UCTOOT CH131

“The people of this city were truly warriors.”

As Shi Shu knelt examining the wounded, Lin Yangchun’s voice sounded from behind.

Shi Shu tried to ladle water into a parched mouth, but he could feed one, not an entire city. His fingers were slick with sticky, fouled blood.

Lin Yangchun shook his head. “This old man asked around earlier. When the wolf-soldiers raided, the citizens refused to surrender. After the imperial garrison fled, the townsfolk rallied under the organization of Buddhist monks to defend the gates on their own.”

“The men took up hoes and blades, while the women drew bows. After a desperate fight to the death, the outcome was the slaughter of the entire city. The hands and feet of young and old were severed, their eyes gouged out in calculated humiliation.”

Pouring water past cracked lips, Shi Shu heard Lin Yangchun say, “Do not waste your efforts saving them. Medicinal herbs are precious; save them for treating the elite soldiers. Even if these people are kept alive, they are broken beyond use.”

Shi Shu rose, dragging the survivor out of the blistering sun into the shade, before walking alongside the army through the ruined streets.

Treading through clotted blood, his expression blank, a thought crossed Shi Shu’s mind: “In some cities, commoners are dragged off into slavery yet allowed to live, while in others, every soul is slaughtered?”

He inquired aloud, and an attendant guard replied, “The Min forces are divided into several factions. The Crown Prince is merciful and does not butcher civilians. Noble lords like King Wushan seize commoners as slaves, whereas the generals loyal to the Grand Sovereign put every city they cross to torch and blade, leaving no survivors.”

Shi Shu whispered, “The Grand Sovereign…”

The guard recalled something: “This city happened to be in the path of Prince Yinkun’s detachment. Yinkun, the very one who attempted to assassinate the Young Master.”

“Yinkun. Yinkun again.”

That fanatic consumed by hatred. His venom toward the Jing ran so deep that wherever he rode, sadistic slaughter followed.

Shi Shu raised a hand to shield his eyes from the blinding glare. Stifling heat rose from the earth as the height of summer bore down.

The sky gradually darkened, dense ink-black clouds gathering overhead. Rain poured down in sheets, washing blood through the streets in torrents.

A clean boot stepped onto the stone stairs, ascending in broad strides. Behind him, an attendant hurried to fold a curved-handle umbrella: “General Xie has arrived!”

Dark patterned robes fluttered in the chill wind as Xie Wuchi stepped into the council chamber. The waiting generals and high officials rose in unison to greet him, their stern faces bowed in absolute deference.

Xie Wuchi sat down, reviewing the military dossiers.

A scout reported, “Synthesizing reports from all fronts, the Beimin wolf-soldiers boast of a million warriors, including three hundred thousand elites. In truth, three hundred thousand crossed the passes this time, with roughly one hundred thousand true elites.”

Xie Wuchi: “Mustering three hundred thousand men means their rear is hollow. Send word to General Xi.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Command his forces stationed at the North Tea River to drive west immediately, penetrate Bufuzhou, and advance toward Beimin’s Western Capital. Drive as deep as possible. Rally the allied Min clans to seize these new territories. If they can sow chaos across the Central Plains, we can sow chaos throughout Beimin.”

“Orders received!”

As the officers dispersed, another general rushed inside: “My Lord, the Min detachment that plundered Tianzhou slipped away.”

Tapping his chin with one hand, lost in thought, Xie Wuchi said, “Pursue them. Soldiers laden with plundered spoils march slowly under the weight. Send light cavalry in pursuit. Once overtaken…”

Everyone waited for his verdict. Xie Wuchi said expressionlessly, “To those who submit, grant them grace. To those who resist, show them retribution.”

“Surrendering Min troops are to be claimed as slaves. Those who resist shall be buried alive on the spot, leaving not a single soul alive!”

Beneath a towering mountain shrouded in dark clouds, dense ranks of armored soldiers stood at the foot of the slopes, fresh yellow earth piled high beside a gaping mass pit.

Holding long lances with impassive faces, the men formed disciplined lines. Across from them stood captured Min soldiers bound by thick ropes, stripped of armor and garments, huddled in a trembling mass before the trench.

Though the crowd was vast, dead silence reigned. Xie Wuchi stood atop an elevated platform, an iron tang carried on the brisk wind.

“General, the burial pit is prepared, awaiting your command!”

Xie Wuchi raised a hand without uttering a word. His young officer understood at once, turning toward the trench: “Bury them alive immediately.”

“Understood!”

