Chapter 23: Cut off but not dead, never extinguished at night There was a hint of paleness in the eastern sky. The sky is already bright before the dawn. The world gradually became clearer. The sound of cocks crowing could be heard in the city early on, and it is still heard one after another, and is quite loud. By this time, all the evil spirits had retreated and the monsters had escaped into the jungle. "This night is over." Lin Yan held a long sword and walked slowly on the top of the city wall. Wherever he passed, he would lightly tap the paper figures and they would turn into pieces and fly away with the wind. The 360-step city defense position belonging to his Linjiang Division was not breached by evil spirits.

However, three hundred and sixty steps away, the smell of blood was extremely pungent. Because a gap of six hundred steps had been torn on both sides. If he had not gone forward with a knife to block it, re-lit the willow branches to light the night lamp, and used paper figures to guard it to deter the evil spirits, the consequences would have been disastrous. At this moment, Lin Yan looked at the corpse on the ground with a slightly heavy look in his eyes. This was a young man, but he was torn to pieces alive, his intestines were all over the floor, his blood was thick, his limbs were broken, and his flesh and bones were separated. Not far away, the head with ferocious eyes and blood and tears rolled to the side. A gap of six hundred steps meant that at least twenty soldiers defending the city died in the dark. Many members of the patrol team responsible for support also died while defending this section of the city wall. The soldier in front of him is just one of them. "..." Lin Yan bowed and then dispersed the paper figures he had left on the city wall last night. Then he continued walking forward and saw a headless corpse on the ground not far away. That was the head being chopped off by a sharp blade. Looking closely at the wound, it seems that he was attacked from behind while defending the city and his head was chopped off. The chaos of last night was not just caused by the evil spirits of darkness. Lin Yan remembered the man who swung a knife at him from behind. The other party was wearing iron armor and should be a high-ranking member of the city defense force. But what made Lin Yan feel heavy-hearted was that the man was holding a willow branch as a night light in his hand. "He had a genuine willow night lamp in his hand, and the oil had not been replaced."

"He is not an evil spirit, nor is he possessed by an evil spirit. He is a real human." "Why did the high-ranking figures of the city's defense army, the top masters of the Inner Strength Realm, betray the city, open a gap, and let the evil spirits enter the city?" Thinking this, he quickened his pace and came to the place where he had killed this man yesterday. The lower half of the body was still on the top of the city wall, but there was no hope of life. Lin Yan stuck his head out and looked towards the city. But outside the city, there were only the corpses of killed birds and beasts, monsters and goblins. The flesh and blood of these corpses had already rotted and even decayed, and they were devoured by other evil spirits in the darkness. The upper half of the body that he cut off yesterday was missing. This is normal. To demons and evil spirits, the human body is a great medicine and is more delicious than ordinary blood. I guess that half of the body must have been completely eaten last night, leaving not even a trace of flesh, blood, or bones. Lin Yan was just thinking this when he was suddenly stunned. The city wall is six feet high. Looking down from above, it is quite far. But with his eyesight at the Refined Essence Realm, he could see very clearly. There were several bloody words on the ground. The font is not big, and when viewed from a high place, it looks as fine as sand. The handwriting was messy, as if the person who wrote it was in great pain and was shaking constantly. "I will avenge the beheading someday!" "..." Lin Yan frowned for a moment. He whispered, "How can you survive with a half-broken body falling into darkness?" Normally, even if one is at the Refining Essence Realm, one would not survive if he was cut in half with only the upper body remaining. What's more, the man's upper body should have been smashed into mud after falling off the six-meter-high city wall. But it could still leave behind such a line of blood? More importantly, as he fell into darkness, monsters and goblins gathered under the city, and there was endless evil, but they didn't devour him in an instant? This is a person who can serve as a senior figure in the city defense force in Gaoliu City! He is also a person who is not afraid of the willow branches shining as a night light! And he is a person who can stay in the darkness and not be harmed by evil spirits? Who is this person? Thinking of this, Lin Yan's gaze fell on the lower half of the body at his feet. "Your physical body was intact last night, yet I still managed to chop it off with one blow. Why would I be afraid of your half-broken body?"

- The sun is rising and the morning light is rising. The Guantian Tower in the inner city determined that the disaster for tonight had passed, and most of those who could threaten the safety of Gaoliu City within a radius of 100 miles had already retreated far away. In the outer city, each major area also carried out post-disaster relief according to the original plan. Staff from various government offices, day and night patrol officers, guards who stayed behind, and various branches of the Astronomical Observatory were all involved. And at this moment on the south city wall. The commander-in-chief of Zhaozhou took off his helmet and armor. Without even having time to change out of his wet coat, he summoned the people in charge of the defense positions in the south city. "We suffered twelve casualties, but the patrol team has sealed all the gaps and cleared out all the demons that broke into the city." "Eight of my men were killed or wounded. We failed to seal one of the gaps, and two little demons broke into the city. We have killed one, and the remaining one is still on the run. We have already sent people to the city government to wipe it out." "Two of our troops were seriously injured, one was slightly injured, and there were no gaps." The man was about thirty years old, his face was covered with incense ash, his armor was covered with scars, and his eyes showed a hint of fatigue. The commander-in-chief of Zhaozhou couldn't help but take another look. This young man named Meng Lu was still at the stage of blood refining half a month ago, but today he has completed marrow cleansing. Obviously, he was using himself as bait to attract evil spirits, thereby sharing the pressure of his soldiers and reducing casualties. "He is a man who is willing to take risks himself to reduce the burden on his soldiers. He is a man of honor." Zhaozhou thought to himself, "He has been transferred from the inner city for half a year. I have buried his talent in the past. I should cultivate him in the future." As he was thinking this, he heard reports of casualties from various units. What came out were numbers one after another. It symbolizes one human life after another. The commander-in-chief of Zhaozhou looked gloomy and depressed. But the next moment, he frowned and asked, "What about Linjiang Division? I ordered Zhao Jing to bring people to support us, but he hasn't come back to report yet?" "Zhao Jing has not returned yet, and there is no news." At this time, a clerk in charge of disseminating information from the city defense army said, "The flag bearer of Linjiang Division has no news at all." Everyone's expression changed slightly and they looked at each other. "Could it be that the Linjiang Division's position has been lost?" A lieutenant couldn't help but whisper, with a hint of disbelief in his tone. This was not unexpected at first. Because something happened in Linjiang Division yesterday, the twelve small flags were dismissed, and the flag bearer was left alone to guard 360 steps.

But it was clear that the commander-in-chief had already sent Zhao Jing with twenty personal soldiers to help. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any mistakes on the Linjiang Division's part. But why is there no news? In an instant, a feeling of uneasiness arose in everyone's hearts. "Report!" At this moment, a soldier came quickly outside the door with a panicked look on his face, and said, "The body was found at the location of the 60th willow night light..." Everyone frowned and looked over. Last night, evil spirits attacked the city and there were corpses everywhere on the city walls. Why should we be so panicked? "The upper body is gone, leaving only half of the body. From the skirt armor, belt, and military boots, we can make a preliminary assessment..." The soldier's face turned pale and he said in a trembling voice, "It's your personal guard captain, Zhao Jing!" (End of this chapter)