Chapter 742 – Miaomiao's Deed
Guan Yu's son was not the only one who informed his father about the raid, but other officials and noble families also contacted their beloved ones.
On the battleships in the sky above Huiji's city, many officers and generals heard the sound transmissions of their family members before they died a tragic death.
As soon as they knew that their family members were killed back home, they rushed to their superior officers, reporting what they had heard. Meanwhile, some of the officers also received calls from their families as well, and their faces were pale.
Within minutes, the news was passed to Liu Xuande and Zhunti, who was leading this assault.
In the captain's room of the flagship, Liu Xuande fell to his knees after he heard the voice of his dying wives, "Impossible! How?!"
He left his wives and children in Chengdu, the capital city that was well hidden behind the arrays of mountain ranges and illusion. Any invader should have encountered a wasteland and got trapped there, but someone managed to slip through their protection arrays and found the hidden city.
Zhunti only glanced at Liu Xuande. He clicked his tongue as he didn't have any family like the others.
'This is why families are weaknesses. They should have gotten rid of their shackles before they walked the path of immortals!'
Annoyed, Zhunti slapped Liu Xuande's face.
"Get back to your senses! This is war! We either kill or be killed!"
Liu Xuande glared at Zhunti, "But nobody told me about this! We thought that no one can attack our capital city when we launch a surprise attack on Wu Empire!"
"That's why I told you to discard your families behind! You don't need them in the future, and you don't need them now. They're there to drag you down!"
"I shouldn't have trusted you, power-hungry bastards! I shouldn't have worshiped Pangu and Hongjun as my master!"
Zhunti seized Liu Xuande's collar and pulled him closer, "Order your troops to slaughter everyone in Huiji City, then! Eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, blood for blood!"
Liu Xuande swatted Zhunti's hand off his collar. He stood up and regained the dignity of the King. He bellowed.
"WHERE IS ZHANG FEI?!"
"Here!"
Zhang Fei, aka Zhang Yide before the great reset, was still Liu Xuande's sworn brother. He was also a 3-star stellar immortal, who was only weaker than Guan Yu in duels.
Zhang Fei was a big buff bearded guy that only wore chest plate armor as his only defensive treasure. His spear, however, was a heaven-grade weapon, bestowed by Hongjun.
When Zhang Fei saw Zhunti, who didn't show respect to his sworn brother, the former glared at the ex-sage, "What are you doing, not kneeling in front of the King! ON YOUR KNEES!"
Zhunti scoffed and vanished, not bothering to chat or bicker with Zhang Fei.
After Zhunti left, Zhang Fei spat and turned to his elder brother.
"Brother, what's up?"
"Change of plans. We're retreating. We'll let Zhunti and the Sage Guild deal with Wu Empire!"
Zhang Fei was baffled. They invested so much manpower and resources in this war to follow Pangu's instructions. However, Liu Xuande suddenly wanted out.
"Hah?! But why?!"
"I'm not some henchmen of some gods! I become King because I want to implement my ideal kingdom! I don't want to become someone's lapdog or a disposable pawn!"
"But strategist Zhuge said we had to wage war with Wu Empire eventually. He also supported this war."
"Screw them! Look what happened! We've brought out all our troops for an all-out war, but our enemies attacked our home while we're here! This battle must be staged to get rid of me and my kingdom. I'm out! We'll bring the troops back!"
"…"
Zhang Fei pursed his lips in hesitation, but he accepted the new order anyway. He rushed out and relayed the order while all battleships were shooting cannons at Huiji's force field array.
Soon, the cannons ceased firing, and all ships turned around.
.
A young scholar was sitting in front of an elderly Daoist in white robes. They were playing Weiqi, and staring at the chess board.
WHOOSH
While the two men were busying with their game, Zhunti teleported into their room. He knelt and cupped his fist, reporting to the elderly Daoist.
"Lord Hongjun, Liu Xuande has ordered his troops to retreat."
Hongjun, aka the elderly Daoist, didn't flinch. He gently stroked his beard and gazed at the young scholar.
"Young Zhuge. It seems that something went awry."
Zhuge Liang looked up and raised his brows. He turned to Zhunti, "Did someone attack our country while we're out?"
Zhunti nodded, "Yes. It seems that someone razed Chengdu to the ground and slaughtered all citizens."
"Oh, cool," Zhuge Liang snickered. "He did us a favor. Now, we have the righteous cause to gain the public sentiment."
