A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

Wei Zhao watched as the bloodthirsty assassins charged forward, but he didn't retreat an inch with his spear.

The first row of Imperial Guards visibly panicked for a moment.

It's not their fault.

People are afraid of death, so military orders can be used to suppress them, rewards can be used to entice them, and the emperor's personal presence can be used to embolden them.

But these things in front of me no longer seem like normal people.

Despite being shot in the chest with an arrow, he charged forward; despite having his arm severed, he bit the horse's leg with his teeth; despite having his stomach pierced by a spear, he still clung to the spear shaft and crawled forward.

Who wouldn't get a chill down their spine after seeing this?

Wei Zhao was also furious.

It's not that he's never seen a dead person before, nor that he's never killed anyone.

He had seen the Northern Rong cavalry, the Donghu archer cavalry, Lu Song's new army, and the elite Imperial Guards.

But this is the first time I've ever seen a madman who has been driven mad by drugs and evil magic to the point of being unaware of pain and fear.

But this was the first time I'd ever seen it.

It's not that you can't kill them.

Wei Zhao's eyes gradually turned cold.

Even the most sinister things are still made of flesh and blood.

A head will fall off if you cut it off, blood will spurt out if you stab your throat, and you will die if you pierce your heart.

Whether it hurts or not is one thing, whether you die or not is another.

Zhang Yan wanted to use this move to frighten him, to frighten the Imperial Guards, and to frighten all the people who were still watching in front of the Golden City.

It's a beautiful idea.

The more this is the case, the more it proves that the Holy Fire Cult cannot be allowed to remain.

Today Zhang Yan can summon 100,000 elite soldiers with red powder and copper bells; tomorrow he can summon 200,000 or 300,000.

Give him another six months, and the entire Qingzhou, Yuzhou, and Yanzhou will become his medicine furnace.

At that time, the common people will no longer be common people, but bundles of firewood that can move in his hands.

If this fire isn't extinguished, the Central Plains will be doomed.

Wei Zhao suddenly raised his spear, the tip pointing at the group of red-eyed assassins rushing towards him.

"What are you afraid of?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it quelled the panic among the Imperial Guards in the front row.

"They don't feel pain, but they're not unaware of death!"

Some of the Imperial Guards looked up.

Wei Zhao spurred his horse, his white robes stained with blood, and thrust his spear forward, the tip piercing directly into the forehead of the foremost red-eyed assassin.

The assassin's mouth was still open, and he was making muffled roars. He was still gripping the gun barrel with both hands and trying to crawl forward.

Wei Zhao twisted his wrist.

The spear tip shattered the skull, and the assassin froze, then crashed to the ground with a thud.

It stopped moving.

Wei Zhao drew his gun, and blood and white foam flew out along the spearhead.

"See that?"

He sneered.

"Even with his head shattered, he still died."

This one sentence is more effective than ten manifestos.

The Imperial Guards in the front row, whose faces had turned pale, were pulled back to normal by those words.

Yes.

will die.

As long as death is imminent, killing is permissible.

"Protect the Emperor!"

A captain of the Imperial Guard suddenly raised his sword, shouting himself hoarse.

"Spear forward! Pierce the head! Pierce the throat! Pierce the heart!"

"Don't cut off the arm! Cut off the head!"

"His Majesty said they will die!"

The military order spread like wildfire.

The Imperial Guards regained their footing.

The spears emerged from the gaps in the shields, no longer thrusting randomly, no longer frightened by the appearance of those madmen rushing towards them and retreating.

The first row of shield bearers gritted their teeth and held on, the second row of spearmen aimed their spears at the throats and faces, and the third row of crossbowmen raised their arms and fired crossbow bolts into the heads and faces of the red-eyed assassins at close range.

One body after another crashed into the shield.

One of the assassins had three arrows stuck in his chest and was banging his head against a shield.

The shield bearer's hand was split open from the impact, and he cursed as a spear thrust out from the side, its tip piercing the man's temple.

The person collapsed.

He never got up again.

The Imperial Guards finally understood.

Evil magic is terrifying.

What's scary is not understanding it.

Once you understand it, it's not that complicated.

Liu Jingshuang also saw this scene from ahead.

She had just cut off a small black and red flag, and the warhorse's chest was already stained with blood.

Several red-eyed assassins clung to the horse's legs and climbed up. Knives slashed at their backs, but they seemed oblivious and continued to push forward.

One of the cavalrymen was dragged so much that his horse nearly tipped over.

Liu Jingshuang's eyes were frighteningly cold.

With a single stroke, she severed his hand first, then his neck.

