novelThe City Underground
| ← Ch.118 | Ch.120 → |
"Young Master, you're really a friend." Wuyou could feel there was a change in the back figure's voice—a trace of happiness in his cracked voice. Yan looked at the young master. A man whom they had never met before could give such an important thing to the leader. Why? And the back figure in the corner was prostrated with fear at looking at the layout map. The map was drawn in such details that all the forts were pinpointed with the overall distribution. As a person of the Teal Hill, he could not help but have a high opinion of the Baize's effort that they could spot the forts easily. It turned out that Baize had already had the ambition to swallow the Teal Hill up.
"Your Excellency, what plan do you have?" Xu Linghe went straight to the topic because he came to the Teal Hill in order to know the opponent's military force and then find out the coping approach. At present, he still lacked one thing. First, he wanted to gather those scattered remnants to form an army in accordance with Kunlun against Chidi. Nowadays, the Devil Realm, the Heaven Realm and the Immense Sea had made alliances. To curb the siege, Kunlun should set up its own influence domain.
"Let the Young Master have a look at our defence system." The man who only revealed his back said as he folded the ditribution map well and sealed up with wax paper. Then, he hid the map in his void space. Wuyou was eager to see the true face of the man, however, he just stood back to her. Judging from his voice, he should be an old man.
"It's improper!" Yan was a bit surprised. How could the leader trust a stranger and tell such important things to the stranger? Wasn't the leader afraid that the stranger had any evil intent? Xu Linghe was not anxious because he fully knew that it could not be forced to achieve the purpose. After all, it took time to test trust. It was useless to say more but needed to take time.
"Want to disobey my order?"
His voice was cracked but authoritative. Wuyou felt a chill on the back spine while Yan was frightened. Seeing the leader was so affirmative, Yan did not say anything more but just led Xu Linghe out of the darkroom door. Wuyou walked rather slowly because she did want to see the true face of the back figure. However, the back figure did not want to reveal his real look at all, sitting in the dark covered with a bamboo hat. Till the darkroom door was closed tightly, he turned around. His eyebrows were the only complete parts while the rest was covered with scars, even the scar on the nose extended to the cheek. His five facial features were ragged and deformed with a fire burn on the neck. It seemed that his cracked voice was acquired. However, there was no emotion in the man's eyes. And he did not care about his scars. His little finger flipped, and an icy soul crawled up. The man put in into the mouth and chewed. It looked rather frightening but it was the man's antidote.
Xu Linghe held the little hand tightly, which made Yan's scalp numb. And Yan came to the conclusion that such a glamorous man was gay.
The moon was clear with sparse stars in the Teal Hill's night. Slight coldness mixed with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms permeated through the skin. It was the most attractive season in Teal Hill. Mountains were covered with golden color spotted with emerald green. Flowers scented the rain and fog. The autumn gifts fell on the hair. The scenes appeared in the dreams again and again. Wuyou did not know when they could be turned into reality.
Yan stopped finally. Wuyou was out of breath with tiredness. No one could know that the forty-meter-wide tunnel was dug at the end of the mountain. Yan said the hidden passage led to Baize. Who thought about the idea? Baize could never expect that the dark force was entrenched in Baize. Even if they dug deep in Teal Hill, it was rather difficult for them to find the dark force.
When Xu Linghe arrived the tunnel, Yan let them back off ten more meters. There was a mechanism set at the entrance of the tunnel. Yan condensed spirit power and opened the door. After entering the tunnel, Wuyou found it looked like an underground city. No one could expect that Teal Hill's remnants would live there. Xu Linghe followed his little woman closely. When they walked through the streets, flocks of little foxes brushed against them. If there had not been rock walls on the tunnel, Wuyou would have believed that it was the real Teal Hill. Although the passing foxes did not take forms of human, they looked more sincere to Wuyou. Perhaps among them, there were Wuyou's past playmates. Wuyou was amazed at what had changed all the way. Foxes became more lenient after surviving the disaster. No selfishness. No evil practice. The streets were clean and tidy, and the stores were full of vigor. Little foxes stood on the sides of the streets to attract attention. All the stores were arranged in order. No one could foresee that the foxed who should drag out an ignoble existence lived such a comfortable life now! The surprised looks on Xu Linghe and Wuyou made Yan go with head high and chest out more. Wuyou did not dare to imagine what the foxed would be if those living underground abandoned the hope. Only by cherishing hopes could they not be defeated by fate. Chidi could never predict that the foxes who had once been destroyed would become so powerful to overcome everything. And their way to survival was the desire of life and the hope of the future.
"Uncle, your business is really good."
Yan stopped in front of a shop. The owner was an old man with a benevolent and kind countenance. Wuyou stared at him. Even if she closed her eyes, she could also know him. He was nobody but one of the elders of the Teal Hill's think bank who always supported her. All the people were still alive. Xu Linghe could feel his little woman's change.
"Commander Yan! Come to see today's new things!"
The old man took it off the shelf happily. Yan held it in the hands and looked at it over and over again.
"This is Hongjun Crossbow. Right?"
Yan was knowledgable and was able to recognize it at a glance. Hongjun Crossbow was an ancient weapon used to defend. It looked delicate but its power could not be underestimated. Wuyou had seen it before and once fought against it in the stone forest.
"Commander has a good eye. But its power is small."
"Uncle, you're extraordinarily intelligent and able to develop the divine weapon that can shake the three realms."
"You're flattering me! I just learn from the ancient manuscripts."
The old man answered modestly. Wuyou did not expect that the old man had such ability, after all, he just used to be a person of the think bank with little achievement. It turned out that the back figure was a good leader who could let all the people exert their own potential and do the things they liked. For this, the back figure did better than Wuyou, she thought. Giving full scope to the talents could promote the prosperity of the Teal Hill.
