Book 13: Chapter 33: Song That Incites Tears
Book 13: Chapter 33: Song That Incites Tears
Dong!
The originally intense war drum sounds suddenly changed, becoming overcast and gloomy, the strikes becoming long and drawn out.
“Old Cheng, we should prepare to leave.”
The grave and stern black-armored Yunqin officer turned around, looking at the grizzled haired old soldier who was still adjusting the City Defending Crossbows and saying this with a heavy voice.
“I can still fire another round. You all should head on first.”
The grizzled haired old soldier looked at that young Yunqin black-armored soldier who blocked several arrows for him, and then he picked up another crossbow arrow, adding it into the City Defending Crossbow.
The black-armored Yunqin officer gave that city wall opening closest to them a look, immediately shaking his head. “No, there won’t be enough time!”
“I’m already old, I can’t pick up a blade. Once I leave this City Defending Crossbow, I won’t be of much use. You all should hurry and leave, this way, we can kill a few more Great Mang barbarians.” The grizzled haired old soldier muttered, still not stopping his movements.
The grim black-armored high ranking Yunqin officer now understood that this grizzled haired elder didn’t feel like there wasn’t enough time, but rather didn’t wish to leave at all.
For soldiers, this was going against military orders, but at this time, regardless of whether it was this black-armored Yunqin officer or the six or seven Yunqin soldiers who were still alive, they just couldn’t produce any feelings of anger.
They could see this grizzled haired old soldier’s resolution.
“Just go!”
This grizzled haired old soldier suddenly released an angry roar.
The grim faced black-armored Yunqin soldier’s lips twitched. “We’re leaving!” He showed this grizzled haired old soldier one final military salute, gave this fierce shout, and then began to rush towards an opening by the city walls with all of his strength.
“Old Cheng!” Behind him, the other Yunqin soldiers all released a grieved cry, tears crazily rushing out. They didn’t turn around again, also starting to run crazily, leaving this place.
The grizzled haired old soldier didn’t say anything. He gave the corpse of that young Yunqin soldier who blocked several arrows for him and several other Yunqin soldiers’ corpses a look. Then, he lifted up the heavy hammer, steadily striking again and again, striking down on the triggers of several Moon Piercing Crossbows that had already been prepared.
Several crossbow arrows tore through the rainy mist, blasting flying a dozen or so Great Mang soldiers who had just rushed up the wall. However, there were even more Great Mang soldiers who then filled in this city wall opening.
The grizzled haired old soldier hid behind the City Defending Crossbow.
More and more Great Mang soldiers poured out towards this City Defending Crossbow like a tide.
When he heard the increasingly concentrated footsteps, this grizzled haired old soldier laughed, and then he rushed out, brandishing the heavy hammer in his hands, smashing it down on this City Defending Crossbow’s trigger.
Chi! Chi!…
Several arrows instantly landed on his body.
Several blasts of blood rushed out from his body. His figure shook, falling backwards, but the heavy hammer in his hands still struck down on the trigger.
Dang! The sound of the trigger loosening immediately sounded. This grizzled haired old soldier roared out, “Die!”
A crossbow arrow the thickness of a child’s arm flew out following this final roar.
Yunqin petty officer Old Cheng had been around City Defending Crossbows his entire life. This final crossbow arrow of his didn’t shoot towards the Great Mang soldiers in front of him, but rather at a crossbow cart to the side.
This City Defending Crossbow was aimed right at this crossbow cart to its side.
Dang!
Before the crossbow arrow even completely left the City Defending Crossbow, it smashed into the crossbow cart next to it. In this instant, endless metal exploding noises sounded. The crossbow arrow exploded into several pieces… The City Defending Crossbow shook, countless mechanisms inside breaking. The body of the Moon Piercing Crossbow to the side had a hole smashed open by the snapped crossbow arrow. While carrying tremendous power, it fiercely smashed into a crossbow cart to the side.
The collision of these crossbow carts and their destruction made many Great Mang soldiers who rushed up retreat with miserably pale expressions. Their bodies were penetrated by the exploding metal fragments, and then they fell with miserable cries… While these scenes played out one after another, Old Cheng muttered to himself, and then closed his eyes.
…
In this instant, many crossbow carriages on the city walls collapsed, being destroyed.
“Don’t go! Come back right now!”
A Great Mang officer released an anxious shout.
Several dozen Great Mang soldiers who already occupied an intact City Defending Crossbow turned around in shock, looking at this Great Mang officer who shouted out, not understanding what happened.
Immediately afterwards, they suddenly felt like there was a giant shadow that appeared above them.
Boom!
A collapsed Yunqin giant Stone Catapult Cart smashed downwards, pulverizing these crossbow carts and these Great Mang soldiers around them, drowning them underneath.
All of the Yunqin large scale Stone Catapult Carts were falling, either falling into the city or smashing towards the city entrance. Blasts of smoke rushed everywhere, filling this city with a type of epic and destructive feeling.
…
Yunqin’s war drums continued to sound.
The final drum beats came from the four corner towers above the city walls.
Groups of extremely ugly expressioned Great Mang soldiers charged at these four corner towers through blood and smoke.
The air around the corner towers all began to tremble under the drum sounds.
