Chapter 99: 111, 112 The Birth of A-Ting, The Second Ghost Tide (Long Chapter, Please Subscribe)

Around the time An Jie was due to give birth, Song Cheng was very nervous.

He pulled the Tiger Leopard Battalion directly to serve as his personal guards, stationing them right next to the An Mansion, so he would not have to go to the camp and could have more time to accompany his wife at home.

Such an operation was originally absolutely unfeasible, but ever since Song Cheng began leading troops, his prestige had been extremely high; whether it was his personal martial prowess or his method of commanding soldiers, he made everyone submit wholeheartedly.

At this time, it was the beginning of the tenth lunar month, just around the Mid-Autumn Festival.

But the weather had become abnormally cold to the extreme, as freezing as the twelfth lunar month; this chilling, gloomy cold seemed to be a premonition that this year's Ghost Tide was about to arrive.

These days, Song Cheng no longer went to look for Ying'er or Ling'er, and as for Su Huxian, she was still recovering from her injuries.

After their last meeting, when she informed him that Su Houzhang had been sealed, she had said there would be good news next time they met.

But good things are often beset by difficulties; this would have to wait until she recovered.

Song Cheng only stayed in An Jie's room, patiently and joyfully keeping her company.

At this moment, he felt a mysterious emotion in his heart—it was the extension of his bloodline, the throbbing of his soul, the first descendant in this strange world who shared his blood.

Tong Niangzi had long since arranged for three or four midwives to move into the An Mansion, waiting every day for An Jie to go into labor.

However... they waited and waited, and waited and waited.

After the tenth month passed, the child in An Jie's womb simply would not come out.

When Song Cheng placed his hand on An Jie's belly, he could still feel the child tracing patterns against his palm from inside, though he did not know what it was doing.

By the time the eleventh month arrived, everyone felt something was wrong; Tong Niangzi even ran back, bringing a group of doctors to take An Chenyu's pulse and examine the pregnancy, yet no matter how they looked, none could find the problem.

So, an old doctor suggested using labor-inducing medicine; after all, it was truly too strange not to give birth after eleven months.

But for the sake of safety, everyone decided to first prepare some pregnancy-preserving medicine to try.

This preservation lasted until the middle of the eleventh month.

An Jie's belly remained large, and those pregnancy-preserving medicines not only failed to have an effect, they seemed to have brought about some "consequences, though it was unknown if they were caused by the medicine."

An Chenyu began to feel cold, with a heavy head and light feet; even though the stove burned for twelve hours a day, and even though the quilts were layered one upon another, she was still cold.

Her hands were cold, her feet were cold.

Song Cheng was on the verge of exploding; he looked at the doctors coming and going, suppressing the urge to roar "quacks" at them.

Tong Niangzi no longer stayed at Zhushan Temple and moved back into the An Mansion, watching over her every day.

At the end of the eleventh month, An Chenyu suddenly fainted, and her belly grew cold.

Song Cheng hurriedly held his wife, circulating his Qi and blood throughout his body, turning into a warm, human-shaped stove to provide her with heat.

But at this moment, An Jie was like a giant ice ball absorbing heat; no matter how much warmth Song Cheng provided from his body, it was all lost without return.

Through his unremitting efforts, An Chenyu finally woke up slowly.

She felt the man's warm embrace and whispered weakly, "If only one can be saved, save the child, okay?"

Song Cheng suppressed the panic in his heart and said calmly, "An Jie, you're overthinking it."

Facing An Chenyu's gaze, he smiled and said, "You being like this is actually quite normal. I asked Jia Er. Jia Er said this is called Cold Weather Late Pregnancy Syndrome, and Zhushan Temple has encountered it several times; really... it will be fine after a while."

An Chenyu grabbed his arm and said weakly, "Save the child, okay?"

Song Cheng smiled and said, "What 'save the child'? It hasn't reached that point yet."

