Chapter 109: Divine Weapons Descending from Heaven |
Spring of the nineteenth year of Chongming.
The Wu Kingdom's eighty thousand strong army, colluding with the "King of the Southwest" Ma Huaian, launched a general offensive against the Jing Kingdom.
The main battlefield of this war was chosen at Liaoyuan City, which was the easiest to break through.
In the past, when Emperor Taizu came here, he once said he hoped the people of the Jing Kingdom would be like a single spark starting a prairie fire, spreading all over the world.
Annihilating the barbarians and annexing the Wu Kingdom, that's why it was named Liaoyuan City.
Unfortunately, not only did things not go as wished now, but the enemy was at the city gates, and it was in imminent danger.
As the commander-in-chief, Liao Shouyi naturally had to sit in the most dangerous place.
Eight thousand people defending the city, ten times the enemy attacking.
This battle was not easy to fight.
The Wu Kingdom was anxious to break the city, and the Jing Kingdom army defended to the death.
In less than ten short days.
The Jing Kingdom had less than four thousand people left.
Although they had killed at least over ten thousand of the Wu Kingdom's troops, in this kind of siege warfare, the fewer the people, the more disadvantageous it was.
This place was originally a military fortress, without many commoners.
Even if all were conscripted, it would only add four or five thousand cannon fodder.
Among them, the old, weak, sick, disabled, women, and children accounted for more than half.
Liao Shouyi couldn't bear to let them die, so he ordered the north city gate to be opened.
Those unwilling to help defend the city could leave.
Nearly eighty percent of the city's commoners left.
Nearly a thousand people remained to stay and defend the city.
Another ten days passed, and the Jing Kingdom army only had over two thousand seven hundred people left.
All the houses that could be dismantled were dismantled, the stones were all thrown, the wood was all burned, and the lamp oil was poured clean.
The Wu Kingdom brought in large siege ladders, eight zhang high and ten zhang wide, requiring hundreds of people to push them over.
Top to bottom, they were all covered with hard leather armor mixed with wooden armor.
The Wu Kingdom soldiers climbed up from the internal stairs and shot arrows at the city wall.
The Jing Kingdom army, lacking city defense equipment, was helpless.
Seeing this, Liao Shouyi knew that if they continued to defend, Liaoyuan City would definitely be broken.
He simply gritted his teeth, gathered his troops, and opened the city gate to meet the attack.
The Wu Kingdom army really didn't expect that he would dare to go out of the city to fight at this time.
For a moment, their formation was in chaos, and they were at a loss under the impact of the over two thousand people.
It wasn't until the Wu Kingdom general personally arrived to supervise the battle, ordering that killing one Jing Kingdom person would be rewarded with ten taels of silver.
Killing a military officer of the fifth rank or above would be rewarded with thirty taels.
Whoever killed Liao Shouyi would be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold and promoted three ranks!
Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men, not to mention the Wu Kingdom already had the advantage.
Tens of thousands of people swarmed up, surrounding the over two thousand people in the middle.
Even though Liao Shouyi led two or three hundred cavalry, it was difficult to break out.
Seeing the number of his own country's soldiers getting fewer and fewer, Liao Shouyi, bathed in blood, couldn't help but look in the direction of his hometown.
He thought of his wife Qiaohua, and his son Liao Licheng.
Having fought on the battlefield for half his life, now he was going to be wrapped in horsehide.
Liao Shouyi sat on the horseback dyed red with blood, reached into his embrace, and touched a piece of paper.
That was what he wanted Chu Xun to help burn for his mother a long time ago, and later took back.
He believed that in this life he had a clear conscience towards the Jing Kingdom and the brothers in the army, only letting down his family.
As far as the eye could see, it was all Wu Kingdom soldiers, each like a hungry wolf with green eyes.
Liao Shouyi held the long knife with a curled edge, gritted his teeth, and gripped the hilt tightly again.
"Even if I die, I must make you remember that the sons of the Jing Kingdom are not to be underestimated!"
"Kill!"
