Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 339: Defending and Waiting for the Attack
Wuzhan carried Zhulang on his back, knowing that they were not escaping very quickly. Seeing that Miaoxin and Bixia had not escaped far, he made up his mind and ran towards another direction leading to the cliff.

The shadows of the trees flew backwards, and the demon behind him was chasing him at an incredible speed, smashing the hammer at him from time to time, but he was unable to get rid of it. Soon, Wuzhan's strength decreased, and his whole body was soaked with sweat.

He ran to the top of the cliff and looked down. It was a cliff several hundred feet high. He heard the sound of rushing water. At this time, the wizard led the monsters to catch up from behind. The wizard chuckled and said, "I said, none of you can escape today."

Wuzhan turned around, took a breath and said: "You chose to chase me here, which means that the others can escape safely. You won't catch anyone today." After that, he leaned back and jumped off the cliff.

The wizard didn't expect that Wuzhan would actually dare to jump down. He quickly stepped forward and looked down. Wuzhan's figure had already disappeared into the darkness under the cliff. He tightly grasped the scepter and looked down for a long time. Suddenly he let out a sigh. He did not continue searching downwards, but turned around and rode away on the ferocious bird.

Not long after the wizard left, a hand reached out and grabbed the rock. Wuzhan climbed up with Zhulang on his back. Wuzhan lay on the rock gasping for breath. If he hadn't stabbed the sword into the rock, used the force to grab the rock and hide his body, I'm afraid that both of them, even if they survived, would most likely be seriously injured.

After resting for a while, Wuzhan took out the Taiyi Yuanzhen furnace and covered Zhulang inside it. Soon, the black air on his body was driven away. Zhulang suddenly woke up. After seeing that it was Wuzhan, he calmed down and asked, "Where is the wizard?"

Wuzhan said: "They chased us here and thought we jumped off the cliff and went back."

After hearing this, Zhulang did not ask any more questions. This time he underestimated the wizard's magic and suffered a strong mental shock. If they meet next time, he will never be so careless.

After both of them had recovered most of their strength, they quietly walked down the cliff under the cover of night and followed the mountain road towards Julu City. Along the way, they saw many villages that had been looted by demons. The houses had been burned down and there were no living people in the villages.

Before reaching Julu City, Lingkongzi found Wuzhan halfway and learned that the people in the city had heard of the invasion of monsters and fled whoever they could. Now Julu City was almost a deserted city. The county governor had reported the emergency news of Julu to Xianyang five days ago.

The Taishan disciples have already led the people into the city, but did not find Bixia and Miaoxin. Perhaps they fled in another direction to protect the villagers. However, Wuzhan is not worried about them. With their cultivation level, it will be easy for them to get rid of those monsters.

Sure enough, Lingkongzi found the two of them not far away. It turned out that after they escaped, they discovered several monsters that were capturing villagers and rescued more than ten villagers again.

When Bixia saw Wuzhan again, a rare smile appeared on her face. Mount Tai was relatively close to here, so after receiving the news, she brought her disciples here. They have been running around and fighting continuously these days with almost no rest. They have rescued nearly a hundred people from the hands of demons, and many disciples were seriously injured.

When the sun rose, these people rushed to the city gate, which was closed. The county magistrate Xu Li, the county lieutenant You Ji and several officials were waiting on the city wall. When they saw Bixia Yuanjun and Wuzhan, they hurriedly opened the city gate to welcome them into the city.

Xu Li was nearly fifty years old, with gray hair, while You Ji was in his prime with a sturdy build, a typical military general. Both of them were Qin people, and were sent to garrison Julu. Although they had never seen Wuzhan, they had heard that he had just pacified southern Xinjiang, and especially because of Wuzhan's status in the court, they dared not neglect him in the slightest.

Before reaching the county government office, Wuzhan had basically understood the situation in the city. After Qin unified the six kingdoms, there were less than two hundred soldiers in the city because it was backed by the sea and far away from the Xianbei. They did not train normally and were accustomed to acting in a casual manner. In addition, the city walls had not been repaired for many years and some places had collapsed. If they were to stay here to defend it, they would definitely not be able to do so. This was why most of the people in the city fled.

Jiuyuan is about the same distance from here as Xianyang. It would take at least ten days to travel day and night. Distant water cannot quench nearby thirst. If we wait until then, Julu would probably have been lost long ago.

