Yamafu Military Affairs

Chapter 413: Storm Rising in Qinling Mountains

"In short, if Mr. Qin trusts Feng, he might as well go to Qinling to explore in his spare time. If he can really gain some insights, wouldn't the Yihe cause be more secure? After all..."

Feng Zhao stood up and walked to the window, looking at Hankou, where a large number of troops were stationed in the north of the Yangtze River, and murmured in a low voice: "After all, this war will not last long."

"Speaking of fighting, why didn't I see Sister Lian when I came to Wuchang this time? I remember that she left Tianjin and headed south ten days ago. She should have arrived in Wuchang before us."

Qin Huai thought of Lin Heier, whom he had met once, and asked.

"When a cannon is fired, a fortune is won. Although the Boxer Rebellion has been going on for a long time, and although it has a great momentum and has achieved some results in the southern provinces, the food, clothing, weapons and medicine of the Boxers have to be spent. The wealth accumulated in Honolulu over the years has long been spent. If it were not for the help from people from all walks of life, it is still unclear whether we can hold on until now."

Feng Zhao turned around with a complicated expression, "After Senior Sister Lian recovered from her injuries, she went to the Bashan Old Forest and Qinling Mountains with several elders and Dharma Kings, intending to re-activate the relics of the sect that had been sealed in previous years to support Yihe."

Feng Zhao patted Qin Huai on the shoulder and said, "In the past hundred years, we have spent countless money to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. Only a small part of the wealth left is left. If it weren't for the critical moment now, the elders would not agree to let me bet all the accumulation of the church for a hundred years on this one battle."

"Did they also go to Bashan and Qinling?"

Qin Huai folded his arms and held his chin, his eyes flickering.

After returning to Jinlou from Snake Mountain and settling his fellow disciples and taking care of all the affairs, Qin Huai took Wu Shan and led the horse out of the backyard and saw a person standing outside.

The man had a thin and upright figure, a steady lower body, a slightly pointed face, drooping eyes, and was wearing a half-new grey coat. He had neat short hair, and his sharp edge was restrained but not revealed.

Judging from his appearance, he was about thirty years old, with a short moustache on his lips and a slight beard on his chin. He looked dignified and was looking at me.

"Uncle Du, why are you here?"

Qin Huai was a little surprised when he saw Du Xinwu and Du Shenkui, whom he had just met the day before, running to Jinlou to find him. He immediately calmed his horse and asked.

"Mr. Zhong received a tip-off that the Qing court suddenly issued an order for Yuan Xiangcheng to go to Nanjing to persuade local nobles to subscribe to patriotic bonds and raise money. For his safety, I, your senior minister, had to temporarily leave Tianjin and go south with Yuan Xiangcheng."

"Is this... luring the tiger away from the mountain?"

Qin Huai frowned, wondering what Chuntai's plan was behind this conspiracy.

"Maybe, Mr. Zhong thinks there must be something fishy behind this matter, but as to what the old monster's specific intention is, you need to think carefully and see if you can figure it out."

Du Xinwu looked at Qin Huai and said slowly, "I wanted to go with you to search for the treasure land in Qinling this time. Unfortunately, the timing is not right. As Mr. Zhong's personal bodyguard, I can't get away."

"Mr. Zhong is the key figure in charge of the overall situation, so it is of utmost importance that Master Du stays behind to protect him. But now that my master has left Zhili, the old monster has no one to hold him back. If he comes to Wuchang to kill Mr. Zhong, it will be a huge problem."

Qin Huai was quick-witted and quick-witted, and he quickly guessed what Chuntai might be trying to do by using this trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

"Brother Qin, don't worry. With Wanming and I here, we will never let that old monster succeed easily. When Mr. Zhong got the news last night, I had already sent a letter to Wudang and asked a grandmaster to come to help. No matter how strong the old monster is, if he wants to take Mr. Zhong's life under heavy protection, he will have to pay a heavy price!"

"But I don't know which Grand Master it is?"

"Wudang Dan Sect, Sword Immortal Song Weiyi."

After hearing this, Qin Huai understood. He had met this great master once in Tianjin and felt that he was unfathomable. Unfortunately, many things happened later. When Qin Huai thought about sparring with him, the Taoist with the name of "Sword Immortal" had already traveled south and disappeared.

When I heard news about him again, I didn’t expect it was from Du Xinwu.

"Uncle Du, I got this talisman by chance. It can take people to escape dozens of miles away in an instant. If that old monster really comes to Wuchang in person to assassinate you, you must make a decisive move and be willing to sacrifice it."

Qin Huai took out a silk talisman with a hazy silver glow from his arms and handed it to Du Xinwu with great care.

【Maoshan Six Ding and Six Jia Earth-Shrinking Talisman】

Category: Consumables
Quality: Legend

If you take one step at a time, the land will shrink. Every mountain will become flat, every river will dry up, every tree will break, every fire will be extinguished, and every land will shrink.

