Chapter 76 A Dreamlike Night: Exorcising the Gu
A general sometimes faces such a dilemma.
As dawn approached, the deep sound of war drums echoed through the city.
The streets were filled with soldiers rushing about, posting notices to seal off the city. The clanging of armor seemed to strike the hearts of the people, spreading fear and unease.
Xia Nancheng felt as if an invisible giant hand was gripping his throat. Though death was uncertain, the oppressive atmosphere made it hard to breathe.
"The prefect has ordered that no one is allowed to leave the city!"
The guards rode tall horses, their hooves kicking up dust as they sped along the street.
Street stalls and miscellaneous items were knocked over by the panicked crowd, scattered and trampled all over the ground, leaving a mess.
Many people, hoping to get away with it, rushed to the north and south gates of Xia.
Of the four city gates, only this one leading to Weicheng remains open. However, this is not to allow civilians to escape, but to ensure the supply of provisions and reinforcements to the rear.
These people who wanted to escape, carrying only a few belongings, gathered in front of the city gate, shouting, cursing, and pleading incessantly.
"Why won't you let us leave the city?"
"Please, sir, let us go!"
"We're about to go to war, why can't we hide somewhere else?!"
The chaotic scene and the panic caused the young children in the crowd to burst into tears and helplessly hide in their mothers' arms.
But the soldiers, armed with long spears, coldly stepped forward a few paces, forcing the crowd back.
"This is General Xie Xingzheng's strict order! No civilian is allowed to leave the city!"
The military flags fluttered in the wind, as if proclaiming to everyone an inviolable iron law.
Military discipline was as firm as a mountain, and the soldiers showed no mercy, as if anyone who dared to step forward would have their spear pierced through their chest.
Under intense pressure, no one dared to make any rash moves and could only retreat amidst cries and screams.
Not far away, Wang Shanyue, who was leading troops to deploy and patrol, saw this scene. His brows furrowed tightly, and his eyes were filled with deep sorrow.
"A-Liang, why don't you tell me, Senior Brother, you let them leave the city and escape elsewhere?"
He naturally trusted his senior brother, the Xie family army, and even more so, the defenses of Xia Nan City.
What harm is there in letting anxious people flee to places they feel safe?
Xiao Fangliang did not rush to reply, but instead looked up at the sky, which was pressed low by dark clouds. He reached out and caught a withered leaf swept by the wind, and with a slight contraction of his palm, the thin leaf crumbled into dust.
Then he said softly, "Because panic is something that can destroy this city faster than war."
"Now that the war has not even started, opening the city gates and letting the people flee indiscriminately will only cause the news and panic to spread faster than the actual military reports, and the Great Xia territory will inevitably be in turmoil and chaos."
The fallen leaves were blown away by the wind, just like those anxious emotions, no one knew where they would drift to.
Xiao Fangliang continued, "You also believe in General Xie and the Xie family army, right?"
He stared at the mountain peak, stunned, and replied without hesitation, "Of course."
"Therefore, even with ten thousand troops pressing in from the south, they won't be able to breach our city's defenses in a short time. We should firmly contain this fear within Xia Nan City. Even if things don't turn out as we expected..."
Xiao Fangliang looked up at the dark clouds on the horizon, a prelude to an impending storm.
"Even if Xia Nan City falls, the Great Xia will not descend into chaos and become a quagmire, causing widespread suffering among the people."
For a general, this is sometimes a dilemma.
To maintain peace and tranquility in the land, sometimes it is necessary to cut off the escape route of the people in a city.
At this moment, Xie Xingzheng was standing on the south city wall.
In the biting cold wind, he was clad in heavy armor, looking down at the dark mass of the Southern Frontier army encamped in the distance, listening to his deputy report on the unrest among the people at the South Gate.
His back remained as still as a rock, and his obsidian-black eyes showed neither ripples nor wavering.
Xie Xingzheng didn't turn around, only replying lightly, "I understand."
He recalled the words the Emperor had spoken when he was ordered to come to Xia Nan to deal with the epidemic.
