Chapter 461 Hell on Earth Lies Only in the Human Heart
"...!"
Yuwen Qian's eyes flickered slightly, a look of surprise and astonishment flashing across his face.
But in the end, the ripples of these emotions turned into a smile, flowing down from the corner of his eyes, freezing at the corner of his mouth, and then he said, "Of course."
Shang Ruyi glanced at him again.
She wanted to say something more, but at that moment, a piercing gong sounded from below the city gate. Everyone hurriedly turned to look ahead and saw that Xue Xian's troops had begun to sound the retreat.
This time, he couldn't care less about attacking the city, or even about the people still struggling in the sea of fire. This fire had completely shattered his formidable reputation of winning more than ten battles in Longxi. He did not expect to suffer three defeats in Fufeng, and each defeat was more devastating than the last. At this moment, he could only leave this place as soon as possible in order to preserve his main force.
Thus, the sound of retreat echoed throughout the entire Xiaolin River.
"Go, go quickly!"
Xue Xian, along with his men and his lieutenants, raised their arms and shouted loudly. The rest of the troops, no longer willing to fight, fled from the fire in a disheveled state, covered in smoke and dust.
Upon witnessing this scene, Shang Ruyi's eyes reddened even more.
She said in a deep voice, "Keep firing arrows, splash water, and pursue!"
Those around were startled again.
Everyone was still basking in the euphoria of victory, especially after hearing Xue Xian's troops sound the retreat. It was a resounding victory for them, and they thought it was over. But then—
This general's wife is truly "fierce"!
Even Yuwen Qian looked at her with a hint of surprise.
But at this point, no one questioned the general's wife's words anymore. Dai Junliang and Yin Changyue, who were cheering with the soldiers, exchanged a glance after hearing her words, and then immediately shouted, "Quickly, archers, continue the attack! You all prepare buckets of water and pour water to put out the fire!"
The soldiers below immediately sprang into action.
Once again, a dense rain of arrows, like countless lightning bolts, streaked across the darkening sky, striking the Longxi soldiers below who had not yet managed to escape, causing them to scream in agony. Meanwhile, buckets of water were brought up from below the city walls, and the archers, while firing arrows, took the opportunity to let the soldiers splash the water down.
Cool water was poured onto the scorched, almost red-hot earth below, creating a sizzling sound and sending up scalding steam that made the burned soldiers from Longxi scream in agony.
With no fuel to start the fire, the flames gradually subsided.
Just then, with a low, hoarse whistle, the gates of Fufeng City slowly opened.
A gust of hot air hit my face.
The soldiers lined up at the city gate felt their skin burning hot, as if their hair was about to catch fire. But at this moment, the intense heat did not deter them; instead, it fueled their anger. The pent-up frustration of the past few days and the anger over the crushing defeat at Fufeng, in which more than 80,000 men were killed, combined with the hot wind blowing around them, ignited the fire of rage in their hearts. When they saw the Longxi army already fleeing in disarray ahead, that rage finally erupted.
A command was given from the city tower—
"kill!"
The soldiers charged forward like tigers released from their cages, roaring as they charged. The ground was still scorching hot, and some small flames had not yet been extinguished, but nothing could stop them. Wielding their swords, they trampled over the red-hot earth and the charred remains of the Longxi soldiers, and charged toward the retreating troops.
For a moment, the Longxi army was also thrown into chaos. They had already been defeated and routed by the fire, and were now pinned down by a hail of arrows. They thought that they could escape by retreating, but they did not expect that the generals of Fufeng would not give them any chance to catch their breath and would continue to pursue them even at this point.
But they are no longer able to organize a large-scale resistance.
These people fled desperately, exposing their backs completely to the enemy. A series of cold lights flashed across the night sky, followed by blood splattering everywhere and screams of agony.
They fled into Xiaolin River.
This time, however, they were in dire straits.
The pontoon bridge they built across the river was several miles away. It was because it was built so far away that the soldiers sent by Fufeng failed to scout it out, which allowed them to cross the river smoothly and lie in ambush in this dense forest. But now, it has become their dead end. The soldiers who fled into the river had nowhere to escape and could only struggle and thrash in the icy water. Those behind could not see the road ahead and pushed those in front into the river. They were blocked by those struggling in the river and wanted to turn back, but the swords behind them were already close at hand.
Desperate cries and terrified screams before death echoed throughout the night sky.
...
By the time everything calmed down, it was nearly dawn.
Shang Ruyi stood motionless on the city wall, watching the tragic scene before her. Even though the night was deep and darkness had swallowed everything, she could still clearly see the Xiaolin River in the distance being gradually dyed red.
That red color also seeped into her eyes.
As dawn broke in the east, the scorching ground below the city walls finally cooled down, and the soldiers who had pursued their victory slowly returned to the city gates.
