From eunuch to emperor

"Today is not a literary meeting, so naturally it is not a time for seeking ways to recite poems and compose poems."

Yu Shinan took out a letter from his arms and said, "I received a letter from King Wu. I am really at a loss and came here to ask the Taoist Master for help."

Xuanzhen and Mojie were both curious about the letter Long Chen sent to Yu Shinan. Why did he ask Xuanzhen for help?

"Master, please take a look."

Taoist Priest Xuanzhen received the letter and looked at it carefully with a look of embarrassment on his face.

"This matter... there is nothing I can do about it."

Taoist Priest Xuanzhen said in a very embarrassed tone.

Mojie asked curiously: "What's the matter?"

Taoist Master Xuanzhen looked at Yu Shinan, who said: "Master Mojie is a close friend of King Wu, and Buddhism also has the intention of saving all sentient beings."

Xuanzhen then handed the letter to Mojie.

After reading the letter, Mojie nodded slightly and said: "Yes, how to arrange the nearly [-] soldiers after the war, if we don't find a way to recover, I'm afraid... it's unimaginable."

The letter in Yu Shinan's hand was sent back by Long Chen, asking Yu Shinan to find a way to turn the half-ghost soldiers back into normal people.

Yu Shinan hid in the scroll and searched for it for a long time, but there was nothing he could do.

Hearing that Taoist Master Xuanzhen came from Liehuo Temple and gave Long Chen and the Empress advice on how to deal with the ghost tribe, Yu Shinan went to Quanhu to look for Xuanzhen.

"I searched for a long time and read through books, but couldn't find a cure."

Yu Shinan was very discouraged, shook his head and said, "I thought Taoist Priest could do anything, but I didn't expect Taoist Priest Xuanzhen to be able to do anything. What should I do?"

Mojie put down the letter and said: "King Wu and his warriors risked their lives in the north. We cannot go to the battlefield, so we should contribute to the common people of the world."

"The ghost clan's disaster started 400 years ago, and the cure must be in the ancient books. Let's look for more."

"Master Yu is the leader of scribes. He can summon literati from all over the world and collect them from the collection of books."

"The poor monk and the Taoist priest may be able to find a solution by searching through Buddhist and Taoist scriptures."

Yu Shinan nodded slightly and said, "Okay, I'm just a weak scholar, and that's all I can do."

"I'll take my leave first and gather the literati from the capital together."

Mojie said: "The poor monk also went back to look for him."

Taoist Master Xuanzhen said: "I am looking for you in the Taoist temple in the capital."

The interest in visiting the lake was gone, the boat docked, and the three of them looked for a way.

...

Ice field, mountain pass camp.

Meng Yidao and Chen Weizhi were at the front, leading [-] demon-slaying troops as the vanguard, with the Long family army on the left, Beidaying on the right, Nanliang soldiers in the middle, Leihuoying in the middle, and the barbarians at the end.

There were hundreds of people from all walks of life following, with scholars Li, Hong Xiao, and Jing Yan leading the way.

Many people in the world froze to death while climbing over the mountains, some were buried by avalanches, many cowered and retreated, and in the end there were only so many left.

Fifty wooden boats were pulled by soldiers and slowly headed north.

Long Chen and the Empress were holding the line in the middle of the army. Hu Feiyang and Qiu Kuohai looked at the two of them, feeling very happy in their hearts.

It is trust that they can make their Nanliang troops become soldiers.

"Should some people be left to defend the camp?"

The empress looked back and Long Chen said, "I don't think it's necessary. Li Chengdao wants to fight decisively in Yuecheng and doesn't have any extra troops for a sneak attack."

The empress thought about it and stopped thinking about it.

...

West of the ice sheet.

Two spies from the West Factory hid behind the iceberg, staring northwest.

"King Wu has already set off, let's go."

One of the spies was impatient and didn't want to keep staring.

A few days ago, some ghost soldiers appeared here, and then disappeared.

The spies thought this was a stray ghost soldier and there was nothing interesting to see.

Another spy felt that this was a scout from the ghost tribe, and that the ghost tribe might make a sneak attack.

