Legendary Son-in-Law: The Man with Poison Talismans

Tieshan paused for a moment, glanced at Huo Lie, moved his lips, and finally withdrew the Staff of Judgment, stepping back half a step to make way for a narrow passage.

The crowd at the top of the steps was momentarily stunned, as if they hadn't expected Huo Lie to say that. Some people who had already stepped out pulled back their feet, while others stood on the ground looking at each other, unsure whether to leave or stay.

After saying that, Huo Lie didn't linger. He turned and walked into the city gate, as if he really didn't care whether those people left or stayed.

As he passed Zhang Dao, he paused slightly, and his gaze briefly met Zhang Dao's.

Zhang Dao understood, took half a step forward, cleared his throat, and continued, "As you all know, Bichon has just experienced a great calamity and is severely weakened. These 20,000 Golden Guards may be the last fighting force Bichon can muster. After this battle, it's hard to say whether the continent of Marfa will belong to the Gu or the Huo family."

He paused, his gaze slowly sweeping over the hesitant faces before him, his tone unhurried, "If you leave now, you will be siding with the imperial court. But if Shabak wins this battle, you will all have rendered meritorious service in supporting the emperor."

After he finished speaking, he returned to his original position and did not say anything more, leaving enough time for his words to slowly ferment among the crowd.

The city wall was quiet for a moment. Among the crowd that had loosened up, some people gripped their weapons again, some moved two steps up the steps, and the few who had just stood up against the tide fell back to the Huo family's side.

Jiang Hetang immediately stepped forward and loudly echoed, "A meritorious service in following the emperor! A meritorious service in following the emperor! My Jiang family is willing to follow Lord Huo for generations, with no disloyalty whatsoever!"

Jiang Yanzhou, who was behind him, quickly nodded in agreement and shouted even louder than him.

Their entire family had long since betrayed Bich and defected to Shabak, a fact known throughout the entire alliance. Now, they had no way out.

If the imperial court wins, they will be considered traitors; if the Huo family wins, they can still retain their wealth and status.

They had no choice but to place this bet, nor dared they not.

In an instant, the entire Shabak community seemed to be united as one again by these words.

The crowd that had been shouting to retreat looked at each other in bewilderment. Some had already reached the top of the steps, but were pulled back by those words and stood there, caught in a dilemma, their faces turning pale and then red.

The atmosphere on the city wall shifted from tense to eerily tense, as if someone had poured oil into a dying ember, causing the flames to reignite.

Iron Mountain, to everyone's surprise, did not stop them any longer and stepped aside, saying, "Since the city lord has spoken, I, Iron Mountain, will not make things difficult for you. Those who wish to leave, may leave now."

As he spoke, he took out an incense stick from his pocket, lit it on a nearby torch, and stuck it into a crack in the city wall. Wisps of smoke rose into the air. "The time it takes for an incense stick to burn. After that, when the incense goes out, if you try to leave, don't blame me, Tieshan, for turning my back on you."

After he finished speaking, he took a step back, leaned against the crenellations of the city wall, crossed his arms, and watched the incense stick that was slowly burning, without saying another word.

Even so, quite a few people still chose to leave.

The incense stick had burned less than a third of its length when the city gate was pushed open a crack from the inside, and people filed out one after another.

The people walking in front held up white cloth strips, which were particularly eye-catching, as if they were afraid that the Imperial Guards outside the city would accidentally hurt them.

As they walked out, they shouted down towards the city walls, "Don't attack! We're not from Shabak!!"

More and more people came. At first, they were just scattered, but later they gradually became small groups with families. Some people carried bags, some carried children, and some helped the elderly.

Everyone wore expressions of tension and schadenfreude as they hurried toward the front of the Golden Guard formation.

Gu Qingyi glanced at it from her horse, but didn't say much. She simply raised her hand, signaling a small squad of Imperial Guards beside her to come forward and provide support.

The group rode forward and blocked those waving white flags. Their voices were neither too loud nor too soft, but clear enough: "Halt! Under inspection! Those who voluntarily leave the city will have their equipment and storage bags temporarily confiscated, which will be returned after the siege ends."

A low commotion immediately arose in the crowd. Some people clutched their Qiankun bags tightly, as if reluctant to hand them over; others glanced down at the children in their arms, then looked up at the Imperial Guards, and finally obediently handed over their belongings.

Chapter 326 Huo Tang Pleads for Mercy

As an elderly man with gray hair took off his storage bag and handed it to the Imperial Guard, he muttered, "This contains all my belongings..."

The Imperial Guard who received the items did not respond, but simply took a step back and had them led to an open area behind the formation, where they were placed under guard.

