The next morning, a bugle sounded the attack before daybreak. Soldiers equipped with shields, in a formation, were advancing at the front, escorting soldiers with scaling ladders to the foot of the ramparts. Marksmen among the archers were firing arrows at the opposing archers on the ramparts in the distance who were shooting arrows back. A giant battering ram had been delivered to the city gates with a customized cart by a group of soldiers who were now battering the gates repeatedly. The high city gates of Langqiao City were shaking more and more violently from the impacts, dust and rubble falling constantly. Soldiers outside could hear the enemies on the other side of the gates yelling frantically about holding the gates.
Such loud noises constituted an unmistakable signal. Jiang Ke and some others were all waiting for the plants inside the city to make their move. If the plants successfully created chaos, then they would be able to take the city sooner than expected, quicken the pace of their westward advance and minimize their casualties to save strength for their westward advance as well.
Time was ticking away and the fight was now in full swing, but the city gates still hadn’t been opened. There was no sign of the plants taking action inside the city.
Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi remained collected, but the other officers became somewhat anxious and they all looked at Ling Zhang.
Ling Zhang appeared composed, looking in the direction of the city gates. The calm expression in his eyes seemed to have some kind of power that could set people’s minds at ease. Though he didn’t say anything, the couple of officers who were looking at him, at the sight of his calm eyes, subdued their anxiety and continued waiting.
Jiahe Chamber of Commerce had been making preparations in Langqiao City for quite some time. Ling Zhang had faith in his men and the arrangements made by his father.
Time was still passing, everybody present was paying close attention to the situation at the city gates.
Finally, when all of them were faint with anxiety, the city gates, which still hadn’t been battered down after such a long time, were abruptly opened a fraction and the next moment, the soldiers operating the ram battered the pair of gates fully open at a single stroke. Jiang Xi, who was waiting outside the gates with his men, felt a great sense of relief. Staring at the open gates with burning eyes, he immediately stormed into the city with his soldiers!
“The gates have been opened! Everybody follow me into the city!”
“Kill them!”
In fact it had only been slightly over two hours since the start of the battle, but it felt much longer than that. At this moment, seeing that the city gates were finally open and Jiang Xi and his men had successfully fought their way into the city, the other officers who had been waiting all along were thrilled and immediately charged at the open gates with their men.
The open city gates were to the fall of Langqiao City as an ant hole to the collapse of a solid dyke.
The Wan soldiers standing guard on the ramparts, outside of the troops of the Great Wen flooding through the city gates, also had to face enemies coming from behind. It was only a quarter of an hour before the ramparts were taken.
When Ling Zhang led his bodyguards into the city, the city gates and the ramparts had been occupied by soldiers of the Great Wen. The army had flooded into Langqiao City. None of the Wan soldiers or the residents in the city had bargained on the city would fall so quickly. Most of them were still in shock.
Xue Yi had thought that with the defense of Langqiao City, his men would be able to defend against the attack from the army of the Great Wen for at least half a month. It had never occurred to him that they wouldn’t even be able to hold the city for one day. The enemies that had entered through the city gates were now everywhere, and there was no way his men could kill them all. No matter whether he was willing to accept it or not, the fall of Langqiao City had become an undeniable fact.
Soon, the team led by Xue Yi, who had been forced into retreating again and again by the troops of the Great Wen that vastly outnumbered them, were cornered and then surrounded. Eyeing the general on horseback walking out of the crowd of enemies, Xue Yi, with an extremely ugly look on his face, said through clenched teeth, “Jiang Xi!”
“Oh, look who we have here. You’re General Xue’s son, aren’t you? You’ve been fleeing with your men since the moment you realized you’re on the losing side. I thought you’d flee all the way back to the palace and weep out your grief to Shan Congli. Speaking of which, why did you stop running? You suddenly came around and decided not to be a coward?” said Jiang Xi scathingly.
Xue Yi’s face went purple with rage at the insulting remarks. Staring menacingly at Jiang Xi, he said, “Jiang Xi, you would have been the one waiting to be killed if the Great Wen hadn’t resorted to those underhanded methods!”
“Ha. Funny you should talk about underhanded methods. Your sly monarch who’s full of wolfish ambitions unilaterally tore up the peace agreement, attempting to annex our country. Now his attempt failed and he’s getting his ass kicked, yet you have the nerve to accuse us. You had the balls to do it but have no guts to take the consequences? It turns out you Wan people are not only thick-skinned but also quite good at talking black into white. Shame on you,” said Jiang Xi pointedly, looking at him with wintry eyes.
Xue Yi sniffed with a sulky face, “Cut the shit and just kill me already. I, Xue Yi, was never a coward on the battlefield. Do you have the balls to duel with me?!”
“Ridiculous. You’re a turtle in a jar. Why would I waste my strength dueling with you?” jibed Jiang Xi. “But, since you really want to die so bad, I think it does no harm to grant your wish.”
…
When Ling Zhang and his bodyguards arrived, Jiang Xi was fighting a duel with Xue Yi. Jiang Xi was a hundred times better than Xue Yi in terms of both kung fu and combat experience. Xue Yi was nowhere close to a fighter of Jiang Xi’s caliber, and his defeat was certain.
Xue Yi abruptly fell off his horse and spat out a mouthful of blood, along with a couple of broken teeth. Before he could pull himself up, Jiang Xi’s spearhead was at his throat. Nobody knew how many enemies Jiang Xi had thrown off their horses or killed with that spear. The aura of blood and death radiating from the icy cold spearhead was almost palpable. The moment the sharp chilly spearhead came into contact with Xue Yi’s neck, a wave of fear instantly swept over him. However, what with the cold, derisive expression in the eyes of Jiang Xi who was looking down at him, Xue Yi fixed Jiang Xi with a gaze, unable to utter a single word to plead for his life.
