Chapter 197: In This World, Living Is Not Just About Wanting to Live
Heavy rain in Chizhou.
The heavy rain had turned into a curtain, and the noise of it hitting the ground continuously passed through the window.
Li Yingling finished reading the tea brewing book and was now confidently brewing tea for her Master.
Brewing tea wasn't hard; it was only a dozen or so steps.
Li Yingling's movements were clean and fluid, completing the entire tea brewing process with great charm, then she pushed a cup of tea before Chu Xingchen with a dashing motion.
Having read the same book and compared it with Third Junior Sister's technique, Li Yingling believed she should be without error.
She said confidently: "Master, please."
Chu Xingchen reached out to take the teacup, first taking a small sip and gently savoring the aftertaste.
He felt that Li Yingling's tea brewing method was similar to Chen Baiqing's, but...
Why did it feel like there was still a bit of a gap compared to Chen Baiqing? It lacked that penetrating sense of clarity that reaches the heart.
The taste seemed about the same, but the feeling upon entering the mouth was different.
But never mind that, praise her first.
Chu Xingchen then drank the tea in one gulp and nodded in agreement: "Mm, good."
A slight smile appeared on the corner of Li Yingling's mouth, and then she poured a cup for Xie Lingyu as well.
Xie Lingyu reached out to take it, but before she could say the word "thanks," Qinghe's voice came from outside the door.
"The omnipotent Qinghe is back~"
The inn door was pushed open boldly, and Qinghe walked in with confident strides.
Li Xingtian followed Qinghe's steps into the room.
The "thank you" Xie Lingyu wanted to say was stuffed back by Qinghe's sentence.
Qinghe strode in boldly, looked around, walked to the table, and looked at Li Yingling:
"Qinghe is thirsty, pour a cup for Qinghe quickly too."
Li Yingling heard this and simply poured a cup for Qinghe as well.
Qinghe reached out to take it and drank it down in one go very simply.
Chu Xingchen looked at Li Xingtian: "How is it?"
"Everything went smoothly." Li Xingtian nodded lightly, "Qinghe revealed its Flood Dragon form in both Chizhou and Cangzhou, and with the cooperation of the Black Tortoise State, the news has already spread over there."
"Just now when Qinghe went to reveal its form in Chizhou, there were already people observing in hiding."
Qinghe put down the teacup upon hearing this and said with a face full of pride: "When Qinghe handles matters, it is naturally foolproof!"
Recently, Qinghe had been living quite happily; it had started working with Li Xingtian again.
Moreover, the usual work had become much lighter.
It only occasionally had to go to Cangzhou and Chizhou, transform into its true form to stroll around a couple of times to finish the job, and then it could ask this kid Li Xingtian to take it to eat good food.
In addition, every now and then, it could go to some Black Tortoise State camp to demand food and resources.
It had to be said, this kid Li Xingtian was quite sensible and knew to share the loot with Qinghe the Great.
After a few trips, Qinghe's small purse had also plumped up a bit.
Chu Xingchen looked out the window at the rain curtain: "Looking at this heavy rain, they must be anxious. They probably think the Black Tortoise State has already negotiated terms with a certain Flood Dragon."
"It won't be long before they make a move. I just don't know if Zhao Xuan is ready, and we still need to be careful of a dog jumping over a wall in desperation."
Li Xingtian responded: "They are anxious. When I went to the Black Tortoise Sect to ask for supplies recently, they gave them up much more readily, and they want me to start handling things soon."
Li Yingling's tone was somewhat puzzled: "But what kind of makeshift operation is this Black Tortoise Sect? After so long, they still haven't found out that Second Junior Brother isn't from the Evil Spirit Sect? Could there be a trap?"
"Qinghe knows about this!" Qinghe could not hide the smile on its face and said, "They seem to have actually contacted the Evil Spirit Sect."
"However, that group of Evil Spirit Sect people didn't seem to care that much; they seemed to have admitted it directly, and even asked the Black Tortoise Sect for supplies. Maybe thinking it's free so why not?"
"Those people were even complaining that the Evil Spirit Sect was too greedy for wanting so many resources."
Chu Xingchen was also somewhat speechless upon hearing this; he didn't expect such a wild turn of events.
Xie Lingyu looked at Qinghe upon hearing this, then glanced at Li Xingtian, who was somewhat puzzled.
The recent operations were carried out by this one person and one Flood Dragon tied together; clearly, Li Xingtian had not heard this news.
Xie Lingyu thought for a moment; based on Qinghe's nature, if it heard such news, it shouldn't have endured until now to say it.
It should have laughed out loud and made fun of it immediately when it knew the news.
Xie Lingyu reacted quickly, put down the teacup in her hand, narrowed her eyes slightly, and looked over:
"Qinghe, confess honestly. Did you sneak off to the Black Tortoise Sect alone and hear these things when you were asking them for Spirit Stones?"