"Wait a minute, we are responsible for the investigation in the west, we can't be perfunctory."

The spy was very unhappy: "You said I was perfunctory? King Wu has already set off to the north. We are wasting time here. We should go north with the army."

Suddenly, dozens of ghost soldiers appeared in front of them, and there were dark shadows in the northwest.

"Look!"

The spy took out his telescope and looked into the distance.

"This team has at least ten thousand people!"

The spy crouched down in shock.

"I guessed it right, those are not skirmishers, they are scouts. The ghost tribe has been keeping an eye on King Wu. Once the army sets off, they will come over."

"I will continue to keep an eye on you here. Go and report to King Wu!"

The spy left quietly, unfurled the sail on his back, and headed east quickly.

The ice blade under his feet cut across the ice. Taking advantage of the speed of the wind, the scout quickly slid out for more than ten miles, then furled the sail and quickly chased the army northward.

Once on the ice sheet, the letter eagle lost its function and it became very troublesome to deliver the message.

The sky was dark, except for the occasional moonfish underfoot, which illuminated the thick ice. The spy didn't know how long he had been chasing until he finally saw the wooden boat.

The spy suddenly exerted his strength, caught up with a wooden boat, and grabbed a soldier: "Report, there are ghost soldiers detouring from the west, report quickly!"

After saying this, the spy fell to the ground. He was too tired.

"Brother, brother..."

"Carry him into the canoe and give him some ghost blood to drink."

"Send the news to the front quickly."

The spies were placed on the wooden boat, pried open the mouth, and drank some ghost blood. Others immediately rushed forward to deliver the news.

Long Chen walked in the middle, the Empress beside him, Ziyun and Miaoyin followed, and the other generals led their own troops.

"Report!"

The soldier shouted and Long Chen stopped. The empress turned around and saw a soldier running over.

"Your Majesty, King Wu, spies from the West Factory are here to report that there are ghost soldiers in the west!"

Long Chen frowned and asked, "How many are there?"

The soldier shook his head and said, "I don't know, that brother is tired and fainted."

Long Chen said: "The army continues to move forward, I will go take a look."

The empress led the troops and continued to move forward, while Long Chen walked back.

As the army moves forward, it cannot be changed casually, as it can easily disturb the morale of the army.

Walking to the wooden boat at the back, the spies were hanging on by ghost blood.

"King Wu..."

"Lie down and talk."

When Long Chen saw that the spy was almost on the verge of running out of oil, he immediately calmed down.

There is no difference between day and night in the ice field, and you don’t even know when you are too tired.

This is why Long Chen asked someone to guard the hourglass and calculate the time.

"On the west side, about ten thousand, they...were waiting there a few days ago."

The spy reported the matter.

"Who is the ghost general leading the army?"

The spy shook his head: "I don't dare to move forward if I don't see clearly."

Their cultivation level is not high. If they get too close, they are likely to be discovered, and they will be the ones who die.

"Get some rest, you did a great job!"

Long Chen patted the spy and told him to take good care of him.

Returning to the central army, the empress asked: "What's going on?"

Long Chen said: "Ten thousand ghost soldiers are surrounding us in the west. We have already made arrangements. The ghost soldiers are unknown."

The empress immediately said: "They want to attack the camp behind us and cut off our army's return route."

If it was for a flanking attack, it shouldn't have appeared so early.

The only explanation is to attack the logistics behind and block the Zhou army in the ice field.

"But it's strange. Isn't Li Chengdao short of troops? Why can he divide his troops and go around the rear?"

The empress was a little surprised. Li Chengdao only had so few troops left, and the number of ghosts was not many. It was incomprehensible that he could still get around even with insufficient troops.

"I guess Li Chengdao is not in Yuecheng at all, and he will not fight us in Yuecheng."

Long Chen had already guessed: "His purpose is to attract us to the north, and then send troops to block the ice field so that we can't get out. He will trap us here due to lack of luggage."

The empress frowned and said: "I also have such worries, what should I do now? Turn around and kill the ghost soldiers who are coming around first?"