Chapter 430 A Mountain of 100 Kilograms
Li Ye did not participate in the pursuit of the Xuanwu Army.
After breaking the Military Formation of Taoist soldiers, he felt quite weak. This was the first time that he mobilized the power of the Luck of the people in the Immortal Area, after he was promoted to the Ground Immortal Realm. However, he started a fight and used up all his reserves, due to lack of experience. As a result, he exerted too much strength and had consumed most of his power.
However, it was worthwhile that he could break the military formation of the 1,000 Taoist soldiers with merely one sword strike.
A third of the Taoist soldiers had been killed by the Sword Qi, and the rest were injured. But their cultivation base was good, so it was not a problem for them to stay alive, and it was not difficult for them to retreat safely.
As the greatest backing for the Immortal Court to sweep the world, the Taoist soldiers were not that easy to deal with. After Li Ye’s sword broke through the opponent’s light screen, the power of the Taoist soldiers was actually reduced by a lot.
The best way to deal with the Taoist soldiers was to set up a team of cultivators who were relatively of similar standards.
He Jingcheng ordered some cultivators from the Immortal Court to besiege him. But now, the cultivators of the demon clan stopped them. Li Ye’s attack did not have a great impact on their morale. At least, they were still able to fight.
He Jingcheng hid in the watchtower and dared not launch an attack. One could tell that he was extremely afraid of Li Ye.
The battle lasted until nightfall.
The Pinglu Army had gained a lot, but the Xuanwu Army had not been suppressed. After all, there were still so many cultivators from the Immortal Court who could help the Xuanwu Army to hold its ground. Moreover, hundreds of Taoist soldiers still had the strength to fight after their recovery. They did not come out again because they were afraid of Li Ye, but it was enough to cheer people up.
Because the Immortal Area had only been recently developed, Li Ye did not have much Spiritual Qi to cultivate, so he was not able to recover in a short time, to kill the Taoist soldiers.
After nightfall, the Pinglu Army returned to the city to check the outcome.
Nearly 10,000 people from the Xuanwu Army were killed this day, which was more than the sum of the previous losses. After this battle, the Xuanwu Army was greatly undermined.
On the same day, the Xuanwu Army retreated overnight.
Li Ye did not chase after them rashly, but he chose to withdraw as soon as possible. The Taoist soldiers in the dark night were still dangerous.
The next day, a scout came to report that the Xuanwu Army had retreated to a distance of 20,000 meters.
With the help of the Immortal Court, the Xuanwu Army launched an attack on the Pinglu Army. When Li Ye reached the Immortal Realm and came back to help, the Xuanwu Army had many heavy casualties and fell apart.
There were not many soldiers from the Pinglu Army in the Qing Prefecture, which were enough for guarding the city, but not enough for the field operations. Moreover, Li Ye had no intention of counter-attacking the Xuanwu Army and destroying Zhu Wen.
He did not know if the Immortal Court would send more Taoist soldiers. After he used the Sword of Heaven once, it would take a long time before it could be used again. In such a short time, it would not be able to break through the military formation of Taoist soldiers.
Li Ye’s aim was to sweep through the world, so killing Zhu Wen was not so important. Even if he killed Zhu Wen now, the Immortal Court would support the other feudal prince and would still be able to fight with Li Ye.
At present, what Li Ye needed was to accumulate strength so that he could defeat tens of thousands of Taoist soldiers from the Immortal Court. Only in this way could he solve the problem once and for all.
After digesting Hedong and establishing the governance of the north, Li Ye would carry out civil reform in Henghai, Tianping, Zhaoyi, Chengde, Yiwu, Lulong and the other towns. He would turn the whole north into the next Pinglu, so that he could enhance his strength as a whole.
Conquering the world was not something that could be done in one day.
After Zhu Wen returned to Bianzhou, Li Ye began to restore order in the Qing Prefecture. With Cui Keli’s help, he did not need to worry too much. For all matters concerning reconstruction after the war, he only needed to focus on the main points.
Li Ye had spent several months suppressing and wiping out the north. It was rare for him to be idle now. Finally, he could take a breather for the time being, and appreciate the sceneries of the mountains and rivers, for a change.
It was impossible for him to be completely idle. As the territory expanded, what he needed most were talents, so he had to worry about that.
…
Pinglu was already hot in May, but it was not so hot that ordinary people dared not to go out. A strange phenomenon appeared on the streets of the Qing Prefecture, which was that there were more women appearing in public, than usual.
