This is what an immortal should be like

Chapter 182 Appropriate Rescue
After an autumn wind, the clouds in the sky had already gone, but only Zhuang Lin, Xi Miao, and Liu Hongyu remained on the clouds, while Wuming had already disappeared.

The Xiangyang army on the ground formed a long line and slowly advanced northward. If any of these soldiers looked up and had excellent eyesight, they might have noticed a wisp of cloud in the sky that seemed to be moving very fast, but they would often lose sight of it in the instant their eyes became tired.

Xi Miao had already helped Zhuang Lin stand up, and at least on the surface, she seemed to be fine. Given her current condition, she should have immediately returned to the Immortal Fox Cave or gone to the Hidden Immortal Valley for secluded cultivation, but this time she insisted on staying.

As a powerful demon with profound cultivation, Xi Miao had her own judgment on everything, so Zhuang Lin let her have her way. Perhaps she also vaguely knew that this matter was very important and special to Hidden Immortal Valley.

Liu Hongyu could not fully fathom his master's thoughts, but he did have some of his own insights.

The historical translation I have is already quite thick, with many annotations, but when it comes to the battle itself, it's just a short passage, only mentioning the outcome of the Battle of Luoyang, without mentioning anything else.

Liu Hongyu gazed at the Xiangyang army receding into the distance, recalling the moment when the old general outside the city boosted morale, and also thinking about the battle situation he already knew.

But for the people of this region, all of this is a matter of life and death.

According to the current calculation method of the Great Jin Dynasty, the straight-line distance from Xiangyang to Luoyang is about a thousand miles, which is quite far for ordinary people.

However, the northern kingdom's army could not have been heading only for Luoyang; there must have been at least two armies, and an entire region was shrouded in flames of war. Luoyang was only relatively the front line.

In fact, after flying on the clouds for a period of time, when the three of them flew over a mountain marked by seven peaks, a strong aura of bloodlust had already permeated the sky and wilderness ahead.

This was also the first time Zhuang Lin and Liu Hongyu had truly experienced war.

"No wonder it is said that celestial beings should not easily interfere with changes in the human world; this kind of malevolent aura is no ordinary thing!"

In a daze, Zhuang Lin and Liu Hongyu seemed to see various scenes of fighting, not between people, but more like some kind of terrifying and twisted energy intertwining, sometimes humanoid, sometimes tangled into monsters, emitting roars and howls, along with various wails and screams.
Hearing Zhuang Lin's murmured words, Xi Miao nodded in agreement.

"Humans are the most intelligent of all beings. Even if their minds are clouded, they should not be underestimated. Although their consciousness is weak, it can accumulate into a mountain and a stream into a marsh. Their thoughts can even influence the changes in heaven and earth. Sometimes, they can even influence the real trends and create some incredible things. Those who cultivate the divine path value them the most, but they also want to be less affected. It is the path to success and the path to downfall. Therefore, they are very contradictory!"

"Leaving aside these matters, all immortal cultivators throughout history were originally born from mortal bodies."

Xi Miao's words were already some old news, and these things had formed a tacit understanding in the cultivation world throughout history.

However, based on their personal experiences today, Zhuang Lin and Liu Hongyu have more to say about it.

"But this fate..."

Liu Hongyu couldn't help but express his surprise. The strange phenomenon he had just witnessed was truly astonishing. If Zhuang Lin and Xi Miao hadn't been there, he would have suspected that some kind of demon was causing trouble.

Zhuang Lin glanced at Liu Hongyu and said.

"That's because what we see is not a mirage, but a large army actually fighting!"

As the three were talking, Fayun continued forward, heading straight for the place where he sensed the change in energy.

Before long, a faint roar grew louder in the sky, while a fierce battle was taking place on the ground, in the city of Xuchang!
On the walls of Xuchang in Yuzhou, the reserve Jin soldiers rushed up the walls, while the previous wave of defenders had almost all been wiped out, and outside the walls were densely packed enemy troops attacking the city.

The moat had dried up considerably, and many sections had been filled in with earth.

