Chapter 176: Secret Transaction

Although he blocked the opponent's impact this time, the situation on the battlefield had already changed.

After their military formation was pierced through by the heavy-armored paper soldiers, other heavy-armored paper soldiers found a breakthrough point.

Soon, the heavy-armored paper soldiers completed the process of splitting them up; if they did not retreat now, they would be completely surrounded by the heavy-armored paper soldiers and slaughtered to the last man.

"Sound the gongs and retreat!"

Seeing his side falling into a disadvantage, and with the battle between the Perfected Persons in the sky still undecided, the general did not dare to continue the attrition, so he hurriedly ordered a retreat.

"Woo~~~"

Soon, the sound of the retreat horn spread across the battlefield, and the surviving soldiers immediately turned back toward the camp, but now that their formation was broken, a retreat in the middle of the fray meant a rout!

The heavy-armored paper soldiers behind them immediately pursued, stopping only when they reached the front of the enemy's rear camp.

"Heavy losses! Such heavy losses!"

Watching the soldiers fleeing back, the general sighed repeatedly in heartache, even though the Fragrant Temple ancestor had intervened midway to add a bit of strength to the army out of thin air.

But as they retreated to the camp, the soldiers who had originally been disregarding their own lives finally came to their senses; the pain in their bodies, the cold from wearing the Iron Ghost Infantry Armor and the rain, and the bloody, cruel battlefield caused many of them to have mental breakdowns.

"This battle can be considered a pyrrhic victory!"

On the other side, Jiao Yong watched the heavy-armored paper soldiers returning one after another, and he himself felt an indescribable shock.

He never expected that the opponent's forces could cause such heavy losses to the heavy-armored paper soldiers.

Originally over two thousand heavy-armored paper soldiers, now nearly a third were gone, with only about fifteen hundred remaining; in particular, of the hundred or so new heavy-armored paper soldiers, only half had returned!

"King Li has been plotting for a long time, and with the Fragrant Temple intervening, it was never going to be easy to win; I fear there will be even harder battles to fight ahead!"

Li Yanbing also felt exceptionally pained by her own losses, but she was very clear that this war was far from over.

As the battle on the ground ended, the fight between the Perfected Persons in the sky also stopped at some unknown moment.

However, it appeared that neither side had emerged victorious, which made that incense master who knew of the Three Ancestors feel somewhat horrified.

——————

"The Fragrant Temple has many tricks, and those Iron Ghost Infantry Armors are a bit strange?"

"Where would King Li get so many high-grade ghost weapons?"

In the tombkeeper's small courtyard, Lin Feng slowly opened his eyes; he had seen the war between Li Yanbing and King Li clearly through the paper soldiers.

Ordinary Iron Ghost Infantry Armor, the kind possessed by garrison troops, could barely be counted as mid-grade ghost weapons, though in reality, the vast majority were low-grade ghost weapons.

They were fine for dealing with ordinary minor ghosts or forming arrays to deal with great ghosts, but they were not enough to deal with fierce ghosts.

Yet, in this battle, quite a few high-grade ghost weapons had appeared; this kind of thing was definitely not something a mere vassal king could obtain just because he wanted to.

"Heh, it seems that not only does the Incense Master have collusion with the Barbarian saints, but even the Fragrant Temple or King Li has colluded with them; otherwise, how could these high-grade ghost weapons, which should belong to the border armies, have fallen into their hands?"

Lin Feng naturally thought of this regarding the situation, but he truly could not figure out why the Barbarians would bring out the high-grade ghost weapons they had obtained.

"A secret deal? Do both sides want to divide the river and rule? Or is there a clever person among the Barbarians who hopes to see the Great Xia constantly infighting, which is why they brought out this level of ghost weapon?"

He had buried quite a few Barbarian corpses by now, but those corpses were all low-level Barbarian soldiers who could not possibly have come into contact with any important information.

Lin Feng felt more or less disgusted by such matters; this kind of war where one's own people fought one another, while one side was secretly colluding with outsiders, was truly sickening.

Of course, to him, it was just how things were; he had no interest in intervening even if he were asked to.

"What on earth could this thing be?"

The thing Lin Feng was truly interested in now was a piece of reddish-colored bone in his hand; it felt slightly warm to the touch and looked full of a jade-like texture.

After the investigation inside the gray mist failed last night, the paper soldier had retrieved the armor he had left outside the gray mist.

The bone that had been put away earlier was also back in his hand, yet even holding it, he had not truly identified what this thing was.

"I should control the Iron Ghost Statue to go to the Ghost Market tonight; it would be best to get some corpse-oil candles back. If I encounter that pawnshop, perhaps I can hand this thing over to the pawnshop to take a look."

However, just because he could not identify it did not mean no person or ghost could; according to the memories of the Life-Ending Ghost Herder, he was very clear about the capabilities of that pawnshop.

After all, pawning living people and ghosts was the true ability of that pawnshop; that pawnshop, which had existed for who knows how many years, should be able to recognize what this thing was.

——————

Xiang Province, Jiang Family of Corpse-Driving Craftsmen.

This Jiang family, with its long-standing heritage and the title of the hidden overlord of Xiang Province, was today facing a formidable enemy.

However, what made people feel strange was that the object of their hostility was not an outsider, but the corpse-driving craftsman Jiang Yujin, who once ranked third in the Jiang family!

When she pushed open a coffin in the Jiang family that could lead to the Yinjian and walked out, the other members of the Jiang family were quite happy, thinking that this powerful and stubborn Third Aunt-Grandmother had made some great discovery in the Yinjian.

As it turned out, after she came out, that special coffin was not closed; instead, one after another, terrifying and fierce-looking soldiers walked out from it!

This immediately alarmed the other members of the Jiang family, because anyone who wasn't a fool understood that these soldiers, who looked like they were not to be trifled with, were definitely here with ill intent!

Soon, Jiang family members, some old and some with strange auras, surrounded the place; they looked at this clansman who had returned from the Yinjian and the surrounding soldiers with faces as dark as could be.

"Who are they? Where are the other Jiang family members?"

"Well done, Third Sister! To think you would bring outsiders back to the clan!"

"Third Aunt-Grandmother, what on earth happened in the Yinjian?"

"What happened to our Black Stone Mountain and Dark Gold Mine?"

"......"

Looking at these clansmen who had previously been either respectful or friendly toward her, Jiang Yujin felt a mix of emotions in her heart.

"Our assets in the Yinjian are gone!"

After a moment of silence, she finally spoke, but the news she delivered caused the other clansmen's expressions to change drastically.

"What!?"

"How is that possible?"

"They are the ones who did it?"

"Kill them and take back Black Stone Mountain and the Dark Gold Mine!"

"Without these two places, how will we raise high-quality corpses in the future!?"

"..."

Following that, all sorts of questioning voices reached her ears, and some people, unable to restrain themselves, were about to make a move.

"Boom! Clatter!"

However, the next moment, the Paper General, which had been standing motionless to the side, took action; the terrifying Prison Domain expanded instantly, and then a large number of torture implements appeared one after another.

At the same time, ten Paper Colonels and one hundred heavy-armored paper figures also arrayed themselves in formation, releasing their own powerful, eerie strength.

Various terrifying, eerie powers instantly shrouded the entire Jiang Family ancestral residence, the surrounding scene fell silent, and everyone shut their mouths in an instant.