After using it, you can move freely within a radius of 1 miles. Number of times you can use it (1/)

Note: Photographed under the order of Mr. Sanshan Jiuhou!
This item was the life-saving talisman that Guangyu had given to Qin Huai. Originally, only an empty talisman was left after it was used. Later, when he was chatting with Chu Qing about how to improve the proficiency of talismans, he mentioned it by chance. Chu Qing asked for it for reference, and when he returned it, it was inexplicably in a full state.

Qin Huai himself has [Shenyou] on him, and [Maoshan Six Ding and Six Jia Shrinking Talisman] is just icing on the cake for him. But for Zhongshan Qiao, who is at the center of the storm and in danger of his life at any time, this thing is no less than a second life.

"I've heard from Bingwu that you have some luck. I won't be polite to you. I will accept this item temporarily. If Mr. Zhong is safe and sound in the end, I will definitely return it intact."

Seeing that Qin Huai treated this item very carefully and knowing how precious it was, Du Xinwu nodded and put the talisman in his arms.

"Well, Uncle Du, it's getting late. I'll go ahead."

Before he finished speaking, Qin Huai had already jumped on his horse and galloped into the dawn.
-
"Huai Lang, although these dogs have excellent sniffing abilities, the conditions in the mountains are complicated. We have been searching for quite some time but have not found anything. According to Ling'er, how about you transform yourself into a [Star-nosed Shark] from the aquatic world and let's try again?"

Qin Huai and his companion rode at full speed for a whole day and night and finally reached the southern foot of the Bashan Mountains.

At this time, Ao Ling was looking at the light screen in Qin Huai's hand. There were three mechanical hounds searching the forest, but unfortunately, two hours had passed and no useful clues were found.

"Okay, but a shark's sense of smell can only be fully utilized in water. Will it work here?"

Qin Huai put down the light curtain in his hand, moved his head, and through the [Hundred Flavors Mimicry], he transformed into a [Star Shark] with a protruding nose and snout.

"We have to try to see if it works."

Ao Ling smiled slightly, and the water vapor between heaven and earth began to become active. The smells attached to the clouds, rain, forest smoke, and morning mist all separated and gathered towards Qinhuai.

Qin Huai was sniffing these, and the mechanical hound under him was also moving forward synchronously.

The two men and three dogs entered Daba Mountain from Guangyuan and searched from west to east for an unknown amount of time. They waited until the stars set before they finally found the key clue.

"I have an idea."

Qin Huai opened his eyes, and two rays of divine light shot out. He immediately gathered his cloud wings and descended to the Daba Mountain branch in the northeast. Seeing this, Ao Ling also put down the light curtain in his hand for the time being, and controlled the clouds to follow behind him.

Qin Huai stood beside a big tree in the ancient woods, holding a piece of gauze covered with black and red blood in his hand and examining it carefully. [Gauze stained with diseased blood]: The blood stasis that the ghost hand doctor Sun Sheng spat out when he used acupuncture to lock the loss of his body's essence has dried and solidified, about five days ago.

Qin Huai put down the piece of gauze hanging on the tree branch, which luckily had not been eaten clean by the wild beasts in the forest. He sniffed his nose and could sense from the remaining smell that Hongying and his group had gone north.

"Huai Lang, what did you find?"

Ao Ling looked at the gauze in Qin Huai's hand. With her natural perception of true dragon blood, she could naturally feel that the same smell was stronger in the north.

"Well, Xiang Bo and his men should have followed the Wanyuan branch down the Daba Mountains and headed north into the Qinling Mountains."

Qin Huai felt it carefully and murmured uncertainly: "Could it be that they are also going to the [Twenty-Four Section Valley]?"

"what?"

Ao Ling naturally had no idea what Taowu's clone had seen and heard. When she saw Qin Huai talking to himself and saying some strange words that she couldn't understand, curiosity suddenly filled her pretty face.

"Nothing, let's take a break and leave later."

Qin Huai, who had been searching the mountains for most of the day and was in very good physical condition, was exhausted and tired. He immediately took out the hot pot from his personal space, intending to boil water and cook meat for a quick meal.

"Huai Lang, do you still remember the Tuotuo meat we ate at the Yi elder's house the other day? Do you want to try the new dish Ling'er has improved on it?"

The pink jade necklace around Ao Ling's neck flashed a ray of light, and a square plate of [lumps of meat] covered with a layer of red crystal powder appeared out of thin air on the low table between the two of them.

[Tuotuo Meat]: A Yi specialty made with carefully selected ingredients. Eating it can slowly restore energy over a period of time, and the cooldown time of all skills will be slightly reduced without any side effects.

"Mrs. Ao's cooking skills are amazing, great!"

