In the thirty-seventh year of Tianmao, the moon falls.
Sheng Xuanyuan was ordered to take hundreds of his disciples to Lushan Pass in Western Xinjiang.
On the way, he actually left the team alone and took a detour to Guangyang, just to see Qiong Yi.
Qiong Yi waited for him at the small side door outside the mansion. Sheng Xuanyuan followed his aura and saw her without much effort. The two reunited after a long separation and hugged each other tightly.
Qiong also knew that he was going to the battlefield to face thousands of troops, so she handed the warm peace charm in her arms into his hand: "Sheng Jing, you must live in peace."
Sheng Xuanyuan accepted the peace charm and slightly softened the corners of his lips: "Okay."
*
In the thirty-eighth year of Tianmao, early spring.
After half a year, the five tribes finally regained Yiyuan Pass, which they had lost a year ago, and drove the Xirong people back to the Gobi Desert.
In April of the same year, the strength of the army, which had been dormant for a while, increased unexpectedly, killing the front lines guarded by the five tribes until they were unable to fight back. After the news came back, Qiong Yi no longer knew how many of his fellow tribesmen had died in this battle. Senior brothers and sisters. Among the direct disciples, the third senior brother was the most seriously injured, with a broken leg. I heard that Lu Xu was not much better either.
She didn't know how Sheng Xuanyuan would fare in this battle. Now, it was her turn.
Therefore, Qiong Yi followed her master's orders and led her junior brothers and sisters to leave Guangyang.
On this trip, there were about sixty monks, including disciples from the inner and outer sects. Except for her, they were all low-level.
Everyone rode towards the front line on horseback. On the way, Qiong also heard that the camp where Sheng Xuanyuan was guarding was not the most intense part of the battle. He arrived at the battlefield later and should not have been seriously injured.
Qiong also asked her junior brothers and sisters if they were afraid. Some of them didn't speak, and some said they were not afraid. Lu Li asked her, "Senior sister, what about you?"
She smiled and said, "I'm not afraid."
Until now, her cultivation has reached the middle level of the transformation realm, and she has been deliberately refining it steadily. Looking at the entire Middle-earth, reaching this level at the age of eighteen or nineteen has been rare from ancient times to the present.
After riding horses for several days, they arrived at the Pass. The pass had been forcibly guarded by people from the five tribes. The man in charge was Xie Cong, the head of the Xie family who had made things difficult for her.
In the dusk, Qiong Yi dismounted and ordered Lu Li to arrange a tent for her junior brothers and sisters to rest. She needed to go to negotiate with Sect Master Xie. Lu Li nodded in agreement and led his fellow disciples away.
Looking at the city wall not far away, apart from the incomplete traces of fierce battles, Qiong also saw very obvious traces of formations on it. This idea of defending the city was quite similar to the style Nangong Li taught her. Set up by a powerful Dharma cultivator. Seeing this, Qiong Yi suddenly gained confidence and walked towards the city gate.
A disciple wearing soft armor stopped her: "Please stay."
She just said: "I want to see Sect Leader Xie."
The young master standing behind the guarding disciple heard this and turned to look at her. Qiong also recognized that this person was Xie Yangyu, whom she had met once at the Spring Festival Banquet a few years ago.
Xie Yangyu didn't realize that Qiong Yi was the young nun at the spring banquet for a while. He only thought that this person had bright eyes, white teeth, and a slim face, and seemed familiar. It wasn't until Qiong Yi spoke with a clear and smart voice that he realized that she was actually the nun. That Lu Xiyan.
When the guard disciple was about to ask her about her identity, Xie Yangyu stepped forward and said, "This is Lu's help that just arrived today. Let her be."
"yes."
Qiong Yi thanked him and went into the main camp to see Xie Cong.
Xie Cong was sitting in front of the case with a very ugly face. He seemed to be still worried about the tragic battle not long ago. The pass map in his hand was almost faded and he was in a dilemma.
Qiong Yi bowed and saluted, and said straightly: "Thank you, Sect Master, I am here under the orders of my master to help you defend the city."
