Chapter 53: To Guard or to Flee
The disemboweled entrails lay on the ground, dark red and stiff, losing their softness and appearing grotesque. The outcome of the divination was as disturbing as the entrails themselves.
Ji Ma shrank her head and looked at George, saying, “You won’t blame me, will you?”
“Blame you for what?”
“Blame me for not divining the army’s movements in time.” Ji Ma said. “If I had divined earlier, we wouldn’t have planned to attack the bandit stronghold, and wouldn’t have fallen into this predicament.”
George shook his head and replied:
“You did nothing wrong. We can’t be too attached to the past. If we hadn’t launched a strong attack tonight, it could be that after a while, new beastmen would be sent to the stronghold by the Mother of Beasts, or a group of White Warriors might discover our intentions.”
Ha, just as I thought. That’s why I didn’t divine the enemy’s movements in advance.
Ji Ma touched the human skin paper secured at her waist and smiled, “George is really thoughtful.”
“But don’t think about fleeing the battlefield tonight.”
“Hey, am I that kind of person?”
“Yes.”
“Always speaking the harsh truth,” Ji Ma said, “I only actively think about preserving our side’s remaining strength when the situation gets dire. Even though we are facing a thousand beastmen now, we have the advantage of terrain, and the soldiers are willing to fight to the death—no one wants to be eaten alive by beastmen.”
“That makes sense.” George said, “But we need to hold a meeting first.”
“You guys in the Order really love to hold meetings.”
George said seriously, “It’s called pooling wisdom.”
Having said that, he turned to find a soldier: “Warrior, soldier, hurry and call the sergeant and the chaplain here, urgent military situation.”
“Yes!”
Taking this opportunity, Ji Ma transformed the spear in her hand into a spade using her extraordinary ability, clearing away the divination scene that was “harmful to youth’s health.”
Before long, everyone had gathered. Ji Ma, George, Eve Frostleaf, the chaplain, the sergeant, and the elven maid who insisted on attending the meeting purely to act as a human wall between George and Ji Ma.
George summarized Ji Ma’s divination results, and the sergeant was not so pessimistic, rather eager to try, saying, “Only a thousand beastmen? Once we finish this stronghold, there will only be two hundred beastman corpses left. We just need to repeat this process five times.”
The chaplain shook his head: “Our troops are exhausted and outnumbered.”
“Chaplain, you’re too pessimistic.” the sergeant said, “The soldiers are filled with morale, all wanting to fight again, and now we only need to defend.”
The chaplain said:
“If we stay, our army will surely be defeated—a crushing defeat. It would be better to split our forces; I and some death soldiers can stay back to defend and delay the enemy, while George and other powerful extraordinary beings can leave to continue playing a greater role in the cause of justice. Some lucky young men might also get to return home and marry.”
The sergeant kept shaking his head.
“According to the rules, we will start voting.” George raised his hand and said, “One person, one vote, guard or flee, I choose to guard.”
“Let me explain my viewpoint first.” the chaplain said, “Assuming our soldiers fight courageously and the enemy fails to break through, but if the enemy only surrounds us without attacking, hunger will be our downfall.”
“I oppose.” Ji Ma retorted, “I thought the clergy had always been passionate about exterminating evil creatures; can’t their feelings compare to mine as a demon?”
The chaplain ignored Ji Ma entirely and looked at George, asking, “What do you intend to do, Commander?”
“Ji Ma, how much food is stored in your Dream Palace?”
“There is a lake in there and enough food to feed the army for a week.”
The chaplain said, “We have no reinforcements, their army could arrive at any time, and perhaps a whole tribe of beastmen will drown us tomorrow.”
“I can divine.”
“If divination were always effective, we wouldn’t have fallen into such a predicament.”
“Chaplain!” George said, “Ji Ma’s divination is indeed useful.”
The chaplain still insisted: “Time is not on our side.”
“What if they have to attack?” Ji Ma asked. “You always exaggerate the strength of the enemy. Do you know what I like to call beastmen? Monster people. Within the entire demonic race, not many regard beastmen highly. They appear and disappear inexplicably, always becoming stepping stones for some hero. They are essentially merely a distorted grotesque species, and we can’t expect them to maintain reason at all times, especially in the face of me.”
At this point, Ji Ma smiled slightly and asked, “Though it’s a bit embarrassing, I suppose the clergy have notified you of my ‘hazardousness’?”
The sergeant recalled, saying, “I have a bit of an impression; it seems they said you’re a rumor-monger, and once you sold medicine.”
Ji Ma felt a bit awkward but didn’t want to boast directly about her achievements. Should she directly say that she almost destroyed two human cities as a succubus? She’d probably get beaten to death on the spot.
The chaplain said, “Spreading rumors, inciting hearts, and collapsing order ultimately lead to societal collapse, causing more deaths than those perishing by swords and flames.”
“It’s all unavoidable, unavoidable.” Ji Ma said. “But at least my personal abilities are unquestionable, right? I can incite the beastmen’s fighting forces, making them eager to attack and die.”
George asked, “Can you directly disband the beastman fighting forces?”
“If I could, I would have acted together with you already.” Ji Ma said. “The military organization is the highest and hardest to dismantle, and my ability is essentially to incite chaos. If society was thriving and everyone was well-fed and clothed, I wouldn’t be able to cause any disturbances.”
“But Salin City also has an army.”
