Chapter 31 - Night Attack
Animals like spiders were unremarkable in people's eyes on weekdays. Due to their odd and peculiar looks, they were ghostly, so very few people liked them. When most people cleaned their houses yearly, they needed to drive away all kinds of mosquitoes, insects, rats, and ants, including spiders.
"What are unusual spiders afraid of?"
When Wei Kongji heard Ouyang Zhong ask such a question, he couldn't help but laugh, thinking that this male child was used to being pampered at home and didn't need to do any work on his own, so he didn't know such a simple question. Several vice generals and lieutenants present also snickered, and then everyone chirped in reply:
"Spiders are afraid of mugwort smoke."
"Like snakes, they are afraid of Andrographis."
"Spiders don't like garlic; put a few heads of garlic, and they run away."
"My family's a few big roosters, mighty, with them in what snakes and insects centipedes and spiders, all run clean!"
Linghu Xian recalled that day's dream scene and added: "Spiders are afraid of bright light and fire."
...
Ouyang Zhong punched his palms and said excitedly, "Right! It's these. We all felt unsettled in our hearts before, worrying that if we encountered a demonic sorcerer or an army of spider spirits, how would we fend them off? We always thought that our opponents were demons with high magical powers and we were nothing more than ordinary mortals unable to resist, so we were at a loss. However, if we ignore for the time being that she is a demon and that what comes is nothing more than a single spider or a group of spiders of different sizes, we can find a way.
We need to prepare many mugwort corns and torches, grease, and take fire and smoke if necessary. In addition, prepare garlic and Andrographis together and let the generals bring some more or less each, just in case. Great General, I suggest quickly rushing to make a batch of bronze mirrors. I will draw out the drawings. These, all of them, can be our weapons against the spider army."
Great General Wei Kongji stood up, looked around at the generals determinedly, and said, "All generals, listen to the order, prepare all kinds of items immediately, and prepare to meet the enemy with the same enemy!"
Everyone knows in their hearts that time waits for no one, and it is unpredictable when the enemy will launch an attack, so they can only work overtime day and night to catch up with the work. The good thing is that the morale is very high now, and the days are gradually passed in the tension and busyness.
Two months later, the snow fell several more times, and it looked like the Spring Festival was approaching. The sense of urgency everyone felt when they first arrived here was replaced by New Year's Eve and homesickness, and there were gradual signs of laxity inside and outside the barracks.
In the General's tent, several vice generals and lieutenants discussed how two months had passed since the rumor that the enemy army was raging and pressing the border, but there was no movement. Is it possible that there is a fraud? Could it be a false alarm? Or is it because of some internal changes that they will not fight now?
Wei Kongji was even more cautious at the moment; he ordered the whole army not to make any more loose ends, and those with any second thoughts would be punished by military law. If the army's heart is shaken at this time, it is time to fall into the enemy's scheme. But he also knows that the behavior of so many people can be controlled, but the mood and thoughts can not be bound. He began to practice the formation so that these soldiers had something to do daily and did not care about those who did not think. Of course, this festival still had to be celebrated, and he granted that except for the generals guarding and patrolling the city who had to stay put, the others could rest on New Year's Eve and have a good New Year's Eve.
On the night of New Year's Eve, the ones on duty on the city wall were Ouyang Zhong and Linghu Xian.
Ouyang Zhong was never the emperor's son-in-law in the barracks. He has always allowed the general to treat himself as an ordinary sergeant on duty guarding the city. He has gained the unanimous recognition of the entire army through his hard training in the past few months. For the Linghu Xian, at first, everyone thought she was an extra horse harnessed by a team on the emperor's side to run errands to guard the guards. I did not expect her to run alone to the enemy tent to listen to information but also into the spider canyon to repel the spider army; I was impressed everyone is called a legend. They were less than a year old but had such skills, so it was confirmed that "from ancient times, heroes came out of youngsters."
At night, the cold wind on the wall of North Hope City blew people's skin and flesh raw pain. Linghu Xian took the fur cloak and put it on for Ouyang Zhong, while she only wore a cotton jacket to protect herself from the cold.
Ouyang Zhong asked, "Aren't you cold?"
