Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Returning to the military tent, Hundred Saint greeted him anxiously, “General, the one hundred thousand troops in the camp have been transferred to the frontline!”

Qin Yu frowned slightly, then returned to calm, “Got it.”

Hundred Saint smiled bitterly, “General, you were the one who brought them to the West Border camp…”

He did not finish his sentence.

These one hundred thousand troops were given by His Majesty for Qin Yu to form his foundation.

But now, they had not even done anything and were already transferred.

It was equivalent to destroying Qin Yu’s foundation. He had no more soldiers under his command, so how could he establish a place for himself in the army?

Qin Yu said, “This was a decision made by Marshal Wu.”

Today, Marshal Wu invited him to the tent but transferred his troops away, leaving no one under his command.

It seemed that Marshal Wu was indeed very dissatisfied with what Qin Yu had done.

Hundred Saint took a deep breath and said, “General, I’ll go and pay a visit to Uncle Jiang Chengzi right now.”

Qin Yu did not stop him and watched calmly as he exited the tent.

He was not optimistic about Hundred Saint’s trip to visit Jiang Chengzi. Jiang Chengzi’s silence today was already an indicator of his stance.

He was neutral. He was not going to suppress Qin Yu, but he was not going to help him either.

To be honest, the current situation was not in Qin Yu’s favor. He wanted to have a chance to climb up the ranks, but there was no hope in sight.

If he did not do anything soon, the people in the capital city were going to be very disappointed in him.

And this would not be good for Qin Yu’s future plans.

He needed to borrow the West Desolate’s power!

The only good news was that Marshal Wu really cared about his reputation and did not stop Qin Yu from being a military counselor, so he was still qualified to attend meetings in the marshal tent.

What he had to do was to wait for the right opportunity to appear for him to propose a unique and strange solution, and then he could finally gain a foothold in the military!

Hundred Saint did not return for the entire night. Qin Yu was not worried about his safety. Even if it were not Jiang Chengzi, he did not think that anyone would blame Lord Chengtian.

After tidying up and putting on his armor, he left his tent and went straight towards the marshal tent.

“General Jinwu!” Outside the marshal tent, the young general who had a cold expression on his face frowned. “The meeting in the marshal tent started promptly at sunrise, you’re late.”

Qin Yu replied, “I will take note of this and won’t do it again next time.” He then looked up at the young general, raised his eyebrows, and said,” Did the marshal give an order not to let me into the tent?”

The young general’s face changed slightly, before stepping aside with a cold humph.

Qin Yu was too lazy to argue with him, so he stepped into the tent.

The discussion had already started, and it was Ye Sangdu who was speaking. When he saw Qin Yu come in, he glanced at him but did not stop speaking.

Qin Yu greeted Wu Tongtian before sitting down to listen quietly.

A ‘military counselor’ was a general term for military assistants, but Qin Yu had no clue about the specific scope of duties he was responsible for. Now that he was taking part in the discussions, all he could do was listen, and had no chance to speak.

At nightfall, Qin Yu stepped out of the marshal tent. He looked up and looked at the bright starry sky above him.

This time, no one spoke to him. Even Chen Ziling had only nodded his head slightly and left in a hurry.

The corner of Qin Yu’s mouth twitched, and then he turned and left.

Hundred Saint returned, and looked embarrassed when he saw Qin Yu. “General…”

Qin Yu interrupted him immediately, “I believe that Jiang Chengzi has his own difficulties, I understand.”

Hundred Saint exhaled, “Thank you for your understanding, but General, what do we do next?” His eyebrows furrowed with worry.

He was dispatched by his uncle to follow Ning Qin into the army camp, and they both shared weal and woe. If Ning Qin performed well, Hundred Saint would be credited for it as well, but if Ning Qin performed poorly, Hundred Saint would be implicated too.

Qin Yu said, “I have gotten permission from Marshal Wu to participate in the discussions. Let’s persevere for a while. We can make plans when we’ve gotten a better grasp on the situation of the war.”

Hundred Saint laughed bitterly, “I guess that’s the best we can do now.”

After sending him away, Qin Yu sat down and drank tea, with a thoughtful look in his calm eyes. Of course, what he said just now was not real; he was not really struggling.

Hundred Saint was likely to be trustworthy, but Qin Yu had to make some safeguards to feel more at ease.

