Book 13: Chapter 39: A Sufficient Price

The army that rushed into East Scenery City was like water, pouring through the streets and alleys like they were canals.

Even though the army of seventy thousand, on this type of scale surged into the city at the same time, already like a flood, even if it was a flood, while destroying the homes and walls, it would still be divided up into countless different waves.

In this type of alley fight, Yunqin’s army admittedly wanted to intercept and wear down these small streams, while Great Mang’s army also wanted to carry out a deeper infiltration, relying on some of their advantages in military strength to surround Yunqin troops one region after another, to devour Yunqin’s army chunk by chunk like cutting a cake.

…

Within an alley, numerous and densely packed Great Mang troops were currently advancing.

Suddenly, bowstring sounds that were like the fluttering of countless cicada wings sounded. Immediately afterwards, countless black Yunqin arrows pierced through roof tiles, fiercely flying out from those residences, descending upon Great Mang’s troops like a torrential rain.

Great Mang soldiers fell while releasing miserable howls, some of them even being struck by more than twenty black arrows.

“Third army! Advance!”

A Great Mang officer watched as his subordinates continuously fell, his expression extremely ugly as he fiercely released a military order.

A hatchet wielding light cavalry soldier ran out crazily from behind him, rushing into those residences with his greatest speed possible.

Light cavalry, heavy armored cavalry, these were both the bane of archery armies and ordinary infantry. However, when this Great Mang light cavalry rushed into the residences where the arrows were released from, they were already completely empty. Apart from the arrow holes and some messy footstep marks that showed this place indeed had quite a few Yunqin soldiers who were previously here, there wasn’t half a Yunqin soldier in sight.

…

A Great Mang cavalry troop advanced along the city’s main street. The infantry troops at the sides were currently rushing into the streets between the shops and buildings to the two sides.

More than fifty Great Mang heavy armored soldiers dressed in Night Devil Heavy Armor[1] cleared the way at the very front in order to avoid Yunqin’s well-known horse tripping ropes and steer wire threads.

On the smooth limestone path up ahead, bluestone boards were pried open piece by piece, piled up together by some earth, creating a thick and broad earth wall, completely plugging up this wide main path.

While looking at this earth wall that was only two meters or so in height, only able to block some military equipment transport carriages, an ordinary Great Mang armored high ranking officer made a gesture in disdain. More than fifty Great Mang soldiers dressed in Night Devil Heavy Armor directly climbed over this wall. Groups of military horses also began to accelerate, directly sprinting forward, stepping on the slightly inclined slope and charging through.

During the past year, this Great Mang cavalry army and most of the soldiers in Great Mang’s main army were the same, undergoing extremely bitter and difficult training. Together with Wenren Cangyue’s clear system of reward and punishment in managing his men, what was produced in return was extremely skilled cavalry. “If there is anyone who cannot jump past, then they didn’t exert themselves hard enough during training, just trash that encumbers the army. They might as well be executed right here.” This cavalry troop’s commander thought with contempt to himself while jumping over this earth wall.

There were no Yunqin soldiers who appeared in the view of the Great Mang heavy armored soldiers at the front. However, the moment this Great Mang soldier thought these thoughts, leaping out with his warhorse, about to cross this earth wall, on the earth wall, within the earth underneath the flipped limestone boards, long spears suddenly shot out from the overturned earth and gaps between the stone slabs like lightning.

These several hundred black spears thrusted out with the greatest speed, just like the hidden spears that appeared in the games Lin Xi played before.

A black spear fiercely penetrated the abdomen of the horse under this high ranking officer. The sharp spear tip directly pierced through the horse’s body, and then entering the officer’s body from his bottom.

Every single extended black spear seemed to carry this type of incomparably decisive power.

It was because every single hidden Yunqin soldier already patiently stored their body’s power for a long time, fiercely pouring all of it into this strike.

The cavalry army’s high ranking officer’s disdain instantly vanished, ending up converted into endless pain and fear.

In this instant, he heard the sound of the spear handle grinding against wood, realizing that underneath the ground here, and also underneath the earth wall, there were thick wooden door boards covering everything, on top of them earth and stone. These ‘mine shafts’ were completely full of hidden Yunqin soldiers!

Right when many heavy armored soldiers charged back with vicious roars, many cavalry troops from the back charging forward fearlessly, thrusting the spears in their hands downwards, there were suddenly screaming sounds coming from the sky.

Heavy boulders smashed down from the night sky one after another. Waves of blood began to surge within Great Mang’s formation again.

There were no Stone Catapult Carts within these streets and alleys.

However, there were many trees in a nearby street.

These trees were bent into an arc by some leather ropes. In this instant, some black blades hacked apart these bound leather ropes, these trees whose bodies could finally straighten again fiercely threw out some millstone-like stones.

…

This type of assault was happening continuously all over East Scenery City’s streets and alleys at this time.

Yunqin’s military who occupied absolute positional advantage used many dangerous traps to make Great Mang’s army experience huge amounts of casualties every halt and every breath of time.

