[After 3 months]

After completing the task of annihilating the Zhang family, the Black Feather Army did not return to the royal city, but stationed in Panyang City, and at the same time, the Huche Battalion, the Jiaolong Battalion, the Shenxing Army, the Yongwu Army and other large and small armies of good and bad also quickly marched towards Panyang City. General Nie's master, the Northern Empire's "Generalissimo of Thousands of Miles of Soldiers and Horses" (the position is equivalent to the commander-in-chief of the army), Harlan Xuanming, rode a not luxurious carriage and prepared a coffin for himself to Panyang City, and rudely drove away the city lord who only knew how to eat, drink, prostitute and gamble, and occupied the entire city.

Emperor Beiwu, a young and well-versed emperor, had made a vow as early as his time as crown prince to annex the Southern Empire, which was said to be a "thousand-year-old enemy", and to complete the great cause of unification that perhaps surpassed that of his ancestors. After being dragged back to the throne by several sons and a bunch of courtiers, he reluctantly dismissed the idea of a personal expedition. Finally, when he was twenty-seven years old, he and a group of capable men and wise men made a very careful plan, dispatched troops, gathered nearly half of the country's army, and prepared for the southern expedition.

It's a pity that the twenty-seven-year-old boy who was respected as "benevolent, filial piety, compassion, heroic talent, brave and righteous Emperor Taizu Wu" in later generations made a plan that was so huge that he challenged the limits of his nerves. He actually planned to train troops while mobilizing troops, ignoring the fact that the long-term dispatch of troops would make the spies in the south notice, so he made preparations, and insisted on delaying the army that could be mobilized in half a year for two years, so that every army could be fully trained, so that the blacksmiths had a lot of time to build a large number of sophisticated equipment, so that the people could slowly adapt to the life of "a little war", so as to minimize the burden of the army on the production of the empire. With an army of 1.1 million, he plans to train while conscripting, raise while training, and adjust the entire empire while raising, so that the entire country can finally reach an ideal state where it can easily afford an army of one million.

This is why there is the practice of transferring troops in autumn and winter. In fact, the emperor did not want to fight in winter.

In the north of September, winter has already appeared, and when I wake up in the morning, there is a thin layer of frost on the ground.

"Master Xuanzhi, the abbot of Fahua Temple, was originally the abbot of the 'Hanshan Temple' of the Southern Empire, and his cultivation of the "Vajra Demon Heart Sutra" was unfathomable...... General Nie, is this news accurate?" In the City Lord's Mansion, Harlan Xuanming held a copy of the information provided by the "Guard" in his hand, sat on the Taishi's chair, raised his eyes and asked General Nie Wanliu, who had been standing in front of him.

"Exactly, my subordinates have seen that master's skills with their own eyes, and they really know it. General Nie replied unequivocally.

"Do you know what he did when he infiltrated the Empire?"

"I know, it's just that it's difficult for my subordinates to distinguish between true and false, so ...... There was no formal escalation. General Nie said with a slight chest, he wouldn't really tell Marshal Harlan that he actually wanted to hide the identity of the master a little.

"What's the matter then?" Harlan leaned back in his chair and said with a slightly unhappy expression, not for anything else, just because there were not a few masters of the same level as Xuanzhi under him, the marshal, which had already made the 34-year-old marshal feel angry.

Marshal Harlan didn't want to think about it, the enemy he was going to face, the Southern Empire, with ten sects like the "Hanshan Temple", and how many masters like Xuanzhi there were in God!

"My lord, it is said that it is to hunt down and kill the Elder of the Demon Pavilion, Hai Qianqiu. It took more than ten years to chase and kill, and as for whether the news is done really, this ......"

"It's okay, this matter has made the royal city all in an uproar, and it is estimated that ** will not be far away...... You go down first, and do a good job of rectifying the Huche Battalion, just like the whole training of the Black Feather Army! This officer does not want to hear the three words 'nonsense camp' popping out of the mouths of the people with contempt! Military sticks, leather whips, beheadings, whatever you want, this officer only needs the result! It is impossible for a Black Feather Army to deal with a huge south! Okay, go down, rectify well, and you will have the credit for this battle before it is fought!"