The stairways leading to the corner towers were completely open. When he heard the drum sounds continue to sound, a Great Mang officer who was by the entrance into the stairway thought about how insufferably arrogant the Yunqin drum masters on the corner towers were, not placing them in his eyes at all. Thinking about the brothers who lost their lives along the way, his face became incredibly overcast.
However, right when this Great Mang officer cursed out and several Great Mang soldiers had just entered the corner towers’ stairway, the Yunqin drum masters on the four corner towers released the loudest sound at the same time.
This sound was like the crazy laughter of countless people, as if countless people were bellowing and roaring.
Under this drum sound, the four corner towers shook at the same time, coming to a rumbling collapse.
The four Yunqin drum masters on the corner towers proudly welcomed death.
The expressions of many Great Mang soldiers who were on the city walls underneath the corner towers became ashen, accompanying the collapsed tower to the grave.
When the four corner towers collapsed, within the haze covering East Scenery City, a lot of different sounds could vaguely be heard.
Many Great Mang soldiers listened carefully. Then, their expressions became even uglier. These sounds, these drum noises, were the singing of many Yunqin people together, a solemn war song.
This was Yunqin’s glory.
A Great Mang high ranking officer looked at the remains of the Yunqin Giant Stone Catapult Carts on the city walls. Under the fine raindrops and singing, he suddenly wanted to weep.
…
The Divine Wooden Flying Crane was still moving through the sky.
On the Divine Wooden Flying Crane, Bian Linghan’s hands already pressed against Big Black’s chest.
She did everything she could to give the orders to retreat as quickly as possible to the soldiers, depending on the speed at which Great Mang troops climbed the walls. However, there were all types of incidental elements, so no one could completely grasp the entire situation. On the various city walls, some Yunqin soldiers shouldered the mission of guarding the retreat of other Yunqin soldiers. There were some Yunqin soldiers who, under the interception of Great Mang’s army, couldn’t smoothly jump into East Scenery City’s streets and alleys.
Right now, in the area of the city wall beneath her, there were a hundred and sixty Yunqin soldiers who were stopped by two groups of Great Mang soldiers.
If she used all of her soul force to release an arrow from Big Black, she might be able to directly blast through a piece of the city wall, and then these Yunqin soldiers could escape through that area of the city walls.
However, she had to follow Lin Xi’s orders.
If she ended up using up all of her own soul force, she would need several days of uninterrupted meditation cultivation to replenish it.
The battle had just begun.
She could only go all out once on this battlefield.
This one attack had to be left for Great Mang army’s main leader, or a Sacred Expert, it had to be left for a moment that could save even more Yunqin soldiers’ lives.
That was why her hands trembled, stroking against the chest that carried Big Black, but didn’t open this chest in the end.
She watched the more than hundred Yunqin soldiers sing, and then decisively launch a final charge.
Rain always scattered down on her face.
There was always water trickling down on her ice-cold fine white face, difficult to distinguish whether it was rainwater or tears.
…
Within Natural Course Temple’s wooden buildings.
Even in all of East Scenery City’s most peaceful place, Lin Xi could still hear the singing through the slight wind and fine rain, the mountain collapsing sounds of Yunqin’s giant Stone Catapult Carts and four corner towers.
Lin Xi lowered the scroll in his hands.
The defenses laid out in this scroll, the arrangement of soldiers, the traps set up everywhere, as well as the various introductions regarding the military’s composition and cultivators were things he already carefully read through and memorized.
At this type of time, his memory even seemed to be far greater than normal.
However, he still placed this scroll in his robes.
It was because he understood extremely clearly that these arrangements of Tang Chuqing were already perfect enough. With these people in the city, it was already powerful enough. This battle, even without him, could be won. However, since he came to this city, he had to ensure that less Yunqin people died, unless he died here, he had to win this battle.
Before, even after he became a Green Luan student, he still found it a bit hard to understand why even though some people could choose to run, why they would always insist on going down with a city, with a fort. He felt like he was extremely flexible, that he wasn’t all that restricted… if he really couldn’t win in the end, then he would just run. Green mountains would continue to exist, clear streams continue flowing on, he would just fight again after he escaped.
However now, he knew that his previous thinking was wrong.
Under this type of singing, when every single breath of oxygen one took was filled with grief and sorrow… when so many people are dragging enemies down with them, when so many people even forgot themselves for the sake of protecting their motherland… in this type of situation where most people wouldn’t run out of fear of death… when so many people, for the sake of protecting this city, ensuring that even more people wouldn’t be killed by the enemy, already died in this city, when all of this filled up one’s mind, they would only have the mentality to fight the enemy to the bitter end.
Lin Xi’s eyes landed on his own dazzling High Priest robes.
Previously, he always felt like priests were like con men who feigned the supernatural, that having the priest identity would grant him another share of power.
However, at this time, he understood this identity’s greater meaning. During that Jadefall City summer, him, Bian Linghan and these academy youngsters seemed to have all suddenly grown up. Meanwhile, under this East Scenery City early autumn rain, all of these youngsters suddenly became even more mature.
He walked under the fine rain, starting to walk through East Scenery City’s streets and alleys.