Chapter 1141: I Want to Go to Xuelao City
Gou Hanshi was silent for a moment, then said, "I know who he is."
Liang Hongzhuang was Liang Wangsun's younger brother, and he had another hidden connection with the Lishan Sword Sect—he was a clansman of Liang Banhu and Liang Xiaoxiao.
The two of them remained silent, the stone chamber very quiet.
Just as they had discussed earlier, this time unexpected losses might occur, some people they believed shouldn't die so soon... would die.
Liang Hongzhuang was such a person. He was an important figure in the Liang Prince's Mansion and a Star Gathering realm expert.
The war had only been going on for a few days. According to past patterns, it was far from reaching its most brutal stage, yet he had already died.
Chen Changsheng had met Liang Hongzhuang three times and exchanged dozens of words with him. They weren't close, but they were acquaintances nonetheless.
On the battlefield, he knew many people: Tang Thirty-Six, the King of Linghai, the teachers and students of the National Academy, like Chu Wenbin, and her.
But Gou Hanshi also knew many people: Guan Feibai, Liang Banhu, Bai Cai, the uncles of the Sword Hall, and fellow cultivators from the southern lands.
"Sorry, it shouldn't be you who has to persuade me," Chen Changsheng said to Gou Hanshi.
Gou Hanshi replied, "You should have guessed that these words were what Yourong asked me to say to you."
Chen Changsheng looked at the string of stone beads on his wrist and said, "She could have said these words to me herself."
...
...
The former city lord of Xunyang, Feng Guijun, had once worried whether they could survive a night of continuous demon attacks and see the light of the next day.
It turned out his worries were unnecessary.
His troops couldn't even withstand the first wave of attacks. As night just fell, they were breached by the frenzied demon soldiers.
The number of demon soldiers was simply too great.
Seeing that black tide on the plain under the starlight, he and all the human soldiers let out a groan in their hearts.
Liang Hongzhuang didn't groan. There was no fear on his face, no clear shout or long howl, no rousing war song. He simply charged straight into that black tide.
And again, it turned out that brave people always receive good fortune.
Reinforcements arrived in time. General Peng Shihai personally led the cavalry and successfully changed the entire battle situation, saving these soldiers who had stubbornly held out for two days and two nights.
The grasslands were filled with brutal battles, most of them isolated skirmishes. The fact that this place received reinforcements was naturally related to the important figures here.
Although the court had sent them to die, it didn't want to see the city lord of Xunyang die so soon, let alone Liang Hongzhuang being here.
Campfires were relit, illuminating the meadow.
The demon soldiers had lost their reason, so there was no need to worry about sneak attacks.
The surviving soldiers gathered around the campfires, their faces covered in blood showing no expression.
More than a dozen white ritual robes fluttered across the meadow, looking like beautiful white flowers, attracting many gazes.
The teachers and students of the Qingyao Thirteen Divisions searched everywhere for surviving wounded, administering timely treatment with medicine. Occasionally, the clear light of Holy Light Technique could be seen.
Unfortunately, in such a brutal war, it was hard to find many wounded. The meadow was covered with the remains of human soldiers.
In the end, no one found Liang Hongzhuang.
When the former city lord of Xunyang, Feng Guijun, was found, he was covered in blood, his expression dazed and lost, muttering to himself incessantly.
"Ah, ah... why bother, why bother..."
No one understood what he was trying to say, nor why he had become like this.
Feng Guijun clearly remembered what had just happened.
Liang Hongzhuang, holding his iron spear, charged into the black tide of demon soldiers and was quickly swallowed up.
Having lived a life of ease for many years, he was truly terrified and wanted nothing more than to turn and run. But his experiences over these days told him that the demon soldiers had become true beasts, devoid of any reason. If you didn't kill them all, they would chase you forever.
And besides, he was the city lord of Xunyang.
Had been the city lord of Xunyang.
Now he was a general.
He shouted loudly and led the surrounding soldiers charging toward the demon soldiers.