Of course, Qin Yu also wanted to use Hundred Saint to spread the message to the outside world that Ning Qin was ‘trapped’.

Only in this way could people relax and not pay too much attention to him.

In the next half month, General Jinwu really became an invisible person.

He attended every meeting punctually every day, but he never got the chance to speak out at all.

The number of looks he got started to decrease. Even if someone occasionally looked his way, it was a gaze full of pity and cold mockery.

Perhaps it would not be long before the reprimanding from the capital city arrived. Then, this General Jinwu would have to leave in despair.

Qin Yu looked calm, seeming to have accepted all this. No one knew that he had already gathered countless pieces of military information in his heart.

In terms of access to confidential information, Qin Yu who took part in the discussions in the marshal tent was among the first-ranked in the West Border Army.

After much scrutiny and calculation, Qin Yu seemed to have gotten a better grasp of the situation. If his calculations were correct, he would be able to get a confirmation tomorrow…this was the opportunity that he had been waiting for. An opportunity to prove himself.

Night fell. The sound of slaughter filled the air and a terrifying aura soared to the sky. A large army of barbarians made a surprise attack, advancing three thousand miles into West Desolate territory. Youming City fell!

……

The nine suns had not risen yet, but the marshal tent was already brightly lit. The cultivators in the army had a heavy expression on their faces, their eyes full of worry.

“After Youming City was breached, our troops reacted immediately and fought against the barbarian army to try and retake the city, but the barbarians were too strong. After fighting for an entire night without retreating, both sides lost over 30,000 soldiers.”

“Intelligence reports show that the barbarian forces are still being reinforced, and there are still more than 10,000 of them in Youming City.”

“Everyone, the distance between Youming City and the mine is less than a thousand miles. The purpose of the barbarians is clear.”

“Retake Youming City at all costs; the mines must not be lost!”

The front line was defeated. In the marshal tent today, there were a few leaders and a few frontline generals present.

Everyone seemed to have the same opinion – that the barbarians launched a surprise attack on Youming City because they were after the mines.

The army had to be mobilized as soon as possible to force the barbarians to retreat.

“Everyone, the barbarians have been reinforcing their troops in Youming City, and they are really fierce. It may not be easy to retake the city in a short period of time,” Jiang Chengzi suddenly said. The voice of the veteran general made everyone quiet down, and they all looked at him.

He stood up, cupped his hands and said, “Marshal Wu, the mine is of great importance. To avoid accidents, we should dispatch a competent division there to guard the mine.”

It became even quieter in the marshal tent.

The mine…for the West Border Army, it was a near-taboo existence.

No one was willing to guard the mine even if it was a crucial piece of territory.

Guarding the mine…was equivalent to ending up dead!

Once they stepped in, there would be no turning back. They would be locked in that bitter, cold and barren land for the rest of their lives.

Wu Tongtian’s eyes flashed. “General Jiang is right, we can’t let anything happen to the mine.”

His eyes swept through everyone in the tent, as if he was considering who should be sent to guard the mine.

Ye Sangdu suddenly stood up and said, “Marshal, the mine is of great importance. In this current situation, only a general would be qualified to guard it.”

He then pointed and said, “General Jinwu was ordered by His Majesty to aid the West Border Army. Since he has not yet been assigned a specific position, he can fulfill this role.”

Whoosh –

Whoosh –

Countless eyes started to look at him.

Qin Yu’s face turned ‘ugly’. He frowned and said solemnly, “Marshal, I don’t know anything about the mine. If I’m sent there, accidents might occur. Regarding this matter, I hope you think it through carefully. I really lack the confidence to pull this off.”

Ye Sangdu said, “General Jinwu, why are you being so humble? His Majesty sent you here; I’m sure you are capable.”

He then turned around, cupped his hands and continued, “Marshal, the military situation is urgent and the barbarians might launch another surprise attack at any time. The general guarding the mine must be quickly decided.”

Wu Tongtian slowly nodded and said, “General Jinwu, attention!”

Qin Yu showed grief and indignation on his face, “Present!”

“I order you to take some guards with you and immediately head to the mine to guard it. Leave immediately, and ensure that the mine is not raided by the barbarians!”

“Yes…Marshal!”

The news quickly spread throughout the camp like a gust of wind.

General Jinwu Ning Qin had been ordered to guard the mine. Once he went, he would probably never come back again.

Tsk tsk, tragic! How tragic!