She still had a cartload of arrows. Huo Xiaolong took out two pills from the porcelain bottle. The other party had time to eat and replenish their strength, but they didn't. He put one into his own mouth and flicked the other into Da Ni'er's mouth.

"What is this?"

"To replenish energy."

Another arrow pierced the air, the heavy arrow piercing through the wall of men in front of the enemy general and landing on a soldier behind him. The sight of the soldier flying up and pinning to the ground sent a chill down his spine.

The arrows fired from the heavy crossbow were even more penetrating than before. He looked towards the city wall, but could only see the heavy crossbows; he couldn't see the person operating them.

"Who's on the other side with that heavy crossbow? A ghost?"

"Report to the general! News has come from the siege ladder that the heavy crossbow is being operated by a child who is not even as tall as a wheel!"

The commander gripped the command flag tightly, his gaze resolute. Today, Pingyang County must be captured.

If they can't take the city, they'll be the ones getting beaten down. The Great Yan has children who can pull heavy crossbows that shake the ground; she's not even as tall as a cartwheel now, what about later? What about when she grows up?

It's even less likely that they'll be able to penetrate Pingyang County.

"Everyone! Listen to my command! Attack with all your might!"

Seeing the enemy army surging forward like dumplings being dropped into boiling water, Mother Cen withdrew her attack. Apart from a few strands of hair falling beside her cheek, the woman looked no different than before. She coldly addressed Wang Zheng...

"Let's serve the golden soup."

The Golden Soup is something neither army would use unless in an emergency. People who are doused with the Golden Soup will not die immediately, but will suffer and die from festering wounds.

"good."

The boiling broth was already prepared. Everyone stepped aside to rest for a moment, covering their mouths and noses, and watched the broth flow down the city wall.

Huo Xiaolong gagged from the stench, and the girl next to him said...

"Why don't you go down first?"

"No, uh—it's just a little nauseous."

Da Nier nodded

"If you ask me, we should add some of the clothes of those plague refugees to the soup... What do you call it? Smallpox, right? There's no smallpox medicine on the grasslands, you die if you get it."

Huo Xiaolong slowly turned his head to look at Wang Dani'er, a slight smile spreading across his face.

No, sis, are you some kind of modern-day Jia Xu or Cheng Yu?

"...Well, your...your...method works, but you can't do it that way."

"Why?"

The little girl asked with a puzzled look, and then continued...

"No, is it enough to just kill them all? That way they won't attack the city."

Huo Xiaolong took a deep breath, gagged again, and said to Da Nier.

“You can kill these enemy troops who come to attack the city; that’s just common in war. But if you add something like plague to them, then that’s not common in war. You’re wiping out the grassland people completely, you understand?”

"Isn't this better?"

"On the bright side, if they all die, who will raise cattle and horses for us, and who will grow safflower for us? The Great Yan doesn't have that many people. On the other hand, if they don't all die, they will rise to power again in a hundred or a thousand years, and with them will come even more insane revenge. That will be the real... hell on earth."

Wang Dani nodded as if she understood, though not quite. If that was how it was explained, she could understand it a little better.

“If we don’t consider these things, Da Ni’er, you can’t be so cruel. It’s not that you’re not ruthless, it’s that you can’t harm people.”

"What's the meaning?"

"Have the people of the grasslands always wondered why the people of the Central Plains were able to live better lives than them?"

This is why they keep invading; they are not self-sufficient and lack proper etiquette and education. The little girl slowly nodded.

"Um."

"Because the concepts of 'humanity' and 'benevolence' are ingrained in the bones of the people of the Central Plains."

A person is defined by their virtue.

Wang Dani didn't understand; she clearly did well in her studies in class.

"Teach me after we've defended the city."

"good."

The two sisters made a pinky promise during their free time. The soup was all poured out, and now it was time for a fierce battle of fighting and defending. Taking advantage of this time, Huo Xiaolong went down the city wall again and looked from a distance at his mother, who was dressed in white and helping out at the clinic.

She didn't go up to bother He Yi. The little dumpling smiled and ran up the city wall again.

She saw that the ladies who usually frequented brothels under the city wall had rolled up their sleeves and were helping out as much as they could. Those who couldn't help brought out their family's food to cook for the soldiers. Huo Panlijian also brought his younger siblings to help.

Huo Xiaolong thought that perhaps her country was like this in her past life.

Before the country is destroyed and the race is wiped out, let us work together.

"Fortunately, the pampered son of the medical profession has plenty of medicine. I've never fought such a rich battle in my life. It's the first time! The first time that even the King of Hell drawing a circle on the Book of Life and Death couldn't save people as quickly as I did!"

Hou Xiangxiang was already incredibly skilled at stitching up wounds, and with her mother and the aunties from the embroidery workshop helping out inside, she could even spare a moment to ask the old man stroking his beard for advice.

"Grandpa Gu, who is that spendthrift in the medical field?"

"...No one, let me go check the pulse of that girl at the brothel, she's a bit of a problem."

"Um!"

As dusk fell, the crimson sunset seen from the city wall complemented the fireworks display that filled the sky.

They didn't know when reinforcements would arrive, but... they would stay until the last man fell.

"Come!"

Wang Zheng raised his sword again, boosting morale. No need for many words; a single word suffices.

Come!

Let's fight again!

The fierce battle raged through the night, and by dawn, only the members of Fengyue Tower and a few constables behind Wang Zheng were still standing. Even though Huo Xiaolong had given away all his pills, exhaustion, serious injury, and death were inevitable.

The little girl swallowed the last pill in her hand. She didn't believe that the Xiongnu still had a human wall.

The arrow that sank was also the last one.

This arrow will surely crush your morale.

—Swoosh

The arrow pierced the air, a few stars dotting the gray sky. The arrow passed through the wall of men, pinning the enemy commander to the ground.

"Long'er!" Wang Dani'er exclaimed excitedly.

"Mom, the commander is dead!"

The little girl pointed to the wall of people and said to Cen Ang.

"The commander has given orders! If I am killed in battle, I will continue to command! They have held out for a day and a night! Steppe warriors! Follow me! Attack the city once more!"

Wang Dani sighed and continued to stand in front of Huo Xiaolong, holding up the iron shield.

"They really went to great lengths for your heavy crossbows; if one commander died, another would take his place."

The little girl smiled with relief, a unique sense of ease about her.

"It's alright. We've come this far, life and death are in the hands of fate."

"Wealth and honor are determined by fate?"

If they trade one for one, they're not at a loss; if they trade one for two, they're making a killing. By that calculation, Fengyuelou has already made a fortune.

The maids' hands, gripping the daggers, were already trembling. Ping'er, seeing the spear aimed at Chunying, rushed forward without hesitation. The spear pierced her body, but the girl continued to move forward.

Reaching the Xiongnu in front of her, she slashed his throat with her dagger, and with all her remaining strength, she dragged him down the city wall.

"Sister Ping'er!"

"Ping'er!"