Chapter 52: A Nobody

The flames spewed by the Fierce Fire Oil Cabinet, with the instantaneous lethality caused by high temperatures, can cause individuals facing them head-on to completely lose their ability to attack.

Covered in flames, they slammed into the city walls and crashed against the Shields, then fell, bringing the fire to more Evil Gu below and igniting many fire jars that had been set up.

Once touched, the flames do not extinguish.

Yet those Evil Gu charging straight ahead still rushed forward one after another, like insects flying into a fire in the dead of night.

Even if they have turned into monsters, essentially, they are still mortal bodies; how could they possibly withstand such a destructive blow?!

It was as if the screams and wails of countless wild beasts had gathered together, forming a strange buzzing sound that traveled from outside the city to inside.

The people in the city cannot see the situation at the base of the outer side of the city wall.

But that line of fire lighting up on the city wall and the screams of those monsters that followed were a ray of hope, a promise that required no further words.

Is the Ren Clan powerful?

See it with your own eyes!

The shocking scene ahead made many people who held a deep, blood-soaked grudge against the Evil Gu suppress their cowardice at this moment, stirring up a surge of hot blood, wishing they could also grab a divine artifact and leap onto the city tower to spread their wings like a Great Peng!

It also caused everyone who had come to join the Ren Clan, whether they were from great noble families or common folk, to have their intention to stay here deeply rooted.

On a certain viewing platform, someone wailed loudly, then looked up to the sky and laughed: "Heaven's mandate is here!!"

The front line continued to burn.

Burning fragments and dust were swept up by the wind and flew into the city.

These scraps scorched by the flames carried no Evil Qi, but they caused the sky to gradually turn gray and hazy, with smoke suspended in the air.

Some Evil Gu crossed this line of fire defense, but the fully armed garrison on the city wall was already waiting, and sharp blades continuously cut down these invading monsters.

A small number of Evil Gu also broke through the city wall garrison and climbed over into Neicheng.

But the City Defense Army was waiting there as well.

Not only that, many of the ruffians and hoodlums from the Outer City District, holding long-handled farm tools and sharp weapons, laughed as they rushed to the front to snatch battle merits.

Wine is expensive, and they wanted to kill some Evil Gu to trade for wine to drink!

The city tower of Neicheng.

Ren watched the battle situation ahead.

Calculating the time, his slightly stern face gradually relaxed.

The victory was already decided.

A faint smile appeared on his face, and his voice was leisurely: "Like flying, like soaring, like shaking, like raging."

After nearly two years of continuous fighting, they understood those Evil Gu more and more.

They possessed no human consciousness at all, did not understand military formations or strategy, did not grasp human affairs, and relied entirely on primitive instincts, charging forward under the influence of herd behavior; they were all moving targets.

What evil demons or ghosts?

When it comes down to it...

"They are nothing but a bunch of fools!"

What truly needed to be dealt with were the Evil Gu that created these monsters.

Seeing the burning debris from the front drifting over, he turned around to enter the room.

There was no need to watch the battle anymore.

As for cleaning up the battlefield and clearing the city walls after the battle ended, there were people responsible for that; he did not need to say more. If they could not even do this, they would be replaced.

Just before entering the room, he suddenly tilted his head and glanced at the high platforms on the city wall, his gaze sweeping across them one by one from the nearby platforms.

Some people on the platforms noticed this and bowed in salute. Others were immersed in the battle ahead, with no mind to attend to anything else.

And there were others...

On one high platform, someone noticed this; he could perceive the other person's gaze looking over. The distance was a bit far, and he could not see the appearance clearly, but it was roughly a scholar.

The other person just looked over here without bowing in salute.

Ren frowned.

The attendant beside him felt nervous: "Young Master? Is something amiss?"

"Nothing. Just a nobody."

Ren did not take it to heart.

As for that gaze, it probably came from the admiration of someone at the bottom.

The attendant beside him breathed a sigh of relief and carefully glanced at his master's expression as he looked outside.

Yes, yes, that's the look of looking down on a dog from a high position!

This is good! It means he didn't take a fancy to anyone!

One cannot just be anyone to be the Young Master's attendant; positions are limited, and recently, the great families coming from the South were all recommending their own young people—regardless of gender, they were all competitors!

