lift the curtain.

Song Cheng stepped down and said: "Thank you for your hard work, why not come into the An Family and have a cup of tea?"

The disciple smiled and said: "You are too kind, sir, but I have other matters to attend to."

Song Cheng smiled: "Then go safely."

As the carriage drove away, Song Cheng was about to step into the An Mansion when he suddenly paused; that sense of being watched had returned.

Just as he was thinking about it, hurried footsteps came from behind the gate of the An Mansion.

Song Cheng looked up and saw An Chenyu in white running over from afar.

The Young Miss, who had a cleanliness obsession, threw herself into the arms of the blood-covered young man.

White clothes stained with blood, turning into red plum blossoms.

"I'm fine."

Song Cheng laughed in spite of himself.

He looked again and found that Tong Niangzi had not yet arrived.

However, he did not mind.

The Young Miss was keen on information, which was simply not something the clumsy Tong Niangzi could compare to.

Tong Niangzi must have been worried about him too, and she certainly hadn't slept well all night yesterday, but she just couldn't react as quickly as the Young Miss.

Sure enough, before long, Tong Niangzi also ran over hurriedly, looking at him with extreme nervousness, and with her doctor's instinct "acting up," she pulled his hand to take his pulse, checking this and that, her face full of worry.

As for the maidservants, some boiled water and some prepared meals, while the multi-talented Ling'er even specially brought over an incense burner to soothe the spirit.

Song Cheng took a comfortable bath, and at this time, that sense of being watched had disappeared.

But after he changed into clean clothes, that sense of being watched returned again.

Song Cheng was also quite puzzled, thinking to himself: This peeper is actually quite polite? However, the last time he encountered this kind of situation was at the foot of the mountain on the east side of Tanghe Village, and that sense of being watched from the west was nine times out of ten Yun E.

Now, who is it again?

Someone from Zhushan Temple?

Such a polite peeping seems to hold no malice; anyone in the Prefecture City capable of such methods must be from Zhushan Temple; and as for someone interested in a blind man... "Perhaps, could it be Lady Zhushan herself?"

As Song Cheng walked toward the Dining Hall, he pondered in his heart: "The other party does not know I can sense the peeping, because practicing martial arts and practicing the Soul are conflicting; in anyone's eyes, since I am a Form Realm Martial Artist, it is absolutely impossible for me to be a Soul cultivator."

"The technique used to peep at me is quite novel, though.

The purpose of the peeping can also be inferred: they want to secretly assess whether I, this new partner, am qualified."

"Then, what does Lady Zhushan care about? Or rather, what is she assessing?"

Song Cheng tried hard to recall all the information he had regarding Lady Zhushan.

The words of Hong Juguang and Shi Zhongjian surfaced in his mind one by one, combined with his own understanding.

Subjective judgments and information naturally emerged one after another:

First, Lady Zhushan needs a medicine man to be completely under her control, so she cares very much about rules and that her orders be executed; second, Lady Zhushan's original medicine man died, so she must want a stronger partner.

Third, Lady Zhushan has not yet taken action against the barbarians, so what is she waiting for? Is it that her severe injuries have never actually recovered, or is there some other reason? Fourth, if Lady Zhushan's illusion and his "Black Heaven" are of the same path, then Lady Zhushan must be a lunatic.

Because Song Cheng knew all too well what "Black Heaven" was.

It is a weakened version of the "Chongxian" that belongs to the Taboo, which is "let you also feel my pain."

He "waived the price," which is why his spirit remained quite normal.

As for those who did not waive the price, it is hard to say.

Lady Zhushan might be one of them.

After some thought, Song Cheng had a general understanding of Lady Zhushan in his heart.

"Since that is the case..."

Song Cheng thought for a moment, and a plan formed in his mind.

Regardless, with the four-way chess game already locked, he had to take the initiative to approach this one path he had not yet tried. At the very least, this was highly likely to be a retreat for him and the entire An Family.

And first, he had to pass Lady Zhushan's assessment.

"So tired."

At dusk, Tong Niangzi, having practiced hard all day, was too tired to do anything but sit on the stone steps.

Song Cheng suddenly appeared and asked: "Does Niangzi need me to do anything?"

"Nothing at all, you should rest well." Tong Niangzi looked at him with heartache, feeling that her own man was so doting toward women; he had only returned from battle this morning, and now he was still like this.

