novelraw Chapter 35 One Man Defends One City
Chapter 35 One Man Defends One City
Chapter 35 One Man Defends One City
The previous chapter has been revised into the main text.
Zhou Yi continued working, his tone calm and even: "That's because it's ignorant and mistaken. It's just some tricks played by country kids, which just happened to look somewhat similar."
"Remember this: never mention the words 'Pure Yang Flame' again. What happened in the mountains today must not be spoken to anyone. Pretend it never happened."
"Hiss—okay, I understand." Mu Mie seemed to understand but not quite, but seeing Zhou Yi's serious expression, he quickly nodded in agreement.
After applying the medicine and wrapping it with clean strips of cloth, Mu Mie put on his outer garment, hesitated for a moment, and looked at the long sword casually placed on the corner of the table: "Uncle Zhou, this sword—"
"Leave the sword here." Zhou Yi interrupted him, not even glancing at the sword, but simply waving his hand at him. "Go back. Take good care of your injuries these days, and don't go up the mountain again, so your mother won't worry."
Mu Mie opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed his words, responded with a soft "Oh," and turned to leave the courtyard.
Zhou Yi saw Dongfang Qinlan again the next morning. She had changed into Mu Mie's old clothes from two years ago, which surprisingly fit her well. Her messy hair had been carefully combed and tied into two slightly crooked buns at the back of her head, revealing her clean, fair, and delicate face, still bearing a hint of childishness and fear. Only in her large eyes remained a trace of lingering redness and swelling, and an inescapable sense of unease.
Mu Mie led her over and said to Zhou Yi, "Uncle Zhou, Mother said that Xiao Xiao will live with her from now on."
"Hmm." Zhou Yi's gaze lingered on Qin Lan for a moment before quickly shifting away. He pointed inside the room and said, "Let's eat."
Breakfast was already laid out on the table. Considering the appetite of the Eastern people, breakfast was no longer the usual simple porridge and side dishes, but a table full of delicacies from land and sea, chicken, duck, fish and meat, in portions far exceeding those of a typical meal for Mu Mie.
The most eye-catching feature was a brand-new straw pillar leaning against the table, adorned with dozens of strings of glistening red flowers.
The hawthorn skewers, coated in a translucent sugar coating, glistened enticingly in the morning light.
"Candied hawthorn?" Mu Mie exclaimed in surprise, his eyes lighting up.
From the moment she entered, Dongfang Qinlan's gaze was almost glued to the bright red candied hawthorns, unable to look away. She secretly swallowed, her fingers unconsciously clutching the hem of her clothes, wanting to look but not daring to look for too long. Her longing expression finally revealed a bit of the childishness that belonged to her age.
"Eat whatever you want, it's all yours." Zhou Yi's voice rang out, calm as ever, yet it made Qin Lan suddenly look up. He didn't say anything more, nor did he even sit down at the table; he simply turned and walked out of the room, leaving the two children alone.
He stood in the courtyard for a moment, his gaze falling on the familiar window across the way. After a moment's hesitation, he finally stepped into Mu Mie's courtyard. This was the first time he had set foot here in all these years.
He didn't go inside, but walked to the open window. Inside, Yang Yan was sitting there as usual, with tea set on a low table in front of her. She was looking down at the tea leaves floating in her cup, and opposite her, as usual, was a cup of untouched tea.
"Could I ask you for a favor?" Zhou Yi stood outside the window, his voice low enough for the person inside to hear him clearly.
Yang Yan didn't look up, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the warm cup, her voice equally flat: "Tell me."
The two were clearly talking, but their eyes were fixed elsewhere, neither looking at the other, as if separated by an insurmountable time and past.
"If one day you need to leave here," Zhou Yi paused, his voice devoid of emotion, "please take Zhou Xiaoxiao with you."
Inside the window, Yang Yan's fingers, which were caressing the rim of her glass, paused almost imperceptibly. She finally looked up: "She trusted you so much, enduring so much hardship to find you, and you're just going to abandon her like this?"