Even if Xia Nancheng is wiped out, even if he turns his sword against the people of Xia Nan, we must never allow chaos to seep into the Great Xia.
Your own thoughts and other people's opinions are never important.
The important thing is to preserve oneself and then the greater interests of the court and the people.
That's what real war is like. Even before it begins, before you face the clash of swords on the battlefield, you already feel utterly helpless.
Born into a military family, this dilemma permeated his past.
Yet he still lamented why the responsibility on his shoulders had transformed from protecting his home and country into the cruel reality of "Xia Nan dying, Da Xia living."
The wind howled, ruffling the stray hairs at his temples.
Although the crisis is imminent, as long as they can hold out until the imperial reinforcements arrive, even though the Southern Frontier's military strength is several times that of Xia Nan, it will be difficult to withstand the overwhelming force of the Great Xia.
But... I don't know when the war will begin.
How many more people will die?
*
In the following two days, troops were dispatched to southern Xinjiang several times.
But each time, they were steadily stopped by Xie's army, which was experienced in many battles and was brave and skilled in fighting.
Arrows and stones flew outside the city, blood splattered on battle robes, and the sounds of fighting and roaring seemed to shatter eardrums.
Xie Xingzheng stood at the city wall, his fingers gently tightening on the cold bricks.
Both the Southern Frontier and Xie's Army knew perfectly well that this was merely a tentative probe.
Southern Xinjiang knew that Xia Nan was waiting, and they were waiting too.
When more tribes gather, they can turn the planning of the past ten years into a sharp weapon to break through and invade the Great Xia.
Therefore, although no actual war broke out, it was even more depressing.
In the past few days, Si Huo finally completed all the preparations for Tang Yu's exorcism.
This matter now concerns not only the safety of Tang Yu and Xie Xingzheng, but also the very lifeline of the entire Xia Nan City.
After all, an army without generals is like a pile of loose sand without a soul.
Even so, Xie Xingzheng agreed without hesitation.
He naturally had the greater good of his country and the people of Xia Nan in his heart.
However, Tang Yu is by no means insignificant or someone who can be abandoned.
In the end, it was still his own willfulness.
Xie Xingzheng entrusted important military matters to his deputy Xu Lian, who had served alongside him for decades. After leaving the military order, he rode back that very night to the place where the prefect had specially arranged for him to recuperate.
This place is extremely secluded and heavily guarded to prevent any unforeseen events from occurring.
Behind the silk curtains inside the room, the dim candlelight cast a hazy, indistinct mist of water vapor.
The scent, resembling sandalwood but not musk, mixed with a bitter and heavy medicinal smell, made Xie Xingzheng's breath catch in his throat, as if something had suddenly grabbed his chest.
Tang Yu was as quiet as moonlight floating on water, silently immersed in the dark, inky liquid of medicine.
She was slender, with only her delicate shoulders and half of her face visible, her skin appearing even paler from the steam.
Her wet, brown hair clung to her cheeks and neck like soft grass tendrils floating on the water's surface, each strand so fragile it seemed as if it would shatter at the slightest touch.
Her brows were slightly furrowed, and her long, curled eyelashes trembled slightly in the rising steam.
It was as if it was silently stirring Xie Xingzheng's heartstrings, making his breathing slightly disordered.
Si Huo was preparing medicine when he heard Xie Xingzheng's footsteps and looked up.
"General Xie, let me reiterate the risks one last time."
She was extremely serious, her voice like another layer of mist pressing down on the medicinal vapors, "I will use the medicinal liquid as a guide to separate Tang Yu from the Qi Meng Gu. During this time, you need to use your internal energy to protect her meridians."
Then, she pointed to Tang Yu's chest, "If the general's internal energy weakens even slightly, her fragile meridians, which were previously repaired by Qi Meng, will rupture. At the same time, you will also suffer a backlash from the Gu worms, resulting in at least serious injury, or even..."
