Xie Lian's leap was indeed somewhat frightening, but the two attendants knew that it was nothing to him, so Mu Qing did not move. However, Feng Xin still went to pull him up. Xie Lian exerted a little force and lifted the soldier up. The two of them landed on the tower. Xie Lian asked, "Whose soldier are you and why are you hiding here?"

The soldier had bandages wrapped around his hands and head, and there was a little blood on the bandages, which showed that he was wounded. This was not surprising, as many soldiers were wounded in today's battle and were wrapped up like this. But he had been hiding in the dark without saying a word, which was very suspicious. Mu Qing said, "Don't tell me he's a spy from Yong'an. Let's arrest him and interrogate him."

Xie Lian had this suspicion as well, but the imperial city was heavily guarded, and it was unlikely that the enemy could sneak in, unless it was just Lang Ying alone, and this soldier was clearly still a half-grown child. At this time, Feng Xin asked in surprise, "Your Highness, don't you remember this kid? He was the one who was always rushing in front of you during the day, the one at the front of the formation."

Xie Lian was startled and asked, “Really?”

There was a fight in broad daylight, and he had no time to pay attention to anything else. He just knew that when someone raised a sword to kill him, he would swing his sword back. He didn't even pay attention to Feng Xin and Mu Qing, so how could he pay attention to other soldiers?

Feng Xin said affirmatively: "Right. I remember this kid. He charged very fiercely, as if he didn't care about his life."

Hearing him say this, Xie Lian carefully looked at the young soldier. The young man stood up straight for some reason, with his head held high and his chest puffed out. He seemed a little stiff, as if he was standing at attention. Mu Qing said, "Then he shouldn't be hiding here in secret. Who knows if he's here to peek or eavesdrop?"

Although he said so, he actually let down his guard in his heart. Because the Xianle Army vigorously promoted the so-called "God's Army, the destiny of heaven", many young people joined the army to follow Xie Lian, including many young people of this age, and many of them were loyal admirers of Xie Lian, who grew up worshipping his statue and listening to the good name of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. It was not the first time that they wanted to sneak up and see the God of War, so it was not uncommon.

Xie Lian said, “Okay, it was just a false alarm.” He said to the young soldier in a gentle voice, “I didn’t scare you just now. Sorry.”

The young man showed no fear, but stood straighter and said, "Your Highness..."

Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, something strange happened. Before the young soldier could finish his sentence, he suddenly pounced on Xie Lian!

Xie Lian thought he was going to attack him by surprise, so he dodged and raised his hand to cut him down. With his strength, the young man would have been killed instantly. Unexpectedly, he felt a chill creeping down his back, and his hand suddenly turned around, blocking an arrow shot at him from behind.

It turned out that the young man rushed towards him because he saw the cold light of the flying arrow in the air. Xie Lian was originally standing with his back against the parapet. He was attacked from behind, but he was not afraid at all. Instead, he jumped onto the top of the wall and looked down from the front. On a large empty flat ground in front of the city gate, there was a man standing alone in the distance. Because he was wearing dark clothes and blended into the darkness, it was extremely difficult to detect him. Feng Xin quickly came to Xie Lian's side, drew his bow and shot an arrow. But the man had calculated the distance in advance and deliberately stood very far away. He shot an arrow, causing Xie Lian to look at him, waved his hand, turned around and left without saying a word. He retreated very quickly, and Feng Xin's arrow was already weak by then, and it just nailed him a few inches behind his foot. Feng Xin was so angry that he hammered the city wall, and the gray stones fell down, and he said, "Who is that?!"

Who else could it be? Xie Lian asked, “Lang Ying!”

The Xianle soldiers also noticed something was wrong, and they screamed and ran around. However, out of caution, they did not immediately order the city gates to be opened and pursued, but went to ask their superiors for instructions. After Lang Ying shot an arrow, he waved and left, as if he had come to say hello to Xie Lian. Mu Qing frowned and asked, "What is he doing here? Is he demonstrating?"

Feng Xin said angrily: "Yong An was beaten badly in the battle today, and he barely escaped from Your Highness. What is there to protest about?"

Xie Lian felt something tied to the cold arrow, and took it off to look at it next to the firelight. It was a piece of cloth, which seemed to have been torn from a green brocade robe. There were wet bloodstains on the cloth. When he unfolded it, he saw the word "戚" written crookedly.

