Ch 73: My Wolf Husband

The city walls were suddenly filled with the simultaneous release of heavy crossbows! They wove a web of arrows, casting it down over the “vine ghosts.”

However, it only took a moment for the soldiers with keen eyesight to feel their blood run cold.

The “people” hit by the arrows did not stop. Even with severed arms or legs, they only hesitated for a moment before continuing to charge forward. Only those completely torn apart by the heavy arrows fell silently to the ground.

There was no blood, no flesh—just heaps of dried, dead vines and branches.

It seemed as if the city was not besieged by humans, but by truly unfeeling, death-dealing “vine ghosts.”

This was merely the beginning of the fierce battle.

Inside Xuancheng, in a small house, Lin Shuishi could clearly hear the thunderous sound of the city’s ballistae firing, the “clang, clang” of metal echoing in the air—a cacophony of deadly noise.

Each sound was like a death knell.

At this moment, Lin Shuishi was no longer afraid. He lifted his eyes to look around him. The people and wolves here were all surrounding him, protecting him.

What did he do to deserve this? What made him any more precious than others, to justify hiding behind layers of protection while watching them fight to their last breath for him?

Each face around him—whose dream lover were they in the springtime? Whose beloved sons were they? Which life was not precious?

Behind Dongsheng was a family depending on him, a family that included Uncle Zheng, who treated Lin Shuishi like his own. How could he let them down?

The loyal white wolves in front of him, agile and faithful, were spiritual beasts, detached from the world, existing beyond the mundane. He and Fuli had dragged them into the swirling red dust of the mortal world, staining them with the sins of this world. They should not be part of a human war; they were miracles of nature.

Lin Shuishi clenched his fists, gritting his teeth. Finally, within the confines of these small courtyard walls, he lifted his head.

Now, he was only grateful that Fuli had returned to Dongshan and didn’t have to fight here. This gave him a sense of peace.

The atmosphere among the twenty or thirty people, along with the three wolves, was tense, as if a single spark could set everything off.

At this moment, Lin Shuishi suddenly stood up. Everyone turned to look at him, and Dongsheng urged him to hide inside the house quickly. But Lin Shuishi spoke out.

“We can’t just sit here waiting. If the city falls, none of us will survive! We need to defend the city!”

The young men began to reassess this delicate young man, gradually stirred by his courage. Look at him—a frail young man, yet he wanted to defend the city. How could they, as grown men, do any less?

Dongsheng, however, looked conflicted. “The general told us to act at our discretion, meaning that if anything went wrong, we were to protect you and take you out of the city amidst the chaos, far from the battlefield. Our duty is to protect you.”

Lin Shuishi frowned even more deeply when he heard this. “If the city falls, how many can escape? My life isn’t so precious; I’m just like everyone else, with one mouth and two eyes. There’s no reason for everyone to protect me at all costs!”

As he spoke, the sounds of close combat could already be heard from the city gate.

“Still hesitating? Go help defend the city!” With that, Lin Shuishi ran directly toward the nearest north gate but turned around to stop the three white wolves from following him.

For the first time, Lin Shuishi lowered his gaze in front of them, issuing a low, threatening sound from his chest, mimicking Fuli’s demeanor. In this desperate situation, he had to embody Fuli’s strength to muster the courage to move forward with determination.

The white wolves stopped in their tracks because, in this human’s eyes, they seemed to see a flicker of golden light, intimidating and resolute, like a natural suppression of their bloodline. This was something the wolves had never felt from this usually gentle and weak human, and they were momentarily stunned.

“Go, leave this place!” Lin Shuishi commanded the wolves in a low voice, his eyes steady. Then, without looking back, he sprinted toward the city walls.

Behind him, the others gritted their teeth, exchanged glances, and without hesitation, grabbed their weapons and joined the battle! After all, this was their original intention for joining the army—valiant young men, willing to spill their last drop of blood for their homeland!

On the city walls, no one paid attention to them; everyone was fully engaged in defending the gate with all their might.

The assault on the north gate was slightly weaker, with the main battlefield still at the main gate where General Zhao Xing was stationed. They managed to create a barricade of long arrows shot from the heavy crossbows, effectively slowing the advance of the “vine ghosts.”

Within a thousand-meter range, only a few vanguard troops reached the city gate, but even so, there were already many casualties.

This was because these creatures were difficult to kill, feeling no pain, like powerful, dried-up walking corpses, against which flesh and blood stood little chance.

When Lin Shuishi reached the city tower, he froze in place.

The sea of vine-armored creatures, resembling dried corpses, was all too familiar to him! These were the fragments Fuli had buried in the Dongshan Gorge, the very nightmares that haunted his sleep.

For a moment, he found it hard to breathe! He knew better than anyone how tough and relentless these creatures were. The gathered flesh-and-blood army of the city seemed like ants trying to shake a tree; even the most formidable wolf packs of Dongshan had struggled to deal with these beings.

At this critical moment, with Xuancheng teetering on the edge of collapse, only the city’s ballistae remained effective. Ordinary swords and spears couldn’t penetrate the green, flexible vine armor. Lin Shuishi watched as a “vine ghost” leaped onto the wall; a small squad of soldiers, suffering injuries and losses, barely managed to toss it off the wall and crush it with a massive rolling stone.

The rear general adjusted their strategy, reinforcing the use of the ballistae, ensuring the “vine ghosts” were kept at a distance from the city walls. If the city were surrounded, the only effective long-range weapons, the ballistae, would become useless.

However, the supply of heavy arrows was limited, and they would eventually run out, even if they resorted to using substitutes. They wouldn’t last until nightfall. The most pressing issue now was that the bowstrings were starting to give out under the prolonged stress.

