Tai'an City, State Office.
It had been almost half an hour since the reinforcements from the three sects arrived.
Although Wang Hai and Mei Qinghe had recovered for a moment and joined the battle, somewhat alleviating the situation.
However, as more and more people accumulated outside the gate, some no longer flooded in through the main entrance, but instead pushed down walls, creating new paths.
This forced Wang Hai and the others to defend from three directions instead of just one.
And the number of people pouring in at once became three times what it was before.
The Gu Soldiers mixed among them also gradually increased.
This significantly shortened Wang Hai's previously estimated “half an hour” for withdrawal.
Now, it had basically reached the deadline.
Wang Hai wiped the blood from his forehead and turned to look around.
Deng Boxuan was the first to be dragged to the back.
The straight sword technique was not suitable for a timid or hesitant heart. Therefore, among the several sect leaders, Deng Boxuan's swordsmanship was the worst.
Yet he was the softest-hearted, striking even lighter than Liu Baiyun, and always looking around, distracted by caring for his own disciples.
Due to a moment of carelessness, a Gu Soldier got close to him and bit him on his right hand, forcing him to withdraw from the battle so that Xiao Si could remove the Gu poison.
The second was Liu Baiyun.
She had persisted until now, but her True Qi was already depleted, and she had no choice but to retreat to recover.
Zhou Yingxue took the opportunity to mock her a few times, but Liu Baiyun endured it and did not retort.
Most of the disciples from the various sects had also been lost by now, with only half of them rescued and dragged to the rear.
The other half, Wang Hai and the others were too late to save, struggled in the crowd for a while, and had now lost their breath.
Deng Boxuan, at the back, gritted his teeth, tears constantly flowing.
Currently, Zhang Jingfeng, Zhou Yingxue, Gao Ling, Wang Hai, and Mei Qinghe were bearing the brunt, barely holding the situation.
However, Gao Ling's True Qi was also running low, Mei Qinghe was injured, and Wang Hai had only slightly recovered some True Qi before joining the battle, and was now almost exhausted.
“We can’t wait any longer!” Wang Hai thought to himself.
“If the Thousand Households had been successful, they would have arrived by now. Since they haven't returned yet, there must be far more Gu Soldiers outside the city than here.”
“The Thousand Households don’t need me to worry; as long as I can take Xiao Si away, that’s all that matters!”
In Wang Hai's heart, apart from Li Miao and Xiao Si, the lives of others were simply not important.
With his mind made up, Wang Hai secretly retreated.
Xiao Si noticed Wang Hai's intention and gently shook her head at him.
Wang Hai pretended not to see her.
Just as Wang Hai was about to immobilize Xiao Si by striking her acupoints, Zhou Yingxue let out a cry of pain.
Four Gu Soldiers!
Zhou Yingxue defended against two, but two unexpectedly rushed from beneath her feet, biting her legs frantically and tripping her to the ground.
As soon as she fell, the defense line instantly collapsed.
Wang Hai instantly appeared in front of Xiao Si, reaching out to strike the major acupoint on Xiao Si's neck.
Xiao Si's eyes widened as she looked at Wang Hai.
“I can’t worry about that much right now; if you want to blame me, if you want to break your inner demon, you have to be alive to do it!”
Wang Hai had made up his mind, and his finger was already touching Xiao Si's skin.
Just at this moment.
Crack.
A soft sound.
Wang Hai's finger was raised high.
Li Miao appeared beside Xiao Si and slapped Wang Hai's hand away.
“You’re going to be abusive before we’re even married, aren’t you, Hai’er.”
Listening to Li Miao's usual teasing, Wang Hai instantly lost his strength, but then he laughed.
A heart that had been held in suspense for half the night finally settled down.
Li Miao raised his hand into a palm, True Qi surging, and pushed a palm towards the crowd.
“Topple Mountains and Overturn Seas.”
The crowd fell like harvested wheat stalks.
Mei Qinghe quickly stepped forward, pulled Zhou Yingxue, and retreated behind Li Miao.
Li Miao’s left hand remained still, suppressing the crowd, while his right hand grasped Xiao Si’s pulse, infusing True Qi.
Xiao Si’s originally pale complexion gradually returned to normal, showing a healthy color.
With her physique, if it were only blood loss, it wouldn’t make her so disheveled.
What was truly fatal was the Gu poison inside her body, which she gradually couldn’t suppress after the loss of vital energy.
