Seeing Tang Xiude so resolute, the fellow brothers were somewhat disappointed, but the sixth junior brother still tried to persuade him:

"Why be so hasty, senior brother? I know you value loyalty, but after following Luo Guang for many years, you've assisted him wholeheartedly without a trace of betrayal. You owe him nothing. Now, at this critical juncture of life and death, you should find a way to survive for yourself."

"Enough." Tang Xiude snapped coldly, saying displeased, "Don't bring this up again. I can let this slide considering our brotherly bond."

"Senior brother..." The sixth junior brother was almost on his knees pleading.

But Tang Xiude directly raised his hand to interrupt, saying, "Everyone has their own ambitions. I won't restrain you. Go ahead and submit your allegiance. For the sake of our brotherhood, I won't inform the Celestial Master."

Seeing Tang Xiude as firm as iron, the sixth junior brother knew saying anything more was useless, so he bowed slightly to Tang Xiude and left. The seventh junior brother and over ten other brothers followed behind him, and Tang Xiude did not stop them.

Currently, only about five or six people remained with him.

Although Linchuan City's defenses were quite strict, akin to an entire city on alert, the sixth junior brother and his followers were Tang Xiude's men, responsible for part of Linchuan City's defense. Therefore, the garrison did not stop them from leaving the city.

Two hours after they left, Luo Guang received the news. He immediately found Tang Xiude to inquire about what had happened.

Tang Xiude told him the truth.

Luo Guang almost flew into a rage upon hearing this, wanting to slap Tang Xiude to death. But at a time when personnel was crucial, and since executing a general during wartime was taboo, Luo Guang could only endure it. Nonetheless, he stripped Tang Xiude of his command and replaced his garrison troops, temporarily altering the city's defense situation.

...

On the other side, after Yan Hai and his group entered Linchuan City, the Celestial Master Army allocated a separate area for these routed troops, letting them stay there. They were given a single distribution of food but were not provided additional arms.

Clearly, the Celestial Master Army was wary of these routed troops who entered the city.

This area was quite large.

After Yan Hai grasped the general situation, he instructed Qi Dong not to act recklessly and quietly moved to another routed troop's resting area after dark.

At that moment, a faint voice came from the side, "Hey, brother, you're not from around here, are you?"

Yan Hai looked at him, stuck his hands into his sleeves, hunched over, and chuckled, "We're soldiers of Marshal Sun He's army, couldn't sleep, decided to take a walk..."

Then Yan Hai abruptly said, "It's really cold tonight, would be nice to have a woman to warm the bed."

The man who spoke in a low voice heard Yan Hai's words and chuckled twice, "Yeah, yeah."

Seeing that this person didn't understand the code phrase, Yan Hai realized he wasn't one of his own, and lost interest in chatting further, only asking, "Which commander are you following?"

"I follow Commander Qiu, but we are a small square-sized army, can't compare with your large force."

Yan Hai casually echoed a couple of times, then turned to another resting area.

This resting area was a large courtyard, dimly lit by pale yellow light, with scattered routed soldiers huddled together. Some had blood all over their faces, groaning in agony, looking particularly frightening.

A man with his face covered in mud sat at the gate of the courtyard, gnawing on something black and unidentifiable.

Yan Hai approached, made small talk for a few sentences, and got to the point, "It's really cold tonight, would be nice to have a woman to warm the bed."

The man with the muddy face immediately raised an eyebrow and asked, "Brother, you're not married yet?"

"Been married for over a decade, with two kids already."

"Where are you from, brother?"

"Huai State."

The two exchanged a glance, and both shivered slightly. The man quickly welcomed Yan Hai into the courtyard.

"I'm Xu Fusheng, what's your name, brother?"

"Yan Hai, Captain of the Personal Guard under Dragon Strategy Army's General Chu."

"Sir." Xu Fusheng hastily bowed, surprised that even someone from the Dragon Strategy Army had infiltrated.

Yan Hai waved his hand to stop the pleasantries, glanced at the people in the courtyard, and asked, "Why are you all so badly injured?"

"On the way, we encountered routed soldiers from the same army. To avoid exposure, we had to choose to annihilate them, resulting in casualties."

"How many of you made it in?"

"Ninety-three people."

Hearing this, Yan Hai nodded, then asked, "When did you enter Linchuan, and have you seen any other parts of our group here?"

"November Fifth. Next door are brothers from Brave Army's Third Camp, over a hundred people." Xu Fusheng said.

Yan Hai calculated the total number of people and whispered, "Almost enough. What are your orders?"

"Sir, during our army's attack on Linchuan City, we are to create chaos within the city, providing our army with an opportunity..." Xu Fusheng sighed, "But now we're all confined here, not allowed to leave, we probably won't be much help when the battle starts."

"Don't worry, from what I estimated during the day, these routed soldiers in this area number no less than five thousand. As the Celestial Master Thieves' troops dwindle, they won't leave these people unused."