Qin Huai picked up a piece of meat with chopsticks and gave a thumbs up as soon as he put it in his mouth.

Speaking of which, ever since he started working together with Ao Ling, he no longer had to eat the same old hot pot meat in a copper pot every time he ate. The dishes had become much richer.

Seeing Qin Huai enjoying his meal, Ao Ling picked up the Yanbo Liuli cup filled with [Emperor's Juice] and said with a smile, "Huai Lang, do you think that [Ghost Hand Divine Doctor] is really as powerful as the legend says? Can he cure Sister Hongying's father?"

"do not know."

Qin Huai shook his head, thinking about the hint from [A Glimpse] just now, and he was unsure: "Just now I saw that the gauze was stagnant with blood, smelled fishy and black, and I guessed that Xiang Bo's condition might not have made any substantial progress, otherwise that old Sun would not have led Hongying and the others north."

"What do you mean?"

"Xiang Bo is a patient. As a doctor, why would you let a seriously ill patient travel such a long distance unless the situation is particularly serious?"

Qin Huai took the light screen from the table that showed the trajectory and detection range of the mechanical hound. He fiddled with it for a few seconds, and the best forward route summarized by the mechanical hound was projected out.

"Huai Lang, what's wrong?"

Ao Ling stared at the 3D panoramic map. A red line crossed the emerald green mountains and forests.

"Yesterday, Taowu got a piece of news in Wuchang that there is a magical place in the Qinling Mountains that can give extraordinary benefits to people with Qi in their bodies. I was thinking, this Ghost Hand Divine Doctor has been hanging around in the Bashan and Qinling Mountains for many years. Is it possible that he also knows about this place? And he brought Xiang Bo north to the Qinling Mountains just to use this place to treat him?"

"this."

Ao Ling frowned slightly, thought for a while, nodded and said: "If that miracle doctor is also a so-called extraordinary person in the secular world, then this is indeed possible."

"pretty close."

Qin Huai stuffed the last piece of meat on the plate into his mouth. He caught a glimpse of Ao Ling's hand with only a shallow layer of [Smoke and Glass Lamp] left. He opened [Glimpse] to check her condition.

Comprehensive evaluation: Two thousand years of Taoism (peak of the Nine Lights)
"This is strange. Ao Xiaoniang has accumulated a lot of experience and recently she has also received the help of the Green Autumn Mirror. She should have reached the Eight Extremes rank long ago. Why is she still stuck at the Nine Lights peak and unable to make any progress?"

"Huai Lang wants to ask me about the heavenly tribulation, right?"

Seeing that Qin Huai had asked the key question, Ao Ling pondered and said, "According to common sense, I should be at the same level as the Eight Extremes you mentioned at this moment, but I always feel like something is missing, which is why I have been unable to trigger the heavenly calamity that my race encounters every thousand years."

"Something is missing? Is it because we are not here?"

Qin Huai touched his chin, and the first thing he thought of was the different appearances and extraordinary factors of the Yambu Fruit.

"Maybe. When we go back this time, if the heavenly tribulation still hasn't come, I might have to ask Huai Lang to send Ling Er back to Jiuzhou."

"Of course, I can't delay my practice."

Qin Huai nodded, stood up, put away the debris, spread his cloud wings, looked at Ao Ling, and they flew up to the sky together and headed north along the mountain range.
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"Mr. Sun, you have calculated for so long, have you figured out how far we are from that damn place?"

A sturdy man with a solid body, broad shoulders and back, wearing a grey shirt, looked at the octogenarian writing and drawing in the woods with a branch in front of him. He felt a little dizzy and turned around to ask.

"It's almost there, it's almost there, why rush?"

The old man, who was pointing with a branch in his left hand, had a head full of white hair and a calm demeanor. He was wearing green wide-leg wide-crotch bloomers, straw sandals on his feet, and a colorful patchwork coat on his upper body. He was smoking a pipe in his right hand, and was silently calculating the location of the qi situation by the strange divination on the ground.

"Uncle Wu, Elder Sun has been taking us over mountains and across rivers these past few days, and we haven't gotten much sleep. How about you take a rest first? I'll call you when we have some clues?"

The person who spoke was making a fire and cooking next to the old man. She was a young woman dressed like a warrior, wearing a narrow crimson shirt and a dark red leather belt around her waist. Her long hair was tied into a high ponytail. She looked neat and tidy, and heroic.

It was Xiang Hongying that Qin Huai had been thinking about.

"How can I sleep with Brother Yi Hai like this?"

Li Bingwu sighed and looked at Xiang Yihai who was sleeping soundly in the hammock. After all, he couldn't sit still, so he stood up, holding his two swords, and walked into the woods.

"Hongying, I'm going to pick up some firewood. Remember to call me if anything happens."

(End of this chapter)