Chapter 62 - The Whole City Prepares for War
"What? What did you say?" Fox Xiaxia asked incredulously. Great! Her sister's primordial spirit had been floating around in this Populus Euphratica forset. Could it be that it had already been fused? Then, it would be just around the corner for her to revert to her plastic form and return to the world again.
"Aiya, don't panic; I am also not too sure yet ... King Dingling's arrows hit me; that older man played a dirty trick and even poisoned it. I used the last remaining mana to give the whole piece of Populus Euphratica to set up a barrier law boundary; how did you find it back? By the way, shouldn't you be helping Ouyang Zhong in Zongcheng City?" Fox Xiaxia helped Shan Xiaohu slowly stand up. Shan Xiaohu glanced at Fox Xiaxia and continued to ask: "What kind of dress are you wearing? Not a person on a good change back to the fox look, this person is not a person fox not fox, called a what look ..."
Fox Xiaxia, on hearing this, will be angry, retorted: "You still have the nerve to say I, you are not also the same? The head also changed back to lynx-like."
"Huh?" Shan Xiaohu was very surprised. He touched his big furry face plate and stroked the long hairs on his ears. Looking, his hands also changed back into big, affectionate paws.
Fox Xiaxia gathered her playful expression and thought seriously, ''It seems that as long as you and I are poisoned, we will both change back to our beast bodies uncontrollably. I remember that my younger sister was also like this in Linghu Xian's current life after being poisoned by Yu Sun. Only this poison must have demonic poison. I also often get high on vermillion and arsenic as a snack, and it didn't happen."
After Shan Xiaohu was injured, because of the poisoning and blood flow, resulting in unconsciousness and slumber the primordial spirit left the body, fortunately, Fox Xiaxia used her fox eyes and sense of smell to be able to distinguish the Populus Euphratica forset that had set up a boundary barrier. Fox Xiaxia soon found the unconscious single small tiger, using their own superb medical skills, cut the flesh will be thistles arrowheads from the Shan Xiaohushoulder out, and took out from the Feng Xi Jian brought down the injury medicine and elixir, one by one to the Shan Xiaohuwith, which finally helped Shan Xiaohuback to a life.
The master and brother, two people, help each other in the Populus Euphratica forest to look for the long fox ears of the poplar tree, but no matter how, they can not find them. This made Shan Xiaohu wonder if he was hallucinating because he was thinking about his senior sister, Fox Xiaoxian when he was unconscious.
"Senior brother, do you think Dingling's army is already almost at Zongcheng City?"
"Well, taking stock of the time, another three or four days will arrive anyway. Senior brother, I want to go back and help."
"I'll go too!"
"No, you're not lightly injured; you should rest for a few more days."
"Haven't I already eaten the immortal pills you brought? My body is sturdy! The wind, sun, lightning, and thunder on Pointed Mountain didn't do anything to me. What else can he, King Dingling, do to Master Tiger me with a broken arrow? Can't, can't, can't."
"Then, you and I are gone. Who will guard the Populus Euphratica forset?"
The wind was blowing the leaves in swaying gusts. The sound of the wind leisurely came to a slight voice: "Third senior brother, fourth brother, you go, I will be fine!"
The two men immediately opened their eyes. This was Fox Xiaoxian's voice. She had condensed her primordial spirit and was attached to this Populus Euphratica forset. Fox Xiaxia excitedly shouted, "Xiao Xian! You've come back! Look at me; look at Third Senior Brother; we've come to find you!"
Shan Xiaohu was also a little choked with excitement, "Junior Sister, thank you for saving me; I, we all missed you; we were finally able to come down from the Kunlun Mountains to accompany you through the tribulation. We're not leaving. We'll stay here to guard you, waiting for you to come alive."
"Senior brother, fourth brother, you guys don't need to guard me. I'm fine, and with the protection of the Bagua Formation and boundary you guys put up, I'll be fine. You guys go and help Ouyang Zhong! Helping those innocent people, even saving one more person, is good. Go now! I'll wait for your return. Go quickly! Don't worry about me."
When Fox Xiaxia and Shan Xiaohu came to the vertical city, it was already late at night. They both masked their faces to avoid attracting attention and unnecessary trouble and wanted to quietly sneak into the vertical town. They didn't expect to touch the city wall; the two of them were set up in advance ambush organs and captured. Fox Xiaxia was very helpless to be captured by humans; this was already the second time a big net like hunting covered him; the last time was more than a hundred years ago.