Qinghe, who was just laughing heartily, seemed to be choked by the neck instantly.
Qinghe stopped its laughter, then immediately turned around and rushed towards the door without hesitation.
At the same time, it shouted as if making an explanation:
"Qinghe is hungry! Going to eat first! You guys continue chatting!"
Xie Lingyu watched Qinghe's figure fly away but did not chase after it, just sighing lightly.
"It doesn't really matter; for now, this counts as intelligence too." Chu Xingchen reached out and gently stroked the two water vein maps of Cangzhou and Chizhou on the table.
"The preparations that can be made have been made by everyone. Now it just depends on whose preparations were better."
Chu Xingchen looked at the heavy rain outside the window again. The other side seemed to have been forced into a corner; they didn't have time to continue preparing their actions.
Their hasty action versus our thorough preparation is a huge advantage.
This rain should stop too.
——————
Bingzhou.
Yu Zhu finished reading the letter with a grave expression. After a long time, he heavily exhaled a breath.
After reading the letter, he only felt his heart aching somewhat and his whole body going a bit numb.
Everything was indeed heading in the worst direction.
By now, everyone could see the fatigue of the Bingzhou army.
The situation in the Chizhou direction could also be described as a complete mess.
Not only did the plan fail, but also the thing the Benefactor had planned was targeted by a Flood Dragon.
Moreover, this Flood Dragon seemed to have negotiated directly with the Black Tortoise State. At least Zhao Xuan's attitude was very approving, and he did not obstruct the Flood Dragon's tour of the water veins in the slightest.
This also forced the plan to be moved ahead; otherwise, the final plan would very likely turn into nothingness, and someone else would take the lead.
Yu Zhu extended his trembling hand and threw the letter in his hand into the bonfire beside him.
He stared at the flickering bonfire.
After a long time, Yu Zhu gave a bitter smile and ordered the attendant beside him:
"Pass the order to General Wang... The Demon Character Battalion will launch a full-scale attack in two days... No restrictions whatsoever. Also, the entire army will attack."
Yu Zhu seemed not to hear the attendant's response beside him, just looking somewhat blankly as he walked out of the camp tent.
After a long time, Yu Zhu closed his eyes and reached out to touch his heart, which had been in pain.
Reading books can clarify principles, and these principles have been torturing him.
A person with conscience doing bad things suffers the most.
How many times in midnight dreams did he want to pull his sword and end it all, yet when he opened his eyes, he could not bear it.
The books were read in vain, and the person was made in vain.
At this moment, he somewhat regretted that at that time, his whole family might as well have died.
——————
Black Tortoise Sect, Li Zhong's outpost camp.
Li Zhong threw the secret order in his hand to the Old Fox beside him.
"The day after tomorrow, they require us to launch a full-scale attack, urging us to make the Evil Spirit Sect take action within today or tomorrow."
The Old Fox reached out to touch the secret order and scanned the content before him.
The Old Fox laughed heartily after finishing reading the content.
Li Zhong, who was sensing the crisis of this operation and was feeling depressed, couldn't help but feel a bit irritated seeing the Old Fox suddenly laughing out loud.
He raised his voice: "What are you laughing at?"
The Old Fox laughed until tears came out and, holding back his laughter, opened his mouth:
"That kid and that girl aren't from the Evil Spirit Sect at all."
Li Zhong was stunned upon hearing this: "What nonsense are you talking about?! Didn't the Evil Spirit Sect from the Central Plains confirm it? Could that Evil Cultivator Blood Qi be fake?"
"Confirm? Did they share an action plan with you? Did the Evil Spirit Sect from the Central Plains explain their identity to you?" The Old Fox narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Empty words, just asking for things. Clearly, they are treating you like suckers."
"As for the Blood Qi..." The Old Fox laughed lightly, "Who with a normal brain would believe that? Could it be that you believed it?"
Li Zhong recalled this quickly upon hearing it. After a long time, he also realized it, staring closely at the Old Fox:
"Then why didn't you say it if you knew?!"
"Say it?" The Old Fox smiled disdainfully, "That Demon Monarch didn't treat Tiger Seven as his own demon either. Tiger Seven's death—didn't that Demon Monarch have a part in it?"
"I want revenge on the human, and I also want revenge on that Demon Monarch!"
The Old Fox's voice became sharp: "The greatest hatred in the world is nothing more than something within easy reach that slips away! It won't die! I want to disgust it to death too!"
Li Zhong looked at the Old Fox with a face full of shock, only to see the Old Fox looking at him with fearless eyes, clouded and muddy.
He did not care that Li Zhong could lift a knife and kill him right now.
Li Zhong suddenly reached out and grabbed the Old Fox's fur, shouting angrily:
"I don't care if you want to die, but I want to live!"
"Want to live?" The Old Fox narrowed his eyes, "In this world, living is not just about wanting to live."
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