An Chenyu insisted, "Save the child, okay?"

She was not easy to fool, especially since she knew her own man perfectly well.

Which words were true and which were false—how could she not know?

Cold Weather Late Pregnancy Syndrome—it was truly a credit to her man's quick wit to invent such a thing.

But, she knew it was fake.

She had originally thought her life was to be completely dedicated to the An Family, to help the An Family complete its class transition and live better in this Imperial Court.

But at this moment, she suddenly discovered something more important: she had to take good care of this child, let this child come into the world safely, and even if she died because of it, as long as this child could live, that would be good.

At the very least, this child could see the scenery she had not yet seen on her behalf.

Seeing Song Cheng silent, she said softly, "I know my own body very well; I'm actually fine, I'm just afraid you will panic and mistakenly think you have to choose one of two. That is why I want you to save the child."

"I am your Lady Song; I will not lie to you."

An Chenyu said a lot more in one breath.

Song Cheng did not answer, only held her tighter.

This sudden turn of events turned his original joy completely into nervousness and worry.

By the tenth month, it was already freezing cold, and by the end of this eleventh month, the world seemed to have fallen into an icy hell.

At first, there was still a lot of intelligence coming to Song Cheng's ears, all about how the Six Towns were faring, how the Ghost Pits in the wild were, how the Imperial Court was... but now, this intelligence was all intercepted by Tie Zhenyi, Zhao Hua, and the others.

It was not to sideline Song Cheng, but because they did not want to disturb him.

Hanping Prefecture would not stop functioning just because it lacked the North Land Blade King.

In such gloomy, bone-chilling weather, Tie Zhenyi and the others began to deploy defenses in advance.

They dispatched garrison troops, generals, and experts to the east, west, and north city gates and passes, while simultaneously building barbicans to make the area behind the gates winding and complex.

After seeking Song Cheng's permission, Zhao Hua also led the Tiger Leopard Cavalry out, stationing them in a more open area where they could provide timely support to various locations.

During this period, an accident actually occurred, but everyone was unable to investigate it clearly.

That was that the Sun Nine-Pattern Golden Coffin that sealed the Rotten Poison Ghost had disappeared.

The Prefecture Soldiers sent to retrieve the coffin searched outside for a long time, but they simply could not find it.

There were many complicated matters outside, but Song Cheng no longer cared.

Because his heart was truly in a state of chaos.

He even began to doubt himself frantically.

Was it because his constitution was too special that it caused An Jie's difficult labor? He had actually thought about this problem long ago.

The reason he had rushed to conceive an heir was precisely because he was worried that after he became stronger, he would develop "reproductive isolation" with normal women.

But, had he considered the strength of his own life seed, and the frailty of An Jie's body? He should have considered it.

But he did not.

He was utterly selfish!

December arrived in a flash.

This year, the flying snow was rampant, falling from the sky like a pale ocean, instantly submerging the human world to the seabed. Thick snow, knee-deep, soon piled up in the courtyard of the Neizhai of the An Mansion.

Song Cheng sat before the threshold; behind the door, Tong Niangzi was daily bringing doctors and midwives to examine and chat with An Chenyu, who had grown weak to the extreme.

He, meanwhile, took out the ancient mirror left behind by Lady Zhushan and raised his hand to tap it.

The mirror surface rippled, presenting the scene of the entire Hanping Prefecture.

This also included the Tiger Leopard Battalion.

Although Zhao Hua's talent for martial arts was very good, his talent for leading troops was even better.

He had followed by Song Cheng's side day after day, studying every move of this big brother; now that Song Cheng was absent, he was leading the Tiger Leopard Cavalry quite capably. Yet, he was not Song Cheng after all, and there were still quite a few loopholes.

But these loopholes were filled by Song Cheng's seemingly unremarkable little apprentice, Yuan Shouyu.

Yuan Shouyu was actually also a genius at commanding troops.

