Why are the Talismans I Drawn Banned Again?! - Chapter 173

Chapter 173: Chapter 169: Bravery Laced with Foolishness (Happy New Year)
The Mausoleum Guard Squad, which originally numbered over two hundred, had been decimated in a fierce encounter with the Fruit Tree Army. Over a hundred had been captured, leaving fewer than a hundred remaining.

Facing the seemingly endless Fruit Tree Army, capable of “alternating resistance” tactics, the Guard Squad knew they were outmatched and were forced to shift their strategy, starting to attack towards the rear.

During the squad’s hasty retreat, another forty to fifty men were captured by the trees for not running fast enough.

Finally, at the entrance to the forehall of the royal mausoleum, the Mausoleum Guard Squad did another headcount and discovered that they had only forty to fifty men left.

Fortunately, the squad leader was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, able to temporarily erect a defensive barrier to prevent the Fruit Trees from also rushing into the mausoleum.

Having secured temporary safety, not a single face among the squad members showed any sign of relaxation.

Each time they recalled the recent battle with the Fruit Trees, they felt a chill down their spine.

If the Fruit Trees had been out for blood, rather than capturing them, the number of survivors would have been even less, and the entire royal mausoleum would have run red with blood.

“Captain, what exactly is up with those Fruit Trees? They’re unbelievably cunning!”

“It’s not a matter of the Fruit Trees being cunning; it’s that they are united in a way that’s shameless, intelligent in a way that’s despicable, brave in a way that’s idiotic—it’s a very complex feeling. Do you understand?”

The members of the Guard Squad nodded frantically.

Having fought the Fruit Trees themselves, they felt these descriptions were spot on.

If they had to describe these mysterious Fruit Trees with one term, it would be—despicable, shameless, disgusting, and low!

They never wanted to battle Fruit Trees in their lives again!

You simply never knew what trick they would pull next!

The Mausoleum Guard Squad hadn’t been safe for twenty minutes when a soldier with keen hearing suddenly said, “Listen, is that the sound of stone being chiseled and earth being dug?”

Upon listening, it was indeed the case.

“Are those Fruit Trees chopping and digging?”

“For real? This is a royal mausoleum, aren’t they afraid of retribution?”

“Captain, when can our reinforcements arrive?”

With the sound of digging, the already restive spirit of the Mausoleum Guard Squad totally disintegrated.

They were currently in the main hall at the entrance to the mausoleum.

Ahead were the traps and Formations protecting the mausoleum, behind them an innumerable amount of despicable Fruit Trees.

The sound of digging above their heads grew louder, but the reinforcements were nowhere in sight.

Despair!

Any commander knew that morale was more crucial than equipment or tactics in warfare.

The morale of the Mausoleum Guard Squad was on the verge of collapse. If he did not do something to boost their spirits, once the Fruit Trees burrowed through the mountain, the remaining soldiers would likely crumble at a single blow from the Fruit Tree Army!

In this critical moment, the squad’s only Foundation Establishment cultivator, the captain, bravely stepped forward.

“Brothers, I have a bold plan! Everyone knows that it’s not only us, the Mausoleum Guard Squad, that protect the royal descendants’ mausoleum. There are also the thousands of Ironclad Figurines crafted by our royal ancestors!”

“Ironclad Figurines? Aren’t they just a legend?”

“Damn, are those the things that were made using the bodies of criminals back when Great Liang was founded?”

“What? Really?”

“The Ironclad Figurines are not just a legend, but a reality. It is said that back during the founding period of Great Liang, there were countless rebellions. The First Emperor of Liang acted with thunderous might, employing exceedingly ruthless means. He not only suppressed the rebels but also used the bodies of the condemned and the rebels, pouring in molten iron, to create thousands of invulnerable Ironclad Figurines! Together with the Drive Array buried beneath the mausoleum, these Ironclad Figurines are unbeatable in the surrounding area of the mausoleum!”

“Captain, what you’re saying is…”

“We might be able to employ a strategy to set a tiger to fight a wolf! We can lure out the Ironclad Figurines to fight against the Fruit Trees!”

The captain’s words immediately kindled a flame of hope for victory in the surviving soldiers of the Mausoleum Guard Squad!

With the Ironclad Figurines taking action, everything would get better!

“Good! I think this plan is feasible!”

“We can only try this method now!”

“I have a question,” raised a disheveled soldier, “What if the Ironclad Figurines are lured out and they don’t fight the demonic trees, what shall we do then?”

