Chapter Ninety-Two: The Lonely City

"How... how did the city suddenly become besieged? There was no movement at all yesterday?" Wang Renbi muttered to himself.

"The Orcish High Priest Blackhan has arrived. The Orcish camp is short of food and will surely attack the city soon. You are all heroes of the Empire; you should unite as one and fight bravely."

Zhao Qirui's eyes flashed like lightning as he swept over the crowd in the hall, sending a chill down the spines of many. "With a formidable enemy at hand, none of you are leaving. You're all going to fight to the death," Zhao Qirui's meaning couldn't be clearer.

Qin Mo, Wu Ningjun, and several nobles were ordered to reinforce Maimai City, but they weren't! They came for military merit and planned to retreat before the city was besieged, as the vast snowfields and orcish tribes couldn't possibly contain a powerful force. Now they were trapped inside the city, fighting to the death—it was truly not worth it.

"Alright, that concludes today's military meeting. From today onwards, you will all reside in the military camp and await orders at any time." Zhao Qirui uttered another remark that made the nobles want to die, then waved his hand, signaling everyone to disperse.

"Yes, sir!" The crowd rose, bowed, and then left. Many of them looked grim, clearly pessimistic about the upcoming battle.

"Qin Fafeng, you stay here." Just as Qin Mo was about to leave, she heard Zhao Qirui call out and saw a robust young man in front of her stop and turn to look at Zhao Qirui with a puzzled expression.

As Qin Mo passed him, she sensed a subtle danger. Turning around, she saw a sinister face staring intently at her. Upon noticing her gaze, the man lowered his head and walked towards Zhao Qirui.

"Is that man Qin Fafeng?" Qin Mo casually asked Long Ba, the commander of the Wuning Army beside him.

"It was him. Some time ago, he seized the hunting grounds of the orcs' western camp and forcibly took 30% of their spoils. He was ruthless and dealt with several ignorant nobles."

Wu Ningjun and Qin Mo were sent to reinforce each other, and they were like brothers in misfortune. First, there was the matter of the sled, and Long Ba owed Qin Mo a favor. Later, Wu Shengze was experienced in handling things, and this friendship was maintained.

"He's stationed in the western hunting grounds? Could he be at the Earth Realm?" Qin Mo looked at Qin Fafeng's back with suspicion. He's not even thirty years old. Could it be that all the prodigies of Great Xia have come to the north?

"What a load of crap, he only managed to advance to the Profound Realm a few years ago by sheer luck. But he's the adopted son of the King of Anle, and that title is far more useful than the Earth Realm." Long Ba clearly disliked Qin Fafeng and said sourly.

"The adopted son of the Prince of Anle?" Qin Mo recalled the military merit rankings from earlier. Qin Fafeng, belonging to the Prince of Anle's palace, had achieved second place in military merit, so he naturally disliked Qin Mo, who was in first place.

Prince Anle is the current emperor's uncle, and along with Prince Yan, Qin Mu, are the only remaining cultivators of the current royal family at the Realm level. However, he is diligent in cultivation and never gets involved in politics, making his presence in the empire far less significant than Qin Mu's.

According to seniority, Qin Mo should call Prince Anle "uncle," so should he call this hostile Qin Fafeng "brother"? Screw you, even if you're an adopted son, so what if you're the legitimate son?

That night, the eldest son of the Duke of Qizhou and the son of the magistrate of Mazhou secretly left the trading city but were caught and brought back. Despite their repeated apologies, Zhao Qirui conscripted them into the Death Squad, where they would be found wherever danger was greatest.

All the nobles then gave up hope and silently began to prepare their weapons for battle. At the same time, they all prayed that they would not encounter any powerful orcs.

Secondly, Qin Mo sensed a powerful aura rising from the northern camp of the orcs. It was the orc high shaman deliberately releasing his aura to the powerful figures of the Great Xia Empire. In Wu Shengze's words, "The high shaman is showing that he is present. If you cultivators want to fight, come find me. If you don't follow the rules, then we'll kill each other's subordinates and leave the two of us bachelors to play around with."

"Then why did Zhao Qirui kill all the orcs in the trading city back then?" Qin Mo asked Wu Shengze beside her, puzzled, as she stood on the city wall.

“Since cultivators from the Realm have arrived, they should be respected by all the strong. The Great Witch of the Beast Realm is not at home, yet he occupies the city and refuses to leave, which is a provocation to Zhao Qirui. The fact that their reinforcements stopped and set up camp fifty miles away is a sign of respect for cultivators from the Realm, acknowledging that the area within fifty miles is Zhao Qirui's territory. This can be considered an unwritten rule.”

Wu Shengze explained the countless unspoken rules of the battlefield to Qin Mo, while the Rakshasa vanguard camp had already appeared on the border. They would build a large camp outside the city for their orc masters to reside in. The orcs, on the other hand, would be responsible for fighting against the cultivators and elites of the Great Xia army. The division of labor between the main force and the auxiliary forces was clear, which gave Qin Mo a sense of harmony.

On the second day of the second lunar month, the dragon raises its head. The trading city in the northern snowfields was not shrouded in the light spring rain, but instead was completely surrounded by a relentless coalition of orcs and rakshasa. The trading city's access to the outside world was finally cut off, leaving it an isolated city.

"From now on, all supplies such as grain, alcohol, salt, frozen meat, etc. will be controlled and distributed to the brigade commanders daily according to the number of people." Qin Mo had read "The Battle of Stalingrad" and knew that controlling supplies was a necessary measure. Although the Xia reinforcements should arrive in two months at most, no one knew whether the battle would become a stalemate. At that time, a piece of flatbread might be a crucial factor in the outcome.

Qin Mo stopped the daily drills, allowing the soldiers to conserve their energy and recharge. The new recruits began carefully cleaning their armor and weapons, while the veterans slept soundly, occasionally stretching their limbs or mocking the greenhorns.

Harukami Jiro and the other Fusang people were very nervous. It was the first time they had seen so many beastmen. They were so tall, so strong, and so disgusting. Although Your Highness, their main enemy was the Rakshasa, and the beastmen would be dealt with by the large army, the situation in war was ever-changing, and it was impossible to distinguish so clearly.

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