Rescuing the Emperor (Part Two)

Zhou Yu'an's face darkened, and he suddenly drew his sword and swung it upwards. With a "clang," the arrow was cut in half by his sword, close to the eaves!

The arrow fell limply to the ground, and the paper strip attached to it fluttered into Zhou Yu'an's hand. In the firelight, the white background and black characters were clearly visible: "Surrender, and I will guarantee your whole body."

Zhou Yu'an clenched his fist tightly, stepping on the arrow's fletching. With a soft thud as the arrow struck the stone bricks, his face darkened as he stared at the Black Feather Camp approaching the city wall. He slowly raised his hand, then swung it down sharply—

"Release the arrows!"

As soon as the words were spoken, countless armored soldiers appeared like ghosts from behind the battlements, their bowstrings twanging like thunderclaps piercing the sky.

In the darkness of night, a rain of arrows fell like a tide, their cold light reflecting off the moonlight. Accompanied by the sharp whistling of arrows, they carried the aura of death as they rained down on the charging cavalry.

From afar, not only the fear of warhorses and the barking of hunting dogs in the army, but also the howls of wild beasts carried on the wind, each one louder than the last, sending chills down one's spine.

However, this deadly rain of arrows failed to slow down the Black Feather Camp's charge in the slightest!

Just as the sharp arrow was about to strike the lead cavalryman, their movements were perfectly synchronized and as swift as ghosts—without turning their heads, they drew out a uniquely shaped, curved steel shield from behind them!

With a flick of his arms, the steel shield spun rapidly in front of him along a specific axis, looking from a distance like countless iron flowers blooming on the backs of countless horses.

"Jingle bells—!"

The shield spun rapidly, and the arrows collided violently with it, creating a deafening metallic scraping sound that echoed throughout the city!

Most of the arrows were either sliced ​​off by the sharp blades welded to the shield or cleverly deflected and fell helplessly, only to be trampled into dust by the surging iron hooves!

Upon seeing this, Zhou Yu was greatly alarmed.

"Stop the arrows! Switch to fire arrows! Launch slings!" He immediately changed tactics, shouting hoarsely, "Prepare the oil!"

However, as soon as the order was given, he knew he had made a mistake.

While the city wall defenders were hurriedly replacing rockets and rolling stones, the Black Feather Battalion's charge formation had already changed again—this time, not for defense, but for offense!

The cavalry in the front ranks quickly parted to the sides, and nearly a hundred soldiers carrying huge shields rushed out. They roared and charged to the front of the formation, their bulging muscles bulging instantly, and they slammed the huge shields, which weighed a thousand pounds, into the ground!

"boom--!"

The sharp bases at the bottom of the shields instantly sank into the soil, and the giant shields snapped together, forming a moving steel barrier in the blink of an eye!

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—!"

As soon as the giant shield was completed, the archers following behind quickly hid behind it. Taking advantage of this precious opportunity, they took out three arrows from their quivers and fired a volley into the sky!

But unlike the previous arrow, this time, it wasn't meant to intimidate.

The arrow flew close to the sky, drawing a deadly arc in the air before heading straight for the open observation holes in the city wall.

"ah!"

"Well!"

"..."

Suddenly, a series of shrill screams echoed from the city wall. The archers who were about to launch rolling stones and fire arrows were either shot in the eye and screamed on the ground, or shot through the heart and collapsed silently.

It was at this moment that Zhou Yu'an finally understood what the increasingly close howling was. It wasn't some wild beast at all; it was clearly the howling of a pack of wolves!

In the darkness, countless gray wolves, each half a person's height, rushed out of the Black Feather Camp. They ran extremely fast, their green eyes almost invisible in the night, like will-o'-the-wisps in the mountains.

The will-o'-the-wisp rapidly approached, accompanied by a chilling roar. It was clearly driven mad by the bloody smell of the battlefield, eager to plunge its sharp teeth into the enemy's vulnerable neck.

Zhou Yu'an's face darkened, but the worst was yet to come.

"Your Highness! Your Highness! The west wall has been breached!" A man dressed as a military officer rushed forward, his face covered in blood, his voice shrill: "They've used battering rams and grappling hooks!"

As if remembering something, the man's voice became even more shrill, as if he had recalled something extremely frightening.

"And...and those beasts, they...they can fly!"

Zhou Yu'an turned around sharply and saw, sure enough, several massive battering rams slowly tilting towards the city under the western night sky—clearly, the defending troops there had already collapsed under the Black Feather Camp's precise attacks.

However, what horrified him even more was that the gray wolves used the battering ram to quickly climb up, reaching the same level as the city wall in just a few steps. Then, with a push of their hind legs, their bodies drew a beautiful arc in the air before landing steadily on the city wall.

The next instant, it pounced straight at the fleeing soldiers and, in the blink of an eye, bit off one of their necks.

Blood splattered, provoking another howl from the wolves, and the western city wall fell instantly.

Zhou Yu'an's heart trembled at the sight. He quickly looked away, his hand gripping the crossbow so tightly it almost turned white.

The Black Feather Camp's attacks were coordinated and interconnected, giving him absolutely no chance to breathe.

