We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real? Chapter 378: Red Wedding Attire and White Funeral Attire, Both in the Same Month, Not Bad

Following the collapse of Jin Province, Jin Kingdom's forces had pushed their way into Huai Province.

Should Huai Province also crumble, Qin Kingdom's Guanzhong territory would lie completely exposed, putting even the imperial capital at grave risk of conquest.

Then, Xiao Mo would need to pull back his army to defend Qin Kingdom, yet the challenges would only intensify upon retreat.

Indeed, Xiao Mo's withdrawal would grant Chu Kingdom a much-needed breather, forcing them to relinquish the lands they had recently seized.

Regrouped, Chu Kingdom could launch a fierce counteroffensive.

With frontlines shrinking and the armies of the three kingdoms converging on Qin Kingdom's Guanzhong heartland, disaster would surely strike Qin.

Commanding general Yan Liuyun of Jin Kingdom was fully aware of this peril.

Thus, Yan Liuyun aimed to seize Huaishan Pass without delay, thrust into Huai Province, and storm straight for the Qin capital!

Yet upon Yan Liuyun's arrival at Huaishan Pass, First Prince Qin Jingsu had beaten him there.

This represented every soldier Qin Kingdom could muster at present. Even seventy percent of the Iron Tiger Army and Forbidden Army protecting the capital had been redeployed!

Qin Jingsu understood his mission perfectly: hold Huaishan Pass at all costs, banking on Frost Prince Xiao Mo and Western Pacification Prince to secure victories elsewhere before rushing to his aid.

Besides, while unrest stirred in parts of the former Zhei Kingdom lands amid the turmoil, Northern Pacification Prince was swiftly quelling it. Once resolved, he too could hurry to reinforce.

Scaling the battlements, Qin Jingsu gazed down at Jin Kingdom's million-strong host arrayed before the walls, his eyes locking on his second brother leading the vanguard. His brows knitted in deep concern.

"Second brother, we share the same blood as brothers—how did things turn out like this?"

Spiritual energy boomed Qin Jingsu's voice across the field.

"Do you realize that upon hearing of your treason, Mother Empress has refused food and water, wasting away day by day? And how Third Sister wept, gripping my sleeve upon the news?"

Qin Jingsu's words hung heavy, drawing stares from Jin Kingdom's officers toward Qin Jingyuan, eager for his response.

"How did it come to this? In governance, scholarship, and cultivation talent, how could I possibly trail you, my elder brother! The Crown Prince seat was rightfully mine, stolen by elder brother's grasp. Why?

Just because elder brother entered the world a few years ahead?"

Qin Jingyuan clenched his reins fiercely, eyes blazing at his brother atop the walls.

His brother's accusation drew a heavy sigh from Qin Jingsu, grief clouding his gaze. "Second brother, is the throne truly worth this to you? Had I foreseen you'd sink to such depths, I'd have forsaken this cursed seat of Qin!"

"Hahaha," Qin Jingyuan's laughter thundered, "Such noble words from you—only because fate has sealed your doom? Because retreat is impossible for me?"

"Jingyuan! Blood binds us as brothers!" Qin Jingsu roared in fury.

"In royal bloodlines, brothers are the foulest curse!" Qin Jingyuan met his brother's stare coolly, shaking his head. "Qin Jingsu, talk achieves nothing. Let battle decide!"

With that, Qin Jingyuan saluted Marquis Yan Liuyun. "General, lend your strength to breach these walls. Once I claim Qin's throne, eternal alliance with Jin shall bind us, and I offer three provinces as tribute!"

"Excellent!" Yan Liuyun's arm swept high, command echoing army-wide. "Troops, hear me! Charge the walls!"

Yan Liuyun's order unleashed Jin Kingdom's horde in a tidal assault, yet Huaishan Pass stood as Qin's vital bulwark—formidable to hold, nightmarish to storm. Breaching it proved no simple feat.

