The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 505- 507

Chapter 505: Infiltration into Enemy Rear

It was after Yuwen Tong had his internal energy run two circuits of his meridian network that the transports of emotion churning inside him subsided.

At the sight of him walking out, Yuwen Jin, He Xiao and Xiao Jiangyue all of whom had been waiting outside the tent hastened up to him.

“Sire, are you okay?”

Yuwen Tong appeared unhurried. “I’m fine. I was just circulating my internal energy. Why are you all here?”

“We were worried something had happened to you. Yao Yi and the others wouldn’t tell us anything. We were all startled.”

Yuwen Jin tossed Yao Yi a somewhat reproving glance.

“I told them to keep their mouths shut because I didn’t want to concern you. I didn’t bargain on drawing all of you to my tent. The troops have just returned and they need regrouping. You have nothing to worry about with me. Now go and regroup the soldiers and have them settle down. Tonight we’re having a meeting in my tent to formulate a plan of our next attack.”

“Yes, Sire.” As Yuwen Tong did look composed and well, the three of them took their leave.

Yuwen Jin, after going a couple of paces, turned on his heel, doubled back, glanced over his shoulder and, having checked that the others were out of sight, said to Yuwen Tong, “Cousin, are you really okay? You don’t look very well.”

Yuwen Jin, who had always been quite bluff, was being uncharacteristically observant and scrupulous on this occasion. Yuwen Tong felt that what he had done for this second cousin of his had been worthwhile.

“I’m really fine. It just so happened that I was on the verge of making a breakthrough in my cultivation of internal energy, and the murderousness in the air on the battlefield was quite intense, so my internal energy was affected a little and started churning. It’ll return to normality after I circulate it another couple of times.”

Yuwen Jin heaved a sigh of relief and said relaxedly, “I see. Actually you don’t have to be on the battlefield every time. General Xiao and the rest of us could handle it. There’s no need to concern yourself. Besides, you’re now the emperor, not a general. If you go to the battleground every time, the soldiers could easily become dependent on it, and when they do, what should we do if some day it’s inconvenient for you to be present at the front?”

Yuwen Tong was somewhat surprised that Yuwen Jin saw it this way. It would seem he had indeed learned a lot during the northward advance of the army. On top of that, Yuwen Jin had been doing a good job directing operations in every one of the battles he had participated in. Now he had the makings of a competent commander.

“Okay. I’ll discuss your suggestion with the couple of generals and see if it’s okay to let you guys be in charge of our next attack on the city. Actually I could use some rest to recharge and prepare myself for the upcoming Battle of Jifang City. Show me something in the fight and I’ll make you General-in-chief after we take the Wan capital.”

Gratified, Yuwen Jin smacked a hand on to his own chest. “You may rest assured that I won’t let you down, cousin.”

Yuwen Tong’s face turned cold as he watched Yuwen Jin leave. Currently what was inside his body was still unknown, so it was indeed inadvisable for him to go to the battlefield. He had a hunch that this thing not only was capable of affecting his mood but also fed on his emotions. Before he could figure out a way to rid himself of it, his best choice was to avoid mood swings.

Yuwen Tong was confident of restraining every kind of his emotion, with one exception – his yearning for a reunion with Ling Zhang.

From the Web

The thought existed in his mind for only a fleeting instant, but he immediately felt a throbbing in the heart as expected, his breathing quickening. He had no choice but to force himself into clearing his mind, the look in his eyes growing even colder as he did so.

…

“Childe Ling, to detour around the city ahead, you have to follow this narrow pass. You’ll have to cross some rugged and steep areas, and it’ll take you two extra days.”

An assistant supervisor working in a store affiliated to Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, who had accompanied Ling Zhang out of Jifang City, unfurled a sketchy road map, pointed at a winding route skirting the city ahead, and gave Ling Zhang some information about it.

Ling Zhang took a look at the road map. The alternative route would take a common porter two extra days, but he and his bodyguards could finish the journey much quicker. As long as they could get to the encampment of Yuwen Tong’s army safely, spending some extra time on the road would be worthwhile. However…

Ling Zhang raised his head to look in the direction of the city not far away, a somewhat hesitant expression in his eyes.

He was standing on a height from which he could see most of the buildings in the city. Watching the city, he could distinctly feel the tense, subdued atmosphere in it, though there was such a long distance between them.

He was wavering between detouring to the encampment of the army of the Great Wen or entering that city to figure out a way to help Yuwen Tong’s men take it as soon as possible.

