Chapter 157 - 156 Bribery

At this moment,

the morale of the entire Great Xia army camp had plummeted to freezing point.

"Who was that person?" Hongtu looked at Ghost Crane.

At the time, he was the closest to Gu Xiu; the three of them were all too far away.

"I don’t know!"

Ghost Crane shook his head. At that moment, he was stunned by the scene and was still immersed in the sky full of red lightning when suddenly a man appeared, grabbed a bottle, and then a fight broke out.

The whole process only lasted a few breaths.

"Right, that book was ’Luo He’!" Ghost Crane suddenly remembered, and at that moment, Gu Xiu’s face changed.

"Luo He?!"

Jiang Ke exclaimed, his tone full of doubt.

"It shouldn’t be possible, right?" Ou Yezi also looked incredulous.

This ’Luo He’ is something ancient, and it was shattered.

"I don’t know, but anyway, that’s what Lord Gu Xiu said at the time!" Ghost Crane shrugged; that’s all he knew.

"Alright, stop talking, this time the effort has come to nothing, and as for Lord Gu Xiu...."

Hongtu paused as he spoke, "Let’s wait for now!"

He originally thought the Nine Dust Blood Refining Array was a more powerful attack formation, but he didn’t expect it to not just be that; it could also refine living people. Those blood pearls were the essence refined from living beings.

It seems Gu Xiu intended this from the beginning.

Now not only did they fail to capture Celestial Water Commandery, but Gu Xiu also didn’t get the blood pearls.

Whoosh—

’The storm is coming!’

Hongtu grew worried internally.

....

In the command tent, only Gu Xiu was sitting above.

His head was lowered, his expression terrifyingly grim.

He hadn’t anticipated that even though he demolished Celestial Water Commandery to ruins, those blood pearls were almost in his grasp.

At the last moment, someone dared to snatch food from the tiger’s mouth, and there was ’Luo He’.

"Damn it!"

He cursed fiercely.

If it weren’t for those blood pearls, he wouldn’t have agreed to Xia Yi’s actions at all.

But now—

The effort has come to nothing.

As for whether Celestial Water Commandery was captured and whether the court would blame him, he didn’t care; he was anguished over those blood pearls.

"Is it fate?"

Gu Xiu leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the top of the tent, his expression somewhat desolate.

Missing this opportunity would make it difficult.

Killing people is easy, exterminating a city isn’t hard either, the difficulty lies in the materials needed for the Nine Dust Blood Refining Array.

Even Great Xia would need to spend a month to gather them, and he could do nothing more.

But—

Something is wrong!

Calming down, he felt something amiss.

Was that person’s timing too coincidental? Moreover, it seemed he acted only once the blood pearls were collected.

But no one knew about this.

He hadn’t told anyone, not even when he initially had Chen Xuan put the porcelain bottle in Celestial Water Commandery; he wanted to ask but was interrupted.

Everything was normal after his return.

Which link went wrong?

No matter who it is, once he finds out who was scheming against him, he will definitely personally slaughter them.

Gu Xiu has never suffered such a loss in his life.

...

Today, Chen Xuan did not return to Youlan Mansion, though he was worried about Primordial Thunder’s situation, but it was better to keep a low profile now.

After all, Gu Xiu suffered a huge loss this time and stayed in the command tent upon his return, seeing no one. If he were to summon them and Chen Xuan wasn’t there, it would be troublesome.

Even Ji Keren stayed in Ye Jincen’s tent.

For three consecutive days, Gu Xiu remained in the command tent and showed no sign of summoning them.

At this moment, Chen Xuan couldn’t sit still and said, "I’ll return to Youlan Mansion for a bit and be back soon."

"Hmm! Hurry back!"

Ye Jincen replied.

"No need!"

Xuan Er’s figure suddenly appeared out of thin air in the tent.

"Uncle Xuan!"

Ye Jincen immediately stood up, smiling as he walked over.

"Greetings, Master! What brings you here suddenly?" Chen Xuan called respectfully, and Ji Keren by his side also stood and saluted immediately.

"That person is fine! He’s under protection, so I didn’t bring him out."

"Thank you, Master!"

Since there’s no issue, it’s okay not bringing him out, and Chen Xuan also felt relieved.

"Alright, seeing that you haven’t returned for several days, I worried you might be concerned, so I came to check!"

One must say, Xuan Er really treats him well.

Thinking of everything.

Chen Xuan was deeply moved after hearing this.

Recalling how he came to this world, first encountering Old Liu, and then Xuan Er afterwards.

He was protected by them all the way.

"Right, there’s another matter, it’s not just your defeat; the situation in the other three provinces isn’t good either."

Xuan Er’s message suddenly shocked everyone in the tent.

The wars in the other three provinces aren’t going well either!

This....

Is too abnormal.

Xuan Er didn’t stay long before leaving.

Chen Xuan just sat there, not cultivating.

It was like this last time, and it’s the same this time!

Isn’t this too much of a coincidence?

...

Ten days have passed in a flash.

During this time, Gu Xiu only met with the Commanders-in-Chief of the four commanderies, instructing them to appease all the soldiers, but said nothing else.