Xie Lian immediately grabbed the cloth and asked, “Where’s Qi Rong? Isn’t Qi Rong in the palace?”

Feng Xin said to the soldiers beside him: "Hurry up and go into the city to confirm!"

The soldiers hurried down. This was indeed the edge of the robe that Qi Rong loved to wear. Lang Ying was also known for his elusiveness. It was very likely that Qi Rong was kidnapped by him. Without further ado, Xie Lian said, "I'll go up and take a look." Seeing Feng Xin coming over, he said, "You guys guard the city gate and stay still. Be careful that they are trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain."

Feng Xin put the bow on his back and asked, "You don't have anyone with you?"

If Yong'an didn't launch a large-scale attack first, Xie Lian didn't want Xianle to take the initiative to send troops. If Qi Rong fell into the hands of the enemy, he could bring him back by himself, but if he took an army with him, there would be a big fight, and more than one or two people would die. Now, Xie Lian still wanted to control the situation to the minimum extent, and said: "No. They can't do anything to me."

After saying this, he pressed his hand lightly on the wall, jumped down from the tower, landed lightly, and quickly chased in the direction where Lang Ying had evacuated. After running for a while, he heard footsteps catching up behind him. Looking back, it was the young soldier. Xie Lian said to him, "I don't need help, you go back!"

The young man shook his head. Xie Lian said again, “Go back!” He quickened his pace and instantly left the young man far behind, out of sight.

After running for five or six miles, they entered a mountain. This mountain was not steep, but more like a slope, so it was also called Beizi Slope. According to investigation, after the Yongan people withdrew, the large army and civilians all stayed here. Beizi Slope was covered with dense vegetation. At night, there were strange sounds everywhere in the dark forest, as if countless living creatures were lurking, staring at them. Xie Lian went deep into the mountain, holding his breath and searching for a long time. Suddenly, he saw a long human figure hanging on a tree in front of him. He looked closely and said, "Qi Rong!"

It was Qi Rong. He was hung upside down on a tree, and seemed to have been beaten violently. He fainted, his nose was bleeding, and one of his eyes was black. Xie Lian drew his sword, cut the rope, caught Qi Rong who was falling, and patted his face. Qi Rong woke up slowly, and when he saw him, he shouted, "Crown Prince cousin!"

As Xie Lian was untying him, he suddenly felt a chill on his back and blocked with his sword. Looking back, he saw Lang Ying holding a heavy sword in both hands, slashing at him.

The two exchanged a few moves, and soon Xie Lian knocked Lang Ying's sword away. He kicked Lang Ying in the calf, tripping him, and put the tip of the sword against his throat, ending the fight. He said, "You know you are no match for me, so stop fighting."

Today they had fought on the battlefield, and anyone who rushed towards Xie Lian was killed by him, except Lang Ying, who survived after being hit by his sword head-on, and dragged his injured body back. Anyone could see that Lang Ying was the leader of this group of Yongan people, and Xie Lian's request to "stop fighting" naturally had more than one meaning.

Xie Lian said, “As long as you don’t take the initiative to attack, I guarantee that the soldiers of the imperial city will never attack you. Take the water and food and leave.”

Lang Ying was lying on the ground, staring at him. That look made people's hearts tremble. He said, "Your Highness, do you think what you did is right?"

Xie Lian’s expression froze. Qi Rong on the side cursed, “Nonsense! Do you know who the Crown Prince cousin is? He’s a god in heaven! If he’s not right, then you traitorous dogs are right!?”

Xie Lian shouted, “Qi Rong, shut up!”

He couldn't answer Lang Ying's question. In his heart, he actually felt that what he did was wrong. However, this was the best thing he could think of. If he didn't protect Xianle and resist the invasion, would he just let the Yong'an rebels attack again and again, or even kill their way into the imperial city?

If one or two people rushed towards him with swords raised, he could just knock them out. But swords were ruthless on the battlefield, and he couldn't have the energy to knock them out one by one. He could only stop thinking and swing his sword. Lang Ying's question just happened to evoke the voice in his heart: Do you think what you did is right?

Qi Rong was not as conflicted as he was, and said, "What did I say wrong? Cousin, since you are here, just kill these bastards! There are dozens of them fighting against me!"