Far from ordinary, First Prince Qin Jingsu boasted battlefield command experience. His presence ignited Qin troops' spirits to blazing heights!

Four months flashed by in relentless clash.

Jin Kingdom threw every tactic at the pass, yielding zero ground.

Meanwhile, Chu Kingdom fared far worse: Xiao Mo and Xiahou Nan carved dual paths deep into its heart, tightening the noose around Chu.

Over these four months, Chu lost city after city to the invaders.

Yan Kingdom's front crumbled too.

Western Pacification Prince unleashed a prodigy general, Bai Qi, whose cunning mirrored young Frost Prince—unpredictable, masterful in strategy.

Yan's early edge vanished; Qin forces seized momentum.

"Your Highness, your one hundred fifty thousand men have idled, merely spectating as our Jin soldiers bleed out below the walls. Is this fitting?"

Within the command tent, Jiang Ganling confronted Qin Jingyuan, rage from months of frustration boiling over.

Qin Jingyuan shot him a cold glance. "True, one hundred fifty thousand follow my banner, all Qin-born, kin to those atop the walls. Pitting them against brothers—what ferocity could they muster?

Besides, absent my guidance, you'd never have neared Huaishan Pass, much less pierced Qin borders!"

"You!" Deputy General Jiang Ganling lunged forward, fists itching for argument. Yan Liuyun yanked him back sharply. "Stand down, hold your tongues. General Jiang's fire burns hot—four months of fruitless siege would fray anyone. Forgive his bluntness, Your Highness."

Deep down, Yan Liuyun seethed too.

Jin soldiers had borne the brunt, dying in droves. Every push for more from Qin Jingyuan met sly evasion.

Yan Liuyun saw through it: Qin Jingyuan hoarded strength for leverage at the capital's fall. Still, Yan Liuyun restrained himself.

Shattering unity now gained nothing. When Qin lay carved up among the allies, Qin Jingyuan's schemes would face judgment!

"This deadlock can't persist. Has Your Highness any clever stratagem?" Yan Liuyun probed Qin Jingyuan.

He doubted Qin Jingyuan felt no urgency if the capital held firm!

"No genius scheme, merely a gambit—question is, General, do you dare seize it?" Qin Jingyuan smirked coldly.

"Prince Jing, name it boldly," Yan Liuyun urged with feigned warmth.

Qin Jingyuan advanced, tracing a path across the sand map. "Traverse Black Beast Forest—bypass Huaishan Pass outright, strike Huaishan City from its rear."

"What nonsense is this? Mocking our wits?"

Deputy General Gai Jing exploded forward in wrath.

"Black Beast Forest's miasma devours all. Only Dragon Gate realm experts endure, fueling spiritual energy nonstop. Tell me, how many such powerhouses line our ranks? March through, and what scraps of Jin's army survive? Even through, could we stand against Qin?"

Qin Jingyuan eyed Gai Jing like an idiot, pressing on. "Miasma plagues Black Beast Forest, yes, but in my domain lately, I befriended many. Over drinks, a wandering medical cultivator spilled the secret: pills from Dragon Roar Grass and Phoenix Blood Flower fend off miasma five hours!

He aimed to gift the recipe to my father; I claimed it first.

The healer? Silenced forever—likely reborn by now.

Five hours suffices to cross.

Emerging behind Huaishan City, defenses there are paper-thin, garrisons scant. We'll shatter them utterly.

Else, how expect swift fall of Huaishan Pass?

Trust me, employ this path.

Doubt me, siege alone.

Rebellion binds my fate to yours—no sabotage of my own path."

"..."

Silence gripped the tent; Qin Jingyuan's pitch sowed doubt among the generals.

Yan Liuyun's crew harbored mistrust, yet as Qin Jingyuan noted, treason left no retreat.

Faking rebellion? Unlikely!

Jin had courted him first.

Court dossiers pegged the throne as his lifeblood; no mere prince's lot would sate him.

Yan Liuyun rejected any feigned loyalty.