They were covered in blood and had suffered many injuries, but the excitement on their faces and the satisfaction in their hearts could not be dispelled by the pain and exhaustion. When they looked up again, the sun was gradually rising, and all the light seemed to focus on the slender figure on the city wall at this moment.
The admiration and respect in everyone's eyes were illuminated by the sunlight.
Someone whispered, "Madam Shang... we are so grateful to this general's wife."
"I never expected a woman to—"
"Who says women can't fight? If it weren't for her, we really wouldn't have won this time."
"Madam Shang, she is the daughter of the General of the Cavalry who split the Turks back then! A daughter of a military family, she is far superior to those others."
The more they talked, the more excited they became. Some even raised their still-bloodied swords and shouted, "Thank you, Madam Shang!"
This shout seemed to reignite the fervent emotions in everyone's hearts, and more and more people joined in, chanting "Thank you, Madam Shang!" These voices eventually coalesced into a deafening cheer—
"Madam Shang!"
"Madam Shang!"
"Madam Shang!"
The overwhelming cheers caused the Xiaolin River in front of them to surge with crimson waves. Shang Ruyi was also somewhat shocked, her eyes wide as she looked at the jubilant people below.
But this scene is not unfamiliar.
She vaguely remembered that the first time she followed Yuwen Ye into the Taiyuan camp, after competing in archery with Huang Gongyi, although she lost, she won the cheers of the soldiers and even Yuwen Ye's respect because she competed openly and lost brilliantly.
Unexpectedly, at this moment—
At this moment, the cold and ruthless killing intent that had lingered in her heart all night was finally dispelled by the cheers of the people below the city wall. Shang Ruyi's icy expression melted away, replaced by a joyful smile.
But this time, she did not raise her powerful bow high and echo the cheers of the crowd as she had done before.
On the contrary, that smile quickly disappeared into the depths of his eyes, replaced by a calmer expression than when he was watching the soldiers kill the enemy.
She raised her hand and pressed it down slightly, signaling everyone to calm their excited emotions. Then she turned around and said to Dai Junliang, Yin Changyue and the others who were also overjoyed, "My lords."
Several people immediately stepped forward: "Is there anything else you need, Madam?"
At this moment, Song Yu and Ma Xu, who were standing to the side, both showed a look of astonishment and anger.
It should be understood that in the army, the general's wife has no real power. In fact, she should not even come to the army to give orders, let alone command the supervisor and the adjutant. But now, everyone is following this lady's lead. On the contrary, the two of them, one the garrison commander of Fufeng and the other the general commander of the march, are not only ignored, but even passing soldiers do not give them a second glance.
However, neither of them could speak.
After all, in the military, strength and victories are the only assets. After this battle, everyone understood the power of this general's wife, and even took her words as orders.
However, Shang Ruyi was very cautious in the face of everyone's attitude. She bowed slightly and said, "I dare not give orders, but even though we have won this battle, we cannot be careless."
"yes."
"Clean up the battlefield, and then return to the government office immediately."
"..."
"I... have something else to say!"
Upon hearing this, everyone was somewhat astonished, wondering what else she needed to report back to the government office at this time. However, no one dared to delay. Dai Junliang hurriedly ordered the people below the city wall to immediately go out of the city to clean up the battlefield. He also quickly ordered someone to bring the carriage that the lady had ridden to the city wall and immediately called everyone to follow her back to the government office.
As she left the city gate, Shang Ruyi looked back one last time.
Although the sun had just risen, its rays had already illuminated the vast, scorched earth below, where countless charred corpses lay scattered about. In the Xiaolin River ahead, waves of blood surged, with countless bodies floating on its surface. The scene was nothing short of hell on earth.
But she knew very well what was going on in her heart.
The real hell on earth often exists only in the human heart.
And so, the remaining soldiers began to clear the battlefield, while a troop of men followed the general's wife's carriage eastward in the rising sun, passing through waves of cheering crowds, and returned to the government office.
This time, Shang Ruyi walked at the very front.
Dai Junliang and Yin Changyue, along with Shan Tong'er, followed closely behind. Seeing this, Song Yu and Ma Xu grew increasingly dissatisfied, as if Shang Ruyi were ruling the roost in Fufeng City. They exchanged a glance, and Song Yu said coldly, "We're tired. If there's nothing else, we'll go and rest—"
Before she could finish speaking, Shang Ruyi stopped in her tracks.
"No one is leaving."
As soon as she finished speaking, Nie Chong and Mu Xian, who had just returned to the government office, came forward with several personal guards and blocked Ma and Song's way. The two were startled and turned to look at Shang Ruyi, only to see her with her hands behind her back, slowly turning her head to look at them.
Those eyes, seemingly stained red with blood all night, still exuded a deep killing intent.
"I said I have something to say."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com