Chapter 389

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

More arrows shoot from the other side, their speed fast, no less than ordinary archers in the army.

The giant five-tailed white fox blocks directly beside the two Daoists.

Now its size has grown a bit more; its shoulder height alone is about the same as Lin Jue's height, already far exceeding an ordinary water buffalo, blocking the two of them completely.

"Puff, puff, puff..."

Several arrows shoot into its body, sticking into its fur.

The fox just gives a shake, and the arrows fall off.

A total of three cogon grass stalks, one grass stem, and one tree branch.

The fox sees clearly—

In the surrounding cogon grass clusters, there are grass dolls stuck everywhere. If it were other grass or forests, there would naturally be other grass dolls made of tree branches and wild grass, each standing straight and arranged neatly, like dummies made by ordinary people to scare away birds, and also like soldiers hiding in the dark night, guarding outside the city.

The next moment, a sheet of silver light flies out from behind the fox, bypassing its body from left and right, rotating and catching the moonlight, four feet off the ground, scattering into many moon disks and sweeping across.

One only sees the wailing of air being pierced, followed by a sound of tearing.

In an instant, all the cogon grass is cut off, and the grass dolls are also neatly cut in half from the chest and abdomen.

The moon disks scatter, and wherever they pass, the vegetation bows its head. In just a few breaths, the vegetation on this mountain plain has become much shorter and much neater. Then the moon disks fly back rapidly from all directions, transforming into rotating flying swords, gathering back into the Daoist's sleeves.

Lin Jue takes the last flying sword and examines it.

The flying sword has cut through vegetation but leaves no pulp or residue, remaining as clean as new, clearly reflecting the remaining light.

The reason it left no pulp is because Lin Jue has already discovered that although there is vegetation here, it has all withered and died. Perhaps some are naturally withered because winter has just passed and the spring breeze has not yet arrived, but there are also some shrubs and bushes that are not annual plants, yet they have also withered. Only those grass dolls are full of vitality, exactly when they are green.

It is probably the ability of that Lady Wang Mu.

Since they have long since withered, naturally there is no sap or pulp.

Not leaving residue is the ability of the flying swords.

These flying swords and long swords themselves are forged from the finest spiritual gold, fragments of a pill furnace from a Great Emperor, and later added with top-grade golden essence, and refined by him for a long time, so they are already extraordinary. Last year in the northwest, they killed countless Many Yaoguai and ghosts, including a Many Yaoguai king with profound Daoist practice.

The swords of ordinary heroes are also ordinary, but after cutting through Many Yaoguai and ghosts, they become extraordinary.

Lord Luo's precious sword, filled with righteousness, killed dozens of Many Yaoguai when first seen, accumulating spiritual charm and heavy malevolent energy.

And Lin Jue is a Daoist himself, possessing Daoist practice and magical power, with profound cultivation. In just one battle in the northwest, the Many Yaoguai and ghosts he killed exceeded Lord Luo's accumulation over many years, so these flying swords naturally also gave birth to spiritual charm.

Just as Lin Jue thought back then—

He is not afraid that recasting will make them lose their spiritual charm; in the future, there will naturally be more and more powerful Many Yaoguai coming to help him.

Now, these flying swords and long swords feel cold to the touch and frost forms when they land. They are not only incomparably sharp but also do not stain with filth or blood. If they cut ghosts, even if the ghosts are ethereal, no magical power is needed; ordinary people holding them can also cut and kill ghosts. If they cut Many Yaoguai and spirits, they can break the spiritual charm within them.

Just like at this moment.

Lin Jue turns his head to look. Under the moonlight, there are many grass dolls with their upper bodies cut off, all emitting smoke, their vitality completely gone, which adds another layer of spiritual charm to the flying swords.

"Third Third Shixiong, how did your Object-Control Technique become so powerful?"

"Nothing else, just hand familiarity."

"Are these things guarding here to prevent people from entering or leaving?" Xiao Xiao Shimei looks around.

"In any case, it must have been laid out by Lady Wang Mu. Whether it's to prevent entry or exit is hard to say. I guess it's to prevent reinforcements from the capital, not letting people in, but if people in the city come out, it's beneficial to her and does no harm." Lin Jue says, "It's not dawn yet, and I don't know what the situation in the city is. Anyway, since we've come here to guard, we must deal with these methods of Lady Wang Mu. It's better to get rid of these things first while she is entangled with the True Lord."

