Time Travel: The Best Doctor in Ancient Times

Chapter 759: Chapter 594: Praying for Death Before Cangmi City

The once fragile Liu Nv, except for Han Qiu of the General’s family, had never seen bloodshed, but now, their hands were already stained with blood…

Yet even so, they unwaveringly protected their own lady, never leaving her side!

“Don’t be so tense. Sometimes, taking a city doesn’t necessarily mean fighting with real swords and spears…” Gu Changsheng sensed the tension of Liu Nv and helplessly shook his head.

“My lady, leave Cangmi City to us; you needn’t lift a finger!” Xiao Cui, gazing at the faintly visible red figure inside the palanquin, spoke gravely.

Their lady, seemingly heartless and cold-blooded, was actually the kindest, and these sins of the Southern Borderlands would be atoned for by them, her maids!

Han Qiu and the others nodded, echoing Xiao Cui’s words.

“Heh…have you developed a taste for fighting and killing? I told you, there’s no need to be tense!” Gu Changsheng said with a resigned smile from within the palanquin, “I’ve obliterated Huaheng, broken through Miaosu City, and slaughtered everyone in Canglan City. Along this path, I have killed hundreds of thousands of people. Do you think I will keep killing like this forever?”

“My lady?” Xiao Cui turned around uncertainly at his words.

“Continuing this way wouldn’t be bad, but when will it ever end? Once we truly reach Great Swamp Mountain, I suspect half of Bashu will have fallen. By then, if we have decimated the inhabitants of the vast Southern Borderlands, wouldn’t all our efforts have been in vain?” Gu Changsheng leaned lazily in the palanquin, slowly shaking his head, “After all, this is the land of my mother’s people; no matter how much I hate, I wouldn’t really turn it into purgatory. The blood has already dyed half the skies of the Southern Borderlands; it’s enough. Probably by the time we reach Great Swamp Mountain, you will no longer need to take action…”

“So are we attacking Cangmi City or not?” Xiao Cui scratched her head, puzzled.

“Not attacking! It will be willingly handed over!” Gu Changsheng chuckled lightly, somewhat speechless at his own little maids.

He never hid his knowledge of Military Tactics and Strategies, but it seemed the maids by his side still preferred not to think for themselves!

He had been willing to slaughter several cities along the way, not with the desire to turn the land of the Southern Borderlands barren!

He desired the Southern Borderlands! He wanted to revive the Phoenix Clan!

He slayed as a warning to others and created this tremendous influence all for the sake of preserving a lifeline for the Southern Borderlands!

Death was not the beginning nor the end; he aimed to use the lives of the hundreds of thousands from the previous cities to carve a direct path to Great Swamp Mountain for himself, Gu Changsheng!

With an awe-inspiring presence, an unstoppable force, he was eager to see what the Southern Borderlands, controlled by Xiangka Tianji for over twenty years, truly looked like!

To his own lady’s words, Xiao Cui and the other maids of Liu Nv unconditionally agreed.

Whatever their lady said was right; even if it was wrong, it was still right!

Yet, it seemed their lady rarely ever misspoke—except when having a whimsical moment!

Under the veil of night, Cangmi City loomed closer, yet what puzzled Xiao Cui and the others was that atop the vast city walls, there wasn’t a single soldier, only a huge white flag spanning across the wall that was strikingly clear under the night sky!

“Cangmi City has surrendered?” Xiao Cui’s eyes widened, this hanging of a white flag on the city wall had only one explanation—it was surrender!

“It seems so!” Han Qiu nodded. Indeed, whatever their lady said was right.

The victory came too easily, causing the Liu Nv, accustomed to long periods of seizing cities, to hardly believe it!

They hadn’t even started fighting yet! How had it surrendered so quickly?

“Cangmi City surrenders, kneeling to welcome the arrival of Lord of Phoenix!”

“Cangmi City surrenders, kneeling to welcome the arrival of Lord of Phoenix!”

“…”

The echoing voices filled the skies of Cangmi City.

Under the night sky, the gates of Cangmi City were wide open, and the bustling crowd kneeled inside and outside the city gate, led by about a dozen elderly Gu women dressed in plain white clothes.

Without a battle, the city gates opened wide, the entire city kneeling in welcome!

Cangmi City chose the simplest way to seek a sliver of hope for survival!

The figures of Gu Changsheng and his group halted in front of the welcoming troops of Cangmi City.

“Cangmi City knows the times,” Gu Changsheng slowly stepped down from the palanquin and walked side by side with Zhou Mu at the forefront, looking down at everyone kneeling before him, but his gaze was drawn to a blood-red strip of fabric at the very front of the welcoming group, “What is that?”

Chang Shou pointed it out, Gu Changsheng asked sternly.

The elderly Gu woman who was pointed out trembled slightly, barely lifting her eyes to see the two dazzling figures not far in front of her.

Under the moonlight, the two figures, one red and one purple, were so stunningly splendid they were hard to look at directly.

“My lady, don’t get close, they are still carrying weapons!”

Xiao Cui and Han Qiu swiftly stepped forward, shielding their lady and son-in-law as their expressions darkened.

At the forefront of Cangmi City’s welcoming troops, those dozen or so elderly Gu women with white clothes had sparkling longswords hanging clearly at their waists!

Did they think they were blind and couldn’t see?

“Deceitful scoundrels, already surrendered yet still carrying weapons, their intentions are condemnable!” Si Xi jumped down from the carriage, pointed at them, and shouted, turning to look at their lady and lord, “My lady, my lord, this is a feigned surrender! Don’t be fooled by them!”

