"Quick, quick, see where it is!" Minister Wu exclaimed in alarm.
Suddenly, his footing gave way to nothingness, and a wave of panic washed over him, followed by the sound of him falling into the water with a splash.
Holy crap!
All the Imperial Guard soldiers were stunned. Where were their ships?
The boat had vanished! Those on board were thrown into the water like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
This is bizarre, absolutely bizarre. They've lived for decades and have never encountered anything like this before.
"Hahaha!" This wasn't the first time Xu Dafu had seen this. Finally, someone had suffered the same fate as him. It must be the Taoist priest secretly doing something behind his back again. "Brothers, let's beat this dog when it's down!"
Now the enemy is like a fish waiting to be slaughtered.
Xu Dafu had his men cast the nets onto the water, and they caught a whole bunch! They could chop them up however they wanted, like cutting watermelons.
Xu Dafu, who had been fighting on the water for over a decade, was experiencing this kind of exhilarating fight for the first time.
Wu, the Vice Minister, hopped around a few times like a grasshopper before being caught by Xu Dafu.
Xie Xiao, on the Black Wind Stronghold's ship, was also stunned. His wife did this? That's incredible.
If he hadn't been there, he would never have imagined that the ship could disappear so suddenly, because he had only seen her release the objects.
This time, he also didn't see her take the boat, but the boat disappeared. When he asked the other brothers, they said they hadn't seen it either.
He was shocked but also greatly relieved.
This woman is incredibly audacious. What if she gets discovered? Fortunately, it was quite dark at the time, which provided her with cover.
"Heaven has eyes! Brothers, kill them!" the fourth leader shouted.
As they were talking, with a splash, another ship vanished into thin air, and the imperial guards on that ship fell into the water.
The fourth leader was dumbfounded. Couldn't he even perform properly? What was the point of fighting? There was no need to fight anymore.
“It must be a miracle from heaven!” one of the brothers said.
"Yes, even the gods are helping us."
"Otherwise, why would that ship have vanished into thin air?"
"I understand, it's the statue on Ziyang Peak performing the ritual."
"Yes, yes!"
"There is a reason why the Ziwei Emperor descended upon Ziyang Peak."
Everyone thinks it's the truth!
Great! It's destiny's will; we'll be invincible from now on.
Morale was at an all-time high.
The sounds of battle were deafening.
However, Li Ruo only acquired two ships. This was because they hadn't realized what was happening yet, and if they tried to acquire more, someone would be watching them, and the system wouldn't allow them to.
The Imperial Guard's Deputy Commander Zhang and the other soldiers were stunned, as if struck by lightning.
What the hell.
What kind of sorcery is this?!
Vice Minister Wu is useless and has been captured; we can only rely on him. Deputy Commander Zhang stared at the figure that darted across the water like a shark, "Fire arrows! Quickly, shoot arrows at her!"
"Heavens! Monster! Monster!" The soldiers could only vaguely see a woman riding the waves, and they retreated in fright.
"I am the righteous army of the imperial court, acting on the Emperor's orders. How dare I fear a mere demon or monster? Shoot her dead!"
But Li Ruo was too fast, splashing water everywhere, and the sky was somewhat dim with wind, making it difficult for the archers to aim.
At the same time, Xie Xiao and Li Qing's boats were rapidly approaching, one after the other.
Xie Xiao, who was closer, suddenly used the gunwale as leverage and pushed off, sending himself and his halberd flying. He cut down a group of people like a gust of wind. "Trying to shoot my wife? Die!"
With a loud bang, the two boats collided.
Sun Ergou and his men then jumped onto the enemy's boat and began a bloody fight.
Xie Xiao flicked his halberd and swung it at Deputy Commander Zhang. The man retreated sharply, and the gleaming silver halberd came again, tearing through his armor.
Deputy Commander Zhang had not encountered such a formidable opponent in a long time. "Xie Xiao, listen to my advice: surrender to the imperial court, and you will enjoy endless wealth and honor."
"Ha, if you surrender to me, perhaps I'll spare your life." The long moon halberd whistled through the air, and Deputy General Zhang was forced to retreat step by step. Finally, Xie Xiao skillfully flicked the knife out of his hand, and the blade of the halberd drew a bloody gash on his neck.
Deputy Commander Zhang fell backward to the ground and tried to resist, but Xie Xiaoyi used the tip of his halberd to press against his throat and cut him in two.
He turned to look at Li Ruo and found that she had already boarded Li Qing's boat. He finally felt relieved.
Xie Xiao took the imperial edict out of his sleeve and threw it to Sun Ergou, saying, "Keep it safe, it might come in handy."
Then, holding up the head of the deputy general, he shouted, "Your commander has been captured, and your deputy general has been executed! If you surrender, you can be spared."
Vice Minister Wu was also grabbed by Xu Dafu and dragged onto Li Qing's boat, where he was rendered speechless like a dead dog.
Twenty thousand imperial guards are still in the water.
Most of those who couldn't swim drowned. Thousands were killed, and the rest lingered in the icy waters, barely clinging to life.
Half of the soldiers on the other ships were also killed. With their commander and deputy commander captured, morale was in chaos.
"No, we can't surrender!" Even though he was soaked to the bone, Minister Wu still resisted stubbornly. "One group of them are mountain bandits, and the other is traitorous officials. You will die anyway if you surrender."
He looked at Li Qing and said, "You are the son of General Li, and your father was loyal to the emperor and loved the country. How could you collude with bandits? How can you face your father and His Majesty?"
Li Qing's gaze was stern, and his voice was loud and clear, "That's right, I am Li Qing, son of Li Honglie. Listen to me, my father was killed by His Majesty and the Prince of Jiangning. Now, so what if I, Li Qing, rebel?"
The Imperial Guard soldiers looked at each other, exclaiming, "What? General Li was killed by His Majesty?"
That's absolutely outrageous!
"You're spouting nonsense! How dare you slander His Majesty!" Minister Wu's father was the Duke of Qing, and his elderly father and son were still in the capital. He could not surrender; if he did, they would be gone.
“Li Qing, putting aside your father’s death, you also care about the people. Can you bear to see the Great Yin’s empire and its people fall into the hands of a bunch of bandits? It’s doomed sooner or later.”
Li Ruoxin thought to herself, "This Minister Wu and the Princess of Yongjia are really family. They like to stand on the moral high ground and demand things of others."
Xie Xiao smiled, not looking at Minister Wu, but at the Imperial Guards. "Gentlemen, you are all men of iron will. I don't need to say how you've been these past few days. There's hardly any food left in the capital! Of course, you can fight to the death to seize our food, but can you win? If you can't win, you'll die, but your families are still starving in the capital."
Those who surrender will fight back with us, and there's still time to save your families. Otherwise, they might become someone else's meal, and that would be true destruction!
Reality is just that cruel.
The Imperial Guard soldiers wavered, because what they said made a lot of sense. So they put down their spears, swords, and bows and arrows.
The brothers cheered.
They're amazing, they won again.
Xu Dafu sighed, "Thanks to Liao Dao's silent dedication behind the scenes!" The Taoist priest really had it tough, but unfortunately, his efforts were destined to go unrewarded.
Brothers: Hmm? What does this have to do with the Taoist priest?
Xie Xiao went to Li Qing's boat to meet Li Ruo, his deep eyes filled with a complicated look. "What happened just now was too dangerous."
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