"Not cold. I grew up with thick skin and flesh that can withstand the cold! The inside of my palms are hot." Linghu Xian smiled at Ouyang Zhong and waved his hand.
Taking advantage of the fact that there were not many soldiers around, Ouyang Zhong quietly pulled up Linghu Xian's hand and put it into his thick leather cloak. Interlocking their fingers, the four eyes smiled at each other and looked at the distant horizon together. They both cherished the warmth and calmness of this moment and thanks to coming to the border together, they wouldn't have had the chance to be alone like this anyway.
"In a few days, the eldest young master will be celebrating his 17th birthday." Linghu Xian said softly, "In this border fortress, there's no way to organize a grand birthday banquet like before in the mansion. When the time comes, I'll make a bowl of birthday noodles for the eldest young master as a celebration, right?"
"With you by my side, this is the best celebration. But I never know what day your birthday is. Tell me the day, and I'll give you a gift, okay?"
"Birthday celebrations like this are only for rich families. Where would a child from a low-income family have the good fortune to have any birthdays."
"Just tell me!"
Linghu Xian smiled; she couldn't bring him out, "I don't know my exact date of birth, but my mother always counts according to the day of frost."
"After spending so many years with you, I haven't given you a single birthday. Do you blame me for this, Freshie?"
"What are you talking about? What's there to blame or not? It's just as well that those who don't know don't sin!"
"Why don't I sing you a song as a gift?" Ouyang Zhong's eyes were divine as he looked at Linghu Xian with eyes full of smiles, then cleared his throat and sang:
"Throw me a papaya, and reward me with an agar jelly.
I will not be able to repay you, but I will always think that it is good!
Throw me a wooden peach, and I'll reward you with an agaric jade.
I'll never be able to repay you, but I'll always think it's good!
I'll take the plum for the agar jelly.
I'll never forget it and always think it's good."
This is that moonlit night. Ouyang Zhong drank to Linghu Xian, and after pouring out his heart, Linghu Xian, on the desktop, wrote down the poem. She knew that Ouyang Zhong was proficient in music, but I did not expect him to give the poem composed music, sung in such a moving and musical way. This is the first time that Linghu Xian heard Ouyang Zhong sing, listening to it while smiling, while unable to hold back tears slipped down, mesmerized eyes, mesmerized heart.
Linghu Xian has always known his identity, but also because of the knowledge, so he never had the luxury of what. At this moment, she and the heart of the loved one, hand in hand, side by side, standing together, hearing him for their arrangement of music and singing to congratulate him on his birthday; she is grateful to God and never forget. Bright moonlight poured into the endless grassland pasture. Although already withered, it was decorated with snow, which contrasted with the night sky on New Year's Eve. It was more blue and charming, the color of the night sky and Ouyang Zhong's eyes the same color so that Linghu Xian for the intoxication.
Beautiful time is always short; when the two people are still on the city wall to spend the romance in the cold wind, Linghu Xian suddenly finds something wrong. Under the moonlight, something seemed to be rushing toward them on the distant horizon. At first, it was some black specks, then a long black line. She ran to alertness, nocking her bow and drawing it to send a rattling arrow into the distant air.
"Whoosh--pop--!" The rattling arrow exploded in the air, the smoke and fire illuminating the situation below. The advance troops of the Dinero clan took advantage of the cover of the night and raced towards this place with great speed and vigor.
"Alarm! Enemy troops are coming! Alert! Incoming enemy troops!"
Ouyang Zhong and Linghu Xian hurriedly called on the officers and soldiers guarding the city walls to make the first line of defense. Ouyang Zhong shouted, "All soldiers listen to the order, fire the rockets! Release~"
Ouyang Zhong's shooting skills are very high. He hitched two or three handles of arrows and concentratedly waited for the launch at all times. Many pine and cypress branches were placed in the trench and drenched with grease; many mugwort were also placed inside, and dozens of arrows with ignited flames instantly set the 300-meter-long track ablaze. The blazing fire mixed with the smoke from the herbs illuminated the sky brightly and reddish, which slowed down the enemy's speed to a certain extent. However, when everyone saw the enemy troops, including Ouyang Zhong and Linghu Xian, everyone was stunned.