Zhou Yi remained silent for a moment, the mountain wind ruffling his empty sleeves.
"You'll understand later..." he said slowly, each word seeming to have been carefully considered.
"I will impart all that I have learned in my life to Mu Mie without reservation. This is not a secret of the Dao Alliance, nor does it involve any aristocratic methods; it is merely my own enlightenment—it should not be considered to be against your wishes."
"I just hope he can live a normal life." Yang Yan's voice lowered, carrying a deep weariness and stubbornness, "peacefully, ordinarily, living out his life."
"I know," Zhou Yi said softly. "I know you don't want him to come into contact with the Dao Alliance and get involved in those conflicts and grudges."
But we both know that in this world, ordinary people are often the ones with the least choice. Surrounded by demons and monsters, where the strong rule, without power, even a peaceful and ordinary life is a luxury.
Inside, all was quiet except for the faint sound of the tea cooling down.
Zhou Yi gazed at the distant, undulating mountain silhouettes, took a deep breath, and finally uttered the words that had been swirling in his heart for so long. His voice was as low as a stone falling into an abyss: "If saying this still can't change your mind—"
"Then I will tell you. Yang Yitan is dead."
"Clatter".
A soft sound.
It was the sound of a teacup slipping and falling back onto the table.
Yang Yan froze, like a jade statue that had suddenly lost all support. Slowly, extremely slowly, she turned her head and cast her gaze at Zhou Yi outside the window. Those eyes, which were always as calm as a deep pool, now had pupils that contracted violently, as if something was shattering inch by inch within them, and the reflected light of the sky and the shadows of the mountains were distorted into a blank, bewildering void.
In the courtyard, the chickens and ducks had stopped pecking at their food, and the mountain breeze seemed to have stopped.
Only that cold sentence remained, echoing endlessly in the morning light and silence.
"You know more about the Heavenly Eye than I do," Zhou Yi's voice continued, seemingly oblivious to Yang Yan's sudden collapse. His tone was as flat as if he were stating the weather. "That night, Yang Yitan opened his Heavenly Eye for Mu Mie, and a connection was established between their Heavenly Eyes. This connection transmitted the last scene Yang Yitan saw before his death—through the Heavenly Eye—to Mu Mie."
"You can't keep him tied down forever. Given Mu Mie's temperament, once he's older and learns about the past with the Yang family, he'll definitely seek the truth behind Yang Yitan's death. Even if he's still just an ordinary person then." The result will be that he dies soon after his quest.
From inside the window, Yang Yan's extremely soft voice, as if squeezed out between clenched teeth, came through: "Why? How could Yi Tan possibly die? Who could kill him!"
Even though she had deliberately distanced herself from the Yang family and remained aloof from worldly affairs over the years, Yang Yitan's talent and achievements were already legendary within the Dao Alliance. Her elder brother, the notoriously strict current head of the Yang family, had once lamented in a letter that he was no match for his nephew ten years ago. Even her father, the previous head of the Heavenly Eye family, at his peak, was probably only on par with Yitan in terms of cultivation alone.
In Yang Yan's mind, such strength was almost equivalent to invincibility.
"Who can kill him?" Zhou Yi sighed softly, a sigh tinged with the weariness of having seen too many mountains and abysses. "I can, Demon Emperor Huan Du Qingtian can, and Jin Renfeng can now. Even among the great demon kings of the Southern Kingdom that I know of, there are several who can do it. This world is vast, and the existence that can kill Yang Yitan is not as few as you think."
"But these—" Yang Yan suddenly turned around, meeting Zhou Yi's gaze through the window, her eyes bloodshot, "Yi Tan wouldn't be foolish enough to provoke them! He's always been cautious in his actions!"
"Yes, no one would be foolish enough to provoke someone far more powerful than themselves." Zhou Yi nodded, his tone growing heavier. "So, they provoked a being they didn't understand, one that was far more bizarre and terrifying. Not just Yang Yitan, but many others—the Wang Quan family, the Li family, the Mu family, the Qingmu family—almost every nameable genius among the younger generation of the Dao Alliance. Together, they went to some legendary forbidden land."
