Chapter 207: Chaos in Xiaocheng (Forty-Seven) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
When the young man arrived, the atmosphere in the main tent was somber and desolate.
Seeing that he arrived late, and that he was only wearing arm guards, shoulder armor, and skirt armor, his sworn brother couldn't help but say sarcastically, "You never come to roll call, and you push military affairs onto others. You're supposed to be a general, how can you set an example for your subordinates with such laziness?"
The upward curve of the young man disappeared.
Just as he was about to answer, the old general sitting at the head of the table spoke up sternly, giving his sarcastic son a good scolding. The sworn brother's face turned pale and then red. He had to bite the bullet and apologize to the young man in front of everyone to let the matter drop.
The young man outwardly expressed that he didn't mind, but inwardly he couldn't help but sneer—sneering at his sworn brother for not learning his lesson.
Even knowing they wouldn't gain anything, they still couldn't resist provoking others.
Why bother?
He took his seat.
He asked, "Father, who has attacked?"
When the conversation turned to business, the old general looked worried and sighed as he replied, "They're just a bunch of petty thieves, nothing to be afraid of."
The young man immediately understood the underlying meaning.
The thieves were a small group, but they had managed to alarm him, so the leader must be a formidable martial artist. He clasped his hands and said, "Since they are just a small group of thieves, then I will leave them to my son to handle. Gather over a thousand soldiers and take their heads to calm your father's nerves."
Hearing the young man's murderous words, the old general couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. He stroked his beard with satisfaction and said with a laugh, "What nonsense are you talking about? You're always talking about taking people's heads. You're more likely to frighten people than to frighten them. Aren't you afraid of what others will say about you?"
The young man spoke with self-righteousness, as if saying, "It's perfectly normal for me to say this: when it comes to fighting the enemy, it's all about 'life or death.' Even if we don't talk about taking someone's head, do we have to ask them in a fancy way if they're willing to give their head to our son? Even if our son asks, they still won't give it to us."
His words amused the old general.
The old general laughed heartily, and the other generals laughed along with him.
One person flattered him: "The young general is indeed exceptionally brave. As long as he takes action, the little thief will have no choice but to surrender."
The young man looked around, puzzled.
So he just grinned foolishly and went along with everyone else.
He secretly rolled his eyes inwardly.
Another message has been received—
The leader of the bandits was probably stronger than everyone else, but weaker than him; otherwise, this credit wouldn't have fallen to him. Thinking this, he heard the old general say, "It's good that my son has the intention, but those bandits don't need your help."
The young man was slightly taken aback.
He asked in a low voice, "Then why did the godfather call his son over...?"
The old general glanced at the envoy.
An advisor stepped forward and said, "Young General, please calm down."
The young man felt slightly uneasy.
At this moment, the old general began to assign troops. The young man listened quietly, but noticed that the old general's troops were marching in the opposite direction to Xiaocheng, and in three different directions. Even his sworn brother, who was skilled in "yin-yang strange qi," was assigned to lead a thousand troops to provide support.
The more the young man looked, the more confused he became, unable to see the overall situation of the battle.
Why divide the troops into so many routes?
Or is it—
A bold yet absurd guess emerged in the young man's mind.
Are these different routes of troops divided to counter different forces?
The young man twitched the corners of his mouth inwardly.
If that's true, then it's really fast.
It's only been a few days since that strange occurrence late at night.
After the generals left, only the young man, a few trusted veterans of the old general, and the advisor of the Pig King remained.
The young man's eyebrows twitched violently.
The old general said in a deep voice, "Gongxi Chou, heed my command!"
As the young man stood up, a complete suit of martial armor materialized.
The clanging sound of metal colliding was crisp and powerful.
He replied, "Your subordinate is here!"
The old general said, "I order you to lead 12,000 men to capture Xiaocheng before midnight today. The envoy will assist you from the side."
This order was completely beyond the young man's expectations.
Given Xiaocheng's current defenses, how could he possibly lead 12,000 men to attack with enough time to finish before midnight?
Intuition told the young man that things weren't that good.
The old general knew his background very well.
This military order is far too "relaxed".
The young man hesitated, his Adam's apple bobbing, but he swallowed back the question he wanted to ask and said firmly, "This subordinate obeys!"
The old general continued, "After the city is captured..."
He said this while looking at his advisor.
He continued, "Then you shall follow the envoy's arrangements."
Young Gongxi Chou nodded in understanding, even though he was inwardly cursing—he found this advisor truly detestable. The latter had been intentionally or unintentionally targeting him, and he had no idea what kind of trouble this fellow was planning.
Seeing this, the old general changed his previous seriousness and repeatedly instructed, "A-Nian, after the city is captured, you must not disobey the envoy."
The young man replied, "Yes, son understands."
