Chapter 75: The City Walls and a Desperate Plea

Jia Qinglian lay sprawled on the ground, his corpulent body trembling like a sieve. His dishevelled concubines, their faces pale with terror, huddled in a corner, shivering uncontrollably. The messenger remained kneeling, his face etched with despair. Only Lu Hongzhuang, after the initial shock, gripped the sword in her hand tightly.

“Push me to the city walls!” Su Qinghan’s voice rang out once more, each word resonating with authority.

Lu Hongzhuang froze, instinctively looking at the woman in the wheelchair.

‘The city walls?’

‘What kind of place was that?’

It was a meat grinder, destined to be engulfed by a tide of demons and a sea of humanity!

“I apologize,” Lu Hongzhuang refused without a moment’s hesitation. “You cannot go.”

She strode to Su Qinghan’s back, grasped the handles of the wheelchair, and without a glance at Jia Qinglian, who lay limp as mud on the ground, she turned and rushed out.

“Wait for me safely at Master Qian’s Manor!”

The wheelchair spun rapidly, its wooden wheels rolling over the smooth tiles with a hasty rumble.

“Lu Hongzhuang!” Su Qinghan clutched the armrest, the powerful push forcing her body back. “This is not the time to play the hero! Do not mistake my wheelchair for weakness; I possess the power to fight!”

“You do not!” Lu Hongzhuang’s reply was unequivocal, her speed not diminishing in the slightest.

She pushed the wheelchair out of the Magistrate’s Manor gates, where the streets were already filled with wails of despair.

Panicked citizens, like headless flies, stumbled chaotically, trying to flee to their homes. Cries, screams, and the urgent tolling of bells blended into a tragic symphony of impending doom.

“I am strong!” Lu Hongzhuang’s voice carried through the howling night wind, imbued with an undeniable arrogance. “You just stay put and await my triumphant return!”

Just then, a white figure, struggling against the surging crowd, stumbled towards them.

“Senior Sister Lu!”

It was Junior Sister Yun, her face etched with anxiety, her temple strands damp with sweat, clinging tightly to her skin.

“Senior Sister Lu! I heard the warning bells! Are the demons truly—”

“I already know!” Lu Hongzhuang cut her off, her feet never pausing.

Junior Sister Yun’s gaze fell upon Su Qinghan in the wheelchair, and she immediately understood.

“I will push Miss Su back to Master Qian’s Manor!” She declared decisively, stepping forward. “Senior Sister, you must hasten to the front lines! The East City Wall is under the most immense pressure!”

Lu Hongzhuang’s steps finally halted.

She looked at Junior Sister Yun’s resolute face, then at Su Qinghan, whose expression remained stern in the wheelchair.

Su Qinghan understood that she could no longer dissuade this woman.

She also knew that Lu Hongzhuang was right.

With her current body, going to the city walls would only prove to be a burden.

“Wait.”

Su Qinghan spoke, her voice no longer cold, but tinged with a hint of hoarseness.

From her sleeve, she produced a delicate string of silver bells and tossed them to Lu Hongzhuang.

There were only three bells, each intricately carved with runes, glowing with a faint, clear luminescence in the night.

“These are magical artifacts, Heart-Guarding Bells.”

“Return alive, and give them back to me.”

Lu Hongzhuang gazed at the string of bells, then at Su Qinghan’s emotionless eyes, a strange tremor passing through her heart.

Without further questions, she reached out, took them, and tied them decisively to her waist.

A crisp jingle sounded softly with her movements.

“I will handle everything.”

Lu Hongzhuang uttered these four words, then turned away without a backward glance.

Her crimson figure transformed into a flash of lightning, disappearing around the chaotic street corner in a few bounds, leaving behind only the increasingly distant, crisp chime of bells.

Junior Sister Yun took a deep breath, stepped behind the wheelchair, and firmly grasped the handles.

“Miss Su, let us return.”

Pushing Su Qinghan, she painstakingly carved a path through the tumultuous crowd, returning to Master Qian’s Manor.

Upon entering the manor gates, Junior Sister Yun entrusted Su Qinghan to the maid who rushed to greet them.