Although some murmured and some complained, no one spoke out or tried to resist. They knew in their hearts that it was already lucky to have survived Shabak, and handing over a few pieces of equipment was better than following Huo Lie as a rebel.

Those who were taken to the rear of the battle line squatted on the ground. Some rested against their bundles, some whispered to soothe their crying children, and some looked back at the now-closed city gate of Shabak. Their expressions were hard to tell whether they were relieved or something else, but no one wanted to go back.

Among the people leaving the city, there was a petite figure wrapped in a large black robe, walking forward with her head down, but she suddenly stopped when she reached the receiving point.

She lifted the hood of her black robe, revealing her delicate face. Her voice wasn't loud, but her tone was forceful: "I want to see Lin Mu! I want to see the princess! Get out of my way!"

The Imperial Guards were taken aback by the sudden commotion, but they still stopped her according to the rules and sent someone to report to the front lines.

Before long, Lin Mu and Gu Qingyi rode their horses to the reception area. When they saw the figure standing at the front of the crowd, wearing an ill-fitting black robe, they were both taken aback.

It's Huo Tang.

When Huo Tang saw Gu Qingyi and Lin Mu approaching, it was as if she had finally found someone to talk to. She immediately rushed forward, her voice trembling with tears, urgent and pleading: "Sister Gu, please don't attack the city! My father... he was just blinded by power, he's not a bad person! Please, for the sake of our past relationship, let him go!"

As she spoke, she turned to Lin Mu, "Brother Lin, please help me persuade Sister Gu. You know best what kind of person my father is. He wasn't like this before... He just made the wrong choice..."

Her words poured out one after another, as if she had prepared them in advance. Now, she poured them all out in one breath, her eyes were already red, and tears were welling up in her eyes, but she held them back from falling.

Gu Qingyi, riding on her horse, looked down at Huo Tang's pleading face and remained silent for a moment.

She knew that Huo Tang had played a part in Lin Mu saving her back then. Without her help, Lin Mu wouldn't have had such a smooth journey, and she might not be where she is today.

Seeing Huo Tang's pleading expression, she felt a pang of sympathy.

But the siege had already begun, the sacrificial fire had been lit, and the proclamation had been read aloud in public. Stopping now was not a matter of whether she wanted to or not, but a matter of morale, fighting spirit, and the trust of the 20,000 Golden Guards.

She finally let out a soft breath, her tone not cold, but leaving no room for negotiation: "Take her away, keep a close watch on her, and don't make things difficult for her."

The Imperial Guards stepped forward, helped Huo Tang up, and led him to the back of the formation.

Huo Tang was pulled back two steps, and turned back to shout a few words in the direction of Gu Qingyi and Lin Mu. His voice was partially scattered by the wind, and only the last few words could be barely heard: "...He's really not a bad person...he's just..."

Her next words were carried away by the wind and did not reach Gu Qingyi's ears.

Seeing the city gates close again, Gu Qingyi didn't hesitate any longer. She raised her hand and swung it forward sharply: "Attack the city!"

The bugle call followed immediately, deep and resonant, like a gust of wind pushed out from the depths of the Gobi Desert, pouring into the city gate and causing the recently closed doors to tremble slightly.

Lin Muqi watched from his horse as the Imperial Guards began to advance in formation, and he understood perfectly well what was going on.

Gu Qingyi was determined to get her revenge.

No matter how incompetent Gu Changfeng may be, it was Huo Lie who ultimately drove all of this.

From the covert planning of yesteryear to the open confrontation of today, there's no turning back now.

He withdrew his gaze and looked at the Golden Guard formation surging forward in front of him.

The advance of the Golden Guard was more intense than Lin Mu had anticipated.

The soldiers charged ahead with ladders, drinking healing potions and braving the fire walls and ice roars falling from the city walls. They propped the ladders against the walls, and some climbed up to two-thirds of the way before leaping up and jumping onto the crenellations to tumble inside the city walls.

Some soldiers even charged into the city through the breach in the city wall.

The defenders on the city wall laid down a dense and urgent wall of fire, trying to seal off the area at the base of the ladders. The Imperial Guards charged up the wall of fire, their health bars dropping rapidly, but no one retreated.

The mages below the city also raised their magic shields to withstand the attacks and began to unleash spells on the city walls. Fire spells, lightning, and ice roars landed alternately on the crenellations, forcing the defenders who were throwing spells down to duck and dodge.

The Taoists weren't idle either; they poured out wave after wave of poisonous mist, and layers of white light from the group healing spell were applied to the warriors charging in front, forcefully pulling their health back from almost zero.

Even a few mythical beasts were summoned to the city walls. Their orange-red figures rampaged through the crenellations, their high attack and health making them far more ferocious than ordinary warriors.

