We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real?-Chapter 378: Red Robes, White Robes—All in the Same Month. Not Bad

After Jinzhou fell, Jin’s army had already pushed to Huai Prefecture.

If Huai Prefecture fell as well, it would mean Qin’s Guanzhong would henceforth stand with its gates thrown wide open, and even Qin’s imperial capital would face the danger of falling.

By then, Xiao Mo would have to withdraw his army and return to Qin.

But the bigger trouble would come after the withdrawal.

Because if Xiao Mo withdrew, Chu would breathe a huge sigh of relief, and the territory taken earlier would very likely have to be spat back out.

After that, once Chu regrouped, it might even counterattack.

When the front compressed and the armies of three states gathered in Qin’s Guanzhong, Qin would be in deep trouble.

Jin’s commanding general, Yan Liuyun, naturally knew this.

So Yan Liuyun wanted to take Huai Mountain Pass as quickly as possible, then march into Huai Prefecture and go straight for Qin’s capital!

However, when Yan Liuyun arrived at Huai Mountain Pass, the First Prince, Qin Jingsu, had already arrived as well.

The First Prince had assembled Qin’s remaining five hundred and fifty thousand troops.

This was the full strength Qin could currently mobilize—seven-tenths of the Iron-Tiger Army and the imperial guards who defended the imperial capital had been pulled out!

Qin Jingsu’s objective was extremely clear: do everything he could to hold Huai Mountain Pass, and trust that the Frost King, Xiao Mo, and the Western Suppression King would create enough advantage before returning to help him.

Moreover, though some people on the former Wei Kingdom lands wanted to take advantage of the fire, the Northern Pacification King was handling it as fast as he could. Once he finished, the Northern Pacification King would be able to come support immediately.

Qin Jingsu climbed the battlements and looked down at Jin’s million-strong army. And when he saw his second brother before the formation, Qin Jingsu’s brows knit tightly.

“Second Brother—how have you and I, two brothers, come to this?”

Qin Jingsu used spiritual power to spread his voice outward.

“Do you know that after Mother learned you had rebelled, she has been unable to eat or drink all day, growing thinner by the day? Do you know how Third Sister clutched my sleeve and wept until her face was washed in tears when she heard the news of your rebellion?”

After Qin Jingsu finished saying this, Jin’s commanders all looked at Qin Jingyuan, wanting to see what kind of reaction he would have.

“How have we come to this?” Qin Jingyuan snarled. “In administrative ability, in learning, in cultivation talent—how could I lose to you, Eldest Brother? The position of crown prince should have been mine, yet it fell into your hands. On what grounds?

“Just because you were born a few years earlier than me?”

Qin Jingyuan gripped the reins tightly, glaring at his elder brother.

Hearing his younger brother’s challenge, Qin Jingsu let out a sigh, sorrow in his eyes.

“To you, Second Brother... is the throne truly that important? If I had known you would walk to this point, then this Qin throne—I wouldn’t want it even if you gave it to me!”

“HAHAHA!” Qin Jingyuan laughed loudly. “You speak so generously—only because the greater situation is already set? Because I have no road back?”

“Jingyuan! You and I are brothers of the same womb!” Qin Jingsu shouted.

“In the royal house, the most disgusting thing is brothers,” Qin Jingyuan said calmly. He shook his head. “Qin Jingsu, more words are useless. Fight!”

As his words fell, Qin Jingyuan cupped his hands and bowed to Tiger Marquis Yan Liuyun.

“I ask the general to help me take the city. If I become Qin’s ruler, I will ensure Qin and Jin keep friendly relations for generations—and I am even willing to offer three prefectures of Qin as a gift to the general!”

“Good!” Yan Liuyun swept his arm, his voice carrying through the entire army. “All forces, hear my order! Attack the city!”

As Yan Liuyun’s command fell, Jin’s army surged forward to attack and kill.

But Huai Mountain Pass, as Qin’s most important line of defense, was easy to defend and hard to attack—how could it be broken so easily?

Not to mention that the First Prince, Qin Jingsu, was no ordinary figure either. He had led troops in war before.

And with the First Prince personally present at the front, Qin’s soldiers’ morale surged even higher!

In the blink of an eye, four full months passed.

Jin used every method at its disposal, but there was not the slightest progress.

By comparison, on Chu’s side, Xiao Mo and Xiahou Nan advanced along two routes into Chu, and Chu’s situation grew more and more tense.

In those four months, no one knew how many cities Chu had lost.

The situation on the Yanhuo front was also far from good.

The Western Suppression King heavily relied on a young commander named Bai Qi. Rumor said this commander carried the air of the Frost King in his younger days—full of ideas in marching and war, often striking from unexpected angles.

Yanhuo’s earlier advantage was gradually erased, and Qin’s army even began to seize the upper hand.