Whether it be the cultivators of Jianghu or the daughters of noble families, the women put on make-up, wore light gauze clothes, and walked along the street in twos and threes.
It was not as if they had anything pressing to do. They stopped by the riverside bridge and under the willows and shuttled back and forth between the shops. Without exception, these places were crowded.
However, the women who often went to the riverside, behaved differently from those who went to the markets and shops.
The former were mostly dressed simply and had gentle and refined temperaments. They could stand for hours under the willows and watch the fish in the river for the whole afternoon. Whether or not they were accosted, they would not take the initiative to greet others.
The latter ones were much livelier, and the clothes they wore were more colorful. Most of them liked to wear low breast-binding dresses. They would chatter in groups of threes or twos, and sometimes they would cover their mouths and giggle. If they met a well-dressed, handsome Childe, they would be more implicit and bold, and would even take the initiative to talk with him.
If it was raining, the latter would not go outside, but the former would appear on the streets. They liked to carry paper umbrellas with different colors. They stood quietly under the willows and on the stone bridge, staring dazedly at the river.
Those who had active minds would find quiet eaves to take shelter from the rain. If there was a gentleman dressed in gorgeous clothes to pass them an umbrella, there was no need to say much about what would happen next. A young Childe should be a little cultured and not dull. If he recited a few poems for the occasion, a beauty would fall in love with him.
Except for the beauty, the other party might be a fat woman weighing more than 100 kilograms or an ugly woman with freckles all over her face. And in terms of the probability, the latter was more likely. After all, a beauty was a rare species.
In short, May was a beautiful season with hundreds of flowers blooming.
It was a sunny day, so there were many women walking outside. Most of the tourists visited the Lishui riverside in the Qing Prefecture, and among them, there were many young women.
In the afternoon, on a small stone bridge, a sweet 16 year old girl was enjoying the view of the lotus flowers in a shady place, waiting for a handsome Childe to come and chat with her.
She peeped at the Childes coming and going from time to time, expecting someone to come forward. However, after a while, the person she liked did not approach. However, a monkey popped out and squatted on the pier to stare at her, and remained motionless for a long time.
Because of the thin clothes she wore, she could not hide the layer of fat around her waist. She gradually became a little anxious. Was it a bad thing for her? Seeing a monkey squatting beside her, no Childe would come and talk with her.
However, the scenery here was good, and there were lotus flowers under her feet. The branches and leaves were lush, and the place was shady. It was a good place that was rare and hard to find. Moreover, all the other good sites were already occupied. It would be difficult for her to find an alternative place.
“Go, go, go. You smelly monkey, play at the side. You are an eyesore here!” The fat woman looked around and saw that no one was looking at her. She quickly tried to drive the monkey away. To avoid being noticed, her movements were slight.
The monkey had a scornful look on its face and said in a human voice, “Little girl, do you know why I am squatting here?”
The freckled woman did not expect that the monkey could talk, so she was stunned. However, there were many demons from the demon clan in Pinglu, so everyone was used to it. Anyway, they had never harmed anyone. “Why?”
Monkey sneered and said, “Because your body is big, and so the shadow you cast is enormous. It allows me have a place to enjoy the cool.”
The woman’s face turned red, and she was so angry that her chest heaved with rage. She rested her arms on her hips and her eyes opened wide in anger. “You stinking monkey, how dare you to say that I’m fat?!”
The monkey shook its head and said seriously, “You misunderstood me.”
The woman was stunned and confused. However, since the monkey did not say that she was fat, she felt better.
Unexpectedly, the monkey continued to talk, after her facial expression showed that she was slightly mollified, “You’re not fat. You look like a mountain. Can I call it a 100 kilograms mountain?”
The woman ran away.
She covered her face and cried as she ran away.
The monkey showed a look of disgust. “Mortals are ignorant. They don’t know themselves at all.”
Speaking of this, he looked up at the sky, and his eyes were filled with sarcasm as if he was talking to someone. “You damn Buddhist monk, so what if you got the scripture? You still failed to enlighten the mortals?”
As he spoke, the monkey transformed into a human. It turned out to be a Childe with a graceful bearing. Holding a folding fan, he walked toward his destination.
His appearance attracted a lot of attention along the way. Some ignorant girls even screamed, and held their chests with their hands.
