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Chapter 68 The great revenge is avenged
Amidst the resounding bugle calls, the allied forces of the three states began their slow advance.

Leading the vanguard were various cavalry units, including both light cavalry and heavily armored cavalry. They were well-trained and formed an arrowhead formation, and the sound of thousands of hooves pounding the ground shook the entire countryside.

Following the cavalry was the largest phalanx of pikemen, a densely packed group forming rows of guns, a mainstay capable of holding off enemy cavalry charges.

Further on were the troops from the other two states. Compared to the vanguard of the royal city, their formation was significantly inferior. In addition, pursuing troops that appeared out of nowhere kept harassing them, causing both armies to suffer casualties of about ten men for every step they took.

As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, Gong Jiang charged to the front line with the heavy cavalry.

He wanted to personally confront Liu Shuyue's cultivator army!
He wanted to see whether he could charge faster or the other side could kill faster.

"Is it advancing instead of retreating?" Lin Qing watched the changing battlefield situation and casually opened the walkie-talkie, saying, "Groups B and C, maintain close fire. Group A can retreat back to the city wall. Don't forget the safe distance."

"Okay." Liu Shuyue quickly returned to the villagers. "Everyone, retreat! Make sure no one falls behind!"

Group A then left their previous defensive position and began moving towards Jiufeng City.

But they didn't simply retreat; they continued firing in an orderly manner from a safe distance!

Even in Chen Xuan's view, the scene at this moment had a touch of the art of war, because this was probably the first time in history that infantry had been used to kite cavalry!
That's right, the villagers' group shooting earlier wasn't their only option. It was just that it was safer for everyone to gather in the Eight Gates Formation of Life and Death. Even if a rogue cultivator broke through the hail of bullets and entered the formation, the formation would trap them again, immersing them in an illusion from which they could not extricate themselves.

This may have given the enemy the illusion that they had to remain stationary to kill the probing troops so efficiently.

However, the truth is that the villagers, having bathed in dragon blood and learned the Cleansing Heart Technique, could all run incredibly fast, even surpassing the speed of a warhorse charging at full speed. When they entered the moving-and-shooting phase, an incredible thing happened—

The cavalrymen continued to fall like soldiers crashing into a wall, unable to catch up with the retreating villagers. Just when they finally managed to close the gap, the villagers would suddenly increase their firing rate, widening the distance again amidst a flurry of men and horses falling.

The other two units responsible for the pincer attack did the same.

They were hardly threatened by the rogue cultivators, maintaining a distance of about 500 meters from the enemy, prioritizing the elimination of soldiers who had strayed from their ranks. If small groups of enemies fled, they did not pursue them, allowing them to escape westward in order to weaken the enemy's fighting spirit.

This was certainly not achieved by the villagers' fighting spirit in controlling their positions and coordinating with friendly forces; they couldn't even see the movements of another unit.

Lin Qing controlled the next move, how far to go, when to stop, and when to pursue. Her command was even prescient; she could determine the enemy's movements half a minute in advance and then issue targeted instructions to the leaders of Groups A, B, and C.

What supports her in doing so is, of course, the auxiliary AI system installed in her head.

Liu Shuyue and Mala Village may not have realized a fact.

Only Chen Xuan saw this point—these three thousand people, possessing the bodies of cultivators and the basic techniques of their sects, equipped with modern weapons and instant communication devices, plus a global clairvoyance and AI command, had actually become the most powerful army in the Qi Kingdom.

Despite suffering heavy casualties, the cavalry finally forced Liu Shuyue and her group to the city wall.

However, this is meaningless.

The earthen walls of Jiufeng City were only a little over two meters high, which the villagers of Mala Village could easily jump over. In contrast, the cavalry couldn't cross the earthen wall at all. To avoid crashing straight into it, they had to rein in their horses in advance and slow down a hundred or two meters away. This made them easy targets for rifles. After the entire A group jumped onto the wall, they continued to counterattack, and the three-state allied forces were immediately put in an extremely awkward situation.

Continuing the siege despite those unseen yet incredibly deadly "hidden weapons"? A two-meter-high city wall may not seem high, but just getting close to it would cost countless lives!
Moreover, the soldiers discovered that neither armor nor helmets were as fragile as paper against the enemy's unreasonable offensive tactics.

They would rather fight against evil cultivators and demons, so that at least they could see what tricks the enemy had up their sleeves, and at least they would die knowing why.

Instead of what it is now, where brothers are falling in droves, unable to resist or escape, as if the air itself is filled with murderous intent.

"Commander-in-Chief, we can't hold on any longer! We must retreat!"

"As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood!"

The guards barely managed to control the frightened horses, forming a shield in front of Gong Jiang with their own bodies.

"Outrageous! My Gong family only has defeated generals, not surrendered generals!" Gong Jiang stared at the city wall so close at hand and gritted his teeth. "As long as we get over that wall, we'll have a chance to turn the tide. There are tens of thousands of soldiers waiting to take over from behind!"

"Gong Lingwu, take a group of men and head north. There shouldn't be any guards at the city gates there... Gong Lingwu!"

Gong Jiang called out several times but received no response. He turned around abruptly and realized that his cousin was no longer behind him.

In that moment of distraction, he suddenly felt a jolt in his chest!
Then an endless feeling of numbness spread around me.

Gong Jiang looked down and noticed that fresh blood was flowing continuously from the gaps in the armor.

He fell backward and tumbled off the horse to the ground.

"Commander!"