“Your Highness, among your one hundred and fifty thousand troops, barely any take part in the assaults. You just watch Jin’s soldiers die on the walls—does that seem appropriate?”

Inside the command tent, a man named Jiang Ganling spoke to Qin Jingyuan, his tone full of the anger that had accumulated over these days.

Qin Jingyuan only glanced at him and said flatly, “Though I have one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers under me, no matter what, they come from Qin. They share the same lineage as the defenders on those walls. If they go up to fight, how much combat strength can they really bring out?

“Besides—if not for me, forget reaching the gates of Huai Mountain Pass. You probably wouldn’t even make it past Qin’s border!”

“You!” Deputy General Jiang Ganling stepped forward, looking as if he wanted to “reason” with Qin Jingyuan using fists and feet.

But Yan Liuyun pulled Jiang Ganling back in time. “Enough. Everyone say less. General Jiang has a quick temper—four months of siege with no progress, it’s normal to be anxious. I ask Your Highness to be magnanimous.”

In truth, Yan Liuyun was extremely dissatisfied as well.

Because during this time, it had mostly been Jin’s soldiers charging at the front. Whenever they tried to make Qin Jingyuan contribute more, Qin Jingyuan would find every possible way to evade it.

Yan Liuyun also understood clearly: Qin Jingyuan was doing this to preserve his own fighting strength, so that when Qin’s capital was broken, he believed he would have a stronger bargaining chip.

But in the end, Yan Liuyun still endured it.

Tearing their faces off now brought him no benefit. Once Qin was fully taken and the three parties carved Qin up, he wanted to see what Qin Jingyuan could do then!

“Putting that aside—if we remain stuck here, it truly isn’t a solution,” Yan Liuyun said to Qin Jingyuan. “Does Your Highness have any stratagem?”

He did not believe that if they could not break Qin’s capital, Qin Jingyuan himself would not be anxious!

“A stratagem is too grand a word,” Qin Jingyuan said with a cold laugh. “But I do have a method. I just don’t know whether the general dares to act.”

“King Jing, speak freely,” Yan Liuyun asked with a smile.

Qin Jingyuan stepped forward and drew a line on the sand table.

“March through Black Beast Forest. We can bypass Huai Mountain Pass directly, then strike into Huai Mountain City from the rear.”

“What are you talking about? Do you take us for fools?”

Deputy General Gai stepped forward, furious.

“The poison miasma in Black Beast Forest is terrifying. Only Dragon Gate Realm cultivators can keep it at bay by continuously sustaining it with spiritual power. Let me ask you—how many Dragon Gate Realm cultivators are there in our army? If we go through Black Beast Forest, how much of Jin’s army will remain? And even if we make it through, then what? Are we a match for Qin?”

Qin Jingyuan looked at Deputy General Gai as if he were an idiot and continued.

“Black Beast Forest’s miasma is severe—true. But when I was in my fief these days, I made many friends. When I drank with a physician-cultivator passing through, he happily told me this:

“If you take Dragon-Chant Grass and Phoenix-Blood Flower as the main medicines and refine them into pills, you can resist poison miasma for five hours.

“He originally wanted to offer this formula to my father. In the end, I intercepted it for myself.

“As for that physician-cultivator, I killed him to silence him. By now, he has likely already reincarnated.

“Five hours. That is enough for us to pass through Black Beast Forest.

“After we pass through Black Beast Forest, we will be behind Huai Mountain City.

“Huai Mountain City’s rear defenses are extremely thin—there is almost no force holding it. In that case, we can surely strike by surprise.

“Otherwise, on what grounds do you think you can easily take Huai Mountain Pass?

“If you trust me, use my method.

“If you don’t, then keep attacking the walls yourselves.

“I have already rebelled, and I’m tied to the same boat as you. I won’t cut off my own future.”

“...”

Qin Jingyuan’s words made the commanders in the tent uneasy and doubtful.

Yan Liuyun and the others could not fully trust Qin Jingyuan.

But just as Qin Jingyuan said—he had rebelled. Where was his road back?

As for “pretending” to rebel, that was even more impossible!

Because it was Jin that approached Qin Jingyuan first—not Qin Jingyuan who approached Jin.

Not to mention that based on the court’s deductions about Qin Jingyuan’s life and character, they concluded that to him, the throne was as important as his life.

Yan Liuyun did not believe Qin Jingyuan truly could accept being a mere prince. He did not believe Qin Jingyuan had no thoughts about that ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) position.

“Bring the pill formula. Let us see it,” Yan Liuyun said after thinking.

Qin Jingyuan did not hesitate and took out the formula.

After Yan Liuyun finished reading, he handed it to the deputy general beside him.

“Take it to the Crane Immortal Elder in the army. Have him check whether there is any problem. If there is none, then refine it at the fastest speed.”

“Yes!” The deputy general immediately took the formula and went out. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The next day, Jin refined the pills from the formula and had a Qi Refining Realm soldier take one and enter Black Beast Forest.