The nearest Liaodong County has 3,000 troops stationed there. Even if they could rush here, it would take five days. However, because that is the garrison to guard against the Xianbei and Donghu, they cannot be mobilized without your Majesty's tiger talisman. Moreover, once mobilized, it would be easy for the enemy to take advantage of the situation and invade.

Faced with this crisis, Xu Li and others were all extremely anxious and at a loss. They thought it was a blessing in disguise that Wuzhan could come here. They all hoped that Wuzhan could come up with a clever plan to solve the urgent problem. However, they also knew that facing that group of monsters, they had no chance of winning without more than ten times the number of troops.

Arriving at the county government office, Xu Li asked anxiously, "Sir, is there any way to resolve the crisis?"

Wuzhe was silent for a moment, and then said, "What I am worried about is not the group of monsters in front of me. According to my observation, there should be a follow-up army behind them. Their purpose is likely to occupy this land. What I am worried about is how much military force the court will mobilize to deal with this matter."

Everyone turned pale when they heard this. It would be difficult to deal with this group of demons. If there was a larger army behind them, not only Julu, but the entire Qin Dynasty might face a devastating disaster.

Xu Li asked, "Should I send out another emergency notice?"

Wuzhan nodded and said, "Of course we have to send them, and we have to send them continuously, so that Your Majesty will not ignore it. This war is not as simple as before. What we can do now is to delay them as much as possible and wait for the reinforcements from our Great Qin."

Xu Li sighed: "With only the manpower we have now, it would be difficult to hold back those demons!"

Wuzhan asked, "Sir, can you order your men to do two things?"

"Which two?"

"First, order them to gather the fishing nets from the fishermen and call on the people in the city who have not fled to weave the collected nets together."

Xu Li said, "This area is along the coast, with many fishermen. After the monsters invaded, all the nets were abandoned. This is not difficult. Are you collecting these nets to trap the monsters?" He thought that the monsters were ferocious and violent, so how could they be trapped by fishing nets?

Wuzhan said: "Of course we can't trap him, but we only need to trap him for a moment."

Although Xu Li didn't know what the purpose of being trapped for a while would be, he didn't dare to refute due to Wuzhan's prestige, and continued to ask: "Then what is the second thing?"

Wuzhan said: “Gather all the straw in the city, make straw men, cover them with oil-soaked clothes, and place them in various corners of the city, especially in the gaps in the city wall.”

Xu Li was even more confused now. The monster was not afraid of humans, so how could it be intimidated by a straw man? He smiled bitterly and said, "If you want to defend Julu City, shouldn't you hurry up to repair the city wall? Isn't it a bit..." Then he said, "Does the master have any good ideas?"

Wuzhan said: "Sir, do you think it is too late to repair the city wall now? And with the current manpower, how can we defend this short city wall? Since we can't defend it, then we don't need to defend it, but 'wait for the attack'."

Bixia guessed it vaguely and asked, "Sir, do you want to use fire attack?" Wuzhan smiled at Bixia and said, "Yes, fire has been used by our ancestors to drive away demons since ancient times. It is indispensable to deal with these monsters. If they attack, they will definitely choose night. I will set up a false formation to make them think that there are a lot of people in the city."

Xu Li interjected, "If they thought there were a large number of civilians in the city, would they not dare to attack the city?"

"It would be best if we don't attack, but I think that's unlikely because they are currently capturing civilians to build the altar. There is no one in the surrounding villages. If they knew there were so many people in the city, they would definitely be salivating and mobilize all the monsters to attack the city. By then, we only need to put up a little resistance and let them break into the city. Then we can light the straw men on fire. Even if they are ferocious and the whole city is on fire, they can only flee in panic."

Xu Li said: "Although this method is wonderful, the whole city will be destroyed."

Wuzhan said: "If this city doesn't destroy itself, it will be occupied by demons and become their base. We have to protect it. Do we want to leave a complete city for them to guard in the future?"

Xu Li said: "I just feel a little reluctant. Besides, the city is destroyed. Even if I am still alive, I can't escape the responsibility."

"Please rest assured, sir. As long as you listen to my instructions, not only will this crime not fall on you, but it will also be a great achievement."