Over here.

Wen Gu withdrew his gaze.

Beside him, Xiao Liu was about to ask again about the Fierce Fire Oil Cabinet, but seeing that Wen Gu was not watching the battle, he asked: "What is it, Second Brother Wen?"

Wen Gu said: "Nothing, I just saw that among those monks chanting, there were some with beads of sweat covering their faces."

The sun had appeared briefly just now, and when it shone on the faces of those monks, it reflected a small patch of fragmented light.

One could not tell if it was from the exhaustion of chanting or from nervousness.

He sighed in a low voice: "Facing the onslaught of those monsters, does even the Buddha feel fear?"

Xiao Liu looked over but didn't see anything. He looked at the young man beside him and asked: "Does the Buddha also fear Evil Gu?"

The young man who had been muttering about the Fierce Fire Oil Cabinet almost jumped up upon hearing this: "How could the Buddha be afraid? Don't talk nonsense! Those who feel fear must have no Buddha in their hearts!"

"Then you must have no Buddha in your heart either," Xiao Liu said.

"You're talking nonsense! My family goes to the temple every year to add incense oil; we have piously worshipped the Buddha!"

"You are sweating."

"I wore too much coming out today, and the divine artifact in front is so hot—that's why I'm hot!"

Xiao Liu did not know whether he should believe this; he had actually been quite afraid just now. Could it be that he had no Buddha in his heart? Was he not fated with the Buddha?

Listening to the conversation beside him, Wen Gu stabbed Qingyi Daozhang again: "There are also many wealthy families here who believe in Buddhism."

Qingyi Daozhang: "..." Just shut up!

Wen Gu looked toward the front.

The line of fire on the outer city wall was shrinking, indicating that the offensive of the group of evil things outside had already been greatly weakened.

The commotion that had just appeared in the outer city also gradually subsided.

The afternoon sky was gradually turning dark; because of the fighting on the front lines, Jinwu City maintained a scorching temperature, and the pervasive smoke and dust rolled into the air along with the warm wind.

But outside Jinwu City, night was falling, and the temperature was also dropping.

Even though the overall temperature had risen these past few days, it was, after all, the turn of autumn and winter, so the nighttime temperature was still somewhat low.

After the cluster of evil things outside the city was weakened, the coercive influence of the group decreased, and many individuals on the periphery had already spontaneously retreated.

The heat from the flames and the smoke and dust of their own kind being burned made them fearful; beast-like survival instincts would drive them to stay away from this place.

Those that did not retreat also had their movements gradually become sluggish along with the low temperature.

For Jinwu City, there was no longer any threat. Those close by were shot with Arrows, and there was no need to pay attention to those far away.

The soldiers inside the city were not in a hurry to open the city gates to pursue and kill at this time; now was not the best time for pursuit. Waiting until the temperature dropped—that would be the best time to go out hunting.

To be precise, when the Cold Wave arrived and the weather changed, the entire Beidi would begin this year's Autumn Hunt!

They would go out to clear the threats on their territory and, furthermore, clear a path for the wealthy families migrating north from the South, absorbing fresh blood and resources.

After a battle of defense, the outer city wall was even more mottled; even though the Fierce Fire Oil Cabinets were no longer spraying fire, the city wall remained scorching hot, and blood and sweat hissed as they dripped onto it, branding it with patches of marks.

The guards still alive on the city wall mostly had burns on their bodies and might also have sequelae that would accompany them for the rest of their lives, making them unable to serve as city guards again.

However, there was no shortage of people here.

Another autumn and winter season had arrived; fleeing refugees and the large groups migrating north from the South would all fill those vacancies.

Wen Gu and the others walked down from the viewing platform of the inner city wall, and Xiao Liu said goodbye to that young man.

He had heard this person who came from the South speak of many dangers in the south.

"Being eaten by these monsters is far more terrifying than being eaten by beasts in the mountains! No wonder so many people are in a hurry to head north!"

As he spoke, Xiao Liu thought of something, and he asked Wen Gu: "Will clusters of evil things appear near our Village?"

Wen Gu said bluntly: "I am not sure, but as a large number of people from the South migrate north, the evil things in the south might follow them later. If your Village is on their path of advancement..."

