Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path
Chapter 270 - 237: City Gate Lost, Blood Shadow Hong Lian

Chapter 270: Chapter 237: City Gate Lost, Blood Shadow Hong Lian

Zhou Ping’an had just arrived at the West City Gate when he saw the Qingyang portal wide open, with a constant stream of refugees pouring into the city.

Of course, they weren’t all refugees.

Among them were some men with shiny faces and strong bodies, whose eyes darted around, carrying blades and spears on their backs, starkly different from the destitute refugees.

Most outrageous, however, was the presence of several large stoves to the left of the gate, boiling porridge and steaming hot.

There were those wearing tall hats and hemp clothes, loudly proclaiming, "The Red Lotus Matriarch, unable to bear the suffering of the people, has specially granted Spirit Talismans to heal the sick and provided porridge to aid all beings."

"Come one by one, as long as you believe in the Red Lotus Matriarch, you will no longer fear hunger, have enough to eat and wear, and will no longer be oppressed by the Official Government or exploited by the rich."

Boom...

The people from all around who heard this voice surged forward.

Then some men dressed as refugees stepped forward, recounting how amazing the Red Lotus Matriarch was and that following them really could save their lives.

Zhou Ping’an witnessed this scene.

His eyes were wide in disbelief.

It had only been eight days.

Qingyang City seemed no longer his Qingyang.

It had completely changed.

What about his five thousand elite troops?

Were they not coming out to maintain order?

Just letting the followers of the Red Lotus Sect "widely spread benevolence" at the city gate, winning people’s hearts?

"Many people have entered the city."

Lin Huaiyu, sitting on his horse and holding a parasol, looked into the gate and saw the streets inside the city also overflowing with people.

"Looking at this, the City Guards can’t manage it anymore; no wonder those magnates hurriedly fled."

"True, with so many extra people in the city, if not two hundred thousand, there are at least one hundred thousand.

If they weren’t stopped at first, once these refugees swarm in, driving them out later would be problematic."

Zhou Ping’an watched and suddenly burst out laughing.

"Which genius used such a tactic, sending so many refugees over, thinking of fattening me up in one gulp?"

"You’re still laughing?"

Lin Huaiyu slightly furrowed his brows, puzzled, "Can you handle it?"

"We have to eat if we can, and even if we can’t, we must eat. Even if we end up as fat as a pig, overstuffed, we can’t just drive all these suffering people out of the city to die."

In the histories Zhou Ping’an had read, there were many tactics involving refugees.

He understood that those who either shut out refugees or massacred them generally met grim fates.

Because, in this world, it was the age of cold weapons.

Sometimes, the number of people determined the strength of a force.

The will of the people is the will of heaven.

The Red Lotus Sect seemed adept at manipulating the will of the people.

If they could play this game, he was not incapable of playing it himself...

"Who is in charge of guarding the gate? Come down here!"

Zhou Ping’an controlled his True Qi and with a soft shout, the vibrations caused the gatehouse to rustle.

He had already sensed that there was a team of ten City Defense soldiers on top, who for some reason were all staying inside, not even guarding the gate properly.

"The General has returned."

"General Zhou, you’ve finally returned, brothers have indeed suffered.

Has the Third Miss also returned? If not, Qingyang City would no longer be bearable for us."

Upon hearing the shout, a lean young man scrambled through the crowd, crying and sniffling, unable to hold back his tears.

"Qian Sanliang, what are you doing here?"

Zhou Ping’an waved his hand, "Come back to the mansion with me, there is no need to guard the gate anymore. Your way of managing things, it’s almost as if there’s no guard at all."

Qian Sanliang had been personally appointed by Zhou Ping’an as the logistics manager for the City Defense Army, responsible for the supply of provisions, a position not high-ranking but of great authority.

He was chosen

because Zhou Ping’an saw that this person had studied in a private school when he was young, could do accounting, and was smart.

Given a platform, this man could genuinely be productive and responsible.

As for his fighting capability, that goes without saying, he hadn’t even reached Refined Energy, still struggling with Muscles and Bones.

It could only be said that he was a bit stronger than a typical Protector, but not by much.

This was still under the condition that Zhou Ping’an had intentionally fostered him, skewing the supply of Elixirs to him, resulting in such martial force.

But under any circumstances, he was not supposed to guard the gate.

"I was waiting for General Zhou. No one else dared to come here, so I had to be tough and come over, fearing I might miss you.

After all, we can’t leave the city gate here without even a pair of our own eyes watching. If something happened, we wouldn’t even know it."

Qian Sanliang seemed to feel that his crying on the street was somewhat embarrassing.

He gave a gesture, letting the other nine gate soldiers protect around Zhou Ping’an and him, opening a path forward.

"Tell me, how did the gate lose control?"

"Five days after the General left, something major happened at the gate. Overnight, more than twenty brothers guarding the gate died in their sleep.

The next batch of men took over the gatekeeping, and that night, strange things happened again, killing more than ten brothers.

The survivors were so frightened that they dared not remain and had to return to the barracks for reinforcements."

Qian Sanliang spoke with a frown about the recent incidents, still showing some fear in his eyes.

"Those people died horribly, their bodies all skin and bones, as if something had sucked all the blood out of them.