And with Li Miao’s help in suppressing it, Xiao Si could naturally recover on her own.
Having done all this, Li Miao flashed forward, curled his fingers into a claw, and made a grabbing motion in the air.
He then pulled back several unconscious disciples from the crowd.
Li Miao tossed the disciples behind him and simultaneously motioned for the sect leaders to retreat.
The sect leaders had seen the traces of Li Miao’s battle with Lan Lechuan, knowing that they were no longer needed at this point, and each went to find their own disciples to check on their injuries.
“Xiao Si, which ones are the Gu Soldiers? Point them out to me.”
Previously, Xiao Si's main energy was focused on suppressing the Gu poison within her body, so she couldn't be distracted, leaving Wang Hai and the others to improvise.
Now that the Gu poison had subsided, Xiao Si raised her small hand and pointed to someone in the crowd.
Bang!
As Xiao Si's hand stopped, a hole appeared on that person's forehead, going clear through, and they softly fell to the ground.
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Li Miao’s left hand formed a palm, True Qi suppressing the crowd. His right hand pointed, using the Ming Cult’s “Xuantian Finger.”
One point, one death.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
In just a moment, more than a dozen people in the crowd died.
“That’s all!” Xiao Si said.
“Good.”
Li Miao made a grabbing motion in the air with his right hand, and the bluestone slabs on the ground shattered, a handful of pebbles flying into his hand.
Then he scattered them into the air!
This handful of pebbles, numbering several hundred, accurately struck the acupoints of the common people.
The crowd instantly cleared a section.
After repeating this several times, there was no one left standing in front of the State Office.
Of course, people were still constantly pouring in.
But with Xiao Si pointing them out and Li Miao eliminating them, without the threat of Gu Soldiers, everyone could now handle the situation with ease.
As dawn approached, Xiao Si let out a long breath: “That’s enough.”
Li Miao reached into his robes and pulled out a wriggling mass of flesh—the mother Gu that had been dug out of Mao Yingxia’s body—and handed it to Xiao Si.
Xiao Si grasped the mass of flesh, bit the tip of her tongue, and sprayed a mouthful of fresh blood onto it.
The wriggling mass of flesh instantly became motionless.
Then Wang Hai cut open the chest of a Gu Soldier, pulled out a mass of Gu worms, and also handed them to Xiao Si.
Xiao Si stuffed this mass of Gu worms into the mother Gu.
Greeting the first ray of sunlight from the rising sun, Xiao Si's fingers slowly tightened.
Suddenly, the common people on the ground who had not yet had the Gu removed began to twitch violently.
“This…” Mei Qinghe couldn't help but speak, but Li Miao waved his hand to stop her.
Finally, Xiao Si's fingers closed, and the mass of flesh was crushed.
“Cough cough—retch—”
Then, a continuous sound of coughing and vomiting could be heard among the common people, and silken Gu worms crawled out from their seven orifices, turning into dust in the air.
Having done all this, Xiao Si collapsed softly to the ground.
Li Miao caught her, pressed her pulse, and infused True Qi.
Wang Hai looked at Li Miao worriedly: “Thousand Households…”
Li Miao waved his hand: “She’ll be fine for a year or two; this girl is stubborn and insists on perfection.”
“Her ‘Human Gu’ is already a semi-finished product, and she exerted herself too much this time, so she’s having a bit of trouble suppressing it.”
Looking at Wang Hai, Li Miao said: “After you finish this task, take Xiao Si back to Shuntian Prefecture to report. I will go to Miaojiang to resolve this matter.”
“I originally intended to visit Miaojiang when I brought Xiao Si out. Now it's just a little earlier, it's no big deal.”
Li Miao handed Xiao Si to Wang Hai and turned to Zhang Jingfeng: “Sect Leader Zhang, what is the situation on Mount Tai Sect?”
Zhang Jingfeng recounted his experience to Li Miao in detail.
Mei Qinghe, standing nearby, heard Zhang Jingfeng’s description and gripped her sword hilt, making a creaking sound.
When it came to the revenge for her mother’s death, Yun Zelin was the true culprit, but he had faked his death to escape back then, and Mei Qinghe had only learned of his survival a few days ago.
Now that Mei Qinghe knew her enemy was close at hand, how could she still restrain herself?
“My lord! I will go with you!” Mei Qinghe said.
“Even if I can only stab him once, even if I die by his hand, I must settle this with him!”