Song Cheng went to try and find a "woman who could issue him a task," but as it turned out, neither Tong Niangzi, An Daxiaojie, nor even Ying'er or Ling'er gave even the slightest hint that they wanted him to do anything.

Fortunately, night arrived.

Without realizing it, Tong Niangzi issued the first order.

"Little Song, are you not coming back to sleep yet?"

Song Cheng was practicing martial arts, but upon hearing this, he knew the opportunity to demonstrate "characteristics that meet Lady Zhushan's needs" had arrived, so he immediately said: "Coming right now."

Afterward, he immediately stopped his practice and returned to the room.

The sense of being watched disappeared, or rather, it was blocked.

Tong Niangzi leaned over, helped him untie his sash and remove his clothes and trousers, and whispered: "I heard that people who have been on the battlefield are particularly repressed; don't hold it in today, I permit you..."

Her voice grew softer and softer.

After casting a spell, Song Cheng held his wife and whispered his plan to her.

Tong Niangzi was stunned for a moment, but under Song Cheng's patient explanation, she generally understood the situation.

She giggled, a look of novelty appearing all over her face.

And so... that night, the couple "conspired" for a while, and the next day they began "acting."

With Tong Niangzi's cooperation, Song Cheng easily and naturally displayed these characteristics that "theoretically met Lady Zhushan's interview requirements."

Then, in the afternoon, he secretly displayed a bit of his "trump card strength" alone in the courtyard, moving his hands and feet, with his Qi circulating, demonstrating the second form of the Xuanwu True Form, aside from the Bai She Jin form.

A virile physique, fierce strength, paired with the "characteristic of being obedient."

Song Cheng did not know how his "interview" result was, but he could feel that the peeping gaze was constantly fixed on him.

In the distance.

In an old residence, the beautiful and voluptuous Lady Zhushan, whose beauty was unreal, was wrapped in red silk, reclining on an ancient gold-inlaid jade couch; although the couch was luxurious, it was clearly aged.

Such a beauty who could topple cities, and who held power, should have lived happily and wantonly, but the Lady did not have a shred of happiness; her beautiful face carried a hint of misery and disdain for all things in the world.

At this moment, she was looking at a metal mirror so ancient it had grown dark green copper rust, and in the mirror was a blind youth with a black cloth wrapped around his eyes.

The Lady did not know that what she was seeing was merely "the young couple's acting"; she watched for a long time and couldn't help but comment: "Not bad."

She propped her chin and pondered for a while, seemingly having made up her mind, and with a wave of her hand, the mirror surface returned to its original state.

Looking at this almost perfect woman's face, the disdain on her face reached its peak, and the pain in her eyes also climbed to the limit.

She casually flipped the mirror face down, then stood up.

First, she took an extremely conservative, dowdy robe that revealed not a sliver of skin from the luxurious clothes rack and wrapped it around her body, then casually picked out some ointment from a black jar with her little finger and smeared it on her face.

In an instant... that beautiful face was gone, replaced by a fat face covered in freckles.

The freckled, fat-faced Lady looked at this ugly face, a hint of nostalgia and tenderness appearing in her eyes.

She carefully picked up a mottled old medicine chest wrapped in iron chains from beside the table, her expression solemn and sacred, and then walked out of the old residence.

Outside the residence, four gloomy Martial Artists stood motionless, like ancient statues.

The Lady said: "A-Da, lift the sedan, we go to the west of the city."

She decided to go find that little girl named Tong Jia.

It was clear that the little girl was also a doctor.

In that case, she could use "teaching the little girl" as a price to make that little girl order her man to partner with her.

The Madam did not trust any man, nor did she want to form any connection with any man beyond the level of "stranger."

She only trusted medicine people who were completely under her control.

However, since that youth was so full of male virtue and so perfectly met her requirements, she would just have to make an exception this once.

In any case, even if she partnered with that youth, they would still be in a "stranger" relationship.

To that youth, this would be nothing more than "the mistress's order."

For the sake of insurance, she would also call upon the youth's other mistress.

A double order would be even safer.

The reason Madam Zhushan was doing this was mainly because she no longer had time to wait for other options.

She had to find a new partner immediately.

Time was already running out.

(End of this chapter)