Song Cheng watched the Tiger Leopard Battalion through the ancient mirror, just as Lady Zhushan had once spied on him.

Watching like this, he could still see the data fluctuating.

Suddenly, Song Cheng froze, because he discovered that in the snowy weather, the overall combat power of the Tiger Leopard Battalion had weakened.

It was as if it had dropped by nearly twenty percent compared to the same period.

In an instant, a thought rushed into his mind.

While this world certainly possessed mysterious powers, the command of troops was still swayed by "heavenly timing, geographical advantages, and human harmony."

Pure leadership of troops was "human harmony"—it was the morale of the soldiers themselves and the commanding power of the general himself.

But in fact, heaven and earth also influenced the values of military force.

Data fluctuated, intersected, and changed unpredictably, but no matter how it changed, in this icy, snowy weather that was not suitable for the Tiger Leopard Cavalry to perform, all data had uniformly decreased.

"Heaven and earth, they actually have an influence on force?"

Song Cheng understood this principle, but seeing it with his own eyes, he still felt it was miraculous.

"Then, could martial Dao borrow the force of heaven and earth?"

"If an individual merges into an army, as long as one grasps that fleeting military force, one can instantly erupt with power far exceeding one's own strength. This is called Soldier-General Unity."

"Then, if one could grasp the force of the changes in heaven and earth, could one also make one's own strength increase by several times directly? This is called Heaven-Man Unity."

One thought after another burst forth inexplicably.

Immediately, he began to ponder.

But thinking it over and over, they were all profound and mysterious grand principles that were of no damn use; he even recited a few lines of "The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao," but he didn't see heaven and earth shocked into producing any strange phenomena.

"Perhaps it is still exclusive to military force."

Song Cheng shook his head, temporarily hiding the idea of "personal martial Dao borrowing the force of heaven and earth" in the bottom of his heart.

He used the ancient mirror to patrol the Prefecture City once more, and seeing nothing unusual, he finally raised his head in exhaustion.

Regarding matters outside, even if the sky collapsed and the earth split, he had never felt this tired.

But this was a matter inside An Jie's belly, it was his child's matter, and he already felt pain.

Extreme pain!

He wanted to drink.

But An Jie could not be stimulated by even the slightest scent of alcohol.

So he did not drink.

After an unknown amount of time, the doctor and midwife walked out from the room behind.

Tong Niangzi came out last; she softly closed the door, then sat down on the threshold beside Song Cheng, and together they looked at the monstrous sea of snow.

She didn't speak either, just staring blankly at the snowflakes, then sighed lightly and said softly, "An Jie's pregnancy is too strange. Her belly is ice-cold; logically speaking, the fetus should be dead, and it has even affected her. But when measured, the child still has signs of life."

Song Cheng said, "Can the birth still be induced?"

Tong Niangzi shook her head.

Song Cheng gritted his teeth and asked again, "Can you save one of the two?"

Tong Niangzi said, "Either live together, or die together."

In such an instant, Song Cheng had a feeling of wanting to collapse.

No, he had already prepared himself to be a father.

In his past and present lives, the first time being a father.

The joy had fallen from the peak to the valley with the passage of time.

"Do your best to save them... Master of the house."

Song Cheng lowered his head dejectedly.

Tong Niangzi said, "This is my child too."

Immediately, Song Cheng entered the room and continued to serve as a human-shaped heater.

And for some reason, at this time, An Chenyu was like the cold ice hell itself; no matter how much heat Song Cheng provided her, it would be sucked dry, and even Song Cheng began to feel cold.

This was simply unimaginable.

Such a situation continued until the end of December.

At the end of the year, Song Cheng held An Jie.

An Jie slept in his arms, and she was awake very rarely.

For the sake of celebration, the Hanping Prefecture at the end of this year specially set off fireworks.

As soon as it reached the hour of noon, the fireworks that filled the sky rose up against the flying snow; even from inside the Neizhai of the An Mansion, one could still see those flickering, colorful rays of light outside through the windows.

