Chapter 709

Chen Wuji loves the people.

But he is not a pedantic person; when it is time to use means, he will never show the slightest mercy.

At this moment, the civilians attacking Wu'an City are no longer mere civilians.

They are Yu Ren's Death Soldiers, they are troops, they are enemies!

Chen Wuji cannot, because of their identity, let his own troops shrink back and die needlessly; such a thing does not exist under heaven.

This matter boils down to a single word: kill!

Not only kill, but make them feel the pain of killing and fear it.

Make them, out of fear, abandon dying for the Heavenly Lord, abandon that pitiful and ignorant faith.

"My lord, would collective punishment be too harsh? If so, Songzhou might end up with no one." Xu Zengyi raised a doubt about Chen Wuji's order.

"Within Songzhou, it seems the vast majority of the people now worship the Heavenly Lord; if punishment spreads to the whole clan, then this prefecture would likely have almost no one left."

Chen Wuji shook his head, "Sir, the collective punishment I mentioned does not necessarily mean killing everyone; for now we will detain them, decide according to circumstances, with forced labor as the main measure."

"If that is the case, my lord, this order should be made clearer, lest those below misunderstand and end up being all beheaded." Xu Zengyi reminded.

"Thank you for the reminder, sir; this matter is indeed my oversight." Chen Wuji said sincerely.

He momentarily lost his temper and indeed failed to consider things thoroughly.

While they were speaking, they had already hurried to the city gate.

The scene was very chaotic and also brutal.

Chen Wuji has fought countless battles big and small, but none have been as bloody and brutal as this.

From the city gate to the main street, crowds of people filled everywhere.

They shouted for the Heavenly Lord, wielding all kinds of miscellaneous weapons, and were charging Lü Ji's military formation.

The old man mentioned by the order-bearer a moment ago is now hardly visible.

Now those charging at the front are women and youths.

If they could fight, they used weapons; if not, they directly took out a fire striker, lit themselves on fire, then howled as they rushed the formation, shouting things like entering the Divine Kingdom.

Behind them lay corpses of old and young scattered everywhere, some still burning, their faces charred beyond recognition, impossible to tell what they once looked like, like blackened lumps of wood.

The air reeked with a strong stench that made people's stomachs churn.

What made Chen Wuji's eyes turn cold and grim was the sight of soldiers strewn haphazardly in the pile of corpses.

"Eleventh Uncle, take your men up; show no mercy, give them no chance to set themselves on fire, and cut them down!" Chen Wuji ordered with a stern face.

"Yes!"

Chen Li led the heavily armored central army forward.

Without the slightest mercy, regardless of age or weakness, they slaughtered them all.

Those people were women in loose robes and vigorous youths.

But at this moment, when they took up weapons, even using self-immolation to kill the enemy.

Their identity was only one thing—enemies!

Facing such a disorganized crowd that could not withstand a single charge of the great army, Lü Ji still lost hundreds of soldiers; the reason needs no deep thought—it is simply because of their identity.

Lü Ji could not bring himself to strike.

Then his troops suffered an unjust disaster.

A single charge by the central army sent those who appeared ferocious and fearless in combat collapsing like weeds; facing Chen Wuji's elite central troops, they could not even get close.

They had no chance to self-immolate.

The battle lasted less than half an hour, and thereafter no standing civilians remained at the city gate.

"Lü Ji, get over here!" Chen Wuji barked.

Lü Ji, his face grim, hurried over.

Chen Wuji pointed at the horrific battlefield and asked, "What's going on?"

"Reporting to my lord, Deputy General, I showed mercy; when those old people, women, and youths rushed in, I did not expect their tactics to be so brutal, and I… was caught off guard." Lü Ji said with his head down.

He realized his mistake, but he still felt awful inside.

"Clean up the battlefield, then, in front of all the troops, administer the Self-Commanding Thirty-Army Staff; any objections?" Chen Wuji stared at Lü Ji's eyes and shouted sternly.

"Yes, sir! Deputy General has no objections!"

"Go…" Chen Wuji said halfway, then suddenly looked up toward the southwest.

There, a plume of black smoke suddenly rose.

"Send someone over to see what's happening?" Chen Wuji ordered immediately.

As his words fell, another thick burst of darkness shot up from another corner of the city.

"My lord, this smoke is not normal." Xu Zengyi said solemnly.

"I can tell, what could burn to produce such black smoke?" Chen Wuji muttered, then solemnly ordered, "Just in case, have the entire army immediately cover their mouths and noses with wet cloths; also, quickly send word to the townspeople to shut doors and windows and cover their mouths and noses with wet cloths."

"Act quickly; we'll clean the battlefield later, without any delay."

"Yes!"

Fortunately, Chen Wuji's forces are numerous, and his military law is strict, so orders are carried out without fail.

The orders from above were passed down layer by layer without wasting much time, and were assigned to each brigade and squad.

After half an hour, the two fires that had risen in the city were contained, and the black smoke diminished.

"My lord, it's A Furong, a mountain-like A Furong!"

Lü Ji strode over and reported solemnly.

"That Yu surname bastard!" Xu Zengyi suddenly swore.

"What does he intend? Does he want to bury the entire city's populace with us? Or to found a state and proclaim himself emperor, leaving the realm devoid of people, making him a worthless emperor? My lord, this scoundrel must be cut down alive; it truly enrages me—I have lived this long and never seen such a wolf-hearted, dog-lunged, humanity-destroying wretch!"

Mr. Xu, whose mindset had always been extraordinarily stable, suddenly lost his composure.

"Sir, calm down first!" Chen Wuji soothed.

"These two smokes haven't been burning long, their power isn't that great; by the time we give the soldiers and city folk some soup medicine to drink, it'll be fine, far less terrifying than directly drinking talisman water."

"My lord, it's fortunate we reacted quickly; if we delayed even a little, the consequences would be unpredictable!" Xu Zengyi shouted angrily, "This bastard even calls himself of royal lineage, simply a beast!"

"I know, I know, I'm not just trying to advise you!" Chen Wuji said.

If this smoke were to spread, it would be large-scale poisoning; how could he not know the consequences?

Today's events, the only thing that could make Chen Wuji feel slightly relieved, is that his troops under his command are disciplined enough to follow orders, everyone reacted relatively quickly, and no major impact was caused.

Otherwise, his elite central army, painstakingly selected, would likely cease to exist.

A Furong's addictiveness varies from person to person, but her combat effectiveness is certainly not guaranteed.

"It's our oversight; pass the order down, search the entire city, dig three feet deep and comb through every inch!" Chen Wuji ordered in a low voice, "From now on, within this city, I don't want to see a trace of that thing."