Chapter 104: The Great Army Approaches [Requesting Monthly Votes]

"Immortal Master, please calm down... calm down..."

Having dismissed the soldiers outside, Marshal Xu helped the old Taoist priest up from the ground, then clasped his fists at Li Yang with a panicked expression.

"I dare not hide anything from you, Immortal Master. It's true that we discovered a spirit fruit tree deep in the mountains of the northwest."

"It's just that the place is occupied by a native tribal settlement. That tribe is bloody, brutal, and utterly barbaric. They also have many fearlessly ferocious totem warriors within their ranks. Against the pressure of my army, those would not have been much of a problem. The crux of the matter is that the tribe worships an evil god."

At this point, Marshal Xu looked at the old Miao man beside him with a wry smile and continued, "Shaman Shen was wounded by that evil god. Its malevolent might is overwhelming—guns and cannons cannot harm it in the slightest. My five thousand troops were scattered by a single blow from it. In that battle, my Kun City soldiers suffered heavy losses. Fully half of them died before we managed to escape by sheer luck."

"This is also why my headquarters is so heavily guarded. I'm afraid that other warlords in the Yunnan region might learn of Kun City's weakened state and send troops to attack."

Marshal Xu looked at Li Yang with a face full of worry and distress.

"So that's what it was. I was wondering why the city suddenly went under martial law for no reason!"

Seeing that Marshal Xu was being relatively honest, Li Yang did not press him further and released the grim-faced young man he had been holding.

"You've crossed paths with that evil god. Do you know its origins?"

Turning to look at the old Miao man beside Marshal Xu, Li Yang's eyes narrowed sharply, staring intently at him.

"I would not dare deceive you, Immortal Master. That evil god's divine power is tremendous—it must have been nourished by incense and worship for many long years. It is definitely not something a newly-born god could compare with. This old man's cultivation is shallow; before it, I could not even hold out for a single exchange. That evil god excels at sonic attacks, has a body of iron and bronze, and is immune to all poisons. Its true form is a spider monster!"

"A spider monster..."

Seeing that the old Miao man's expression did not seem to be lying, Li Yang's eyes narrowed again, but doubt stirred in his heart.

In the He Estate in Nuqing County, hadn't the evil god that escaped been exactly that—a spider monster? Things couldn't be that coincidental, could they?

Seeing Li Yang frowning deeply with a pensive look, everyone in the hall felt uneasy, afraid that he might be dissatisfied with the information.

"Bad news... Marshal... The Jing City army has attacked!"

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside, along with a panicked voice.

"What...? Get in here!"

At this moment, Marshal Xu no longer had time to worry about Li Yang. He directly ordered the messenger soldier to come in.

"Speak! What the hell is going on!"

Looking at the soldier on the ground—panting heavily, his face covered in black soot, with hints of panic in his expression—Marshal Xu frowned deeply and pressed for answers.

"That... that Marshal Chu of Jing City somehow learned that you, Marshal, had suffered heavy losses attacking the mountain tribe, and brought his army straight here to attack. The brothers are holding the city walls with everything they've got, but the Shanxi-Suiyuan troops have fierce firepower. I'm afraid the brothers can't hold out much longer."

The soldier kneeling on the ground looked up at Marshal Xu and reported loudly, his heart full of unease.

"Bang!"

"That damned Chu mule! Last year he said he wanted to be sworn brothers with me, and now he turns around and attacks me. Does he really think I'm that easy to bully?!"

Hearing this, Marshal Xu slammed his palm hard onto the tea table before him, cursing through gritted teeth. Then he looked up at Li Yang.

"If you have matters to attend to, go ahead and handle them. Don't worry about me."

Sensing Marshal Xu's gaze, Li Yang waved his hand. He had no interest in the schemes of these warlords fighting among themselves.

"Thank you for your understanding, Immortal Master. Once Xu has repelled the enemy, I will definitely come and offer my apologies to you."

Clasping his fists toward Li Yang, Marshal Xu stood up and gestured to the soldier on the ground, shouting, "Gather the brothers! Form up! Follow me into battle! Let me see just how many guts this Chu mule has, daring to covet my Kun City!"

With that, he strode out of the hall in large steps.

"Do any of you have a map showing where that native tribe is located?"

Seeing Marshal Xu leave, Li Yang looked at the old Miao man before him and asked.

"Cough, cough... I... I have one..."

Just as the old Miao man was hesitating awkwardly, the old Taoist priest, who had been lying motionless in a chair looking half-dead, suddenly struggled to sit up. He pulled a tattered beast-hide map from his robe and handed it to Li Yang.

"Please forgive me, Immortal Master. This old Taoist failed to recognize a true master. Whatever offenses I have committed, I beg your pardon..."

Taking the map from the old Taoist's hand, Li Yang glanced at his dying appearance and waved his hand. He had no interest in stooping to the old Taoist's level.

Judging by the man's condition, he had little life left in him anyway. On top of that, his spell had been forcefully broken by Li Yang's Solar True Fire, and he was now suffering the backlash of his own magical power. Even if Li Yang did nothing to him, he wouldn't have many days left.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

"Ah... get out of the way!"

"Thud, thud, thud... This place is collapsing... Ah!"

"Help! Boom, boom, boom..."

"......"