It was only earlier this morning that he had made some inquiries and come to know that the day before, Yuwen Tong’s army and the garrison led by Chen Jing had been stuck in a stalemate for the whole morning, that the city gates hadn’t been battered down. He was positive that with Yuwen Tong’s capabilities, his men would storm into the city in a day or two, though they had failed the day before. Still, if he could do something to help take the city with a lower casualty number…

“No. We’re not making a detour.”

Somewhat astonished, the assistant supervisor looked at him. Wang Dashan and the others, however, just listened carefully to Ling Zhang, waiting for him to give instructions. Nobody raised any objections to Ling Zhang’s decision.

“We enter the city and figure out some way to create chaos. It’d be best if we could approach the city gates. If we can’t, we’ll find a way to destroy the oil Chen Jing’s men are using to defend the city. Even if we can’t destroy their oil, we’ll set a fire to their rear so that they wouldn’t be able to concentrate their effort on defending against the frontal attack.”

For an instant there was a twinkle in all his bodyguards’ eyes. As two of their fellow bodyguards were in the North-western Army, right now there were only twenty of them present. Still, all of them were totally unafraid of sneaking into a city fraught with danger with Ling Zhang.

The assistant supervisor, however, was taken aback. “Childe Ling, are you sure you want to go into the city? You–You’ll be challenged by a lot of guards and patrols if you do that at this point in time. The security there is far tighter than it is in Jifang City. They might even have sealed the gates already. If you try to enter, you’ll either attract the garrison’s attention or waste a trip.”

Looking in the direction of the city at the foot of the hill, Ling Zhang said, “There are other ways to get into the city apart from going through the gates.”

“Ah?” The assistant supervisor was confused. How else could they enter the city if not by going through the city gates? Surely they were not going to fly into it? It was not like they were fairies or something.

However, when he reached the ramparts of the city with Ling Zhang and his bodyguards, he came to realize that he had seen too little of the world, for it turned out that aside from fairies, Childe Ling and his bodyguards were also capable of flying into a city.

Thud!

The assistant supervisor was so nervous he failed to keep his grip on the rope when approaching the ground, fell down and landed on his butt, which now felt as though it had broken. Massaging his hips with a grimace of pain, he was just about to groan when the one beside him rapidly clapped a hand to his mouth, reducing his would-be groan to a muffled noise issuing from his throat.

“Quiet. You don’t want to arrest anybody’s attention in this place.”

Startled, the assistant supervisor hastened to bob his head, silently promising that he wouldn’t yell.

Ling Zhang glanced at him and said, “Now that we’ve gained entry into this city, we no longer need you to be our guide. Tell us all you know about this city first and then bring us to the store of Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. Remember, when we get to the store, do not disclose our arrival until you find someone who speaks the right code.”

The assistant supervisor replied with a nervous inclination of the head, “Don’t worry, Childe Ling. I understand.”

The assistant supervisor told Ling Zhang everything he knew about the city, and then, following Ling Zhang’s instructions, found the store affiliated to Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, gingerly eluding teams of Wan soldiers patrolling the streets back and forth.

Jiahe Chamber of Commerce had only one store in this city, which was the largest variety store selling sundry goods from all around the country.

This was a city Yuwen Tong’s army must take before they could get to the Wan capital in the north. Ling Zhang and Ling Zhaowu, who had been improving their intelligence network for years, naturally had long since planted some men in this city, but to be on the safe side, Ling Zhang wouldn’t try to contact any of them on his own initiative. It would be safer to have the assistant supervisor check out the lay of the land first.

The assistant supervisor was unaware that someone had covertly followed him to the variety store.

The doors of the store were shut. Not only this store but also all the other stores on the street were closed. The whole street was deserted but for a couple of pedestrians walking in great haste, who were challenged by every patrol they encountered. The assistant supervisor, though unable to “fly” and afraid of pain, acted quite composedly in these circumstances. With his composure and perfectly native accent, he soon handled the patrols and reached the back door of the store.

Ling Zhang, sitting crouched behind the ridge of the roof of a house in a small alley, was observing the whole city when he heard the assistant supervisor in a special way knock at the back door, which was then opened by someone.

…

“This is the place. We’ve confirmed it several times in the past few days. It’s just this time around Chen Jing is in command of the army, and the provisions and oil are so heavily guarded we haven’t found any opportunities to approach them so far.”

In the variety store, Ling Zhang was sitting behind a desk. In front of him were the storekeeper, a supervisor and a waiter, all of whom were respectfully standing there with their heads down, not daring look at Ling Zhang’s eyes.