He knew the limitations of what he had designed.

Thus, Lin Shuishi hurried between the ballistae, constantly adjusting the strings and bolts to calibrate and extend the use of the bowstrings.

Not every soldier recognized Lin Shuishi. Initially, they didn’t allow a young man like him to approach such critical life-saving equipment, but when they saw that the ballistae he adjusted fired better and shot farther, and higher-ranking officers confirmed that Mr. Sun, the creator of the heavy crossbows, had a young assistant, they no longer stopped him.

But there were too many ballistae, and he couldn’t manage them all by himself. He decided to head to the main gate. Dongsheng and a few others, after filling in gaps on the walls, followed him, protecting Lin Shuishi as they ran toward the main gate.

Just then, a few “vine ghosts” suddenly crawled up through gaps in the walls, breaking through the soldiers and charging toward Lin Shuishi. A long blade swept toward him, but Dongsheng shoved Lin Shuishi out of the way. The blade missed, embedding itself deeply into the wall.

As the vine ghosts wreaked havoc, several massive white wolves from below suddenly leaped up, their claws gleaming coldly, their teeth bared. With fierce growls, they tore through the vine armor in a matter of moments!

The wall fell silent for a moment as the soldiers stared in astonishment at the three fierce beasts. These seemingly invincible “vine ghosts” were shredded so quickly! If these wolves could tear through human flesh, it would be even easier!

But there was no time for fear. In the face of life and death, the soldiers could only view the wolves as life-saving divine beasts. Where had these wolves come from? No one cared. Could it be that the wolf gods rumored to have appeared recently were real?

Lin Shuishi looked at the white wolves surrounding him, feeling a sudden rush of emotion. They nuzzled against him affectionately, a gesture of familiar closeness among the wolf pack.

It was as if they were telling him that wolves never abandon their own.

The presence of the white wolves on the city wall quickly drew attention, especially from the generals, who watched as these giant wolves effortlessly dealt with the vine ghosts. For a moment, they were at a loss. It wasn’t until Jiang Zhao saw Lin Shuishi behind the wolves that he ordered a team to bring Lin Shuishi over.

The battle was fierce, and the current situation was largely thanks to the ballistae. The rear general never underestimated their maker, nor the “hero” who had broken through Xuancheng’s formation in an instant. He had never quite figured out the two of them.

Lin Shuishi finally made it to the main gate, crawling and stumbling. The battle here was even more intense, with the ballistae wearing out faster. Large numbers of “vine ghosts” broke through the ballistae’s defenses, piling up at the base of the towering city walls, seemingly endless. The creatures kept climbing up, soldiers dying in droves. Before the next group could take their place, the current group was already wiped out.

When Jiang Zhao heard Lin Shuishi’s suggestion, he hastily arranged for more hands to assist him in adjusting the bowstrings, maintaining them while they continued firing, hoping to prolong their defense.

When there were no more men left, Jiang Zhao personally stepped in! After watching for a while, he got the hang of it and began working alongside Lin Shuishi. General Zhao Xing was in full command of the troops, so as a scholar, Jiang Zhao had done everything he could. What remained was to leave their fate to the heavens.

The white wolves stayed close to Lin Shuishi, and due to their formidable combat skills, the fierce battle at the main gate and the casualties there slightly decreased. The three wolves fought until they were covered in the purple fluid that splattered from the torn-apart vine ghosts, mixed with the bright red blood of the soldiers on the walls.

In the midst of life and death, time seemed to stretch endlessly. Amidst the deafening sounds of battle, Lin Shuishi felt as if an entire lifetime had passed, though it had only been half a day of relentless struggle.

He had never seen so many dead bodies before; it was as if they were on a relentless journey, with lives and bodies piling up to form mountains of bones.

I’ll go first, I’ll die first, then you come, hurry and come.

The wall of flesh and blood, a frail barrier of human lives.

Everything before him was like a gruesome and absurd silent film, and Lin Shuishi could only mechanically repeat his actions, again and again, as long as he was still alive, without stopping.

The bowstrings held up, but the supply of long arrows was dwindling. Just then, the tide of vine ghosts on the other side seemed to recede slightly. The exhausted defenders thought they might catch a breath, but then they saw the “barbarians” part to the sides, and a towering, terrifyingly large vine ghost roared as it crashed through the tightly packed arrow barricade! Behind it surged a green tide.

Its body was like steel, plowing through all obstacles. Even the soldiers standing in its way were ruthlessly torn apart. The creature’s face was horrifyingly menacing, ripping through the vine-armored soldiers as if they were paper.

It was the former barbarian king!

To this day, they still didn’t know what had happened to the barbarian tribe. But regardless, there was only one course left—to fight.

Zhao Xing’s mouth was bloodied, and Jiang Zhao was exhausted, collapsed on the ground. The walls were filled with wounded soldiers.

At the end of their strength, Zhao Xing watched the vine ghost charging toward the city and spat out a mouthful of blood, clearing his throat.

“Soldiers, get up, grab your spears, draw your swords, beat the drums, and kill!”

The white wolves were covered in wounds, with one having a broken hind leg. Dongsheng lay unconscious behind them, and Lin Shuishi, ears ringing and head spinning, looked around. Xuancheng was nearing its limit.

He shakily stood up, leaning against the damaged city wall, and in the midst of the surging green tide surrounding them, he looked up at the sunset on the horizon.

The forest was dyed in layers of red, fiery and brilliant, as the twilight deepened.

No matter the sorrows and joys of the world, the setting sun on the horizon remained unchanged.