"Protect Lord Gong!"

Seeing his personal guards frantically trying to dismount and help him up, Gong Jiang used his last strength to raise his hand and point to the city wall, "...Go...take it..."

Wow, that's so high!

The city wall, which just moments ago seemed so easy to scale with a human ladder, now appears to block out the sky, so high it inspires despair.

This was the last thought that crossed Gong Jiang's mind.

As the number of casualties continued to rise, and the commander leading the charge was shot and fell from his horse, the morale of the remaining troops collapsed suddenly.

General Gong has been killed in action!

"Our commander is gone, let's surrender!" The soldiers threw down their armor and weapons, some turning to flee, others kneeling in surrender. This sense of defeat spread like dominoes, reaching the entire army almost instantly.

What was once an invincible army has now become a bunch of scattered soldiers who only know how to survive.

As for the remaining rogue cultivators, they had long since vanished without a trace.

Liu Shuyue naturally wouldn't let these soldiers escape from Jiufeng City's territory, not for any other reason than that an unrestrained army could easily turn into bandits plundering the local area. Anyway, Yunzhou wasn't short of food and could temporarily support tens of thousands of prisoners; it wouldn't be too late to release them home once the situation stabilized.

The villagers came out again, chanting slogans that surrender would not result in death, and began to rally the defeated soldiers.

……

The cleanup work continued until evening.

When Liu Shuyue returned to the Liu family, everyone bowed their heads to her. Previously, the Liu family members looked at her with curiosity and respect, but now they all felt a deep fear.

“We’ve captured a member of the Gong family alive,” Fu Jiaolu said as he walked to her side. “He said he absolutely has to see you.”

Liu Shuyue nodded and followed the hunter to a secluded courtyard.

The courtyard was guarded by members of a hunting team.

To prevent prisoners from colluding, the villagers separated ordinary soldiers from officers; the former were gathered in tents outside the city, while the latter were imprisoned in the Liu family compound.

The member of the Gong family was kneeling in the center of the courtyard.

Liu Shuyue recognized the other person at a glance; it was Gong Lingwu.

She suddenly understood why Fu Jiaolu wanted her to come here.

Gong Lingwu also noticed Liu Shuyue at this moment. A trace of fear flashed across his face, but it was quickly covered up by his forced composure. "Liu Shu... Great Immortal Master Liu, I was wrong last time. I apologize to you!"

Liu Shuyue walked up to him and looked at him silently.

Seeing that she didn't respond, Gong Lingwu quickly added, "You can't kill me. I'm General Gong's son, and you should know his temper! If I die here, my father will definitely fight the Liu family to the death! But don't worry, as long as I go back alive, my father will definitely remember this kindness, and maybe he can even persuade the Prince of Qi to stop holding a grudge about what happened in Qingzhou!"

She remained silent.

It's that same indifference again... She's always been like this! Ever since she was bestowed the title of Immortal Master five years ago, she has never even given me a second glance!
Anger surged within Gong Lingwu, but he dared not show it on his face. "What do you need? Money or food? I can have my family send it to you! The same goes for the disaster victims. You can take as much as you want; I can give them enough food to last a lifetime! If you're worried, I can write a letter home for you. Please, Immortal Master!"

Liu Shuyue finally spoke, "Is this what you wanted to say?"

“No, not only… Just tell us what you need, and the Gong family will meet it!” Gong Lingwu quickly added.

“I personally hold no grudge against you, and I never take your rude words to heart.” Liu Shuyue shook her head. “So you don’t need to ask for my forgiveness.”

His face lit up with joy. "Then...then you're willing to let me go?"

“The people you should really beg for forgiveness from are those who were forced to flee Qingzhou.” After saying that, she turned and walked out of the courtyard.

"Wait...don't go, I admit my mistakes, I'm sorry to them! Master Liu, please listen to me—" Gong Lingwu struggled to stand up, but was pressed back down to the ground by the villagers behind him.

“Do you know who we are, General Gong?” Fu Jiaolu squatted down in front of him and said.

"No, I don't know! How could I possibly know you! Let go of me, my shoulder is going to break!"

“My name is Fu Jiaolu. I’m a hunter and one of the refugees who had to flee Qingzhou.” He pointed behind the other person, “There are also Fan Shitou, Wu Zhou, Xue Xiaojin… Everyone standing here is a refugee who fled from Zhangwei City.”

As he called out names, more and more villagers gathered around, surrounding Gong Lingwu completely.

"W-what are you doing? I am the son of the Great General! You can't do this to me!!"

Gong Lingwu had only spoken halfway when his voice suddenly turned into a scream!
Blood gushed from his face, and his right ear was missing.

"Pah!" The horned deer spat out the bits of meat in its mouth. "Why isn't there any disaster relief food?"

"I...I ahh ...

"Not only did they not bring any supplies, they also want to send troops to kill us!?"

"How dare you disrespect the Immortal Master!"

"If the disaster relief food had been distributed earlier, my child wouldn't have died!"

"Give me back my father's life!"

After each person finished asking a question, they would bite him hard on the face, first his ears and cheeks, then his eyes and nose.

At first, Gong Lingwu struggled desperately and screamed repeatedly, but later he gradually stopped moving and his groans became lower.

After everyone had finished asking their questions, his head had become a bald, round ball of blood, and through the bits of flesh, one could even see the white bones underneath.

Fu Jiaolu then released him, slowly stood up, and said, "Now...we forgive you."

(End of this chapter)