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  To assist Old Master Huang Shi-ren in dealing with the White Lotus Sect's repeated attempts at human wave tactics, organizing militia is an indispensable step.

  Lin Xue immediately racked his brains, referring to the Western-style trigger he had occasionally seen in magazines years ago, as well as the simple wooden crossbow used by a few ethnic minorities in the south for hunting. He combined these two designs and came up with a civilian version. The above-mentioned two designs have mediocre practical performance, and the only advantage is that the manufacturing process is simple enough. Although the technical content has been reduced, the range has been shortened to about 100 meters, but it requires very little strength from the user, and the metal parts are also easy to process, making it suitable for outsiders with poor shooting skills to quickly learn and master the usage.

  After Lin Xu's aid arrived at Jiangjia Village, the Land God Huang Shiran inspected the equipment and was very satisfied. He carefully selected two trusted professional gods to take charge of distributing weapons and equipment to the townspeople.

  A few days ago, the mobilization work had already been completed, and the gods quickly set up a militia in Jiangjiaji, claiming to defend their hometown as their own responsibility. The number of people also reached an unprecedented 3,000. It can be said that almost all the adult men in the town participated in the militia, except for those who were unable to move around.

  With the desired armed forces in hand, Huang Shiren felt a little more secure, but the White Lotus Sect did not give up its ambition to dominate Jiangjia Village.

  Having lost the opportunity to preach and spread their teachings within Jiangjiaji, they turned to building a brand new camp on a mound outside the town. As White Lotus followers from nearby counties also arrived to join them, they held large-scale sacrificial rituals every day, looking at this urgent situation, it was clear that the time for them to take action would not be far off.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, about half a month later, Old Landlord sent an infiltrator of the White Lotus Sect back with an explosive message.

  The high-level White Lotus Sect has decided to launch an attack on the Jiang family gathering on the night of the full moon, taking advantage of the momentum to wipe out the Land Temple. Upon learning of the White Lotus Sect's movement, Huang Shiren immediately sent a flying letter to his allies for help.

  After Lin Xu received the letter, he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable in his heart, always feeling that there was a suspicion of being a cheap labor force. However, those White Lotus Sect guys were indeed very annoying. Compared to these fanatics, Huang Shiren, this old good man, was easier to get along with. Lin Xu had no choice but to lead the two thousand dark troops to reinforce Jiangjia Village.

  On this day, just as the sun was rising, red clouds were reflected in the thin cloud layer on the eastern horizon.

  On the four closed, more than three feet high rammed earth wall, there were now local militiamen standing with tense expressions.

  Outside Jiangjiaji, the White Lotus Society had also mobilized tens of thousands of refugees and several thousand core followers, making for a grand spectacle.

  The militia of the Jiang family were equipped with *insufficient power, and it was no problem to deal with these ordinary people without armor protection. However, the White Lotus Sect had a traditional secret weapon that could defeat the enemy - the divine strike!

  After the White Lotus Society's men drank the talisman water, they collectively bared their chests and charged into battle. For a time, the slogan "Knives and guns can't get in" shook heaven and earth, this scene was indeed intimidating.

  Although some of the senior brothers' abilities were not enough, they could only invite fierce and evil spirits to possess them after exhausting their lives, and afterwards, they would inevitably suffer from severe injuries. However, when a small number of White Lotus Sect senior brothers with profound cultivation could summon a demon god to possess their bodies, their power undoubtedly surpassed the limits that an ordinary armed force could match. Although these heretical techniques were far from enough in the face of the Iron Blooded Army soldiers who had truly emerged from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, the problem was that they were now being used to deal with a group of militiamen who had only been hastily armed, had not received strict military training, and had nothing but high morale.

  There is no doubt that today Lin Xu and Huang Shi Ren these two earth immortals need to take action, are precisely these White Lotus core members.

  Since we've mentioned Shén Dǎ, we can't help but mention Yāo Shén, because without Yāo Shén, it's almost impossible to talk about Shén Dǎ.

  What is referred to as a "yao shen" (demon god) actually refers to an extraordinary existence that has not obtained the position and status of a god, but whose own power has already reached the level of a god. They can also lend their power to believers. If compared horizontally with orthodox gods who have received heavenly recognition, the strength of yao shen is not necessarily weaker than the former. The difference between the two does not lie in which one is stronger or weaker.

  The orthodox deity accepts the heavenly seal and is bound by the rules of the divine way. The deity enjoys incense and fire to obtain the power of wishes, which is then transformed into divine power. In contrast, evil spirits cannot directly obtain the power of wishes from living beings and can only satisfy their desires through blood sacrifices or other means of transforming incense and fire. If an orthodox deity unfortunately loses its divine position and status, it may degenerate into an evil spirit, while an evil spirit may also acquire a divine position and status under certain circumstances, thus transforming itself into an orthodox deity.

  Deep within Lin Xu's consciousness, the knowledge imparted by his predecessor, Huo Shan, also reminded him that many earth deities in their early stages of spiritual awakening could be classified as demon gods. To look down on the existence of demon gods was to seek one's own demise.

  Looking far away at the city head of Jiangjiaji, there were countless militiamen holding * etc. long-range shooting weapons. Several White Lotus Sect masters whispered to each other. After that, they saw them swing their arms and turn back to the camp, changing direction from the already opened siege formation of the White Lotus Sect army.

