Behind him, Feng Xin and Mu Qing were both shocked,
"Your Highness!" He immediately rushed out.
They immediately rushed out to protect him.
However, all the commoners on Shenwu Street had already seen the white-clothed youth in the middle of the street in front of them. After a moment of chaos, the procession regrouped. Thousands of people surrounded Xie Lian. The first person asked uncertainly, "Are you … are you His Highness the Crown Prince?"
The second person hesitated, "Didn't they say that His Highness the Crown Prince has ascended and is no longer a mortal?
Why is he here? "
The third person shouted, "It's him! Three years ago, during the Heaven Traveling Ceremony,
I saw it with my own eyes.
It's His Highness the Crown Prince! "
More and more people recognized the Martial God they worshipped day and night. Xie Lian slowly said, "It's me. I'm back. "
Thus,
The people went crazy.
"A deity has descended! This is a living deity descending! "
"A deity has descended!"
"It must be because he can't bear to see us being bullied by thieves.
His Highness came down! "
Immediately, someone asked with hope, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, will you lead us to defeat the Yong An people? Definitely, right? It must be like this! "
After a pause,
Xie Lian calmly said, "I'm back.
To protect Xian Le Country, to protect my people. "
Feng Xin and Mu Qing, who were beside him, heard these words.
They didn't dare to confirm what it meant. However,
The hot-blooded citizens understood the meaning of this sentence wishfully. Xie Lian had his own thoughts, and his heart beat faster and faster.
He gritted his teeth,
"… Believe me!"
He clenched his fists and said, "Your faith will give me even more power. With this power,
I will protect Xian Le and protect the common people with my life. Please believe me! "
The people were waiting for this moment, for his guarantee. They immediately cheered and worshipped the Crown Prince in the center, saying, "We pledge our lives to follow you! Follow His Highness! "
"Protect Xian Le!"
When the people of the Imperial City heard of the "God Descending to the Mortal World", they all rushed out from the streets and alleys just to witness this miracle that had not been seen in a thousand years. Even the Imperial City Guards who had rushed over after hearing the news did not dare to be presumptuous and joined in the ranks of the worshippers. The three of them were stuck in the middle of the main street, unable to move even an inch. Feng Xin and Mu Qing had no choice but to try their best to maintain order. They shouted, "Don't push, don't push!"
However, it didn't have much effect. Everyone wanted to squeeze to the place closest to the Crown Prince and touch the corner of the clothes of this God who had come from the heavens. It was as if they had been blessed. In the end, the monarch in the palace was alerted, and he sent out a few generals and fully armed soldiers to drive away the fanatical crowd.
After everyone had dispersed, Xie Lian saw something on the dusty ground. He walked over and bent down to pick it up.
It was a flower. After being trampled by so many people, it was almost ground into the color of mud. There were only a few remaining petals that showed a bit of their original whiteness.
That faint fragrance didn't stay the same, and after a while, it dissipated.
After thinking things through, when Xie Lian returned to the palace this time, his attitude towards the monarch was much softer. As a result, the monarch's expression towards him also eased a lot. The father and son both took a step back, and it could be considered a temporary peace. As for the State Preceptor, he seemed to have long expected that Xie Lian would come down, so he didn't say anything.
Xie Lian used to think that when the country was of one heart, everyone would listen to the monarch in the face of a major event. This was a matter of course. However, when he truly sat down and participated, he personally experienced how troublesome the position of monarch was. The ministers of a single dynasty would unexpectedly be divided into many small factions. Each faction had their own plans, and when it came to deciding on a major event, they could argue endlessly for seven days. Every person and faction claimed that they were doing this for the country and the people, but in reality, they might not necessarily think this way.
As for the people of Yong An who were stationed outside the city and officially planned to oppose the monarch, their opinions were slow to reach a consensus. Some people advocated directly sending troops to annihilate them. If there weren't enough reasons, then they could make up a few more charges. Some people didn't.
The chaos of Yong An began with a natural disaster and erupted with a man-made disaster. That family of three who fell to their death at the gates of the imperial city was truly a bad prelude. If it weren't for the fact that the general who cut the rope had his neck broken by Lang Ying, he would have been heavily punished when he returned. To put it bluntly, no matter how complicated the inside was, no matter how many reasons there were, on the surface, this matter appeared to be an official forcing the people to rebel. Since the matter had already reached this point and caused an uproar, forcefully pinning charges on them would only arouse more disgust. No matter what reason they made up, it wouldn't be able to hide it from the people. If they sent troops to annihilate them, it would clearly show that they were a tyrannical monarch and couldn't be called a benevolent and righteous teacher. Preventing the people's mouths was more important than preventing a river. Once a cruel reputation was left behind, not only would it not be able to convince the people, it would also cause trouble in the nearby countries under the banner of enforcing justice on behalf of the heavens. Thinking about it from another perspective, what did these people of Yong An have to be afraid of? They were holed up in the wilderness, without food or weapons, how long could they cause trouble?
Thus, in the end, the one who held the upper hand was the latter opinion: If the people of Yong An dared to invade, they would kill them every time they came. If they didn't, then they would be left to fend for themselves. There was no need for Xian Le to waste a single soldier. As they fought, they would exhaust themselves.
As a Martial God, Xie Lian naturally had to display his usefulness on the battlefield. Thus, the army vigorously advocated: The side with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the side of justice. The army with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the army of the gods!
In a short period of time, a large number of young men enthusiastically joined the army. In a short few months, the number of people in Xian Le's army increased dramatically. With such a large movement, Yong An's side also seemed to have received the news. Originally, their activities could still be considered frequent. Small groups of people suddenly became silent, as if they were afraid of something. They were secretly accumulating strength, causing the officers and soldiers of Xian Le to become extremely nervous. They spared no effort in describing to Xie Lian how frightening "Lang Ying, who always charged at the forefront, was." Hearing this name, Xie Lian would always feel slightly complicated when he thought of his child's corpse that day.