The head of the black pressurized piece is not a person, but countless spiders the size of a family dog, while the natural human army five miles outside the city on the beginning of the footsteps stopped, stopped to watch. Waiting for the spiders to defend the city of these generals to consume and destroy almost, and then attack the city in one fell swoop.
Linghu Xian's chest suddenly felt burning; her spirit let her know the spider spirit was coming, and Yu Sun was mixed in the spider army. She relied on the power of the spirit beads to find Yu Sun; it turns out that she does not have the appearance of a beautiful woman's head at this moment but ultimately appears in its original form - it is a slender figure, more than two meters high giant spider. This spider's body is black with scarlet spots on its belly and dark purple spots on its back, and its eight long legs are four or five meters long, with the tips of its feet like scythes, and there are also spikes on its legs that can ooze out the venom. The spider spirit's chelicerae were like two giant pincers, crushing all the logs and rocks that blocked their way into pieces.
At the same time that Linghu Xian discovered Yu Sun, Yu Sun also discovered Linghu Xian.
"So you are a demon?" A sexy and seductive voice reached Linghu Xian's ears. It was Feather Sun who was transmitting a thousand miles to her.
"Hahahahaha, I thought my opponent would be some god, but it turns out to be a demon as well. You, a demon, even though you were a human and attempted to protect humans against demons? What a joke! Remember, you and I are the same kind. Why don't you and I join hands, turn the earth upside down, and absorb human essence to cultivate and live forever!"
Linghu Xian felt that her body was disturbed by this demon's voice, as if the agent shocked the heart and disorganized the mind. She hurriedly bit the tip of her tongue and instantly regained her clarity. With blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, she let out a cold laugh, picked up her bow and arrow, dipped it in realgar, and shot it in the direction of Yu Sun.
Linghu Xian said forcefully, ''I am different from you! I'm already human, and I want to be a man of the heavens and the earth!"
Ouyang Zhong saw the blood at the corner of her mouth by her side and knew something was wrong. Hurrying to ask with concern, "How are you?"
Linghu Xian wiped the blood with her sleeve, raised her head, and said, "It's fine; can't die!"
Great General Wei Kongji also rushed to the city tower, and the guards below the city were standing by, preparing all kinds of enemy weapons, ready to fill in the gaps on the city wall. Wei Kongji patted the shoulders of Linghu Xian and Ouyang Zhong, "Hard work, you two stand down; at this time, I, the Great General, can't be a shrinking violet; we have to let these demons and devils taste our power!"
Wei Kongji gave an order; the generals on the city wall brushed their arrows dipped in garlic juice or Andrographis powder against the spider army; ten thousand arrows were fired, and many spiders were nailed to the ground by flying hands at that time and couldn't move. Just now, Linghu Xian shot that one arrow and hit the spider spirit's abdomen; how could she be too big? Xian's hand just shot pain but did not cause any substantial trauma.
It looks like I have to go down to meet this thousand-year-old monster. As Linghu Xian thought of this, he tightly gripped the Heavenly Clan's precious sword gifted by the Black Wolf and prepared to sheath it in response to the enemy. But just now, Wei Kongji beside him needed to be corrected. He felt as if he was grabbed by a giant invisible hand by the neck, and he was about to be choked to death. It turned out that Yu Sun cast a spell on Wei Kongji two or three miles away, lifting him in the air, a move that has killed many generals. Linghu Xian saw terrible and quickly raised the heavenly treasure sword in the mood to break Yu Sun's demonic magic. Ouyang Zhong rushed from the mid-air fall of the great general stable catch, but Wei Kongji, now in the demonic magic, was unconscious; Linghu Xian, without saying a word, spit out the spirit beads for the great General to heal the wound, at last, Wei Kongji's life back.