The old general was greatly comforted.
"Very well, Father will wait here for my son's triumphant return."
The young man's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Do you have any drinks?"
The old general feigned seriousness: "Alcohol is forbidden in the army, but if Anian really wants to, your father can take you out for a couple of drinks."
For a moment, the father and son were in a harmonious and happy atmosphere.
It didn't feel like a military camp at all; it felt more like home.
The advisor's lips curled into a sly smile.
Although it was fleeting, Gongxi Chou still caught it, and he felt very uncomfortable. After receiving the military orders from the main tent, preparations for the siege began. His accompanying advisor suddenly asked, "Young General, why aren't you curious at all?"
Gong Xichou countered, "What are you curious about?"
The advisor said, "Naturally, they're curious why we suddenly attacked the city."
Gongxi Chou sneered, "Isn't the purpose of military campaigns to conquer cities and seize territories? Surrounding without attacking like before is a waste of time and supplies. This humble general only knows how to obey military orders; I have no interest in or curiosity about anything else. What do you think, envoy?"
The advisors did not respond.
He changed the subject and asked a very strange question.
"The young general's original surname is 'Gong'? This surname is very rare."
Gongxi Chou didn't even bother to cast a disdainful glance at him. With such a low level of competence, how could he be a trusted advisor to the King of Pigs?
That's absolutely hilarious.
He said coldly, "My surname is 'Gongxi'."
It doesn't have the surname "Gong"!
Of course, if the advisor's surname was "Mother," he wouldn't mind being teased for having the surname "Gong." Gongxi Chou took a long stride, increasing his pace, wishing he could leave the advisor behind. However, the advisor then asked, "Your father's surname is 'Gongxi'? That's a rare surname."
Gong Xichou said, "Our clan only follows the mother's surname."
The advisor seemed to suddenly remember something.
"This custom and this surname... could it be the 'Gongxi Clan' who went into seclusion hundreds of years ago? I've only heard of them occasionally, but I've heard that this clan wasn't—" Before he could finish speaking, a dagger with a faint purple light reflecting off its tip was pressed against his throat. The advisor looked up at Gongxi Chou, and with a cold smile, he deflected the dagger.
"The young general is very bothered by this matter."
Gong Xichou hissed, "Who are you?"
The advisor said, "Who could I be? I just happen to know some secrets. Has this touched a nerve with the young general?"
Gong Xichou: "..."
Seeing that he remained silent, the advisor smiled slightly, revealing two rows of white teeth, and asked maliciously, "Does the young general know what to do after the city is breached?" Seeing that Gong Xichou still did not speak, he laughed and said, "Leave not a single dog alive in Xiaocheng!"
Gong Xichou: "..."
"Young General, does this sound familiar?"
Gong Xichou said calmly, "I don't think so."
The advisor asked, "What does the young general think of this move?"
Gong Xiqiu said, "We will follow your orders."
The implication is that he will do exactly as ordered.
Upon hearing this, the advisor exclaimed, "Haha, very good, very good..."
Gong Xichou: "..."
When Lin Feng heard Gong Xichou kick open the tent flap and mutter words like "sick," Tu Rong, who was grimacing as he applied medicine to himself, also looked over and muttered to himself who had offended him.
Gong Xichou said, "Speak loudly."
Tu Rong obediently shouted, "What's wrong with you? Are you being bullied by someone?"
Gong Xichou: "..."
Tu Rong was definitely one of the most headstrong teenagers he had ever met; he'd raise his voice when told to, and dared to say anything. Although he himself would do the same, he was just a pretense, while Tu Rong was the real deal. He snorted heavily and said, "Nobody's here!"
Tu Rong muttered, "It doesn't look like it..."
Gong Xichou: "..."
Lin Feng and Tu Rong watched as Gong Xichou took his weapon and hung it on his waist. He came in a hurry and left in a hurry. Coupled with the constant footsteps and the occasional clash of weapons outside the tent, they both sensed the dangerous atmosphere that war was about to break out.
Lin Feng asked, "Is war about to break out?"
"Do you even remember where you are?" Gong Xichou sneered, pointing to two trusted confidants and ordering them to escort Lin Feng and Tu Rong away. Lin Feng and Tu Rong exchanged a glance, neither of them moving. Gong Xichou asked, "Are you two trying to cling to me?"
Lin Feng said, "No, I just don't understand..."
There had been no warning before, but now this arrangement was suddenly happening, and Lin Feng felt that something was about to happen, and it was something bad.
Gong Xichou said, "Either leave or stay."
He dropped a poisoned dagger.
Lin Feng didn't ask any more questions.
The two teenagers changed into the tattered clothes brought by Gong Xichou's confidants, smeared their clean faces with dirty mud, and set off with a small bag of travel money and dry food. Tu Rong had more to carry, including travel money, dry food, and a box containing the ashes of his relatives.
