In the night, the moon is bright and the waves are undulating.
Baiyao and others took a short rest, dealt with their injuries, and then embarked on their return journey to Qin.
A group of people quickly returned to the coast from the island where Zhuxian Cave Heaven was located.
"The island where Jie Jiao Cave is located has a good geographical location and many layouts. It is a pity to abandon it. Leave a team of people on the coast to control and observe the island. It may be useful in the future." Baiyao ordered.
The generals immediately dispersed and went about their own business.
Yu Gui rode the black bird and took the Qin army's empty gourd full of secret texts to go first.
The rest returned to Qin in batches one after another. Baiyao personally led the way, and Mu Qingkong, Xia Xin and others rode with them to return to Daqin.
"Ye Xiao, during the fierce battle in the Zhuxian Cave, have you ever counted the things you gained?" Baiyao asked the middle-aged man on the horse next to him.
This man is one of the sixteen servants of Ye Yu Mansion.
It was Ye Xiao who had just released the tattoo-like butterflies drawn on his hands to explore the Zhuxian Cave during the battle.
He is also a master of miscellaneous paintings.
After Baiyao finished speaking, he took out a bronze box.
Mu Qingkong and others next to them looked surprised when they saw the copper box.
This copper box was originally obtained from the Koreans. It was used to store the Xiantai pillars after the Koreans were annihilated. It was later given to Ye Yufu by Zhao Huaizhong. Every time he went out to raid homes and exterminate clans and defeated all forces, Baiyao would personally carry them with him to store the proceeds from the raids.
.
Xia Xin was surprised: "I also brought the treasure box this time, but it's a pity that I didn't use it."
The generals in the mansion nicknamed this box the Treasure Box, which means it contains countless treasures.
"It's a pity that we didn't confiscate Jie Jiao's belongings during this confrontation with Jie Jiao." Mu Qingkong said regretfully.
Baiyao glanced at him, the meaning in his eyes was obvious: You are still too young.
Ye Xiao immediately opened the bronze box. The box was full of dazzling items, and all kinds of magical artifacts shone brightly.
"Is this obtained from Jie Jiao Cave?"
Xia Xin said in astonishment: "We risked our lives fighting in the cave, when did we confiscate so many things?"
"Before Deputy Shi Bai entered the cave, he gave me an order. Everyone has a different division of labor. You are responsible for fighting. I will cooperate with Deputy Shi Bai and search for treasures everywhere.
Otherwise, you think I am exploring something by releasing many blue and blue butterflies all over the cave?"
Ye Xiao smiled and said: "Deputy Shi Bai's dharma body and the auspicious unicorn have been attacking deep into the cave sky, destroying many palaces. Don't you want to think about the reason?"
Xia Xin and Mu Qingkong looked at each other and said in surprise:
"Assistant Bai and the Qilin beast are rushing around, aren't they trying to destroy the layout in the cave and kill their opponents?"
"Based on what I found out through my investigation, Deputy Shi and Qilin rushed in that direction to kill the treasure wherever it was found. The black birds in the sky were also cooperating with Deputy Shi.
After that, Deputy Shi Bai and Qilin will resist the masters of Jiejiao. I will be responsible for entering the palace where the defense system has collapsed after they destroyed it and collect the treasures.
Because I first used the blue butterfly to explore and then followed the traces to find treasures, the harvest was pretty good."
Ye Xiao shook the copper box in his hand:
"Most of these things were obtained by Deputy Shi Bai and Qilin teaming up to break through a secret cache in the cave.
There are quite a few medicinal materials, magic weapons, and some weird things."
Xia Xin, Mu Qingkong and other generals were stunned.
Most people have a feeling of "this operation is so awesome".
Baiyao glanced at the few people and said: "Your Majesty likes to collect all kinds of treasures. As ministers, we should bear in mind your Majesty's preferences. Therefore, every time I lead you and others to raid various forces, I will give top priority to finding treasures.
You should also keep this in mind."
The generals were increasingly shocked.
