Chapter 231 Another Kind of Human Heart

The princess came, bringing reinforcements, hope, and a life-and-death battle. ybd,

King Xijie had only one legitimate daughter, so "Princess" became the only title. She was Xin Youtao's sister. She led a large army from the south. With the help of a large number of talismans, the army marched non-stop and finally arrived in time, even winning two days of rest.

A total of 4,000 cavalrymen and 100 talisman masters entered the camp outside the city in an orderly line. The people who lined the streets cheered continuously. What they saw was not a temporary patchwork of defenders from various cities, but a regular army with distinctive armor and high morale. The armor was covered from head to toe, and they rode all tall horses, like a group of disciplined giant soldiers, which made the onlookers gasp and feel awe.

When the princess retreated from Xijie City in advance, she took with her a thousand royal purple talisman soldiers. She knew that scattered forces could not stop the demon army, so she went directly to the northwestern border, where she recruited another three thousand elite Xuanfu soldiers and a large number of talisman masters, and then turned all the way to the southwest, almost keeping pace with the demon army.

The capital was destroyed, and the last army of Xijie was saved. The princess did not know at the time that there was a small Duanliu City in the southeast that was holding on. Her original intention was to ask for help from the vassal states in the southwest, and then the various troops would join the army of the Shengfu Dynasty, and use the power of the Taoist tradition in the area of ​​Luanjing Mountain to fight a decisive battle with the demons, and then take advantage of the situation to take back their homeland after winning.

Hearing that her younger brother Xin Youtao was holding on in Duanliu City, the princess immediately changed her mind and led her army to bypass the demon vanguard and rush to the last city of Xijie to support. Because she was worried that the flying talisman would be intercepted by the demons, she had not written a letter.

Thanks to the efforts of Mu Xingqiu and others, the hearts of the people in Duanliu City were like a swollen cloth bag, which looked full but didn't contain much. The army brought by the princess finally filled the gap. The Xuanfu Army also brought more good news. Behind them were the armies of six vassal states and one army of the Shengfu Dynasty. After adding them together, the number of demon soldiers will be greatly exceeded.

Duanliu City was full of festive atmosphere. When the princess entered the city with only dozens of guards, the road was almost completely blocked by enthusiastic people. The princess followed the royal etiquette and stayed in the carriage without showing up. Her three personal maids accepted the people's kneeling and gave blessings on her behalf.

The princess's carriage team therefore moved very slowly. It set off at noon and did not arrive at the military camp until the evening. She did not choose to live in the city guard's mansion, but decided to meet the defenders in the military camp.

The Xuanfu Army soldiers in the city were looking forward to it all afternoon. They all knelt down when they saw the royal flags from afar, and even the monks who were watching the excitement knelt down. Someone wanted to perform a few gorgeous spells to celebrate, but was persuaded by the monks around him. This is the princess, not an ordinary citizen, so don't embarrass yourself.

The Pangshan Taoist priests did not come out to greet them. Only Mu Xingqiu stood at the gate of the military camp as a general and did not kneel.

Even in times of chaos and destruction, some rules were not broken. The welcoming ceremony at the gate of the military camp lasted for a while. A palace maid encouraged all the soldiers on behalf of the princess, and especially thanked the Pangshan Taoist priest and the monks who came to support. The words were elegant, but quite long. Mu Xingqiu found it hard to believe that these were the words that the princess came up with.

In the main hall of the military camp, Mu Xingqiu formally handed over the command of the Xuanfu Army in the city and his own title of "general" to the generals of the Xijie Kingdom brought by the princess, and finally restored his status as a Taoist priest. The handover process was humble and reasonable, and Mu Xingqiu had been reminded in advance. So he responded appropriately, but was a little impatient.

The princess herself finally appeared, wearing a veil. Mu Xingqiu remembered that beautiful face that made him feel happy. He nodded and greeted her. He did not show great courtesy like other generals. Because of Zuo Liuying's appointment, he represented the entire Pangshan Taoist sect at this time, and he did not need to kneel even in front of the royal family.

The princess sat in the main seat, with two palace maids and four guards on each side. This time she spoke by herself, without using the palace maids to speak for her, "Time is urgent. The day after tomorrow is the day when the demon army will attack. I hope you can come up with a battle plan immediately."

There were eleven generals attending the meeting, one of whom was a high-level talisman master, a white-haired old man. When he met Mu Xingqiu, he asked him his name twice. At this time, he sat on the chair and swayed, as if he had fallen asleep and never planned to wake up again.

The status of other generals varied, with a tall old man wearing a purple cloak as the most respected. His surname was Xin, and he must be a member of the royal family. Everyone called him "Master Taifu".

Only Mu Xingqiu was an outsider, representing Taoist Pangshan and dozens of monks. No one else was qualified to attend this military meeting.

Master Xin stood up, majestically scanned the crowd, nodded slightly to Mu Xingqiu, and bowed slightly to the princess, "I have reached an agreement with the generals. Tomorrow, all the people in the city will be sent to Dongjie Country, and then the army will withdraw from Duanliu City and continue to implement the strategy formulated by Her Royal Highness the Princess at the beginning - avoiding the enemy's edge."

He said it briefly, trying to make it seem like the princess's idea, but there was an unquestionable arrogance in his tone, and he did not mean to discuss it with anyone.

Mu Xingqiu's position was rather special. He was not only a guest, but also a Taoist priest, and the actual manager of Duanliu City before. Therefore, he sat in the first place on the left hand of the princess, just opposite Master Xin.