Being the Captain of the Personal Guard under Chu Ce, Yan Hai was quite shrewd. He gathered Xu Fusheng and the others around, and whispered, "In the coming days, while keeping a low profile, map out the locations of the city's granary and depot. If we can get our hands on a map of Linchuan City, even better."

"Yes."

...

In mid-November, Chen Mo planned to make a trip to Qingzhou. As usual, Xia Zhining accompanied him, but this time, Xia Zhiqing and Yi Shiyin also planned to go.

Xia Zhiqing was thinking of returning to Nanyang to revisit her old home. Since she parted from her father that day and moved to Pingting County, she hadn't returned to have a look.

Yi Shiyin was going back to the Yi Family to see her parents.

Perhaps knowing Chen Mo would leave, or maybe after the last flood discharge, Ning Wan found some pleasure in it.

In the days before Chen Mo's departure, she met with him secretly several times.

Under the guise of inspecting the tavern, she was taken by Chen Mo for outings in the suburbs, held and cared for in his arms in the carriage, manipulated into various positions, while the cold wind blew against the trees.

Chen Mo particularly liked to slap her bottom, even leaving a few bruises there.

Liang Song would never treat her this way, not because he didn't dare, but because he wouldn't do such "outrageous" things. Yet before Chen Mo, every time they were intimate, Chen Mo was always outrageous.

At first, Ning Wan resisted a lot, but now, she seemed accustomed to it, with no sense of resistance.

There's a saying, if something is done, there won't be just one time.

...

On November 25th, the Huai Army arrived at Linchuan City, and their formation unfolded, with flags fluttering, as if blocking out the sky.

But on the first day, the Huai Army did not attack the city; they used blunt arrows without arrowheads, aimed at the interior of Linchuan City, launching several rounds of shots.

Something was tied to the arrow shafts.

Soon, a message spread within Linchuan City.

It turned out that the arrow shafts carried slips of paper, on which it was written that Prince Huai knew the people's suffering and understood that most of the Celestial Master Army were ordinary people. Prince Huai had come to rescue them.

As long as they didn't resist, Prince Huai promised to pardon their offenses after the Huai Army entered the city, and not only that, they would also be given money.

This message caused chaos in the city.

It's inevitable now; the Celestial Master Army is already at the end of their rope, at a critical juncture of life and death, with everyone on edge. The content on the paper provided them with a way to survive.

If they choose to resist desperately, they are likely to die.

If they choose to trust Prince Huai and not resist, they are likely to live.

In a life-and-death crisis, if it were you, you would likely choose not to resist.

Luo Guang couldn't block this message because there were too many pieces of paper, and too many people saw them.

To maintain the situation, Luo Guang personally ascended to the city walls to inspire the people, even reciting what he said when he first rose in rebellion.

"Suffering, oppression, calamity, famine. We common people have endured hardship; officials are corrupt and rampant, bullying us arbitrarily. We are just traders, farmers, soldiers, too poor to have a place to stand, unknown to the Emperor of Great Song. In their eyes, we are but ants..."

However, as the Celestial Master Army reached today, most of the people had forgotten their original intentions. So, upon hearing Luo Guang's words again, the crowd no longer felt the same emotional connection, unable to be moved. This nearly left him speaking to a cold audience, if not for his pre-arranged supporters.

Seeing this scene, Luo Guang's heart sank to the bottom of the valley. "Bewitching people's hearts" was his most adept method; otherwise, he wouldn't have rallied a million in a few short months. But now, he found the method ineffective, realizing the Celestial Master Army was beyond saving.

Yet, he was unwilling.

He shut his eyes tightly, standing dumbfounded on the city walls for a long time.

Suddenly, Luo Guang abruptly opened his eyes, raised the wooden staff in his hand high, and shouted, "Just now, I prayed to the heavens, and I received a response. Heavenly soldiers and generals have been sent to aid us.

The Celestial Master Army will not lose. Thirty-six sides must be unified, Duke Lei assist us!"

As his voice fell, a deafening thunder erupted from above, and the world became darkened. Numerous white lightning bolts, like a spider's web, covered the sky.

The soldiers of the Celestial Master Army, witnessing this, widened their eyes a little. Those followers of Luo Guang on and off the city walls had already raised their wooden spears and Great Sabers high, responding fervently to Luo Guang.

"Duke Lei manifests, the Celestial Master Army will win!"

"Duke Lei manifests, the Celestial Master Army will win!"

"Duke Lei manifests, the Celestial Master Army will win!"

"..."

This time, the soldiers of the Celestial Master Army finally became infected, their morale greatly boosted.

Only then did Luo Guang slightly relax, retreating to replenish some Innate Spiritual Objects to restore the Spiritual Qi he had consumed earlier.

However, the morale Luo Guang painstakingly sustained ultimately proved to be a bubble.

On the 26th, the Huai Army began their first round of full-scale siege.

The Celestial Master Army managed to hold them off, but the casualties were considerable, prompting Luo Guang to order the fleeing troops that had previously entered the city to join the defense.

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