“Take good care of Miss Su!”

She drew the longsword from her back, its blade gleaming like water.

“I am going to support Senior Sister!”

Before her words had faded, she had already turned, her white robes fluttering, and plunged irrevocably into the darkness and clamor.

Inside Master Qian’s Manor courtyard, lights blazed brightly.

Master Qian, along with his family and guards, had all gathered there, their faces universally etched with terror.

The deadly tolling of the bells, each chime seeming to strike their very hearts, left everyone restless.

“Miss Su, outside… what exactly is happening outside?” Master Qian, seeing Su Qinghan return, hurried to meet her, his voice trembling.

Su Qinghan’s expression remained calm as she succinctly recounted the demon tide besieging the city and holding the refugees captive.

With a sudden roar,

the entire courtyard erupted in chaos.

“De… demon tide attacking the city?”

“And they’ve taken refugees as hostages?”

“Heavens! What are we to do?!”

Fear, like a plague, spread instantaneously.

Amidst this panic, Xiao Li, a guard trailing behind Master Qian, suddenly sensed something amiss.

He scanned the surroundings but failed to see a familiar figure.

“Master, where is Qian Xiaoxiao?”

Master Qian, startled by the question, also frantically looked around. “Indeed, where is Qian Xiaoxiao? Has anyone seen her?”

A maid responsible for attending to Qian Xiaoxiao’s needs instantly turned deathly pale.

She stepped forward, trembling, her voice thick with tears.

“Young… Young Miss said she felt troubled, so she… she went out with Sister Cui’er to… to clear her head…”

“What?!”

Master Qian felt as if struck by lightning, his vision darkened, and he nearly collapsed.

“Nonsense!”

He trembled with rage, pointing at the maid, his lips quivering, unable to utter a single word for a long moment.

‘To go out and clear her head at a time like this?’

‘That wasn’t clearing her head; that was courting death!’

“Quickly! Go find her!” Master Qian snapped back to his senses, roaring at the guards in the courtyard. “Bring Qian Xiaoxiao back to me! Go now!”

Yet, those guards, usually so imposing, now wore expressions of difficulty. They exchanged hesitant glances, their feet rooted to the spot as if fixed by invisible chains.

‘Go out now?’

The demon race could breach the city walls and flood into the city at any moment.

Staying here was the safest option.

Who would willingly go out to die at such a time?

Witnessing this cowardly lot, Master Qian was so enraged he nearly vomited blood.

Just then, Xiao Li, who had remained silent, turned without hesitation and dashed towards the main gate.

“Xiao Li! You—” Master Qian was both alarmed and anxious.

Xiao Li’s steps did not falter. He snatched the simple dao from a guard by the door, his figure resolute as he burst out, vanishing instantly into the dark night beyond the gates.

Inside the courtyard, a deathly silence descended.

Su Qinghan paid no heed to the commotion unfolding around her.

She remained alone under the covered walkway, her fingers rhythmically tapping on the armrest of her wheelchair.

“Thump, thump, thump…”

The sound was like a death knell, counting down fate.

Her other hand moved rapidly within her sleeve, intricate magical seals forming and dissipating at her fingertips.

She was divining the outcome of this battle.

Yet, with every calculation, the divination pointed to the same result.

Cataclysmic misfortune!

Blood surged to the heavens, bones littered the fields, a desperate situation with only a sliver of hope!

“Why is the atmosphere so grim?”

A lazy voice suddenly echoed in her mind.

“This fox merely went to refine a tiny bit of spiritual energy. Is all this commotion outside a sign of the apocalypse?”

A fluffy, nine-tailed white fox soul spirit peered out from behind Su Qinghan, curiously observing the panicked faces of those in the courtyard.

It was Jiu Li.

Su Qinghan did not answer its question.

Her tapping on the armrest abruptly ceased.

“How long can a spiritual energy infusion last?”

Jiu Li fell silent.

A flicker of human-like wariness crossed its cunning fox eyes.

“Little Qinghan, are you trying to work me to death?”

Its voice was filled with grievance.

“Every time I manage to accumulate a little something, you, like a spendthrift woman, find a way to squander it all!”

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