Chapter 404

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Twelve flying swords and three longswords flew forward in unison, then scattered, transforming into streaks of light that wove through the sky as if they no longer required human control.

Yet, there was still the sound of air being pierced around Lin Jue, and blades and armor shards flew past him from left and right, likewise crossing the city wall, flying toward the front, and shooting at those bird yaoguai.

From behind came a low, hurried chanting, in which one old voice and one young voice could be distinguished.

Looking back, it was Daoist Tao and his disciple.

The flying knives Daoist Tao used were armor shards from the Dragon Blade General under the Leopard King from last year, and the small sword Lin Jue had previously gifted him; all were incomparably sharp, while the flying knives he had originally used were passed down to his disciple.

This time, he had brought his disciple along as well.

For a moment, arrows were fired in unison in the sky, flying swords wove through, and blades spun and danced, while facing them were numerous bird yaoguai.

"Puff, puff, puff..."

Bird yaoguai were constantly being struck by the flying swords.

One could only see streaks of sword light connecting with them, and when they emerged, they pulled out lines of blood, yet the flying swords' momentum remained undiminished; the bloodstains on the sword bodies were quickly flung off, and the sword light pulled beautiful arcs in the air before seeking the next target, still as fast as lightning.

Some bird yaoguai let out miserable screams from just this one strike and fell, while others were thick-skinned and high in cultivation, still swooping down toward the bottom, and thus they were continuously pierced through by flying swords.

There were also bird yaoguai struck by arrows that fell.

"Small swords, go seek those humanoid bird yaoguai; longswords, spin and slice, go seek those raptors that have transformed into their original forms!"

The flying swords quickly adjusted their strategy.

The longswords immediately began to spin, as if three silver discs had appeared in the air, spinning and slicing toward those raptors that seemed to block out the sun and sky.

However, there were simply too many yaoguai; even so, bird yaoguai were constantly swooping onto the city wall.

The damage these bird yaoguai caused to people was far greater than that of the poisonous insects and bird flocks from before.

One could see some raptors swooping down, grabbing a soldier defending the city with each claw and throwing them off the city wall; others were humanoid bird yaoguai using the advantage of high altitude to bend bows and shoot arrows downward; even more bird yaoguai swooped along the city wall, some spitting yellow water from their mouths, some spitting black smoke and white vapor, and some spitting flames, each with their own methods.

Because most of these yaoguai were not minor yaoguai and their cultivation was not low, casualties quickly appeared on the city wall.

Then Wan Xinrong's voice was heard again:

"Everyone, do not be afraid! These are merely birds that have become yaoguai; they are still the same as ordinary birds, with weak bodies and brittle bones. You only need to grip the swords and halberds in your hands and fight them, and you will know they are nothing more than this!"

After finishing, he paused slightly and added another sentence:

"In this world, what reason is there for anyone to fear birds? Moreover, this black smoke and white vapor are all evil arts; the weaker your courage, the greater their effect. The less you fear, and the heavier your courage and blood energy, plus with so many of us gathered together, these things become useless and turn into a gust of foul wind!"

Wan Xinrong had clearly taken on the role of boosting morale, and his voice was loud; many soldiers, upon hearing his words, looked toward him.

One could see him standing on the city wall, holding a lantern high, just like a bright lamp, and amidst the gale, sparks were constantly pouring out of that lantern which looked like a palace lantern, as if the galaxy in the sky had fallen to the ground.

The sparks, aided by the gale and the height of the city wall, both swooped toward the bird yaoguai flying from afar and flowed toward the yaoguai approaching below.

A few bird yaoguai noticed him, let out a sharp screech, and immediately changed their angle, swooping toward him.

Wan Xinrong's reaction was also fast; catching a glimpse from the corner of his eye, he quickly turned around, took a deep breath, and spat toward the bird yaoguai in the sky.

"Hoo..."

Sparks surged out once again.

A few bird-men with wings and feathers, and huge hawks and falcons, collided solidly with the sparks, and immediately there was a sizzling sound on their bodies, emitting a sheet of white smoke, as if they had been steamed.

"Gaa!!"

A few bird yaoguai all screamed miserably.

Yet they were not as easy to deal with as those ordinary birds, hawks, falcons, and poisonous insects from before—

Even though their entire bodies were burned with dense blood holes by the sparks, emitting the smell of cooked meat and a burnt stench, and bringing heart-piercing pain, they did not die immediately; instead, they grew fierce because of this pain and continued to gnash their teeth and swoop toward Wan Xinrong.

Yet they did not expect that there was the sound of air being pierced in the air.

Successive streaks of silver sword light flashed past!

"Puff, puff, puff..."