If one were to say that the hour of noon is the moment when Yin energy is at its most intense in a single day, then the last day of the year is the moment when Yin energy is at its most intense in an entire year.

According to the Imperial Court's Star Gazing Tower, this moment is when the human world is closest to the Great Yin and furthest from the sun.

A rustling sound, heard by no one, erupted from the wilderness of the North Land, covering the sky and earth; it was as if locusts had turned into a dark cloud and "buzzed" across the border, as if hell had opened its gates and ten thousand Ghosts were "rustling" as they climbed up—out of those deep pits, one after another, one following the next, crawled out strange-looking Ghost Servants.

These Ghost Servants had dull eyes and no longer possessed any reason, yet they still possessed flesh, blood, and skin.

After they were born, they wandered aimlessly in the cold night, while those born near the county towns or the Prefecture City were directly attracted by the massive Yang energy and headed straight toward the city.

It was as if their mission was to annihilate all life and chisel a deep hole into this city wall of Yang energy.

And at that very moment, Song Cheng felt An Jie in his arms suddenly give a light cry of pain, murmuring: "It's time, it's time."

Song Cheng was stunned for a moment, then immediately became nervous and ecstatic; not long after he rushed out, Tong Niangzi led a group of midwives and hurried inside.

Song Cheng waited nervously outside.

Hanping Prefecture.

On the North City wall, the garrison soldiers huddled in the watchtower, gathering around a fire basin to keep warm.

Others were wrapped in thick cotton coats, holding torches and pacing back and forth on the city wall; there were also fire basins placed outside the city to "open the line of sight," otherwise, one could not see even a hundred paces away.

Just at this moment, a garrison soldier suddenly widened his eyes and looked toward a certain spot in astonishment.

He was not looking at the ground, but at the sky—in that pitch-black, snowy sky, something was flying over.

"Is that a bird?" this soldier asked his companion beside him.

The companion said: "In this freezing weather, how could there be birds?"

But immediately, the companion said vigilantly: "Perhaps it's a demonic beast!"

"Alert!" the soldier shouted vigilantly.

They had long since received orders to shout immediately if there was any abnormality.

And just as this shout fell, a figure darted onto the city wall like lightning; this was none other than a newly promoted External Affairs Envoy of the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall.

Because of the "three families becoming one," the resources of the Bamboo Mountain Temple were no longer withheld, but were used to cultivate more experts—many Martial Artists of the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall who had been stuck in the Jin Realm made breakthroughs one after another.

This newly promoted External Affairs Envoy was one of them.

The External Affairs Envoy climbed onto the city wall and, without needing the soldiers to say anything more, looked up toward the distance.

In the dark wind and snow, something was flying over.

The External Affairs Envoy drew his blade, and upon seeing it up close, his scalp went numb and his whole body turned cold.

What kind of ghost thing was this? A human head, a bird's body, two arms, sharp claws... the human head and two arms looked like those of a soldier, after all, there was a helmet on the head; the bird's body and sharp claws belonged to a demonic beast, after all, ordinary birds were not this large.

The thing fell from the sky, tilting its head, its two eyeballs rolling irregularly like white beads in glass marbles, looking at the External Affairs Envoy, and then its body moved, pouncing directly at him.

The External Affairs Envoy gathered his Jin Power and raised his blade to block.

Clang! The blade met the wing, emitting the sound of metal striking stone.

Sss~~ The External Affairs Envoy was knocked back a yard, his web between thumb and forefinger numb; upon looking, it was already about to split open.

But at the same time, he also recognized what the incoming thing was.

With that kind of rotting, sinister aura, there could be no second possibility.

"Ghost Servant! Fire arrows!"

The External Affairs Envoy shouted urgently.

