Chapter 15: City Defense Commander The sun sets in the west, and the setting sun is blood-red. Darkness is approaching and the sunset glow is fading. An atmosphere of uneasiness hung over the city walls. In charge of the defense of the South Gate are a commander-in-chief and three deputy commanders-in-chief. The city defense commanders usually take turns guarding the city day and night, but tonight, they will all stand together in the darkness. "As everyone knows, Lord Liu has been silent for more than a month. Recently, twelve extremely powerful demons have appeared within a hundred miles of Gaoliu City, which is beyond the limit of what Gaoliu City can bear." "If they are attracted by the huge vitality of the people in the city and attack the city at the same time, the city will be in danger of being destroyed." "In the inner city, we have already started preparations. We will set up an altar tonight and use Liu Zun's divine body to transport the huge incense power stored in the temple to the outside of the city to send away the evil guests." "As long as the powerful demons within a hundred miles of Gaoliu City accept the incense, it means that they will leave the area beyond the hundred miles afterwards."
The South Gate commander-in-chief, Zhaozhou, is already over seventy years old, his energy and blood are declining, but his eyes are still sharp. He glanced around, looking towards the outside of the city, and said in a deep voice: "But besides these twelve great demons and evil spirits, there are countless wandering ghosts and many monsters in the darkness." "They will definitely be attracted by the aura of the altar and gather here!" "Once they enter the city, they will devour the people living there!" His tone was heavy as he spoke slowly, "Therefore, we must keep the evil spirits out of the city!" As his voice fell, he glanced at the three deputy commanders. Commander Zhou, whom Lin Yan had met last night, was here and stepped forward immediately. "Manpower from all departments has been mobilized, including day and night patrols." "According to past practice, willow branches are used as night lights, with one lamp hung every thirty steps." "In addition, every thirty steps, there is a person on duty to look after the willow branches that light the night lamps, and each team has six more people who patrol the city with lanterns within their jurisdiction." "In addition, each person was given a bag of incense ash produced by the Liuzun Temple, a pair of incense candles, and three incense sticks." After hearing these words, the Zhaozhou commander-in-chief, with a serious look in his eyes, nodded slightly. But then he saw another deputy commander named Gu frowning slightly, taking a step forward and whispering, "I'm afraid there will be problems with the Linjiang Division." The commander-in-chief Zhaozhou frowned slightly and said slowly, "In the past, Linjiang Division was vacant and Qingshanfang took over, and the situation was stable... I heard that today, the new flag bearer has taken over Linjiang Division, why is there still a problem?" Deputy Commander Gu responded, "This new flag bearer has abolished the original twelve small flags, and he has no old people under his command." "What do you mean?" Zhaozhou's expression became increasingly ugly, and he said, "You mean, the Linjiang Division only has one flag bearer at the moment?" "The rest are just the chief clerks, clerks, servants, cooks and others, none of whom practice martial arts." Deputy Commander Gu said in a low voice. Zhaozhou didn't reply, but frowned even more tightly.