This was his first time trying to figure out the mentality and emotions of the nobles. It was much harder than feeling the crowd. He had long discovered that the first layer of the illusion was more direct and effective in grasping the hearts of the group. On the contrary, it seemed a bit weak when applied to individuals. , eleven generals, neither too many nor too few, but Mu Xingqiu was unable to break through.

Everyone in the main hall, including the drowsy old Talisman Master, was experiencing rapid and regular mood swings, like insects flapping their wings in the air. It was so fast that it was difficult to observe, but on the surface their expressions were... Extremely determined, as if he had already made up his mind without any hesitation.

Mu Xingqiu slowly saw the truth. There were two completely opposite emotions in the room, coming from the princess and Taifu Xin respectively. The emotions of everyone else were swinging between these two people. The rapid fluctuations he felt were actually The generals are trying to figure out the hearts of their superiors.

He met a group of peers, but without the support of mind-reading spells. Mu Xingqiu almost laughed out loud, so he held it back and continued to observe, not particularly paying attention to what Taifu Xin was saying.

The princess was silent for a while, as if waiting for someone to stand up and refute, and finally had to name her. "What do you think, Mr. Fu?"

The old talisman master shook twice as if he had been awakened, and his wrinkled face was full of confusion, "Huh? My opinion... This, avoiding the enemy's edge is a good choice. Your Majesty Taifu, Princess, we have always The execution was good, and so many people were saved this time..."

He rambled for a long time, and in the end he even forgot what he was talking about, and his words did not match his words.

Taifu Xin waved his hand at the old talisman master. Signing for him to shut up, "I understand, Her Royal Highness the Princess is still a little hesitant. After all, Duanliu City is the last city of the Xijie Kingdom. If you throw it away, the Xijie Kingdom will have no more land. But the situation is like this, the demon clan has many soldiers, and there are many generals. With Demon Mountain opening the way, Duanliu City can't stop it, even the thousands of Zifu Army and Xuanfu Army can't stop it. The only army in Xijie Kingdom can avoid the main force of the demon army and wait for the opportunity to regain the territory. We all think so."

The generals nodded, but not too enthusiastically, more like perfunctory.

The princess spoke calmly, as if she had never met Taoist Pangshan before.

Mu Xingqiu stood up and nodded to the princess and all the generals present. Everyone returned the greeting. Only Taifu Xin seemed reluctant but did not raise any objections.

"Before I express my thoughts, I want to talk about Pangshan Taoism's decision: There is a reason why we stopped in Duanliu City. We will not leave Duanliu City until the matter is resolved, at least within a few days. "

The generals were surprised that a young Taoist priest actually spoke in such an impolite and strong tone - in their view, Pangshan was ruined and the Taoist priests in Pangshan lost their previous status, so they should be more humble.

The old Fu Lu master looked at him with one eye. The other generals coughed or adjusted their sitting positions to hide their embarrassment. Only Taifu Xin snorted coldly, "Does Pangshan Taoism plan to fight ten thousand demon soldiers alone?"

"Next, I will tell you some of my thoughts. I hope that the troops of Xijie Kingdom can stay and defend the city together with Pangshan Dao."

Just as Taifu Xin was about to refute, the princess had already jumped in and asked in an interested tone: "Why? The situation here is obviously not good for us."

The princess had already asked a question, and Taifu Xin had no choice but to shut up.

"Exiting Duanliu City will be even more detrimental to the Xijie Kingdom." Mu Xingqiu glanced at the generals again, "I don't understand the affairs between the vassal states, but as a Pangshan Taoist priest, I know one thing. The country spreads unclean air, and wherever the demon soldiers capture it, the unclean air will cover it. If they give up Duanliu City, the Xisuke Army will lose their foothold in the country. When the unclean air finally takes shape, The entire Xijie Kingdom will become part of the Demon Land, and it will be even harder to take it back than it is now.”

As soon as Mu Xingqiu finished speaking, Taifu Xin immediately responded: "What Master Mu Taoist said makes sense, but I want to tell you the truth. The Shengfu Dynasty and various princely states did send troops, but they were not here to support Xijie Kingdom. Yes, they are parked hundreds of miles away, even further than the demon army, and they will only release a bunch of eagle-eye flying talismans to watch the battle. Do you understand? Duanliu City is still an isolated city, and there is no help at all. "

"Before you arrived, there were only a thousand soldiers in Duanliu City, but we never thought about escaping. knsh.co I have been persuading the people in the city to go to Dongjie Kingdom, but he would rather take the risk and stay in his own country." Mu Xingqiu His tone was calm. He didn't want to argue with anyone. Mental illusion is a kind of spell. Language is just a means of casting the spell, not the spell itself. There is no point in shouting. "So I don't understand. How many times the amount of magic is being increased?" After reinforcements, why did running away become the only option?”

Taifu Xin's face changed suddenly, he felt that he had been publicly humiliated, and the mental illusion could not change his mood at this time, "Let's tell the truth, Pangshan Taoism is finished, you are a group of fugitives, trying to use Xisuke* The * team can't do it for you. I will never allow the last five thousand soldiers of Xijie Kingdom to die here. It's your business and we won't accompany you!"

Taifu Xin's voice became more and more severe, but Mu Xingqiu's tone became even calmer, "Don't you understand, Taifu? Xijie Kingdom and Pangshan are also in complete defeat, and the determination to die is our only hope. Introduce the demon army The Dongjie Kingdom will not allow you to regain your homeland, it will only make the Xijie Army lose the value of its existence. "

Mu Xingqiu stared at Master Xin opposite him, and used the nine methods of the Nine Beast Transformations at the same time. He was using the strongest illusion to collect and guide the changes in emotions - he couldn't change those strong emotions, but he could make them burst out.

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