Divine Tang Era

Chapter 120 Arriving One After Another

"Why are you all here? What will happen to the martial arts school?" Xu Dan looked at the Mo family martial arts school team and couldn't help but worry about the safety of Yun Niang and Xiao Que'er.

"Hahaha"

Lu Shizong burst into laughter upon hearing his words.

After a moment, he said, "There is no safer place in Jingning City than the martial arts school, so you can rest assured."

Xu Dan thought about it and agreed. The Mo Clan Martial Arts School belonged to the Mo family lineage, an ancient sect that originated from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. If they said they had no foundation, no one would believe it. After saying a few words to him, Xu Dan and Xue An and the others stepped onto the city wall.

"The Dry-Headed Scholar"

"The Dry-Headed Scholar"

"The Dry-Headed Scholar"

As he went up, he heard someone call out "Master Ku," and Xu Dan couldn't help but look back. He saw Ku Moli, the master of the Jiusi Academy, nodding amiably to the person who had greeted him. Wherever he went, scholars and literati spontaneously stood behind him and followed him up the city wall.

Practitioners from both Buddhism and Taoism also followed.

The arrival of Master Ku seemed to have set the stage for action, with martial arts schools and local wealthy families sending their disciples and guards to help defend the city.

After all, the fall of the city would bring them no benefit whatsoever, so everyone was very eager to participate.

Standing beneath the city wall, Xu Dan realized that there was such a large armed force within Jingning City. As they approached, the guards, recognizing them as archers, made way for them, and the Buddhist and Taoist practitioners, as well as Confucian scholars, who followed, all stood behind them.

Xu Dan looked at the scholars and literati holding books with a strange expression.

He knew that the righteous spirit cultivated by Confucian scholars and the literary spirit of literati were useful in dispelling evil spirits, but this was a battlefield. What were these people doing here? These scholars, who were powerless, could probably be sent to their ancestors with just one arrow.

Seeing his expression, Xue Diao whispered, "Don't underestimate Confucian scholars. These people are quite formidable; they're just as capable as us in dealing with ghosts."

"Is it that amazing?" Xu Dan raised an eyebrow.

"Confucianism cultivates righteousness, while scholars cultivate literary spirit; their methods are similar. As long as one infuses one's writings with righteousness and literary spirit, one can deal with ghosts like a magic talisman. If one can comprehend supernatural powers from poetry and prose, that is even more formidable; eloquent debates and slaying enemies with a single word are commonplace. Even more terrifying are some Confucian scholars who, like martial artists, forge their own path, infusing their bodies with righteousness and literary spirit, and embarking on a unique path of physical cultivation belonging to the literary lineage. Their bodies are as strong as those of martial artists; they are truly masters of both literature and martial arts, and are not to be trifled with."

"You can do that?" Xu Dan's eyes were wide open.

"There are countless paths to immortality, and every one leads to the Great Dao. What's wrong with that? Look at the Yellow Emperor, he ascended to immortality even after having three thousand women with him, let alone others," Xue Diao said.

"Cough cough"

Hearing Xue Diao's words, Xue An quickly reminded him to avoid leading Xu Dan astray. Besides, with so many people on the wall, it wouldn't be good if they overheard.

Although they spoke softly, the distance between them made it clear that everyone who needed to hear them could hear them. Some faces were flushed red, while others wore strange expressions. It was undeniably true, yet also undeniably so, leaving no room for argument.

"How did this little thing get up there? Are all the men of Jingning dead? They actually need a child to guard the city."

Li Zhu, who was far away on Mingfeng Tower, saw Xu Dan climbing the city wall, and her eyebrows shot up.

When he saw Xue An, the anger on his face eased slightly. After thinking for a moment, he called over a maid and gave her a few instructions. The maid then hurriedly ran downstairs.

"Young master, why are you on the city wall?" Xu Dan was watching the situation outside the city with Xue An and the others when he suddenly heard someone call from behind. He turned around and saw the maid of the Mingfeng Pavilion Master walking towards him.

"You're here too," Xu Dan said with a smile.

"I'm here to see you," the maid said irritably.

"What do you want from me?" Xu Dan asked.

"The landlord saw you here and specially asked me to bring you protective clothing. Please put it on quickly."

The maid took out protective armor and an outer robe from her storage bag and helped him put them on. Xu Dan initially wanted to refuse, but seeing the armor, he didn't object. This was a valuable item; he wasn't stupid. After taking off his clothes, putting on the armor, and then the outer robe, Xu Dan's body immediately became much stronger, a bit chubby.

"Is it heavy?" the maid asked.

"It's not heavy, it's quite light." Xu Dan jumped up and down.

"That's good." The maid tidied him up a bit more.

"Please thank Sister Lizhu for me. I'll invite her to dinner with you another day," Xu Dan said magnanimously, waving his hand.

"You, if there's nothing else, hurry down and don't worry the master." Seeing that there was nothing wrong, the maid went down from the city wall. After all, she represented more than just herself, and it wouldn't be good for her to stay here too long.

As she left, a burly man wielding a long-handled hammer quietly approached. "Young master, do you know the Master of Mingfeng Pavilion?"

Xu Dan said, "I've gone to Mingfeng Tower to sell things several times, how could I not recognize it?"

"Then why didn't she give me any? I went and sold a lot of things, didn't I?" The big man's eyes widened.

Xu Dan glanced at him and said, "Look at me. I'm so lucky and have such an innocent and adorable face. If I go to the brothel, which young lady wouldn't want to kiss and hug me? What's so strange about giving me a gift?"

"How shameless!" Li Zhu rolled her eyes as she listened from upstairs.

The burly man sized him up and said, "You're not much better looking than me, so why doesn't anyone hold me?"

"Look at yourself. You have a full beard and you're so big and burly. Even young ladies would back away if they saw you. Who would want to hug you?"

"It's just that the women in Jingning City don't know how to appreciate beauty. If you go to Liangzhou, the young ladies there won't flock to you like crazy."

"嘙"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the burly man was hit on the head by something. He turned to look, but found nothing.

"Who, who hit me? Come out and let me see if you dare, I promise I won't kill you." The big man glared with his huge, copper-bell-like eyes as he scanned the crowd behind him, but unfortunately, everyone looked innocent and indifferent, so he couldn't tell at all.

Finding nothing, the big man turned his head away, but then quickly turned back, trying to find the person who had hit him.

Unfortunately, they found nothing, so they turned back, then suddenly turned back again, repeating this several times, but no one made a move, so they had to give up.

This interruption made him lose his desire to speak. He waved to Xu Dan and said, "I'm leaving. I'll find you for a drink sometime." Then he walked towards the location designated by the soldiers guarding the city.

Xu Dan looked down at the stone that had fallen to the ground, picked it up casually, and threw it out of the city.

Among the martial arts disciples on the periphery, a dashing disciple darted around with her eyes, then continued to stand tall and proud, as if she hadn't thrown the stone.

The disciples around him all had strange expressions, but none of them said anything.

Xu Dan took a moment to look at the arrangement of the city's guards. Behind the parapet were soldiers with shields, then archers, then Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian scholars, then cultivators in armor and wielding weapons, and then another layer of guards on the outer perimeter.

The soldiers who were originally stationed at the gold mine also arrived below the city wall.

Just as everyone had taken their positions, a group of black-faced armored cavalry came from the east.

No, not just one team, at least one battalion.

The armored cavalry marched in a mighty procession, their tall horses' iron hooves thundering and shaking the long street, like a torrent of steel that gave people a sense of suffocation, yet also brought them peace of mind.