#262 - The Remnant Soul in the Xuantian Sword
"Prepare the armaments!"
"The central army advances five li!"
"Collect the corpses!"
"Attack the city again in a quarter of an hour!"
...
The shouts of the messenger echoed throughout the Great Feng's military camp, stretching for several miles. Tens of thousands of soldiers had already lined up in formation, ready for the second attack on Yuanzhou City.
The two attacks were separated by less than half an hour. It felt as if the withdrawal in between was completely unnecessary, and instead gave the defenders a chance to catch their breath.
But in reality, since ancient times, offensive and defensive battles have never been fought with every last soldier in one go.
Attacking in batches not only allows for effective and timely adjustments to the focus of the attack based on the enemy's situation, but also allows the attacking soldiers' internal strength and physical strength to remain at their peak through rotation.
For example, right now, the first batch of soldiers who withdrew have already begun to heal and rest, while the soldiers for the second attack have all been replaced with fresh troops who had not yet entered the battlefield.
...
"Brother Bai, barring any accidents, there shouldn't be anything for us to do today."
In a certain military tent, a burly man stuffed several medicinal pills into his mouth, chattering incessantly while closing his eyes to feel the effects of the medicine.
"Once this battle is over, I should be able to get some official position in the army. I'm not greedy, just being a centurion would be enough."
"Brother Bai, as for you, you might be transferred back to the Night Watchmen. Don't forget about your old brother then."
"It's rare that we two brothers have such a fate, and now we can be considered to have a life-or-death friendship."
"Of course, that's on the premise that we can survive."
"I think it's not a big problem. We both look like people with great destinies."
"Brother Bai, you think so, right?"
"Huh? Brother Bai?"
The man opened his eyes in confusion, only to find that the person beside him had disappeared at some point.
"Where'd he go?"
He muttered to himself. Another soldier in the tent, afraid that he would continue to ramble on, quickly explained:
"Bai Youheng went to collect corpses."
"Ah?"
The burly man was stunned, his expression a bit surprised.
Collecting corpses not only doesn't count towards military merit, but also has a certain amount of danger. The only benefit might be accumulating some merit for the afterlife.
But they might become corpses themselves tomorrow, so what's the use of accumulating this little bit of merit?
I don't know why Brother Bai is so enthusiastic.
Tsk tsk tsk, people from the Night Watchmen are just strange...
After sighing inwardly, the burly man stopped thinking about it and closed his eyes to continue restoring his internal strength.
Spies from various forces in Yuanzhou City had taken advantage of the break just now to leave the city to report the news. A mother-and-child jade in the Ministry of War in the capital also became scorching hot at the start of the war. The news that "Great Feng has begun to attack the city" was probably already delivered to Ning Yongnian.
But Wei Changtian, far away in Shu Prefecture, was currently unaware of this.
It's not that the intelligence capabilities of the Hanging Mirror Division or the Same Boat Association are poor. On the contrary, Chu Xianping learned of this information even earlier than Ning Yongnian.
It's just that Chu Xianping temporarily had no way to tell Wei Changtian about this.
...
"Young... Young Master Wei, as long as I complete this task, will you really pardon my death sentence?"
In the dark room, a skinny man knelt on the ground, trembling, with a black long sword stuck in front of him.
"That's natural. I always keep my word."
Wei Changtian nodded calmly: "As long as you do as I said just now, I will definitely pardon your crime after it's done."
"But... but..."
The skinny man hesitated: "But this matter will take... take away thirty years of my life..."
"Heh heh."
Wei Changtian chuckled: "You are a death row prisoner. If you don't do as I say, you will die immediately. You won't even be able to live for one more day."
"But if you do as I say, even if you live thirty years less, you will at least have a few years left to live."
"Can't you even figure out this calculation?"
...
The Profound Heaven Sword radiated a dark black light. The skinny man struggled silently for a long time. The desire for life in his heart ultimately outweighed the fear of the unknown.
"I... I'll do it!"
As if to encourage himself, he roared in a low voice and immediately bit the tip of his tongue, spitting his essence blood onto the Profound Heaven Sword with a "poof".
He shakily reached out and pressed the hilt of the sword, his internal strength extending little by little along the barely perceptible lines on the sword, until it spread throughout the entire blade.
The skinny man's already withered hair began to turn white at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the wrinkles on his face slowly emerged and became clear.
Wei Changtian just watched all this calmly, until the Profound Heaven Sword suddenly burst out with a long cry.
"Clang!"
"Jie jie jie jie!"
"Kid, it's only been half a year and you... Huh?"
The eerie and old voice stopped abruptly, seemingly a bit surprised.
The skinny man was startled by the sudden noise and fell to the ground, looking at Wei Changtian in terror.
"Young... Young Master Wei, wha... what's going on?"
"Well, it seems..."
Wei Changtian smacked his lips and took a step closer: "It seems like it's done."
"Do... done?"
The skinny man was overjoyed when he heard this, and the fear in his heart instantly vanished.
He stretched his neck tremblingly, seemingly waiting for Wei Changtian to fulfill his previous promise.
But in the end, all he got was a fate of being separated from his head.
"Puchi!"
"Clang!"
It seemed like the knife was drawn, but it also seemed like it wasn't.
When Wei Changtian gently sheathed the Leaking Shadow Blade, a head with wide eyes quietly slid to the ground.
Obviously, Wei Changtian went back on his word again and did not keep his promise.
As for the reason...
Human traffickers are unforgivable.
The dark room fell into a brief silence.
A person, a sword, and a dead body were speechless to each other, the scene was quite strange.
But soon the remnant soul in the Profound Heaven Sword seemed to understand something and suddenly laughed loudly:
"Jie jie jie jie!"
"Using someone else's lifespan to awaken me, kid, you are a ruthless person!"
"But this temperament is indeed more to my liking than Xiao Feng!"
"Is that so?"
Wei Changtian sat down cross-legged, staring at the slightly trembling Profound Heaven Sword and said: "Senior, you just said that you only woke up once half a year ago... Was it Xiao Feng who awakened you at that time?"
"Isn't that nonsense!"
The remnant soul exclaimed: "Since you know the method to awaken me, then it's only possible that Xiao Feng once told you about me."
"By the way, where's that kid Xiao Feng?"
"Why is the Profound Heaven Sword in your hands?"
"Heh heh."
Wei Changtian did not answer directly, but asked again: "Senior, the last time Xiao Feng summoned you, did he ask you to help him kill a person named Wei Changtian?"
"Huh?"
The remnant soul's tone was a bit disdainful: "So what if he did?"
"It's nothing."
Wei Changtian shook his head, paused for a moment, and then smiled playfully:
"Senior, I am Wei Changtian."