Hongjun grinned and waited for Zhuge Liang to elaborate his schemes. However, Zhunti wasn't satisfied with the vague answer.
"So, we're sacrificing the citizens of Chengdu to gain public support? For what?"
"There aren't only three countries in this world. There are still monster kingdoms, beast kingdoms, and ethnic tribes. Now that they openly massacred innocent people, our soldiers will naturally spread words, and the spies from other kingdoms will find out. What do you think will happen if every commoner, monster race, and intelligent beast are aware of Wu Kingdom's cruelty?"
"Tell me."
"Haiya. You're no fun. Obviously, they will be worrying about their safety. And if Wu Empire retaliates against us or launches a counterattack, we can easily trick other kingdoms into fighting the Wu Empire by simple illusion arrays or the likes."
"… That's a coward tactic," Zhunti disliked the idea. He believed that absolute strength was enough to smash all trickeries and schemes. Therefore, politics, ploys, and tactics were unnecessary in his eyes.
"Coward or not, it's the last man standing win. Our purpose is to weaken all forces and be the last survivor of this world. Lord Pangu has already summoned otherworlders to this world, and it won't be long until all countries merge as one."
Hongjun looked back at the chess board. He placed a black piece on it, which disrupted Zhuge Liang's surrounding tactic.
He commented, "Although using someone else's blade to kill our enemies is good, you mustn't show mercy to our enemies. Instead of retreating, we should press on the attack and destroy Huiji City first. Then, we can use the public sentiment to our advantage later on. So, for now, go convince Liu Xuande not to withdraw from the battle."
Zhuge Liang sighed and stood up. He also threw two pieces on the board, gesturing the resign, "Alright. If that is your wish."
.
Huiji City
On the city wall, Sun Jian stared at the battleships, which suddenly stopped firing at the force field array.
"Out of ammo?"
Sun Jian was baffled. The cannons were the bane of every city's defensive array as they could easily disable the counterattack properties and damage the array moderators.
Currently, all immortals of Sun Jian's side were battered and wounded because of the backlashes from keeping the array on. They knew that as soon as the array went down, the commoners and cultivators in the city would be slaughtered by countless 9th-stage cultivators from Liu Xuande's side.
Sun Wukong and Sun Ce stood next to their father. They glared at the retreating battleships.
"Are they idiots?"
"Who knows?"
Sun Jian turned to his young sons, who were promising cultivators, "Go tell the others to start migrating north. This might be the calm before the storm."
"But why? They're retreating!"
Sun Ce, the second son of Sun Jian, was an 8th-stage cultivator. He was 18 this year, and he already obtained the law power naturally.
Like father, like son, Sun Ce had white hair, sharp eyes, and a handsome face. His toned physique was the same as Sun Jian, and he also had an obsession with White Tiger's skin as a decoration.
Sun Jian let out a long sigh. He pointed at the injured array masters.
"We'll be overrun if they suddenly turn around and attack us again. I don't know why they want Sun Yun, but you shouldn't let them get their hands on her. Protect our family for me."
"…"
Sun Ce still didn't understand why they needed to retreat, but he followed his father's instructions.
Sun Jian turned to Sun Wukong next.
"Wukong, can you contact Mao Miaomiao?"
The former monkey king scratched his head, "He might still be cultivating in Pirate Hunter City, though."
"Try to contact him. Find him and bring him here to help us. Also, don't tell him about the Mao Clan's whereabouts. Otherwise, he might go find his family first."
"Okay, is that alright? He will be pissed, you know?"
"I'm planning to wed Sun Yun to him anyway. He'll forgive us once we get the wedding done."
"Tsk. I hate this. I don't want to be his brother-in-law."
"He's an asset to our cause, though."
"…"
Sun Wukong shook his head and went back into the city. He followed Sun Ce to the secret passage, which could lead the population of this city outside the wall and flee to their capital city of Qiongqi City.
.
Chengdu City
Miaomiao was oblivious to the events at Huiji City. He spread his grey wings, scattering purple butterflies to the corpses.
As soon as the butterflies merged with the corpses, they rose to their feet. Even the headless corpses and militated dead bodies came back to life.
Miaomiao whistled and wiggled his fingers. Then, some of the incomplete corpses merged and turned into grotesque zombies.
The million population of Chengdu City turned into either zombies or undead monsters. They howled and walked around aimlessly as Miaomiao didn't order them to do anything.
"Experiment done. Now go, zombies. Get outta here and raid other cities!"
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