Chapter 48: At Wit's End

The "Rebirth Art of the Northern Abyss" was something Qin Yuan merely glanced through without studying.

He always felt that cultivating this technique would ultimately bring harm upon oneself.

Picking up the stack of banknotes to inspect them, Qin Yuan's face immediately fell.

Half of them were no longer usable.

For instance, the Dadeng Heng and Dadeng Tong banks had gone out of business ten years and four years ago, respectively.

Selecting the ones that were useful to him and seemed least likely to be problematic, Qin Yuan put the rest back, many of which looked quite precious indeed.

"Things that look precious now will probably not even be worth a roll of toilet paper in my eyes a few decades later."

Qin Yuan kept his priorities very clear.

"Time to go."

Qin Yuan turned and left.

Soon, he came back.

The enemy he had spent nearly thirty years outliving (a one-sided rivalry on Qin Yuan's part) had finally died; how could he not leave a little memento behind?

Qin Yuan retrieved the Empress Dowager's skeletal remains and arranged her withered face into a smile.

Then, he began sketching a posthumous portrait on the spot.

Over the years, Qin Yuan had learned a great deal of things.

Painting included.

Before long, the artwork was complete.

Qin Yuan nodded in satisfaction, inscribing a title in the bottom right corner: "The Empress Dowager's Smile."

"If this gets circulated, it will surely become a world-class masterpiece of netherworld art."

Qin Yuan shook his head again. "Better keep it to myself for safe appreciation."

Another month passed, bringing them to December in the sixteenth year of the Gongzhi era.

South of the capital.

Somewhere in the realm.

Qin Yuan was riding his beloved little donkey, swaying leisurely through the flurries of falling snow.

A few days ago, he had received news.

The main force of the Northern Army had been defeated, its hundreds of thousands of troops scattered across a battlefield stretching for hundreds of miles.

For reasons unknown, the Five-Bird Immortal had not made a single move from start to finish.

Oh? The leader of that troop up ahead seemed to be Lin Dongze.

Qin Yuan nudged his donkey forward.

Before long, Lin Dongze's subordinates spotted Qin Yuan and surrounded him.

"Chronicler Qin, trust you have been well?"

Lin Dongze came forward to greet him with a face full of joy.

He felt immensely grateful toward this senior who had once promoted him.

"I didn't expect to run into you here," Qin Yuan said with a look of surprise.

Having not seen each other in a few years, this junior's entire appearance and demeanor had undergone a transformation.

For the better, naturally.

After a brief exchange, Qin Yuan grasped the current situation.

Lin Dongze was leading his troops to the final battlefield to completely annihilate Duan Hu's remaining forces.

It was not far—merely a hundred miles away.

Qin Yuan followed along and arrived before noon.

On a distant hillside, Duan Hu was making a desperate, last-ditch defense with his remaining thousands of demonic elites.

Amidst the swirling snow and howling wind, the ground was littered with the corpses of martial artists and demons, alongside shattered Dao-soldiers.

To call it a bloodbath where floating shields would drift might be a slight exaggeration, but not by much.

Having established his military formation, Lin Dongze was just about to order a joint deployment of the Dao-soldiers when suddenly, a paper bluebird skimmed low across the ground from the rear.

At a single glance, Qin Yuan could tell it was made of paper.

The bluebird flew up close and delivered a letter to Lin Dongze.

Unfolding it, Lin Dongze's face darkened: "This Zheng Sanfazi..."

Qin Yuan wore a quirky expression.

The note read: *Move your army's sixteenth formation forward by two paces.*

Could this be the legendary micromanagement?

Orders were like mountains, so Lin Dongze had no choice but to comply.

Having rearranged his forces, he prepared to launch the attack once more.

At that very moment, another bluebird fluttered in from the rear.

Lin Dongze snatched the letter, took one look, and flew into a rage: "That bald Zheng goes too far!"

"Baldy" was his moniker for Zheng Sanfa.

During this period, Qin Yuan had heard more than once that Zheng Sanfa was bald.

The contents of this note were similar to the last.