"The last general obeys!" General Nie replied in a sonorous voice, and his steps when he turned around and went out were also sonorous.

At the same time, in the delicate and dusty courtyard of Fahua Temple in the south of the city, Yinchen slowly closed his work and opened his eyes.

The holy white light and the solemn and quiet darkness have disappeared, and the illusions of heaven and hell have also dissipated in the realm of returning to tranquility. Silver Dust's mana, after that night's thrilling battle and three months of recuperation, actually rose to a new level, reaching the level equivalent to the second-level cultivator of the body realm, that is, the level of the second-level mage. This kind of progress can be described as miserable for Silver Dust, because three months have passed, and the sadness of that night's farewell has not been forgotten by him, but has precipitated into a terrible nightmare that can never be shaken off.

In the cemetery on the south hill outside the city, there is a small tomb. The string of blood-red characters "The Tomb of Artregayam Chang Yating, Brother Silver Dust Weeps" has become a nightmare that scares Silver Dust every night together with the figure of the little girl lying in the rainstorm with her back to the sky, and even the figure that rushed to the sword rain after throwing out the meat sandwich bun. The black nightmare has become a shackle like original sin that the silver-haired boy cannot get rid of in his life, holding him hostage and spurring him to move forward.

For three months, he rarely spoke, almost survived every day in a muddle, eating, cultivating, and sleeping became the whole of his life. He was dazed, terrified, remembered, cursed, almost self-harming as if he were reminiscing about that dark night. He didn't want to forget, he didn't want to order the brain to seal that memory like a fool of himself, and to escape everything with ridiculous amnesia, he just wanted to remember that night, and remember the little girl's dying words in the dark night in the rainstorm:

"Take my share together, live well, don't be like me, it looks glamorous, but in fact, you can't even hold your own life. ”

"Yating, watch from the sky, watch what a wonderful life my brother will give you!" said Yinchen to the air, his eyes that had been scattered for three months condensed again. The depths of the pupils, which had been as dull as dirty glass balls for three months, surged again with an endless storm.

Silver Dust stood up, his movements unprecedentedly sharp in three months. He strode forward, pushed open the small wooden door of the house, and stepped into the bright autumn sun.

The sound of the wooden fish, the sound of the scriptures, never stopped after the sun rose. The voice was monotonous and rigid, but in the endless repetition, a warmth was projected, a warmth that made the whole body relax and let go of all guards. Yinchen knew that it was this subtle warmth like a background sound that allowed Yinchen to survive countless spiritual difficulties in the dark three months, and prevented him from thinking of suicide again and again.

So he stopped abruptly, and bowed to the almost never-ending chanting, a ritual imbued with the piety, perseverance, and courage of a mage that only Gabroyle's mages would understand. Silver Dust doesn't worry about no one seeing it, because as long as the heavens can see it, it's enough.

"This master, help me arrange it, I want to make things easier with the abbot master. As he walked through a corridor, he happened to meet a young monk and hurriedly stopped him to make his request.

"Good! Donor, please wait. The young monk immediately hurried away. At this time, the time of the morning incense came, and the temple was suddenly crowded with women of all kinds of gorgeous clothes. Yinchen stepped aside, indifferently looking at these people who were greased and powdered, pretentious, and almost "religiously" praying for the blessing of the Buddha on their knees, looking at these noble ladies who seemed to be generous, but when they were worshipping incense, they had to calculate even a copper plate for a long time, these ladies who were "destined for ladies" The famous social parasites, bowing to the Buddha statue that was not gorgeously decorated, but particularly brilliant and solemn, almost wagged their tails and begged for glory and wealth and even eternal youth, revealing a silent, sarcastic smile.

True piety and false piety are two completely different things like fire and ice in front of the Buddha. Stupid mortals, do you want to deceive the gods and Buddhas with the tricks of philistines? ”

Silver Dust didn't say what was in his heart, because he didn't want to waste his time on the writhing meat worms in front of him.