Qi Xuansu and Little Yin set off on their return journey from Mount Suzuka. They could clearly feel that the atmosphere throughout Ise Province had changed. It was tense and chaotic, as if facing a great enemy.0

The Ise-jingu not only had to guard against Mount Suzuka behind them but also had to resist the Daoist army pressing forward from the front. Relying solely on the Sonno-joi faction within Ise Province was far from enough. They had to request reinforcements. Since the royal family and the Ise-jingu were essentially one entity, the former bore an inescapable responsibility in this matter.0

More critically, as the ancestral seat of the Tenmon Sect and the foremost of the Three Grand Shrines, the Ise-jingu hid far too many secrets regarding Fenglin. If it were to fall into Daoist hands, the Sonno-joi faction would have virtually no secrets left. This was something they could never accept.0

Thus, even though the Sonno-joi faction knew full well that the Daoists’ intended to besiege one point to draw reinforcements and that Ise Province was now a trap, they still had to grit their teeth and jump right in.0

This was an open scheme.0

For Qi Xuansu, this was naturally a good thing. After all, the greater the chaos, the less...0