Quite a few villages even began organizing their mountain folk, preparing to leave the territory under Qiao Town's jurisdiction!
By this point, everyone knew that the Purple River City Zhao Household... was about to make its move against Qiao Town.
The last time the Zhao Household had mobilized in force to attack an ancient town, every mortal within a hundred li of that town had been slaughtered. Not even the elderly, children, or women had been spared.
Although the Jin Kingdom had laws strictly forbidding the wanton slaughter of mortals, the Zhao Household was the hegemon of the thousand li surrounding Zichuan City. Even if it slaughtered an entire town, no one would meddle...
The Jin Kingdom's administrative divisions consisted of villages, towns, cities, commanderies, and prefectures...
The entire Jin Kingdom had three prefectures, seventy-two commanderies, and several thousand cities! Its territory stretched for millions of li from north to south.
In name, the Jin Kingdom's imperial family was supreme, ruling over all three prefectures and seventy-two commanderies.
But the Jin Kingdom's territory was simply too vast, and sects and aristocratic clans held sway over their own territories... As long as the Zhao Household delivered resources to the power above it on time, it could do almost anything it pleased within its own sphere of influence!!
The Zhao Household's forces paid no attention to the mountain folk migrating from their villages... But the forces from various towns that followed the Zhao Household raised their butcher's knives and began burning, killing, and looting.
The Zhao Household did nothing to stop them.
The Zhao Household had summoned the subordinate forces from the various towns, so it had to give them some benefits.
Letting them loot a few villages in advance would also raise their morale, making them even more eager when they charged toward Qiao Town!!
"No... don't kill me!"
"Please, spare my child."
With the Zhao Household's tacit consent, the villages along the way instantly turned into a living hell.
Children wept, women and children were slaughtered, and the young men... had their hands and feet bound, becoming slaves from that day forward.
"Hehehe!! Scream! Scream louder!"
"I just love seeing people despair..."
A commander in armor, his face covered in a bushy beard, reached out a large, rough hand and looked at a woman with a savage expression.
The woman's face was full of despair. Her husband had been cut down and lay on the ground with only his last breath left, glaring at the commander.
There was no reversal, no unexpected turn.
Nor did any immortal cultivator filled with a sense of justice appear to sweep away the evil here.
"Hahahaha!!"
"The commander is mighty!"
Around the commander, quite a few fierce-looking personal guards holding battle sabers burst into laughter.
The woman's dark hair fluttered as the despair in her eyes... gradually turned to numbness.
Within the Zhao Household's ranks, a young Zhao descendant frowned deeply at the sight and was about to step forward to stop it, only to be held back by an elder of the household.
"Why?"
Unable to bear the sight, the young Zhao descendant demanded an answer.
At that moment, he was deeply shaken!!
"This is the law!"
"Whether in the mortal world or the immortal cultivation world... the weak are reduced to grass underfoot."
"If you're weak, you have no dignity and no right to live."
"Remember, you have a Spirit Root. You're destined to become an elder of our Zhao Household, perhaps even the patriarch of our immortal household!"
"Our Zhao Household has been able to stand firm in Zichuan City and make the surrounding powers submit, not through kindness or mercy, but through absolute strength and absolute ruthlessness!"
"I brought you out here... to show you the real, cruel world!!"
The old man who had stopped the young Zhao descendant spoke calmly. His voice was unhurried, but it carried indifference and a readiness to kill!
Many years ago, he too had cherished a chivalrous sense of justice.
But after one campaign and one struggle after another... his heart had gradually grown cold-blooded!
That so-called chivalry brought no benefit to his household or to himself, and might even invite all kinds of trouble.
Hearing the old man's words, the young Zhao descendant fell silent...
Seeing this, the old man said no more and turned back to his carriage.
As the slaughter gradually came to an end, the Zhao Household led its many subordinate forces onward.
This time, the Zhao Household had not only mobilized a great many armored guards, but had also dispatched two Bone Refining Realm elders, three Blood Refining Realm elders, and six Skin Refining Realm immortal cultivators!
More importantly, the household's most revered and powerful patriarch was also present among the troops!!
Together with the immortal cultivators sent by the various subordinate forces, the Zhao Household had mobilized nearly fifteen immortal cultivators for this campaign against the Lin Household!
Inside Qiao Town, the streets were deserted, and the atmosphere was tense.
Ever since Lin Xiye had slain the Zhao Household's third elder, quite a few residents of Qiao Town had moved to other towns.
During this time, the Lin Household's various businesses had all been severely affected.
Nearly half of the Lin Household's armored guards originally stationed on Qiao Town's stone walls had fled.
Lin Changge had also sent away more than half of the Lin Household's members.
Of those who remained, some spent their days in fear and anxiety, while others had prepared themselves to die.
Lin Xiye was well aware of the situation in Qiao Town.
But he did not care.
As long as they won this battle, the residents who had fled Qiao Town would naturally return, and the Lin Household's many members would regain their confidence!
In this battle, Lin Xiye would also lead the entire household to replace the Zhao Household as the hegemon of the thousand li surrounding Zichuan City!!
Lin Xiye had already prepared the Spirit Poison Bottle, the Flame Talisman, and the Three Talents Formation Flags!
As long as he eliminated the Zhao Household's patriarch, neither twenty thousand armored guards nor a host of Bone Refining and Blood Refining immortal cultivators... would be able to stop Lin Xiye!!
The autumn wind rustled, and the setting sun was like blood.
Lin Xiye stood outside Qiao Town with his hands behind his back. After an unknown amount of time, a dark mass of armored guards finally appeared before his eyes.
The armored guards marched in step. Even the foot soldiers wore heavy iron armor!
Those five hundred heavy cavalrymen had all trained in mortal martial arts, and every one of them was exceptionally strong!!
Against this force of armored guards, even Skin Refining Realm or Blood Refining Realm immortal cultivators would probably be worn down until they died!
Wooo-!!
A long blast of a horn sounded from Qiao Town's stone walls.
The armored guards drew their bows to the full and prepared all manner of fire oil...
Even the Lin Household's only heavy crossbow had been set up!!
This heavy crossbow was also one of the Lin Household's assets. It could fire a giant bolt weighing ten thousand jin! A single shot could severely injure a Bone Refining Realm cultivator!
Its only flaw was that it took hundreds of people to operate, and it fired very slowly.
"The Qiao Town Lin Household has caused unrest in the region and killed the third elder of our Zhao Household... To preserve stability in the region, the Purple River City Zhao Household will suppress this unrest and wipe out the Lin Household!!"
"After we take Qiao Town, kill every last rioter!"
A Zhao Household elder riding a fierce beast gazed at Qiao Town and made his proclamation with an imposing expression.
His voice was hoarse, but it carried throughout Qiao Town, reaching the ears of its many armored guards and the Lin Household's members with perfect clarity.
For a time, the atmosphere in Qiao Town grew even more desperate!
"Attack... begin!!"
The Zhao Household elder spoke again. At his command, the troops of the Zhao Household's subordinate forces were the first to charge ahead.
Their role had always been to serve as cannon fodder for the Zhao Household.
But even knowing they were cannon fodder, none of them dared retreat.
If they fought their way into Qiao Town, they could follow the Zhao Household and plunder some of its ordinary residents.
But anyone who dared retreat would surely be wiped out by the Zhao Household on the spot!!
If they charged forward, they might die, but they might also gain something.
If they retreated, they would surely die, and their wives and children, perhaps even their entire households, would be implicated!