Chapter 30: Mei Xi (Thirty) The Fall of Xia
Being captured like a prey by King Jie of Xia and forced to go to Nanchao was like sinking into a nightmare.
Lin Jiaojiao was forced to ride on the same horse with Xia Jie, and was held tightly in his iron-like arms. The strong smell of blood, sweat and violent aura eroded her senses all the time, and the wound on her right shoulder sent waves of tearing pain during the bumpy ride.
She closed her eyes tightly, forcing herself not to look at the desperate and numb faces of Shi Hu, Asan, Chun, Wanyan and the palace slaves who were being driven and escorted like animals behind her. Every rise and fall of the horse's hooves seemed to step on her heart that was on the verge of collapse.
Core Objective: Survival (Nanchao). Threat Level: Peak (Xia Jie Control). Mission (Kill Xia Jie): Activation (Final Stage). Emotion Simulation Unit: ...Redundant Data (Despair, Anger) Dominate...Logic Module: Forced Execution (Survival Strategy)...] The system's notification tone was cold and mechanical, like a final death knell.
Nanchao is a remote mountain area with dangerous terrain, easy to defend but difficult to attack. The remnants of Xia Jie's defeated army were stationed here. The camp was as simple as a refugee camp. When Lin Jiaojiao and her group arrived, they saw an even more suffocating doomsday scene.
The tattered tents were like dead mushrooms, scattered among the rugged rocks. The air was filled with the strong smell of blood, decay and despair. The wailing of the wounded soldiers continued day and night, like a dirge from hell.
The hungry soldiers were like zombies, wandering around with empty eyes. They would fight for half a piece of moldy bread. Xia Jie's tyranny became worse here. He was like a wounded mad tiger. He would whip his soldiers and kill his generals to vent his anger at the slightest dissatisfaction. Any slight disturbance could become an excuse for him to kill.
"Useless! Can't even hold an arrow embankment! Drag him out! Chop him up!"
"Where's the food?! Where's my food?! Withholding military rations?! Kill!!"
"Cry?! Keep crying and disrupting the morale of the troops? Kill them!!"
Xia Jie's roar and screams before death became the most terrifying background sound in the Nanchao camp. Here, human life is as worthless as grass.
Lin Jiaojiao was placed in a relatively "intact" stone cave and "protected" by Xia Jie's personal guards. Wanyan's two daughters, Chun, Asan and others were also driven in and squeezed into a dark and damp corner, like frightened quails.
Shi Hu and his soldiers were assigned to the most dangerous "Death Camp", while Shi Tou was assigned to manage the scarce "food and grass" that were being exploited by Xia Jie's cronies.
Lin Jiaojiao's heart sank to the freezing point. She knew that she was also trapped in this purgatory, but she did not give up. Even if there was only a glimmer of hope, she would fight for the hope of survival for the people around her.
She began to act, using the only remaining false title of "Princess Yuan". Fortunately, Xia Jie's morbid possessiveness made his guards dare not touch her easily, so she began to "protect people" with difficulty.
She personally went to visit the wounded soldiers whose skin was torn and flesh was exposed due to whipping, and brought Chun and Asan with her, using the little salt and water that Chun had secretly hidden to clean their wounds.
Since there was no medicine, she asked Asan and the others to collect some wild herbs that could reduce inflammation and stop bleeding, crush them and apply them on the affected area. Her movements were gentle, her eyes were calm, and her voice had a strange soothing power: "Be patient...it will be fine..." Although she knew that this was just a drop in the bucket.
She went to visit the palace servants and slaves who were starving to death, and secretly broke up her already meager rations and distributed them to the weakest children and the elderly. She squatted on the dirty ground, watching them wolf down the food, her eyes full of pity and powerlessness.
"My Lady Concubine...you...you yourself..." Chun tried to dissuade her in a low voice with tears in her eyes.
"It's okay." Lin Jiaojiao shook her head and said softly, "I can still hold on."
Her appearance was like a flickering candle in the dead darkness. When the dying soldiers saw her squatting beside them and using her white hands to clean their filthy wounds, a faint light would flash in their eyes.
Those slaves whose eyes turned green with hunger would kowtow tremblingly after taking the half piece of bread she handed them, their cloudy eyes filled with incredible gratitude. Her gentle words of comfort were the only, faint ray of humanity in this desperate purgatory.
[External Individual (Wounded Soldier/Slave) Emotion: Despair → Gratitude (Weak). Host Influence (Lower Level): Slightly Increased. Threat Level: High (Continuous).] The system records this insignificant change.
However, her efforts seemed so pale and powerless in the face of Xia Jie's tyranny and cruel reality.
In the wounded camp, more and more people were suffering from infections, suppuration, and high fevers. There were not enough medicines, no clean environment, and Doctor Zhao was not there... Lin Jiaojiao watched helplessly as the lives that could still moan yesterday gradually became cold and stiff in pain. She was powerless to do anything.
Hunger is like the most cruel executioner. The granary managed by Shi Tou has long been empty, and the porridge distributed every day is so thin that you can see a person's reflection in it.
People kept falling down and dying silently in the dark corners. The little rations that Lin Jiaojiao distributed only delayed the death of a very small number of people.
She looked at a little girl with a pair of clear big eyes who had been fed porridge by her. One morning, she was found curled up beside her mother's cold body, with her eyes closed forever... At that moment, Lin Jiaojiao felt as if her heart was being cut by a knife. Her nails dug deep into her palms, and she was unaware of the blood oozing out.
