I became a fox girl and was captured by the True Dragon Saint

The sand table gradually expanded, and soon Jiang Ke'er and Pei Min were inside it. Until a certain moment, all the scenery suddenly stopped and returned to normal speed.

Jiang Keer raised her eyes and saw that she was already in a city with a strong ancient style.

Soldiers with bloodstained armor hurriedly ran through the streets. The sound of artillery fire came from the city walls, and from time to time, large pieces of stone fell from the city walls that could kill people.

"Fire the arrow——"

Following a loud shout from the Yamen general, the sound of bows and crossbows being released from their strings rang out one after another.

But not long after, more arrows came in from outside the city wall and fell like raindrops.

Jiang Ke'er hurriedly pulled Pei Min and hid behind the wall, pressing her body tightly against it.

"My cultivation has been sealed." Pei Min's face was solemn.

After his cultivation was sealed, these ordinary arrows also became deadly and became very difficult to deal with.

"Hurry and take a look at our mission."

Pei Min poked the mark on his wrist, and immediately some words appeared in front of him.

Jiang Keer did the same.

[Your identity is: Drummer]

Before coming in, Jiang Ke'er was still thinking about what the role of drummer meant. Only after seeing the scene here did she remember the job title of drummer.

On the battlefield, when two armies are fighting, there will be soldiers who are specifically responsible for beating the drums. Their position is called the drummer.

In ancient battlefields, communication was very difficult, so the only way to convey orders to soldiers was through the sounds of drums, gongs, and flags.

Beat the drum to march forward, sound the horn to retreat...therefore, the existence of the drummer is of great significance in this primitive battlefield.

Whether the soldiers were arranging their troops or charging into battle, they had to rely on the drummer's drum beats to get information.

After confirming her identity, Jiang Keer continued to look at the mission.

[Current stage mission objective: Defeat the Qinglong Army.]

Jiang Keer noticed that the flags planted around the city walls had red bird patterns on them, which was the Vermillion Bird, one of the Four Sacred Beasts.

It seems that this is a confrontation between the armies of the four sacred beasts. The one attacking the city now is the Azure Dragon Army, while he belongs to the Suzaku camp.

Jiang Ke'er understood it in her heart, but she did nothing. Instead, she looked at her apprentice with a smile: "Pei Min, what do you think?"

Pei Min pondered for a moment and said, "Everyone's cultivation has been sealed. In such a large-scale fight, the power of an individual is obviously very small. So if we want to defeat the Azure Dragon Army, we have to rely on the strength of our camp."

"Well, then what?"

"I just observed and found that these soldiers are all wearing Taoist robes under their armor. They are obviously cultivators who have entered the secret realm just like us." Pei Min glanced at Jiang Ke'er with resentment. "It's just that we stayed in the preparation space for too long due to some 'unnecessary' reasons... Others have already started their mission, and we just came in."

"Why are you two standing here like idiots? Where's your armor?"

A sergeant ran over, looked at Jiang Ke'er and Pei Min with a frown, then suddenly remembered their identities.

"It's you?!" he exclaimed, "Hurry up! It's the bastards from the Qinglian Sword Sect!"

The nearby soldiers suddenly turned around, decisively drew their spears and swords and surrounded them.

However, Jiang Ke'er and Pei Min were unarmed and only wore the simple Qinglian Sword Sect's standard robes.

At this pace...is he going to die as soon as he lands on the ground?

Seeing that the knife was about to hit her neck, Jiang Ke'er remained silent, as if she was ready and was relying on her apprentice to carry her.

Pei Min was anxious and said quickly: "You can't kill us! Our identities are drummers!"

Just at this moment, a rain of arrows fell from the sky, and they hurriedly left the two behind and hid.

At the same time, the sound of drums on the city wall suddenly weakened.

A drummer was hung up.

All the monks have their own positions, but including Jiang Keer and Pei Min, there are only four drummers in total, and one of them is dead now.

"You all know the importance of positions. Although someone else can play the drums, they can't trigger the benefits of their position," Pei Min said. "The benefits a drummer can create are very limited. As a result, our army's combat effectiveness is more than one level lower than that of the enemy... I'm afraid we can only watch the city fall in the end."

I understand the truth, but I really want to chop you up.

The sergeant gritted his teeth and said, "That's right. Hurry up and beat the drums. Don't play any tricks!"

"Don't worry!" Pei Min finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Ke'er spoke at this time: "Are there any more armor?"