He was arrogant and domineering in the imperial city, so naturally there were many people in Yong'an who hated him, and it was no problem for them to take the opportunity to take revenge. Of course, there were also many people in Xianle who hated him. Xie Lian didn't have time to pay attention to him now, and said to Lang Ying: "What do you want? If you want rain, it will rain in Yong'an. If you want gold, I will push the golden statue to you. If you want food, I... will find a way. But don't provoke war again. Let's find a solution together, find a third way, okay?"

Xie Lian couldn't help but blurt out these words. Lang Ying might not understand what the "third way" was, but he answered without hesitation: "I don't want anything. I don't need anything. The only thing I want is that there will be no Xianle Country in the world. I want it to disappear."

His tone was calm, but his words were chilling for no reason. After a while, Xie Lian said in a deep voice: "...If you want to bring people to attack me, I can't just stand by and watch. You have no chance of winning. Even if the Yong'an people who follow you will die, are you going to do this?"

Lang Ying said, "Yes."

“…”

His answer was so frank and firm that Xie Lian's joints creaked, but he was speechless. Lang Ying said word by word, "I know you are a god. It doesn't matter. Even if you are a god, don't think I can stop."

Xie Lian knew that what Lang Ying said was true. Because the tone in his voice was something Xie Lian was very familiar with—it was a person’s determination to go all out. When he said to Jun Wu, “Even if the heavens want me to die,” the determination in it was exactly the same as Lang Ying’s determination at this moment!

Lang Ying's words were tantamount to announcing that he would continue to call on countless Yong'an people to continue to attack without end. So, it was clear what Xie Lian should do now.

Xie Lian usually held the sword with one hand, but now he held it with both hands. Just as his hands were shaking and he was about to stab Lang Ying's throat, a strange "crunching" sound and a sudden sneer suddenly came from behind him.

A person appeared silently behind him. Xie Lian was quite surprised. He turned around and looked, but his eyes widened.

The person who appeared at this time was most likely an enemy soldier. Perhaps countless swords were pointed at him, but he did not expect that there would be such a strange person behind him.

The man was wearing a pale mourning dress and a pale mask on his face. Half of the mask showed crying and the other half showed smiling. It was extremely weird. He sat on a vine hanging between two large trees. The "creaking" sound was made when he shook the vine back and forth. It looked like he was swinging on a swing. When he saw Xie Lian turning around, he raised his hands and clapped his hands slowly, sneering. Xie Lian felt a chill down his spine and asked in a harsh voice, "Who are you?"

He used the word "thing" because he intuitively knew that this must not be a person!

At this moment, Xie Lian suddenly felt something was wrong with the tip of the sword in his hand. Qi Rong also screamed. Turning his head, he saw that the ground in front of him had cracked into a long pit. Lang Ying, who was lying on the ground, was swallowed by the crack. The ground quickly closed up, and Xie Lian subconsciously stabbed his sword into the center of the earth. Feeling that the tip of the sword was touching only mud and not flesh, he realized that this sword did not kill Lang Ying, and he didn't know whether to regret or be glad. At this time, the man in white laughed again, and Xie Lian raised his hand and threw the sword at him.

The sword flew as fast as lightning, piercing through the man's body and nailing him to the tree. The man collapsed to the ground without making a sound. Xie Lian rushed forward to check, but he only saw a pile of white clothes on the ground, and the person wearing the clothes disappeared out of thin air!

This person’s appearance and disappearance were both extremely strange. Xie Lian was frightened and did not dare to be careless. He picked up Qi Rong with one hand and said, “Let’s go.”

Qi Rong shouted, "Don't go! Cousin, set fire to the mountain! There are many Yong'an people on this mountain. Those unruly people who are sitting at the city gate and refusing to leave are hiding on the mountain. Let's burn them all down with one fire!"

Xie Lian dragged him along for a while, and felt the gloomy aura around him getting heavier. It seemed as if countless pairs of eyes were staring at the two of them. He said, “Didn’t you see how weird this guy was just now? We shouldn’t stay here for long.”

Qi Rong said: "So what if they are weird? You are a god, are you afraid of these little demons? If they dare to get in the way, just kill them."

Xie Lian said, “Let’s go back first.”

