Chapter 161: Bone and Blood
The paper crane turned into a stream of light and fell into Ji Lingxiu's palm. Her fingertips trembled slightly as she slowly unfolded the letter.
The single character "Ke," written with strokes as strong as iron and silver hooks, leaped into her view. The brushwork was as sharp as a sword, yet it exuded a familiar calmness.
Her gaze flickered. Subconsciously, she gently pressed the letter to her chest and closed her eyes for a moment.
Her Master's handwriting always gave her an inexplicable sense of peace.
When she looked up again, she had regained her usual cool composure. She said to Meng Kuo, "General Meng, Master has agreed."
Meng Kuo's whole body trembled. His aged eye sockets instantly turned red as he kowtowed heavily. "This general... on behalf of the orphans of the Imperial Guard, thanks the Holy Venerable for his great kindness!"
Ji Lingxiu made a gesture to help him up. "Go. Once you arrive, enter the city through the South Gate. I will personally come to receive you."
"This general will go get them now!" Meng Kuo said excitedly as he stood up, but then he hesitated, looking toward Princess Yong Tai.
The little girl was leaning over the zither table. She was happily stirring a whirlpool in a teacup with her finger.
"Yong Tai is still young," Ji Lingxiu's tone softened. "It would be inconvenient for her to travel with you. Let her stay in the City Lord's Mansion for now."
Meng Kuo bowed deeply. "Thank you, Princess."
"Also... I am no longer a princess. You do not need to address me as such in the future."
"Understood." The old general's voice was hoarse but solemn as he corrected himself. "Then, thank you... City Lord."
This form of address made Ji Lingxiu's fingertips relax slightly. Her taut shoulder lines finally eased.
She looked out the window. In the twilight, the brilliant lamps of Immortal Spirit City were just being lit, and the sounds of children playing could be heard from the streets and alleys.
For now... let it be.
She thought.
...
Two days later—
At the South Gate of Immortal Spirit City, atop the city wall.
The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the halo of the rising sun dyed the blue-gray city walls red.
Ji Lingxiu, dressed in white, stood at the top of the wall, her robes fluttering in the wind. She quietly watched the long, winding caravan entering the city below.
The raggedly dressed women and children, the old leaning on canes, and the ignorant, unknowing children were all lined up in a long column, slowly passing through the city gate.
The once-mighty Great Zhou Imperial Guard, which had struck fear across the Xuanying Continent, now had only these old, weak, sick, and disabled members left.
"The First of the Eight Pillars..." she murmured softly. That once-powerful presence that dominated the Xuanying Continent was now truly reduced to just these few old, weak, sick, and disabled remnants.
"Eldest Young Miss."
A familiar, aged voice came from behind her. Ji Lingxiu turned her head and saw that Wu Bo was standing three paces away, at some unknown moment.
He was still wearing his simple gray cloth gown, with the black wooden pipe that never left his side hanging from his waist.
"Wu Bo?" she was a little surprised. "Why have you come?"
Wu Bo chuckled, the wrinkles on his face spreading out. "Master commanded me to come over and lend a hand."
He looked toward the caravan below the city wall.
Ji Lingxiu felt a warmth in her heart.
Although her Master stayed in the valley all day, he was as meticulous as a hair, always paying attention to these trivial matters.
She secretly transmitted her voice: "Wu Bo, since Master has established the name 'Immortal Spirit Holy Land', he must be planning to found a sect."
Her gaze swept over a few determined-looking youths in the caravan, and she continued: "You might as well see if there are any good seedlings among them. For now, you can take them in as outer disciples to train."
Wu Bo was stunned when he heard this, and he also transmitted back: "Why doesn't the Eldest Young Miss take disciples herself?"
Ji Lingxiu shook her head slightly, the tassels of her jade hairpin swaying gently. She said with pride: "Under our Master, there is Eldest Senior Brother Xiao Chen, Second Senior Brother Han Yu, Fourth Junior Brother Jiang Che..."
She did not mention herself, but her words clearly included her as well: "Which one of them is not a person of stunning, magnificent talent?"