The shouts and screams were almost deafening.

"Kill them—take them down!"

"Charge!" "Kill them!"

The newly arrived reinforcements charged towards the enemy troops who had climbed the city walls, and the two sides clashed again. In the life-or-death struggle, sparks flew from the clashing weapons, and flesh was torn apart by the slashing and stabbing.
The entire city wall was now a scene of purgatory.

"Oil—"

Someone shouted, and the Jin soldiers poured oil down and threw torches down, causing a small fire to break out in the area below the city walls. In an instant, screams filled the air, and several siege ladders collapsed.

The Jin troops who managed to catch their breath on the city walls immediately reinforced both flanks, gradually annihilating the enemy soldiers who had scaled the walls, or simply pushing them off the walls using spears, shields, and other similar objects.
Finally, the enemy sounded the retreat, and most of the attacking soldiers, except for some who fled in panic, withdrew in an orderly manner.

On the city wall of Xuchang, a military general stood panting heavily, holding a long spear. Several of his personal guards gathered around him after killing the remaining enemies.

The general untied the pouch at his waist, took a sip of medicinal wine, and then handed it to the guards beside him. The guards took turns drinking a small sip of the wine, panting and trying to recover their internal energy as quickly as possible.

"General, we've finally repelled them. Shall we press our advantage and launch a counterattack?"

"No, although the enemy has retreated, their formation remains intact. We are outnumbered and must not underestimate them or advance rashly."

As he spoke, the leading general swallowed hard and licked his lips to relieve the dryness and pain.

That sip of wine was a lifesaver, but now I have to use it to restore my strength and internal energy, so of course I can't use it to quench my thirst.

The personal guards and many ordinary soldiers around him also had chapped lips.

The general looked up and saw that the enemy camp was well-fortified and orderly, clearly commanded by a skilled commander, as evidenced by their offensive.

"General, do you think Luoyang has fallen?"

The rebel army has been shouting these words all along, even claiming that the rear counties have been captured, in an attempt to shake the morale of the army in Xuchang. However, they have been suppressed by the defending general. But today, even his personal guards are starting to waver.

The general glanced at the person who had spoken.

"General Zhu is a skilled commander with an elite force. With him personally in command, Luoyang cannot be defeated so quickly. Do not let the enemy shake your morale. Anyone who utters such words will be severely punished!"

"promise!"

The general had calmed down a bit by now. He looked at the soldiers collecting the corpses on the city wall, then looked up at the sky. The sky was cloudless, the sun high in the sky, scorching the earth so much that it looked distorted; late autumn felt like midsummer.
"Damn bandits, they really know how to pick their timing!" The general gripped his spear tightly and looked towards the upper reaches of the river in the distance.

At this time, Xuchang City did not have a decent moat. This year, Yuzhou was suffering from drought, and the water levels of many rivers dropped sharply. The Xuchang area was even more severely short of water, which turned the already pitiful little moat into a ditch.

Xuchang was besieged for a month and a half, and it seemed that even the heavens were on the side of the rebels, as it hadn't rained for almost a month and a half.

Food supplies in the city are still manageable, but water has been largely cut off. The few wells that remain have long been under the control of the general, who has recently suspended their opening to the public under the pretext of storing water for future use.

This certainly aroused some public anger, but in reality, the well had already dried up, and they dared not make this fact public.

Damn you, God, how unfair you are!
Although the general usually revered ghosts and gods, he couldn't help but curse the heavens in his heart today, and could only sigh helplessly afterward.

"Move men to reinforce the city's defenses and throw the enemy corpses down into the river! Tell the soldiers that reinforcements will arrive soon, and then we can coordinate an attack from within and without, and all difficulties will be easily resolved!"

"promise!"

The general had no choice but to hold on, hoping for reinforcements from the rear. But so much time had passed, and why hadn't he seen even a single wave of reinforcements?

The siege battle had temporarily come to an end, and Zhuang Lin and the others gazed at the cloudless sky from Fayun.