"No more. Supplies are very scarce." said the sergeant.

"Can't we take off the dead soldiers' armor?" Jiang Ke'er asked.

"No, when they died, their armor disappeared along with their bodies." The sergeant replied, glancing at Jiang Ke'er impatiently, "Why do you two drummers need armor?"

"But the guy playing the drums just now was shot dead." Jiang Ke'er said in a cold voice.

"That's his own problem. There's a shelter next to the drum. As long as he doesn't commit suicide, he won't die. You don't have to worry about it... Go quickly!"

(1/2)

73. Lu Family

Jiang Keer and Pei Min climbed up the city wall.

The sergeant was right, there was a shelter next to the big drum.

Just to increase the sound diffusion range, these shelters are very narrow, making it difficult to move, and if you are not careful you will be exposed and hit by arrows.

If you are injured, you naturally cannot play the drums.

Fortunately, the commander of the Suzaku Army was not stupid enough to underestimate the drummer. He knew that the drummer was a crucial link in winning the victory.

Soon, soldiers came over with shields raised, blocking the space on both sides of the big drum to protect Jiang Keer and Pei Min.

"We can't have any more drum majors sacrificed," the soldier said with a smile, "if any more drum majors die, we really won't be able to fight."

There are both sect cultivators and independent cultivators in the Suzaku Army. This soldier is an independent cultivator, so he has no hostility towards the "Green Lotus Sword Sect".

The independent cultivators had long been fed up with the large sects' resistance to the imperial examinations, but they dared not speak out.

The imperial examination is the only way for independent cultivators to break away from the grassroots class and gain the right to survive, especially today when the big sects monopolize everything. The strong become stronger and the weak become weaker, and the independent cultivators are suffering.

And the reason why they became independent cultivators was not their own choice.

Some of them offended the big sects and were labeled as "pariahs" or "traitors", causing all the sects to close their doors to them forever. Some were idealists who did not want to be inferior to others and wanted to accumulate some funds to find an opportunity to establish their own territory and become the exploiting class.

However, there are more grassroots cultivators who lack talent and financial resources. They entered the cultivator world due to some coincidences, but were looked down upon by the sects because they had no money and no talent. However, they were unwilling to give up their cultivation, so they became casual cultivators.

They took this Bijiu Trial very seriously, because the test mode of this Bijiu Trial was like winning the lottery for them.

You can be in the same camp with the disciples and elders of the big sects without having to fight against each other to grab those limited resources. The secret realm even helps to seal your cultivation, so you can only fight with physical strength... This is simply the most friendly secret realm for independent cultivators in my life.

"Get ready to knock."

Knowing that they and everyone in the Suzaku Army shared common interests and goals, Jiang Keer and Pei Min had no reason to go against the people around them and decided to play their own roles first.

"The general has ordered, knock once hard and three times lightly!" the messenger came running over and said.

It seemed that before he arrived, these monks had already discussed the commands represented by different drum beats.

As the drums beat in accordance with the command, the soldiers on the city wall quickly used various means to defend the city.

Hot oil sizzled as it poured onto the faces of the attacking soldiers. Rolling logs smashed the monks who had not yet landed onto the ladders, knocking them off the ladders and turning them into a puddle of mud. It was a horrific scene.

Under the city wall, the Qinglong Army's offensive was completely defeated, so they had to call it a halt to minimize losses and wait until they could regroup before attacking again.

Hold on for now.

This hard-fought victory made the soldiers on the city wall cheer excitedly. They were like ordinary people, without any sense of transcendence and indifference from those who did not eat grains.

But at the same time, Jiang Keer noticed a quarrel coming from the city wall.

"Why not give chase?"

"Don't chase poor bandits."

"How can we complete the mission without chasing?"

The big drum is very close to the general, so that the superiors can pass on the order through the drummer as soon as possible after issuing the order.

But at the same time, Jiang Ke'er could also directly hear the quarrels coming from the decision-making level of the Suzaku Army.

There is only one general, but there is more than one person responsible for decision-making.

The deputy general was an old man with a beard down to his chest, and he had a very Taoist and immortal demeanor.

As soon as Jiang Ke'er saw his shiny, soft and flowing long beard, she knew that he must be a high-ranking member of a large sect... An independent cultivator would not have the leisure to grow such a long beard. It would be inconvenient to fight with a long beard, and it would cost a lot to maintain it. Only rich people could afford it.