At this moment,

Chen Xuan was embracing Ji Keren, enjoying the tender and fragrant warmth.

Just then, Feng Zheng’s voice suddenly came from outside.

"Chen Xuan, Lord Gu wants all Third Grade to go to the command tent!"

"Got it!"

Hearing that Gu Xiu wanted to meet them, he instantly sobered up, and even Ji Keren, who had been exhausted all night, got up immediately.

In her haste, she didn’t even notice her upper garment slipping off.

Not until Chen Xuan pointed it out to her did she realize, her face instantly turning red with embarrassment.

Although they were long familiar with each other, it was still broad daylight, and she couldn’t accept it. Even at night, she insisted on having the lights out.

...

Inside the command tent.

Everyone stood there quietly, not daring to speak.

"All four provinces suffered heavy defeats!"

Gu Xiu’s opening words stunned everyone present.

Except for Chen Xuan and a few others, since Xuan Er had already informed them beforehand.

"Compared to the other three provinces, Yu Province fared slightly better, with fewer casualties, but the other three provinces suffered over half casualties."

"Thus, early today, the court issued an order to retreat!"

Retreat!

The whole tent was in an uproar.

They thought the court would send reinforcements, or at the very least maintain their presence here as a deterrent to the rebels.

But they never expected a retreat.

"Enough!"

Gu Xiu raised his hand, and instantly everyone in the tent fell silent.

"You four, prepare to retreat. Bai Ze, you stay!"

"That’s all! Everyone out!"

"Yes!" everyone responded respectfully.

After everyone left, Gu Xiu’s face turned grim, feeling that Xia Yi might have played him this time.

The news from the court today had shocked him immensely.

The commanders of the other three provinces were all old acquaintances of his, none much weaker than him.

He lost, not to the rebels, but to "Luo He"!

With this book in hand, he had no means against Celestial Water Commandery, even the Nine Dust Blood Refining Array was broken in an instant. What could he do?

But he didn’t believe the rebels had more of such ancient spiritual treasures.

This left him puzzled; without such high-grade spiritual treasures, how did the other three provinces lose, and with over half casualties?

Others might, but given the strength of those few people, it was absolutely impossible!

"Xia Yi, was all this your doing?"

Gu Xiu lowered his head, chilling light flickering in his eyes. Even if he was the Emperor of Great Xia, should this be true, he wouldn’t blame himself for being disloyal.

....

Time flew by, and half a month had passed since the retreat.

The news of Great Xia’s failed siege of the rebels’ four provinces quickly spread across the Nine Provinces.

For a time, the morale of the rebels soared to its peak, of course, this was also fueled by the rebels behind the scenes.

Not only that,

The rebels openly announced that people from any province could travel unimpeded in the four provinces controlled by the rebels.

As long as the rebel laws were observed, there was nothing to worry about.

At the same time, news broke that Great Xia’s attack on Celestial Water Commandery resulted in the massacre of ordinary people throughout the commandery, causing a huge uproar across the Nine Provinces.

Even the five provinces controlled by Great Xia erupted into turmoil.

This dual approach led many people to consider migrating to the rebels’ four provinces.

Finally, Great Xia declared that the Jingzhou commander would be severely punished, which barely quelled the storm.

...

At this moment,

Chen Xuan appeared at the entrance of the Divine Capture Bureau’s East District.

This was his first time returning here in so many days.

"Finally back!"

He couldn’t help but feel nostalgic, looking at the sign with the words "Divine Capture Bureau," feeling as if a lifetime had passed.

"Chief! You’re finally here!"

A familiar voice, Qin Gang still wore his signature smile.

"You’re back, glad you’re okay."

Back in the camp, he specifically looked for him and Liu He but never found them.

"Hehe... Old Liu is fine too!"

"That’s good! Tomorrow, invite Old Liu to Ink Lotus Pavilion, I’ll treat you both to a meal to celebrate."

It was rare that both were fine.

Chen Xuan was delighted.

"Alright, Chief! I’ll notify Old Liu soon!" Qin Gang was also happy. The few of them joined the East District Divine Capture Bureau together, and although Chen Xuan was always the chief, he had always treated the two of them well.

"By the way, weren’t you supposed to be at the frontline camp?"

After sitting down, Chen Xuan asked.

"Hahaha... I knew the Chief would look for me, but couldn’t find me!" Qin Gang felt both touched and smug.

But when he saw Chen Xuan reaching out his hand, he immediately became obedient, "Chief, why are you still like this, always ready to throw hands!"

Qin Gang was at a loss for words; the Chief was still the Chief!

"Spill it!"

Chen Xuan glared, causing Qin Gang to shrink his neck and quickly explain, "Old Liu and I were reassigned to logistics in the rear, so the Chief couldn’t find us."

Logistics?

No wonder!

"You two are really lucky!"

"Not really, we paid quite a bit to bribe someone! Old Liu even borrowed a lot from me for that, and now I’m his debtor!" Thinking of it brought him immense satisfaction.

"What? Bribed!"

Chen Xuan was stunned, realizing that regardless of place or matter, money truly makes things happen!