"Okay!"

Xiao Xiao Shimei turns her head and looks around.

The city in the distance is faintly visible under the moonlight, and the surroundings of the city are all forests and grass. Since Lady Wang Mu is a Many Yaoguai king who has achieved the Dao and become true, she is an immortal with boundless magical power, just like the Corpse Tiger King back then. There is no telling how many such things there are in such a wide area.

Just like the firewood room in the Daoist temple that can never be filled, the endless withered firewood on Mount Fuqiu, and the endless mountain road leading to the Xianyuan Temple.

This is really...

Just what she likes!

Xiao Xiao Shimei likes doing this kind of work the most!

It takes a certain amount of time, but one can see the progress; it has a certain difficulty, but one doesn't need to worry too much. To her, this is a kind of enjoyment.

"Don't be in a hurry, they are afraid of fire. I don't know if ordinary fire is useful, but if it's Xiao Xiao Shimei's spiritual fire, it will certainly be accurate with every burn." Lin Jue says, "As long as you use fire, you can get rid of them very quickly."

"I know!"

All things in the world grow and restrain each other; one must also use one's brain.

One only sees Xiao Xiao Shimei inserting her horsetail whisk back onto her back, holding her long sword in her right hand, and forming a hand seal with her left hand while chanting a spell.

"Far-reaching firmament, boundless thick earth, great mountains have power, can defeat dragons and tigers, mysterious yellow spiritual charm, all come out at this time, transform into mountain gods, and assist me!"

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The earth suddenly trembles.

The terrain here is flat, mostly grass and forest, with only gravel and no large stones. But following her spell, the earth actually splits open with several fissures, and giant stones emerge from underground; on some stones, one can even see fresh traces of fractures.

These stones roll and float out of the ground, then roll and gather to pile up. The largest stones become the torso, the secondary ones become the limbs, and the more regular-shaped ones become the head, forming the frame of the body.

Many more gravel stones roll upward, filling in the fissures and supplementing the details of the body frame.

Three stone giants instantly appear in the night.

Each one is two or three zhang tall.

Is this the benefit of cultivating the Five Elements Spiritual Law?

Lin Jue stares, muttering to himself.

"Please, Mountain Gods, help me eliminate the Many Yaoguai!"

Xiao Xiao Shimei bows with her sword in her arms, then carries her sword and walks toward the left, only her voice coming across:

"Third Third Shixiong, you walk that way, and I'll walk this way. We'll circle around and meet on the other side of Zhang Ziyun County. Let's see who walks the larger circle and who walks the smaller circle when we meet."

As the words fall, she sees Third Third Shixiong following her. "Alright..."

Xiao Xiao Shimei is not insistent.

If he doesn't want to, so be it.

It just so happens it's been a while since she fought side-by-side with Third Third Shixiong.

Immediately, she points to the side.

A whistle! Fierce flames illuminate the wasteland!

Two stone horses gallop away, using the moonlight to run into the darkness, unstoppable.

The three stone giants take large strides and also walk into the moonlit night.

Some grass dolls are startled and begin to shoot arrows.

"Ding, ding!"

Arrow after arrow hits the galloping stone horses, either sliding to the left or right because of the curvature and hard stone body of the stone horses, or hitting the galloping stone horses head-on and immediately breaking and shattering.

Not a single mistake, look at every single one!

Then the stone horses do not stop their pace, rumbling as they trample over.

The grass is trampled to pieces, and the grass dolls are sent flying.

More arrows shoot at the stone giants.

But facing the stone giants that are two or three zhang tall, a tiny arrow is not much different from a larger toothpick; hitting the stone, it immediately bounces and falls to the ground.

Then the stone giants just take large strides, lifting their feet to stomp, and enduring these tickle-like attacks, they stomp the grass dolls deep into the ground. If they encounter larger grass dolls, they swing their arms to sweep; how can the grass dolls block the swinging of stone arms weighing over a thousand jin, even if done easily?

Not to mention they can't even run.

Occasionally, if one slips through the net, it is immediately met with a burst of flames and burned to slag.

In Zhang Ziyun County in the dark night, there is lightning and thunder in the distance, and sparks constantly emerge nearby, some orange-yellow, some golden-yellow, burning and moving across the wasteland.