Xie Cong knew that she was a monk of the Lu family, so he was not polite and directly threw away the map of the pass city wall and the location of the camp in his hand. Qiong Yi picked it up with an expressionless face. Seeing his face, she didn't know whether it was embarrassment or ignorance. With a look of determination, he lowered his eyelashes.
She glanced at the map and secretly noted down the newly added stations and towers, "Thank you, Sect Master, for your kindness. I will accept this item."
Xie Cong snorted from his breath, "I already know your origin, please step back."
Qiong Yi took a quick glance around and saw a table and chairs on one side of the tent. He walked over and sat down.
"Xie Sect Leader, I'm here to persuade you to give up insisting on guarding this barrier." She said calmly, her voice was clear and pleasant, but it sounded like needles piercing his ears to Xie Cong's ears.
"What did you say?"
Qiong Yi repeated it again: "I said there is no need to hold on to the barrier."
Xie Cong was still angry about this matter just now. When he heard what she said, he slapped the table: "What do you know?!"
"This place is flat and low-lying, making it difficult to defend and easy to attack. It is thankless to defend here." She said lightly: "Thank you, Sect Master, several of my outer sect brothers have already lost their lives in the last round of forced defense. I I don’t want more of my fellow disciples to die because of this short city.”
"What about the towns, counties and towns after the containment? What about the people who came back because we won the war at the beginning of the year? Do you want them to become refugees again?"
Qiong Yi did not answer this question, but took out a piece of paper from her arms, held it to Xie Cong's table, and said, "Please take a look at this drawing."
Xie Cong took a deep breath and unfolded the blueprint. On the paper was a killing array based on earth. It was a large-scale formation that Qiong Yi had spent more than a year studying.
She continued: "Xie Zongzhu, this magic circle cannot be used here. It is either the Sha Pass and Yiyuan Pass in front, or the mountain pass and Lishan Pass behind you. You know, entering is a bloody battle. Kun There are many more Gu people in Zhai's military camp than us. There is no need for us to chew this hard nut, and we probably won't be able to chew it off. To retreat, we only need the frontline monks to hold on for a few more days, and the people in the rear to evacuate and lure the enemy deeper. , wait for the enemy in formation, which one is better and which one is worse, I think you know better than me."
When Xie Cong looked up at Qiong Yi, he was a little stunned, and the drawings in his hands were a little wrinkled.
She said: "The few days of evacuating the common people can be just in time to prepare for setting up the formation. I practiced this formation myself, it is very simple, and it does not take long to set up the formation. The formation on the wall of Containment City, I just When I came up, I had already seen it. It was of high quality and the talismans were complex. They were arranged by an excellent cultivator. He presided over my formation, but it was just a piece of cake. Find a few more monks who are good at earth magic. , providing him with spells, stabilizing talismans, and protecting the formation eyes, this is a victory."
Xie Cong's eyes when he looked at Qiong Yi had completely changed his meaning: "...Lu Xiyan, how long have you been planning this?"
"Not long ago, just on my way from Guangyang to Yuansha." Qiong Yi's eyes were calm and bright: "If you ask about the drawing in your hand, it is indeed a waste of time. I figured it out last year. Yes. In terms of formation spells, I will definitely not be able to compare with the hall masters and elders sent by the five tribes, but since I have put so much effort into making it, it must have its advantages."
Xie Cong shook his head regretfully: "If it weren't for Lu Bin's temperament of cherishing his disciples as much as their own lives, you should have come here long ago."
As if remembering something, Qiong Yi said "Oh" and said: "Thank you, Sect Leader, those are the things I want to ask you to do, not what I want to do. What I am telling you is actually the conditions I have given. , I want to ask for something from you so that the monks of all clans in the camp can trust me and obey me."
Xie Cong smiled "ha", not knowing what she was thinking, but without hesitation he took off the ruby plate on his waist that symbolized the identity of the sect master, handed it over with his true energy, and asked: "Then what are you going to do? ?”
Qiong Yi also smiled softly: "I want to choose someone, someone who can act with me."
Xie Cong raised his eyebrows and heard her say: "Go and destroy Kun Zhai's Gu city."
Xie Cong's forehead jumped.
"If the Gu city in the hinterland of Kunzhai always exists, then there will be an endless supply of troops on their front line that can balance the five tribes. Only by destroying that place can we win for a long time."
