Cultivation Begins with Caring for Sister-in-law-Chapter 469: Swearing to Annihilate Jin Xia

The Jin Xia army has fled again.

At present, this is also the only advantage of this Eastern Army.

The speed of the light cavalry is simply too fast, even if the Chen army tried their utmost, they couldn’t catch up.

Yao’er City was taken, and it was taken with minimal casualties, severely damaging the enemy forces; yet on the faces of the entire army, not a single hint of a smile could be seen.

Outside Yao’er City.

Corpses lay in disorder, bodies scattered everywhere, the bloodstains and broken flags, swords, and spears on the wild grass heaps forming an almost desolate scene.

Above it all, a sound of crying lament permeated.

"Father, mother..."

"My child, my child..."

"Girl, my girl, wake up, don’t sleep, wake up don’t sleep, sob..."

The surviving civilians of Yao’er City knelt before the corpses of their relatives, crying uncontrollably.

A woman holding a child not even a year old, her face pale, eyes vacant, while the child in her arms was already stained red with blood.

Though this battle was won, fewer than one-tenth of Yao’er City’s people survived.

The soldiers of all three armies were deeply moved by the sight.

Chen Mo and Xia Zhining came over, Sun Meng and Chen Ming hurriedly greeted them. Chen Ming was about to report the tally of casualties when Chen Mo raised his hand to interrupt, saying:

"All civilians who died due to the battle must be buried with dignity. The surviving civilians must also be properly arranged for, with expenses covered by the army."

"Yes." Chen Ming responded respectfully, feeling even more admiration.

Then, Chen Mo turned his gaze to Sun Meng, saying: "Take the Personal Guard Battalion and behead these dead beasts, build a Jīngguàn outside the city, and offer it to the spirits of the deceased."

"Yes." Sun Meng nodded solemnly.

Subsequently, Chen Mo and Xia Zhining approached the surviving civilians.

After a brief consideration, Chen Mo spoke: "Fellow villagers."

The first time he called, the surviving civilians did not respond.

Because they were trapped in their painful emotions, unable to extricate themselves.

Not until Chen Mo called for the third time did they finally look at Chen Mo in turn, their gazes somewhat lifeless.

"I am Chen Mo, the Grand Commandant and Marquis of Pingting County." Chen Mo said.

Their faces finally showed some emotion; they had long heard of Chen Mo’s great name, and now for the first time, they saw him in person, as young as the legends said.

Such a prominent figure standing in front of them, how could they remain unmoved?

"It was my fault to have harmed you all. If only I had brought the army over earlier, today’s events could have been avoided." With that, Chen Mo bowed to them.

This action even surprised Xia Zhining.

One must know, Chen Mo’s status was now vastly different; these civilians, though pitiful, were of low status.

To bow to those of low status—if not put nicely—those being bowed to could be considered extraordinarily fortunate.

The surviving civilians were even more moved.

In the past, they might have said it was beyond their worth.

At the same time, their grievances towards Chen Mo diminished somewhat.

After all, some of their relatives died at the hands of the Chen army, even if the Chen army had no choice.

Chen Mo straightened his back, faced the civilians, and spoke firmly: "Though they escaped today, I assure you all, I shall repay blood with blood. Here I, Chen Mo, make this oath: that one day in the future, I shall ride across the steppes, pacify the Jin Xia Barbarians, capture the Khan and Queen alive, and avenge the countless civilians of the Great Song who perished at their hands."

"Boom..."

Whether by coincidence or not, on this clear day, a thunderclap suddenly resounded in the sky, as if to witness Chen Mo’s vow.

The civilians, upon seeing this, had a slight change in expression.

Catching the moment, Chen Mo said: "Heaven can witness this, and if this vow is broken, the celestial thunder shall strike."

The civilians were shocked; finally, some of them spoke up.

"Marquis, none of this is your fault. It’s all the fault of those Jin Xia Barbarians."

"That’s right, Marquis, you’re our benefactor, it’s you who avenged my mother."

"..."

Xia Zhining glanced at the young man; the dazzling sunlight shone on the young man’s profile, and at that moment, she found Chen Mo particularly charming, heart-stirring.

Chen Mo said nothing further and bowed again to the surviving civilians.

Afterward, he ordered to have the heads of Tie Mutie and the earlier Yelv Nuku packed in boxes, all sent to the Capital.

As for Tie Mutie’s identity, it was extracted from the mouth of a Jin Xia soldier, after which he was executed.

Two days later, Cui Shuang arrived with his troops at Yao’er City to join forces.

After leaving Chen Ming and over a hundred men to handle the aftermath in Yao’er City, Chen Mo led the troops to continue pursuing Tie Muer’s Eastern Army.

...

On another side, Huai State, Yi County.

Under the dusk sunset, the earth outside Yi County was filled with rolling dust and smoke, several war chariots paralyzed in the wilderness, bloodstained the ground, and piles of corpses lay beneath the city walls.

The gates of Yi County were wide open, and corpses were seen everywhere within the city.

On the gate tower, Xiao Yi knelt, tied up with his limbs restrained, staring at Li Mingfan and Li Mingzhong standing behind Liu Ji. After a momentary spasm at the corners of his mouth, he cursed, "Cowards afraid of death, betraying the Prince’s trust in you, you dared to betray the Prince and surrender to the enemy."

Li Mingfan was somewhat guilty, lowering his head, not daring to meet Xiao Yi’s gaze, for indeed, he had betrayed the Prince.

Li Mingzhong, taking advantage of the situation, said, "Stubborn even when death is imminent."

As it happened, after Li Mingzhong decided to speak a few days ago, Liu Ji became aware of Prince Huai’s plan. Li Mingfan also realized it was futile to stay stubborn, thus surrendered as well.

Liu Ji, seeing the situation, turned it to advantage, ordered Li Mingfan to send word to notify Prince Huai to attack, saying they had already circled to the rear of Yi County and could attack it.

Prince Huai, unaware of Li Mingfan and Li Mingzhong’s betrayal, believed it, and dispatched Xiao Yi and Gan Yao to attack Yi County.

And Xiao Yi and Gan Yao were from the Xiao and Gan Families.

However, this time Gan Yao did not enter the city, realizing something was wrong, he fled, while Xiao Yi was captured.

Liu Ji spoke to Xiao Yi in a familiar voice through Li Mingfan, saying: "General Xiao, we meet again."

"Traitor." Xiao Yi spat.

Liu Ji was not annoyed, instead, he smiled meaningfully: "Soon, General Xiao will also be one of us." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Dream on."

In less than half an hour.

"I confess, I confess..." Xiao Yi trembled as he spoke, at this moment, it seemed he had lost half his life, with no good part left on his body, all covered in bloodstains.

...

A day later.

Jing County.

Prince Huai’s Mansion.

In the study, Prince Huai was practicing calligraphy, humming a tune, seemingly in a good mood, for he believed Yi County was already in his grasp.

"Your Highness, terrible news, terrible news..."

At this moment, a voice sounded outside the study, causing Prince Huai to make a mistake in writing the final character of "Strategies and Plans" he was just about to complete.

Prince Huai frowned: "Fretting and panicking like this, what kind of conduct is this? Enter."