Seeing that he was perfunctory and refused to burn the mountain, Qi Rong widened his eyes and said, "Why? These people beat me up like this and want to go against us. You heard him just now. He said he wanted to destroy Xianle! He wanted to destroy our country! Why don't you kill them all, just like you did on the battlefield today!"

“…” Xie Lian’s breathing stagnated, and he angrily said, “Why do you always think about killing everyone? Can civilians and soldiers be the same?”

Qi Rong asked back: "What's the difference? Aren't they all human? Isn't it the same no matter who you kill?"

Xie Lian seemed to have hit a sore spot, and a mouthful of blood surged up: “You…!”

At this moment, he suddenly felt his ankle tighten. He looked down and saw a bloated hand reaching out from the dense bushes next to him and suddenly grabbed his boot!

At the same time, there were several "bangs" in front of them, and seven or eight figures fell from the trees like rain, and collapsed on the ground, unable to get up. Although they were in human form, they were naked, and like countless huge flesh worms, they slowly crawled towards this side. Qi Rong lost his voice and said, "Who is it?!"

Xie Lian cut off the hand with his sword and said in a deep voice, “It’s not a human, it’s a humble slave!”

In the past, Xie Lian had never heard of such things appearing on any mountain near the Imperial City. Even if there were any demons or monsters, they would be quickly wiped out by the Taoists of Huangji Temple. So, this group of despicable slaves could only have been deliberately placed here by someone.

Xie Lian had never expected that inhuman beings would intervene in this war. Thinking back to the clues just now, he felt more and more that the other party was in the same group with Lang Ying, and kidnapped Qi Rong just to lure him out, but he didn't have time to think about it at this time. Every time he swung his sword, he could cut seven or eight slaves neatly in half, but once the slaves appeared, they would come in groups. Sure enough, the bushes and shrubs rustled and shook more and more violently. More and more flesh-colored human figures with blurred faces crawled out and rushed towards Xie Lian, and only towards Xie Lian. He killed ten with one sword, and twenty rushed over immediately. Just as Xie Lian was swinging his sword, a slave on a tree aimed at Xie Lian's back and pounced down from mid-air!

Unexpectedly, before it got close, it was cut off by a cold light. Qi Rong didn’t bring any weapons, so it was impossible for him to cut it off. Xie Lian looked back and found that the one swinging the sword was actually the young soldier!

He was left out of sight by Xie Lian in front of the city gate, but he still followed them and found them. The young man held a broken sword and killed several slaves with a few swipes. It was very useful. These things secreted extremely sticky body fluids while crawling. Qi Rong cried out in disgust. He stepped hard on the head of a weaker slave several times and found that this thing was not scary. He wondered: "It's not that powerful?"

He didn't know that this slave often appeared in cooperation with other cruel and evil creatures. Xie Lian bit his lip, smeared two fingers of his right hand with blood, and wiped them evenly on the blade. Finally, he stuffed the sword into Qi Rong's hand and said, "You two take this sword and go first! Nothing will dare to approach you. Don't look back if you hear anything on the road. Remember, never look back!"

Qi Rong said: "Cousin! I..."

Xie Lian interrupted, “The powerful ones are behind us. When they come later, we won’t be able to take care of you. Why don’t we go back and report the news?”

Qi Rong said nothing more, took the sword and ran away. Xie Lian had already used a magic to consecrate the sword in his hand, and along the way, the slaves and other evil creatures dared not approach him, and he passed through unhindered and disappeared quickly. But the young soldier still did not leave, Qi Rong had left first, and Xie Lian did not have a second sword for him to protect himself, so he had to change the sword into a palm, and attacked and killed repeatedly, and with the young man's cooperation, after an incense stick, all the slaves were finally eliminated.

The ground was covered with slime and corpses, and the smell was endless. After confirming that no slaves were left behind, Xie Lian calmed down, turned around, and said to the young man: "You are good at using the sword."

The young man clenched the sword tightly. He was still breathing slightly, but he stood up straight again and said, "Yes, yes."

Xie Lian said, “I’m not giving you an order, why are you saying yes to me? Why didn’t you say ‘yes’ when I ordered you to go back just now?”

The young man said, “Yes.” Only after he finished speaking did he realize what was strange and stood up straighter. Xie Lian shook his head, thought for a moment, and suddenly raised the corner of his mouth and said, “But you are more suitable for using a knife.”