He felt a chill in his heart; one had to know that the Ghost Servants from the year before last were still very easy to eliminate, and they had caused almost no pressure on the Prefecture City, except for a type of Ghost Servant carrying Rotten Poison that was a bit terrifying, there was nothing else.

At that time, Martial Artists in the Jin Realm could slaughter them!

But now, he had already entered the Form Realm!

On the other side, the human-headed bird rolled its eyes in a hair-raising way, "cooing" as it pounced again... after a fierce siege, the city gate soldiers, having paid the price of over ten casualties, finally killed the human-headed bird.

Flames burned on the human-headed bird, and the outer skin instantly charred... inside the charred skin, it was empty, with nothing at all.

This human-headed bird was actually a stitched-together piece of human skin and bird skin!! The stitching of the skin made two lives that could never be combined into one, and it even became... more powerful!

The External Affairs Envoy looked at this scene solemnly and tightened his grip on his hand.

The web between his thumb and forefinger had completely split open, and fresh blood stained the hilt of his blade.

Glancing further into the distance, his pupils suddenly constricted.

He saw that in the darkness, many rustling, strange things were crawling over. The External Affairs Envoy's Adam's apple bobbed, then he took a deep breath and roared: "Ghost Tide!!!"

"It's born!"

"Mother and child are safe, it's a baby girl!"

"It's born!"

Joyful voices came out from the deep residence of the An Mansion one after another.

Hearing that "mother and child are safe," Song Cheng was nearly moved to tears of joy; he circulated the Jin Power and Qi throughout his body, quickly warming his body and clothes, before stepping through the door.

He saw a dirty little baby girl at once.

In an instant, it felt like a year had passed.

He cautiously leaned over.

The midwife hurriedly and carefully handed the baby girl to this high-ranking and powerful official of Hanping Prefecture.

Song Cheng held the baby girl, smiling from ear to ear, then sat down and said: "An Jie, look, this is our child."

An Chenyu leaned against the bed, weakly saying: "Song Ting, A Ting..."

Song Cheng smiled and said: "Yes, A Ting."

This name always reminded him of the courtyard of the An Family, reminded him of that warm scene; it seemed that just by mentioning it, his heart had already begun to quiet down.

Immediately, he handed A Ting to Tong Niangzi.

Not long after, the clean little baby girl was brought back, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and held in An Chenyu's arms.

The crowd withdrew, leaving only Song Cheng, Tong Niangzi, Ying'er, Ling'er, and An Daxiaojie, who loosened her clothes and brought that bit of red paste to the little baby girl's lips.

The little baby girl's lips had been motionless, but as if pushed by an instinct, they slowly opened, and then she began to suckle gently.

Tong Niangzi also seemed to have set down a heavy burden in her heart, and looking at Song Cheng, she said, "Are you relieved now?"

An Daxiaojie, who was nursing, looked up and said, "Many thanks, Sister Jia Er."

Tong Niangzi said, "What are you saying, Sister An? I am also a little mother to A Ting now."

An Daxiaojie smiled and said, "I want to be a little mother too."

Tong Niangzi also watched with envy; to tell the truth, seeing this moment of mother and daughter snuggling, she was truly moved.

After the little baby girl finished drinking her milk, she became sleepy and then fell asleep.

Tong Niangzi pushed Song Cheng out the door and said, "Let me take care of Sister An and A Ting these days. You should also get some rest; there are still many things inside and outside the city waiting for you."

"Alright."

Song Cheng left happily; he was extremely excited at this moment, and immediately called for Ying'er to ask about what had happened during these days.

He had become somewhat disconnected from the outside world.

Ying'er thought for a moment and said, "In the eleventh month, a major event did happen over at the Six Towns. Someone suspected to be from a noble family, together with a general, led twenty thousand troops to suppress the Six Towns. In the end, they were still routed."

"Someone from a noble family?"

Song Cheng pondered slightly.

He had chatted with Su Ningyu before, so of course he knew there were quite a few noble families in this world.