Although the decision was made to intervene in this great battle, there was a method to it; it was absolutely impossible to directly kill ordinary soldiers. However, the drought situation here was clearly abnormal at the moment.

"It seems we weren't the only ones who were caught up in the chaos!"

Xi Miao said this, then looked at Zhuang Lin, who didn't say anything, and once again drew out the lifelike little dragon from his sleeve.

To be honest, this little dragon is quite convenient to use, especially since the aura of a true dragon on it is so strong. The title of the Lord of Water and Marsh is indeed well-deserved. If this little dragon is so powerful, what must the ancient true dragons have been like?

"In the past, it would have been much more troublesome to find a fundamental solution, but today it's simple!"

As he spoke, Zhuang Lin breathed a wisp of his own spiritual energy into the little dragon in his hand.

At this moment, the little dragon seemed to stretch and extend, then transformed into an invisible dragon aura that shot into the sky.

"hold head high"

A faint dragon's roar seemed to come from the heavens above, and the moisture in the higher altitudes seemed to be drawn down by the strong winds, causing clouds to quickly gather in the sky and gradually form layers of clouds.
Not long after the general and his men descended from the city wall, they noticed that the sky seemed to have darkened, and they were quite surprised.

"Rumble"

A thunderclap resounded across the sky, and lightning instantly illuminated the earth once more.

The soldiers and civilians inside Xuchang City, as well as those inside and outside the besieging camp, all looked up at the sky, some in astonishment, some with trepidation, some with joy, and some with anticipation.
"Splash splash splash splash"

After a few cries of thunder, the rain began to fall in an instant.
The general in Xuchang looked at the sky with excitement, feeling the coolness of the rain on his face and the slightly sweet raindrops on his lips, and finally came back to his senses.

"Heaven has eyes! Heaven has eyes! Quickly! Pass down the order: soldiers and civilians alike, take containers to collect water! Do not miss this heavenly rain!"

"promise--"

The guards ran out, but in fact, even without the general's order, the city was already full of excited people fetching water in containers.

In the sky, Zhuang Lin stretched out his hand, and a dragon-shaped phantom from the horizon swam over, transforming back into a mini dragon that coiled around his hand.

"Is it a living dragon? How can it be so obedient?"

Liu Hongyu couldn't help but ask. The little dragon looked so lifelike, and it moved just as well, exuding a kind of spirituality, which made people quite suspicious.

"Hahaha, it is certainly not a real dragon, but it contains extraordinary spirituality. Although it has no intelligence, it has a keen instinct and knows where is the best place. This is far better than any earthly emperor!"

Xi Miao said this with a smile, but Zhuang Lin looked into the distance.

"Hongyu, I'm leaving this to you. If that thing comes out again, just drive it away. There's no need to get too entangled in karma. If it doesn't come out, then there's no need to look for it!"

"Disciple accepts the order!"

Zhuang Lin's claim that finding that thing is naturally the root cause of the continuous lack of rainfall, and may even be the cause of the drought in Yuzhou.

This kind of existence is quite special. It's inappropriate to simply label it as a monster. There's even a good chance that it's something born from the destiny of a certain entity. Therefore, Liu Hongyu should not touch it lightly. Expelling it is the best option.

This is called handling a situation with appropriate restraint.

"However, if there is any bloodlust or intention to harm others, then there is no need to hold back!"

"Yes!"

Liu Hongyu understood that those who are bloodthirsty and harmful are mostly related to their own desires, and such beings must be monsters, not calamities born of destiny.

Leaving these words behind, Zhuang Lin and Xi Miao did not linger in Xuchang. Instead, sensing the shifting energy within the Dharma Cloud, they flew off to another location.

It seems the previous wave of reinforcements hasn't arrived yet, but logically they should have arrived in Xuchang first and then rushed to Luoyang.

However, since they hadn't seen them in Xuchang, it was easy to guess where the Southern Barbarian Commandant Yin Ji's men had gone. Even without calculation, Zhuang Lin knew where they should be.

It can only be said that Yin Ji is a man of great ambition!
(End of this chapter)