What happened afterward, he mostly forgot. He only remembered swinging his blade continuously, falling repeatedly, then getting up. At first, he could still feel the pain from his body, but later he couldn't even feel that—only that the blade in his hand grew heavier and his breathing grew more labored.
Just as he was exhausted, wanting nothing more than to give up everything and fall asleep, he suddenly heard sounds coming from the distant night.
The reinforcements had arrived!
His spirits lifted. He forced out his last bit of strength to charge toward the perimeter, only to fall into despair behind the meadow.
Several dozen demon soldiers had just rushed out from the night, their V-shaped mouths dripping with foul saliva, their eyes blood-red.
Just as he thought he and his personal guards were doomed, he suddenly saw a figure among the demon soldiers.
Liang Hongzhuang stood up, leaning on his iron spear, swaying unsteadily.
Feng Guijun wanted to shout for Liang Hongzhuang to run, but no sound came out.
Liang Hongzhuang didn't run.
He chose to self-destruct.
The true essence from his Nether Palace and all one hundred and eight energy apertures burst forth simultaneously.
A silver firework illuminated the meadow.
The blazing and sacred starlight instantly tore apart the bodies of those demon soldiers.
For cultivators, this was the most brutal way to die, the most painful farewell.
...
...
"Why bother? Isn't it just death?"
"I never said I wouldn't die, so why make yourself suffer so much?"
Feng Guijun sat dazedly on the grass.
"General Feng?"
A woman in a white ritual robe walked up to him.
A veiled hat covered her face, making her voice somewhat elusive.
Feng Guijun ignored her.
A flash of black light.
A small hairpin pierced through Feng Guijun's palm, leaving a delicate bloody hole.
The precisely applied pain finally snapped him back to his senses, yet didn't make him cry out.
Still under the starlight, this time he didn't see a tide of demon soldiers but an incredibly beautiful face, which equally stunned him.
"Is it... you?"
Feng Guijun asked in a trembling voice, then immediately began to cry.
"You should have come to save him."
The woman ignored him and said calmly, "Congratulations. You now have two choices. You have proven yourself brave in battle, and the crimes you once committed have been redeemed. You can return to Xunyang City—no longer as city lord, of course, but you can live as an ordinary citizen."
Feng Guijun looked confused and asked, "And the second?"
The woman said, "You can stay. After your wounds heal, follow the army as it continues north."
Feng Guijun was silent for a long time.
Anyone should know how to choose between these two options.
If it had been half an hour ago, he would have made the decision easily.
But now, he found it very difficult.
He knew she wouldn't deceive him, because that was beneath her.
"I choose the second."
His voice trembled slightly, clearly still fearful and uneasy.
The woman was somewhat surprised and asked, "Why?"
Feng Guijun looked up at her and asked seriously, "I heard there's opera in Xuelao City?"
The woman nodded.
Feng Guijun said, "I want to go there and hear for myself how it differs from the singing styles of the Lu Ling Jin family and the Jushui Zhang family."
...
...
Feng Guijun, along with the other discovered severely wounded, was sent south to the main camp for treatment.
After their wounds healed, they could choose to rejoin the unit or return home.
The teachers and students of the Qingyao Thirteen Divisions remained on the battlefield, continuing to search for the wounded and treat the soldiers' injuries.
At times, the faint scent of medicinal herbs even masked the smells of blood and decay.
What brought the most calm and peace were still those holy lights.
The treatment work continued until daylight.
No matter how severe the injury, as long as they found them, they could basically heal them—sometimes it was almost miraculous.
The fighting subsided for a moment.
The demon soldiers within a hundred li radius had been wiped out.
The vanguard forces halted to reorganize, but strangely, besides red eagles heading to the main camp, many red geese landed on this meadow. In the afternoon, many fast horses arrived one after another.
A rumor gradually spread among the tens of thousands of soldiers.
The Holy Maiden was on that meadow.
...
...