The keepers of other stores had long since fled the city with their families. The three of them, owing to their special mission, had stayed and managed to ascertain where the Wan army were storing their food supplies.

“We planned to destroy all their oil yesterday, but we never had the chance,” said the storekeeper, who was a bearded middle-aged man, and whose clothes were typical of a common storekeeper’s clothing. An expression of mingled ferocity and anger appeared on his face as he said that they were unable to get close to the location where the Wan army were storing the food supplies and oil.

All these people had been specially sought out and recruited by Ling Zhaowu. Though they were all natives of the Wan Kingdom, most of them held deep hatred for this country. Ling Zhang had no idea from where his father had poached these people, but none of them had ever made any slip-ups since they had been recruited, which was why Ling Zhang admired his father’s discernment very much.

“Did Chen Jing have the oil transported here from out of town or did he collected it from locals?” Ling Zhang inquired of him.

“He collected it from locals,” answered the storekeeper, who then added, “Chen Jing’s army had had no plan to do that when they had first entered the city, but a couple of days ago, they suddenly started collecting oil. First they took all the oil from the storeroom of the yamen, then from the mansions of all rich merchants and local squires, and then from every other house in the city. Currently most families don’t have any oil whatsoever at their disposal. Chen Jing’s men have taken every last drop of it.”

A couple of days ago? Ling Zhang furrowed his brows. “Did something particular happen a couple of days ago?” he asked.

The storekeeper recollected, “Yes. On that day Chen Jing sent out an envoy to have an audience with His Majesty. It’s said that he went there to sue for peace.”

To sue for peace? With a slight frown on his face, Ling Zhang inquired prudently, “Has everybody in this city come to know about that?”

The storekeeper said with a head bob, “Yesterday morning some of Chen Jing’s men yelled about it on the ramparts. A lot of people heard it.”

Next, the storekeeper recounted in detail what had happened in the morning of the day before, the frown on Ling Zhang’s face deepening as he listened. The storekeeper, now further deterred from making eye contact with him by the cold air Ling Zhang was emanating, continued, “And then there’s that envoy. After returning from his audience with His Majesty, he died a very weird death at the front gates of the encampment of the Wan army.”

The storekeeper gave him an account of how that man had died.

The look in Ling Zhang’s eyes gradually went cold and grave. For some reason, he kept having this feeling that the circumstances in which the envoy had died were quite suspicious. Also, he had a slight sense of foreboding. “Is the body of that deceased envoy still in the encampment of the Wan army?”

The storekeeper gave a nod. “Yes. I heard that the envoy was a relative of Chen Jing’s, that his surname was also Chen. After his death, he was encoffined in the encampment, but it’s been two days, and now there’s no telling whether or not his body is still there. We can’t get close enough to make inquiries about it.”

The main reason was that the storekeeper and the couple of others had been focusing on how to destroy the Wan army’s oil, and they hadn’t made much effort to look into the envoy’s death. Of course, they indeed were unable to gain entry into the encampment of the Wan army to investigate it.

“Considering the wartime army rules, the body of that envoy is either still in the encampment or has been burnt. Does it strike you that there’s something fishy about that envoy’s death, Young Master?” asked Wang Dashan.

Ling Zhang inclined his head and said with a wintry expression in his eyes, “I need to go there to take a look.”

Chapter 506: A Gu Worm

The storekeeper and the others were baffled as to why Ling Zhang was interested in the corpse of that envoy. “Are we still burning their food supplies? His Majesty’s army will probably launch another attack on this city soon, and it’ll still be very difficult for them to climb up the ramparts if we don’t destroy the oil.”

The storekeeper and the others seemed even more anxious to see the Wan army come to grief than Ling Zhang did.

“Dashan, take some men and go with the storekeeper to check the place where the enemy are storing their food supplies. I’ll go and take a look at the envoy’s body,” said Ling Zhang.

Wang Dashan answered with an inclination of the head, “Yes, Young Master.”

The keeper of the variety store had some kung fu skills, which was part of the reason why Ling Zhaowu had put him in charge of the store. After all, there were many things that people without kung fu skills couldn’t handle. The storekeeper not only knew some kung fu but also was quick-witted. While running the store, he had trod almost every street and alley and knew the city as well as a beggar knew his bag. Also, he was well acquainted with local squires and wealthy merchants, and even had dealings with the mayor of the city.