Before long, a bold woman plucked up the courage to walk up to him and pretended to walk by him. She raised her delicate hand to cover her forehead and said, “Oh, it’s so hot. If there is anyone who can give me an umbrella, it will be great.”
The monkey was not happy to have his way blocked. He said, “If I were you, I would not have asked for an umbrella.”
The woman heard him talking to her and immediately responded with great interest, “What will you do then?”
The monkey said coldly, “I will ask the heavens for a lightning bolt to kill myself. In my next life, if I have a better appearance, then someone will give me an umbrella without my having to ask for one.”
Then, another woman cried and ran away.
The monkey was in a bad mood, so he simply changed into a Guanghan Fairy.
At this time, no one came up to provoke him. Wherever he went, there would not be a woman within ten steps of him, because they would all feel ashamed and try to avoid him. This time, the monkey felt at peace and a little satisfied. He could not help but admire his own wisdom.
But it was not too long…
“Young lady, on such a hot day, please…”
“Go to hell!”
The sun was setting in the west. Li Ye squatted beside the vegetable garden and saw Su Emei bending down and weeding the garden. The golden sun shone on her black hair, which made her flawless profile look particularly enchanting.
This was Prince An’s Manor in the Qing Prefecture. Su Emei had started this vegetable garden a few years ago, and she had always taken good care of it. A few days before she left for Hedong, she had sprinkled some seeds in the soil. However, no one took care of it for months, so the weeds flourished better than the vegetables.
“In fact, I have always wanted to ask this question.” Li Ye suddenly said.
“What’s that?” Su Emei tilted her head and gave him a faint smile. The gentle setting sun seemed to melt at the corners of her mouth.
Li Ye sighed seriously. “Don’t you women’s breasts have any sense of feeling? I always see your breasts sometimes pressing against the table, and sometimes touching the sword hilt and become deformed, but you don’t seem to notice it at all. Just like now, when you pull out the grass, your breasts have been brushing over the grass blades, yet you don’t need to shift your body at all.”
Su Emei’s face, which was as white as jade, suddenly turned red. It looked delicate and beautiful. She straightened her slender waist reflexively and did not dare to look at Li Ye again. She was so angry that she scolded him, “Bastard!”
Li Ye laughed. He had this question in mind all the time, and he did not mean to tease her.
Su Emei pulled out the weeds and stared at the leeks and cabbages that were growing moderately well. She seemed hesitant and said, “These vegetables are not growing well. I’m afraid they will not taste good.”
Li Ye smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. After your cooking, any ordinary vegetable will become a delicacy. I’ll eat this tonight.”
Su Emei glared at Li Ye in embarrassment and annoyance. “Can you be serious? Since you’re already in the Immortal Realm, do you still need to eat these?”
Li Ye said, “I don’t need to eat it, but I still want to eat it. In life, love and delicious food can’t be put aside. The vegetables in this garden satisfy both. How can I not eat it?”
Su Emei turned her head indignantly and said, “You have a glib tongue!”
Li Ye was surprised. “How did you know?”
This time, Su Emei did not dare to speak at all.
Su Emei picked up the vegetables, and Li Ye took them and held them in his hands. They left the vegetable garden and went into the kitchen together. Li Ye was responsible for cleaning the vegetables, and Su Emei was in charge of making the fire and washing the pot.
After a long time, the rice was cooked, and the dishes were stir-fried. The room was filled with a delicious aroma.
The main dish was not leek or shepherd’s purse. They could not be regarded as a main dish, but a side dish.
Su Emei served a plate of double cooked pork slices on the table, took off her apron and hung it on one side. Then, she sat down on the stool. When Li Ye handed her the cooked rice, she said, “How did you think about making this dish?”
“You mean fried? That’s easy. I can do it when I came down from the Cloud-engulfed Mountain.” After sitting down, Li Ye said with a playful smile. There was indeed no fried food in the Tang Dynasty, let alone cooking of meat in the pot. He taught Su Emei all these recipes.
Su Emei rolled her eyes at him grumpily. “Glib…” Before she finished her words, she cleverly swallowed the rest of the words back to her stomach and Li Ye could not help laughing.
“It seems that I came at the right time. I have not eaten such delicious food for more than a hundred years.”
Before Li Ye and Su Emei could enjoy the food, the monkey appeared on the stool, out of nowhere.
“The Great Sage is here?” Li Ye was pleasantly surprised. Before he could finish speaking, the bowl in front of him was taken away by the monkey.