To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 595: Chapter 278 Local Public Security

With good news continuing to flow from various battlefields, the coalition ensured their advantageous position against the three southwestern Yi nations.

A glorious victory seemed imminent.

However, at this very moment, Lu Yuan withdrew from the front line and led his troops back to Stone City, the current capital of Qianzhong County.

Just half a month ago.

Stone City, which had been gradually stabilizing, suddenly erupted in chaos.

Tens of thousands of scattered remnants of the Chilih Yi soldiers from all over Qianzhong County suddenly gathered and launched a massive rebellion in the rear of the county.

The rebellion happened so suddenly, and the county troops at all levels within Qianzhong County were not yet fully formed, and the army under Lu Yuan’s command was at the front line.

The empty rear of Qianzhong County could not resist the sudden rebellious troops.

Especially within the rebel army, there emerged several martial arts experts whose strength had reached the first-class level. For a poorly defended county town, facing this kind of enemy, a city could be breached by just one of them.

In just a few days, several county towns were taken by the rebels, and thousands of immigrants who had just relocated, along with the officials in the city, died in the rebels’ retaliation.

These rebel forces acted quickly and had a clear target, heading straight for Stone City, the capital of Qianzhong County.

Luckily, the current defender of Qianzhong County was Liu City, a newly appointed direct disciple who was carefully nurtured by Lu Yuan from among his many disciples.

Not only did he possess first-class strength, but he was also a seasoned veteran who had been following Lu Yuan since the time of Shaoyang Prefecture.

Over the years, he fought in numerous battles north and south, and his sense of the battlefield was extremely sensitive.

When he heard of the rebellion, Liu City immediately gathered troops from several nearby cities and mobilized immigrants within the county city. Along with the original city guards, a force of three thousand men was assembled.

Then, he urgently sent a distress message to his Master at the front line near Lu River.

This series of actions were extremely quick, buying precious time to suppress the rebellion.

By the time Lu Yuan received the message, the rebel troops had just reached Stone City and were considering besieging the city.

But compared to their initial rebellion, the number of rebels had swelled considerably.

Their conquest of several cities had allowed their cause to spread rapidly, and many local Yi people discontent with Chu rule responded immediately.

In addition, they coerced some Yi civilians on their journey, so that by the time they reached Stone City, the rebel forces had significantly increased to almost twenty thousand people.

Despite their large number, most of the rebels were old and weak. Children shorter than four feet and frail elders whose walk was shaky were evident everywhere, even some robust women could be seen.

After being continuously ravaged by conflicts and Li Xiong stripping the land bare, the Yi people in Qianzhong County had suffered a severe blow.

The blow was not only the destruction of infrastructure and the disruption of production; it took a toll on almost four generations of men who were old, middle-aged, young, and children.

Today, in Qianzhong County, from grey-haired elderly men to ten or even eight or nine-year-old children, a considerable number of the remaining Yi males capable of wielding weapons have been conscripted to the front lines, involved in brutal warfare and continuously exhausted.

This torment and consumption were devastating to Qianzhong County.

It nearly destroyed the social structure of the area and almost turned it into a Kingdom of Daughters.

However, it seemed that this exact devastation limited the scope of the current rebellion to a mere twenty thousand people.

If these Yi men were still scattered across the territory.

It would be truly hard to imagine how far this sudden turmoil would escalate.

Perhaps then it would be a single rallying cry, and troops would gather like clouds, forming an army of a hundred thousand overnight?

“Fortunately, that didn’t happen.”

Lu Yuan looked at the battlefield that had just ended, filled with torn corpses, scattered weapons, and billowing smoke, thinking about this.

This was Changfeng County of Jinxi Mansion, the last stronghold of the rebellious Yi people.

Since seven days ago, when he led his troops back to Stone City and defeated the besieging rebels there with lightning speed.

These days, he had been pursuing the rebels, recapturing five captured counties in succession, and finally reached Changfeng County, the rebel army’s last city.

Now, the last two thousand plus Yi people who were defending the city were completely wiped out. The martial arts experts in the rebel army had no chance to escape in front of Lu Yuan and were killed on the spot.

“But these martial arts experts, with their recognizable skills, obviously inherited the legacies of the Divine Palace of Chilih. Was this rebellion in Qianzhong County their handiwork?”

Lu Yuan looked at the two corpses beside him.

Neither of these individuals seemed to be hiding or felt the need to conceal their identities.

While fighting him, they blatantly used their Divine Palace’s martial arts, making their origins abundantly clear.

It seemed they wanted him to know where they came from.

“Is this intimidation aimed at me?”

Lu Yuan stared at the bodies for a moment, a hint of coldness in his eyes.

Although he had anticipated this situation and was mentally prepared for it, he still felt a chill.