Demon, don't come any closer!

Chapter 47 The Pact of Restoration

Near-sea prefecture, Fang county!

The coastal region comprises five counties.

Fang County, Rong County, Lang County, Lin County, Huo County.

Fang County was the most important of these, serving as the seat of the prefecture and having two sets of administrative bodies: the county seat and the prefecture seat.

The rebellion in Lang County and the capture of Lin County caused a great uproar when the news reached the coastal prefecture.

This was a bolt from the blue for Prefect Lin Fangmin. He had been honest and dutiful since he came to serve in the coastal prefecture, following the established rules and never changing the policies of his predecessors. He was friendly with the local powerful families, and in return, Lin Fangmin naturally received a share of the benefits.

Hello, I'm okay, everyone's okay.

The coastal prefecture was located in the southeast of the Great Chu, bordering the sea to the east and the Great Marsh to the south.

As the border area between the three races, the aquatic races of the East Sea had long had an alliance, agreeing not to invade each other. The vast southern marshland was sparsely populated, with no inhabitants for thousands of miles. After the first encounter between the human race and the spirit race, they established a boundary and there have been no further conflicts.

For Lin Fangmin, the prefect, it was just a matter of getting through the days. Once his term was over, he could use his connections to get transferred to a more prosperous region.

But today, Lang County and Lin County gave Lin Fangmin a pleasant surprise; he lost the territory of both counties in a single day.

Nearly half of the coastal county has been lost. If the state were to punish Lin Fangmin, he would not only be dismissed from office but also imprisoned.

Therefore, upon receiving the news, Lin Fangmin immediately and urgently summoned all the people present.

The argument had been going on for almost half a day, and Lin Fangmin was getting annoyed by every word. Now that the argument was still going on, Lin Fangmin couldn't take it anymore and slammed her hand on the table, shouting, "What a disgrace!"

"Under my jurisdiction, the coastal prefecture has produced a group of rebels—no, remnants of the previous dynasty."

"They openly raised the flag of the Yue Kingdom, attempting to restore the long-extinct Yue Kingdom."

"What's there to argue about? We must send troops to quell the rebellion. Only by quickly defeating the rebels and eliminating this group of remnants of the previous dynasty can we atone for our crimes."

For the sake of his own official position, Lin Fangmin had no other choice. Seeing that these people were not following the rules, Lin Fangmin had no choice but to take the initiative to urge them on.

Lin Fangmin directly addressed him: "Shou, you are the Commandant of the Prefecture, what do you say?"

"If we send troops, can we win?"

Sun Shou was tall and robust, with a strong physique, like an iron tower. He was a typical warrior. Without hesitation, he said, "The combined strength of Lang County and Lin County wouldn't even reach a thousand men."

"Our coastal prefecture is a border area between three tribes. Although there has been no war for a thousand years, we still have a garrison of troops there."

"Although there are only five hundred men, they are all regular soldiers, skilled in battle formations, and proficient in martial arts."

"As long as we can mobilize them, and with the assistance of the county troops, victory in this battle is assured."

Lin Fangmin frowned. The county had no command authority over these five hundred Fire Crow soldiers. Whether or not they could be allowed to send troops depended on the opinion of Colonel Huangfu Deguang.

The Fire Crow Army's elixirs, armor, and weapons are all directly supplied by the imperial court. They do not interfere in local government affairs. Capturing bandits and suppressing demons are not their duties. Their real responsibility is to guard against the aquatic and spirit races.

Water overcomes fire, but if the aquatic races come ashore, they will definitely be restrained by the Fire Crow Army. The southern Spirit Race, the closest tribe in the Great Swamp, is also the Water Spirit Tribe. This place is close to the sea, with abundant water vapor, which is beneficial to the Water Spirits, but it is also restrained by the Fire Crow Army.

Commanding them would be very difficult, so Lin Fangmin temporarily ignored that and asked Sun Shou, "What if we just rely on the prefecture?"

After a moment's thought, Sun Shou said, "I'm not entirely clear on the situation below."

"But there are only two thousand county soldiers in the county, and they only know the most basic assault formation and defensive formation. Our place is too remote, so even if there are demons, they won't be too strong. The Jinyu Guard Hundred Households are usually enough. Even if they are not enough, with the three shifts of yamen runners and the county soldiers, we can completely handle it."

"If we include Rong County and Huo County in the list of those who need to go on the expedition, we can gather a total of three thousand soldiers."

"Even the most basic assault formation is enough to rout the enemy."

"But this is only in theory. After all, the enemy has members of the Xiang family, a prominent clan with a long history of learning. When it comes to military strategy, I am definitely no match for them."

"Therefore, if we are to send troops, we should bring the Fire Raven Army with us to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Lin Fangmin slammed his hand on the table, extremely dissatisfied with Sun Shou's shirking of responsibility. This Sun Shou was able to serve as a prefectural commander, was a martial artist of the sixth rank, and had three thousand soldiers to help him. How could he not defeat the rebel army?

Even if the enemy has several sixth-rank martial artists, this is not a battle in the martial world, but a large-scale military campaign.

On the battlefield, the contest is about the number of soldiers. They have more people, their soldiers are more elite, and there are also many sixth-rank martial artists in the county. Neither side is weaker than the rebels. The only thing they lack is reputation.

Just as Lin Fangmin was about to reprimand Sun Shou, the door creaked open and was pushed open heavily.

Huangfu Deguang entered, clad in fiery red armor. The heavy armor was engraved with exquisite patterns, and a faint red glow emanated from it, like fire crows constantly circling and dancing around Huangfu Deguang.

After Huangfu Deguang entered, the temperature began to rise gradually, like a huge furnace, baking everyone.

Huangfu Deguang's gaze was sharp as he surveyed the officials of the coastal prefecture before finally turning to Prefect Lin Fangmin and saying, "I have obtained approval from above, and I will be fully responsible for suppressing the rebellion."

Huangfu Deguang produced a token. Lin Fangmin's eyes narrowed upon seeing it. Without arguing, she obediently asked, "What does Commandant Huangfu want the prefecture to do?"

"Just give the order directly."

Huangfu Deguang was very satisfied with Lin Fangmin's attitude and said in a deep voice, "The rebels number less than a thousand and are not worth mentioning."

"I shouldn't have had to step in, but they were too arrogant."

"This tiny place of two counties dares to declare the restoration of Dai Viet; it is truly outrageous."

"These remnants of the previous dynasty must be dealt with decisively."

"I want to take all the county soldiers with me. The county needs to produce ten more sixth-rank martial artists, fifty seventh-rank martial artists, one hundred eighth-rank martial artists, and three hundred ninth-rank martial artists."

Lin Fangmin's eyes widened. How could they possibly recruit so many martial artists outside of the county army?

Without giving Lin Fangmin any room to refuse, Huangfu Deguang said bluntly, "The Prime Minister already knows about the restoration of the remnants of the previous dynasty. This is a disgrace to us, and you have no room to refuse."

"Whether it's a plea or a threat, I don't care. I just want this many martial artists."

"In this battle, the Prime Minister is watching us closely; we cannot afford to lose."

"We must be fully prepared, strike with lightning speed, and utterly crush the enemy."

"Declare to the world that rebellion will not end well."

Sun Shou stood up and said in a deep voice, "Great Chu will surely win!"

After the event ended and everyone left, Sun Shou pushed open the door to the secret chamber. Looking at the familiar faces, he calmly announced, "The Imperial Weapon, the Yue King Sword, has been born!"

"Gentlemen, the time to restore our kingdom has come."