Bixia asked, "Sir, have you considered the remaining people in the city? If the city catches fire, they will have nowhere to go?"

Wuzhan said: "This is something we must consider. If demons invade, Lord Xu will lead the people to evacuate the city through the gap at the back."

Bixia asked, "Can't we withdraw early?"

Wuzhan shook his head and said, "No, if they know that they are abandoning the city, they will not obey the orders and arrange those two things. We must make them think that we want to live and die with the city. Only in this way can they calm the people's hearts."

Xu Li said: "I'm afraid they will still not obey my orders by then."

"Open the granaries in the city and give them the food. Let them escape with the food. Then someone will listen to your orders."

Xu Li said: "But the food in the city is tribute from the imperial court, so..."

Wuzhan smiled and said, "Your Excellency is really a good official in the court. You are still thinking about the tribute of grain at this time. Do you think that what my Great Qin needs at this time is grain?"

Xu Li said awkwardly, "Okay, it's up to you, sir. I'll go and take care of those two things right away."

……

Xu Li had already arranged accommodation for Wuzhan and others in the backyard of the county government office. After Wuzhan settled down, he ordered Miaoxin to get some medicinal herbs. After Miaoxin came back, she boiled the medicine for an hour according to Wuzhan's instructions, crushed it into ointment, distributed it to the injured Taishan disciples, and applied it to the wounds. Bixia knew that Wuzhan was proficient in medicine, so she also applied the ointment to the wound on her back. Sure enough, the pain stopped immediately. After half an hour, the ointment solidified into a hard lump and was removed. Not only had the wound healed, but there were only shallow scars. It is believed that it will disappear soon. Bixia was very surprised and asked Wuzhan for the prescription. Wuzhan was very willing to tell her the prescription.

Bixia took the opportunity to ask, "I was in such a hurry along the way that I didn't have time to ask you why you came here?"

Wuzhan said: "I was supposed to go to sea with Xu Shi, but I encountered this incident, so I had to go to investigate and met Yuan Jun."

Bixia said: "I have heard about it, sir, why didn't you dissuade the First Emperor? Three thousand children, how is this behavior different from that of the monster?"

Wuzhan said, "How can I stop this? I wanted to go back to Xianyang to negotiate with the Xiandao Academy, but I didn't expect that His Majesty would listen to Xu Shi and not pursue them even if they were guilty. His Majesty is only thinking about immortality now. If someone dissuades him, it would be tantamount to asking for His Majesty's life. How dare the ministers in the court speak out against it?"

Bixia shook her head and said, "I thought that after he gained control of the world, he would benefit the people, but I didn't expect it to turn out like this."

Wuzhan said: "Desire is always difficult to satisfy and can make people confused. Xu Shi grasped this point and was reused by His Majesty. However, I followed Xu Shi to the sea this time to see what he was going to do. If he really deceived His Majesty, it would be the end of Xiandaoyuan. I don't think His Majesty will have much patience."

Bixia said: "I want to ask you a favor. If you have the chance, you must bring those children back."

Wuzhan said: "After defeating these monsters, I will go find them. If possible, I will naturally do my best."

Bixia looked at Wuzhan and said, "They will surely take this opportunity to get rid of you, sir. You should be careful too."

Wuzhan said: "Opportunities and dangers coexist. I will pay attention. We need to deal with the monsters as soon as possible. It is hard to say whether we have the time."

Bixia sighed and said, "I have sent out a request for help to all the sects. If they are willing to defend the righteousness and eliminate the demons for the people of the world, perhaps some time will be saved. However, Yunmeng is no longer here, Linyazi doesn't care about worldly affairs, and my Taishan sect has withdrawn from the alliance. I am afraid that there is little hope."

Wuzhan said: "Even if Taishan doesn't withdraw from the alliance, they won't help. They are used to protecting themselves."

Bixia wanted to say something but stopped herself. She knew Qin Moyao's obsession with Wuzhan. If Wuzhan was willing to ask her for help, perhaps an ally would really come. However, she also knew that Wuzhan would never ask her for help.

After not seeing him for a few days, it felt like a long time. When Bixia returned to her residence, she felt melancholy. She didn't believe in fate, but why did she always meet him in her life? Was this destined? Her heart was pounding like that of a young girl, and she didn't dare to think about it any further.

(End of this chapter)