coobybook Chapter 238 If I break my promise, may I be punished by heaven and earth, and may I have no will to
Chapter 238 If I break my promise, may I be punished by heaven and earth, and may I have no will to
Ji Jinjin and the others stepped out of the house into the dim light of dawn. Standing outside was a burly man in black armor. Seeing that there was an unfamiliar figure following them, he looked over with some curiosity.
That one glance made him exclaim, "Your Majesty..."
"Shh!" Xie Xiao made a shushing gesture.
He recognized the general in front of him; he was under the command of General Xu of the Shengyu Army, and they had met once in the capital.
The man winked at the pale, thin young man, saying, "Don't make a sound."
"My Majesty," he thought to himself.
You've already come all this way, why are you afraid to make a fuss?
Ji Jinjin felt a little embarrassed and pretended not to know about the conversation between the two, so she interrupted them directly.
The girl's voice was cold, carrying the authority she had developed over the years leading troops in Luoxia Mountain: "Have Yuecheng and the others returned?"
The burly man withdrew his gaze from Xie Xiao and replied respectfully:
"Reporting to the General, the immortals returned from Mingyangchuan a quarter of an hour ago and are currently waiting for you."
Yin Shishi smiled gently: "I chatted with His Majesty inside for a few minutes, and I was indeed almost late."
That's a really far-fetched argument. Although the group did talk for quite a while in the room, there was still more than half an hour before the scheduled departure time.
Most of the soldiers who had been waiting in formation below were also... unable to sleep.
Yue Zhong picked up where Yin Shishi left off: "Then let's go over there too, so as not to keep them waiting too long."
The group then flew towards the city wall before them. The immortals exuded heroic spirit, especially Ji Jinjin, who was clad in silver armor. The moment her feet left the ground, a jet-black spear appeared in her hand. The gentle demeanor she had displayed when speaking with Xie Xiao was like a sharp blade sheathed, replaced by a military aura as vast as a blood mist.
Xie Xiao stared at her, somewhat lost in thought, and opened his mouth...
But he didn't utter a single word until Ji Jinjin and the others reached the tall city wall in front of them.
The man beside Xie Xiao looked at him and said, "Your Majesty, let's go to the front too."
Xie Xiao nodded, put on his hood, and walked towards the tall city wall under the escort of the Imperial Guards.
That was the last time Xie Xiao saw those immortals in his life. They were all full of vigor and vitality, like all new life blooming in the long spring.
One glance is enough to put your mind at ease.
In his entire life, only three people gave him this feeling:
His third uncle, his elder sister, and his aunt Ji.
When Ji Jinjin arrived at the city wall, Xu Qizhou and Yue Cheng had already started drinking the wine they had prepared for their farewell.
Beside Xu Qizhou, Wu Shuang, who had transformed into human form, looked at the bowls of clear wine with some curiosity, but did not take a bowl to taste.
But it was a different story with Yue Cheng. A Yue, who had transformed into a fiery red fox, was wrapped around his neck, stretching out her front half to try and drink the wine from his bowl.
Yue Cheng had no choice but to use one hand to push the furry fox head on his shoulder: "Xue Lan said you're a child and you're not allowed to drink alcohol."
The little fox on his neck got a little angry when it heard this, and transformed into a cute and charming girl on the ground.
“What kind of child am I? My fox clan aunt said that I’m old enough to marry you!” A-Yue said, stamping her foot.
"Oh my little auntie!"
Yuecheng was quite frightened by Ayue's words and quickly put down the bowl in his hand to cover her mouth.
"She's just young... What kind of looks are those?" Yue Cheng had just started explaining when he noticed the strange expressions on the faces of the people in front of him.
Xu Qizhou spoke first: "When you picked her up back then, didn't you tell Xue Lan that she was a child bride you picked up?"
"It's not that I just... it's not that I don't know, how did you know?"
Xu Qizhou drank another bowl of wine: "Xue Lan is right!"
Yue Cheng nodded: "Good, good, good!"
The three consecutive "good"s sent a chill down Xue Lan's spine, who was thousands of miles away.
At this time, the girl had already left the Dali Dynasty and arrived at a secluded mountain at the border between the Dali Dynasty and the Dayun Dynasty. She found a quiet place, put out her smelting furnace, and prepared to start forging the blade of the single-edged sword.
The moment the dark smelting furnace hit the ground, a batch of molten iron condensed within began to flow slowly, radiating boundless heat and making the cave as hot as summer.
Xue Lan changed out of the red robes given to her by Ling Yuanzi, now wearing a sleek gray martial arts uniform, its cuffs and collar fitting snugly against her body. The girl touched her waist-length hair. Without the slightest hesitation, a flash of sword light appeared in her hand, and she chopped her hair down to shoulder length.
A wisp of black hair fell to the ground. Xue Lan didn't feel sorry for it, but Xue Tong was heartbroken.
The little girl sighed repeatedly as she looked at her lifeless hair.
“It’s a divine artifact, so even repairing a sword or blade is no easy feat. I’m afraid I’ll have to stay here for a few years, and my hair will grow back,” Xue Lan explained.
A spark appeared between the girl's fingers, burning all the hair on the ground to ashes.