One by one, the Min captives were shoved into the deep pit, their bodies tumbling into awkward, contorted heaps. Howls of despair echoed out. Many bore youthful faces; among them were savage marauders who had butchered civilians, as well as those who had never raised a blade against the innocent.

Yet now, the individual no longer mattered.

Xie Wuchi watched with a frigid expression. Beside him, the civil envoys sent by the Jing court trembled violently, seized by sheer horror.

“Mercy! Have mercy! I don’t want to die…”

“Spare us, please spare us!”

“G-General Xie…”

The captives were hurled down as spadeful after spadeful of earth showered over their faces. Standing atop the platform in plain white mourning robes worn in honor of the million fallen civilians of Dajing, Xie Wuchi spoke in an icy voice: “To the innocent souls who perished in vain, this general has claimed your vengeance.”

Cries of agony shook the heavens.

A blood-scented gust swept past again, fluttering the stray hair at his temples.

His knees giving out, the Jing court envoy could bear it no longer, collapsing to the ground in terror: “General Xie…”

The summer heat blazed down under an unforgiving sun.

Inside the torched, butchered fortress town, frantic footsteps echoed. Shi Shu and the medical bureau staff sprinted through the streets, shouting: “Hurry and move them! In this heat, corpses cannot be allowed to pile up, or pestilence will breed!”

“Quick, move them!” “Haul them outside the walls to bury!”

“Do not leave a single body in the city! Take them to be burned at once! If an epidemic erupts, it could spread nationwide and ravage the land for decades! Move!”

Shi Shu slapped the side of a cart: “Load them up.”

“I’ll help, let me help!”

Under the scorching sun, Shi Shu’s mind was long numb. Alongside the soldiers, he loaded corpses onto the wagons, stiff limbs clattering against timber like blocks of ice.

Wearing a cotton mask, Shi Shu brewed medicine in the stifling heat of the medical station, sweat pouring down his neck, firelight dancing in his pupils.

Only when a brief lull arrived did he check the system interface, panting in the heat.

[Current Surviving Count: 7]

Looking around at the blackened city ramparts, Shi Shu murmured, “Is this a dream? Am I dreaming?”

He felt trapped in an endless nightmare where no matter how hard he ran, there was never a finish line.

A past conversation with Xie Wuchi echoed through his mind like a voiceover:

“I can’t take this anymore.”

“I know you can’t. You refuse to stay beneath my wings. If you remained in Yanzhou right now, you could enjoy wealth, peace, and joy.”

“I won’t be that kind of person.”

Du Zihan’s letters continued to arrive once a week, sometimes two days late, sometimes two days early.

Every time Shi Shu broke the seal, he read every word with painstaking care:

Xiao Shu-bao, I learned how to ride a horse. Sinan and I gallop beneath the moonlight in the dead of night. We hide on ridges to intercept Min raiders and raid enemy encampments after dark. I barely sleep, but life feels full, and every day carries meaning. Still, I haven’t dared to kill anyone yet… Sinan has learned to watch my back and look out for me, never forgetting his comrades anymore.

Shi Shu wrote back:

Take good care of yourself. If you can’t win, run. This isn’t a video game; there’s no next round and no resurrection tournament. You have to stay alive.

Stay alive.

Smoke from signal fires rose in every direction. Across the vast plains, endless columns of displaced people pushed and pulled handcarts, their sun-darkened faces numb as they dragged their feet forward.

Beside the procession, whips cracked through the air. A mounted officer gripped his reins, shouting, “Move faster! No stopping! We must enter the city before dark!”

Someone stumbled.

“Damn it! I told you to move!”

“Worthless refugee! If I don’t beat you to death today…”

The soldier was about to dismount when a comrade held him back, shooting a discreet glance toward Shi Shu.

“Cool it. There’s an important figure traveling with us,” the companion warned. “Military regulations forbid striking or killing civilians without cause. Keep your hands to yourself.”

“Who is he?”

“No idea. All I know is that even the highest ranking officers bow and scrape before him.”

“One of General Xie’s trusted inner circle?”

“Drop it, say no more.”

Three years later, Shi Shu arrived in Shukang Prefecture for the third time.

The first time was the plague; the second, exile; the third, the fall of the Central Plains.

Carrying his travel pack, Shi Shu walked the same road alongside thousands of refugees.

After being occupied by wolf-soldiers for half a month, Shukang had been reclaimed by Xie Wuchi’s host. Stepping into the city once more, the poetry of antiquity held true: a single torch of fire, reduced to pitiful scorched earth.

The entire administrative capital had been burned to cinders, leaving only broken walls and ruins. Its citizens had been massacred, three hundred thousand dead. With the city deserted, Xie’s forces could only herd refugees into the ruins to rebuild from the ashes.

