Chapter 346: TianLao
At the city where Zhongshan resided, atop the floating island of the Lord's Manor, Princess Qianyou, Ada, A'er, Zhihuo, Shui Wuren, Liu Wushuang, Zhao Chuan, and others surrounded Zhongshan.
In front of Zhongshan was a large sky lantern!
The mist could disrupt people's sense of direction, but that didn't mean Zhongshan would compromise.
"General, what are you doing?" Shui Wuren asked, puzzled.
"I want to see if this thing can fly out, if it can reach above the clouds and escape the formation!" Princess Qianyou explained beside him.
This was just an experiment. For Zhongshan, there was nothing that couldn't be solved; there was only a lack of effort to solve it.
The sky lantern was lit and slowly ascended. It flew slowly over the city's large formation, continued upwards into the white mist.
Everyone patiently waited because in this foggy weather, there was no wind, and no wind meant the final outcome could be judged.
An hour and a half later, in the high-altitude mist, the sky lantern fell back down again. The oil had run out, and the lantern had burnt out!
The landing spot of the sky lantern was not far away. Zhongshan walked over immediately and picked up a memory crystal from the sky lantern.
"It didn't fly out!" Princess Qianyou frowned.
"Was there not enough oil inside?" Shui Wuren asked.
"No, there's a force at the white clouds that stopped it, or the air pressure there was a problem," Zhongshan said, taking a deep breath.
"So, there's no way out?" Zhao Chuan worried.
"Don't worry, there's always a way," Zhongshan reassured everyone.
"There must be a way. At worst, the Great Black King will definitely go find Old Heaven!" Princess Qianyou said.
"Old Heaven? Will Old Heaven come back?" Zhongshan asked.
"He will definitely come!" Princess Qianyou said.
"Hmm!" Zhongshan nodded.
"Wuhen! Find some ropes to tie up the soldiers and let them stand outside the city. Ensure that within three thousand meters, if there's an enemy attack, they can signal the alarm immediately," Zhongshan ordered.
"General, in this ghostly weather, will there really be enemies?" Shui Wuren asked, puzzled.
"Don't fear the ten thousand, just fear the one unexpected. With the thick fog, visibility is less than three hundred meters, and divine perception is less than five hundred meters. Standing on the city tower, even the base of the tower is invisible. If there's an enemy attack, this city will be lost immediately. We'll all be prisoners. This is the Feng Shui formation set up by the Great Radiance Dynasty. We must be cautious!" Zhongshan said.
"Yes!" Shui Wuren immediately responded.
As Zhongshan had said, when everyone was trapped in the thick fog, a very peculiar team appeared within this misty Feng Shui formation!
The vanguard of this team: moths!
Prince Han Jue stood atop a mountain peak, arms spread wide. With a slight tremble, a huge black moth shadow suddenly emerged from his body.
The shadow of the moth was the heart of the Ghostly Emei that Mud Bodhisattva had mentioned! It was also the result of Prince Han Jue's chance encounter with a dying Ghostly Emei, cutting its body and seizing its soul, then integrating it into his own soul according to secret methods.
Ordinary moths were not intelligent enough to discern Prince Han Jue's identity; they only responded to the aura of the Emei. In this way, he could summon an endless number of moths from all over the world.
Prince Han Jue waved his hand, and endless moths flew from all directions, covering the sky and earth. They circled around Prince Han Jue, rapidly swirling into various formations, presenting a magnificent sight.
"Where are the enemy troops?" Prince Han Jue asked.
The moths continued to hover in the sky, finally forming several small groups! They informed Prince Han Jue of the specific situation.
Behind Prince Han Jue, within the valley, stood a large number of soldiers from the Great Radiance Dynasty, awaiting the prince's orders. These troops had a distinct feature: a thousand long ropes that connected all three armies, and all troops marched on foot, holding onto these ropes together.
Prince Han Jue waved his hand again, and the vast number of moths dispersed, seemingly going to carry out the tasks arranged by Prince Han Jue. Only a small portion remained.
At this moment, Prince Han Jue flew down to the valley.
"Your Highness! Are we not at risk of getting lost?" a general furrowed his brow.
"This sky full of mist only disturbs sentient beings' sense of direction and intelligence. It has no effect on animals that rely on instinct and subconscious survival. Rest assured!" Prince Han Jue said confidently.
"Yes!" the concerned generals immediately responded.
"Didn't we already slaughter a group of troops from the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty earlier? Now is your chance to make merits. The Great Luo army is trapped in the fog and unable to advance. They are extremely scattered. After I finish off the scattered Great Luo soldiers, we will take back our cities!" Prince Han Jue said.
"Yes!" the army roared in response.
Three months later! Zhongshan's city.