"Show the pill recipe," Yan Liuyun demanded post-deliberation.

Qin Jingyuan promptly unveiled it.

Scrutinizing the formula, Yan Liuyun passed it to a deputy. "Deliver to Elder Hu—verify integrity. If sound, brew batches urgently."

"Understood!" The deputy dashed off.

Next dawn, Jin forces brewed the antidote, testing on a Qi Refinement realm soldier venturing into Black Beast Forest.

Qin Jingyuan's claims held true.

Pills indeed repelled miasma.

Yan Liuyun mobilized gatherers for herbs, forging pills covertly at the camp's rear, distributing in waves.

Feigned assaults on the pass persisted.

Two months on, seven hundred thousand doses reached the ranks.

Yan Liuyun wasted no time, decreeing: dine at yin hour's start, march mid-yin. Destination? High command only knew.

"General, truly crossing Black Beast Forest tomorrow?" Eve of march, Deputy General Liu Ying entered Yan Liuyun's tent. "This unease gnaws at me, a vague dread."

"Cast doubts aside." Yan Liuyun rose, clapping Liu Ying's shoulder. "Decision made—question not its cause. Review fresh dispatches."

Liu Ying scanned Chu and Yan fronts' reports, paling. "Chu's General Xiang surrendered? Bai Qi crushed Yan utterly, wiping three hundred thousand?!"

"Precisely..."

Yan Liuyun exhaled deeply.

"Qin's war prowess surges, heavens blessing with Frost Prince and Bai Qi's genius. Even Xiahou Nan, Xiang Wen bow to Xiao Mo.

Prolonging invites doom.

Delay no more.

Else, twists doom us to Jin retreat—squandering this golden chance!

Partition Qin, claim eternal glory!

In your boots... what choice?"

Liu Ying bowed silent; who spurned such honors?

He craved it too.

"Rest now. That Qin Jingyuan—I'll watch him close. No suicidal fool he!"

Yan Liuyun's hands locked behind, sneering into the night beyond the flap.

Deep night, tent dim, Ji Yue slumbered peacefully, breaths even on her back.

Qin Jingyuan slipped from sheets, moonlight guiding brush to paper, inscribing line upon line.

Done, he dried ink, sealed in envelope.

Gazing at his wife nearby, Qin Jingyuan's face twisted in tangled emotion.

"Crossing paths with me this life—your misfortune."

A faint smile, he smoothed her stray locks, set envelope by pillow.

Then, unclasping neck's jade pendant.

Seals formed, activating pendant's array enveloping Ji Yue's bed.

Qin ruler's coming-of-age gift to Qin Jingyuan.

Impenetrable save by owner's death—even to Jade Purity realm. Qin Jingyuan's tweak added slumber inducement.

All set, he dragged chair, sat vigil by the wife he'd long scorned.

Qin Jingyuan stared endlessly, ages passing in gaze.

Yin hour next morn, Jin host feasted.

Seven hundred thousand swallowed antidotes.

Mid-yin quarter, legions surged for Black Beast Forest.

"Prince Jing, hold rear alone—no need to join. These two hundred thousand remain to bolster you against surprises," Yan Liuyun grinned to Qin Jingyuan pre-march.

"Gratitude, Your Excellency. Smooth travels," Qin Jingyuan bowed smiling.

Yan Liuyun's ploy was clear: fear defection mid-crossing, his one hundred fifty thousand sowing chaos, or sabotage.

'Bolster' troops? Mere spies.

"I claim Prince Jing's blessings." Yan Liuyun spurred mount, spiritual energy rippling ranks-wide. "Forward!"

Yan Liuyun's bark propelled the colossus toward Black Beast Forest.

Mounted, Qin Jingyuan watched seven hundred thousand vanish.

Summer gust swept by. Tilting skyward, Qin Jingyuan murmured:

"July returns..."

Unbidden, wedding day resurfaced.

"Red robes of joy, white shrouds of death—same month. Fitting end."