During the period when Xiao Mo was in seclusion, He Yeye specially set up a formation around Xiao Mo's courtyard to block all sounds and external spiritual sense probing.
No one could enter to disturb Xiao Mo and Xiao Mo had completely immersed himself in a state of self-forgetfulness.
Xiao Mo was not just writing a book, but also organizing and verifying the Dao he pursued.
If he succeeded in this endeavor, he would truly be able to pioneer a Confucian path that belonged to him alone.
If he failed, the future path would truly be difficult.
What Xiao Mo didn't know was that Demon-Suppressing City was quietly transferring children and ordinary people at this time.
These children and ordinary people would be relocated by the Confucian Academy to the rear, far from the battlefield.
As for the other cultivators, not one was allowed to leave.
They had only two choices.
Either die fighting within Demon-Suppressing City, or sacrifice themselves beneath the Great Wall.The entire Demon-Suppressing City was shrouded in an atmosphere of intense tension.
Although everyone appeared to chat and laugh on the surface, deep in their hearts they were all contemplating whether they could return alive to the Ten Thousand Laws Realm.
Some, having no attachments, simply spent their nights drunk in brothels.
Others took up their brushes to write letter after letter home, leaving behind final words.
No one could guarantee they would definitely live to see tomorrow.
Four months quietly passed.
One morning, three long and heavy bell tolls once again spread throughout Demon-Suppressing City.
In a courtyard on Breeze Street, a sword cultivator named Qu Xuan slowly opened his eyes.
Qu Xuan came from the Willow Leaf Sword Sect in the Ten Thousand Laws Realm. Years ago, when his Dao companion had an affair with a senior brother, he had struck them both down with his sword in anger, ultimately being sentenced by the sect to guard the Great Wall for life, never to return.
He exhaled a breath of stale air, reached for the long sword hanging on the wall, and strode out of the courtyard gate, heading toward the Great Wall.
"Eh, take care, guest!"
"It's alright, we'll keep your room for you!"
"If you can come back alive, I'll let you stay free for a year!"
At Flowing Cloud Inn, cultivators walked out one after another, their figures all rushing toward the Great Wall.
After seeing off the last wave of guests, Innkeeper Pang struggled to support his corpulent belly, turned and tightly closed the inn's main door.
He went to the back courtyard, silently lit three incense sticks, and solemnly inserted them into the incense burner in front of his wife's memorial tablet on the offering table.
"Dear wife, I'm going now. Maybe today I'll be able to see you."
Innkeeper Pang took one last long look at his wife's memorial tablet, then took out his own tablet that he had prepared long ago, carefully placing it beside his wife's.
He opened the drawer, took out two gleaming thick-backed twin blades, took a deep breath, and also strode toward the Great Wall.
"Boss lady, I'm leaving!"
The teahouse waiter had just opened the shop and hadn't yet had time to serve customers when he heard the three bell tolls that spread throughout the city.
"Go on, go on. Any last words you want to leave?" The still-charming boss lady was looking down at her abacus, not even lifting her head as she casually asked.
"Hehe..." The waiter bashfully rubbed his nose, grinning cheekily, "Boss lady, to tell the truth, your butt is really perky! When I come back alive, can I give it a pat?"
"Get the hell out!"
Upon hearing this, the boss lady grabbed her abacus and hurled it fiercely at the waiter.
The waiter quickly dropped the cloth from his shoulder while deftly drawing the soft sword hidden at his waist, flashed away, and hurried toward the Great Wall.
"Is it really that perky?" The boss lady unconsciously turned around, twisting to look back at herself, then actually nodded and muttered to herself, "Mm, it is quite perky."
As she spoke, she even reached back to lightly pat her own buttocks, and that full curve indeed rippled with an alluring arc.
Finally, the boss lady put away her abacus, sword qi emanating from around her body, and she too soared into the sky, flying upward, "Hey, you brat, wait for this lady!"
At Emerald Flower House, the girls from the Blissful Union Sect heard the bell tolls and pushed awake the men sleeping on them.
The girls quickly dressed, then unceremoniously kicked the still-drowsy men, "Hey, you dead ghost, wake up, it's time to get up, dead ghost..."
The men groggily opened their eyes, and when they clearly heard the echoing bell tolls, they instantly became fully awake, "Damn, how many times did that bell ring?"
"Three times," the girls replied calmly.
"Three times?" The men couldn't help but gasp, "So soon..."
"No sooner than you were last night." The girl bent down to pull her short sword from under the bed, "This servant will take her leave first."
"Wait, I'll go with you!" The man hastily pulled on his pants, "If I must die, dying beside a lady wouldn't be a waste of this life."
"Dead ghost~"
The Blissful Union Sect girl coquettishly reached out with her slender jade finger to lightly touch the man's forehead.
"If you really can come back alive, this lady will serve you well once for free, not a penny charged."
In the western part of Demon-Suppressing City, in a run-down residence, Ding Shen slowly set down the book in his hands, changed into a green robe he hadn't worn in a long time, carefully straightened his clothing, then walked out of the courtyard with steady steps.
"Oh my, Scholar Ding, you're going to the Great Wall?" Just then, the neighboring Widow Qian was carrying a wooden bucket out to fetch water.
Widow Qian was just an ordinary mortal, not a cultivator. Her husband had been a cultivator, but had long since died in battle beneath the Great Wall. She had had the opportunity to leave this dangerous city, but she refused and insisted on staying.
"Indeed." Ding Shen nodded slightly.
"Dressed like this, Scholar Ding still looks like a Confucian scholar?" Widow Qian looked him over and asked with a smile.
"I used to be, but now I no longer count as one." Ding Shen shook his head gently, "It's just that going today, I wanted to make myself look somewhat dignified."
In the southern part of Demon-Suppressing City, Butcher Wang cleaned his pig-slaughtering knife that usually hung at his waist until it gleamed. Today he wouldn't be cutting pork, he was going to slaughter demons.
The beef noodle vendor, Boss Zhao, also for the first time didn't set up his stall, but shouldered his heavy giant sword and walked determinedly toward the Great Wall.
The old beggar who begged on the street smashed his chipped broken bowl with a "crack," gripped his oil-shiny dog-beating staff tightly, and his figure suddenly shot up from the ground, flying toward the city walls.
In Demon-Suppressing City's military camp, all the soldiers had already donned their black heavy armor, and each person's eyes burned with resolute death resolve.
Half an hour later, the towering walls of the Great Wall were densely packed with people.
They laughed and joked with each other, saying things like "When you die, stay away from me, don't get blood on me," "Big brother, if you die, I'll take good care of sister-in-law, don't worry," "Father-in-law, if I survive this time, I'll definitely have accumulated enough battle merit to marry Qianqian!"
And on the most central section of the Great Wall's walls, the girl in the short skirt was still casually eating candied hawthorn.
Looking at the millions of demon beasts and demon cultivator armies surging forward like a black tide in the distance, the girl's face showed not the slightest ripple.
"Now this looks more like a decisive battle should,"
He Yeye grinned, revealing a brilliant smile that also carried endless sharpness.
She slowly raised her arm, extended her slender finger, and pointed far toward that boundless terrifying beast tide.
Her voice wasn't particularly loud, yet it clearly spread throughout the entire heaven and earth, "Kill them all for this lady! Leave none alive!"