“That army hadn’t collapsed at the beginning. And don’t forget the shadow prince stirred up the riots; otherwise, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.” Ji Ma said. “And don’t forget, the chaos in Marin City was easily suppressed by an imperial legion in the end.”
“Are you confident?”
“Yes.” Ji Ma said, “I’ll make everyone realize that in certain situations, the evil forces that the clergy fear can greatly benefit the cause of justice. Who knows, a few months later, the clergy may lift my charges and invite me to visit White City.”
The chaplain shook his head, muttering, “Just bait to lure the demon into corruption.”
“If you’re worried,” Ji Ma said, “I have a good plan: an on-the-spot promotion.”
George asked, “Promotion?”
“This promotion scene might be a bit disgusting, you mustn’t dislike it.”
Eve Frostleaf let out a soft hum, seemingly condemning Ji Ma’s manipulative behavior.
“Now happens to be a suitable time for promotion, the materials are sufficient, there is a tactical need, and promotion takes time. I don’t believe the beastmen will sit idly by and watch a golden enemy advance to platinum.” Ji Ma glanced at Eve Frostleaf: “By then, we could have two and a half platinum extraordinary beings, which is two-thirds more extraordinary power than before.”
Eve Frostleaf’s face visibly darkened.
Ji Ma was right; a profession centered on bow and arrow output couldn’t pull a bow and shoot arrows, and could only approach and deal melee damage, which was nearly equivalent to being half-crippled.
The elven maid angrily rebutted in high Elvish:
“What nonsense are you spouting? Lady Frostleaf is not someone a mere little succubus can tarnish! Is Lady Frostleaf only half a platinum? She has always been wise and diligent since childhood, with extraordinary swordsmanship; one of her can equal two, and besides, Lady Frostleaf is still capable of ranged attacks—she can shoot arrows that are ten times more powerful than before!”
Eve Frostleaf’s face darkened further, and a gust of cold night wind blew in, as if winter had arrived early. The sergeant shivered and asked, “Why is this wind so freezing that it makes one shiver?”
“Because some of the beautiful ones here are freezing.”
The maid said, “Succubus, apologize to Lady Frostleaf.”
“Enough!” Eve Frostleaf’s eyes darted, glaring fiercely at the maid.
The elven maid sat down quite wronged, feeling sorry for Frostleaf. She thought to herself: she must be doing this for the sake of unity with the lower races.
George asked, “Alright, Chaplain, do you have anything else to say?”
The chaplain looked directly at Ji Ma’s golden eyes for the first time today; before, he had always feared that Ji Ma’s gaze would cause his corruption and betrayal of his faith.
He asked:
“Succubus, do you remember saying you would let more people return home to marry and see their parents, wives, and children?”
“And then?”
“I hope you will remember this sentence.”
“Oh, you actually remembered, I thought you were preparing a hundred coffins.”
The voting began.
The result was without a doubt; the plan to guard the city passed with a huge advantage of five to one (George had two votes).
After the meeting, the results were communicated to the team leaders, who discussed and assigned tasks to the soldiers. Most people in the army were very optimistic, believing that conquering the stronghold would bring high morale to the soldiers while leaving behind mostly intact remnants; they simply needed to repair the stronghold gate to acquire a stronghold.
The soldiers of the Sanctuary were as skilled in construction as the imperial legion. The soldiers picked up shovels to dig trenches under the wooden walls, piling the dirt on the other side of the trench, then demolishing the poorly constructed houses inside to reinforce the defenses of the wooden walls, and also burnt the trees and grass surrounding the wooden stronghold, a task personally carried out by Eve Frostleaf to prevent wildfires.
George was solely responsible for preparing for Ji Ma’s promotion, carrying beastman corpses that would turn to zombies into the cave, stacking them into a small hill.
The moment Ji Ma stepped through the broken wooden door, she smelled the unique stench of beastmen. Holding a freshly broken tree branch, she walked toward the mound of corpses, with Li Anxi the cat trailing beside her, passing by George.
George said nothing, but Ji Ma felt he was watching her ascend the mound of flesh. Stepping on the corpses, she reached the top, suddenly turning her head and asking:
“George, do you regret it?”
“Regret?”
Ji Ma kicked the unmoving head of a lowly horned beast at the peak of the mound, stepping on it again, saying:
“Look at this mountain of corpses and the corrupt rituals to follow. Have you ever thought that a holy warrior like me would tolerate this happening before my eyes?”
“No.”
Ji Ma smiled, “Then will you come to resent me for it?”
George fell silent.
Ji Ma did not rush him; she knew George would speak the truth. If he remained silent, it meant the truth would be too hurtful.
She told herself, “This is good; it prevents a nauseating parting of life and death later on.”
Not knowing if she was comforting herself, Ji Ma felt a bit better, turned around, and inserted the fresh branch into the seams of the corpses, murmuring an incantation. The branches sprouted buds and roots, which quickly grasped each corpse tightly, embedding into the flesh and drawing out nutrients.
The branches grew into a tree over her height, resembling a coffin, with a texture resembling flesh.
Usually unshy in front of George, Ji Ma suddenly said, “George, do you want to see me take off my clothes?”
George turned back and used a wooden board to block the hole in the doorway.
Ji Ma stripped off her clothes, her naked body touching the meat tree. The meat tree opened, revealing its interior, resembling the disemboweled corpse of a beastman.
Ji Ma stepped into the meat tree, which closed around her, enveloping her within.
