Book 13: Chapter 17: Those Who View Death As a Return Home

The moon was bright.

A wooden crane flew through the faint white clouds. For Lin Xi and the others on the wooden crane, the moon above their heads seemed especially round, especially snow-white, making one unable to help but produce the wonderful illusion of flying within this bright moon.

Of course, under the cover of darkness and clouds, this type of illusion was something those on the ground had no chance of experience.

Below them was a brightly lit glorious great city.

This was one of Xiangshui Province’s most bustling great cities, Prosperous Cloud City. It was still three provinces away from South Tomb Province.

Even the fastest military intelligence needed time to arrive. A bit of delay was inevitable even between the front line cities and military, let alone among the civilians.

Prosperous Cloud City’s people were still living peacefully.

…

Meanwhile, at the same time.

On the city gate tower of South Tomb Province’s Nine Peace City, City Supervisor Zhuo Hezhi stood under a fluttering military banner, watching the densely packed Great Mang army in the darkness. His eyes slowly narrowed.

During the daytime, Nine Peace City’s region was also extremely calm, but when night descended, the densely packed Great Mang army appeared in the scouting troops’ eyes, the curtains to a great battle unfolding.

This Great Mang army of over sixty thousand already carried out three attacks against Nine Peace City.

Some gorges and fortifications prepared five hundred meters outside the city had already been completely flattened by the battles that had previously taken place… During these days, Nine Peace City didn’t suffer any rain, but the surface in this five hundred meters region was already completely soaked in the blood of soldiers and horses, becoming incredibly muddy.

Even the highest ranking officer on Yunqin’s side in this city, Chen Moqing, was killed while defending one side, dying under the attack of an enemy expert who scaled the city walls through an escalade.

Zhuo Hezhi viewed his own commanding abilities as inferior to Chen Moqing’s who came from the Dragon Snake Border Army, but at this moment, when he saw the distant densely packed Great Mang soldiers begin to push forward again, his mood instead miraculously became calm.

During the previous siege, most of the enemy’s large scale escalades and mobile Stone Catapult Carts were already destroyed by the Yunqin army who charged out of the city’s western gates. Now that the enemy displayed this type of movements, it meant that their opponent wished to completely decide victory or defeat before the sky brightened. Together with the city wall on Yunqin’s side already being seventy to eighty percent broken, the following battle already didn’t have much of a connection to strategy, just completely turning into a flesh against flesh fighting. What he needed to do also became extremely simple, which was to stand on this wall, to fight to the death with all of the Yunqin soldiers in the city.

They either fell in battle or defended the city, there were only these types of results.

“For Yunqin!”

Mountain collapsing earth splitting roars quickly sounded again.

After three continuous intense battles without much time for rest in between, the already extremely weary and wounded Yunqin soldiers began to draw their bowstrings, firing these arrows that already didn’t number many with even more resolution, but also in a more cherished manner. The crossbow carts and other heavy objects that were already damaged were directly sent smashing down like boulders.

Under the cover of shield bearing soldiers, Great Mang’s archers also frantically fired at the walls. The shrill sounds of arrows shooting through the air was enough to normally make one’s scalp turn numb, yet at this time, the ears of all of the Yunqin soldiers on the city tower seemed to have automatically filtered out this type of terrifying sound. All of these soldiers only carried out the military orders being fiercely shouted from their commanding officers without any hesitation.

On the city walls, beneath the city walls, waves of blood scattered everywhere.

In the wave of blood,under the support of several dozen Great Mang soul weapon heavy armored soldiers, a heavy wooden battering ram began to smash against the city gates. The city moat that was only dug in a hurry after the southern expedition became disadvantageous was plugged up on several points. Over ten thousand Great Mang soldiers passed through these regions, relying on a few large scale escalades, long ladders and other things to climb up the city walls like ants under the cover of the archery army and some thrown military equipment.

