Chapter 857 Western Reinforcements
After making military preparations, Grand Tutor Wen began the "eagle-taming" tactic, surrounding Xiqi layer by layer. Neither mortals nor immortals could leave the isolated city of Xiqi!
Although the strategy against Xiqi was personally devised by Grand Tutor Wen, he still felt somewhat aggrieved. In order to vent his frustration, Grand Tutor Wen would cause a small disturbance every three days and a big disturbance every five days, with a completely different rhythm every now and then, leaving people completely baffled!
Jiang Ziya was completely helpless against Grand Tutor Wen's disgusting tactics, and could only remain on guard at all times to prevent Grand Tutor Wen from actually attacking the camp.
After all, Xiqi was weak while Yinshang was strong. Yinshang could make countless mistakes, but if Xiqi made even one mistake, it would be utterly doomed!
In addition to the policy of constant harassment, Grand Tutor Wen also devised a plan similar to Emperor Wu of Han's strategy of exterminating the grasslands. Whenever the harvest season was busy, the Shang army would launch a frenzied attack on Xiqi, forcing the people of Xiqi to be busy resisting the Shang army and have no time to cultivate and harvest.
Even if Xiqi were lucky enough to have a fertile land that the Yin Shang could hardly influence to guarantee a good harvest, it wouldn't be a big deal. As the saying goes, if the neighbor hoards grain, I hoard guns; the neighbor is my granary!
The Shang Dynasty has many talented people. As long as the Shang Dynasty discovers the granaries of Xiqi, Grand Tutor Wen would not mind sending people to raid them. Even if they fail to raid them, it doesn't matter. The Shang Dynasty is not short of grain. At worst, they can just burn them all down. In short, if the Shang Dynasty is in trouble, Xiqi will not be in trouble either.
As for the claim that the people of Xiqi were innocent and shouldn't have committed such wanton slaughter, Wen Zhong smiled but remained silent. In Wen Zhong's view, from the moment Xiqi chose to betray the Yin Shang dynasty, everyone in Xiqi bore the original sin of treason, a sin that could never be washed away!
The people of Xiqi have enjoyed the welfare policies brought by Xiqi, so they should bear the backlash from the betrayal of the Xiqi rulers! Of course, if they choose to abandon darkness and return to the embrace of Yin Shang, Grand Tutor Wen would not mind accepting them. However, because of the original sin they bear, unless they make great contributions to Yin Shang, they are inherently inferior to the people of Yin Shang!
Ji Chang, Boyi Kao, Ji Fa, and Jiang Ziya were all very troubled by the shameless policies of the Yin Shang Dynasty, but they were helpless. After all, the Yin Shang Dynasty was carrying out a blatant scheme, intending to use its powerful national strength to drag down Xiqi!
Just as Jiang Ziya and the others were pondering how to break the deadlock, Yaoshi arrived in Xiqi with his support! Jiang Ziya and the others welcomed Yaoshi warmly, as he and his men had brought the much-needed provisions to Xiqi!
However, the pharmacist and his Western followers seemed to be completely oblivious to social niceties, remaining indifferent as if they didn't care about anything!
The Xiqi leadership, led by Ji Chang, found the pharmacists' desireless state of mind quite incomprehensible, yet chose to respect it.
At the same time, Ji Chang did not try to win over the Western Sect disciples like the Medicine Master in the same way he had won over Yang Jiao and others. Ji Chang knew very well that the most difficult people to win over in this world were those who were without desires or wants. After all, without desires, one cannot bestow favors, and the first step in winning people over is to bestow favors.
Of course, a creature's apparent lack of desire might also stem from having experienced things unseen by ordinary people, transcending base pleasures. If someone were to find something truly captivating, even a deity devoid of desire could be drawn down to the mortal realm!
In fact, the fact that the Western disciples, including the Pharmacist, acted so detached from desires was something that Zhunti had instructed them to do before he left. As for why Zhunti asked the Western disciples to do this, it was because they did not have high hopes for this so-called chosen one, Xiqi!
Although the Heavenly Dao still reigns supreme in the primordial world, it is now hampered by the Earthly Dao and the Human Dao, making it much more difficult for the Heavenly Dao to do anything than before!
If the Earthly Path and the Human Path had not yet been born, the Heavenly Path could easily have made the Human Emperor the Son of Heaven. But now the Earthly Path and the Human Path are still alive and well, and the Dao Lords are not in any problem. Even if their power is not as great as the Heavenly Path, the Heavenly Path cannot easily control them!