Baiyao then turned to look at a young man with a plain face riding a horse on the other side:
"Feng Huan, why did you take the opportunity to leave Jiejiao this time and not continue to lurk and follow?"
"I made arrangements before I came out. Later, the people in Jiejiao Cave will find out that I am the spy who sneaked into Jiejiao. Only when they dig me out will they feel at ease and can make Lao Ai safer and let him continue to work in Wan Yue.
The queen is lurking next to her."
Lurking expert Feng Huan said:
"When Lao Ai follows the Moon-Wang Lady and finds out where the Jie Jiao's deeper power is hiding, I will change my identity and sneak in again to cooperate with Lao Ai.
Such a cycle can reduce the risk of Lao Ai exposure."
This is a matryoshka-style lurking, and the cycle is endless, with Feng Huan's various changing appearances, cooperating on the outside, and taking the initiative to take the blame to protect Lao Ai.
Mu Qingkong frowned and said, "The methods of interception and teaching are not weak, and there are also many people with advanced cultivation methods.
If a more powerful cultivator appears, is it possible to directly see through Lao Ai's consciousness and discover that he is the person arranged by our Great Qin, or even use Lao Ai to set up an ambush against my Ye Yufu? This matter must be guarded against."
Baiyao praised: "It's good that you can think of this.
But the king and I have taken precautions against this. Before Lao Ai sneaked into the Zhuxian Cave, the king himself wrote some kind of secret text and pushed it into Lao Ai's body.
Therefore, even if someone can see through Lao Ai's consciousness, what they see is the spiritual imprint of the King hidden in her body, and they cannot see through Lao Ai's identity.
In addition, the government has corresponding arrangements for Lao Ai. If not, how could we rest assured that Lao Ai would go deep into the church and not worry about his recurrence."
The generals were astonished.
"Deputy History, the power of this sect is hidden secretly, obviously in more than one place.
Why don't they combine their strength? If the Nine Mountains and the current Zhuxian Cave were combined, they might be able to compete with my Ye Yu Mansion.
If they spread out and act independently, wouldn't it weaken their own power?" Feng Huan said.
Baiyao: "I have also considered this matter. The real reason is not yet certain, but I guess it may be related to the inheritance method of Jie Jiao.
They divided their forces into different branches. If there was a problem in one link, other parts would not be involved.
The division of Jie Jiao into different branches is one of the reasons that ensures their continuous inheritance over the long years."
“Even a country, no matter how prosperous it is, will always weaken and be replaced by others and a new dynasty will change.
If the Jie Jiao were united together, although they could be very prosperous for a while, after their strong period passed, they would decline or even be destroyed. If they were scattered, one family would be destroyed, but the other forces in the dark would not suffer any loss. The Jie Jiao inheritance would be able to continue for a long time.
Existence is immortal.
It will not be replaced and disappeared due to recession.
Of course, there may be other reasons, but I don’t know.”
A group of people walked and communicated after the battle, riding their horses gradually away from each other.
————
The Zhuxian Cave is hidden in the void.
"What are the losses within the sect in this attack?" Lady Wan Yue looked gloomy.
"Except for those who are away from home and are no longer in the sect, there are still 277 practitioners in our sect, of whom 97 are at the Holy Dharma level or above... The storehouse in the mansion was broken into by the Qin people, and all kinds of accumulated items were swept away.
Including immortal green bronze and several inherited items sealed in the warehouse."
The maid who reported the report saw that the Moon-Wang Lady's expression was extremely ugly, so she quickly added: "Fortunately, the Qin people attacked at that time, and many magic weapons were used to activate the fairy sword formation, so not all of them were lost."
————
A few days later, in mid-October.
All the generals from Ye Yufu returned to Qin.
Baiyao returned to the palace first.
When he was introduced to the Xianyang Palace study, Lu Buwei, Han Fei and Meng Wu were also there.
Meng Wu also came to return his life.
Lu Buwei and Han Fei were recruited by Zhao Huaizhong to discuss matters.
"…As expected, the people of Chu have sent envoys to Xianyang to discuss matters in the southwest."
When Baiyao walked in, he heard Lu Buwei talking.