The captain smiled confidently and said, “There’s no need to worry, the Ironclad Figurines will prioritize attacking ‘strong’ creatures. With so many tree spirits outside the house, the Ironclad Figurines won’t bother with us. Once the Ironclad Figurines and the tree spirits are embroiled in battle, we’ll seize the opportunity to break out!”

After deciding on their breakout plan, the Mausoleum Guard Squad captain walked to the depths of the tomb, swiftly triggered a mechanism, and then ran back to the tomb’s entrance at lightning speed.

In the presence of forty to fifty of the guard soldiers, the green stone floor of the royal tomb began to tremble.

From the depths of the tomb, a sound of huge boulders rubbing against the floor could be heard.

A moment later, countless heavy footsteps emanated from the depths of the tomb. These were not the muffled sounds of valiant men stamping on the floor but the clanging sounds of fine iron striking stones.

Ironclad Figurines of various heights and builds appeared in the sight of the guard soldiers, their bodies textured like muscle and skin but gleaming with a metallic luster.

The captain shouted, “Brothers, open the barrier and charge out with the Ironclad Figurines!”

“Alright!”

Under the lead of their Foundation Establishment captain, the forty to fifty members of the Mausoleum Guard Squad burst out of the tomb’s entrance in one breath, brandishing swords and charging onto the plaza in front of the tomb.

But what they saw next left them stunned.

The lush forest that once surrounded the royal tomb had completely vanished, replaced by barren, yellowed hills. In the distance, they could see an area still green, being frenziedly devoured by a large group of trees with red fruits atop their heads. The forests surrounding the Capital were rapidly withering away before their very eyes.

Soon, the Fruit Trees stopped what they were doing and reconverged around the tomb from all directions.

The forty to fifty members of the Mausoleum Guard Squad huddled back-to-back in a tight cluster.

Faced with the apocalyptic scene of the forest stripped to a desert, each soldier felt uneasy at heart.

“Don’t be afraid, brothers, we have the Ironclad Figurines!”

“Yes, we have the Ironclad Figurines!”

The Ironclad Figurines from the depths of the tomb were now pouring out of the entrance like a tide.

But they seemed uninterested in the Fruit Trees littering the ground and headed straight for the members of the Mausoleum Guard Squad.

The sharp noise of fine iron striking the green stone floor was enough to capture the soul.

“Damn it! Why are the Ironclad Figurines charging at us!”

“Why aren’t they fighting the tree spirits!”

“Shit, we misjudged! These trees aren’t tree spirits! They’re damn, moving, ordinary fruit trees!”

One man yelled at the deforested and sandy ground, “You call this ‘ordinary’!”

But now no one was interested in debating what exactly the Fruit Trees were, as caught between the dual onslaught of the Fruit Trees and the Ironclad Figurines, the remaining members of the Mausoleum Guard Squad were either smashed by the Ironclad Figurines or captured by the Fruit Trees.

Then the Fruit and Iron sides began fighting over the captives once again.

The Ironclad Figurines needed to exterminate intruders.

However, the Fruit Trees’ aim was to control the thieves, not eliminate them.

On one side were the invulnerable Ironclad Soldiers, on the other were the Kung Fu Fruit Trees that could continually regenerate and heal by absorbing nutrients.

This was essentially the Green Giants vs. Kong Tree.

An endless battle continued inside the royal family’s tomb.

No one knew how to stop them, nor did anyone know how long they would fight.

Two hours after the Mausoleum Guard Squad sent out a distress call, the Capital’s City Defense Force arrived to support them.

Since the Capital didn’t have much of a city defense to speak of, the City Defense Force only numbered two thousand. This time, nearly half, or seven to eight hundred, had come.

The City Defense Force could have arrived earlier, but upon seeing the barren mountaintop en route, they thought they had taken the wrong path. They had to confirm repeatedly that this place, clearer than a bald head, was indeed the renowned royal family’s tomb.

“What the hell happened here?”

Halfway up the mountain, the grand tomb had been turned into ruins, and above the ruins, hundreds of Ironclad Figurines and tens of thousands of Fruit Trees were locked in ferocious combat.

The only surviving Foundation Establishment captain of the Mausoleum Guard Squad flew over from not far away.

His eyes filled with horror, he asked, “Is this all the people you’ve brought? Where’s the Guard Army? The Imperial Army?”

“They asked us to come and check first.”

The captain held his head in his hands, “It’s over! The ancestral tomb has fallen, the nation’s fate has suffered, Great Liang is doomed!”