How to defend the city alone? Isn't this a joke? "I don't know what this person's intentions are. So far, he has not looked for help, nor has he made any move to ask for assistance." Deputy Commander Gu responded, "The Outer South Division has tacitly approved of everything he did, and just now, the new flag bearer also accepted the token of help from our city defense." Zhao Zhou pondered and said, "I have heard of this man's reputation. He has a strong murderous nature, but his cultivation level does not seem to be very high. He should have just entered the second level, the blood refining realm." "With his cultivation level, I'm afraid he can't hold the position in charge of the entire Linjiang Division." Having said this, Zhaozhou looked solemn and looked outside, seeing that it was getting dark, and suppressed the thought of accountability. He glanced over and said in a deep voice: "The city defense cannot be lost. Do you have any spare personnel that can be deployed?" The three deputy commanders all looked pale and no one answered. This is no small feat! Tonight is bound to be dangerous. Sending people to help is equivalent to taking human lives to help the new flag-bearer fill the hole. If there were fewer people on my side, there would be a vacancy, which would make it even more dangerous. "You should just focus on your own affairs..." Zhaozhou shook his head slightly and said, "We must know that the overall situation is more important. If the 360 steps under the jurisdiction of Linjiang Division are invaded by evil spirits, what is the point of us defending it?" The three deputy commanders were silent for a moment, and Deputy Commander Gu finally spoke in a serious tone. "This is the responsibility of the Linjiang Division." "It's his ability to hold on." "If he can't keep it, he should be held accountable." "The person who should be held accountable is Han, the flag envoy of the southern district of the outer city!" When he said this, he raised his head and said, "The City Guard Office intends to write a letter to Qifeng Prefecture to remove the Heavenly Supervisory Office. This incident is just a major reason." Hearing this, another deputy commander's expression changed slightly, and he whispered, "If that's the case, if the Linjiang Division makes a mistake tonight, hundreds of lives will be at the mercy of the Jiantian Division... I'm sure the City Guard will not be angry, but will be happy instead." Deputy Commander Zhou thought for a moment and said, "In fact, we have done our best to stay where we are, which can be considered as fulfilling our duties." Zhaozhou's face turned pale and he said nothing. He was the third batch of soldiers to protect the city after Gaoliu City was built. But now in Gaoliu City, there are only a few veterans from the first four batches left. Even the current lord in the City Guard's Office is not the first City Guard. Various forces in the city are competing with each other, using Gaoliu City as the chessboard, the people as chess pieces, and even as abandoned pieces. Back then, in order to build the city and gain a place for the human race to live in the darkness, he could no longer remember how many of his old companions had fought and shed their blood here. In just a few decades, the predecessors are not even dead yet, but the descendants have become so corrupt?
"How innocent are the people in the city?" Zhaozhou looked sad and lost in thought. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a voice coming from outside. Soldiers came to report. "Half a quarter of an hour ago, the flag-bearing officer of Linjiang Division, Wuchang, holding the Linjiang flag, went to the storehouse and received twelve willow branch night lamps, twelve bags of incense ash, and twelve pairs of incense candles. However, he only took three sticks of incense." "He's all alone?" "Only one person." "Did he leave any message? For example, asking us to borrow some manpower from our city defense?" "No." "Insanity!" Zhao Zhou was furious and shouted, "If his position is lost tonight, even if he survives by chance, I will not let him go!" As the voice fell, he reached into his arms and took out a piece of talisman paper and a willow branch. "Give this to him immediately." "And tell him that this is the Haoyang Talisman from Qifeng City, produced in the Wutong Temple. It can double one's Yang energy and dispel the symptoms of evil spirits entering the body!" "As for the willow branches, they come from the body of Liu Zun, and can whip wandering evil spirits and drive them away." The three deputy commanders' expressions changed slightly when they heard this. These two items are something that only the commander-in-chief is qualified to equip. On weekdays, the three deputy commanders take turns to share a branch of Willow Zun's body. Wandering evil spirits are invisible and bodyless. They cannot be harmed by swords or touched by fists or feet. They are a huge threat to any powerful warrior. Usually, one can only rely on the powerful energy gained from martial arts practice to bluff and scare away these wandering evil spirits. There are very few things that can allow a warrior to threaten the "wandering evil spirits". The branches of Liu Zun’s body are one of them! The commander-in-chief of Zhaozhou actually values the other party so much? Could it be that the reason why the new flag bearer did not seek help but waited in silence was because he knew that the commander-in-chief of Zhaozhou would definitely help him? The three deputy commanders looked at each other and even began to suspect whether the new flag bearer was the commander-in-chief's illegitimate son. But they continued the meeting. Before long, it was already dark, and they heard the soldier coming hurriedly, handing over the branch of Liu Zun's body and the Haoyang Talisman with both hands. "Fifth Master said that it is Commander Zhao's duty. These two are life-saving items. Please keep them for your own use." "He also said that as a martial artist at the peak of inner strength, holding this magical item can help you dispel evil spirits and will be even more effective." "As for this Haoyang Talisman, it can enhance masculine blood energy. The commander-in-chief is already old, and he needs this thing even more at night." (End of this chapter)