Because of these contacts of his, the storekeeper always got information about the latest development of things in the city quicker than others did, and he was also able to figure out a way to quietly approach the military base of the Wan army, but that was the best he could do. After all, Chen Jing’s army was not the garrison of this city, and even the mayor had to go through strict security check before he could gain entry into the base, so naturally there was no way the storekeeper could easily get inside with the help of any of his contacts.

“How do you plan to get in there?” the storekeeper asked Wang Dashan and the others.

The base of the Wan army was well defended, and it was really very difficult to approach the location where their supplies were kept without alarming any of them.

However, Ling Zhang’s bodyguards were different. Though their kung fu and lightness skills were not as good as Ling Zhang’s or Yuwen Tong’s, they were capable of deploying various kinds of Formations. It wouldn’t be a problem for them to fool the guards on duty for some time with their skills. The tricky part was that they would have to work as a seamless team with Ling Zhang lest the enemy be alarmed and lock down the base before Ling Zhang could get access to the envoy’s body.

Wang Dashan and the others reconnoitered the base to get enough information about its security arrangements. After that, some of them stayed to stake out the base, while the others went back to the variety store to wait for Ling Zhang to return.

Finding the place where the envoy’s body was, however, took Ling Zhang quite some time.

As the storekeeper and the others had paid scant attention to this matter and hardly made any inquiries about it, Ling Zhang had to look for the body by himself after sneaking into the military base.

There were frequent deployments of troops in the Wan army. Ling Zhang, after observing with cold eyes for a while, conjectured that it wouldn’t be long before the next round of attacks came. He turned around and went towards the far end of the vast military base. A few moments later, an officer who seemed to be of a fairly high rank fell prey to his Illusive Trap.

Ling Zhang’s proficiency in deploying Formations had been growing by the day ever since he had made a breakthrough in his cultivation of internal energy and reached the sixth layer. Previously he had admired his grandfather for being able to deploy a Formation with a single motion of his hand. Now he himself had mastered that skill as well. Though his prowess was not as amazing as Ji Yin’s, few people in the world matched him.

The officer, after entering the Illusive Trap, soon felt dizzy, lapsed into a stupor and began to answer every question of Ling Zhang’s.

“Where’s the envoy’s body?”

“Beside the arsenal.”

“Where’s the arsenal?”

The officer told him a specific location. With an icy look in his eyes, Ling Zhang tossed him out of the Illusive Trap, undeployed the Formation and then covered his tracks. Given that Chen Jing had been preserving well the body of this relative of his who shared the same surname with him, he must really value their kinship. This action of his happened to make it more convenient for Ling Zhang to carry out his plan.

The officer, after being tossed out of the Illusive Trap, was in bemusement for quite some time before he came to himself. When he found that he was sitting on the ground leaning against a corner of a tent, presumably having just woken from a sleep, the bewilderment on his face further deepened. He vaguely remembered being questioned by someone in his dream, but when he carefully thought back to it, he couldn’t recall any details. Cold sweat breaking out over his back, he hastily pulled himself up and returned to his unit when nobody was watching.

With the information he had extracted from that officer, Ling Zhang found the place where the envoy’s body was kept, along with the arsenal. Also, he discovered that the location where the food supplies were stored was not far away either, and he saw Liu Yi who was staking it out.

Liu Yi was amazed to see Ling Zhang. After Ling Zhang made a gesture at him, he paused briefly, then inclined his head and backed into the shadows.

Though Chen Jing had had the envoy’s body encoffined, after that, he had merely had the coffin placed in a tent and done nothing more about it. There was no soldier guarding the tent, so Ling Zhang easily gained entry into it.

He pushed the coffin lid open and caught sight of the envoy’s body lying inside. He couldn’t help noticing that the corpse was in a quite unnatural, peculiar state, and the envoy’s chest was actually still heaving. At first Ling Zhang believed that the man was still alive, but after observing for a while, he found that the man was indeed dead. The body was icy cold, and nobody could be that cold and alive at the same time. Still, the unusual heave of the man’s chest …

Ling Zhang cut the dead man’s chest open with a dagger he had prepared without any particular purpose and then disgust appeared in his eyes as they alighted on a black worm coming out of the body. It looked like but was smaller and more bizarre than an adult silkworm. In a word, it was very repulsive.

It was a Gu worm. Ling Zhang killed it with a single stroke of the dagger and with that the eerie heave stopped.

Ling Zhang, without pulling out the dagger, directly shut the coffin, his eyes frosty.

