yournovel Chapter 1 Divine Strike, Invulnerable to Swords and Spears
Chapter 1 Divine Strike, Invulnerable to Swords and Spears
"The Great Sage possesses me, shattering the heavens!"
A rough shout echoed across the desolate hills, the wind swirled withered leaves that rustled down, and the bare branches, like bony hands, scratched at the sky in the night.
The mountain god temple has long lost its roof, and the broken walls are covered with black moss.
Several headless and armless statues leaned in the corner, covered in a thick layer of dust.
In the open space in front of the temple, pine resin torches flickered into a sea of fire, and the smoke drifted away with the wind, choking people's throats. Twenty or thirty ragged men, their faces red and necks thick, roared along, their voices hoarse and strained, as if they were trying to shout their lungs out.
Li Xin suddenly opened his eyes, the firelight making him squint slightly.
Not far in front of them stood a simple altar, with three broken bricks supporting a chipped earthenware bowl, inside which burned sand and three sticks of incense. The torches flickered in the mountain wind, casting half of the faces of those around them in light and half in shadow.
Before the altar, a burly man with a full beard stood shirtless, his bronze skin covered in dirt, stomping his feet with his eyes closed.
He pointed two fingers to the sky and roared like a frightened ape, the dust beneath his feet rising slightly.
"Summoning a deity?"
Li Xin's gaze swept over the burly man who was gesticulating wildly, then looked at the crowd around him...
Their faces were etched with lines and weathered by time, like withered trees.
Only their eyes shone brightly, as if ignited by talismanic fire and incantations.
A sense of absurdity washed over me.
Li Xin shook his head, still feeling a little dizzy; his memories of the 21st century hadn't completely faded...
Inside the park, bullets from the local military and police rained down, and the burning pain seemed to still linger in his flesh; he should be dead by now.
"He's still alive."
The initial surge of elation was quickly suppressed by the biting chill.
The night wind, carrying the dampness of the mountain stream, seeped into my thin, tattered clothes, chilling me to the bone.
That was in a past life.
In this life, he was a poor boy from a farming family in Cangzhou. His parents had died of illness and starvation long ago, and their remains were buried in a mass grave at the entrance of the village. Only he, along with his elder brother Li Cheng and younger sister Li Xiaoyue, carrying a few hard cornbreads, set off for the capital to seek refuge with their uncle who had not returned home for a long time.
Li Xin's palms were squeezed painfully, and when he turned his head, he saw a pair of big, dark eyes.
She was a little girl with hair as dry and yellow as wild grass, clothes that were tattered and full of holes, and arms and legs that were as thin as reeds...
Her straw sandals were worn through, and her toes were red with cold. She held his hand, which was trembling violently, but she refused to let go.
"Xiaoyue, don't be afraid, you can live." Li Xin's voice was dry, like sandpaper rubbing against wood.
The little girl nodded emphatically, her thin neck swaying as if her head would fall off at the slightest pressure.
She was so thin, her bones were just covered by skin...
At six years old, he was shorter than other three- or four-year-old children, and looked as if he could be blown over by the wind.
"The talisman is divinely granted, the patriarch bestows the law! All of you, please step forward to receive the talisman!"
The bearded man roared, his voice echoing against the broken wall.
The men immediately surged forward, pushing and shoving each other, the rustling of torn clothes and heavy breathing mingling together.
Li Xin looked at the red marks on their foreheads and the backs of their hands, drawn with cinnabar, like seeping blood. Then he saw his eldest brother, Li Cheng, happily pushing forward, and his brow twitched suddenly. He reached out and grabbed Li Cheng's arm.
"Second brother, what are you doing? Quickly receive the talisman! It will make you invulnerable to swords and spears! When we charge through the mountain pass, the foreign devils' muskets won't be able to penetrate it!" Li Cheng stamped his feet anxiously. "If we delay any longer, the foreigners will catch up!"
Li Xin's ears twitched slightly, and he nodded.
The older brother was guessing, but he could actually hear it.
The sounds of people and horses from below drifted up on the wind, growing clearer and clearer. There were also shouts of "Kill them all!" that pierced the heart like icicles.
He understood; it meant to exterminate them all.
The wind carried the crisp sound of horses' hooves crushing dry branches and the soft click of muskets being chambered; the enemy was not far away.
He recalled how the bearded man had smashed a camphor tree as thick as a bowl with a single punch...
The bark cracked, sawdust flew everywhere, and the trunk crashed to the ground.
So what? Can a fist stop a bullet?
Li Xin glanced at the fervor in the eyes of those around him, and swallowed back the words he was about to say.
Saying this talisman is useless? These people driven mad by despair could beat him to death on the spot and throw him to be fed to wild dogs.
They were coerced into killing foreigners along the way, and were constantly chased by Anssar soldiers, forced to hide and flee...
We trudged through muddy mountain paths and waded through icy rivers. By this point, we were caught in a pincer movement... the mountain pass was an ambush, and pursuers were behind us.
This talisman is their last hope; breaking it will only bring backlash.
