Divine Tang Era

Chapter 129 The Ghost Soldiers Attack

The ghostly soldiers emerging from the thick fog did not immediately attack the city, but instead formed neat square formations outside Jingning City.

Those on the city wall observed that this ghostly army not only had a wide variety of soldiers, but also a very tight formation.

Leading the line was a group of low-ranking infantrymen, dressed in tattered clothes and missing limbs. Although they walked with a limp, they exuded a fierce and valiant aura from years of battle.

Behind the low-ranking infantry were engineers pushing siege equipment.

The instruments appeared ancient and dilapidated, yet they were shrouded in a thin layer of eerie mist, carrying a chilling aura from the deepest hell, as if they had just been dragged out of the abyss of hell. Each instrument was covered with strange runes, swirling with a ghostly green light, seemingly alive, twisting and leaping in the darkness.

Further on were cavalry.

Tall, dark horses spewed icy mist from their mouths, neighed loudly, and clattered their hooves like thunder. Their eyes burned with a ghostly blue flame, as if they couldn't wait to charge into Jingning City and reduce everything to ashes.

At the very heart of the army, an elite force guarded a majestic throne.

The throne floated above the clouds, radiating boundless power.

The throne was forged from the bones of countless dead souls, each bone gleaming with a cold, chilling light, seemingly silently recounting the pain and resentment of its deceased form. The throne's backrest soared into the clouds, carved with countless eerie runes that seemed to writhe like living creatures, suffocating the senses. The armrests were two coiled bone dragons, their eyes inlaid with blood-red gems, gleaming with a captivating light.

Around the throne, black mist swirled, and countless Yin generals could be vaguely seen standing in rows.

They were clad in jet-black armor, wielding sturdy shields and spears, their eyes vacant yet filled with overwhelming killing intent.

Beneath the throne lay a lake of blood. Its surface was like a mirror, exuding a nauseating, bloody stench. Occasionally, ripples would appear, revealing countless invisible ghostly hands struggling within, trying to break free and return to the mortal realm.

On the throne, a king clad in dark gold armor and draped in a blood-red cloak sat majestically.

His face was hidden behind a mask, only his cold eyes revealing an endless aura of death. The king leaned on his sword, staring intently at Jingning City ahead, as if waiting for something.

Just then, a dark mist surged, and a ghostly figure taller than the walls of Jingning City, holding a royal banner, slowly walked behind the king.

A sudden gust of wind arose, and the royal banner fluttered in the wind, making a rustling sound.

As if blessed by some mysterious power, the ghostly soldiers' morale soared, and they let out mournful roars. The sounds pierced through the thick fog, shook time and space, and stabbed straight to the heart, sending chills down one's spine.

With a wave of his hand, the king tolled the death knell of hell and sounded the siege horns.

The engineers immediately pushed the siege equipment forward, followed closely by the ghost soldiers. The cavalry tightened their reins, preparing to charge.

Looking at the siege equipment being pushed over by the engineers, Xu Dan's expression turned strange. He felt that there was no difference between these dead and living people.

Indeed, the wasteland outside the city was once a battlefield where humans and other races fought to the death. Before the founding of the Divine Tang Dynasty, this place was the front line for various dynasties to resist foreign tribes; after the founding of the Divine Tang Dynasty, countless foreign tribes were killed here, their corpses piled up like mountains, forming countless mounds of corpses.

Even if you just randomly pick up some bones and piece them together, you can still form a huge army.

"roar!"

A deafening roar shattered the silence of the battlefield.

Ahead, a ghost general clad in tattered armor and wielding a rusty longsword raised his weapon and gave the order to charge.

The engineers immediately sped up, pushing the battering rams toward the city gate; some engineers pushed ladders, quickly approaching the city wall; others pulled catapults, about to launch an unknown black ball toward Jingning City.

These ghostly soldiers moved with unparalleled skill, even more professional than the living.

Xu Dan was dumbfounded, but when he saw the catapults preparing to launch them at Jingning City, his heart sank. How could he possibly block them?

The people on the city wall also looked worried.

Just then, a sharp shout came from the direction of the Jingning Prefecture government office: "City protection formation, activate!" Immediately afterwards, a seal surrounded by a shimmering light flew into the sky like a dazzling star.

In an instant, a transparent protective shield rose up around the city wall, all converging towards the seal in the center.

Moments later, the entire Jingning City was enveloped by a protective array, as if it were inside a giant crystal dome, keeping out the dangers of the outside world.

"roar!"