Fox Xiaxia and Shan Xiaohu didn't bother to struggle and explain, so they let the people carry them as beasts into Zongcheng City and placed them in front of General Wei and General Ouyang's group of people.
Ouyang Zhong took a look and hurriedly untied the two of them. He apologized repeatedly and awkwardly looked back down at Wei Kongji as if to say, "Look! Accidentally arrested the wrong person."
Wei Kongji also winked and replied, "That means the ambush we set up was very effective."
Having been shown the fox's head before, Fox Xiaxia removed her mask and let her third senior brother, Shan Xiaohu, take it off. As people looked at these two half-human, half-beast monsters, they still couldn't help but cross their fingers and talk. But after listening to the enemy situation the two of them reported, no one had any more time to chew the fat. Everyone was aware of the dire situation they were about to face, and all of them were in high spirits to prepare for the enemy.
Ouyang Zhong sent a letter to his father, Ouyang Ming, about the enemy situation.
Ouyang Ming accompanied the young Emperor Xiao Qing to Nandu City to join the Marquis of Dingguo Dongfang Chang was rejected, after a long time of unsuccessful negotiations, had to retreat to the nearby Xi City, although not as prosperous as the city of Zongcheng, Nandu City, but at least it can be given to the young master of the temporary residence and rest of the fixed place. And other accompanying civil and military officials are each looking for a place to live temporarily. Following the enormous force of migration fleeing the vertical city, people feel like they are simply pawns and have no choice but to make their own arrangements. Some defected to other relatives, some back to the vertical city, and there is no choice but to be in this chaotic world of wind and rain, shaking hands and feet.
Ouyang Ming got the letter from his son, and his heart was even worse. There is no way forward; there are pursuers, isolated and helpless. Is it true that the sky is going to kill me in the country of China and the Ming Dynasty? He looked at the young emperor, who was in a trance, and the exhausted ministers. This is not the time to say demoralizing words or boost everyone's morale to overcome the difficulties.
He suddenly remembered that although the young emperor Xiao Qing was appointed as the king, he did not perform the Zen Ceremony, so it would be better to set up an altar here in Hei Xi City to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth and hold the Zen Ceremony to inherit the throne formally. Then, the new emperor would issue a decree to Wei Kongji and Ouyang Ming to give a name and fame to the defense against Dingling's foreign enemies and the crusade against the rebels worldwide even if you can not provide the actual material or workforce help, at least morally to be open and honest enough, but also to give his son a little spiritual encouragement and support.
Ouyang Ming is both greedy and cunning and pedantic and foolish people. He will only be in the courtroom of the hook and corner, the trick, the art of power. Still, he can only do something when leading the troops to fight against foreign enemies. The peace of those times of internal strife in the country will not be the country of the moment of crisis, and it is simply a great joke. He even thought of the worst intention: if his son failed to defend the vertical city honorably for the country to die, he did this father as a subject, resolutely can not wait to be captured by foreign humiliation to live, must take the young emperor to find a dignified death together with the death of the solemn martyrdom.
Thinking of this, he could not help but feel melancholy, forty years of age, and the feeling of old age and late sadness; he smiled a few times, and the corners of his eyes also moistened a little. Ouyang Ming hurriedly wiped tears and breathed deeply to adjust his emotions. In this critical stage, as the main backbone of this line of people, he could not be vulnerable and fall, and the young emperor and the ministers were still counting on him to make up his mind!
"Come on, people!" Ouyang Ming summoned, "Summon down, organize the enthronement ceremony for the saint, to be held on the next day."
Xi Cheng City, a little-known city often neglected by successive kings, hosted a new emperor's enthronement ceremony this time and became a temporary accompanying capital because of the particular period.
The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar was supposed to be the order of the Dragon Boat Festival. The imperial historian observed the heavenly signs for many days and deduced the auspicious day and time of the auspicious day. It was on this day that the new emperor of Zhongming, Xiao Qing, was being held by hand by a first-ranked Sangguo Gong Ouyang Ming, wearing an oversized dragon robe. The coronation tassels on the crown on top of his head uncomfortably hit his face, and the 4-year-old little ruler had never seen such a big scene and was scared that he was a little bit tempted to cry. He looked at the dynasty of civil servants kneeling below the altar; he begged to look at Ouyang Ming, wanting to find a nurse who did not want to be there. However, looking at Ouyang Ming's majestic and profound look eyes, he was even more afraid and timidly climbed up on top of the somewhat simple and rough throne.