Her tone was solemn. "Without Master's approval, how could I dare to take someone under my wing on my own?"
Wu Bo nodded thoughtfully, his cloudy old eyes suddenly flashing with a sharp light as he carefully scrutinized the children in the caravan.
A moment later, he stroked his beard with delight. "Truly the bloodline of the Great Zhou's Eight Pillars, there are many good seedlings! That boy carrying firewood has a good frame, and that little girl with the lamb horns braid, I fear she possesses some kind of rare constitution!"
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Wu Bo." Ji Lingxiu's expression broke into a smile.
In the morning light, she saw at the front of the caravan, Meng Kuo was helping a blind old woman down from a carriage.
The old woman tightly clutched a broken shield in her arms—it was the standard spirit artifact of the Imperial Guard. Now only half remained, its edges still bearing scorched marks.
On the bluestone road below the city wall, a few early-withered phoenix tree leaves were crushed by the wagon wheels, letting out faint cracking sounds.
Ji Lingxiu sighed secretly in her heart and was the first to walk down from the city wall.
Then, looking at the blind old woman being supported by Meng Kuo, she asked softly, "This old granny is...?"
Meng Kuo did not answer. The old woman had already stepped forward tremblingly, her withered hand tightly clutching the half-burnt shield.
Her voice was hoarse yet resonant: "This old woman is Yang Shi, here to see the Princess. My son was Vice-Commander Yang Shuo of the Imperial Guard."
"That Vice-Commander..." Ji Lingxiu stopped midway, suddenly feeling it was inappropriate.
Meng Kuo's voice was low as iron: "He died in battle at Tianjing ten years ago." He looked into the distance, as if seeing that scene of blood and fire again.
"Outside Tianjing City that day, eight thousand Imperial Guards fought the allied forces of the world's great clans and sects. It was this madam who beat the war drums to aid them."
Turbid tears flowed from the old woman's sunken eye sockets, but she held her head high and said: "The Great Zhou treated my son as a pillar of the state, so my son should have repaid the state as a pillar of the state!"
Ji Lingxiu's heart stirred slightly, and her gaze subconsciously shifted to the boy carrying the bundle of firewood.
"Luo He!" Meng Kuo shouted an order.
The boy strode forward, beating his chest with his right hand in a standard Imperial Guard salute. His young face was full of pride: "Your Highness, my father fought three powerful enemies of the same realm alone, killing two and wounding one. He died from blood loss!"
"Ming Yu!" The little girl with the lamb horns braid hopped forward, also performing a rather proper military salute. Her milky voice was firm: "Your Highness, my father and his comrades launched a surprise attack on the enemy formation, killing thirty-three foes. He died from exhaustion!"
With each of Meng Kuo's calls, those named, be they young men and women or disabled and weak elders, without exception—had a light shining in their eyes as they spoke of the military achievements of their fathers, husbands, or sons.
It was as if those tragic sacrifices were the most honorable medals.
Ji Lingxiu suddenly understood. Why those sects and great clans refused to let these seemingly weak orphans go—
Because although the Imperial Guard had fallen, its military soul was not extinguished!
Iron armor congeals the color of frost, the cold blade forges the soul of the nation.
It had already completely permeated their very bones and blood!
If these children were to grow up, given time, they would surely become another iron-blooded, powerful army!
"Your Highness," Meng Kuo turned around, his gaze burning, "they need protection, but they are by no means useless people."
Ji Lingxiu nodded solemnly.
Meng Kuo suddenly straightened his hunched back and swept his right arm: "Imperial Guard—attention!"
In an instant, all the old, weak, sick, and disabled struggled down from the carriages. Those with broken legs leaned on wooden crutches, the blind were supported by others, and even the youngest children straightened their backs.
They stood in formation in the morning light, like a patch of stubbornly growing thorns.
"I declare," Meng Kuo's voice was hoarse as iron, "the Imperial Guard is hereby disbanded, and merged into Immortal Spirit City!"
There was no objection, no weeping.
Only silent salutes, and tears that slid down without a sound.
This once-mighty iron army of the Xuanying Continent finally, at this moment, laid down its final designation.
...
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