It was exactly as Qin Jingyuan had said.

The pills truly did have the effect of blocking the poison miasma.

Yan Liuyun immediately gathered manpower to collect the medicines, refining the pills in secret at the rear of the army, then transporting them to the ranks in batch after batch.

At the same time, Yan Liuyun continued attacking the walls.

Two months later, about seven hundred thousand pills had all been delivered to the army.

Yan Liuyun did not hesitate at all. He gave the order: the next day, the whole army would eat at yin hour; they would depart after the midpoint of yin hour. As for where they were going, no one knew except the high-level commanders.

“General—tomorrow, are we truly going to pass through Black Beast Forest?”

On the night before departure, a deputy general named Liu Ying came to Yan Liuyun’s tent.

“I keep feeling something is off—off in a way I can’t put into words.”

“Don’t think too much,” Yan Liuyun said as he stood and patted Liu Ying’s shoulder. “Since it’s been decided, don’t ask why it was decided. Also—look at the latest war report.”

Liu Ying took the newest reports from Chu and Yanhuo, and his heart jolted.

“Chu’s General Xiang surrendered? Bai Qi crushed Yanhuo’s army and annihilated three hundred thousand enemies?!”

“That’s right...”

Yan Liuyun let out a sigh.

“Right now, Qin’s martial virtue is simply too strong. And it’s as if Heaven itself favors Qin—two consecutive youthful geniuses have emerged: the Frost King, and Bai Qi.

“Even Xiahou Nan and General Xiang Wen have surrendered to Xiao Mo.

“If we drag this out any longer, our situation may become even worse.

“We can’t keep delaying.

“Otherwise, if any accident happens, then all our prior effort is wasted—we can only withdraw and return to Jin.

“But this is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity!

“If we can carve up Qin, we will achieve supreme merit!

“If it were you... what would you do?”

Liu Ying lowered his head and said nothing.

Because who wouldn’t want that military merit?

Even he was no exception.

“Alright. Go rest,” Yan Liuyun said. “As for Qin Jingyuan, I’ll guard against him as well. I refuse to believe this bastard is truly not afraid of dying!”

Yan Liuyun clasped his hands behind his back and stared coldly outside the tent.

Late at night, inside Qin Jingyuan’s tent, Ji Yue was already asleep. She lay flat on the bed, breathing steadily.

Qin Jingyuan rose from the bed. By moonlight, he took out brush and ink and wrote line after line on white paper.

When he finished, Qin Jingyuan blew the ink dry and sealed it in an envelope.

He lifted his head and looked at his wife not far away, his expression somewhat complicated.

“In this life, meeting me... you really are unlucky.”

Qin Jingyuan smiled as he brushed a strand of hair by the woman’s ear.

Then he placed the envelope beside her pillow.

Finally, Qin Jingyuan removed the jade pendant from his neck.

He pinched a spell formula. The formation array within the pendant manifested, spreading over the bed where Ji Yue slept.

This pendant had been a birthday gift from Qin Shengtian when Qin Jingyuan came of age.

Aside from Qin Jingyuan himself, even a Jade-Pu Realm cultivator could not break it—unless its owner died.

But Qin Jingyuan had modified it slightly. Now this formation array also carried a sleep-inducing effect.

After doing all this, Qin Jingyuan moved a chair and sat beside the wife he had always cursed.

He watched her—watching for a very, very long time.

The next day, at yin hour, Jin’s entire army ate.

Among them, seven hundred thousand soldiers took the antidote pills.

At the second quarter of yin hour, the army set out for Black Beast Forest.

“King Jing can remain here and cover our rear. There’s no need for you to go with us.”

Before departure, Yan Liuyun smiled at Qin Jingyuan.

“Also, the remaining two hundred thousand troops will stay to assist King Jing, in case anything happens and King Jing cannot respond in time.”

“Then I thank the general,” Qin Jingyuan said with a smiling bow. “I wish the general a smooth journey.”

How could Qin Jingyuan not understand?

Yan Liuyun did not allow him to go because he feared Qin Jingyuan would turn on them at the critical moment—throwing one hundred and fifty thousand troops into chaos—or feared he would play some trick.

And those two hundred thousand troops left behind—called “assistance”—were, in truth, surveillance.

“Then I’ll borrow King Jing’s auspicious words,” Yan Liuyun said. He swung up onto his horse, spiritual power spreading through the whole army. “Move out!”

With Yan Liuyun’s order, the vast army marched toward Black Beast Forest.

Qin Jingyuan sat astride his horse and watched the seven hundred thousand troops go farther and farther away.

A summer wind blew past.

Qin Jingyuan lifted his head and looked at the deep-blue vault of heaven.

“July is coming again...”

Without meaning to, Qin Jingyuan thought of the day he had married.

“Red robes, white robes—both in the same month. Not bad.”