Ouyang Ming unfolded the imperial decree read to the world:
"By the grace of God, the emperor said.
The late emperor suddenly collapsed, returned to the five elements, inherited the emperor's order, the holy Hongxiu, and followed the last order of the Daxing Emperor. The civil and military ministers inside and outside the country and the elderly soldiers and civilians combined words to persuade them to advance, and as for the repeated resignation, they refused to get it, and I would like to tell heaven and earth at this time, that is, the emperor's throne. Thinking deeply about the weight of the entrustment really cut the fear of dedication and the transportation of the surplus into the industry to undertake the Xixiqiao. I want to promote appropriate governance, which must be reformed and new. Things are all rated from the old chapter, but also to honor the first Zhi. Since the cool virtue, we rely on the pro-virtue and the new governance. It's next year for the first year of Dafeng. Amnesty for the world and change with the people.
Chin this!"
Ouyang Ming finally sat in the position of Supervisor. This is the moment he had dreamed of since childhood, and now he would rather still just an ordinary idle position; the original dream is not unattainable; opening a window will have to seal a door, to get anything is a price. Thereupon, he drew up the imperial edict of the holy decree and passed the order to Wei Kongji and Ouyang Zhong to defend against the invasion of Dingling. The internal and external battles were officially fought on the marvelous land of Zhongming. Externally, it was the great general Wei Kongji who was in Zongcheng, and internally, it was he, Ouyang Ming, who personally sat down in Xi Cheng City and commanded a few of his soldiers to deal with Dongfang Chang and Changsun Zhi in two ways, using both hard and soft tactics and using a combination of grace and mercy.
Ouyang Ming and Wei Kongji are finally going to face their enemies formally, and there is no escape, no surprise troops from the sky, no support, and no way back. All they could do was to defend the city and the people.
There were nearly a million people in the city, and as long as they had the strength to fight back, the men all stepped forward. Those with weapons were equipped with them, and those who didn't held up the hoes, scythes, plows, and even ordinary sticks that they worked with regularly as a defense. The women took the older adults and children and some of the wounded and sick personnel, and moved to the south of the city and some relatively isolated corners. Even so, these old, sick women and children were working as hard as possible, night and day, to make gunpowder and bandages and to prepare the herbs needed for the wounded and sick and the food for the generals in front. This was a war for the whole city, and everyone was a warrior fighting tenaciously against the enemy.
Shan Xiaohu recounted to Ouyang Zhong and the others the experience of single-handedly attacking the Yellow Dragon in the first place. He said that the Dingling Clan's battle strength is not weak individually, but their ability to fight as a team is even more robust. Each of them has strengths and weaknesses, but together they have almost no weaknesses, and they are capable of attacking forward and defending backward, and they are not only capable of using brute force.
General Wei rested his fingers on his cheeks, pondered for a moment and said: ''Our scouts report that over the years, King Tuoba Zhe of Dingling and his sons have gradually made the Dingling tribe stronger, in the past they were chased by several other tribes on the grasslands, but in the last ten years they have been plundering all over the place, and they have already wiped out several small tribes. Their methods are cruel and vicious, and they are very resourceful. Previously, I thought because they have Yu Sun this demon witch, now it seems they do have some means. I used to know that Tuoba Cheng is the most powerful warrior in Dingling, but there is still some information that we don't know. Tuoba Zhe is hiding too deeply."
"That's right. Although they suffered some repercussions with the deaths of their two great generals, Tuoba Cheng and Yu Sun, I could feel that there were still demons and evil spirits when I was beheading the crows in Beiwang City. It seems that they don't only have Yu Sun as a great sorcerer. There must be even more powerful demons helping them behind the scenes." Fox Xiaxia added.
