Su Rong, Ye Guixue, Fen Ling, Yin Yue, plus Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun - six people with six treasure swords, just enough to deal with Nanchu King’s Prince Yuan Zhao’s six siege cannons from outside the city.
All other guards, protect the six of them.
Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun’s remaining guards had already suffered casualties while protecting Nanchu King in previous battles. At present, fewer than one hundred remained. Led by Ziye and Lang Ying, their wounds were all severe. Just like Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun, they weren’t fully healed yet. Given the urgency of their current situation, they were obliged to stand guard with their swords at those two’s backs.
The same went for Ye Guixue; while some of his guards had been assigned to Zhou Gu to protect Nanchu King, a large part of them had fallen during the recent attack led by Hen Zhong and Han Yin. Originally, he had issued strict orders for his guards to evacuate with Ye Guiyan, but Guiyan adamantly stayed behind. Fortunately, Su Rong arrived in time to rescue them and thus saved those that remained. There were also fewer than a hundred of them left.
Only Su Rong had a substantial number of guards around her. Except for a portion she had lost when encountering Nangong Yu, her guard remained mostly unscathed, with around three to four hundred soldiers left.
Counting all the remaining guards together, they numbered less than five hundred. Although the number was small, they could only stake everything on it.
After Zhang Mao and Jiang Zhu directed their soldiers to defend the city wall, they paid close attention to the activities outside the city. Seeing Su Rong and others deploying their guards, they seemed to remember something. They exchanged a glance and immediately assigned all but a few of their guards to Su Rong.
Zhang Mao, when held captive by Su Rong, had lost all his guards. But after pledging allegiance to Su Rong, his loyal follower Zhao Li, whom he hadn’t previously had at his side, returned with more soldiers. Although it wasn’t a large number, there were at least a hundred of them. Besides, Jiang Zhu had his own secret guard, which totaled another hundred, and most of his loyal followers from the eighteen camps had also pledged their allegiance to Su Rong.
Therefore, when Zhang Mao and Jiang Zhu sent their guards over to Su Rong, she took them without any hesitation. With the addition of these two hundred, they now had seven hundred masters, which was not inconsiderable.
Watching as the city gates were relentlessly bombarded by the siege cannons, shaking precariously as it looked ready to collapse at any moment, Su Rong gripped her treasure sword tightly. Timing the interval between each shot, she suddenly pulled the rope after one cannon fire, and the city gate opened.
Despite the city gate opening, Su Rong and her companions didn’t rush out of it immediately. Instead, they first let the siege machines from within the city, pushed forward by soldiers, roll out.
One by one, the lightning-fast siege machines barreled forward, giving the enemy’s cannons a good battering. Su Rong and her companions, hidden behind these siege machines, charged at the enemy’s siege cannons with a large number of guards.
The Dawei soldiers didn’t expect the city gate of Heiya Pass to be opened from the inside. Caught off guard, Su Rong and Fen Ling managed to destroy one siege cannon, with perfectly synchronized teamwork.
Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun, due to their injuries, wielded their swords in vain, unable to sever the rope connected to the siege cannon’s firing mechanism. Neither Ye Guixue nor Yin Yue, despite their injuries being less severe, were fully recovered from their exhaustive journeys; hence, their sword strikes also fell short. By the time the two sides readied for a second attack, the masters protecting the siege cannons had recovered from their shock, blocking them with a dawning sense of panic.
Angered, Zhou Gu, using his double-handed sword, killed two of the approaching Dawei masters. Zhang Yun, feeling embarrassed, swung his sword and cut down the person blocking his way.
The Dawei masters were not to be taken lightly; where Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun had left gaps, others quickly filled in.
From then on, they wouldn’t let the other side approach the siege cannons, igniting a fierce battle around the cannons.
The greatest advantage Su Rong and Fen Ling had wasn’t their swords, but the gold needles in their hands. Having destroyed one siege cannon, their confidence soared. They exchanged a glance and flung their sleeves, unleashing their gold needles. Each needle, emitting a cold light like a snowflake, pierced the hearts, brows, carotid arteries and other vital points of the Dawei masters, felling a large number in a short time.
After clearing any obstacles in their path, they attacked in unison again, destroying another cannon.
The destruction of two siege cannons had the Dawei masters panicking. From his high vantage point on a chariot, Prince Yuan Zhao of Dawei watched the scene with a grim expression. In a flash, he shot to his feet, "Luo Yan, bring your men with me. I will kill Su Rong with my own hands."
Luo Yan, who had been restless for a while, responded crisply, "Alright."
The Poison Doctor Sect had hundreds of skilled fighters. As soon as Luo Yan issued the order, she led them charge forth. The Prince also drew his sword and charged towards Su Rong together with them.
Zhou Gu, with his sharp senses, immediately asked aloud, "Who are those people?"
Zhang Yun didn’t recognize them. "They are not simple. They are not ordinary guards or assassins."
Thanks to his spyglass, Xie Yuan saw them clearly from the city wall. His face changed at once, and he yelled, "Those are people from the Poison Doctor Sect - a Jianghu Faction. They are experts at using poison. Be careful."
Having practiced martial arts, Xie Yuan had a strong voice that carries far.
Su Rong gave a start and immediately called out, "Take your antidote pills, cover your mouth and nose."
Being warned by Xie Yuan as well as her, everyone present became alert. While fighting, they took antidote pills from their pockets and swallowed them.
Since Su Rong and her companions dared to open the city gate and come out to destroy the siege cannons, they naturally came prepared. Anything less would equate to suicide - this was a battlefield, not child’s play. Not only had Su Rong come prepared, but in such a short time, it was also remarkably thorough.
After she stepped out of Jiangning County with Fen Ling and experienced the effects of poison for the first time, she understood the potential benefits of it.
On the battlefield, one could encounter anything. Regardless of whether your methods are honorable or not, as long as they work, they are valid. Therefore, antidote pills, which had successfully aided Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun in protecting Nanchu King through the Zhangdu Forest, were considered valuable arsenal to them. Hence, when Zhou Gu and Zhang Yun prepared their medicines, they kept large stores of antidote pills on hand.
Before the city gate was opened, every person was given antidote pills.
After everyone took the pills, members of the Poison Doctor Sect joined the battlefield. The most formidable aspect of the Insect Doctor Sect was not only their poisonous concoctions but also their venomous creatures.
Some people trained venomous snakes, others cultivated poisonous spiders. There were those who raised poisonous centipedes and some preferred venomous scorpions - there was a variety of pests.
When Luo Yan arrived with her companions, she targeted Su Rong. Her pet was a venomous snake that coiled around her wrist, a fiery red color. Her weapon of choice was a crescent-shaped blade. When they came face to face with Su Rong, she cracked a cold smile before launching her attack.
Even though Su Rong wielded a sword and knew how to use poison and hidden weapons, Luo Yan was well versed in all of her tactics. She wielded a blade and was not only adept at poison but also capable of deploying hidden weapons. Additionally, a deadly venomous snake coiled around her wrist, waiting for the opportunity to bite Su Rong.
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