The color drained from Xiao Liu's face.

Even if his own village were built into a Wubao, what would happen when facing such an attack?

Would it have a tall city wall like Jinwu City?

Would it have so many Armored Soldiers and divine artifacts?!

Recalling the dark, heavy tide he had seen on the viewing platform, Xiao Liu took a deep breath.

Without a doubt, there was no need for any wishful thinking; if they really encountered that situation, their village could be submerged in a single encounter.

Wen Gu comforted him: "If you can get settled in Beidi, you can find an opportunity to bring them over later. You are the hope of your entire village!"

Xiao Liu nodded heavily.

His desire to get ahead had become even stronger.

On the way back, they saw those monks again.

The monks had heavy tasks; people nowadays valued sacrificial rites and needed to be given psychological and spiritual reinforcement.

Prayers for compassion and salvation before the battle, incantations to slay evil and subdue demons during the battle, and after the battle, they still had to go to the outer city wall to perform purification and transcendence.

Passersby on the road saw those monks and were exceptionally respectful, imitating the Buddhist greeting.

Listening to the discussions of passersby, after finishing at the outer city wall, the monks still had to go out to continue the purification and transcendence.

Chanting for several hours straight was no simple feat.

Their professional ability was too strong; ordinary peers really couldn't compete with them!

Seeing that Qingyi Daozhang was still staring at that group of monks, Wen Gu advised him:

"That's enough, stop looking; this is not your strong suit."

Just honestly come with me to the Zhao Clan for Alchemy!

Qingyi Daozhang rarely did not retort this time, or rather, he was in no mood to argue about these things at such a time. His complexion was poor.

The Ren family revered Buddhism, and Daoism was in decline; the chances were too slim.

Returning to the courtyard where the team was resting, the team members in the yard were also fiercely discussing the battle at the front.

Although they had not followed Wen Gu to the city wall to watch the battle, they had sent people out to scout the situation, and there were still people at the entrance keeping watch, so they knew the general situation.

Wen Gu was also thinking about those Fierce Fire Oil Cabinets.

Thinking back carefully, those Fierce Fire Oil Cabinets might have been improved to target evil things within the last year or two.

To be able to improve them to such a degree was astonishing!

At the same time, it also meant that there were many talents here! Perhaps they were even from the Ministry of Military Weapons in the past!

When the world was not in chaos and the Emperor was still there, this group of people from the Ren family hid away as many secret techniques and materials as they could.

The accumulation of noble families and prominent clans was extraordinary; some things would not be easily shown when the world was at peace.

Now that the world had changed, they were no longer covering things up, but instead wantonly displaying their strength, even using it to attract those families to defect to them.

Fierce Fire Oil, petroleum, war reserve supplies.

Being able to dominate a region in such chaotic times, the Ren Clan certainly had the strength to be arrogant.

Wen Gu thought about these matters, having people keep an eye on the movements of the outer city to see when the city gates would open and when they could go out.

Night fell.

Many parts of the Inner City District of Jinwu City were brightly lit, and the newly arrived wealthy families from the South were too excited to sleep.

As for the Outer City District, although not many lights could be seen, it was because they could not afford candles and had to save on firewood, so naturally, they would not light fires at night. Likewise, there were sleepless people everywhere.

The next day, after dawn, even more people in the city were discussing yesterday's battle.

Without needing to deliberately inquire, one could hear similar talk while in the courtyard.

Roughly speaking, it was—

"Jinwu City is protected by the Divine Bird; the Mandate of Heaven is here!"

"So-and-so master in the Inner City is exclaiming that he bet on the right treasure!"

"Whoever defended the city this time performed a great service, got promoted and became wealthy, and moved his family into the Inner City District!"

"I'm not going to the Ren Clan anymore; I'm going to strive for a future right here!"

"They are going to build a temple in the Outer City District too; I must go and add some incense money when the time comes!"

Similar words.

Wen Gu suspected that someone in the city was manipulating public opinion.

"This Ren Clan really has a lot of talent!"

Beside him, the Daoist Priest wore a displeased face, grumbling inwardly:

My Danguan doesn't even have one yet, and that group of monks already has several temples!

(End of chapter)