But he never expected that even with a noble family taking action, they would still be overturned by the Six Towns.

"Was this because the illusion was broken?"

Song Cheng asked subconsciously.

Ying'er said, "It is said that the person from the noble family was exceptionally fierce; it should not have been an illusion, but their true body that went. Perhaps that person from the noble family also wanted the imperial reward, or something else?"

True body?

Song Cheng fell into a slight contemplation.

It seems that while noble families in this world are powerful, they can still be killed by armies. And Huangcheng must also contain many great secrets, otherwise why would the noble families take action?

What is that secret? A title?

Land?

Or a divine weapon?

Forget it; staying far away from places with such great secrets is the way to protect oneself and one's family.

As long as no one comes to provoke him, he does not intend to travel far for the time being, but rather wants to see if it is possible to clear away the dangers around his home.

Song Cheng thought for a moment and took out the ancient mirror again.

Having become a father, he felt a heavy sense of responsibility.

This responsibility told him that he must protect his wife and daughter well.

His finger tapped the ancient mirror slightly, and the mirror surface revealed a luster; although it was faint, the scene inside could still be seen.

The scene rippled, and Song Cheng looked inside.

"Ghost Tide?"

In the Tiger Leopard Camp, Zhao Hua, Yuan Shouyu, and others received the news of the emergency in North City, and all of them revealed grave expressions.

"Should we go and ask Master?" Yuan Shouyu asked. He was struggling a bit; he knew what his master's current situation was, and he did not want to disturb him if he could avoid it.

Zhao Hua pondered slightly, took a fish-head jade pendant from his bosom, and upon seeing that it was a fish head rather than a skull, he sighed.

This Skull Double Fish Pendant is not like the ancient mirror or the ancient couch, which "can absorb a large amount of moonlight at once and be used for several days"; this jade pendant must absorb moonlight on the day of use to be used the next day, and it is invalid if expired.

And these days it was often snowy, so where would there be moonlight? Immediately, Zhao Hua decided, "We will head to the North Gate first to assist in the defense, but we must send cavalry to inform Big Brother, and then after the cavalry returns with Big Brother's opinion, we will decide how to strike."

Having said that, he prepared his armor, gripped his long saber tightly, and led the Tiger Leopard Cavalry toward the north.

Meanwhile, a cavalryman hurried toward the An Mansion.

Song Cheng saw this cavalryman through the ancient mirror.

He also saw Zhao Hua's decision.

Huazi is still quite reliable; he knows that if an emergency arises, he should act quickly, but the final decision must still be left to him—this is what a capable person does.

But Song Cheng saw more than just this cavalryman; he also saw some "pale red data" flying into the city from elsewhere.

This color is the color of a Ghost servant.

It means that some Ghost servants have bypassed the city wall and have already entered the city directly.

And the data of these Ghost servants who entered the city was mostly between 60 and 80.

These are Form Realm Ghost servants!

To counter them, one would need at least a well-equipped expert at the Completion of the Jin Realm.

He needs to deal with these Ghost servants who have snuck into the city; he cannot worry about North City.

Song Cheng quickly scanned the north; that black mass of data was mostly Force Realm, and although there were many at the Jin Realm, they had no formation at all and did not have the slightest bit of military momentum; it would not be an exaggeration to call them a "rabble." Such a "rabble" would be instantly killed the moment they encountered the Tiger Leopard Cavalry.

Song Cheng discovered that when he looked at the problem from the perspective of "military momentum," large quantities of enemies also felt very weak.

After a moment of thought, he called out to Ying'er, "A Tiger Leopard Camp cavalryman will arrive in a moment. Tell him that they are permitted to leave the city to charge and kill, but they must not go too far."

The Tiger Leopard Cavalry are cavalry.

Using cavalry to defend a city is a waste.

Seizing the opportunity to open the gates and charge out to kill is what should be done.

For one, it is to train the army through actual combat and sharpen the blades with blood.