"I know about this, but if you stay here for several years, what will happen to your master?"
Xue Lan pondered for a moment, seemingly organizing her thoughts.
"Lady Li told me before that she set up a fish lantern to protect the children of the Great Li Dynasty. As long as you put a small fish statue in your home, a fish lantern will be lit on the Qinglin River, which will connect you to the underworld. As long as the fish lantern is lit, no matter where the child in the family goes, he or she will be found."
Xue Lan's eyes curved into crescents as she took out a... shrine from her sleeve.
Xue Tong rubbed her eyes; she really hadn't seen wrong.
Xue Lan pulled out a shrine from her sleeve, which contained zombie roast chicken, zombie candied hawthorn, and a small stool.
The shrine was exquisitely crafted, carved entirely from precious sandalwood. Its eaves were simple and adorned with small wind chimes, and the two small wooden doors that could be opened and closed were carved with bamboo leaves.
In front of Dan Dao and Xue Tong, Xue Lan opened the two small doors, and Xue Tong saw a small golden fish statue inside.
"Because the old man is ultimately a man of the Great Shun Dynasty. Six hundred years ago, the capital of the Great Shun Dynasty had not yet moved, and it happened to have some connection with Qinglinjiang."
Xue Tong watched as Xue Lan placed the shrine into a pre-carved groove in the cave wall, a smug smile playing on her lips.
She was speechless for a moment.
Who could have imagined this?
Who would have thought.
Ling Yuanzi had always hoped that Xue Lan would treat him like a grandfather, but who knew that Xue Lan would directly use the causal law weapon to find him, using the method of protecting her grandson.
If they knew, they'd be furious.
“My master’s cultivation is too high, and I dare not use this thing to find his location for the time being. I have injected some of the power of the Sun-Tracing Mirror into the little goldfish, which can slow down the old man’s soul dissipation without anyone noticing.”
"Once I've repaired the single-edged sword... I'll take it and cut off his foot."
Xue Tong had no idea how Xue Lan and Ling Yuanzi had managed to cultivate such a relationship, which was now so important to them.
"So what's next? Should we go into seclusion now or wait a while?" Xue Tong asked.
"Tomorrow."
Xue Lan glanced at the sunlight streaming into the cave. The forest wind, like a swift beast, swept through the dense woods before her, rushing into the cave and ruffling Xue Lan's clothes. With a soft rustling, Xue Lan slowly spoke:
"flag……"
Xue Tong asked, somewhat puzzled, "What?"
"The military flag, the military flag of Luoxia Mountain."
"Wow!"
The black military flag appeared even blacker against the gloomy sky, and the bloodstains covering it, though repeatedly washed away, remained, highlighting the brutality of war.
In front of the military flag is the "Hundred Battles of Luoxia Mountain" created stitch by stitch by the embroiderers of Qianxiu Workshop.
Before it was taken out, the embroidered picture was wrapped in luxurious silk. The soldiers below thought it was an imperial edict. Unexpectedly, when they opened it, it was a black embroidered scroll recording their war achievements.
Its dark background stretched ever on in the soldiers' eyes, beyond the blood-stained city walls, beyond the dilapidated city of Luoxia, beyond the night of preparation for battle.
They arrived at that pitch-black night, filled with the stench of blood.
The soldiers' eyes filled with tears, unsure whether they were weeping for themselves or for their fallen comrades.
Xie Xiao appeared before everyone at this moment.
The young man had changed into a bright yellow dragon robe, the dazzling color causing a stir among the soldiers.
"Is that the Emperor?"
"It must be the Emperor!"
"It really is the Emperor!"
"emperor……"
The simple and unpretentious soldiers of the Great Shun Dynasty naturally felt a fondness for the rulers of their country. Those sincere emotions crashed against Xie Xiao's chest like waves.
Xie Xiao didn't give a long speech; instead, he bowed deeply to the soldiers in front of him.
He dragged a box over from beside him and took out a stack of letters from it.
Some soldiers recognized them as letters they had written home beforehand.
The young man on the platform spoke in a gentle yet resolute voice.
"Your journey will be a great achievement for generations to come, recorded in history books and praised for all time."
Xie Xiao glanced at the stack of letters in his hand.
"If you all die on the battlefield, I will surely protect your homeland. But if I break my promise, may Heaven and Earth punish me, and may you have no reason to live, nor may you die a complete corpse!"
When Xie Xiao uttered those words, the vast battlefield of Luoxia Mountain immediately fell silent.
Only the crows circling in the sky emitted their sharp cries.
Ji Jinjin was the first to pick up the wine bowl in front of her and shouted, "Thank you for seeing me off. We will surely win this battle, crush the demons, and restore our land."
The tears that had been welling up in the eyes of the soldiers below finally fell, one by one into the wine bowls.
The hoarse voices converged into a powerful declaration of action:
"Thank you for seeing me off!"
"We will definitely win this battle!"
"Crush the demons!"
"All my land!"
If you do not fail me, I will be invincible in the field, with no worries about the rear.
At this moment, even though the outcome of this counterattack remained as unpredictable as a fleeting dream, a raging fire burned within the hearts of these soldiers.
With long faith, long life, and longevity, one will have nothing to fear.