The head rolled away, and the body that was still clinging to the horse's leg finally loosened its grip.

Liu Jingshuang understood.

It's not that they're immortal.

They just died slower and in a more gruesome way.

This is enough.

What she feared was never the difficulty of the fight.

The Wei family army emerged from piles of corpses in the northern border; which battle was easy for them?

What she feared was that the soldiers would believe Zhang Yan's nonsense first.

If the soldiers believe that the Holy Fire Cult truly possesses divine magic, then there's no need to fight this battle.

But Wei Zhao just smashed the head of a suicide soldier with his own hands.

The emperor stood at the very front, telling everyone that beneath the divine skin lay rotten flesh.

Then let's fight.

We'll beat them until they can no longer pretend to be gods.

"Cavalleria, heed my command!"

Liu Jingshuang raised her long sword, and the blood on the blade was flicked into a thin line.

"Don't cut off the hands! Don't cut off the legs! Behead! Slit the throat! Smash the altar banner!"

The cavalry behind them roared in unison.

"kill!"

The vanguard of 50,000 cavalrymen pushed forward again.

The red-eyed assassins attacked fiercely and bit hard, but they had no formation.

They feel no pain, no fear, yet they know neither when to advance nor when to retreat, nor how to cooperate.

Zhang Yan drove them to madness, which was tantamount to turning them into a bunch of meat piles that only knew how to charge forward.

This is exactly what Liu Jingshuang wants.

She feared the enemy's orderly formation most.

We are not afraid of the enemy's madness.

A madman will pounce on people, but he won't cover for them.

A madman will bite a horse's leg, but he won't protect its flanks.

Madmen will risk their lives, but once someone in front is cut down, those behind will step on them and charge forward, making things more and more chaotic.

Liu Jingshuang spotted the location of the small black and red flags at a glance.

That's where the death warrant is located.

"Left Wing, Third Battalion, follow me!"

She suddenly reined in her horse, and the cavalry vanguard was as if pressed down by the back of a knife, veering halfway to avoid the densest group of assassins and heading straight for those few small black and red flags.

Some members of the Holy Fire Cult's central army were getting anxious.

"Stop her!"

"The Command Flag to Protect the Dead!"

"The sacred flame will never be extinguished! Retreat is not permitted!"

As soon as the shout began, a long arrow flew from behind the cavalry and pierced the mouth of the shouters.

Liu Jingshuang didn't even look at it.

She had already fought her way to the first small black and red flag.

The flag bearer, his eyes bloodshot, clung to the flagpole, shouting, "My wise teacher has granted me the protection of the sacred fire!"

Liu Jingshuang's knife fell.

The flagpole broke.

The person is also gone.

The small black and red flag was trampled into the mud by the horse's hooves.

The red-eyed assassins around them were noticeably a beat slower in their movements.

very short.

It was so short that ordinary soldiers might not even notice it.

But Liu Jingshuang could tell.

Her eyes sharpened.

really.

Flags and bells are what control these lunatics.

"Cut the flag!"

Liu Jingshuang said sternly.

"Cut down all the black and red flags!"

On the other side, Huo Qingluan stood in front of the heavily armored army, her gaze fixed on the center line of the battlefield.

She didn't rush to the front like Liu Jingshuang.

She had no knife in her hand, only battle flags.

The wind is still blowing.

Dark clouds still loomed over the Holy Fire Cult's central army.

The warhorses were startled, dust swirled, and the sound of the drums was drowned out by the wind several times.

The shouts from the Holy Fire Cult grew louder and louder, claiming that the sage teacher had manifested his divine power, that the holy fire had entered the body, and that the new martial arts would surely perish—it was as if they wanted to fill people's ears.

Huo Qingluan's face remained expressionless, but her fingers pressed tightly against the array diagram.

Zhang Yan's move was indeed impressive.

She admitted it.

Whether it's summoning wind and clouds, using poisoned assassins, or issuing orders with copper bells and flags, these are not methods that ordinary rebels could possess.

If a different leader saw this, they might have already begun to hesitate about whether to call it quits.

But Wei Zhao did not.

The person in white is still moving forward from the center line.

Then you can't return it.

She knew better than anyone that this battle was not just a matter for Golden City alone.

If the Holy Fire Cult can force the new Martial Emperor to retreat here, Zhang Yan's divine name will spread throughout the world.

At that time, it won't just be Qingzhou, Yuzhou, and Yanzhou.

All hungry people would think: Look, even Emperor Xinwu is afraid of the wise teacher.

That's when it's over.

Therefore, we must win this battle.