Xu Yourong walked forward across the meadow.
Wherever she passed, golden flames burned the rotting demon soldier corpses into green smoke.
Since her identity had been discovered, there was naturally no need to hide.
A gentle breeze came, blowing away the smoke, and the grassland returned to clarity.
More than a dozen cavalrymen waited ahead.
On both sides of the meadow, soldiers knelt, and the wounded struggled to kneel as well, their faces filled with piety and fortune.
To receive the Holy Maiden's personal treatment—what kind of accumulated blessings over several lifetimes was this?
The cavalrymen who had rushed from various places represented the intentions of many divine generals, and also some important figures in the capital.
They were all messengers, trying to persuade Xu Yourong to return to the capital immediately.
The most important reason was, of course, safety.
Everyone knew that the Holy Maiden possessed the Phoenix bloodline and was a true cultivation prodigy. Though young, she was already half a step into the sacred realm.
But this was a battlefield filled with death and slaughter, and the Pope was not by her side, which made people uneasy.
Another important reason was that the Nanxi Zhai sword formation was not with her either.
The Nanxi Zhai disciples were not at the southern camp at this time but at the more distant and even more important central army tent, responsible for protecting the commander-in-chief of this northern expedition.
The cavalrymen knelt one after another, earnestly begging the Holy Maiden to return to the capital soon.
Xu Yourong didn't even glance at them. She took a letter from a Nanxi Zhai female disciple.
That female disciple had traveled day and night to get here and was already extremely exhausted. She sat down on the ground and began to meditate, which showed how important this letter was.
The letter came from the central army tent, but not from the commander-in-chief, nor was it related to the capital. It was written by Ye Xiaolian.
She was now in command of the Nanxi Zhai sword formation guarding the central army tent, and because of this, she knew many secret messages.
Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that some important figures wanted to use her to accurately convey information to Xu Yourong.
...
...
Many important figures, including those divine generals, had always known that the Holy Maiden was on the battlefield.
In the brutal battles of the past few days, she had led the teachers and students of the Qingyao Thirteen Divisions, rushing between various battlefields, saving countless soldiers' lives.
Why hadn't these important figures exposed her during those days, but today they stood up and earnestly begged her to return to the capital in the name of safety?
Ye Xiaolian's explanation in the letter was that today Xu Yourong had saved too many wounded on the meadow.
To save so many severely wounded who were on the verge of death, it was impossible to rely only on Holy Light Technique. The Holy Maiden must have used that medicine.
In the previous days, she had probably also used that medicine, but not in large quantities, so everyone could still tolerate it.
Today, she had used too much of that medicine, and everyone simply couldn't hold back anymore, so they wanted to ask her to leave.
In fact, everyone believed that the power to distribute that medicine shouldn't be in her hands in the first place. The Holy Maiden loved all people and wanted to save anyone who was injured at any cost. But if that medicine was used up on ordinary soldiers, what would happen when a divine general was injured? What if a prince was dying?
This sounded cruel, but this was a battlefield, this was war. Any resource allocation should have rules. Life and death were fated, but there was absolutely a hierarchy of importance.
In recent years, with no wars, the Li Palace had abolished the monthly distribution rule for cinnabar pills. With a simple calculation, one could imagine how many cinnabar pills had been accumulated over the years.
The power to distribute cinnabar pills was in the hands of the Li Palace, but when it came to actual execution, they always had to consult the frontline generals.
If it were peacetime, the combined will of the important figures represented by these cavalrymen couldn't shake her at all. But now was wartime, the military's status was growing higher and higher, and the generals' intentions were reasonable from a certain perspective. They had also given her sufficient respect.
So what answer would she give?
Xu Yourong slowly reached up and removed her veiled hat, revealing that perfect face.
The surrounding grassland grew even quieter.
Only the Nanxi Zhai girl standing nearby could see the weariness between her brows.
She looked at those cavalrymen.
The clear wind blew through the long grass on the plain, making a sound like waves.