Not caring about Ouyang Zhong and other people's astonishment, Linghu Xian jumped off the city wall with his sword and bow on his back and rushed toward Yu Sun's spider army. Ouyang Zhong, from the shock of a strong reprieve of mind, hurriedly handed over the great General to the care of a bystander; at the moment, he is the highest General on the wall, so he ordered the generals to launch a second round of fierce attack, with the stone mines filled with tung oil on fire thrown to the spider swarms to cover for the Linghu Xian. He is a series of arrows, arrows without a trace of weakness. He finally sees the natural appearance of Yu Sun, which is too scary, but compared to his fear, at this time, he is more worried about Linghu Xian's safety.
Linghu Xian ran and killed countless tiny spiders along the way and jumped a few times to stand before Yu Sun; they finally met. Yu Sun instantly changed back to her human form, and she was a beautiful woman who was incredibly beautiful. Still, unfortunately, she revealed her viciousness and cunningness from head to toe. She looked at Linghu Xian with a playful smile and expression: ''Little sister, why are you so bitter? You and I could have joined forces and divided this world equally, but now you are going against me. Not to mention. That you are afraid that you no longer have any magic power. What are you going to fight me with?"
"It's true, as you said, I have no mana left. In my previous life, I was a fox demon, but in this life, I've already cultivated into an adult, and I'm going to fight you to the end with one power!"
Linghu Xian no longer had any nonsense and raised his sword and began to tangle with Yu Sun. Linghu Xian's swordsmanship was inherited from the dual guidance of Kunlun's White Crane Child He Yunfeng and Roaring Dog Xuanmo. She had forgotten many things from her past life but had yet to forget too much of the knowledge and skills she had once learned. Although she didn't have magical power on her side, this hand of sword art danced out of this world, making Yu Sun unable to fight back and forth.
Feather Sun had no more patience and roared, "Since you're doing this, don't blame me for coming down hard on you!" She again turned into a colossal spider, dancing with her two giant pincers, and countless poisonous needles were erected on her body to lunge at Linghu Xian. Just as Linghu Xian fought to resist, two black iron arrows pierced through Yu Sun's abdomen, causing her to tumble to the ground with a burst of severe pain. Linghu Xian took the opportunity to look back; Ouyang Zhong, riding Red Flame, was not far behind her; the two arrows were shot by him just now.
Linghu Xian happily smiled at him, then hurriedly turned back and prepared to stab the sword in her hand into Yu Sun's heart; this was a task given to her by the Black Wolf, and she had to fulfill it. However, Yu Sun was a demon who had practiced for a thousand years; she cast a mesmerizing spell on Linghu Xian and Ouyang Zhong.
Ouyang Zhong, whom the illusion had hit, seemed to be in the small courtyard of Ouyang's residence. The begonia was blooming just in time; a flower fell in Ouyang Zhong's hand with the wind, and he looked at Linghu Xian, who was wearing a moonlight-white jacket in front of him. Her long hair was at her waist, and she didn't put on any powder, but she had a young girl's clear and uncluttered beauty. Ouyang Zhong wanted to hand the begonia flowers in the ears of Linghu Xian; they looked at each other and smiled; everything was as beautiful as yesterday. Just as Ouyang Zhong lifted his hand to touch the hair of Linghu Xian, he suddenly heard a distant place in the ear come Linghu Xian shout: "Do not--!" Then Ouyang Zhong's eyes went black, and he fell off the horse.
The spider's venomous needle pierced the tip of Ouyang Zhong's hand, and the venom quickly began to spread all over his body. Linghu Xian was furious and swung his sword, chopping off one of Yu Sun's legs, who fled in pain.
As the main demon retreated, the other minor demons also retreated. The spider army suffered heavy casualties, and the remaining ones followed Yu Sun and ran away. Sitting on his horse, Tuoba Cheng saw all this in his eyes and ordered the troops to retreat to the camp.
Linghu Xian held Ouyang Zhong, who was poisoned and fell into unconsciousness, and kept shouting, but he never responded. Linghu Xian dragged Ouyang Zhong onto the horse and simultaneously jumped on the horse's back, leading Ouyang Zhong to rush back to the city.
On the way back, Linghu Xian repeatedly told him: "I tell you, Ouyang Zhong, you are not allowed to die; I still owe you a life; you are not allowed to die in front of me! Do you hear me? You can't leave me behind and go first! I don't promise! No!"