Under fierce shouts, groups of Yunqin soldiers disregarded the injuries from arrows, forcefully pushing down the long stairs together with their companions, frantically hacking down the Great Mang soldiers who crawled up. When one group fell, another group would fill in the gap.

…

The focal point of the attack was near the city gate.

The heavy objects above had already completely smashed down, a path was now cleared out through the price of many Great Mang corpses.

Arrows couldn’t penetrate the soul weapon heavy armors and heavy armored cavalry soldiers who gathered here. A large amount of soldiers had already gathered to the side of the city gate.

Whenever the steel covered part of the battering ram smashed into the extremely thick city gates, there would be a great muffled noise and explosive wood shattering sounds.

Under continuous clashes, again and again, the extremely thick city gates completely split apart. The piles of earth and rocks behind the entrance completely loosened, crumbling down and producing an opening.

The several Yunqin heavy armored soldiers holding axes inside released roars at the same time, decisively filling in that opening.

These Yunqin heavy armored soldiers subconsciously expected that the enemies who forcefully charged through even more earth and stones would definitely be wearing soul weapon heavy armor that arrows and spears couldn’t pierce through. However, what appeared before their eyes in this instant were four nightmarish chains.

The black chains carried some magma-like crimson red runes. The instant they slid through the hole and brandished about in midair, they were instantly covered in true flames, the chains directly turning completely red.

The chains swept about, winding about Yunqin heavy armors’ legs one after another. The power contained within these chains wasn’t enough to make all of these Yunqin soldiers completely fall, but the terrifying heat quickly passed through the metals that conducted heat extremely well, entering inside the heavy armors.

These Yunqin soldiers’ wills were all extremely tough. When even smoke that reeked of burnt skin was released from between the cracks of their soul weapon heavy armors, they only released extremely muffled fierce shouts.

Under the escort of more than ten Great Mang soul weapon heavy armors, two red robed Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicators dressed in red robes passed through the gate opening. Raging flames and sparks were released from these two Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicators’ sleeves, the four chains that separately flew out from each sleeve winding around even more Yunqin heavy armors, quickly crumbling these Yunqin heavy armors’ fighting strength through extreme temperature.

Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicators who had heavy armored soldiers to coordinate with this method they grasped were completely the bane of Yunqin heavy armors. While watching Great Mang soldiers cut in like a hot knife through butter, completely unstoppable, a certain figure suddenly rushed out from within the earth piled up next to the city gates.

Before the Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicator could react, a streak of cold radiance in this figure’s hands fiercely entered his throat.

Blood gushed out crazily from this Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicator’s ruptured throat, the fiery light on his body immediately starting to quickly go out.

The other Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicator released a miserable great roar. His sleeves swept towards this figure, the upper body of this figure completely erupting into flames. However, under a miserable howl, one of this figure’s legs kicked this Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicator’s body. A sharp blade shot out from his toe tip, fiercely digging into this Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicator’s abdomen.

This Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicator screamed, collapsing onto the ground.

Since this Yunqin cultivator’s final soul force couldn’t be released in time, the injury to the abdomen wasn’t enough to take the Divine Adjudicator’s life. However, this strike was still enough to make this Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicator lose his strength and completely shiver in fear.

…

Not far out, an old scholarly elder standing in the darkness took a deep breath, silently and solemnly showing this Yunqin cultivator burning to death a bow of respect.

That Yunqin officer’s cultivation couldn’t even compare to any Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicator, but he was better at fighting than these Purgatory Mountain Divine Adjudicators, had greater resolution to view death as a return home.

After bowing in respect, this aged Yunqin cultivator drew the longsword on his back, also sprinting forward with the resolution to die here.

However, right at this instant, this aged Yunqin cultivator’s rapidly accelerating figure suddenly stopped.

He raised his head to look toward a city wall.

In that direction, a world shocking roar and cries of alarm erupted.

An escalade was currently reaching towards that city wall.

On the escalade was a stalwart figure wearing a cloak that was red like blood, fluttering behind him in the air.

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