It instructed the third squad of the sixth formation to move another two hundred paces to the front-left.

Qin Yuan half-suspected that after a while, Zheng Sanfa would start ordering individual soldiers to take two paces forward.

"Direct attack!"

With a face as dark as an iron pot, Lin Dongze decisively issued the order.

In an instant, thousands of Dao-soldiers, manipulated by martial artists, unleashed their might simultaneously.

A dazzling divine radiance instantly engulfed the hillside where Duan Hu's remnants were stationed.

Duan Hu's remaining forces were no weaklings to have held out until now.

Following the barrage, not only were they not wiped out, but they even launched a counterattack.

Waves of martial artists fell before them, serving as their sustenance.

"Charge with me!"

Charging too fiercely, Lin Dongze sustained injuries and had to be dragged back by his subordinates.

"Let go of me!"

Shoving away the men supporting him, he roared, "Hang me from a wooden pole so everyone can see me!"

This act immediately boosted the army's morale to new heights.

"Kill! Slaughter the demons and return a clear and shining world to the mortal realm!"

Lin Dongze's voice echoed across the battlefield.

After a long while, though Duan Hu's remnants were still resisting, anyone with eyes could see they were at the end of their tether.

Victory for the righteous army was merely a matter of time.

At the urging of his subordinates, Lin Dongze—who had bled nearly dry—relented and sat down to tend to his wounds.

No sooner had he taken a seat than a third bluebird fluttered in on beating wings, bearing another letter.

Lin Dongze unfolded it to find a single sentence questioning why he had failed to follow orders.

"Follow your mother's orders!"

Tearing the letter to shreds, Lin Dongze muttered to Qin Yuan, "Forgive me, Chronicler, for making a spectacle of myself."

Qin Yuan smiled faintly and said nothing.

Having lived in this world for nearly thirty years, what kind of eccentric characters hadn't he seen?

Ah, Duan Hu was attempting a desperate breakout with his demons.

Qin Yuan raised his head.

It was time to put a period to Hu'er's life story.

"Chronicler, I take my leave here. We shall meet again in the capital."

With that, Lin Dongze hastily led his men in pursuit.

Qin Yuan stored his beloved little donkey within his sea of qi, took a detour, and sprinted ahead.

...

In a secluded valley.

Overgrown with weeds, the ground was strewn with debris tumbled down from the mountains.

Thud.

A sudden, heavy, dull impact broke the silence.

Covered in wounds and drastically weakened, Duan Hu slumped to the ground in a sorry state.

The demons trailing behind him all collapsed where they stood.

An overwhelming sense of exhaustion and terror gripped their hearts.

Qin Yuan made his move.

First, he shattered Duan Hu's sea of qi; then, he destroyed Duan Hu's Dao platform.

Duan Hu stared blankly at his own body in sheer bewilderment.

*I've been crippled?*

*Who attacked me?*

It took him two or three breaths to register the truth. Agony contorted his face as he collapsed onto the earth, twitching and curling into a ball.

This spectacle startled the demons greatly.

*What has happened to the Great General?*

*He was fine just a moment ago.*

*Could there be something bizarre about this place?*

They cast wary glances all around.

"Kill him, and I shall spare your lives."
Qin Yuan's elderly, hoarse voice echoed in everyone's ears.

Unless absolutely necessary, he still preferred not to kill Duan Hu with his own hands.

*There really is someone here...* The demons were thoroughly alarmed.

Then, they recalled the mysterious voice's demand.

They exchanged glances.

None of them stepped forward.

For one, they still harbored dread for Duan Hu's martial prowess.

Secondly, fear of Duan Hu had been deeply carved into their very bones.

"Rest assured, he no longer has the strength to fight back," Qin Yuan transmitted his voice again.

The demons drew a deep breath, exchanged looks once more, and, growing bolder, closed in.

"You—you dare to commit treason!"

Duan Hu glared at these demons, who previously were only fit to kneel and tremble before him.

His heart burned with fury and desolation.

To think that he, a dignified Great General and a supreme martial arts expert of his generation, would be reduced to such a pathetic plight.