Many of these soldiers participated in the war against the northern barbarians, but they have only fought against humans, not against Ghost servants.

Now is an opportunity.

Over this past year, Song Cheng read quite a few military treatises, and based on the data, he also figured out many things unique to himself.

And one point among them was: the vanguard's edge.

If one wants "military momentum" to be strong, the "vanguard's edge" is indispensable.

In a real war, the vast majority of soldiers are very fragile psychologically; in short, they will "follow along and charge forward if their own side charges forward fiercely," and "if someone retreats, they might follow along and flee."

Therefore, it is very important to hone a group of fearless, fiercely aggressive soldiers to serve as the blade of the army.

Secondly, while these Ghosts look numerous, they are actually weak; what is truly terrifying are those Ghosts flying into the city from all directions.

Song Cheng pondered briefly and then said, "Ying'er, immediately send someone to inform the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall that Ghosts of the Form Realm have snuck into the city, and tell them to strengthen patrols and be careful."

"After finishing this, you stay here."

Ying'er had been listening the whole time, but upon hearing "you stay here," she couldn't help but be startled and subconsciously asked, "Then what about you, Master?"

Song Cheng said, "Me? I am staying here, my Soul will leave my body, and I will be back in a moment."

Having said that, he did not wait any longer, mentally noted the several anomalies he had seen, and his Soul flew up; in an instant, he was several miles away, and with a few leaps, he arrived at the first Ghost.

That was a human-headed monster bird.

Song Cheng took a deep breath, and the flying snow in mid-air suddenly collapsed, compressed, and condensed into an ice and snow giant over two zhang tall.

The giant brandished a fist the size of a washbasin, falling from the sky, and with a single thunderous smash, it brought the sky full of snow crashing down with it, "Boom—" slamming that human-headed monster bird, which had a strength of no more than 65, onto the ground.

The giant immediately landed, its two fists hammering down continuously like drumsticks.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

The human-headed monster bird was hammered to pieces.

Even though it was just his Soul using external objects for Manifestation, it still inherited the lower limit of Song Cheng's Jin Realm strength.

And his Jin Realm was at Ultimate Completion; if one were to talk about data, it could reach over ninety.

Killing this human-headed monster bird, while not a one-hit kill, was close enough.

Looking at the strange human skin and monster bird skin on the ground, Song Cheng still remembered the monster flying birds that assisted the Barbarian in attacking the city while he was guarding the West City last year. These human skins and bird skins were actually sewn together now.

This meant the human-skin Ghosts had grown stronger.

And as for the human-skin Ghosts, Song Cheng already knew who the source was.

That was the Taboo that first brought him a "total wipeout," brought him the fear of death, and almost caused him and Tong Niangzi to die at Hou Shan — the Extreme Bliss World.

He narrowed his eyes, dispersed the wind and snow, and then quickly headed toward the next location.

The slaughter lasted through the night until the break of dawn.

The clouds cleared and the snow stopped, and golden light slanted down from the thick, gray clouds, yet it only descended from the sky above the Prefecture City.

If one looked out from further away, one would find that the sky of the Prefecture City was also like the mouth of a well; except for the open well mouth, the surroundings were all eerie gray fog.

At this time, Song Cheng arduously beat the last Ghost to death.

That Ghost was the strongest among the invading Ghosts, with a strength reaching 80.

Song Cheng, in the state of Soul Manifestation, fought crazily against it, and it took several exchanges before he completely suppressed and smashed it.

He quickly returned to the An Family, entered his body, and then looked at the bronze mirror.

He hurriedly scanned the surroundings; there were mostly no more Ghosts, but he had only looked halfway when the image in the bronze mirror disappeared.

The "energy" stored by the moonlight was insufficient.

'I am still too weak after Manifestation.'

Song Cheng sighed inwardly.

If his physical body were to move out, he would kill those previous Ghosts with a casual strike.