It was a Gu worm that had taken the envoy’s life, and it had happened after the envoy had an audience with Yuwen Tong. Ling Zhang was fretful and kept having this feeling that there was some kind of conspiracy involved. He was anxious to see Yuwen Tong to check that he was safe.

Ling Zhang quietly left the tent, a very ugly look on his face.

It was a fact staring him in the face that someone in the Wan army was capable of using Gu.

The death of the envoy, Chen Jing’s unexpected request for peace talks, the avenger that Shan Congyi had mentioned was adept in both medical skills and kung fu … These thoughts crossed Ling Zhang’s mind one after another. Though not having figured anything out yet, he found them loathsome.

“Young Master,” Liu Yi hurriedly asked as he saw Ling Zhang coming, “Where have you been?”

“The envoy’s body is in that tent. He was killed by a Gu worm,” said Ling Zhang.

The look in Liu Yi’s eyes turned grave. A Gu worm?

“Considering the frequent deployments of troops of the Wan army, the next round of attacks will soon start. We must destroy their food supplies and oil and arsenal as soon as possible.”

Liu Yi nodded. “I’ll do it right away.”

Ling Zhang stopped him. “I’ll handle it. What you need to do is toss this thing into their arsenal.”

Ling Zhang handed him a black iron ball. Astonished, Liu Yi asked, “Isn’t this iron ball the same as the one used by Shan Congyi in the wood that day?”

“Yes,” said Ling Zhang. “It comes from a Hu merchant from the Western Regions (Hu refers to any of the non-Han nationalities living in the north and west in ancient times). It’s very difficult to produce. This one and the one used by Shan Congyi are from the same caravan. There used to be five of them. Shan Congyi used one. Chen Jing has two. The other two were purchased by a rich merchant, one of which is now in your hand.”

In the past few years, the scouts planted in the Wan Kingdom by Yuwen Tong had spent quite some time looking into the matter of the weird iron ball used by Shan Congyi before they finally ascertained from whom he had got it. Getting the two iron balls from the rich merchant had taken some doing. Yuwen Tong had also sent some men to look for that Hu merchant. However, it had turned out that that Hu merchant had got the iron balls from further west. What with the blockade of the road leading to that area by a western mini-state, in recent years that Hu merchant had been unable to pay that area another visit to bring back more iron balls. Yuwen Tong had given one of the two iron balls to the Ministry of Works. The staff members, after researching it for some time, had got a general idea of how to produce it, but it wasn’t easy to make an iron ball like that. During the past two years, they had only managed to produce some semi-finished products, the explosion of which was far less powerful than expected. The other one had been given to Ling Zhang.

“Young Master, given that Chen Jing has this kind of things at his disposal, isn’t our soldiers in danger?” said Liu Yi apprehensively.

Ling Zhang shook his head. “Powerful as its explosion is, the casualty it could cause is limited. Chen Jing wouldn’t be able to make much difference with the two iron balls. We don’t have to concern ourselves unless the Wan Kingdom could mass-produce them. The materials needed to make an iron ball like this are very scarce in the Wan Kingdom. On top of that, their artisans’ skills couldn’t hold a candle to those of ours, which is why so far they haven’t made any progress in producing it. Otherwise they would have long since resorted to it, given all those defeats the Wan army has suffered lately.”

After hearing this, Liu Yi gave a gasp of relief and relaxed.

“Now go and get it over with.”

Liu Yi inclined his head and left with the iron ball in his hand.

Ling Zhang waited until Liu Yi reached the arsenal to cover his tracks with a Formation and slip into the place where the food supplies and oil were stored. These things could be easily taken care of with a mere fire.

…

BOOM!

There was a violent explosion in the arsenal of the Wan army and the whole city quaked for a few moments. Chen Jing’s face changed drastically at the boom. “What happened?!”

The army of the Great Wen had mustered and was heading for this city. The timing of this sudden explosion gave Chen Jing a foreboding feeling. He hastened to take some men and ran towards the scene, but before reaching the destination, he caught sight of a tall flame springing into the sky from somewhere as though that place had suddenly been turned into an inferno in an instant. The whole thing happened in such a weird fashion that the look on Chen Jing’s face became even uglier.

“Fire! The food supplies and oil are on fire! Go get water! That tent is on fire as well! Someone put it out!”

“The arsenal was blasted!”

Chen Jing suffered a fleeting blackout and nearly fainted. The next moment he bellowed, “Put out the fire! Shut the front gates! Search the whole base!”

