Chapter 247: 240 Drawing the Bow and Nocking the Arrow

"Town Guardian, how did things end up like this?"

Mai Shiyu murmured. Although she was devastated, she still forced herself to stand on the city gate to keep watch, not letting the enemy see her weakness.

Although the enemy likely could not see her condition; the opposing battle line was very far away, barely close enough to see each other's heads.

Mai Shiyu pursed her lips tightly, a thousand thoughts swirling in her mind. Jiang Shenyi asked in a low voice, "Is that really your Town Guardian?"

Mai Shiyu could only nod. Jiang Shenyi said, "It doesn't look like a betrayal; was he truly taken prisoner? Are the Turtle Bandits that powerful? I had assumed a Town Guardian would be very strong."

Jiang Shenyi was not familiar with the Land Inspection Bureau, and what he knew mostly came from Tang Zhao. He had only heard that a Town Guardian named Xing Ji was extremely powerful, so he naturally thought Town Guardian was an impressive position. Although he knew the Turtle Bandits were also strong, seeing a Town Guardian taken prisoner made his jaw drop.

Although Mai Shiyu caught the subtext, she still had to defend the bureau for the sake of its reputation: "The Town Guardian is not weak. But the Turtle Bandits hid too deeply; we didn't receive a single whisper of wind before, always thinking we were dealing with the Demon Sect. The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light; no matter how high one's skills are, one cannot withstand it. If I had been leading the team at the time, perhaps it would have been me who was captured."

Even so, she did not speak with much confidence, because she had never seen the Town Guardian take action and did not know his true strength.

Yes. Mai Shiyu had served as the Deputy Garrison Commander of the Xun City Land Inspection Bureau for over a year and had never seen the local Town Guardian take action. Whenever there was a Small Yin Calamity, she would take a few people to handle it, and it never reached the point where the Town Guardian had to act. The Town Guardian was the type to avoid trouble whenever possible, and since Mai Shiyu was so capable, he was happy to remain idle.

Mai Shiyu's judgment of the Town Guardian's cultivation was actually based on guessing, because she had never seen through the depth of that old Town Guardian who was about to retire, so she had always felt her superior was unfathomable.

Thinking about it now, perhaps the old fox was just an old fox, not an old lion. Being cunning did not mean being strong in old age. Without becoming a Sword Hero, a Sword Guest's body would naturally decline with age.

Jiang Shenyi stopped talking. Given his temperament, he would rather die than be captured, but he could not say it was wrong for others to choose to preserve their lives rather than sacrifice themselves for righteousness. As long as they did not betray and defect to the enemy, that was enough.

"Do you want to save him?"

Mai Shiyu's lips moved slightly, and she heard the woman circling the Town Guardian below laugh: "Is the Deputy Envoy there? I want to speak with Deputy Envoy Mai."

Mai Shiyu flicked her fingers, and countless red petals soared into the sky, forming a rose-red mouth in mid-air, which spoke: "I have nothing to say to thieves and bandits."

The woman was not annoyed and said, "Those who know the times are heroes. You cannot even see who will succeed and who will fail, so you can hardly be called a hero. Look at your Town Guardian; he has already followed the will of heaven and submitted to my Immortal Wei."

Mai Shiyu's brow twitched, and she sneered: "Submitted? It is nothing more than you using force to coerce him. The Town Guardian would never submit to thieves! If you have the ability, have the Town Guardian say he submits to you himself, and then I will believe it."

The woman smiled and said, "Why must such things be said out loud? Look at how intimate I am with the Town Guardian; does that not explain the situation?" After speaking, she lowered her head slightly, pressed against the Town Guardian's white hair, and struck a flirtatious pose.

The Town Guardian remained in that half-dead state; from so far away, it was truly impossible to tell if he was still alive.

Jiang Shenyi suddenly said, "It seems your Town Guardian is still alive."

Mai Shiyu was startled. Jiang Shenyi explained, "If he were a corpse, there is a ready-made Spirit Official here who could make him speak. As long as one possesses the corpse, let alone making him say he submitted to the Turtle Bandits, even reading a manifesto against the Imperial Court would be possible."

Mai Shiyu said in surprise, "Can that be done? I thought Spirit Officials could only manipulate skeletons."

Jiang Shenyi sneered, "It can be done; I just saw their performance."

Just at the Talisman Assembly, the Turtle Bandits were able to manipulate Zhu Yang's corpse to lecture them eloquently.

Mai Shiyu was thoughtful and said, "It seems the Town Guardian did not yield after being captured and has preserved his life. His current catatonic state is likely something he did himself. After all, it is not difficult for a Spirit Official to seal their own Spirit."

This time it was Jiang Shenyi's turn to be surprised: "Is your Town Guardian a Spirit Official?"

Mai Shiyu nodded and said, "I have only heard as much. I have never seen him take action."

Nowadays, the Land Inspection Bureau is basically dominated by Sword Guests as chief officials. But the number of older-generation Sword Guests is insufficient, and in some places, there are still old Spirit Official Town Guardians who have remained until today. They have seniority, many contributions, and have not reached retirement age, so they cannot be dismissed for no reason. One can only say that in the future, they will replace them slowly as they bring in the new.

Mai Shiyu shouted, "Stop being stubborn. The Town Guardian will not yield. Not to mention the Town Guardian, even among the hundreds of us in the Land Inspection Bureau, if even one person comes out and says, 'I want to surrender to the Turtle Bandits,' then count me as having lost."

She asked three times, but the woman only rambled on and did not bring out a single person from the Land Inspection Bureau to surrender, which made Mai Shiyu feel relieved.