It was obviously a feigned surrender!

The swords were not even put down yet, hoping for a miraculous transformation—what wishful thinking!

Facing Si Xi’s accusation, Han Qiu and Xiao Cui, among others, remained on guard, yet the dozen or so elderly Gu women still curled up on the ground, not uttering a single word in defense!

“Retreat!”

A subtly commanding rebuke made Si Xi and Han Qiu stiffen in place.

That voice, it was their lady’s, wasn’t it?

Retreat? Was she asking them to retreat?

In the Dark Night Army, the first iron rule was absolute obedience!

Understanding their lady’s intentions, Han Qiu and Xiao Cui, along with Liu Nv, immediately stepped aside, but their faces still wore their wariness.

Si Xi hesitated for a moment, raised his hand wanting to speak to stop them, but then timidly retracted his hand, closed his mouth, and just looked uncertainly at his master.

Why didn’t the master intervene? Was their lady losing her mind again? How could he just watch as she walked towards those deceitful surrenders?

With a wave of Red Sleeve’s arm, in the blink of an eye, the old Gu woman kneeling in the center felt a lightness in her hand. Looking up, the Blood Scripture she had been holding high was now in the hands of a red-clad figure not far away.

About a dozen white-robed old Gu women exchanged glances, determination flashing through their eyes.

“Swoosh!”

“Swoosh!”

“…”

In the next instant, about ten longswords were drawn simultaneously, their gleaming blades reflecting the cold light. Before Si Xi and Han Qiu could react, the swords were already placed at their throats!

“Phoenix’s Monarch, graced by the God of the Red Sun, bearer of the Blood of Serving God descending upon the Southern Borderlands, the Lord of Cangmi City has already committed suicide to offer the city. We know our sins are too deep to be forgiven, unworthy of living on; I beseech the Phoenix’s Monarch, considering our shared lineage with the Southern Border Miao Ethnic Group, to spare the soldiers and civilians of Cangmi City!” the once-holding-Blood-Scripture Cangmi Hanji, now with a sword at her throat, spoke in a tragic voice, “Phoenix’s Monarch above us, it was us who coveted power and wealth, siding with the traitorous Xiangka Clan; this has nothing to do with the soldiers and civilians of Cangmi City, they only acted on orders, truly innocent! The Phoenix Imperial Clan is the legitimate royal family of the Southern Borderlands, and the soldiers and civilians of Cangmi City are also your subjects; please spare them!”

Gu Changsheng looked down at the Blood Scripture in his hands, its stains still vivid, stark before his eyes!

Seeing no response from Gu Changsheng, Cangmi Hanji, realizing there was no way out, exchanged looks with about ten people, all of whom smiled resignedly.

In the next moment, their swords, hesitating not a whit, chopped towards their own throats!

Behind them, countless kneeling soldiers and civilians shed tears…

Gu Changsheng took it all in, his sleeves suddenly sweeping as he saw the look of despair in the eyes of the kneeling civilians!

Inner Strength! Boundless Inner Strength! Like countless hands, in an instant, it flipped the swords from the hands of the white-robed old Gu women to the ground!

At that moment, each of the Gu women’s necks was covered in fresh blood!

Behind them, countless soldiers and civilians sucked in a cold breath upon seeing this!

A minute later, Cangmi Hanji and the others would have certainly died!

Si Xi covered his mouth, seeing the wounds on the necks of Cangmi Hanji and the others, he clearly knew these women had truly sought to die!

They must have embraced a resolved mindset to die, to have swung their swords so decisively at themselves!

Cangmi Hanji and the others, eyes filled with terror, looked at the red-robed woman standing before them, the warm blood on their necks reminding them—they had just walked back from the gates of death!

Dressed in white and kneeling to meet her out of the city, they knew there was no road to life left for them, their only wish was to follow the City Lord in death to protect the over one hundred thousand soldiers and civilians of Cangmi City!

Experiencing the resolute killings and thunderous methods of the Phoenix’s Monarch after her consecutive slaughters in several cities, Cangmi Hanji and others were well aware!

But just now, the Phoenix’s Monarch had actually acted, startling their swords from their hands!

This…

For a moment, Cangmi Hanji and the others panicked!

“Phoenix’s Monarch above, the soldiers and civilians of Cangmi City are truly innocent, the class system in the Southern Borderlands is strict, they dare not disobey our orders, the guilty are us, the traitors are us! Please spare them! We are willing to die to atone for our crimes!” Cangmi Hanji pounded her head on the ground repeatedly, the vigorous action bringing out a wash of blood from her neck.

“Please spare them! We are willing to die to atone for our crimes!”

“Please spare them! We are willing to die to atone for our crimes!”

“…”

About ten old white-robed Gu women kept kneeling, their plea for mercy resounding poignantly.

The blood flowing from their necks stained their white robes, blooming into breathtaking blossoms of blood…

Not allowing them to atone by death was tantamount to not sparing the soldiers and civilians of Cangmi City!

At this moment, Cangmi Hanji and others were truly out of options!

All they could do was bow deeply, again and again, each movement bringing out a stream of blood from their necks, yet they worshipped devoutly, not daring to stop!

Behind them stood over one hundred thousand soldiers and civilians of Cangmi City!

That was over one hundred thousand lives!

If the wrath of the Phoenix’s Monarch was not appeased, they would have no way to survive!

Though power and riches were fleeting, at this moment, all they could do was pray, in the most devout, most humble manner…