“Dispatch delivery!”

“General! The army of the Great Wen have arrived! They’ll soon attack!”

Consumed with anxiety and fury, Chen Jing clenched his teeth, his eyes red with resentment. After taking a couple of deep breaths, he quickly took some men and went to the ramparts, shouting instructions for the soldiers to put out the fire on his way. Without oil, they were now unable to set the vertical surface of the ramparts aflame, which meant that they wouldn’t be able to defend against the attack from the army of the Great Wen. It would not be long before this city fell.

An old man dressed like a scholar, who was following in Chen Jing’s wake, glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the blazing inferno and then switched his gaze to the ramparts, the expression in his eyes turning even more sinister and glacial as he saw Chen Jing ascend the ramparts in a great hurry with scant regard for him.

Wang Dashan and all the others were taken aback at the explosion and then astonished at the sight of the raging flames accompanied by billows of thick smoke, wondering why Liu Yi had taken action when Ling Zhang hadn’t returned yet.

But soon Ling Zhang and Liu Yi came back together.

“The attack has started. You guys get your stuff ready and then go to the city gates directly. I’ll use a Formation to clear the way for you and hold back the enemy’s reinforcements to buy you as much time as possible. What you need to do is take advantage of the opportunity and open the city gates!” said Ling Zhang quickly the moment he met them.

It took Wang Dashan and the others a brief moment to cotton on to what was happening, and then they immediately got their things ready and followed Ling Zhang to the side of the street.

The city gates, which were right at the end of this main street, were now heavily guarded, and the whole area was seething with Wan soldiers. If they were to get to the gates, they must get these soldiers out of the way. There was not much Ling Zhang could utilize on the scene, so he first had to create conditions for his plan to be carried out. Wang Dashan and the others had prepared some handcarts and other vehicles all of which were loaded with flammable materials, and which could be useful when they charged at the city gates. Once the soldiers outside started battering the gates, they would light the flammable materials and thrust the vehicles towards the enemy soldiers as fast as they could, and Ling Zhang would offer them assistance to make it easier for them to get to the gates.

Chapter 507: City Gates Battered Open

There were two defense lines between them and the city gates. The first one was two rows of cheval-de-frise, the pointed wooden wedges on which deterred civilians and unauthorized personnel from approaching, and which were also guarded by soldiers.

Ling Zhang carefully observed and gauged the distance between the two defense lines and then told his bodyguards to dump the burning handcarts between the two defense lines after they forced their way through the first one.

“I’ll hold back their backup. You guys charge straight towards the guards at the cheval-de-frise. Try to get into the passageway as quick as possible lest the archers on the ramparts turn around to fire at you.”

“But what about you, Young Master? If they shoot arrows at you from the top of the ramparts, you’ll be in dire danger. Maybe you should be the one going there to open the city gates. We’ll hold back their reinforcements for you.”

“I can handle the arrows. Just do as I say. Don’t waste any more time.”

” … Yes, Young Master!”

The ground started quaking faintly and before long the sounds of war drums and horns were heard, indicating the commencement of the offensive on the city mounted by the army outside. Ling Zhang cocked an ear at the movements on the other side of the ramparts, time slowly ticking away …

There was a moat around the city. The soldiers of the Great Wen had to get the battering ram across the moat first before they could use it to batter the city gates.

Ling Zhang, though inside the city, could distinctly hear the battle cry issuing from outside. After about two hours, something heavy thudded to the ground – the drawbridge had been put down, which meant that the soldiers would soon started battering the city gates.

On hearing the sound of ram-dray trundling, Ling Zhang came to know that it was time and said to his bodyguards, “Let’s move.”

Wang Dashan and the others nodded, quickly covered their faces with pieces of cloth that left only their eyes showing, and then pushed out the handcarts they had prepared beforehand, all of which were loaded with combustible wood topped with flammable materials. These things could burn for about an hour. They must open the city gates before the flames went out.

“Ignite them.”

Wang Dashan and the others produced some little paper rolls, blew at the glowing ends of the rolls to set them aflame and then tossed them onto the handcarts. The flammable materials over which oil had been poured instantly started burning and with that Wang Dashan and the others pushed the handcarts forward at full pelt!

Since they needed to blindside the enemy soldiers guarding the gates, they must act quickly and thrust their way through the first fortification line before more enemies came at them.

Most of the soldiers were on the ramparts and behind the city gates. The first defense line was two rows of cheval-de-frise, which were guarded by only a couple of men.

