“Elder Sister-in-law is very worried about your safety, so I came to take a look.” When Dan Ying saw Yun Ye enter, he got straight to the point about his reason for coming.

“She’s always like that, but it’s good you came. Make a trip to Suiye City for me. Xiao Miao and Gou Zi still haven’t sent any news, which makes me very worried. Master Liu Fang also went there—I don’t know what he’s doing in Suiye City either.”

Yun Ye didn’t blame Xinyue for acting so rashly. If he needed to request reinforcements, he should have written to Xi Tong and the others himself. It absolutely shouldn’t have been her writing—doing so was very impolite.

“Master Liu Fang took a lot of money to Suiye City. He plans to buy off and divide a powerful tribe in Suiye City, then support this tribe in a western expedition. This way, the pressure on you here will diminish or even disappear.”

Dan Ying’s words made Yun Ye pause for a moment, then he shook his head and said, “This is almost an impossible task to complete. Faced with the life and death of their tribe, no amount of money will be useful. I only hope those people haven’t prepared yet and can delay the timing of their attack, at least giving my camel city time to be completed.”

“Is the situation that bad? Could it really be as Sister-in-law said—several million of them attacking your fifty thousand men?”

“It’s not quite that extreme. In the Western Regions, it’s not just us—there are also some frontier troops. The Western Regions are so vast they can’t swarm over all at once. However, the possibility exists that they’ll send some elite forces here to probe. Since they’re preparing to leave and know they have no way back, testing whether they can repel us and occupy the Western Regions for a long time is also an option.”

“Right now everyone’s forces are intermingled. The Great Tang doesn’t have numerical superiority, but in terms of equipment and the courage of our soldiers, they don’t have the advantage. The Turks might achieve temporary victory, but if they want a prolonged standoff, they’ll die without burial grounds. Those people are gambling. Internally, they must have divergent opinions now and can’t make up their minds. This is why they’re lingering around Talas, hesitating to advance. That Caliphate must be a very tough bone to gnaw.”

Yun Ye poured Dan Ying a cup of water and sat down himself. Seeing Wu She sitting with his eyes closed without speaking, he smiled and said to Wu She, “Why are you still angry with me, old sir? That’s right, I have no good feelings toward that divine light. To be honest, I have no good feelings toward any divine lights. I think there are few benefits. Na Rimu is avoiding you because she’s worried that the light will harm the child in her belly. If you like it, shine it on yourself more. We’re common folk—we’ll follow the common folk’s methods.”

“Such waste of heavenly gifts! And you’re still a disciple of White Jade Capital. Without divine light, where would the miraculous come from?” Wu She was still huffing with anger.

Dan Ying took the jade token from Wu She, carefully examined it several times, then returned it to Wu She, asking Wu She to show him how exactly the divine light would emerge.

“You’re already the father of three children—how can you still have such heavy curiosity? I’ve told you that shining that thing has no benefits.” Yun Ye couldn’t help but speak up in persuasion.

Wu She glared viciously at Yun Ye, then took Dan Ying to his small courtyard. Yun Ye had specifically ordered people to dig him a very large cellar where he could fiddle with the divine light, not only avoiding Yuan Shoucheng but also preventing possible harm.

After they left, Yun Ye habitually walked to the sand table and stared blankly at the mountains and waters on it. Distance and time—these two things were his fatal weaknesses. How should he overcome them?

At the same time, in the Ministry of War office, Cheng Yaojin pointed at a strange city on the table and said, “Who would have thought a city could now have such variations? Brother Li, the formations mentioned in your ‘Mirror of the Six Armies’—you never thought they could be manifested in a city, did you?”

“Look, lined up in a row, this city is a section of the Great Wall. Circled up, it’s a hollow city. With both wings protruding, it’s a strategic pass fortress. Standing up shield walls two zhang high—a fortified city on flat ground. Fight when you want to fight, leave when you want to leave. When necessary, even the entire city can be moved away. The siege techniques we’re accustomed to using are completely useless against this camel city.”

“Dig tunnels? Fire attack? Flooding? All become jokes. Near a river, it has a moat. Near mountains, it has strategic passes and险要险隘. Blocking a road junction—haha, it’s your deadly grandfather, hahaha.”

“Old Li, you attacked three times, and I defended three times. How much is left of your hundred thousand troops? Cut off supplies? Cut off water? Useless, right? That boy already took away tens of thousands of mares. Mares can produce milk, camels can produce milk too. You can’t starve them out in a short time, and you still have to guard day and night against cavalry suddenly charging out from the camel city.”

“As for catapults, there’s simply no way to get close to the camel city. He mounts eight-ox crossbows on the camel city. As long as he ties gunpowder to the arrow shafts, no matter how many catapults you have, they’re not enough for him to blow up.”

Li Jing threw down the bamboo strips in his hand and said resentfully, “He has many livestock. The best attack method is to disable these animals. Spreading horse plague is a good method.”