However, almost all Yunqin soldiers discovered that these Great Mang soldiers were always in an extremely excited state. When facing the astonishing casualties and traps that originally should have left them in shock and horror, many Great Mang soldiers actually didn’t feel the slightest bit of fear, to the extent where they seemed to have instead become even more stimulated, charging forward without any fear of death.

Moreover, in many regions, Great Mang who had the freedom to choose where they allocated forces still seized an overwhelming advantage in numbers and military power, so Yunqin’s side also suffered extremely heavy losses.

Within the city’s Natural Course Temple military division, newest intelligence from all different places flooded in from all different places. The three sand tables were trying to display the newest battle situation as much as possible, as well as Ceng Rou and the other officers’ responses, their transferring of troops.

Lin Xi looked at the three sand tables before him with a serious expression.

Whenever a small flag that represented Yunqin fell, replaced by a small flag that represented Great Mang, he would understand just how many Yunqin soldiers sacrificed their lives.

Even in the damp air, there was a thick bloodiness spreading… Even if he didn’t think deeply about it, he could clearly sense how intense the current battle situation was outside.

Lin Xi didn’t want any small Yunqin troop to be sacrificed, but only he truly understood that… his truly powerful ability was only less than ten minutes of time.

Right now, it was nighttime. In this situation where the Divine Wooden Flying Crane couldn’t immediately see the situation clearly, for truly crucial news to reach his hands, and then for him to send out forces… it would take at least a few halts of time. That was why during this day and night of time, he had at most two or three chances.

That was why Shentu Nian’s decision-making, against a ‘Divine General’ like him, was also extremely proper.

It was because the longer the battle situation was drawn out for for, the more times he could use this ability.

Now that Shentu Nian was launching this type of offensive, after this night, at the very latest at tomorrow’s daytime, East Scenery City’s victory and defeat would have already been fully decided.

He had no way of saving all of these Yunqin soldiers’ lives, only able to use his own power at the most crucial time, to deal with this situation at the most pressing moment.

…

Ceng Rou, as well as several military strategists and officers were all standing in front of the same three sand tables.

It was because Lin Xi’s only request was absolute trust and the fastest transmitting of military intelligence. That was why when any military report arrived, they were all directly recounted to Ceng Rou and Lin Xi.

Information that was even more pressing was sent through the ‘arrow attachment’ method, directly fired through arrows by designated Yunqin archers, sent to this wooden building as quickly as possible this way.

With a thud sound, an entirely metal black arrow directly entered through the opened window, nailing itself into a wooden stake that had a lantern hanging nearby.

Before the sound completely faded, the arrow still trembling, Ceng Rou directly removed the iron wiring around the small scroll, unfolding the small scroll bound to the arrow.

With just a single look, Ceng Rou’s gentle and stern face suddenly became snow-white.

The hands of several strategists who read through the words on it at the same time also couldn’t help but shake slightly. Two officers among them couldn’t help but turn their heads to look towards Lin Xi, worried that when Lin Xi heard about the deaths of some people, he would do some unreasonable things due to surging emotions. However, they saw that Lin Xi’s expression still remained serious and grave.

In that instant, Lin Xi directly shouted the word return in his head, pushing that ‘roulette’ in his brain.

The death of one or two Sacred Experts, as well as the potential eradication of an important enemy army, this was already enough for him to use his power.

Under the familiar change in scenery, everything in this military division returned to several halts ago.

“I am heading to Chirping Alley! If there is any new pressing military intelligence, send it directly to Chirping Alley.”

While Ceng Rou and several strategists and officers were still listening to the recounting of a soldier, Lin Xi calmly said this. Then, without stopping at all, he directly leapt out, jumping onto the Divine Wooden Flying Crane that was waiting at the entrance. The Divine Wooden Flying Crane instantly flew out, turning into a faint streak of extremely fast yellow radiance.

“Chirping Alley?!”

The entire bodies of Ceng Rou and the Yunqin high ranking officers in this room trembled, their eyes immediately shifting towards a part of the sand tables.

Right now, they didn’t even have time to think about what Chirping Alley represented, but a small vermilion flag on the sand table made their breathing stop slightly.

That small vermilion flag represented a Yunqin Sacred Expert.

There was a Yunqin Sacred Expert overseeing that place.

It was because behind that concentrated and narrow market, there was an expanse of spacious woodland. As long as that place was broken through, large numbers of Great Mang troops could quickly enter from that place and cleave through the streets.

Lin Xi was heading straight for Chirping Alley.

Did this mean… that in that place, there would be a force that could kill a Sacred Expert thrown there?

“Pass down the order that if there is any urgent military intelligence, to try to send it to Chirping Alley!”

Ceng Rou took a deep breath amidst this extremely heavy atmosphere. “We will continue!”

He understood extremely clearly that regardless, since Lin Xi already went to do this, then there was no need for him to be involved any further. He only needed to do what he needed to do right now.

1. One fourth lighter than the main heavy armor of the Yunqin border armies B7C11

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