"Has the leader forgotten me, the old thing?" The old man looked a bit disappointed.
"No, the leader does not forget you, but Chidi and Baize will have great action. The leader is too busy to get away." Yan explained.
"Is your leader the man in the darkroom?"
Wuyou could not help but ask, because she was more curious about the true face of the back figure in the dark room. Yan threw a contemptuous look, unwilling to answer the question, as if it was a great offense not to know the leader. Xu Linghe could not stop his curiosity as well. The person was so great that he could build an underground tunnel into a city, where streets were bright and tidy with well-ventilated system. There was no moldy smell at all. In order to make the streets cleaner, sewage disposal was extremely remarkable. The food for foxes was fostered by taking advantage of the constant temperature in the tunnel. The imperishable Flame Spirit was lit on the wall. The Flame Spirit reminded Wuyou of her Little Flame Spirit. Since she had been poisoned by naga toxin, she never saw her grandfather and wondered whether the Ancient Spirit woke up. Wuyou was rather sad that she could not feel the Ancient Spirit's power ever since.
"Linghe, I miss Ancient Spirit." Xu Linghe knew his little woman was missing her grandfather.
"You will see it one day."
The two followed Yan closely. It was the first time to let strangers visit the underground city. Before leaving, the leader had asked Yan to let them see the Teal Hill's military power. It was classified information in Teal Hill. Yan was reluctant to do so, but unable to disobey the order. So he had to take the order and led them to pass through the tunnel to the Dragon Cliff, which was located on the north of the Teal Hill. It was plain in the middle and surrounded by high mountains. Wuyou was rather strange about the Dragon Cliff and had never heard it before, even it had not been recorded in the Teal Hill's history. The dense forest was a natural barrier. And the best of it was that the Teal Hill's underground army regiment camped in the middle. The three entered the military camp. A well-trained soldier ran to them and looked at Yan with admiration. All the soldiers in the training ground were not indolent in their training because of the chief's arrival.
Yan entered the barrack, followed by Xu Linghe. Wuyou was slow to come into the barrack. Those soldiers were most disciplined. Wuyou had seen the troops of the Fairy kingdom and of the Fire tribe. And what made Wuyou most admirable was the underground army of the Teal Hill. Those soldiers, ranging from children of eight or nine years old to middle-aged man of four or five thousand years old, were trained by a little young officer. The young were hard-working while the adult was obedient to the rules. They did not slight the train because of age differences. Who could destroy the strict army discipline? The deafening military song boosted the morale. Children rolled in the dust, and only their eyes could be seen. With the officer's order, children flung themselves down again. The falling sounds revealed that the children's physical quality was very good. On the other side, the adult climbed up and aimed the newly-developed crossbow at the targets. With the officer's order, all the bows were shot out. The small bullseye was crammed with bows. The troops grew strong underground. Many years later, Wuyou still remembered the scene. Those soldiers would meet the enemy on the battlefield. Even the youngest child would have a sense of honor as a soldier. Everything was so exciting that Wuyou was obsessed with it.
In the barrack, Yan and Xu Linghe were discussing the military force. They felt like old friends at the first meeting. At last, Yan was the most talkative, even told Xu Linghe the weakest point of the Teal Hill's army. Although Xu Linghe had never led the troops to the war, he had been perusing arts of war since childhood. So he helped Yan analyze the weakest point and change the unfavorable condition into a favorable one. Yan listened to most devoutly and respectfully and became a modest student. Who could think that a haughty person was convinced by Xu Linghe's military talents. When Wuyou entered the barrack, she saw them discussing with great interest. And she found it harder to calm herself down when seeing the underground army. Here was full of hope. Although the Teal Hill was extinguished, the dauntless spirit was imperishable. It would not take long before the Teal Hill became powerful. All the Teal Hill's people were striving. As the Spiritual Master, Wuyou was proud of them.
In the Baize's barrack in Teal Hill was crammed with depression. Mr. Xiao disappeared! They had been guarding Mr. Xiao for a whole night, but he just disappeared. Baize's officers rummaged the Commander-in-chief's camp, but was still unable to find his trace. Baize's officer was like ants on a hot pan with great anxiety. If he could not find Xiao Qi, Baize's Goddess would certainly blame the officer. All the people were worried when Xiao Qi entered the camp. Baize's officer came up to greet him immediately. Last night, Xiao Qi was busy rectifying military affairs, and now Xiao Qi came to the camp so early. Xiao Qi wanted to see the military distribution camp. Baize's officer was very surprised, wondering whether there was anything needed to be changed since Xiao Qi had seen it before. But what the officer did not know was that the Xiao Qi last night was disguised by Xu Linghe. The Baize's officer's spirit power was not high enough to distinguish the true from the false. The map was drawn in details. Xiao Qi looked carefully and marked all the forts with black lines, ranging from devil troops distribution to Baize's camping places. He chose the wide places so that it would be more beneficial to him when the army confronted with the dark force one day. The devil army and Baize's troops were dominant in military force while the dark force mainly activated in the narrow mountainous areas. It was rather hard for the devil army to wipe the dark force out with easy. Xiao Qi hoped he was able to take the Teal Hill before the 6th day. It was Xiaoyao's homeland, so Xiao Qi thought he should guard it for her. Baize's officer accompanied him and reported the thing that the dark force attacked the devil army to Xiao Qi. Xiao Qi was pondering how to drive the dark force from the mountain forest? When the devil army hurried there, he could conduct a pincer attack with Baize against the dark force. At that moment, the dark force was unable to escape.
| ← Ch. 118 | Ch. 120 → |