The system prompt flashed before Shi Shu’s eyes.

[Current Surviving Count: 6]

[Notice: Surviving headcount has decreased; entering the final contention stage. Certain players possess a commanding lead in Merit Value. Please attend to the main quest: Eliminate all other transmigrators to claim the title of Co-Lord of the World.]

[Xie Wuchi · Merit Value: 90% (Most Valuable Player)]

Shi Shu dismissed the screen, gazing at the mounds of corpses. Among them, which body belonged to another soul swept unwittingly into this ancient chaos?

Entering the city, Shi Shu helped arrange shelters for the refugees. The medical bureau he had once served in was now a pile of ashes, forcing them to erect makeshift sheds. Once thin rice congee was boiled in massive cauldrons, he distributed the steaming gruel to the queued commoners.

Scraping the bottom of the pot, Shi Shu spooned up the burnt crust and offered it to the person in front of him: “Come earlier after work tomorrow. There really is nothing left.”

“It’s so watery, how are we supposed to fill our bellies? I’ve been starving for days.”

“There’s no other way. Once the autumn harvest comes in, things will improve. Scraping together even this much grain wasn’t easy.”

Shi Shu rested the ladle back in the pot. Suddenly, his vision went black, the world plunging into dead silence.

A cold, mechanical voice sounded without inflection:

[Current Surviving Count: 5]

[System has activated active alerts. Players are urged to respond proactively.]

The voice echoed against his eardrums. Shi Shu turned his head, staring up into the gloomy sky.

Shi Shu’s fair face was pale. Just as he recovered his senses, a company of sturdy men roughly parted the crowd, moving with the disciplined urgency of elite soldiers.

The moment they caught sight of Shi Shu, they dropped to one knee: “Second Young Master! The General requests your immediate return to the central command!”

Shi Shu’s heart contracted: “What happened?”

Stepping away from the crowd, an officer whispered, “The General led an army of one hundred thousand to breach Baiyu Pass. On his return march, a stray arrow struck his shoulder. He is currently bedridden; he requests the Second Young Master return to see him at once!”

Wiping his sleeve, Shi Shu wasted no words. Leaping onto a mount nearby, he rode through the night back to the main encampment.

Outside the camp gates, standard banners bearing the character “Xie” snapped in the wind.

The central encampment was filled with unfamiliar faces, and their reverence toward Shi Shu had grown immense, dropping to their knees whenever they saw him. Shi Shu paid them no heed, hurrying into the command tent.

“Ge!” Shi Shu cut himself off mid-shout.

Xie Wuchi was having his dressing changed. His upper robes were stripped to the waist, exposing powerful shoulders conditioned by years of archery and horsemanship, tanned darker by the summer heat. He sat upright on the couch, his brow knitted slightly in pain beside the attending physician.

Stepping close, Shi Shu whispered, “Xie Wuchi.”

Cold sweat dripped down Xie Wuchi’s brow, his lips pressed thin as he endured the pain. The arrow had pierced deep, grazing bone. As the dressing was applied, Shi Shu said, “Let me do it. I know how.”

Taking the linen bandage, Shi Shu wrapped it carefully around Xie Wuchi’s shoulder. Xie Wuchi ordered, “Everyone out.”

Once the attendants filed out, Shi Shu reached up to stroke his cheek.

Xie Wuchi’s eyes were dark as pitch. “How is the world outside?”

“Terrible.”

Shi Shu bit through the end of the bandage. A calloused hand cupped his chin, Xie Wuchi’s fingertip grazing his lip: “Will you stay by my side?”

In an instant, Shi Shu felt undone by those words, his eyes stinging red. Perhaps overwhelmed by everything he had witnessed, he struggled to secure the knot as his vision blurred with tears.

Xie Wuchi reached out, pulling Shi Shu into his arms.

Shi Shu embraced him in return, feeling the gauze along his back and the texture of his hair. Xie Wuchi looked up, murmuring, “I know this era brings you agony. Yet at least half of that agony is wrought by a handful of fools.”

“They pose as heaven’s mandate over the common people, dictating whether they live or die. The only way to spare you this pain is to kill them.”

Cupping his face, Xie Wuchi said, “I will shatter this heavenly order.”

Shi Shu drew a deep breath to steady his emotions, gently stroking the bandaged arrow wound on Xie Wuchi’s shoulder.

Gazing at him, Xie Wuchi asked, “Shi Shu, I feel zero responsibility toward any grand or noble ideals. So tell me…”

“Do you want to be the Crown Prince, or the Empress?”