The Jing Kingdom soldiers knew they would die, but since they dared to go out of the city, they were not afraid of death.
Good sons should serve the country with their deaths.
Although called foolish loyalty, it was a unique blood nature in the army.
Just as Liao Shouyi roared, about to lead his blood-soaked, scarred guards to charge.
A familiar sound suddenly reached his ears.
Caw—
Caw—
He had heard this sound for many years, and subconsciously looked up.
He saw a dark cloud flying rapidly from the distant horizon.
Its speed was like thunder and lightning.
In an instant, it arrived in front of him.
Even the fighting soldiers couldn't help but look up.
"Is it raining?" someone asked subconsciously.
They saw the raindrops falling from the sky gradually becoming clear from far to near.
The person who spoke just now suddenly shrank his pupils and exclaimed, "It's not rain! It's..."
"Swords!"
Long swords were thrown down from high in the sky.
Accompanied by the piercing whistle of breaking through the air, as if wanting to split the bloody earth.
Boom—
Amidst the loud noise, these long swords pierced heavily into the ground in front of Liao Shouyi.
The power was so strong that the flags the Jing Kingdom remnant soldiers desperately supported were blown to flutter loudly.
Liao Shouyi's armor was full of marks from knives and spears, dilapidated.
His face was covered in blood, almost covering his eyes.
He stared blankly at the long swords descending from heaven, separating the Jing Kingdom and Wu Kingdom soldiers.
Someone looked up at the sky, only then seeing clearly that the dark cloud was dozens of crows of astonishing size.
After dropping the long swords, they didn't leave immediately.
Instead, they continuously let out "caw caw" sounds.
This sound was like a nightmare, bringing great psychological pressure to the Wu Kingdom soldiers.
The Wu Kingdom general supervising the battle from behind snorted deeply, "Playing the devil! Blow the horn, charge, crush them in one fell swoop!"
A Wu Kingdom centurion closest to the frontline took the lead, swinging his knife to chop at the long swords ahead.
No matter what you are, you can't stop the Wu Kingdom's pace of attack!
The Wu Kingdom's weapons were very famous and very good, at least better than the Jing Kingdom's.
With one chop, a crisp sound was heard in his ears, and a piece of broken weapon flew out from in front of him.
The centurion sneered. The Wu Kingdom's weapons were number one in the world, who didn't know, who hadn't heard.
Nine out of ten of the illustrious divine weapons in the martial arts world came from the Wu Kingdom.
The Jing Kingdom getting some livestock to throw swords was simply ridiculous.
He snorted, lifted his own knife, and was about to chop again, but felt something was wrong.
The knife seemed much lighter.
Looking up, he was immediately stunned.
The sharp weapon forged by the army blacksmith had actually been sliced off a section.
"The piece that flew out just now was my knife?"
The centurion lowered his head in astonishment. The long sword in front of him was still intact, not even a chip could be seen on the blade.
"What a sharp sword!" he couldn't help but praise.
However, the next moment, a white light suddenly flew out from the sword, sweeping across dozens of meters ahead in an instant.
The centurion had no time to react at all before his whole body went stiff, and he made no more sound.
Including the colleagues and soldiers beside and behind him, it was all the same.
The dragon-like white light, after wreaking havoc for a while, returned to the long sword.
Because of this, an extra crack appeared on the sword body.
"What is that!" The soldiers of both countries who saw this scene all turned pale with fright.
Only Liao Shouyi looked at the high sky with eyes full of astonishment, and a trace of nostalgia.
"It's Brother Xun's crows..."
His gaze shifted and fell on the long sword in front of him.
He saw the scene of the white light slaughtering the enemy just now.
Very shocking!
Not being on the spot, one couldn't feel the stimulation of the light flashing by and over a dozen people dying a violent death.
This was not something human power could achieve, not even a Rank 2 martial artist.
Only a Rank 1 martial artist who had reached the limit of the human body, and an Innate Grandmaster who had surpassed this limit, might be possible.
But there were only long swords in front of him, no Innate Grandmaster.