Just as Li Yang was carefully examining the map in his hands, a massive explosion suddenly sounded. The ground shook violently, followed by a chorus of chaotic screams and desperate cries from outside.

Li Yang frowned involuntarily, reaching out to steady Hua Ling, who was wobbling beside him.

"Brother Li! Maybe we should go outside and take a look."

Hearing the screams and shrill cries of agony from beyond the hall, a trace of reluctance flickered across Hua Ling's delicate face. She tugged at Li Yang's sleeve and spoke in a soft voice.

"Alright. It's indeed not safe here. Let's go."

Looking up at the hall's ceiling, which was already on the verge of collapsing, Li Yang took Hua Ling's little hand and turned to leave the hall.

"Ah... ugh..."

"Help... help..."

"Save... save me..."

"......"

The moment they stepped out of the hall, they were greeted by limbs scattered everywhere and wounded soldiers lying on the ground groaning in pain. The air was thick with the acrid smell of gunpowder smoke.

Li Yang looked up and saw that the front gate of the headquarters had been blown to pieces. A huge crater had formed in its place, with wisps of black smoke rising from it. Similar columns of black smoke were rising all over the city.

"Brother Li, they look so pitiful..."

Looking at the wounded soldiers groaning on the ground, Hua Ling tugged at Li Yang's sleeve. Her big, bright, watery eyes were already brimming with tears, her face full of compassion.

"Hua Ling, you must remember: this is an age of chaos. In such times, human life is the cheapest thing of all. You must learn to adapt to all of this—to survive in this cruel world."

"Look at them. They're already crippled. Even if they could be healed and barely cling to life, living would actually be the greatest cruelty to them. Because they've already lost the means to survive in this turbulent era."

At this moment, Li Yang's expression was more solemn than it had ever been, looking at Hua Ling's face, which showed only a half-comprehending confusion.

Li Yang sighed, took her little hand, and led her out of the headquarters.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

"Watch out! Clang, clang, clang..."

The moment they stepped out of the headquarters, they were greeted by a volley of orange-yellow bullets.

Li Yang leaped forward to shield Hua Ling behind him. In an instant, his hands were coated in a layer of gold, and his eyes transformed into something resembling the compound eyes of an insect. The trajectories of the bullets slowed down a hundredfold in his vision.

Reaching out his palm, he casually intercepted several rifle bullets in midair. Li Yang looked up at a few soldiers in gray uniforms not far away and couldn't help but frown.

These soldiers were clearly not under Marshal Xu's command. They must be soldiers under that Marshal Chu that Xu had mentioned.

But that didn't quite add up either. Judging by Kun City's scale, it was considerably larger than Jing City. That meant Marshal Xu's strength should have surpassed Marshal Chu's. Even if he was now badly weakened, there was no way the enemy should have breached the city this quickly.

"Brothers, charge!"

"These two came out of the traitor Xu's headquarters—they must be big fish! If we capture them alive, the Marshal will reward us handsomely!"

Seeing Li Yang and the girl, the soldiers' faces lit up with glee and they sprinted over.

"Hands on your heads! Get on your knees!"

"Hurry up! Behave yourselves!"

Looking at the soldiers leveling their rifles at him, Li Yang frowned. He pulled Hua Ling behind his back, and from behind him suddenly burst several streams of golden flames that rose into the air like tentacles. In an instant, they seized the soldiers by the throats and lifted them off the ground.

"I ask, you answer. If you utter even half a lie, this will be your fate."

"Crack..."

Casually snapping one soldier's neck, Li Yang's eyes blazed with murderous intent, and his voice carried a chilling aura of dread.

"Spare us, Spirit Master! Spare us!"

"Just ask whatever you want—we wouldn't dare hide anything!"

Seeing the golden tentacles rising from behind Li Yang's back and feeling the suffocating pressure around their throats, the soldiers were so terrified that they wet their pants on the spot.

"You're soldiers under Marshal Chu, aren't you? How did you manage to break into the city?"

Smelling the stench of urine in the air, Li Yang instinctively wrinkled his nose and asked in a completely emotionless tone.

"Yes... yes, we're Marshal Chu's soldiers. A while back, a group of Americans suddenly approached the Marshal and said they'd provide him with weapons and equipment for free."

"Oh? Such a good deal—free weapons. What were the conditions?"

Hearing this, Li Yang's eyebrows shot up, sensing something suspicious. Americans? Since when were they so generous?

"Th-this... we wouldn't know. I'm just a lowly squad leader under Marshal Chu."

Looking at Li Yang's icy expression, the soldier answering stammered fearfully.

"So you're saying you're useless?"

"Spare—"

"Crack..."

Before the soldiers could even finish begging for mercy, the tentacles behind Li Yang suddenly tightened and snapped their necks.

"Do you think what Brother Li did was wrong?"

Retracting his tentacles, Li Yang turned to look at Hua Ling, whose face showed reluctance to witness such cruelty, and asked softly.

"It's not that Brother Li is cruel. It's that these soldiers, who have grown accustomed to looting and killing, can never turn back. Once a person fully unleashes the beastly desires hidden in the depths of their heart, they gradually lose their humanity and become more terrifying than vengeful ghosts. If we let them keep living, they'll only bring suffering to more innocent people."

Seeing Hua Ling shake her head and then nod, Li Yang understood her meaning and explained slowly.