  A bright full moon hangs in the night sky like a white jade plate, its moonlight shining down on the earth more beautifully than frost and snow. A gentle evening breeze carrying the scent of rice flowers blows softly by, making everything seem so peaceful and serene.

  Suddenly, the sentry pacing back and forth on the city wall of Jiang's family stopped in his tracks. He stretched his head out beyond the battlements, where a mournful sound of drums was coming from afar. Confirming that his ears were not playing tricks on him, the sentry turned pale and ran hastily into the city wall. Immediately, the urgent and deafening bell tolls reverberated through the originally quiet Jiang's family village.

  "Kill! Rush in, equalize land, divide family property. Escape from misery, flee the prison."

  That sentinel had indeed heard correctly, for at this very moment the White Lotus followers were collectively wrapping their heads in yellow cloth and under the leadership of those core members with red sashes on their heads, they launched a wave of surprise attacks on Jiangjia Village's city walls like a tidal wave.

  During the daytime, the White Lotus Sect made a big show of themselves but retreated without a fight. This was because the senior brothers felt that the Jiang family's preparations for long-range weapons were too extensive, so they postponed the attack to midnight. They had indeed considered this very carefully, although many people among the refugees suffered from night blindness; however, on a full moon night, this drawback was not particularly serious.

  People awakened by the alarm bell rushed about in confusion, with torches and lanterns casting flickering shadows everywhere, and dogs barking incessantly. Due to the suddenness of the incident, the militiamen were still gathering, and the number of people who arrived at the city wall within an incense stick after the bell rang was less than even a third.

  At this scene, Huang Shiren sighed and turned his head to Lin Xu who was not far away:

  "My dear younger brother, you have worked hard tonight."

  Hearing this, Lin Xu smiled and said:

  "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

  If measured by the standards of a city, Jiangjia Village's walls are not impressive in height, and there are no necessary defensive facilities such as moats and city moats outside the city to prevent enemies from approaching the wall. However, as a small town, this defensive deployment is already quite good.

  At this time, on the top of the wall that was only wide enough for three or four people to stand side by side, Bi Jiang transformed Zhang Xin into a mortal form, and he loudly shouted:

  "Everyone listen up, same as before. First row, fire; second row, ready; third row, string your bows."

  Facing the enemy face to face, at a distance where each other's eyes can be clearly seen, and engaging in a bloody fight with knives, is undoubtedly a harsh test of a soldier's psychological quality. Needless to say, even a slight distraction would mean life or death, and new recruits who have not been on the battlefield before cannot bear such mental pressure. Therefore, in the era of cold weapons, a small number of veteran soldiers who are used to fighting can easily defeat ten times their own number of new recruits. In contrast, shooting enemies at long range requires much lower psychological quality for soldiers.

  In fact, this is also one of the important reasons why firearms replaced cold weapons. It's obvious that lightly pulling the trigger to shoot and kill an enemy 100 meters away is much more acceptable than personally wielding a sharp blade to disembowel the opponent, then watching as the steaming internal organs spill out of the wound.

  "Fire!"

  "Bang bang bang - zip zip zip - zip zip zip"

  When General Zhang Xian drew his sword and pointed it at the White Lotus followers surging towards the city wall of Jiangjiaji like a tide, he let out a loud shout. Upon hearing this, the soldiers standing in the front row reflexively pulled the triggers of their crossbows, which resembled bicycle brakes. As the bowstrings were released one after another, the dull thuds caused by the recoil and the ear-piercing whizzing sounds of the arrows flying through the air also rang out, making the atmosphere on the city wall feel heavy and oppressive to the point where people felt like they were about to suffocate to death.

  Compared to the militiamen who were either tense with anxiety or numbly following orders, the minority of people sitting on the city wall watching the battle were much more at ease.

  Lin Xu pointed at the Bai Lian sect disciples who were charging forward with their spears, his face expressionless as he said:

  "Yuqi, what do you think of these people?"

  At the sound, Xiaoyu Jing, who was intently eating a peach, snorted in disdain and said with unclear articulation:

  "What's so great about this? A group of ignorant fools like ants, if Master Ling Xuzi were to take action, they would all be dead in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

  Xiao Yu Jing was indeed quite unlucky back then. Initially, she was captured by the Qi Practitioner Ling Xuzi and refined into a living treasure. Afterwards, she began her long life as a slave. Before Qi Practitioner Lin Feisheng ascended, he didn't forget to press her under the stone platform, treating her like a refrigerator for several hundred years. However, Jing seemed not to hold any grudges against Ling Xuzi because of this.

  If it were when he first came, Lin Xu would definitely not understand why Qi was so attitude. As the days of living in this piece of land grew longer, he gradually became able to understand the straightforward thinking way of the local monsters.

  The monsters highly uphold the idea that the strong are respected, even if they are on different sides, but the strong will always be worthy of respect and obedience. The power to kill or spare is a privilege that the strong should enjoy, if you feel wronged, don't complain or appeal, just work hard to make yourself stronger!

  Standing beside Lin Xu and Xiaoyu, Huang Shiren, the Landlord, had a sly smile on his face with a hint of playfulness, leaned in close to Lin Xu's ear and said in a low voice:

  "Lin Xian-di, last time I wanted to help you out, but you kept pushing me away and making excuses. Don't tell me you have someone else in mind?"

  Upon hearing this, Lin Xu was taken aback at first, then his expression changed from being stunned to being unable to cry or laugh, and finally he could only shake his head repeatedly without saying a word.