The couple of soldiers were startled at the sight of the burning handcarts pushed by Wang Dashan and the others hurtling towards them. “Identify yourselves!” the soldiers shouted.

Wang Dashan and the others made no reply and their handcarts tore into the first defense line like greased lightning. Ling Zhang following at their heels swooshed past them and their handcarts and threw a couple of palm strikes, generating shock waves of internal energy so violent that the two rows of cheval-de-frise were flung aside, the couple of soldiers sent flying.

Wang Dashan and the others, pushing the flaming handcarts, streaked through the first defense line, heading squarely towards the second one.

Those burning handcarts were like giant balls of fire, deterring the enemy soldiers who wanted to intercept them from approaching. As Wang Dashan and twelve others cleared the way, Liu Yi and the rest quickly dumped the handcarts in front of the second defense line. And then all of them nimbly leaped over the cheval-de-frise and engaged the enemy in the short passageway leading to the city gates.

At this time the officer in charge at the city gates came to realize what was going on, and, rushing over with some men, bellowed, “STOP THEM!”

An elemental shock wave of internal energy produced by a palm strike swept the passageway and with that the flames on the handcarts parked before the cheval-de-frise, as though having come to life, abruptly whooshed towards the enemy soldiers charging over like a dragon of fire!

“AAAAARGH!”

The soldiers were hit by the wave of flames head-on and screeched in pain, rampaging around and breaking their formation. This, coupled with subsequent waves of flames, instantly threw the enemy guarding the city gates into chaos and confusion.

On the ramparts, Chen Jing, terribly flustered and anxious, was directing his troops trying his best to defend against the savage attacks from the army of the Great Wen when a soldier hurried up to him and reported, “Some thugs broke through the cheval-de-frise and are trying to open the gates!”

“What?! Stop them!”

The words had hardly left Chen Jing when he saw a dragon of fire swoosh up past the top of the ramparts, quickly descend, land onto the ground and form a large complex surrounding circle of flames. Soldiers trapped within the circle were attacking a blue-robed man, but more were kept out of the circle of flames!

“Hurry! Shoot that man!” Chen Jing, who could tell at a glance that things were taking a turn for the worse, immediately commanded the archer beside him to shoot Ling Zhang.

The archer on the ramparts had just turned around to take aim when he was hit in the back by an arrow whizzing over from behind and sank to the ground.

“Watch out, General!” The man beside Chen Jing hastily escorted him away from that spot and stationed him somewhere safe at the foot of the gate tower.

Chen Jing spun around to look in the direction of the teams of enemy soldiers attacking the city. His eyes met those of a young officer of the Great Wen who was standing on top of a chariot with a bow in his hand, and who bore some likeness to Yuwen Tong. He was none other than Yuwen Jin, Yuwen Tong’s second cousin.

“Yuwen Jin!” Chen Jing clenched his teeth. “Shoot him!”

All archers on the ramparts promptly fired arrows at Yuwen Jin.

Yuwen Jin sideward somersaulted off the chariot and a team of soldiers on the side immediately held up their shields and parried the salvo of arrows. Meanwhile, a team of archers fired back at the enemies on the ramparts.

“What’s going on? Did you see that dragon of fire in the city?!”

Yuwen Jin had just landed when He Xiao hastened up to him and asked him whether or not he had seen that dragon of fire.

“I saw it. Something must have happened in there. I don’t know who it is, but there’s no doubt they’re helping us. Tell our men battering the gates to speed it up!” said Yuwen Jin.

He Xiao gritted his teeth, picked up the horn hung from the side of his horse and blew it.

Short blasts of the horn rang out.

The rhythm of the horn was now different from how it had been a moment ago. On hearing the signal, the officer leading the soldiers operating the battering ram commanded his men to batter the gates faster.

BANG–BANG–BANG–

The city gates shook ominously at every impact. The Wan soldiers, who were supposed to guard the gates, were too occupied fighting Wang Dashan and the others to spare any time to defend the gates, and their reinforcements, held back by the inferno, were unable to get into the passageway to offer them help. The long thick gate latch was already out of shape from the force of repeated impacts.

On the ramparts, Chen Jing, who had now come to realize that the gates wouldn’t hold for long, tossed a significant look at his henchman, who gave an unnoticeable nod and arranged for some men to escort Chen Jing to another section of the ramparts where Chen Jing got back to the ground. He had just landed when his eyes met those of the blue-robed man within the surrounding circle of flames. In that instant, Chen Jing’s scalp prickled as an intense cold shot from his heels all the way up to the back side of his head. It was as though an icy blade were poised right behind him, chilling him to the marrow of his bones.