Two months later, the people of Yong An, who had calmed down for a period of time, finally launched another attack.
For this battle, Xie Lian only brought a light sword into battle. He didn't even wear any armor. In less than an hour, the battle was over.
Amidst the overwhelming stench of blood, the remaining soldiers of Yong An threw away their armor and madly retreated. The soldiers of Xian Le didn't even have time to react before they saw bodies lying all around them. Not a single enemy was still standing. As for their Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he slowly sheathed his sword. Not even a corner of his clothes was dirtied.
After a long time, they finally confirmed their side's overwhelming victory. They jumped up, raised their swords to the sky, and shouted to their hearts' content.
That night, the officers and soldiers of Xian Le held a celebratory feast on the city walls.
It had been a long time since the soldiers had felt so proud and elated. They cheered and jumped for joy, raising their cups to praise His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Xie Lian, however, pushed away all the wine and went to a corner of the city wall to sober up.
He clearly hadn't drunk a single cup of wine, yet he could feel his face heating up. His face was flushed red, and his fingertips were still trembling slightly.
This was the first time in Xie Lian's life that he had killed someone. The first time, he had killed over a thousand people.
Ants.
In his mind, these two words repeatedly appeared. In front of his strength, mortals couldn't even withstand a single blow. No one could even withstand a light grip of his. Taking away other people's lives was so easy. It was just like how the palace maids had trampled those ants to death. This caused him to lose all reverence in his heart when he brandished his sword.
Xie Lian leaned against the parapet wall and took a few deep breaths. He shook his head to get rid of those noises, and then he stared at the sparks of fire in the distance. Not long after, the sound of two footsteps approached.
He didn't need to turn his head to know who was coming. Xie Lian said, "Aren't you guys going to drink some wine to celebrate?"
Mu Qing snorted and said, "What's there to drink? The situation isn't looking good."
Hearing this, Xie Lian turned around and said, "You guys can see it too?"
It really wasn't looking good. Although they had won this battle, in reality, the attack this time was stronger than any previous attack by the people of Yong An.
Not only did they have more people, but their formation, weapons, and dispatch had all made a qualitative leap. There were even quite a few people who were equipped with armor. Although they were crude and shabby, they were already at the scale of a regular army. It was hard to imagine that this was actually a group of grass-roots bumpkins.
Mu Qing folded his arms and frowned. "An extremely difficult environment can indeed cause people to grow rapidly. However, no matter how difficult it is, resources won't appear out of thin air. Something isn't right. "
Feng Xin was even more direct and succinctly said, "They definitely have external help."
Xie Lian nodded his head. Mu Qing said, "I don't believe that these officers and soldiers didn't see it. However, they still celebrated all the same. It's all because you are here, and they feel that victory is certain. "
Xie Lian didn't think much of this and said, "I won my first battle. It's good for them to be happy. I'll just treat it as a morale boost."
Feng Xin hesitated for a moment before saying, "Your Highness, your complexion doesn't look too good. Are you still raining on Yong An's side? "
Xie Lian replied, "Mhm."
Mu Qing's expression was one of unsurprised disapproval as he said, "Forgive me for speaking bluntly, but right now, raining is already useless. That is a bottomless pit. Your Highness, even if Yong An's drought could truly be alleviated, I'm afraid that the group of people outside the city won't retreat. "
Xie Lian replied, "I know. However, the reason I'm raining rain isn't to make this group of people retreat. It's just to prevent those people who are still in Yong An from dying of thirst. This was my original goal, and it won't change because of anything. "
Feng Xin still wasn't completely at ease and asked, "Can you hold on?"
Xie Lian patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry. I have eight thousand temples, and I also have enough believers. Of course, there won't be any problems. However. "
His other hand wrapped around Mu Qing's shoulder and sighed. "Fortunately, I had the two of you to help me today. Thank you for accompanying me."
On the battlefield today, his two attendants had suffered much more than him. They had killed until their bodies were covered in bloodstains. Feng Xin said, "There's no need to say these words again." Mu Qing made a vague "oh" sound.
Xie Lian used a bit of strength in his hand and pulled the relationship between the three of them closer. He sincerely said, "Not only today, I've always had to thank the two of you. I hope that the image of the three of us fighting side by side can be immortalized for generations to come. "
"…"
"…"
After a short while, Feng Xin burst into laughter. On the other hand, Mu Qing said in disbelief, "I find that you can always say some very … … righteously and confidently. This really is … …" He shook his head and said, "Forget it."
The corner of Xie Lian's mouth rose with great difficulty. He didn't laugh for long before his expression suddenly turned cold. "Who?!"
With a 'clang', Xie Lian unsheathed his longsword. With a light flick, he picked out a black shadow from the corner of the parapet wall.
That person had been hiding in this corner for a long time, holding his breath in concentration. Unexpectedly, he hadn't been discovered the entire time. Xie Lian originally only wanted to use the tip of his sword to hang him up and scare him. Who would've thought that after killing so many people on the battlefield today, Xie Lian's arm had been faintly trembling all this time, causing him to lose some of his strength. This one flick wasn't steady and he used too much strength, directly throwing that person out of the wall.
Under the moonlight, in midair, the three of them could clearly see that this person was wearing the uniform of their own soldiers. His figure seemed to be that of a fifteen or sixteen year old teenager. In the blink of an eye, he fell down and disappeared without a trace. Seeing that one of them was about to fall off the city gate tower, Xie Lian thought in his heart that this wasn't good.