Before Si Huo could finish speaking, Xie Xingzheng interrupted him calmly, "Let's begin like this."
*
The night was deep, and the surroundings resembled a bottomless abyss, making the indoor air feel even heavier.
No one spoke at this moment; only the occasional sound of the medicine being stirred could be heard.
Si Huo raised his needle and, in an instant, inserted it into a vital acupoint on Tang Yu's back. Xie Xingzheng then placed his right palm on her shoulder blade, and his internal energy slowly flowed into her through her meridians.
Tang Yu trembled slightly, her breathing became erratic for a moment, but she remained unconscious.
Half an incense stick later, just as everyone was concentrating on their studies...
Suddenly, a strange, eerie wind swept in and, without a sound, extinguished all the candles in the hall.
The entire room fell into complete silence.
Xie Xingzheng's pupils contracted sharply, and he immediately realized something was wrong.
Not only was the fire eerily extinguished, but there wasn't a single glimmer of light outside either. I focused my attention on listening intently; the night was eerily quiet.
The next moment, countless killing intents pierced through the air and arrived!
By the faint moonlight filtering in, he saw dozens of dark shadows surging toward the two of them like a tide.
The killing intent was like a raging storm; the sword blades reflected a cold light as they slashed down into the room.
Xie Xingzheng dared not leave Tang Yu's shoulder even an inch.
He feared that her meridians would break, and he himself would naturally suffer a backlash.
He had no choice but to kick the man in black in the face. The man in black who was the first to attack was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, blood spurting from his mouth.
However, there were too many people coming, and Xie Xingzheng was unable to stop using his sword, and was suppressed for a time.
The swords of those men in black, sharp and deadly, sealed off all his escape routes.
If he didn't let go now, he would surely be swallowed up by the chaotic blades.
Xie Xingzheng was not afraid at all, and just as the sword light was about to arrive, Tang Yu, who had been sleeping in the medicine, suddenly opened her eyes.
In the darkness, her emerald green eyes gleamed with a cold chill, like light reflected from a snake's forked tongue.
Without hesitation, she turned around and grabbed Xie Xingzheng's wrist, narrowly avoiding the sword's attack. Then, she pulled out an iron whip from somewhere and suddenly knocked the attacker back.
Xie Xingzheng felt a pang of panic, because...
His hand was no longer on her back.
Strangely, Tang Yu showed no abnormalities or signs of meridian rupture, and the poison that should have backfired on her did not work.
But Si Huo was not surprised at all, and leisurely went through the chaos to relight the candles.
The shadowy figures were greatly alarmed. However, they outnumbered the group and continued to attack them relentlessly.
Although Xie Xingzheng had many questions at this moment, he knew it was not the right time to ask.
He seized one of the men's longswords and, working in perfect harmony with Tang Yu, soon killed several shadowy figures inside the house.
Now that he had a moment to catch his breath, Xie Xingzheng finally saw clearly.
Tang Yu was covered in medicinal liquid, her hair still dripping wet, yet she showed no signs of dishevelment. Her cold, indifferent gaze made her resemble a terrifying killing god on the battlefield.
This also made him realize that the person in front of him was not Tang Yu.
She is still "Moon Dream".
Just as the crisis inside the house subsided, chaotic screams erupted outside.
But upon closer listening, one can hear a very familiar sound accompanying it.
"elder sister!"
Before he arrived, his voice preceded his arrival; Tang Yang's clear shout pierced the night.
Immediately afterwards, the door to the room was pushed open, and Tang Clan hidden weapons followed. As the flying needles pierced the body, they instantly killed most of the men in black.
The situation was brought under control so easily, as if everything had been planned.
Xie Xingzheng's tense nerves finally relaxed, and he looked back.
Tang Yu was seen using an iron whip to tightly bind a man in black, bending his spine and forcing him to kneel in humiliation before the crowd.
She raised her hand, lifted a corner of the other person's mask, revealing a bloodless face—
It turned out to be a moon pillar.
Tang Yu smiled and said softly, "Long time no see."
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