"Tie the iron pot up and don't squeeze in." Li Xin bent down and lifted the black iron pot from the basket on his back. His hands slumped down, but he didn't feel too much strain.
With a light tap of the fingers, a buzzing metallic sound echoed in the night. It was a sturdy, good pot, weighing at least twenty or thirty pounds, with bits of burnt rice still clinging to the bottom.
He is twelve years old this year, only up to his older brother's waist, thin and small, people would believe he is eight or nine years old.
But this strength, and the eyesight that allowed him to hear the commotion down the mountain from afar and see everyone's expressions in the dim light, all seemed a bit off.
His sense of smell had also become stronger. In the night breeze, he could even smell the gunpowder on the foreigners in the distance, as well as the smell of horse manure on the soles of their boots.
That's a good thing. Although I'm very thin, I'm not very weak...
"At a time like this, why are you still worried about the iron pot? Can't we buy one after we survive?" Li Cheng said reluctantly, reaching out to push the iron pot away.
"Listen to your second brother, Mother says you're slow-witted, so don't make decisions when you go out." Li Xiaoyue's voice was crisp and clear, with a touch of childishness, but very firm, and her little hands tightly gripped Li Cheng's clothes.
Li Cheng looked dejected and asked with a pained expression, "How do we tie it?"
The sound of horses' hooves from below the mountain grew closer and closer, like a drumbeat in my heart, and the shouts in the wind became clearer and clearer.
The mountain pass ahead was pitch black, and the muzzles of a dozen or so muskets gleamed coldly in the night.
Without saying a word, Li Xin placed the iron pot over Li Cheng's chest...
He pulled a thick hemp rope from the basket, threaded it through the iron handle on the edge of the pot, and draped it over Li Cheng's right shoulder. He then went around to his back, threaded it through another iron handle, and wrapped it back under his armpit.
Finally, it was wrapped around the waist and abdomen twice, tied in a tight knot, and secured completely.
The iron pot was stuck to his chest, like a thick piece of armor.
"Go and receive the talisman." Li Xin's lips twitched, revealing a hint of coldness. "This is true invulnerability."
He didn't move; there was no need.
He was too short; in the eyes of those adults, he was a burden.
Nobody cares.
……
"Wearing twelve iron hats on his head and twelve layers of iron armor on his body;
Swords, axes, and guns cannot pierce his skin; his skin is as tough as copper and his bones as strong as a golden bell!
While chanting incantations, the bearded man used a brush dipped in cinnabar to draw talismans on everyone's bodies.
The soft scratching of the pen against his skin, mixed with his muttered incantations, sounded particularly eerie in the silent, desolate mountains.
When it was Li Cheng's turn, he glanced at the iron pot on the young man's chest, his lips moved, but he ultimately didn't say anything. He simply moved the iron pot aside and drew a red talisman on the young man's forehead.
After drawing the talisman, the men's demeanor changed abruptly. The fear in their eyes was replaced by fervor, and they stood tall and proud, as if they had truly become invincible.
The bearded man raised the black iron rod in his hand and slammed it hard into the ground with a dull thud, causing the rubble on the ground to jump up.
"Listen to my command!"
"Master Zhao!" the crowd responded in unison, their voices shaking the dust that fell from the broken wall.
"Those foreign devils drink blood and eat flesh, committing all sorts of atrocities! They burn our houses, steal our grain, and kill our people!" Master Zhao's voice boomed like thunder, rolling through the night. "Break through the mountain pass, kill the foreigners, and only then will we have a chance to survive!"
He paused, then pointed his black staff at the crowd, his eyes fierce. "No turning back during the charge! No stopping! Anyone who cowers in fear will have their talisman removed by the patriarch, and I will personally kill them!"
"Yes, sir!"
The crowd was in high spirits, roaring in response, their knives, forks, clubs, and spears gleaming in the torchlight.
Holding torches and gripping weapons, they charged forward with swift steps...
The torchlight cast long shadows in the night, illuminating the rugged mountain path beneath our feet and revealing the deadly danger lurking at the mountain pass.
Ahead lay a narrow pass flanked by two ridges, a flat expanse with steep, barren mountain walls on either side. Fire pits burned on either side of the pass, their light flickering.
As if by unspoken agreement, neither side launched an attack, and the other refrained from firing. Only sparks flew in the wind, hissing and crackling in the air.
Li Xin and Xiao Yue were lying in the basket on each other's backs, their eyes looking over Li Cheng's shoulder.
The cool moonlight spilled across the valley, turning everything white with frost...
More than a dozen foreigners with high noses and blue eyes, dressed in dark blue military uniforms and carrying long guns, were pointing at them with mocking expressions.
Several others were clutching their stomachs, laughing so hard they were doubled over, as if watching a farce.
A foreigner with a white feather in his hat waved his hand with a dark expression, shouting incoherently. He ordered the crowd to line up in two rows, all pointing their guns at the mountain pass.
"Quickly finish this, charge!"
Zhao, the leader of the altar, roared like thunder. The thirty-odd men instantly turned red in the eyes and rushed towards the mountain pass like mad dogs, shouting battle cries that shook the heavens.
……