The Turtle Bandits might have launched a surprise attack on the Land Inspection Bureau's team, or colleagues might have died in battle, or some might have been captured, but there was no surrender or submission, preserving the bottom line of the Land Inspection Bureau.

This also meant Mai Shiyu did not have to be too conflicted.

She stopped thinking about the deaths and injuries of her colleagues, focused her attention on the present, and made a decision in her heart.

The woman probably knew that persuading them to surrender was useless and laughed: "Since you don't believe the Town Guardian has submitted to us, shall we return him? After all, he is always on our side; we aren't afraid of raising an old man, but we are afraid that your Lord's face won't look good. Come over and take him back? After all, at this age, if you don't come to get him, he might not be able to walk back."

Mai Shiyu said loudly, "If you have sincerity, release the Town Guardian and he will return on his own. As the saying goes, courtesy demands reciprocity; if you let him return, when you fall into my hands later, I will definitely not torture you."

The woman giggled and said, "That won't do; this old man really can't move anymore. And you say you won't torture me, but I don't believe it. After all, dozens of your Land Inspection Bureau members died at my hands, and they died so miserably. You will surely go mad when you see the state of those corpses later, so how can I believe your words? You had better come over; otherwise, how can you justify the last bit of colleague sentiment you have in Xun City by not picking him up yourself?"

Mai Shiyu was so angry that her eyes were about to split; her hand supporting the city wall trembled slightly. Jiang Shenyi, who was beside her, supported her calmly and said, "Don't listen to her nonsense. If she had a single corpse in her hands, how could she not possess it and fill it into her ranks? Since there are none in the ranks, then naturally there are none. She is just using psychological warfare; are you falling for her ghost tricks? I think your companions mostly escaped; she didn't catch a single one."

"Well said."

Jiang Shenyi lowered his head and discovered it was the little girl in red speaking. She stared at the foot of the city and said, "I think you are concerned and therefore confused; even a child can see it more clearly than you."

Jiang Shenyi found it amusing: "Aren't you a child too?" He then said to the now-sober Mai Shiyu, "You keep rambling with her; I will take the opportunity to fly into the sky and wait for a chance to save the Town Guardian."

Mai Shiyu nodded and said, "Good, we must try. If the colleagues are gone and the Town Guardian is also gone, what will our Land Inspection Bureau become? You must also protect yourself; if you really cannot save him... cannot save him..."

She actually had a decision, but she could not say it out loud, especially since Jiang Shenyi was an outsider.

"If it's about saving someone, I can help too."

Just as they were speaking, another voice came from behind. The group was startled and saw a turtle slowly crawling out of the stairwell.

"Why is Gui Ye here?" Jiang Shenyi naturally recognized it. "Did Junior Brother ask you to come?"

Gui Ye said, "Who else but him? Xiao Tang is in the back preparing to collect the Demon Cave and is going to release a type of sound material. He said that once this material is released, it can make people lose their minds and temporarily control the entire scene. However, releasing sound requires timing; if it is released at the wrong time, it will also interfere with our own people. Therefore, he sent Gui Ye to the front to watch. When he needs to shake the scene, Gui Ye will give the signal. You will be prepared, they will not be prepared, and they will inevitably fall into Chaos, which will create a battle opportunity."

Mai Shiyu was delighted and said, "Good, that way I will talk, watch my hand signal. When my hand drops, Gui Ye, you give the signal, Xiao Tang will control the scene, and Jiang will take the opportunity to save the person."

The group nodded. Jiang Shenyi circled to the corner of the city wall, put away his Thunder Wing, and took off alone with his pure white wind wings. Suddenly, he noticed someone calling him. He looked back and saw it was the little girl in red.

The girl raised her face, her beautiful face full of seriousness, and said, "Do you know how to shoot an arrow?"

Jiang Shenyi found it strange that she asked this and said, "I know a little. But I generally don't use a bow and arrow."

The girl took a bow and arrow from her dress—it was actually a Long Bow—and stuffed it to him, saying, "This bow is my treasure; it is very powerful. It can pierce a willow leaf at a hundred paces. Take it with you."

Jiang Shenyi found it amusing; he used lightning for long-range attacks, so what did he need a bow and arrow for? Furthermore, "piercing a willow leaf at a hundred paces" referred to archery skill; how could a bow do that? But seeing that the bow was indeed extraordinary and seemed to be an ancient object, and the girl was so solemn, he could not bear to refuse her kindness. He took it, patted her head to thank her, tucked it into his wings, and flew into the sky.

At this time, Mai Shiyu shouted loudly from below: "That woman, I don't believe you! You are hiding behind the formation, and the front is full of your people. For me to cross the Great Array of skeletons and Fierce Beasts alone, that is too unfair! Come to the very front of your army formation. You move forward, and I will move forward. Let us meet alone one hundred paces in front of the formation."

The woman laughed: "Then I wouldn't dare. The Deputy Envoy is a dignified Sword Guest, and I have no strength to truss a chicken; how would I dare to face you?"

"Ah, a hundred paces is too much, how about fifty?"

Mai Shiyu was not in a hurry; she just rambled back and forth with her in front of the formation. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jiang Shenyi had already arrived above the formation. She continued to ramble while quietly raising her hand.

Gui Ye was focused, waiting only for her hand to drop to immediately transmit the signal to launch.

The hand dropped—

Whoosh—

An arrow in the sky flew like a shooting star chasing the moon, plunging straight into the formation.

This sword was as fast as light; no one could react in time. Mai Shiyu's hand did not fall, and Tang Zhao's crowd control did not activate, as they watched helplessly as that arrow struck—

The Town Guardian's head.

Jiang Shenyi turned his head in shock, only to see that the girl had somehow already sat upon his wings, bent her bow and nocked an arrow, and shot the Town Guardian dead!