"I studied the recent years of war reports and maps of the northern ministries; the original Dingling tribe does not live in the current area; in the end, why they migrated over is unknown, but the previous war reports have said that Dingling has a few fierce generals are Tuoba Zhe's beloved. Tuoba Zhe has ten sons, which should be by the rules of each person to lead a tribe, but because the youngest son is less than ten years old, the oldest son died, so the tribe was disorganized not according to the hereditary lineage, but by who is able to be divided. Therefore, the chiefs of the ten tribes were all fought out by their fists and were called the Ten Wolves of Dingling Ten Wolves. Perhaps it was these ten that Brother Tiger encountered last time." Ouyang Zhong finished speaking and looked at Shan Xiaohu. He always felt that he had just met this person not more than a few days ago, but there was always a kind of friendship at first sight; compared to Fox Xiaxia, he preferred the temperament of this Shan Xiaohu.
"Report! According to the general, Dingling's vanguard army has arrived at Li Jia Po, thirty miles away. Looking at the scale, there are about twenty thousand people."
General Wei shouted, "All troops, listen to the order! The whole city is on alert. Prepare to go with this general to meet the enemy!"
"Ordered!"
Fox Xiaxia and Shan Xiaohu's poison gradually dissolved, and they regained their human appearance. With their eyesight and hearing far exceeding those of ordinary people, they stood at the highest point of the northern city gate. They looked into the distance, always keeping an eye on the movements of the enemy army.
"Listen, senior brother, the sound of the army's hooves is already close."
"Yes, I hear it. It's already only twenty miles away."
As they continued to watch, they passed the news to the summoning officer below. The summoning officers stood at their prescribed positions to report the latest messages to the entire army to each other by beating drums and ordering flags.
It wasn't long before the men of Dingling's vanguard army finally became visible on the horizon, with the kind of aura of a large army that looked like a pack of wolves walking straight towards their food with bloody mouths, proud, defiant, and determined to get what they wanted. And the leader of a person with a petite figure can even be considered too small. Who is this person if it is not a child or a woman?
Fox Xiaxia and Shan Xiaohu across ten miles from a distance to see, but some incredible, this tiny person is not precisely they have saved many times Tuoba Xian? Shan Xiaohu Fox Xiaxia discussed whether to tell others or Tuoba Xian about this matter. Still, the conclusion of the discussion is not to say for the time being because it is a small child who does not understand how much of a threat can be. Shan Xiaohu always felt that when he was injured because he was careless and gullible and invited Tuoba Zhe's way. That day, he didn't use his full strength; he just wanted to explore the ability of Dingling warriors. I never thought that this child who was sent back, this little boy who cried in his arms and begged him to hurry up and run away, would have such a reunion day.
Tuoba Xian wore custom-made armor, a scimitar, and a quiver full of arrowheads, each of which were thistles and hardened with poison. His look was surprisingly calm, not at all youthful, like a battlefield veteran, making it hard to believe that he was only ten. When he was only five miles away, Tuoba Xian raised his hand to signal the entire army to stop. Then, he led a small group of men and horses to the bottom of Zongcheng City and began to call for battle.
"I am Dingling Ten Prince Tuoba Xian, the head of Dingling Ten Wolves! Today, I am leading the brothers of the Dingzui Vanguard Battalion to meet the strength of the Central Ming people. Brothers, there are countless heads in this vertical city, so it's up to you to chop off a few! Gold, silver, treasure, wine, and women, what do you want to go in and grab yourself?"
Wei Kongji and Ouyang Zhong, standing on the city wall, were incredulous; initially, Tuoba Xian rode his horse over, and the people on the city wall also laughed. They were laughing at the fact that the Dingling Clan had no one left. They even sent a child over to lead the troops. I didn't expect to realize that when this child opened his mouth, he didn't lose to any adult generals. And that kind of untamed evil aura, looking frightening, is experienced. What can turn a milk doll into a vicious, vicious wolf?
Shan Xiaohu's heart has an awful taste; he feels cheated and thoroughly cheated. In the beginning, this child was so cared for and had heartfelt heartache, but only now can he see his true face. Fox Xiaxia patted his elder brother's shoulder to show comfort and said: "As the master said at first, the earth has its own destiny and fortune; you and I really shouldn't interfere too much, and of course, shouldn't be too caught up in it. Elder brother, you have a good heart, don't feel bad, you were treating him sincerely, no shame in it; as for what he thinks how to do, that is his choice, and you have nothing to do with it."