They fired arrows, and the enemy countered with their swirling shields, using their massive shields to deflect fire arrows and rolling stones. They then used the opportunity to retaliate, while simultaneously using their wolves to flank the enemy and break through from multiple points...

His gaze fell on the ladder propped up against the wall, Zhou Yu'an's eyes darkened, and he squeezed out a few words with difficulty from his throat—"Pass on my order, pour oil on it!"

Upon hearing this, the soldier suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with horror.

Historically, in warfare, cities are only set on fire with oil when there is no hope of success; this is a last-ditch effort. By pouring oil, they signify that they are fighting to the death.

This battle is a fight to the death!

...

Subsequently, countless barrels of kerosene were carried up, and at Zhou Yu'an's signal, the kerosene, emitting a strong kerosene smell, was poured onto the Black Feather Guards who were trying to scale the city wall.

"Thump—thump—thump—!"

In an instant, countless Black Feather Guards were blinded by the oil and fell to the ground screaming.

Seeing this, Zhou Yanzhi quickly stepped forward, caught the falling Black Feather Guard, and pulled him aside. Then, looking up at Zhou Yu'an holding a torch on the city wall, he shouted sternly, "Fourth Prince! His Highness the Crown Prince has now ascended the throne as Emperor by the decree of the Retired Emperor, and we have come here on the Retired Emperor's orders to purge the court of treacherous officials and punish the corrupt ministers!"

"Now that things have come to this, why don't you surrender? Or will you truly be convicted of treason?!"

"Ascend the throne?!" Zhou Yu'an was struck dumb, all color drained from his face, replaced by a twisted expression of near madness: "Nonsense! Father Emperor clearly banished him from the capital, there's no way he would pass the throne to him!"

"Father would never allow him to ascend the throne! You...you're lying! You're lying!"

"Your Highness already knows the answer in your heart, why deceive yourself?" Zhou Yanzhi looked up, continuing to speak harshly, while subtly giving a wink to the air, and then continued, "Whether it is true or false, you have your own judgment. If the Emperor Emeritus intended to make you the Crown Prince, how could you commit such a treasonous act?!"

"Shut up! Shut up!"

Zhou Yu'an was annoyed by his words, and with a ferocious expression, he was about to throw down the torch in his hand. The flame flickered and drew a chilling arc in the air, about to land on the Black Feather Guard who was covered in oil.

Suddenly, an unexpected change occurred.

At the critical moment, a swift figure pierced the night sky, rushing straight towards the burning torch.

With a sharp eagle's cry, Wu Goulang extended and flicked his claws, causing the torch to abruptly spin in the air before flying back the way it had come.

Besides Zhou Yu'an and his soldiers, there was also some oil that hadn't been poured on yet...

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

In Zhou Yu'an's horrified pupils, the tiny spark that kept growing larger was reflected.

"No--!"

"Bang—bang—bang—boom—!"

The torch fell into the oil drum and exploded on the wall before the people could escape completely. The huge shockwave swept across the entire city wall in an instant, and everywhere you looked, there was a raging inferno.

Below the city, Zhou Yanzhi was already carrying Wu Goulang, whose wing was charred in one arm, and pulling the Black Feather Guard beside him with the other, retreating swiftly. Only after the aftershocks of the shockwave had dissipated did they cautiously advance.

The scene before them was now a scorched wasteland, a living hell. The city walls were blackened, embers still burning, and the air was thick with the stench of burnt flesh mixed with molten oil. Some soldiers, their bodies still ablaze, writhed in agony on the charred ground, uttering heart-wrenching screams.

"boom--!"

"Squeak—!"

Just then, two sounds suddenly came from not far away.

Zhou Yanzhi suddenly looked up and quietly tightened his grip on the sword in his hand—he hadn't seen Zhou Yu'an among those lying down.

A figure emerged from the city gate, which had only been slightly ajar, and rushed towards Zhou Yanzhi with a relieved smile: "Ce'an!"

Upon recognizing the visitor, Zhou Yanzhi breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief—it was Su Feng.

Su Feng ran up to Zhou Yanzhi, looked at the Wu Gou Lang in his hand, and sighed, "Luckily you had Wu Gou Lang deliver the message to us, otherwise, Zhang Mingyuan's men would have really broken into the capital."

Hearing him praise him, Wu Goulang, who had been panting with his eyes closed, forced his eyes open and made two "coo-coo" sounds at Su Feng to express his agreement.

Zhou Yanzhi raised his hand and patted Wu Goulang's head. Suddenly, he looked at Su Feng and asked anxiously, "Yunyun, when you came to open the city gate just now, did you see the Fourth Prince?"

Su Feng was taken aback upon hearing this, and his smile froze on his face: "Fourth Prince? Hasn't he been captured by you? When I arrived here just now, I only saw fire on the city wall, and then I immediately came to open the city gate."

Zhou Yanzhi's heart sank. The two looked at each other and saw the same solemnity in each other's eyes.

Without a moment's hesitation, the two moved like two gusts of wind, rushing towards the open city gate.

Zhou Yu'an must still be inside the city!