You know what, this offensive actually put the Shabak defenders in a rather sorry state.

The Imperial Guard was, after all, the regular army of the imperial court. Its equipment, coordination, and execution were on a completely different level from the hastily assembled garrison in Shabak.

At first, the defenders on the city wall were able to hold their ground by relying on the fire wall and the terrain, but as the Imperial Guards surged forward more and more fiercely, the line began to loosen. Some people began to retreat, and some had their weapons knocked out of their hands, tumbling and crawling back behind the crenellations.

Are the Imperial Guards not afraid of death? Yes, who isn't?

But these people all have their own accounts in mind, and they know exactly what they're doing.

Military orders are absolute; retreating means certain death. It's a red line that no one dares to cross.

More importantly, they had witnessed firsthand how much their meritorious colleagues had benefited after the Battle of Beach.

Some were promoted directly from ordinary guards to centurions, some received fertile land and mansions, and some obtained spirit-gathering pearls, breaking through bottlenecks and rapidly increasing their cultivation levels.

Those vivid examples are right there, like bright lamps, visible and tangible.

If you take this chance, you might be able to overcome that hurdle; but if you cower in the back, you'll forever be a soldier guarding the city, and no one will even remember your name.

As I charged forward, I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists, and had only one thought in my mind: to give it my all. Then my feet moved without hesitation.

All that could be heard from the battlefield was the sound of random teleportation scrolls being crushed.

But among those voices, few belonged to the Jinwu Guard, and many belonged to the Shabak garrison.

White light flashed across the city walls, some people flew away, and others landed on the inner side of the city walls only to be pulled back to the battlefield.

Chapter 327 Siege, Jiang Yanzhou

The fire on the city wall scorched their robes, and the falling stones dented their shoulder armor. But ladders were still being erected one after another on the wall. The sound of boots stepping on the wooden ladders was urgent and rapid, like a surging tide that made it hard for the people on the city wall to breathe.

Someone was hit by a spell halfway up and fell from the height into the crowd with a muffled thud before going silent. But the people behind them continued to climb up the gap, and no one stopped to see how badly the fall was. Those who stopped would fall behind and be stepped on by the people behind them, who would steal the credit.

Lin Mu watched as Shabak was in complete chaos ahead, with fire walls and lightning crisscrossing the city walls and shouts of battle mingling together.

He didn't just stand there at the back; he wasn't here to watch the show. He dismounted and blended into the ranks of the Imperial Guards.

Gu Qingyi remained seated in the central command post, not advancing forward, but simply watching the movements on the city wall from afar, occasionally raising her hand to give a few instructions to the messenger.

When she saw Lin Mu dismount and walk forward, she didn't stop him, but simply told him, "Be careful."

Lin Mu turned back and nodded at her, then turned and merged into the surging queue without saying anything more.

Chunxing and the others had already gone up.

Lin Mu could see Chunxing in her unassuming demon robe casting spells from afar beneath the city wall.

Lin Mu knew she was wearing a protective ring and her Qiankun bag was full of random teleportation scrolls. If she couldn't win, she could just run away. She had prepared everything to protect herself, so there was nothing to worry about.

Qin Yumo and Cailing also followed Chunxing nearby, protecting her. Occasionally, a skill could be seen flying out of their hands, accurately landing on a guard who was casting a spell, interrupting the opponent's casting rhythm by half a beat.

Lin Mu withdrew his gaze, and after merging with his body, he instantly landed on the section of the city wall where the guards were most concentrated.

Without hesitation, Lin Mu clasped his hands together in front of him the instant he regained his footing, and a ki blast followed immediately.

Suddenly, a layer of extremely dense air burst out around his body, like an invisible wall, violently pushing outwards from him.

The guards who had just been wielding swords and casting spells were hit head-on by this shockwave. It was as if they had been pushed by an invisible hand. Their feet left the ground, and they were thrown backward uncontrollably, crashing into the battlements behind them and their comrades, making a series of dull thuds.

Some people fell to the ground and rolled twice before stopping, their weapons slipping from their hands; others were pushed by the blast wave and crashed into the city wall, their chests tightening, and they knelt on the ground, panting heavily.

Lin Mu stood in the center of the temporarily cleared area, steadied himself, and without glancing at the people who were getting up, his gaze was already fixed on the direction of the steps inside the city wall, and he took a step forward.

His appearance was like a stone thrown into water, briefly disrupting the defenses on the city wall, but the Imperial Guards clearly wouldn't miss this opportunity.

Taking advantage of the brief opening in the breach, more people scaled the city wall using ladders, and the shouts of battle grew louder and louder at the breach.

However, the defenders on the city wall quickly realized what was happening.