Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Chapter 355: 187. Forced conscription, hold for three days

In Wanyang County City, the streets hardly showed any civilians anymore, especially the closer one got to the West City, the more deserted it became.

Not far from the West City, at the entrance of a grain and flour shop, more than ten people were gathered together, each holding a bag of grain in their hands. They had clearly just finished their shopping and were chatting idly.

Despite it being idle chatter, it was clear to see on their faces, both the shopkeeper's and the customers', a certain paleness, and from time to time, they would turn their heads to look in the direction of the West City gate, their worry unmistakable.

"The noise seems to have stopped, do you think they've held on?"

"Who knows, it's been three days, I bet all the city's defenders must have been wiped out by now!"

"I heard just yesterday that this time Yongzhou has sent over an army of more than a hundred thousand from the Demon Sect. With such numbers, Wanyang County won't be able to hold on for long."

"What are we going to do then? We've got to find a way to escape!"

"Escape? Where would you run to? The Western Gate is under attack; the Eastern, Southern, and Northern gates have all been sealed by the Yongzhou army. I heard that just this morning, people from the Sword Control Bureau desperately sent out two riders to deliver messages. With our number of people, trying to escape from there would be certain death."

"Then we can only wait inside for them to break through the city. I've heard that the Demon Sect's army is ruthless, devouring people without spitting out the bones. If they really break in, we'll be doomed!"

...

More than ten people, including the shopkeeper, virtually all revealed their fear of the Yongzhou Demon Path's army in their words, as if the ones besieging the city were not humans like themselves, but a horde of demons. Should these demons breach the city walls, dead bodies would surely litter the streets, and blood would flow like rivers.

Only a young man and a teenager standing on the outskirts, upon hearing the words of the crowd, exchanged glances with each other, both wearing somewhat bizarre expressions.

The young man, roughly in his early twenties, was slightly lean, with flashes of sharpness occasionally evident in his eyes, clearly somewhat disdainful of what the others were saying, yet he did not take the initiative to say anything in explanation.

As for the teenager, around the age of sixteen or seventeen, he had thin lips and a sharp face, exuding a determination inappropriate for his age. Unlike the frequently shifting gaze of the young man, the teenager's focus remained on the lips of those who spoke. However, his gaze was so casual that if one did not look closely, it would be easy to miss.

"Brother Su, is the Yongzhou army truly so ferocious?"

After pondering for a moment, Wan Xiaolou could not help but ask Su Li in a low voice, standing beside him. He, like the people discussing the matter, had lived in Xuzhou since he was a child. Before meeting his master Hou Yuxiao, he had never had contact with the people of Yongzhou. Thus, the fear he felt, as a result of hearing tales and seeing things, was similar to that of the others, and even though this notion had changed after he became Hou Yuxiao's disciple, the overall sentiment remained largely the same.

Su Li did not answer immediately, his expression turning complex as he pondered for a long while before replying, "Before coming to Xuzhou, my impression of Xuzhou was very much like what these people think of Yongzhou."

In fact, Su Li had not lied!

Growing up in Zhaoyang County, he initially had no concept of The World at all, not to mention about the Righteous and Demon Paths. But as he grew older, especially after he began to learn martial arts, some of his perceptions started to change.

For instance, he knew about the division between the Righteous Path's Seven States and the Demon Path's Six States, knew that Zhaoyang was located on the eastern edge of Yongzhou, and that just across the boundary stele was Xuzhou. Yong and Xu States belonged to different factions of good and evil, and were traditionally antagonistic towards each other.

Four hundred years before the covenant in the Jin Capital was signed, Xuzhou had slaughtered many civilians of Yongzhou; including Su Li's own father, who had told him that his ancestors were killed by people of Xuzhou…

Su Li arrived in Wanyang County with thirty men from Geng Division on the sixteenth of July and had stayed nearly twenty days. Theoretically, he should have grown familiar with Wanyang County, but if he were to be honest, he still harbored animosity towards it. Therefore, during his days in Wanyang County, he had kept to himself, staying with Wan Xiaolou and the others, rarely interacting with anyone else.

The root cause of this, of course, was the indoctrination since childhood in Zhaoyang, as well as the grudges of his ancestors.

Su Li's expression was complex because, upon hearing the discussions of the people before him, he realized that the feelings of the people in Wanyang County towards Yongzhou were similar to his own.

What was more crucial was that having grown up in Zhaoyang, he was aware that many there harbored a deep animosity towards Xuzhou, even more so than himself. By extrapolation, considering Zhaoyang, a mere neighboring county, felt this strongly, the hostility of people in other parts of Yongzhou towards Xuzhou must be even greater...

"So these people's worries could very well come true, with the Yongzhou army upon entry really embarking on a massacre?"

Hearing Wan Xiaolou's inquiry, Su Li gravely nodded his head. Seeing the concern on his face, assuming he was afraid, Wan Xiaolou hurried to reassure him, "Don't be afraid. The Wanyang County's four thousand defenders have suffered a crushing defeat, and now the Holy Church's army is attacking the city. This means Tongling must have been victorious for the Holy Church. The Hou Clan should be safe as well, and the family head knows we are here, he will come to find us!"

Wan Xiaolou's face relaxed slightly at these words, he turned to look at the desolate streets within the city, his eyes gaining a hint of depth as he silently thought, "Will my master join the Yongzhou army and come here?"

The master had left Wanyang County only two months ago; although Wan Xiaolou had improved greatly in his martial arts under Su Li's guidance, his cultivation was still only at the fifth level of body refinement, and in this great battle, at best, he could only be considered an ordinary foot soldier. Therefore, his worry was normal.