Zhongshan had already ascended to the top of the southern city tower. He looked at the persistent fog, his brow furrowed slightly. Although Qianyou repeatedly emphasized that Old Heaven would come, what if even Old Heaven couldn't solve this?
Handing over one's own safety to others wasn't a feeling Zhongshan liked or identified with. He believed that one's safety should be firmly grasped in one's own hands.
"Enemy attack! ~~~"
"Dong~~~ Dong~~~ Dong~~~"
A warning came from the east. The sound of war drums!
As Zhongshan had expected, there was an enemy attack at the eastern gate!
Zhongshan remained calm because he had made preparations early. The battle began at the eastern city tower, while defense continued on the south side.
"Let's go, let's take a look!" Zhongshan said to Qianyou beside him.
"Yes!" Princess Qianyou nodded.
East of the city! Within the white fog.
"Your Highness, the city's defenses were well-prepared. According to reason, they shouldn't have been able to see us at all, only within a range of three hundred meters. When we reached the base of the city, they shouldn't have been able to see us. However, when our men flew up to the city tower and reached a height of five hundred meters from the tower, they fell into their ambush, as if they had long been prepared!" a general expressed his worries.
"Your Highness, this is our fourth city to capture. Previously, everything was fine, and we quickly reclaimed the cities. Why is it like this now? With such dense arrows, they must have been prepared long ago!" another general said.
"Your Highness, we don't have enough people with us. If this continues, our losses will be even greater. It's better to first take other cities, return with more men, and then wipe them out completely!" a strategist beside Prince Han Jue suggested.
"Sound the retreat!" Prince Han Jue took a deep breath.
"Yes!" the generals responded.
When Zhongshan arrived at the eastern city tower, the battle had already ended. Shui Wuren was busy tallying the casualties of the battle. On top of the city tower, several generals and a dozen soldiers were bound. Ada, A'er, and Zhihuo stood there with slight excitement.
"Sir, following your instructions, as soon as the battle began, the three of us specifically took charge of capturing the generals. Here are four generals for you to see. Is this enough?" Ada asked with a hint of excitement.
"Well done!" Zhongshan smiled.
Pleased with Zhongshan's approval, the three peak-level commanders smiled happily.
"Take them all to the Lord's Manor, I want to interrogate them!" Zhongshan said.
"Yes!" The guards immediately responded.
Lord's Manor! The generals gathered again.
"General, this battle, we suffered very few losses. Just as the enemy flew within a range of five hundred meters, our Pogang arrows gave them the fiercest arrow rain. In this battle, we lost three hundred soldiers, while the enemy suffered at least forty thousand casualties," Shui Wuren said excitedly.
"They were trying to ambush us, but we counter-ambushed them!" Zhongshan shook his head.
"The General has foresight, he anticipated it long ago!" Shui Wuren admired.
"But what about next time? Next time, Prince Hanjue will probably be prepared and will bring countless troops from Da Guang," Zhongshan asked.
"Um?" Shui Wuren frowned.
Yes, according to the captured enemy generals, Prince Hanjue is unscrupulous in the heavy fog.
"So what do we do?" Shui Wuren frowned and asked.
"This city cannot be kept. Count the number of people. We will leave the city immediately," Zhongshan said confidently.
"Leave the city? But General, the environment outside will interfere with our sense of direction!" Zhao Chuan said.
"Hahaha, we have to thank Prince Hanjue for this! Such confidential information, he actually told the generals," Zhongshan laughed.
"Huh?" Zhao Chuan was puzzled.
"Don't worry, if I say we can get out, we can get out! Shui Wuren, Zhao Chuan, Liu Wushuang, you go organize the army and prepare the ropes. Let the soldiers grab them and don't get lost! We will leave early tomorrow morning!" Zhongshan said.
"Yes!" Everyone immediately responded and quickly organized the army.
"General, can you summon moths too?" Zhi Huo looked at Zhongshan in confusion.
"It's not me, it's you!" Zhongshan looked at Zhi Huo and smiled.
"Me?" Zhi Huo was puzzled.
"Yes, as long as they are creatures without intelligence, we will go to the North Gate and summon packs of wolves. You will summon those wolves that have not yet become demon beasts, whose intelligence is not yet open, to guide us!" Zhongshan said confidently.
"Yes!" Zhi Huo was slightly stunned and immediately responded excitedly.
One month later, in the North of the Da Guang battlefield, inside the central army tent, stood four people.
Fan Yipin stood behind Da Xuan Wang, a very beautiful girl stood beside Da Xuan Wang. Directly opposite Da Xuan Wang was an old man with white hair, a very ugly face, some old age spots on his face, a hunchback, and a black wooden stick in his hand.
"Tian Lao, you finally came!" Da Xuan Wang took a deep breath and said respectfully.