BOOM!

The city gates were battered open.

“Go, General!” Chen Jing’s henchman quickly helped him onto a horse and then spurred the horse with a whip.

Right at that moment, Chen Jing glimpsed a menacing gleam out of the corner of his eye and, sensing danger in an almost subconscious way, tilted his upper body to one side and with that a wicked-looking dagger brushed past his ear and cheek, in which he felt a cold sensation followed by delayed excrutiating pain. “AARGH!” he cried.

“GO!” His henchman swiveled his head around. Chen Jing didn’t know what his henchman saw, but the latter whipped out a knife and stabbed the horse in the butt. What with the pain, the horse promptly started galloping forward, almost throwing Chen Jing off. With a strong will to survive, he reflexively grabbed the reins with one hand, clapping the other to the side of his head where his ear used to be, bleeding profusely from the wound, shuddering all over from the anguish.

Clashes of weapons came from behind, but Chen Jing fled squarely towards another pair of city gates, not even daring cast a backward glance. At the sight of this, the Wan soldiers, coming to know they were on the losing side, also started retreating, escorting their commander.

Ling Zhang wanted to pursue Chen Jing but a flunkey of Chen Jing’s blocked his path, who turned out to be pretty good at kung fu and managed to hold Ling Zhang back.

“You’re seeking your death!”

At the sight of Chen Jing fleeing under the protection of a group of soldiers, Ling Zhang flied into a temper, wielded his sword and started raining savage blows on the interceptor, his every slash ruthless and fatal.

Chen Jing’s henchman was astounded, an incredulous look on his face. “Who are you exactly?!” he demanded.

“The one who’s going to kill you,” replied Ling Zhang coldly.

Soon Chen Jing’s henchman failed to defend against the merciless onslaught and died by Ling Zhang’s icy blade.

Though annoyed that this man had wasted his time, Ling Zhang still set off to pursue Chen Jing without further ado. Since he had a chance to kill Chen Jing, he wouldn’t let it slip away.

At this time, Chen Jing, leading his army, was halfway to the other pair of city gates, but all of a sudden, five handcarts which were also flaming showed up and blocked their path, a couple of masked men standing behind the handcarts with sabers in their hands, staring at him.

Chen Jing was astonished for a brief moment and then went furious. These people actually believed they could stop him with only a handful of men?! “Kill them!” he bawled.

He was so anxious and uneasy as though a thorn were stuck in his flesh. He had a premonition that that blue-robed man would soon catch up with him if he didn’t flee faster!

Right at the time when his men went forward to remove the handcarts to kill the couple of men holding sabers, a mustached old man in gray abruptly came out of nowhere, leaped onto the back of Chen Jing’s horse, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and yelled, “We need to leave!”

Chen Jing recognized him. “Master?!”

“You need to get out of here right away, or it’ll be too late!” cautioned the gray-robed old man frostily, and with that, amazingly, he bodily lifted Chen Jing up, and, carrying him, quickly approached the city gates after a couple of flying leaps, leaving the army behind.

At the same time, Ling Zhang was on his way to the scene. Distantly, he saw Chen Jing’s surviving soldiers, but when he arrived, Chen Jing was nowhere to be seen. The storekeeper of the variety store and the sales clerk were surrounded by Wan soldiers, the latter dead, the former grievously wounded.

Ling Zhang knitted his brows, took a flying leap, landed within the surrounding circle and fought off the enemy soldiers with a couple of ferocious sword strikes, saving the storekeeper from death.

“Childe Ling?” At the sight of Ling Zhang, the storekeeper was first delighted and then went anxious. “An old man in gray rescued Chen Jing and took him towards the city gates.”

An old man in gray?

Ling Zhang glanced in the direction of the city gates but saw nobody. In all likelihood, Chen Jing had been whisked out of the city already.

What with the many soldiers around them, he wouldn’t be able to extricate himself from this situation anytime soon.

At this time, another team of men galloped in their direction with unstoppable momentum. At the sight of Ling Zhang trapped within a surrounding circle, someone called out, “Brother Zhang!”

Surprised, Ling Zhang twisted his head around and saw Yuwen Jin charging straight in his direction with a team of horseback soldiers. Behind them, further in the distance, a sea of soldiers of the Great Wen were flooding through the gates, fighting the Wan soldiers lingering in the city.