In the end, only two people escaped alive.
Yang Yan felt a wave of dizziness wash over her, and she had to grab onto the windowsill to steady herself. This news was even more terrifying than hearing of Yang Yitan's demise. Even though she harbored deep resentment towards the Qi Dao Alliance and those power-hungry families—resentment that their power struggles had indirectly led to her husband's death—she had never forgotten that the Qi Dao Alliance and the various powerful families were ultimately the strongest bulwark of humanity's territory, bearing the responsibility of resisting demons and protecting all living beings.
Today, the youngest, most promising generation that should have taken on the responsibility of the future—almost entirely—has been wiped out.
She simply couldn't imagine how frantic the demon race would go if they found out! What terrible future would the human realm face in a few decades, as the older generation of powerful figures gradually withered away?
There's no need to wait decades. The South is already incredibly arrogant. Plus, they won a brilliant annihilation battle a few years ago.
as well as....
"With Dongfang Guyue dead, the Southern Kingdom is bound to make a bigger move soon." Zhou Yi's voice pulled her back from her cold reverie. "This place is close to the southern border, and we'll be the first to be affected. You—prepare to leave."
After saying that, he didn't wait for Yang Yan's response, turned around, and silently left the courtyard, just as he had come.
Yang Yan wrote a letter to her elder brother. Several days later, her elder brother replied, confirming Yang Yitan's death. The letter was cold and brief, and it also listed several other names that she either knew or had heard of, names that were equally brilliant but had suddenly faded away.
His fingers, gripping the letter, were white at the knuckles. It was hard to believe that Yitan, whom he had only seen recently, was dead. He was so young.
In the months that followed, events unfolded exactly as predicted by the Book of Changes.
The demonic energy that had been dormant in the southern lands surged up once more. Under the strong advocacy and planning of the nine-headed child demon, the demon army marched towards the area where the small mountain village was located.
The closest barrier to the small mountain village, and the only one within hundreds of miles that is called a "city wall," is "Nantian City," jointly guarded by the Chi and Shi families, prominent clans in the southern border region.
However, at this moment in Nantian City, the residences of the Chi and Shi families were already deserted, leaving only unsuspecting servants and still bewildered collateral descendants. The true core forces and elite cultivators had quietly withdrawn several days earlier in the dead of night.
Unaware of the danger, ordinary people continued their mundane lives, working from sunrise to sunset. The market bustled, smoke curled from chimneys, and children played in the streets. They were unaware that the city they had lived in for generations had been abandoned.
Until the soldiers on the city wall looked out in horror and saw the thick, ominous clouds rolling in on the horizon, blocking out the sunlight.
The conscientious official finally sensed something was wrong. He immediately ordered the alarm bells to be rung, notifying the villagers in the surrounding areas to immediately seek refuge in the city. At the same time, he dispatched his most capable messengers with urgent requests for help to Shenhuoshan Manor and the headquarters of the Yiqi Dao Alliance. Even then, this dutiful official was unaware that the Shi and Chi families had already abandoned the city, and even less aware that his pleas for help had sunk without a trace, unlikely to receive a reply.
This move makes it understandable that the Shi and Chi families were heartless towards each other.
Since the death of Dongfang Guyue, both families have been on high alert for the movements in the Southern Kingdom. Months ago, their spies in the Southern Kingdom reported frequent unusual activity. They immediately sent warnings and requests for help to Shenhuo Mountain Manor and the Yiqi Dao Alliance, but to no avail, receiving no substantial response or support.
Faced with the impending invasion of the demon army, holding out alone would be futile, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. Torn between the survival of their clan and the lives of the city's inhabitants, they made the difficult and shameful choice to secretly evacuate and preserve their strength. Furthermore, to prevent the news from leaking and causing panic, they pessimistically believed that there was nowhere to escape anyway; the demon army would surely use a massacre to bolster their morale, and if the people of Nantian City fled, it would only hasten the demon army's slaughter of the next city. Therefore, they ruthlessly suppressed the news.