In Liao Shouyi's mind, the figure of a handsome youth swinging a large hammer emerged.
What kind of grandson did Brother Xun actually acknowledge?
But at this moment, there was no time to think about this question, and nowhere to seek an answer.
Liao Shouyi jumped off his horse, reached out, and grabbed the hilt of the sword in front of him.
It was bone-chillingly cold to the touch. Even if it was just the hilt, there was still an irresistible sense of sharpness.
He shouted loudly, "Take the weapons!"
The Jing Kingdom soldiers who reacted hurriedly stepped forward and took the long swords in their hands.
Liao Shouyi roared, "For the Jing Kingdom!"
"To go back alive!"
"Let them die!"
The remaining over a thousand Jing Kingdom soldiers roared along with him one after another.
"Let them die!"
Sword light suddenly rose, gorgeous and brutal.
The crows in the sky hovered over the battlefield, cawing.
The Wu Kingdom general supervising the battle watched this scene with an ashen face, almost vomiting blood.
He really wanted to know, what kind of swords were these!
Whose swords!
No one could answer his question. Perhaps someone knew the answer, but wouldn't tell him.
Half a day later, Chu Xun only felt his body tremble.
An even more fierce karmic fire suddenly appeared in his soul, almost burning through the sky.
Chu Xun still didn't feel any discomfort, only that the incense value was consumed twice as fast as before.
But the speed at which physical impurities were removed also increased.
Feeling his body becoming increasingly ethereal, that exhilarating feeling of floating like an immortal made Chu Xun couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Seven years ago, he forcefully changed Liao Shouyi's fate against the heavens, extending his lifespan by seven years.
Seven years later, he did the same thing again.
Although he didn't know how many years of lifespan this could extend, judging from the reaction of the karmic fire, it should be very good.
If the Great Dao of Karma had self-consciousness, it must be very angry right now.
Never seen someone play cards so out of order.
Spring of the nineteenth year of Chongming.
The General of the Southwest, Marquis of Yongan, received divine weapons descending from heaven.
With a multitude of two thousand, he repelled a formidable enemy dozens of times their number.
Liaoyuan City, under extremely unbelievable circumstances, was held!
When the news reached the Capital City, the civil and military officials of the whole court couldn't believe it.
They had already prepared for Liaoyuan City to fall, and to cede territory and pay indemnities to sue for peace.
Only the Minister of Revenue, Zhang Jingheng, resolutely disagreed with suing for peace.
He believed that wars should be resolved within one generation as much as possible, so that the next two or three generations, or even more, could be stable.
Losing today and ceding territory for peace, losing tomorrow and paying indemnities and marrying off princesses, when would it end?
Either don't fight and bow down as subjects.
Or fight until the mountains and rivers are broken, shedding the last drop of blood.
The Jing Kingdom had tens of millions of commoners, he didn't believe the Wu Kingdom could crush them with a mere hundred thousand troops!
It wasn't until the news of Liaoyuan City being held came back that Zhang Jingheng breathed a sigh of relief.
It was just that although he resolutely opposed suing for peace, he was also full of doubts like the other officials.
Divine weapons descending from heaven?
Where did the divine weapons come from?
Late at night on this day.
The bright moon was in the sky, so bright it seemed to have laid a layer of white frost on the earth.
In the dead of night in Pinecone Village, Chu Xun opened his eyes in the room.
The remaining time for the divine office to be hidden was about to return to zero.
In previous years, whenever this moment came, he would go to the Zhangnan County City God Temple to stay for a night.
When the sun rose the next morning, everything would be fine.
But this year was different.
He reached out and grabbed the two cloth bags already prepared beside him.
Lifting them forcefully, he carried them on his shoulders.
With one step, he had already gone from inside the room to outside the courtyard.
The crows had already returned from the Southwest battlefield. Seeing Chu Xun leaving with the bags on his back, they had no intention of following.
They just shook their heads and flapped their wings a couple of times, as if it was no big deal.
Chu Xun carried the bags, step by step.
