I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 369 - 333: A Shining Debut

Tian Xing received the signal from Sang Que and led his troops into the city, hardly believing that Sang Que actually managed to handle the elite of the Ghost Opera Troupe by herself, dismantle the Death Domain, and effortlessly take Tangyuan County.

Tian Xing and his men, who have been soldiers for several years and fought the Qianshou Army all around in the past six months, entered the city so grandly for the first time, and the city’s citizens were lining the streets to welcome them.

However, many citizens were vomiting by the roadside, and Tian Xing and the others were baffled.

Once the Death Domain was dismantled, the illusion it cast on the people vanished, and they now realized what they had been consuming during this period.

Previously, life seemed difficult under the Xuan Dynasty’s heavy taxes; compared with the Qianshou Army, they now felt that the Xuan Dynasty was actually quite good.

Seeing their state, Tian Xing couldn’t help but think they deserved it. Tangyuan County fell because the city’s citizens believed the Qianshou Army and secretly opened the city gates to let them in.

"General Sang!"

Upon seeing Sang Que, Tian Xing dismounted with his men, all following his lead, cupping their fists and bowing their heads in respect.

Sang Que didn’t have a fixed military title, and along the way, Tian Xing had been calling her ’Miss.’ This ’General Sang’ was a complete acknowledgment and sincere respect for her.

Sang Que nodded, "There are two elites of the Ghost Opera Troupe in the city. The dwarf controlling the baby spirit guarding the city has been slain by me, and another Puppet Master has escaped. You have experience in defense, so it’s all up to you. The city lacks grain, and I will find a way to get some supplies back for you, at least until Dongyang County gets results."

Tian Xing’s eyes shone brightly. Everyone knew that grain supplies during war were the hardest to gather. In the past, other military leaders would just order the people below to find a way, and failing to gather supplies could only result in death as atonement.

Sang Que left the simplest tasks to them, choosing to tackle the hardest herself. With such a leader, they were truly fortunate.

"We will obey the General’s orders!"

Tian Xing led two thousand elite troops, mobilized the city’s citizens, swiftly cleared the corpses within the city, sealed the four city gates, counted the city’s defense equipment, and carried out strict defenses.

They also dispatched scout squads, both to report back to Dongyang County and to scout the movements of the Qianshou Army.

Sang Que collected the intact corpses within the city, many of which were the city’s citizens.

In the previous battle, her Mai Chong Zombies were completely used up, and only thirty Corpse Mud Zombies remained.

To better create Blood Puppets, Sang Que selected some female and child corpses similar in build and appearance to her and the Yin Child, sending them to the painting for Chu Mo Wei.

Creating Blood Puppets requires dead bodies as well as wood, various types of yin-attributed wood, all of which were not difficult for Sang Que to obtain, including grain, which she could get on her return.

Tian Xing and his troop were highly professional and well-trained. Two thousand men defended the city meticulously, and even mobilized several teams to patrol the streets, rallying citizens to help repair the city wall, dig trenches, and make barricades.

It was a bit rough, but extremely efficient.

Seeing them, Sang Que couldn’t help but think how wonderful it would be if she could lure them to Bright Moon Mountain. The bandits she had were indeed a bit unpresentable.

After handling the grain issues, Sang Que and Xia Chan went to the wilderness outside the city, releasing the over eight hundred White-haired Zombies transformed by the Red Ghost inside the painting, arranging them in formation at the city gate.

Sang Que could control up to around a thousand White-haired Zombies through the Red Ghost. Now with these eight hundred, controlling them was a bit strenuous; zombies often acted disobediently and just ran off, with Xuan Yu ending up finding the runaway zombies, and Xia Chan having to drag them back.

As days passed by, Tian Xing personally delivered the military reports brought back by scouts to Sang Que daily.

Everything happened as He Buning anticipated. The Qianshou Army came out in full force, failing several times to take the city under the tactical dispatch of He Buning and Nan Zhongyun.

Several Ghost Witches accompanying the army engaged in a spell duel with two Daoists inside the city at a distance. Though the Daoists seemed average before Sang Que, their cultivation was not shallow.