He came to the low table where Meng Wu was sitting, sat down and waited.
"What does your Majesty think about the envoys from Chu coming to Qin to discuss matters in the southwest?"
Zhao Huaizhong had a good time and said: "Prime Minister Lu is responsible for talking with the Chu envoys in detail. If they want to talk, they can talk. However, I, Da Qin, will continue to advance the affairs in the southwest as usual and will not be affected by the Chu people."
His meaning was very obvious, dragging Chu people with him and talking about it forever.
Da Qin should do everything in the southwest, and all kinds of operations are indispensable.
Lu Buwei's gloomy and majestic face couldn't help but reveal a smile. Zhao Huaizhong's thoughts coincided with his.
"I accept your order, I will leave first." Lu Buwei stood up and left, his sleeves fluttering.
Then Han Fei reported on the recruitment openings in various schools. When it was Meng Wu's turn, Zhao Huaizhong asked first:
"When General Meng came back, he passed through the border with Wei Bin on the eastern front. What was the situation like?"
Meng Wu responded: "This time the Xiongnu, Chu, Wei, and Deputy Shi Bai went to clear Jiejiao Dongtian. All forces gathered together to compete with us, Qin, openly or covertly. Among them, the Wei people could not see the situation the most clearly.
The King of Wei originally wanted to help Chu start a war with me, Great Qin.
But he didn't see that the Chu people didn't really want to fight against Da Qin.
The King of Wei thought that he could join forces with the Xiongnu, but the Xiongnu also retreated before entering the Qin territory.
In the end, only the Wei people were left. After we withdrew our troops from the Xiongnu, we divided our forces to support the eastern front. When Wei learned that we, Qin, had increased our troops, we immediately withdrew our troops to hold on.
My father followed the king's previous instructions and did not counterattack the Wei people."
Zhao Huaizhong nodded: "Very good."
The Wei people retreated, which meant that Qin territory returned to peace again.
Although the Southwest Front and the Chu people are still in a confrontation, the risk of war is actually extremely low.
The more troops both sides increase on the southwest front, the less likely they are to fight.
After Meng Wu also retreated, Baiyao reported in detail the process of clearing Jiejiao Cave.
Zhao Huaizhong asked casually, and the two discussed the hidden forces behind Jiaojiao and other related issues.
"Previously in the southwest, a man who hid behind helped the Ba people kill two hundred soldiers of our Qin army. After interrogating the Ba people, we found out that it was someone hiding in the dark who used a sword light to do it!
After I heard the news, I thought it was Zhuxian Dongtian who did it, but after thinking about it later, I found that there was another possibility."
Baiyao thought as he said: "The people who attacked our Qin army in the southwest used techniques very similar to Jiejiao. They killed the enemy with flying swords and came and went without leaving a trace.
However, maybe it’s not the Zhuxian Cave Heaven branch.”
"Other forces hiding in secret may have emerged, with the same purpose of interfering with our Da Qin's establishment of new counties in the southwest."
Zhao Huaizhong said: "Jie Jiao is hiding in the dark, so he must have a big conspiracy.
The demon clan seems to know some details, and its sudden disappearance may be related to this.
The Jiu Shan and Zhu Xian Dong Tian branches we have discovered now may only be a small part of Jie Jiao."
"What are the plans of Jie Jiao? If you peel them off layer by layer, you can finally find out."
After Baiyao finished speaking, he skillfully took out the bronze box and said, "This is the result of the clearing of Zhuxian Cave. Please take a look at it, your Majesty."
Zhao Huaizhong picked up the box very smoothly, took the box in his hand, and said: "Go back and supervise the house, pay attention to the Si family."
"promise."
After Baiyao left, Zhao Huaizhong opened the copper box and looked at the contents.
In the Bao Si scroll that has been hanging on the wall of the study recently, the ghostly beauty also curiously poked her head out and watched.
"Jie Jiao is really rich, no wonder he is so willful."
Zhao Huaizhong looked at Bao Si and teased: "Who asked you to come out? Where have you been practicing? Has the frozen meat melted?"