What made her even more desperate was the cruel killings by King Jie of Xia. A slave who was responsible for feeding horses was stabbed to death with a bronze spear in public by King Jie of Xia because the warhorse was frightened. A eunuch who was slow to deliver the message had his neck twisted by King Jie of Xia himself. A soldier under Shi Hu was hacked to death by King Jie of Xia because he tried to stop his confidants from stealing their companions' rations. Shi Hu himself was whipped twenty times, his skin torn and flesh exposed.
Every killing was like an ice-cold knife, stabbing Lin Jiaojiao's heart. She could only bite her lips tightly, force herself to look away, and suppress the surging anger and nausea. She knew that any expression of dissatisfaction could lead to a catastrophe and implicate more innocent people.
The two girls, Wanyan, were already frightened by this hellish scene. They clung to Lin Jiaojiao like two frightened baby birds, their eyes filled with complete dependence and fear. They watched Lin Jiaojiao clean the wounds of the wounded, watched Lin Jiaojiao save rations to distribute to the slaves, watched Lin Jiaojiao pretend to be calm when Xia Jie was furious... The arrogance of tribal beauties in their hearts had long since disappeared, leaving only unconditional trust in Lin Jiaojiao and... an almost instinctive following.
Chun and Asang became Lin Jiaojiao's most capable assistants. Chun cleverly evaded the surveillance of Xia Jie's personal guards, delivering messages and hiding items. Asang, along with several equally tenacious women, braved the dangers of searching the camp for anything edible—bitter tree bark, tough grass roots, even insects in the soil. They would quietly bring back what they found, prioritizing Lin Jiaojiao and the weakest.
Internal Individual (Wan Meiren/Yan Meiren) Dependence: Peak (Sole Support). Individual (Chun/A-Sang) Loyalty: Peak (Sense of Mission). Team Cohesion: Core (Host Maintained). The system silently records this faint bond of humanity in the darkness.
However, no matter how Lin Jiaojiao struggled, the shadow of death still lingered like a maggot on the tarsal bones, tightly wrapped around the Nanchao camp. Every day, someone died, from starvation, injury, or brutal killing... The methods of death varied, but the outcome was the same. Lin Jiaojiao felt like she was trudging through a quagmire, each step weighing heavily, yet she couldn't stop herself from sinking.
Until this day——
Woo-woo-woo-woo!!!
The low, rapid, metallic trembling sound of the horn, like a death knell from hell, suddenly resounded over the South Nest Camp. The sound penetrated the wails of the wounded and the desperate silence, with a soul-shaking penetrating power.
“Enemy attack—!!”
"Shang Jun! It's Shang Jun!!"
"The Shang army is coming! They're at the gates of the city--!!"
The shrill cries instantly ignited the entire camp, despair spread like a plague, and everyone knew - the final moment had arrived.
Lin Jiaojiao rushed out of the cave and looked down the mountain. She saw flags like a forest at the foot of Nanchao Mountain. The dark Shang army was surging like a tide, surrounding the entire Nanchao. The army was in high spirits and murderous aura was overwhelming. On the banner at the head, a huge "Shang" character was flashing with cold light in the sun. Cheng Tang's main force... had finally arrived.
Xia Jie rushed out of the tent like a wounded beast. He stood on a high place, looking at the endless array of Shang troops below the mountain. His red eyes were instantly completely engulfed by the flames of madness and destruction.
"Good! Good! Good!" He roared three times, his voice hoarse as a broken gong, filled with overwhelming hatred and... a twisted excitement?! "Cheng Tang! You're finally here! I've been waiting for you for a long time!"
He turned around abruptly, his eyes like a burning iron, sweeping over the terrified and desperate people in the camp, and finally... landing on Lin Jiaojiao. His eyes were filled with madness, possessiveness and... a kind of destructive pleasure of dying together.
"My beloved!" Xia Jie's voice was filled with a chilling "tenderness" and unquestionable arrogance. "Did you see that?! Cheng Tang is here! He's here to seize my kingdom! And also... to seize yours!"
Lin Jiaojiao's heart sank. He was crazy! Completely crazy!
Xia Jie opened his arms as if embracing the end of the world, and roared, "What I can't have, no one else can have!" He pointed fiercely down the mountain, his voice like thunder from the sky, filled with a mad will to destroy everything.
"Pass on the King's order!"
"Burn all the food and supplies! Smash all the weapons! Tear down all the camps!!"
"Everyone!! Take up your weapons!! Follow me... and fight to the death!!"
"I want this South Nest... to be reduced to scorched earth! I want these mountains and rivers... to be buried with me!!"
"I want Cheng Tang to be buried alive with me!!"
"And you! My beloved!" He pointed fiercely at Lin Jiaojiao, his eyes burning with morbid possessiveness and the flames of destruction. "You are mine! Always mine! We will share the same bed in life and blood in death! I will never leave you to Cheng Tang!!" He drew the blood-stained bronze giant sword from his waist, the blade flashing a piercing cold light in the sunlight, pointing it directly at Lin Jiaojiao! "Come with me! Go to hell--!!!"
The final madness finally arrived, Xia Jie... wanted to drag everyone down with him to die together.
[Warning! Ultimate Threat! Core Individual (Xia Jie) Behavior Mode: Destruction (Everyone Will Perish Together)! Host Survival Risk: Absolute Death! Logic Module: Mandatory Task (Kill Xia Jie) Execution Condition: Satisfied! Emotional Core: Reject Host Death! Execute Final Agreement! Start—!!] The system alarm was no longer a cold electronic tone, but instead carried an unprecedented, metallic shriek and... a resolute madness!
Lin Jiaojiao only felt an irresistible, cold and violent force, like a flood that broke through the dam, instantly destroying all her consciousness. Her body... no longer belonged to her.
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