Outside the city, the ghostly general roared again, brandishing his sword, and the catapults hurled unidentified black spheres, emanating a sinister aura, towards the city's protective array. The black spheres struck the transparent shield with a dull thud, creating slight ripples before exploding and dissipating into a hazy gray mist.

"Bang...bang...bang..."

The battering ram pounded against the city gate again and again, producing deafening roars that shook the surrounding walls. But the city gate was already blocked, and no matter how the battering ram attacked, it remained unmoved.

As the cloud ladder approached the city wall, the ghost soldiers used it to climb up, attempting to storm the city. Unfortunately, the existence of the city's protective formation rendered their efforts futile.

We cannot advance; we cannot retreat.

Then, the ghostly soldiers pounced on the transparent protective shield of the city's defensive formation and began to frantically gnaw at it. Seeing this, the other ghostly soldiers followed suit. In no time, the shield along the city wall was covered with ghostly soldiers, a truly bizarre sight.

"roar!"

A loud roar came from behind.

The battering rams and catapults temporarily ceased their attack, but immediately afterward, countless ghostly soldiers rushed in, pounced on the transparent protective shield of the city's defensive formation, and began to bite and gnaw at it. Soon, the ghostly soldiers and monsters completely surrounded the defensive formation, making it impossible to see a single ray of light; the scene was extremely eerie.

Xu Dan looked up and saw countless ghostly creatures, each with its mouth wide open, biting at the protective aura shield of the city.

He swore that he had never seen so many ghosts, whether in this life or the last.

Soldiers with broken arms and legs are commonplace; those with severed heads and protruding tongues are not surprising; those with ripped-out bellies and exposed intestines are not unusual; those with heads split in two are truly horrifying; there are also those with heads as big as vats and crawling with worms; those with heads full of mouths and eyes—there are all sorts of them, enough to make one's scalp tingle.

When the ghost noticed Xu Dan watching it, it grinned and gave a friendly greeting.

But that smile was even uglier than a grimace, which made Xu Dan shiver and quickly turn his head away.

At first, he thought these ghostly soldiers and demons were stupid. What was there to bite about the city's protective formation? But when he saw the solemn expressions on the faces of the city's generals and Xue Shi, he realized that he had overlooked something.

Then, his eyes opened and closed, revealing his double pupils.

Looking at the transparent energy shield again, he couldn't help but gasp – these ghostly soldiers weren't being foolish at all; they were clearly devouring the spiritual energy of the city's protective array! The spiritual energy of the protective array was being peeled away like silk threads, broken into strands and strands, and continuously absorbed into the bodies of the ghostly soldiers.

Xu Dan felt a chill run down his spine, realizing something was wrong.

If the spiritual energy of the city's protective array is completely devoured by the Yin soldiers, then Jingning City will be doomed.

"Roar!" The ghost holding the royal banner suddenly let out a deafening roar.

Several ghostly generals, taller than the city walls, emerged from the eerie mist with a roar. They wore heavy armor and wielded enormous double hammers; with each step, the earth trembled. Upon reaching the outskirts of Jingning City, the ghostly generals raised their double hammers and slammed them down upon the city's protective array.

"Boom!"

A thunderous roar.

Some of the ghostly soldiers and demons who didn't have time to dodge were instantly smashed into dust.

As the twin hammers fell, a massive ripple spread across the transparent protective shield of the city, like a boulder being thrown into a calm lake. But it remained unbroken; the ghost general, like a tireless puppet, continued to bombard the shield with his giant hammers. The shield trembled violently, clearly unable to hold for long.

How do we fix this?

Those on the city wall were extremely anxious, but they were unable to attack the ghosts outside and could only watch helplessly as the power of the city's protective formation was continuously weakened.

Xu Dan had never witnessed such a scene before, and had no idea what the outcome would be. He wondered if he was going to die here! Feeling guilty, he asked, "Master Xue, will this protective barrier break?"

"No," Xue An said with absolute certainty.

"Is this still not broken?" Xu Dan expressed doubt.

But Xue An was far more knowledgeable than he had ever known salt; if he couldn't see through it, he must know something. Just as he was about to press further, he suddenly saw a colossal, terrifying bolt of lightning descend from the sky behind the eerie mist, carrying the aura of annihilating the world and recreating the heavens and earth, emitting a deafening roar that shook the firmament.

The lightning illuminated the entire battlefield, and the aura of annihilation terrified the ghostly soldiers and spirits that were absorbing spiritual energy while lying on the city's protective array, so they dared not move.

Xu Dan looked into the distance without realizing it, wondering what had happened there that had attracted such a huge thunderbolt.