Niu Jinda chuckled and said to Li Jing, “There are some things you don’t know. I held a position at Yushan Academy and know some secrets. Old Li, I’ll give you a warning—it’s best not to use things like horse plague against that boy. Otherwise, you’ll die without knowing why. I can’t say much about the matter, but I can tell you one thing about Sun Simiao. After Master Sun came out from a certain place, for nearly a year he didn’t dare approach crowds. He wandered around the Qinling Mountains with his medicine servant, living like a wild man, not daring to contact anyone. Master Sun doesn’t let anyone mention this matter—he gets angry whenever it’s brought up. Think about how terrifying that thing must be.”

Hearing Niu Jinda say this, Li Ji’s hand trembled. He looked worriedly at Niu Jinda and said, “That boy wouldn’t do such a thing if his eyes turn red with rage, would he? That way everyone would die.”

Li Jing, Yuchi Gong, and Qin Qiong all looked at Li Ji strangely. It wasn’t strange that Niu Jinda knew—he still held a position at Yushan Academy. Now the back mountain of Yushan Academy had become forbidden territory. It was said that only Li Gang, Yuanzhang, Li Tai, Yun Ye, and Xu Jingzong had the right to enter and exit there. The rest who could freely enter and exit were all nobodies.

So-called nobodies were those bastards who didn’t have high official positions but had deadly amounts of power. Li Ji wasn’t this type of person—how did he know?

“Don’t ask. His Majesty asked me to evaluate the lethality. I can only say this thing cannot be used lightly unless the country is on the verge of collapse.” Li Ji’s eyes were evasive.

“What’s the point of fighting this damn war? Only he can hit you, you’re not allowed to hit him. If you get his eyes red with rage, he’ll make you all die. No wonder we’re in such a hurry while His Majesty isn’t very worried. I estimate people from the Water Bureau are probably already guarding Talas with that thing. If the situation turns bad, they’ll probably take it out and use it. After all, the barbarians are all there—solve them all at once. Plus, having someone like Yun Ye who knows the ins and outs guarding the border, not letting this thing spread back into the country. Three to five years later, after the plague passes, he can go over and burn the bones, then return triumphantly.”

“From now on, do you still expect soldiers to be valiant and commanders to be wise? What’s the damn use? Having an idiot like Yun Ye is enough. Go home. Studying is just worrying for nothing. From now on, there won’t be any legendary military talents. I should just burn my ‘Mirror of the Six Armies’ in one fire.”

Li Jing angrily threw the remaining bamboo strips in his hand to the ground, turned and left. With his back to the old marshals, he waved his arm. His silhouette was bleak and lonely. The era of famous generals had passed. Most likely, he was the last general star to shine brilliantly on the battlefield.

Qin Qiong also felt somewhat sorrowful. He asked Li Ji quietly, “Is it really that terrifying?”

“If released in Chang’an City, within two months, only thirty percent of people would remain safe and sound, and fifty percent would become neither human nor ghost.” Li Ji answered helplessly.

“What about Yushan? I mean, what would happen to the people of Yushan Academy? Would they have this kind of casualties too?” Yuchi Gong pressed.

“Yushan? Yushan Academy would be safe and sound. They wouldn’t even need to stop the students’ coursework.” Since he had already said this much, Li Ji simply revealed everything he knew.

“Damn it! Tomorrow I’ll go to Yushan and ask Li Gang for the antidote. If he doesn’t give it, I’ll burn down his Yushan Academy.” Yuchi Gong also left huffing with anger. In fact, he had been most frustrated these years. With the large-scale improvement of military weapons, individual martial prowess rarely had a place anymore.

Qin Qiong coughed and said with a bitter smile, “So all these years we’ve been able to strut around arrogantly because His Majesty was cherishing old feelings. How ridiculous that we each thought we had unfulfilled ambitions. So be it. After I arrange my family affairs, I’ll submit a memorial claiming illness and comfortably live out my remaining days.”

Niu Jinda looked at the two people remaining in the room and shook his head, saying, “It won’t be that simple. Plague killing people won’t discriminate. I also heard Yun Ye say that disease is actually a kind of tiny insect. This thing can change. Even if Yushan Academy has an antidote, it can only deal with this insect. If this insect suddenly grows legs, the antidote will become useless and become even more severe. At that time, even those with the antidote will be finished. So this thing can only be used to frighten people—it can’t actually be used.”

Cheng Yaojin suddenly erupted in anger, pounding the table and roaring, “What is Yun Ye doing? Why did he create this thing? It can only kill people, not save them. This is a disaster, the greatest disaster under heaven! If there’s a military disaster, tell me—do you use it or not? What if this thing changes and everyone dies? Who’s the winner?”

“When Yun Ye returns from the Western Regions, I’ll use family discipline to properly question him—what exactly was he thinking?”

“To save people!” Li Ji answered Cheng Yaojin’s question succinctly.

“Save people?”

“That’s right. At first it was to prevent smallpox. You know about the smallpox outbreak in Yanzhou that year, right? Yun Ye and Master Sun researched how to cure smallpox to save people. Who knew that when the cure for smallpox was found, this even more severe type of smallpox was also discovered? It’s that simple. Things in this world are like this—fortune hides misfortune within it, misfortune hides fortune within it. Like twin brothers, whether you want them or not, they’re always born together.”

“Damn it!” After hearing Li Ji’s words, Cheng Yaojin threw the bamboo strips in his hand into the air and left too.