Blood Rain Pass—Lin Zheng had been back for half a month already.
Hong Ying stayed with him. She had accompanied him to watch the lingering autumn light over Blood Rain Pass, to see the former commandery city reduced to ruins, to see corpses and bones scattered everywhere, and to raise countless gravestones.
She had also accompanied Lin Zheng in receiving the scattered Blood Rain Legion. A full ten days passed, yet fewer than thirty thousand men returned.
The three hundred thousand troops of the Ancient Nanyang Kingdom had received their sovereign's edict and were preparing to leave. Great Cang's reinforcements had finally arrived as well. After seeing the Ancient Nanyang Kingdom's army off as it returned to Nanyang, Hong Ying once more accompanied Lin Zheng in rebuilding the new Blood Rain Pass.
Lin Zheng gently stroked his beloved wife's shoulder. "Ying'er, go home. Yaozong is still young. It won't do for neither his father nor mother to be by his side."
"But I can't rest easy about you either. Though the Blood Rain Legion's numbers have been replenished to two hundred thousand, these soldiers still need time to form real combat strength. Meanwhile, the Demon Country is in stormy waters and high winds. There are signs that the Black Bone Demon Race is absolutely unwilling to accept defeat. Under the Heavenly Machine Dao Sect's coordination, the other branches of the Devil Race have also reached a high degree of consensus. They could make a comeback at any time." Hong Ying was heavy with worry.
Lin Zheng laughed heartily. "A general dies before the ranks—it has been the ancient custom for a thousand years. If the enemy is powerful, so what if I die upon the battlefield? In this life, I, Lin Zheng, have had a brother whose fame spread throughout