"You know that my sect has been trying to solve the poison pill, right?"
"I know, Senior Brother told me that it seems to be ineffective, and cracking the Gu Pill is not something that can be done overnight." Qiong Yi held the ruby card in his hand with a smile on his face: "So, thank you Sect Master, I am also doing this for you. You buy time.”
Looking at Qiong Yi in front of him, Xie Cong suddenly sighed: "If you were a man, seriously..."
Qiong Yi smiled and shook his head, cutting off his words: "Without 'what if', I can still do it."
After saying that, he bowed slightly to Xie Cong and walked out of the tent. Xie Cong said to the people guarding the tent, "Yu'er, you see Miss Lu off."
Xie Yangyu said: "Yes." Then he followed Qiong Yi and quickened his pace to keep pace with her.
"Lu Xiyan, you..."
He said "you" for a long time without saying anything. Qiong was also a little confused and frowned slightly. The dusk clouds were sinking and the night was rising. Under the moonlight, her eyes were like a pool. Xie Yangyu did not dare to look at them anymore.
He actually wanted to ask her, have you had any contact with anyone from the Sheng family in the past few years? He also thought of the heated engagement between the two of them, and felt that he really couldn't ask the question, so he could only say: "Your fellow sect member , they have already settled in the camp nearby, the female nuns have a special station, do you want... do you want me to take you there? "
Qiong also said casually: "Okay."
"You...do you remember me?"
"Remember, I certainly remember Young Master Xie, who was the master of two swords." Qiong Yi recalled and said silently in his mind: He was the arrogant kid who lost to me a few years ago. He was not very experienced in beatings.
Hearing what she said, Xie Yangyu felt a lightness in his heart. When he wanted to talk again, she took the initiative to ask: "I heard that the monks of the Sheng family are guarding the platform in the north. Where should they camp? Do you know?"
Xie Yangyu was stunned: "Are you looking for..."
"Sheng Jin. You know him, right?" Qiong Yi took a step closer to him: "Please thank Mr. Xie for showing me the way. I can go there myself."
"It's already dark, you want to go to the camp to look for him?" Xie Yangyu turned his head, "You, you, a female cultivator, go looking for a man late at night, what are you talking about, it's better not to..."
The next moment, a deep male voice sounded from not far away: "Thank you, Master. You are well."
Xie Yangyu's face froze, and Qiong Yi heard the familiar voice and turned around quickly. The person who came was none other than Sheng Xuanyuan, dressed in mysterious clothes, with soft armor on his wrists that he had not yet taken off. His figure was tall and straight. As he stepped towards her, his black hair rose.
Qiong Yi couldn't look away at all, and her breathing stopped.
The moment Sheng Xuanyuan reached out to her, she moved away almost uncontrollably and called him: "Sheng Jin."
His gaze passed over Qiong Yi and looked directly at Xie Yangyu: "It's getting late. Young Master Xie, please come back." When he said this, he didn't know whether he had stayed at the Gobi Pass for too long or something. , with a bit of contempt, Qiong Yi felt a little strange, and pulled his hand: "Sheng Kyung..."
Sheng Xuanyuan's eyes fell on her, and all his coldness melted away at this moment. He gently bent his eyes towards her, and then said to Xie Yangyu, "Thank you, young master, for sending her on this journey."
Xie Yangyu knew that the tower guarded by Sheng Xuanyuan was on the other side of Beiduan Mountain. The fact that he could arrive at this time meant that he set off and came as soon as he received the news that Lu's people had arrived at the pass. .
So he chuckled: "It's a coincidence that Mr. Sheng has come. I was about to send Miss Lu back to the camp to rest. Since you are here, I can't stay longer. Say goodbye." Then he turned and walked away.
Seeing Xie Yangyu walking away, Sheng Xuanyuan picked her up and called her in a low voice: "Qiong Yi."
He carefully looked at the person in front of him whom he had not seen for a long time, rubbed her cheek, and asked: "Why did I see you being entangled when I came here?"
Qiong Yi didn't know why: "Where did I get pestered? Hey, you didn't say it was Xie Yangyu, did you? I don't even know him."
