159: Divine soldiers descending from the sky?

Li Shun gave the order, and everyone in Qing Province stood ready.

However, three days passed, and what arrived was not soldiers sent from the Old Capital, but a group of old ghosts.

That's right, they were those ethereal old ghosts.

Because Liu Chongshan had clearly stated in the scroll that divine soldiers would descend after three days, by the third day, everyone dared not be negligent.

Li Shun even ascended the city wall directly, staring intently in the direction of the Old Capital.

"Your Majesty, something is not right. It is almost noon, and there is still no sign of anyone. Is this Traitor Liu afraid, and not coming?"

Luo Cheng frowned. He had already gathered all his forces here, and all their weapons were coated with a special poison.

"I'm afraid there's a trick. Could Traitor Liu's forces have already entered Qing Province from another direction?"

Wang Guanli stroked his beard and said in a deep voice.

"No, this is the only way to enter Qing Province from Xu Province. You know the situation in Yan Province now; if they pass through Yan Province, they'll poison themselves to death without us needing to act."

Luo Cheng tightened his grip on his saber hilt, his voice low: "Your Majesty, noon has passed, and there isn't even a ghost... Is Traitor Liu playing tricks on us?"

Li Shun sneered: "No, Liu Chongshan is an arrogant and conceited man. Since he dared to issue a challenge, he will never back down."

From this perspective, Li Shun still admired Liu Chongshan quite a bit.

"Then could their people have already been poisoned to death on the way?"

As soon as Luo Cheng finished speaking, he saw everyone turn to look at him, as if he had said something outrageous.

"Don't look at me like that, I was just joking."

"Hehe~"

"Hehe~"

Wang Guanli glared at Luo Cheng. This kind of boorish fellow was the most unreliable. Old Thief Liu was merely arrogant, not foolish.

"Your Majesty, if he truly doesn't come, what should we do? Wouldn't it be a waste of military resources to garrison here?"

Wang Guanli frowned, no longer speaking.

Everyone was waiting for this great battle. Li Shun had even planned that the soldiers of the Old Capital were also his people.

He would directly reveal his identity, believing that with his status as the legitimate emperor, these soldiers would surely abandon the darkness and turn to the light.

At that time, he would only punish the main culprits, and he would let bygones be bygones for everyone else.

After several calamities, the population of Great Yan could no longer withstand another major war.

Unfortunately, no one expected Old Thief Liu to be so devious.

* * *

Time passed minute by minute. Li Shun stood quietly, and no one dared to leave.

It wasn't until Li Dequan's ears twitched that he suddenly felt a chill in the surroundings, and it was excessively quiet.

So quiet that he could clearly hear his own breathing.

"Your Majesty, I don't know if it's this old servant's illusion, but this old servant always feels... this quietness is a bit eerie."

"And it's a bit cold."

It shouldn't be his illusion. After Li Dequan spoke, he immediately sneezed.

"Achoo!"

"Your Majesty, this old servant has been rude."

"It's not your illusion, the surrounding temperature is indeed dropping."

Luo Cheng suddenly shivered. He had fought on battlefields for twenty years, and this was the first time he felt a chill down his spine.

"Damn it..."

He cursed under his breath and reached for his saber, only to find a thin layer of frost had formed on the scabbard at some point.

"Form ranks! Prepare to meet the enemy."

Li Shun's sharp cry pierced the deadly silence.

He saw his breath condense into white mist in the air, yet it was clearly noon in midsummer.

On the wilderness below the city wall, the withered grass became covered in frost at a visible speed.

The distant horizon began to distort, like rice paper crumpled by an invisible hand.

Li Shun suddenly remembered the Netherworld legends his grand tutor had told him in his youth, and his throat unconsciously bobbed.

"Playing tricks!"

"Hiding your head and showing your tail, come out!"

Luo Cheng shouted, forcing himself, but heard his own voice trembling at the end.

He stared intently at that distorted air, and suddenly realized it wasn't an illusion—something was truly emerging from underground.

* * *

The frozen earth beneath the city wall suddenly cracked in a spiderweb pattern, and a grayish-green withered hand violently broke through the soil.

Rotten flesh still hung from its five finger bones, but its fingernails gleamed with an eerie metallic luster.

"Be on guard!"

Li Shun's roar awakened the stunned defenders.

But it was already too late—the entire wilderness was like a boiling pot of porridge, countless bony hands burst from the earth, and the frozen soil ripped open with a teeth-grinding sound.

"Good heavens! What is this thing?"

Luo Cheng drew his bow and nocked an arrow in one fluid motion. The arrow whistled down, but like passing through an illusion, it pierced through the decaying corpses and fell directly to the ground.

"Your Majesty, these ghostly things have no physical bodies; our attacks are ineffective."

"Old Thief Liu is too damn cunning! This isn't divine soldiers descending; this is them bursting straight from the ground, alright!"

Just then, the entire section of the city wall suddenly shook violently.

A hunched, black figure slowly rose from the ground, shrouded in thick, inky black mist.

It was an old man in a tattered Daoist robe, his face covered in festering sores, but his eyes glowed with a terrifying brightness.

"Jie jie jie..."

"Child of the Li family, do you still recognize this old man?"

Li Shun's pupils constricted. That voice... "Netherworld Old Ghost!"

Wang Guanli cried out in alarm, "You're still alive!"

The old ghost bared his rotten mouth, revealing ghastly white teeth: "Dead? This old man ceased to be a living person long ago."

He spread his arms, and behind him, thousands of ghostly figures immediately appeared: "By Chancellor Liu's command, I have come to take your lives!"

Luo Cheng was so enraged he laughed: "Bullshit! If you have the guts, come in and fight!"

The Netherworld Old Ghost smiled sinisterly, then suddenly raised his hand and struck the protective barrier.

What was chilling was that his palm actually passed through the light barrier, casting a shadow inside the city: "Three days from now, on the night of the full moon, this old man will set up the Great Netherworld Array outside the city. If you have the courage, come and break the array!"

Li Shun pressed his trembling sword at his waist: "Why should I accept your challenge?"

"Because..."

The old ghost's voice suddenly became ethereal, "If you do not accept the challenge, this old man will let these hundred thousand Yin soldiers harass you day and night, leaving the people of Qing Province with no peace!"

With that, he violently waved his hand, and outside the city, ghosts wailed and wolves howled, countless black figures moving around outside the light barrier.

Wang Guanli suddenly lowered his voice: "Your Majesty, he is bluffing. Netherworld creatures fear Yang Qi the most and dare not appear in broad daylight..."

"The old fellow is quite clever."

The Netherworld Old Ghost seemed to have heard him, a sinister grin appearing on his rotten face, "However..."

He suddenly pulled out a blood-colored command flag from his embrace and plunged it into the ground: "Look what this is. With this item, the Yin soldiers can manifest in broad daylight!"