In the small town, chaos reigned. From the front street to the back, demon races ran rampant, slaughtering indiscriminately.
...
Amidst the sound of hooves, a force of human cavalry finally ascended the mountain. It was a fiery red iron cavalry, the Vermilion Bird Camp from Shanhai Pass. Leading the charge of the Vermilion Bird Riders was a female general clad in a marshal's cloak. With a flash of her sword, she severed the head of a sixth-realm demon. Her beautiful eyes fell upon the scattered corpses in the town, and she couldn't help but redden. "Kill them all, and cover the retreat of the townsfolk!"
"Yes, my lady!"
Shao Shiyu led ten thousand Vermilion Bird Riders up the mountain.
With the arrival of the ten thousand Vermilion Bird Riders, the demon race's assault on the town was halted. These skilled female cavalry soldiers were exceptionally valiant, their archery precise and their swordsmanship formidable. As long as they weren't facing great demons, they could generally hold their own.
In the blink of an eye, the town was awash in fiery red, the Vermilion Bird Camp having temporarily reclaimed it.
...
At this moment, a young Taoist priest ascended the mountain, his eyes shifty and his demeanor furtive. He made his way to the front street, heading straight for Qin Suihan's bookstore residence. Upon seeing the large vat beneath the white tree, he let out a sigh of relief and chuckled, "Fortunately, it's still here, fortunately it's still here!"
With that, he took out a large bowl, scooped up a bowl of water, and muttered incantations towards the water vat. Moments later, two large fish leaped out and fell into the water bowl. One fish was pure white, and the other was also pure white, their tails biting each other, resembling Yin and Yang.
"Tsk tsk..."
From atop the snow-covered wall, an old man scoffed, "Is this how your Taoist sect treats this world? Where were you when heaven and earth were in turmoil? Now that Qin Suihan has single-handedly resolved the crisis, you've come to reap the benefits?"
The young Taoist priest smiled faintly, "Old physician, what business is it of yours? Mind your own affairs. Besides, a pair of Yin-Yang fish, drawing on heaven's luck beneath the white tree, this was an agreement between our Taoist sect and the Confucian Sages of old. If it weren't for the Heavenly Taoist Sage mediating from above, do you think the number of people who would have besieged Qin Suihan would have been so few? The outcome might have been different."
"In the end, isn't it for yourselves?" the old physician said.
"And so what?"
The young Taoist priest smiled, "I won't talk to you anymore. It's a waste of breath."
With that, he actually ascended into the clouds and departed.
...
The old physician frowned and let out a soft sigh. Should he also leave?
But shouldn't he do something for this world?
"Hmm..."
The old physician, who had initially not wanted to participate in the war between the human race and the four northern tribes, suddenly changed his mind. He lunged forward, his figure streaking through the air. As he rose from the wall, a Dharma image thousands of meters high manifested, resembling a majestic old man in green robes. He gazed down upon the myriad beings on the earth, and suddenly, countless silver needles appeared in his hands, which he scattered towards the northern lands.
"Puff puff puff..."
In the night sky, great demons who had been moving swiftly suddenly found themselves unable to move. Each vital point pierced by a silver needle, their life force was instantly extinguished. In just one volley of scattered needles, over a dozen demon cultivators of the Upper Five Realms were killed!
"You scoundrel!"
The Dharma image of a thirteenth-realm great cultivator of the demon race rose abruptly from the northern snow forest, and he roared, "The medical sect has long declared to the world that it only saves the dying and heals the injured, never participating in mortal wars. As the esteemed Medical Sage, why have you broken your vow?"
The old physician frowned, "Some things have gone too far, and I simply cannot stand by and watch. What of it? You cannot bear to see it, so come and kill me?"
The thirteenth-realm demon was enraged. How could he kill him? He was thirteenth-realm, while the other was fourteenth-realm. Even if he was merely an old physician who saved the dying and healed the injured, it wouldn't be difficult for him to kill himself.
"Let this matter drop, and do not interfere further?"
The thirteenth-realm demon frowned, "Our demon race can pretend that nothing has happened."
"It's a deal."
The old physician smiled and his Dharma image turned towards the south. In a human military hospital in the south, at least two hundred thousand wounded soldiers were groaning in agony, some on the brink of death.
"Let's do a bit more!"
The old physician looked down upon the southern land, unhooked the wine gourd from his waist, and after opening the stopper, poured it towards the southern land. Instantly, streams of deep blue medicinal essence wafted away with the wind, blanketing the southern land. The severely wounded human soldiers' wounds suddenly itched intensely, and their wounds healed at a visible rate. Those soldiers who had been at death's door found a renewed lease on life. While they weren't healed instantly, they would no longer die.
Raising the dead and healing the injured, there was nothing more fitting.
After completing these deeds, the old physician immediately retracted his Dharma image, reattached the gourd to his waist, clasped his hands together, and bowed repeatedly towards the sky, muttering, "Heavenly Dao, do not blame me, Heavenly Dao, do not blame me. It was out of necessity. Let me not be stained by karma!"
With that, he turned back to his own courtyard, picked up a bundle of delicate and translucent branches from the ground. These were withered branches that had fallen from the white tree. Although much of their fortune had been lost, they were still treasures. As for how he obtained them, he had naturally won them by playing chess with Qin Suihan. Qin Suihan and the old physician had a peculiar rule for chess: win one game, two withered branches; lose one game, one withered branch. Thus, the old physician could not suffer a loss.