“You’ve lost the fight. If you have your men surrender themselves, maybe my mood will lighten, and maybe I’ll spare your life,” said Jiang Xi. His tone was contemptuous, but the look in his eyes remained steely. Even his smile seemed to be unable to get into his eyes which was full of flinty murderousness. Jiang Xi had been fighting these enemies who always attempted to invade and occupy his home country for many years, and he had lost too many friends and relatives to the Wan cavalry. Spare Xue Yi’s life? Even if Jiang Xi agreed, the spear in his hand wouldn’t.
Xue Yi’s heart lurched as he heard Jiang Xi say he might spare his life. Nobody could be utterly unafraid when faced with the threat of death. However, it was still the icy, knifelike glint in Jiang Xi’s eyes that rendered him powerless to beg for his life. He knew that Jiang Xi was just making fun of him, that there was no way Jiang Xi was going to let him live.
As this thought occurred to him, Xue Yi’s lips curved into a grin. His bloody mouth looked rather scary. “You think you’ve won the war? This is just one small city. The Wan Kingdom has numerous more cities out there. It’s true that I, Xue Yi, cannot stop you, but there are a lot of people in the Wan Kingdom who can. You seriously believe you can make it to our capital city? Let me tell you something out of goodwill – someone capable of taking Yuwen Tong’s life has been waiting for him for quite some time! You people killed my father and thousands of Wan soldiers, and Yuwen Tong will pay for that with his life. You wait and see!”
In the distance, Ling Zhang knitted his brows at these words and his eyes, as menacing as a sharp blade, flashed at Xue Yi lying on the ground. Just now when Xue Yi made those remarks, the middle of his forehead twitched involuntarily as a strong sense of foreboding rose from the pit of his stomach. Almost at the same time, he leaped from his saddle, flew across countless soldiers like a giant bird and then landed at the center of the surrounding circle, standing in front of Xue Yi, fixing him with a stare so threatening Xue Yi felt as though he were being weighed down by a mountain. “Be specific. Who’s been waiting? What are you up to?”
Xue Yi was startled by Ling Zhang who seemed to have descended from the sky. On hearing the questions, he felt a twitch of psychopathic complacency, raised his head to look at Ling Zhang, intending to speak. However, the moment his eyes met Ling Zhang’s, a sensation of coldness shot from the top of his head all the way down to his heels, and he felt as though his heart had been frozen in almost an instant. It was as if someone had just put a mountain on his soul, and he could barely breathe, overwhelming panic and fear flooding him in waves. “Wh–Who are you?!”
Xue Yi didn’t know Ling Zhang. This was his first time clapping eyes on Ling Zhang’s face. Under the influence of the sense of power radiating from Ling Zhang, his mind was in some kind of stupor and he was utterly unable to analyze who Ling Zhang might be.
“Tell me what you meant by that and I’ll spare your life,” enunciated Ling Zhang.
Because of those words of Xue Yi’s which struck Jiang Xi as somewhat strange and the grave look on Ling Zhang’s face, Jiang Xi also came to realize that something was not quite right. He pushed his spear slightly forward. The spearhead penetrated the skin of Xue Yi’s neck, a trickle of blood flowing from the cut, winding its way down. However, compared with the sting from the wound, Ling Zhang’s eyes scared Xue Yi even more. Almost his whole back was soaking wet with cold sweat. He opened his mouth and stuttered, “I–I don’t know. I just heard Prince Yi say that someone in the capital city wanted to take revenge on Yuwen–Yuwen Tong. That man saved Prince Yi’s life. It’s said that he’s powerful enough to kill people in a telekinetic way.”
Ling Zhang frowned. That man saved Shan Congyi’s life? He was able to kill people in a telekinetic way? Who was this man that had both medical skills and superb kung fu?
“Anything else?”
Xue Yi shook his head. “That’s all I know. Prince Yi disclosed this in a fit of anger when he was told your emperor had led his army across the Wan River. I don’t know anything else.”
Looking at Xue Yi’s eyes which were full of fear, Ling Zhang came to know that he was not lying. On recalling that he had dismembered Shan Congyi, Ling Zhang felt a flush of vexation, spun around and walked off without even an extra glance at Xue Yi who was still lying on the ground. He wanted to talk with Jiang Ke. He had no idea who wanted to take revenge on Yuwen Tong, but since he had a foreboding, restless feeling, he must find Yuwen Tong. Ever since he had reached the sixth layer of the cultivation method, he had been having some alarmingly prophetic forebodings from time to time, and what he was feeling at this moment was no different from what he had felt on any of those occasions when he had had forebodings that had been justified afterwards. He couldn’t bear to stay in this place for a single extra moment.
The moment Ling Zhang left, Xue Yi, heedless of Jiang Xi’s spear which was still at his throat, limply sank to the ground, his whole body sopping wet with cold sweat as though he had just been dragged out of a pool. It was not until the mountainous pressure weighing him down disappeared that he came to realize that he was still alive, that he could still breathe. Recalling that a moment ago he had almost been killed by that aura, he trembled all over. Being on the verge of death turned out to be such a horrifying experience. If he had desired death a few moments ago, now he had begun to fear death.
Jiang Xi looked at Xue Yi whose eyes were showing panic and fright, disdainfully withdrew his spear, feeling that he would be disgracing his spear if he killed someone like Xue Yi who had started to fear death to such an extent.
“Guards, tie Xue Yi up and put him into detention.”
“Yes, General!”