Every step exceeded one hundred and eighty meters!
Seven years ago, the same step was only one hundred and two meters.
The improvement brought by the karmic fire burning the body became increasingly terrifying as time passed.
One step one hundred and eighty meters, ten steps was one thousand eight hundred meters.
In about a hundred steps, Chu Xun had already arrived at the Songliu Water God Temple.
A few behemoths in the river were faintly visible underwater.
Chu Xun glanced at the divine statue in the temple, didn't stop, but continued to walk forward.
Crossing the woods on the west side of the Songliu Water God Temple was a field, and a village was faintly visible ahead.
This was no longer Pingshui Town, but the territory of the neighboring Xihuai County.
For the first time in several years, Chu Xun entered the territory of another county at this time.
Having already scouted the direction, he walked towards the target with ease.
Not long after, he arrived at the Xihuai County City God Temple.
There was a temple keeper here, an old man in his fifties.
It was said that when he was young, he accidentally injured someone and got into seven or eight years of prison disaster.
When he came out, he found out that his son had drowned playing in the water alone by the river shortly after he went to prison.
His wife subsequently remarried, and his parents felt too ashamed, both hanging themselves stimulated by various sarcastic remarks.
To say bitter, he was indeed very bitter.
Therefore, he came to be a temple keeper, praying every day for his parents who hanged themselves and his son who drowned.
Hoping the immortal gods would bless them so they could reincarnate well and live a good life.
At this moment, the old man had already gone to sleep in the bedroom behind the temple.
Chu Xun didn't knock on the door, but went straight through the courtyard wall.
County City God Temples were usually not too big, unlike the Capital City God Temple which had so many different rooms.
There was only one main hall here, and the divine statues of the City God, Civil Judge, Martial Judge, Day Wandering God, and Night Wandering God were all placed together.
The smell of incense in the temple was very clear, giant disc-shaped longevity incense, curling green smoke rising.
Several divine statues stood deep in the main hall, some with majestic faces, some looking fierce and malicious.
Chu Xun entered the main hall, and in less than a few breaths, the Civil Judge revealed his true body.
Politely coming up to bow and salute, he asked, "I wonder which Immortal Elder has come to my Xihuai County City God Temple, is there a matter?"
Chu Xun looked at him and said, "You don't need to be so polite to me."
The Civil Judge was still refined and courteous, saying, "The Immortal Elder's cultivation is profound, one look and I know you are an expert who has attained the Dao through cultivation. We belong to the Xihuai County Underworld, naturally we should do our duties as hosts."
"If the Immortal Elder has any instructions, just say it."
Chu Xun sighed and said, "You really don't need to be so polite to me. You acting like this makes it very difficult for me."
The Civil Judge was somewhat puzzled and asked, "What is so difficult for the Immortal Elder?"
As they spoke, the time for the divine office to be hidden returned to zero.
The aura belonging to the Songliu Water God's spirit was quickly sensed by the Civil Judge.
He was stunned for a moment, and then a trace of scarlet color lit up in his slightly blurry eyes.
"So it's an evil cult wild god! How audacious, there is a road to heaven but you don't walk it, there is no door to hell but you barge in!"
Saying that, he spread his hands, and the Judge's Brush and the Book of Good and Evil suddenly appeared.
The Civil Judge held the Judge's Brush in one hand and swept ink towards Chu Xun.
However, Chu Xun's speed was faster than his.
Flipping his hand, a bead covered with holes and several flame patterns spreading on it fell from his cuff.
It was exactly the old bat's wind bone.
Urged by spiritual energy, a fierce wind and fire blew out from the wind bone.
The ink swept over by the Civil Judge had just flown out from the Book of Good and Evil when it was burned clean by the wind and fire.
Then it hit the Civil Judge directly. This Xihuai County incense god had a face full of horror, his whole body cracked, emitting black smoke like a chimney.
Chu Xun curled his lip and said, "I told you not to be so polite, it makes it hard for me to just kill you directly."
[End of Chapter]
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