Two bird yaoguai were directly pierced through by several flying swords and fell into the city, immediately followed by the sound of house roofs being smashed.

A mountain eagle had its wings sliced off by a spinning longsword, lost its balance, fell headfirst, and slammed into the city wall, with blood splattering and feathers flying everywhere on the spot.

A giant falcon was sliced in two by the Third Shixiong's sword light, and when it fell, its intestines and stomach were spread all over the ground.

The last one was also struck by several flying knives in succession, and another small sword broke through the air, pinning its heart exactly. And this bird yaoguai, carrying armor shards and flying knives and pierced by a small sword, actually slid forward on the city wall after falling, sliding right to Wan Xinrong's feet.

"Gulp!"

Wan Xinrong swallowed a mouthful of saliva and turned his head to look at Lin Zhenren for the first time, only to see Lin Zhenren also looking at him.

"Continue."

Before he had time to thank him, he only heard Lin Zhenren say this, and then he did not look at him again.

The Daoist Tao beside him also began to chant, urging the armor shards, flying knives, and small swords on the bird yaoguai to tremble and pull out, continuing to fly toward the sky.

In the chaotic battle, no one had time to look after anything else.

At the same time, the yaoguai army had also reached the foot of the city.

The six stone giants from before strode forward, completely ignoring those yaoguai soldiers and generals, with eyes only for the big guys in the yaoguai formation; as for those they trampled to death on the way, it was just bad luck.

The stone giants' bodies were heavy and not agile, but their momentum was great; once the charge began, they ran faster and faster.

One could see a black bear two or three zhang tall crouching down and running wildly; hearing the rumbling in front, it stood up, and collided with the charging stone giant.

"Boom!"

It was impossible to tell if it was the thunder in the sky or the collision sound on the ground; in any case, lightning was flashing across the distant horizon.

Under this collision, the stones that were merely splashed out knocked over the yaoguai soldiers nearby.

Another stone giant strode forward, carrying an unstoppable momentum, charging toward the giant snake that was slithering like a dragon.

There was also a huge green ox running like a human, which was originally quite clever and bypassed one stone giant, but it was distracted and looked back, only to be solidly hit by the second stone giant that rushed out from the side; its three-zhang-tall figure was directly knocked to the ground, crushing several yaoguai soldiers on the spot, and it only stopped after pushing up thick mud on the ground.

There were also stone giants colliding with stone giants, swinging their fists at each other.

In an instant, below was an earth-shattering collision and struggle, and many strange people and talented scholars on the city wall were stunned.

However, although the stone giants were brave, there were only six of them after all; among the yaoguai below, there were more than just these huge yaoguai, and there were still yaoguai that walked to the foot of the city wall.

Wan Xinrong saw a big tree with facial features walking over, but before it could get close to the city wall, he saw Lin Zhenren on the city wall open his mouth and spit.

That was a gust of east wind.

"Squeak..."

The tree yaoguai's facial features immediately twisted, emitting a sour and harsh sound from its mouth, like the sound of unstable tables and chairs shaking, but much louder and harsher.

This was clearly a withered tree with only a few leaves, but at this moment, it bloomed with flowers.

All kinds of flowers made this withered tree become extremely beautiful, but it did not endow it with vigorous vitality; instead, it made it wail and fall to the ground amidst the clusters of flowers—and this big tree was really too big; when it fell, it also kicked up a large cloud of dust, smashing many yaoguai soldiers.

There was also a fierce tiger that leaped up; the four-zhang-high city wall seemed like flat ground to it; it jumped directly onto the city wall, and its huge size and ferocious face brought great pressure to the soldiers.

However, in just an instant, a white shadow flashed in the air.

The five-tailed white fox suddenly knocked it down; during the collision, there was also golden flame flickering.

There was also black smoke drifting to the city wall, gathering into the shape of a yaoguai, but the junior sister beside Lin Zhenren waved her hand, and a scorching fire dragon rushed out, burning it to ashes.

There were also pythons as thick as water vats slithering onto the city wall, and Lin Zhenren's senior brother waved the big sword in his hand, and there was sword light that knocked them flying down.

There were even more yaoguai walking along the city wall, some yaoguai jumping with the help of the city wall's bumps, and even worse, some were directly thrown onto the city wall by those powerful yaoguai below, and as soon as they came up, they began a massacre.

At this time, the "celestial soldiers" summoned by Lin Zhenren and his senior brother reacted the fastest; when the defending soldiers were terrified, they were already fighting with them.

Swords, spears, and halberds pierced into the yaoguai's bodies, and sharp teeth and claws tore through the bean soldiers' armor.

Wan Xinrong saw this scene, and a wild spirit grew in his chest:

"Soldiers! Bring out your courage!