The Dao Alliance was now in disarray, with each faction facing its own difficulties and calculations.
Northern Clan: Due to historical issues left over from the destruction of the Demon-Controlling Kingdom, they have been fighting and killing the Northern Demon Kingdom, which is hostile to the human race, for many years. The border is constantly engulfed in flames, and their own territory is in danger. They simply cannot spare any elite troops to cross the Central Plains to aid the Southern Border. They are powerless to help those in need.
The prominent families of the Central Plains: Those families that lost their most outstanding heirs in this "Forbidden Land" incident, such as the Wangquan and Li families, are either immersed in immense grief and panic over the lack of successors, or they remain silent about the hidden reasons that led to this disaster, experiencing internal turmoil and reacting slowly to external affairs, almost indifferently. Most other prominent families observe coldly, the situation unclear, and none are willing to easily deplete their own strength. A few families with remaining courage and a sense of responsibility want to provide assistance, but because no one takes the lead in responding, and upon learning that even the Chi and Shi families, who should have been defending their territory, have fled, they are even more disheartened and no longer mention it.
The aristocratic families of the Central Plains, and indeed the entire Qi Dao Alliance, have always looked to the Wangquan family for leadership. However, the urgent plea for help regarding the perilous situation in Nantian City was quietly suppressed by Steward Fei when it reached the Wangquan family. This loyal old servant knew that if his extremely weak master, or his young master whose swordsmanship had been clouded and whose condition was highly unstable since returning from the "Forbidden Land," saw this urgent report, they would undoubtedly rush to the aid of the city themselves. Such a journey would be fraught with peril, and he could not take that risk. Thus, this news concerning the survival of the city was quietly buried.
Aside from the North and the Central Plains, the families that should stand up the most and are most capable of fighting back are naturally the native families of the South.
They have fought against the demons of the Southern Kingdom for many years, possessing profound strength and formidable combat power. At their peak, they could even overpower the Southern Kingdom and crush Tushan at the same time. Even if the Southern Kingdom mobilized all its forces, sending out the seventy-two cave masters to fight the demons, or even if Huan Du Qingtian personally came, it would be nothing more than a life-or-death battle, and they would never be afraid.
What they lacked was simply a leader who could command respect and oversee the overall situation. In the past, this role was undisputedly filled by Shenhuo Mountain Manor. At Dongfang Guyue's command, heroes from the Southern Territory gathered in response, ready to go through fire and water without hesitation.
Now, the demon army has reached their doorstep, threatening to wreak havoc on the land, yet Shenhuo Mountain Manor remains deathly silent. The new manor lord, Jin Renfeng, is like a dead man, holed up inside the manor, the gates tightly shut, neither showing his face nor uttering a sound, as if everything outside is irrelevant to him. Whether it's a joint petition from the southern border families to see him, or visits from senior figures with ties to the old manor lord, all are turned away.
This attitude of feigning death and avoiding battle infuriated almost all the cultivators in the Southern Territory to the point of vomiting blood.
What made them even more hesitant was that the tragedy of the fall of the Twelve Cities had confirmed the presence of an internal traitor who intercepted and killed messengers, causing delays in message delivery and catching them off guard. Although an investigation later revealed that several suspected centuries-old families had been purged and exterminated by the enraged Southern Alliance, the true culprit seemed to remain elusive. At this moment, who dared to rashly step forward and gather forces? If they were stabbed in the back again, they might be the next to be wiped out.
Thus, the various factions in the Southern Territory unanimously chose to consolidate their power, close their doors, and observe how things would unfold. A cruel and helpless consensus was spreading among the people: they had already lost the previous twelve cities, so what difference would one more make?
In short, at this time, the Qi Dao Alliance was a complete mess.
The demon army from the South invaded the human territory with almost no resistance along the way, as if entering an empty land.
Dark clouds rolled in, and the sounds of battle shook the heavens.
Until they encountered... a person outside Nantian City!
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