Although the old man was a deputy general, he was more imposing than the young general. He took a step forward and said calmly, "Don't chase after desperate enemies. There is no need to chase them. Our army relies on the advantages of the city and terrain to consume the enemy's manpower at the lowest cost... Why bother chasing them and fighting to the death with them?"

"Senior Xing," the general bowed slightly, his brow veins twitching, "If we don't seize the opportunity to attack, what should we do if the enemy adopts a strategy of encircling but not attacking?

Although there are some defensive equipment in the city, there is not much food and grass. We have no cultivation now, so we can only rely on food and grass to survive, but the food and grass in the city can only last for seven days. After seven days, the soldiers will not have enough food, and their combat effectiveness will be reduced by half.

If the other party has patience, they can delay longer, or even use their advantage of flexibility to wear us down!"

"Aren't there still seven days left?" The old deputy general stroked his long beard. "We should obviously make good use of these seven days, let the other side take the initiative to attack, and wear down their strength."

"They are not stupid." The general said with a headache, "After suffering two losses, they will definitely not volunteer to die again. And when they realize our situation, they will be on guard against pursuit. By then, it will be difficult for them to take the initiative to attack again."

"So what? They will never be able to take over this city," the old deputy general said confidently, "Besides, don't think we only have seven days of food and fodder..."

As he spoke, he narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at the soldiers imperceptibly.

His gaze was as if he was checking the livestock in his own cage, so skilled and calm.

The general shuddered: "How can that be..."

"It's ridiculous. From the day you embarked on the path of cultivation, you have been eating people, you just didn't put them into your mouth." The deputy general sneered, "Where do you think your Seven Lights cultivation came from? It was snatched from the bodies of weaker people. It is their corpses that have built our present! Can you not even see through such a simple question?"

The general was silent.

He knew this truth, but as a casual cultivator, he was always the one being eaten when he was outside.

He was used to thinking from the perspective of the person being eaten.

"Don't think too much. After you get out, you can choose any sect under the name of my Lu family. You can go in and become an elder. That will be your chance to make great achievements." The old deputy general showed a kind smile and patted the general on the shoulder. "I think you are a talented person. I hope you can seize the opportunity."

The young general gritted his teeth but did not shake off the old man's hand.

He still believed that he should take the initiative to attack as soon as possible, take advantage of the enemy's morale collapse, cut down the enemy's general flag in one wave, and complete the mission completely.

The benefits of continuing to delay far outweigh the risks.

But although he got the position of general, he could not directly order the soldiers to act, because... from the deputy general to the small soldiers, more than 80% of them were from sects, and they were all connected to each other, all operating around a few old men. He had long been sidelined and became a commander without troops.

It's no use for him to have any more ideas.

Moreover, what the other party said seemed to make sense.

The young general lowered his head slightly, but the old deputy general's gaze passed over his shoulder and gently drifted to the distance, under the flag of the Qinglong Army.

He withdrew his gaze imperceptibly and cast it on the general with contempt.

What a joke! How could you beasts possibly understand the considerations of my Lu family?

(2/2)

74. Casual Cultivator

Jiang Ke'er only glanced at the general and the deputy general with the corner of her eye, then looked away, with a nonchalant expression on her face, as if she had not heard the quarrel coming from the decision-makers.

If you want to avoid trouble, you have to learn to play dumb.

"Tell everyone to rest. Why stand on the city wall? It's so tiring," the old deputy general said slowly. "They won't counterattack for now. We should defend according to the original plan and be on standby until they fall into our trap... Those drummers, you should also rest. You've worked hard."

The old deputy general recognized the identities of "Shui Ye" and Pei Min, but showed no hostility and just gave orders in a friendly manner.

In his eyes, "Shui Ye" and Pei Min were not worthy of being treated differently by him... Countless people had expressed hostility towards the sect and even caused greater losses than what they had done.

But after so many years, these big sects are still standing strong on the land, while those independent cultivators who tried to cause trouble have not even left their ashes.

Therefore, the young monks in the sect may be angry at the bad apples like "Shui Ye" and Pei Min, but the knowledgeable old people will only worry about the policies and the lack of successors in the family.

These independent cultivators only want benefits, and they can be easily dealt with by giving them some sweet treats to appease them.

"Pei Min, let's go and take a rest," Jiang Ke'er stretched out her waist heartlessly, grabbed Pei Min's clothes around his waist, and pressed down on his soft flesh to make him unable to make a sound.