According to the latest battle report, the two Daoists were heavily injured but managed to remotely kill three Ghost Witches in the Qianshou Army, leaving another severely injured and unwilling to fight again.

The two Gu Masters with the army exhausted all means to cast Gu, only to have each attempt foiled by Qiao Ling and even poisoned in return by her, leaving them hanging by a thread.

It took only five days for the nearly ten thousand strong army of the Qianshou Army to be reduced to less than five thousand, leading to their retreat and the advancement of Dongyang County’s forces.

...

The setting sun was like blood as the retreating Qianshou Army desperately fled towards Tangyuan, their exhausted bodies struggling to sustain them.

Their banners were torn and armor dust-covered, and the soldiers, formed by people from various places, had faces full of exhaustion and dejection.

When they finally threw off the pursuing Dongyang County garrison and emerged from the woods, arriving near Tangyuan County, what they imagined as a safe haven presented a shocking scene.

The once pitch-black, forbidding Death Domain that ordinary people dared not enter had disappeared, and the surroundings of Tangyuan County were bright with sunlight; the broken city walls had been repaired, and all the Qianshou Army flags atop the walls were gone, replaced by the flags of the Qinzhou garrison.

Tangyuan County had fallen, seized by the Qinzhou garrison.

The Qianshou Army’s commanders widened their eyes, gazing at the scene in disbelief, their lips trembling, "How could this be?"

The exhausted soldiers stood there dumbfounded, their eyes conveying deep terror and despair.

Raging winds howled, stirring up clouds of dust, and suddenly the Qianshou Army saw, on the vast expanse outside the city gates, hundreds of zombies with arms raised in a strict formation, two figures in front.

The first figure, clad in black, carried a longbow, wearing the mask of an Evil Suppression Bureau Night Wanderer, and behind stood a person in red, with an enchanting aura, who upon closer inspection seemed not human, but also a zombie. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"I am Sang Mulan of the Evil Suppression Bureau Night Wanderers. Rebel forces, hear me: Tangyuan County has been captured. Surrender and you won’t be harmed. You have a quarter-hour to decide!"

The name Sang Mulan was known far and wide, as Sang Que’s clear voice echoed across the wilderness outside the city.

At the rear of the Qianshou Army, a Ghost Witch being carried rushed forward with two Gu Masters whose faces were as pale as paper.

The Ghost Witch was a middle-aged woman, not precisely old, leaning on a serpent-shaped cane with a string of palm-sized skulls hanging from the top.

The two Gu Masters, with cloth bundled around their heads, bore strange insect-shaped markings on their faces, all staring fixedly at Sang Que.

The Ghost Witch took a deep breath and shouted, "Are you Sang Mulan? Is our Five Spirits Saintess from Yunzhou with you?"

Sang Que removed her mask to reveal her true face, "And if she is?"

As she finished speaking, the little Yin Child appeared beside Sang Que. Upon seeing those fellow countrymen, the Yin Child uncontrollably took two steps forward, then stopped and turned to look at Sang Que.

Without Sang Que’s command, the Yin Child obediently returned to Sang Que’s side and stood quietly.

This scene deeply pained the Ghost Witch and the Gu Masters, witnessing their noble Five Spirits Saintess reduced to such a ghostly state, yet being driven around like a servant by the despicable Xuan Dynasty people.

It was a disgrace of epic proportions!

In her fury, the Ghost Witch’s rage overwhelmed her and she spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot.

The two Gu Masters gasped deeply, "Return our Five Spirits Saintess, or all of Yunzhou will not rest until you are dead!"

Sang Que flung her long knife, "If you have the skills, come and take her back!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the ground beneath Sang Que suddenly cracked open, and she quickly leapt back.

In an instant, the clear sky was shadowed by dense clouds as a massive puppet, made from a mountain of corpses and wooden mechanisms, burst from the ground. Atop this puppet stood a black-robed Puppet Master.

"Sang Mulan, you have repeatedly opposed our Ghost Opera Troupe; today is your day of death!"