On the evening of the sixth day, Commander Tang and Chief Gu led a large number of troops in an ambush. However, they were attacked right in front of the gate...

Commander Tang was seriously injured and retreated into the city.

Chief Gu, however, was ambushed and knocked unconscious on the spot, carried back to the camp and didn’t last even a quarter of an hour before he died."

"Who were the attackers, did you see them clearly?"

"Each one of them is a master, and they hide their heads and show their tails, even covering their faces. The most hateful thing is that their methods of concealing their forms and hiding their traces are very powerful. It took more than ten people to approach us, and we did not detect them until they made their move."

"How many did we lose in this battle?"

Zhou Ping’an’s gaze turned slightly cold.

He had a rough idea of who Tang Lin’er and Gu Dashi had encountered.

Draining people dry like mummies.

Staying hidden and launching surprise attacks.

Striking viciously.

Wasn’t this exactly the performance of the Blood Shadow Divine Skill mentioned in the illusions at Yin Family Village that day?

Before leaving, he had instructed Tang Lin’er to send out capable men to secretly investigate the surrounding villages and the situation with the children in the city to see if any children had disappeared.

It seemed that Tang Lin’er had discovered something and had even clashed with them, achieving some results.

Therefore, they were specifically targeted.

Or perhaps, attacking the city gate was a way to cover up some clandestine activities.

Looking around and seeing women and children who looked like zombies dragging their families in the camp of refugees weighed heavily on his heart.

"Save me, save me..."

From a shop by the street with closed doors, suddenly a wooden door fell down, and a burly man, laughing robustly, picked up a woman and walked out.

The woman looked young, kicking wildly in the air and screaming in a youthful voice.

An old middle-aged man lay supine inside the house, blood still flowing from his mouth.

A middle-aged woman with a green scarf on her head crawled towards the door, crying and shrieking.

A few constables shouted and advanced.

But the burly man kicked them away effortlessly, sending them flying far away.

A commotion arose around.

It sounded like people among the refugees were cheering.

"Red Lotus Bandits?"

Lin Huaiyu snorted coldly, her figure flickered, and she appeared in front of the man.

With a tremble of her hand,

Soft Strength permeated, blasting the tall man into the air.

She grabbed the woman in the gray coat with one hand and swung her blade with the other.

The burly man was still in mid-air, not even having a chance to cry out, before his head flew off.

"Ah..." Screams erupted in the street.

"The Vice Incense Master is dead."

"Who is that woman, daring to kill the Vice Incense Master?"

"Disaster is upon us."

Soon, dozens of people from both ends of the street swarmed together.

Drawing their weapons.

"Kill."

Qian Sanliang’s eyes reddened as he yelled and led nine city guards in a charge.

This fellow must have been incredibly frustrated, charging into battle recklessly at this moment.

Perhaps it was because they saw Zhou Ping’an returning, they found their backbone, and their morale significantly strengthened.

With the strength of ten, they actually managed to hold off the assault of more than thirty opponents, killing over ten...

The remaining dozen or so men, looking like refugees, seeing the tide had turned, turned around and blended into the crowd, making it difficult to differentiate them from the rest.

"Just like that, I knew it would be this way."

Qian Sanliang roared to the heavens.

"If they can fight, they fight; if they can’t, they flee, just like locusts, never knowing exactly how many there are."

"If not for following the General and feeling the endless strength and spirit, I fear, this battle would have cost us several lives again."

"It’s all right, let’s head to the barracks first. Now that I’ve returned, the chaos within the city should come to an end."

Zhou Ping’an did not make a move, only spread out his spiritual power. His eyes narrowed into thin lines, tracking those fleeing Red Lotus Sect Followers. He then discovered that these people were splitting up and sneaking into various residences.

’No wonder Tang Lin’er could only hold the barracks and not strike proactively.

Fighting is one thing, but the key is, dealing with their tactic of hiding soldiers among the civilians, it’s very hard to distinguish who is the enemy and who are the real citizens.’

’If one were to search each household, there’s also the fear of someone assassinating the commander.

In that case, even the barracks could not be defended. Ultimately, it’s still about insufficient strength and not being firmly established.’

At a glance, Zhou Ping’an understood where the difficulty in pacifying Qingyang City lay.

His own City Guards.

Most were inherited from Tian Shouyi, not particularly elite, but still capable of battle.

A small part came from the County Soldiers led by Lin Xiao from Guangyun Mansion, a bit more elite than the original City Guards.

But whether it’s County Soldiers or City Guards, the elite among them are merely at the level of strong muscles and bones.

Those who had succeeded in Refined Energy, if three or five could be found, that was considered quite good.

After all, they are just soldiers; one cannot expect too much.

If he personally led this army under the protection of the Tiger Talisman, naturally, they would be brave and forward, each willing to fight, and both spirit and Qi-blood would increase manifold.

With hundreds of them daring to contend with a Strength-Training Martial Master and not falling behind.

However, having traveled far from home without the power of the Tiger Talisman, this military force’s combat power drastically fell several notches, even when facing Red Lotus Soldiers, they hardly held any advantage.

This could be seen from the fact that Qian Sanliang, with ten men, fought more than thirty opponents, killed over ten, and his ten men went unharmed and were still full of vigor to pursue.

The huge disparity was clearly visible.

...