"A long way yet," I replied.
"That's good then." I patted my chest. Ten thousand mountain bandits, even if these ten experts, each armed with a Gatling gun, were here today, they might not be able to wipe them all out!
"But further ahead, it's rebel territory again," my elder brother chuckled.
"...What exactly was Master Wu's route planning?" I complained.
"No choice. The territory controlled by the imperial court is less than that of the rebels now. Ah, Master Wu, your cigarettes are good, I'd like to try one." The Yin Messenger elder brother said, then perhaps realizing he'd said too much, quickly changed the subject.
"Please do. If you're interested, I can burn some good ones for you later," I said. This was a Qian Hu (a military title) who had died in the Tang Dynasty, a very high-ranking official.
"No need for that, just a taste."
Fortunately, it had been raining all along. Although the road was muddy, there weren't many rebels on it, so we passed through the enemy-occupied area smoothly and finally arrived at a military camp controlled by the imperial court.
I guess Wu Zhao had checked the weather forecast beforehand!
Upon reaching our destination, I understood why Wu Zhao chose this place. The camp was stationed with the "Shen Ji Camp" (Divine Machine Camp), which was entirely equipped with arquebuses, three-eyed guns, and even some old-fashioned cannons. The garrison numbered over thirty thousand, likely all the firearms troops of the underworld court were gathered here. I asked Wu Zhao, and it was indeed so. The Shen Ji Camp's stationed forces were here, and to be deployed to any battlefield, an order from the King of Hell was required to send a certain number of Shen Ji Camp soldiers to support. Not every stationed force had such specialized firearms units.
Moreover, the marksmen of the Shen Ji Camp were all top-tier arquebus shooters. The three cities I had visited were also equipped with some arquebuses, but I never saw them used. I suspect they didn't know how to use them well, and they seemed worse than bows and arrows.
The Little King of Hell was already waiting for me here. He even asked me to personally demonstrate how to use this new model "arquebus," the g98, to the Jun Guan (military officers) of the Shen Ji Camp. I understood that she was giving me an opportunity. When introducing me, she did not mention my official position, only vaguely referring to me as Master Wu from the Yin Messenger's office.
After demonstrating the usage method to the Jun Guan, as the return journey was still long, the Little King of Hell did not recommend us driving back, fearing unforeseen circumstances on the road. If these trucks were intercepted, it would also be evidence of "collusion" between the imperial court and the mortal world. This was fine; three trucks were not much of an expense. We had them burned directly. The Shen Ji Camp used the newly equipped g98s to temporarily form a cavalry unit of three hundred men to escort us back, and also to support a battlefield.
We did not return the same way, taking a different, shorter route. Four hours later, the cavalry unit delivered us to a Nai He Bridge (Bridge of Helplessness). Lin Chi was feeling a bit hypothermic from staying in the underworld for too long. Without any farewell ceremony, we quickly crossed the bridge to return to the mortal world.
Upon exiting, we found ourselves not at the previous City God's Temple. I asked the judge here what this place was, and the judge replied that it was a city in Jizhou, bordering Shanhaiguan.
Not too far away.
Lin Chi directly contacted the Jingcheng headquarters to send a car to pick her up for recuperation. Bing Bing and I stayed to accompany and look after Lin Chi. In reality, there wasn't much wrong; she would recover with some sunlight. Lin Chi expressed that she would try to go to the underworld less in the future, as the whole experience felt like severe motion sickness!
After waiting for half an hour, personnel from headquarters arrived and took Lin Chi away. They left us a dedicated car with a Shabiya license plate, which we could drive back to the Northeast. kuAiδugg
But Bing Bing and I were in our original forms now, making us easy targets. I didn't rush back, but instead contacted Yao Yao and the others to have Chen Ke sent over first.
The fastest way was by high-speed train. Chen Ke quickly bought a ticket, and she would arrive locally in three hours. Bing Bing and I drove to the high-speed train station's parking lot. This city had a small population, so the parking lot was quite large but had few private vehicles. Bing Bing put on a hat and went to the station supermarket to buy some food. We ate and rested in the car.
We thought we were safe then, but something still happened.