Naturally, it was precisely because of these things that the old physician intervened at this moment. Otherwise, he would absolutely not have gotten involved in this mess. As for Qin Suihan's battle to defend the realm, the old physician truly dared not help. The karma was too great; if he had acted, the entire ancestral court of the medical sect would likely have been implicated.
Thus, carrying a pile of withered branches, the old physician ascended with a radiant glow, carrying his burden into the heavens!
The old physician had lingered in the mortal world for decades and had finally departed.
His surname was Zhang, and his given name was Ji.
...
One hundred thousand elite demon forces, along with fifty thousand demonic cavalry, attacked the one thousand Vermilion Bird Camp in the town from the east and west. Throughout the entire afternoon, the ten thousand riders of the Vermilion Bird Camp were eventually wiped out. Shao Shiyu fell in battle beneath the stone bridge.
A wisp of Lin Zhao's soul returned to the small town.
Beneath the stone bridge, the beautiful marshal Shao Shiyu still held her blood-stained marshal's sword. Her chest was pierced by more than ten arrows, and her arms and legs bore multiple sword wounds. Of the six marshals of the Great Shang dynasty, all had retreated south. Only Shao Shiyu, with the lowest cultivation, a mere ninth-realm sword cultivator, had led an iron cavalry unit to resist the powerful enemy, but ultimately died defending the realm.
"Shao Shiyu..."
Lin Zhao frowned. He slowly knelt on one knee beside Shao Shiyu's corpse, wiping the dirt and grime from her pretty face. A woman in such a high position should not have died like this.
On the bridge, the excited shouts of demon soldiers could be heard.
"Look quickly, the female general is dead!"
"That's Shao Shiyu, one of the six marshals of the human race guarding Shanhai Pass. A high official! Quickly, cut off Shao Shiyu's head and take it back to Lord Yu Zhi to claim your reward~~~"
A group of demon soldiers rushed down the bridge.
Lin Zhao panicked. He wanted to pull at Shao Shiyu's body, but it was impossible. He was merely a wisp of soul and could no longer move anything in the mortal world.
Just then, he saw a pair of eyes at the bottom of Baiyu Creek. He recognized them: Madam Xu, the river spirit of Baiyu Creek whose golden body had been shattered by Han Xin!
"Madam Xu!"
Lin Zhao raised his eyebrows and shouted, "I can see you, and you must be able to see me. Come out!"
The old woman slowly surfaced, looking terrified. "Young master... what does the young master command?"
Lin Zhao frowned, "I will not hold you accountable for what happened before. Now, I offer you a great merit, are you willing to accept it?"
"I am willing... I am willing..."
"Good!"
Lin Zhao said, "Immediately take Shao Shiyu's corpse and sink it to the bottom of the water. Bury her deep in the water, so that she may have her body whole and rest in peace. If you can seize this great merit, I will speak for you at the ancestral court of the military sect. Perhaps my senior brother or the military immortal Han Xin will bestow a golden body upon you again."
Madam Xu hesitated for a moment, "Young master, you are also just a dead person, how can you make the military sage aware of my merit?"
"Are you stupid?"
Lin Zhao was exasperated. He pointed towards the sky, "The Military Sage and the Military Immortal are both watching the mortal world from above. If you do this good deed, are you afraid no one will know? You only see what's in front of your eyes all day. How can your perspective be so narrow, Madam Xu? No wonder you're just a useless river spirit no matter how you try. It's not that I look down on you, but how can others promote you like this?"
"I, I..."
Madam Xu was about to cry again.
"Stop crying!"
Lin Zhao shouted, "Hurry up and do it! If you listen to me, you won't be wrong!"
"Yes!"
Madam Xu quickly swam over and used the tide to pull Shao Shiyu's body downwards, saying, "Young master, I am just a little old woman, do not deceive me..."
Lin Zhao wished he could kick her.
...
Lin Zhao's wisp of soul continued to wander through the small town. He wanted to know where Mr. Qin had gone. Mr. Qin was a transformed Confucian Sage. With his cultivation, it was impossible for him to die completely without a trace. Even he could condense a soul, so how could Mr. Qin not have one? He had many things to say to Mr. Qin.
In the small town, ten thousand Vermilion Bird Riders were annihilated, and the demon race swarmed in.
Lin Zhao passed by his former ancestral home and found that the courtyard had long been razed to the ground. Even the main house had been reduced to dust by demon cultivators. The entire back street was like a flat plain. Tianchi Town was almost non-existent.
In the distance, the war drums of the demon and demonic races thundered as they fiercely attacked the mountain.
In their eyes, if they could conquer Xueyu Tianchi, it would be equivalent to crushing the backbone of the human race. For Xueyu Tianchi was the northern gateway of the human race, and once the Holy Land of the human race, its capture would break the last bit of spirit in the human race. Then, it would be as easy as pie for the demon race to march south.
Thick clouds rolled in, and demonic energy permeated the air, crushing the small town on the mountain.
A twelfth-realm great demon, carrying a blood-stained saber, charged at the forefront. It was Lu Hai, the twelfth-realm great demon who had previously killed Han Buyu and Huoguo Chen.
And at this moment, in the nearly deserted small town, a young boy rushed out from the rubble of a courtyard, holding a wooden sword and pointing it directly at the great demon in the sky. Under the other party's terrifying aura, he stood his ground without retreating. "My father and mother, and Lin Zhao were all killed by you beasts! You... give me your life!"
"Oh?"
The great demon looked down, a cold smile on his lips.
...
This year.
The great demon was twelfth-realm.
The boy was twelve years old.