"They are all pigs, sheep, oxen, and horses; who among you hasn't eaten them? They are just a bit bigger and have changed their appearance! Moreover, Lin Zhenren is here, what is there to fear?

"Raise your swords and spears and kill!"

Many soldiers turned their heads one after another—

And saw the five-tailed white fox beside Lin Zhenren spitting golden flames, showing no fear in the face of many yaoguai, protecting the path for them.

And with Lin Zhenren's one breath of east wind, huge yaoguai fell to the ground under the city wall; with a point of his finger, the evil ghosts condensed from thick black smoke in the yaoguai formation were grabbed by him and actually scattered into smoke and clouds on the spot; and when a large group of bird yaoguai attacked him, he only pointed his finger, and more than a dozen streaks of sword light rushed straight into the sky, colliding with those bird yaoguai; hot blood was immediately sprinkled from the sky, the bird yaoguai's corpses fell one after another, all kinds of feathers danced in the sky, and even the yaoguai that had turned into shadows were easily grabbed out by him.

Such a Zhenren, who says he is not an immortal?

The defending soldiers' hearts could not help but settle.

Only then did they feel that what the lantern-bearer shouted made sense—

They are just pigs, sheep, oxen, and horses; who hasn't eaten them? Now that Lin Zhenren is here, what is there to fear?

At this moment, Lin Zhenren was their heart-protecting pill.

"Kill!"

The city wall also entered a tragic slaughter.

The sky was dim, dark clouds pressed on the city, gales blew, and lightning and thunder roared; I don't know if future history books will record that a great battle between humans and yaoguai was taking place here.

Not just here—

Lin Jue saw the direction of Mount Mo Du in the north; the dark clouds there were as black as ink, heavy rain had already poured down, and lightning flashed incessantly; he guessed that the battle of the two True Lords against the Wang Mu of the West should have also begun.

This time, the two True Lords, Baosheng and Husheng, were still quite particular; when the Wang Mu of the West sent her subordinates to harass the mortal realm, they decisively descended to the mortal realm and started the encirclement and suppression in advance, without continuing to wait.

However, what made Lin Jue frown was that in the midst of the magic battle, the copper coin in his bosom had disappeared at some point.

That was a copper coin on which the Qingfu method had been cast.

This was a magic trick of the Seventh Shixiong.

The mother and child Qingfu have deep affection and are connected and inseparable; people often take the liquid of the mother and child Qingfu and apply a portion of it to the copper coin; after it is spent, the copper coin will automatically fly back. The Seventh Shixiong had deep attainments in this area, and this place was only a little over a hundred miles away from Jiguang County, so the two had long agreed that if the copper coin was taken by him, it meant that Jiguang County had also encountered an attack.

The Wang Mu of the West really had a big plan!

Originally, they were guarding around Mount Mo Du, in addition to guarding the four counties and protecting the people, and providing incense for the gods who fought the yaoguai, it was also an encirclement of the subordinates under the Wang Mu of the West. However, the Wang Mu of the West's confidence was greater than most people thought; she actually went so far as to send troops to attack the four counties at the same time, wanting to eat up the four counties, cut off the incense of the gods here, and turn the people into nourishment.

I don't know how the situation is in the other three counties.

Lin Jue's expression froze.

"There are too many yaoguai; several heroes, please return and protect the law for me!"

As soon as the words fell, the first twelve bean soldier armored men immediately took back their weapons, gave up their targets, and walked back: some held long spears and stood on his two sides, some held round shields and surrounded him, some held bows and arrows and aimed at the bird yaoguai in the sky, and some held swords and knives and stared closely at the foot of the city wall, protecting the law for him.

Lin Jue began to chant.

With the sound of the chanting, the wind between heaven and earth began to change again, turning from the whistling from south to north to spinning.

A pile of feathers on the city wall suddenly swirled.

There were also feathers in the distant sky, but they were suddenly carried by the wind halfway through their fall, began to fly in an arc, and then also started to spin in circles.

The Daoist's chanting did not stop.

In this process, yaoguai were constantly climbing onto the city wall and engaging in fierce battles with the bean soldier armored men, and bird yaoguai were constantly swooping toward him, either pierced by flying swords or shot down by bows and arrows; even if yaoguai used various methods to rush to the front, they were blocked by the bean soldiers and even the fox.

If there were spells, the bean soldiers would block them with their own bodies.

A moment later, under the city wall, a swirling gale had gathered; this wind was large at the top and small at the bottom, shaped like an inverted ram's horn, and also like a tornado.

The tornado began to wreak havoc along the city wall.

I don't know how many weeds were uprooted, grass and stones flew everywhere, and I don't know how many yaoguai were swept into the sky by the wind, along with the armor and weapons they dropped.