If these grass doll soldiers encountered an ordinary army, they might be able to contend with them for a while; if they encountered ordinary Daoist practitioners, caught off guard, they might also fall for their tricks. Even Lin Jue a year or two ago, if he didn't have Lord Luo guarding him, might not have been able to block so many cold arrows.

It is a pity that the one who came today is not someone else, but Lin Jue.

Lin Jue's Daoist practice is also far from what it used to be.

Not to mention the fox that cultivates the solar spiritual fire, even Xiao Xiao Shimei, who cultivates the Five Elements techniques and is adept at the Five Elements Spiritual Law, is not someone they can deal with.

Whether it is fire or the stone giants, both restrain them perfectly.

The stone horses do not know fatigue, galloping like thunder around Zhang Ziyun, trampling one cogon grass cluster after another, stomping one grass doll soldier after another to rot; the stone giants follow the fierce flames, circling Zhang Ziyun County once.

The two people and one fox return to the starting point.

Without knowing when, the lightning and thunder in the distance have stopped.

The sky is also slowly brightening.

"Boom..."

The stone giants collapse to the ground with a boom, shattering into stones.

"It should be cleared."

Xiao Xiao Shimei twirls her sword, and with a 'chi' sound, the long sword returns to its sheath.

"Thanks to Xiao Xiao Shimei."

Lin Jue says this and turns his head to look into the distance.

A city stands in the morning mist.

The battle situation at Mount Modu behind is paused; it is unknown why it stopped, and unknown how the battle is going.

Lin Jue thinks for a moment and takes a step.

"Let's go. The fellow Daoists in the capital should not have set off yet. After arriving in the city, we still have to write a letter to remind them to watch out for cold arrows in the grass and forests."

The two people and one fox walk toward that city.

In Zhang Ziyun City, the two sides are in a standoff.

One side wears uniform clothing, some even wearing armor, carrying swords and halberds, pulling bows and arrows; at a glance, they are imperial soldiers, numbering about several hundred, and there are also officials standing in the middle.

The other side is mostly ordinary commoners, wearing cloth clothes, holding all kinds of weapons—sickles, hoes, broadswords, long spears, all kinds of things. However, among them are also officials, some constables wearing soap-colored clothes, and a dozen people who also wear the clothing of imperial soldiers or even armor. One can even see a few people who don't look like people, and they are numerous, far exceeding the former.

Calling them commoners, they look more like another army.

Behind these miscellaneous soldiers, there are many more commoners, thousands of them, but these commoners seem to be divided into two sides.

Some push carts and carry loads, bringing luggage, seemingly wanting to leave voluntarily; others are coerced by them, or even tied up. Except for this place, the entire city has become an empty city.

"I'll see who dares to leave the city!!"

A burly general draws his sword and shouts.

Standing out from the opposite side is an old man, not afraid of him at all, and not willing to be outdone:

"Bold martial man! You still dare to block us? The government of this world is inhumane, the Emperor is inhumane, not to mention that the imperial court is about to collapse soon. You are still selling your lives for them? I will give you one last chance: convert to the Changsheng Sect immediately, honor Lady Wang Mu, and you can go with us to Mount Modu to attain longevity and enjoy ultimate bliss!"

"Bullshit Lady Wang Mu! That's a Many Yaoguai! You went! You definitely won't survive!"

"Do not be disrespectful to Lady Wang Mu! We don't want to cause more casualties, move aside immediately. If you don't move aside, you will die here today!"

"You can leave! But you cannot take other commoners with you!"

"Absurd! We are all fellow villagers in the city, naturally we should go to Mount Modu together and enjoy longevity and ultimate bliss together!" The old man shouts, "Even if you can block us, can you block Lady Wang Mu's divine envoys?"

"..."

The general is truly silent for a moment, looking at the opposite side with a cold face.

Come to think of it, they were only sent here to guard after Lady Wang Mu preached extensively in Yunmeng County last year. Their numbers were not large to begin with, and they suffered losses in subsequent battles. As of now, just the nearly two thousand young and strong men on the opposite side who have taken up weapons and are not afraid of death are enough to give them a hard time, not to mention there are several of Lady Wang Mu's divine envoys.

Calling them divine envoys, they are nothing but Many Yaoguai.

(End of chapter)