But compared to his Soul, his physical body's speed was far too slow; if his physical body were to move out, he definitely wouldn't be able to finish killing the Ghosts that snuck into the city tonight.

'I wonder if there is a way to improve my strength after Manifestation.'

On the other side, at the North City gate.

The Tiger Leopard Cavalry returned from outside; over a hundred men had died in battle, but all the survivors seemed to have been baptized, the aura of slaughter around them becoming increasingly heavy, and as their horses' hooves trod, their iron armor shone with a cold light, resembling a fierce, iron beast.

Because they did not know if any Ghosts had mixed in, the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall, White Camel Manor, and Bamboo Mountain Temple dispatched experts to join the soldiers in starting patrols everywhere.

And Song Cheng would also often be in his room, his Soul leaving his body, and then wandering above the entire Prefecture City.

With multiple measures taken, the Prefecture City could be considered relatively stable.

It was just that the county towns outside were likely suffering.

Even though the Prefecture City had arranged for Form Realm experts to sit in command, this year the Ghosts themselves were already of the Form Realm; what could be done?

But the accumulated snow was deep, and the Ghost Tide was terrifying.

Inside the city, one only faced Ghosts, but if one left the city... one would have to face evil Ghosts.

The evil Ghosts sent Ghosts to attack the city precisely to scatter this wall of Yang energy.

Who dared to leave the city? The Prefecture City's terrain was vast, and the army here was just rushing back and forth, trying their best to hold on.

Days passed one by one.

Everyone was numbly and crazily repeating the same city-defense work.

Including Song Cheng, who was the same.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the third month.

On this day, everyone was, as usual, busy defending everywhere in a state of exhaustion.

The soldiers on the city wall had made it through the late night; their numb, sleepy eyes moved, and suddenly they saw the sunlight in the distance, as well as an incomparably wide field of vision.

The soldier rubbed his eyes in astonishment; he discovered that the places previously invisible due to the gray fog were suddenly all clear, and he couldn't help but mutter, "The Ghost Tide... has retreated?"

"The Ghost Tide has retreated!!"

"It has retreated!!"

Cheers rang throughout the Prefecture City.

The people were as joyful as if it were a festival.

This year, the Ghost Tide was even more ferocious; the strongest encountered were of the Form Realm, and the duration changed from the previous fifty-plus days to over eighty days.

Yet the damage to the Prefecture City was similar to last year.

This was already a great joy.

Soon, the Prefecture City arranged for soldiers to go out and investigate to confirm whether the Ghost Tide had truly dispersed, and also sent word to the other various counties.

Although the Ghost Tide had retreated, a large number of ghost servants remained, which required careful handling.

Song Cheng had been busy for over three months, and only now did he have a chance to catch his breath.

He bathed and changed his clothes, washing away the baleful aura from his body, then knocked lightly on the door; from inside the room came the indistinct, tender voice of a baby girl.

Baby girl: "Meng."

Song Cheng:??? Immediately after, it was An Chenyu's voice: "Come in."

Song Cheng entered the room; the baby girl was attracted by the sound of the door opening and turned her head to stare at the man who had entered.

Song Cheng asked curiously: "What was A Ting just saying?"

An Chenyu said: "She said 'door'."

Song Cheng suddenly understood.

An Chenyu smiled again: "Your daughter might be good at drawing."

"She's only three months old, what could she draw?" Song Cheng couldn't help but laugh.

An Chenyu brought out rice paper and handed it to him, saying: "Take a look. I gave her a brush and let her scribble on the paper. She just held the brush and dragged it twice at random, and it turned out like this."

Song Cheng looked over.

He saw a crooked curve drawn on the rice paper, with a circle at the top of the curve.

Is this a balloon?

No.

This world has no balloons.

Then, it was just a random scribble.

But to be able to draw a circle at the age of three months.

"Not bad, not bad," Song Cheng praised.

Baby girl: "Ha."

(End of this chapter)