Lin Feng didn't dare to cry, but when he turned around, he saw a continuous expanse of banners fluttering in the wind, like dark clouds.
She opened her mouth, as if she had guessed something.
Tu Rong said, "Junior sister, don't look."
The two trusted men had previously received favors from Gong Xichou and admired the young general's invincible prowess on the battlefield, and were deeply in love with him. Upon receiving the escort mission personally entrusted by Gong Xichou, the two were naturally extremely excited and patted their chests to guarantee that they would definitely complete it.
One of them asked, "Do you two young men have somewhere to go?"
For convenience, Lin Feng was also dressed up as a boy.
Lin Feng thought for a moment and said, "Yes."
She didn't know where her husband was, but she knew where she should try her luck. However, since she didn't know who was friend or foe, she couldn't lead the two of them to the village, for fear of bringing the war there as well.
They decided to go up to the halfway point of the mountain, and then walk the rest of the way on their own.
Thinking about going home soon made me feel much more at ease.
The man smiled and said, "That's good."
The garrison in Xiaocheng was in no mood to laugh.
The soldiers on the watchtower spotted the approaching rebel army of tens of thousands from afar and immediately relayed the message. The soldiers on the city gate, however, had shorter vision and could only vaguely see dust rising in the distance.
He looked up at the sky: "Isn't it time yet?"
The rebels regularly threw the bodies of civilians into the city.
The people were filled with fear and unease. In the past two days, hundreds of people had developed the same symptoms, some with a rapid onset of illness, dying within just three days. Within Xiaocheng, the people were gripped by panic, and the situation would have been far worse had the prefectural government not intervened to quell the unrest.
I've come again today.
The soldiers guarding the city thought it was another group coming to dump corpses.
But as the rebels approached and saw that they were fully armed, they knew something was wrong and immediately sounded the alarm. However, to their utter surprise, the rebels were behaving very differently today than usual.
What used to be lukewarm and procrastinating has now become like a sharp sword being drawn.
As soon as they took their positions, a rain of arrows fell from the sky.
Some soldiers were caught off guard, struck by arrows, fell to the ground, and tumbled off the city wall.
Three breaths later, the second wave of arrows was about to arrive.
The soldiers felt despair.
"You scoundrel, how dare you!"
Just then, a loud shout rang out! Reaching the ears of the garrison soldiers, their dejected spirits were suddenly lifted!
"Gentlemen, do not panic! Join me in defending against the enemy!"
It turned out that he was a martial arts expert who was temporarily taking over the duties of Commandant Yang and commanding the garrison. He was tall and burly, and although his strength and cultivation were only at the level of a seventh-rank official, he was experienced, calm, and his forte was defense. He preferred to use defense as a means of attack. As soon as he appeared, the garrison soldiers had a pillar of support, and their morale soared.
Morale coalesced into a vortex, converging and strengthening, and the martial spirit's aura soared under this boost. Simultaneously, the martial energy emanating from the martial spirit's body split into three or four hundred streams, each merging into the soldiers' bodies. These three or four hundred men formed a unified aura.
"This place is Xiaocheng, where thieves are forbidden!"
As the shout rang out, the city wall beneath their feet suddenly rose several dozen feet higher—no, not just higher, but an additional martial energy wall, over ten feet thick, rose outside the main city wall. Arrows rained down on the wall, clanging and creating dense ripples.
This volley of arrows didn't even leave a crack.
However, no one showed any joy at this.
Everyone knew this was just a probe by the enemy.
Judging from the size of the enemy, there are at least 10,000 people.
Although he had the advantage of the city, Xiaocheng had been damaged several times before, and could only be barely used after repairs. If he encountered another formidable opponent, it would probably be completely ruined. When the valiant warrior saw the rebel army formation below the city, his face turned ashen.
At this moment, the rebel army stopped abruptly. Two rows of men separated neatly, and a young general rode out on horseback.
He was Gongxi Chou.
Gong Xichou didn't waste any words.
"You may surrender now and have your lives spared!"
His voice wasn't loud, but it was clearly heard by everyone on the city wall, enraging the garrison.
The brave warrior leading the troops was also enraged.
If you order the city to surrender right away, you can save your life.
That kid is really arrogant!
He said, "You little brat, how dare you be so insolent!"
No need for further discussion, just fight!
In an instant, rhythmic and high-pitched war drums resounded from the city walls and below, their powerful sound stirring up the chaotic energy of heaven and earth.
The commotion alarmed several people.
"Report! The enemy has led over ten thousand troops to attack the city!"
The messenger soldier relayed the message to the prefectural governor's office within the city.
Wu Yuan's expression suddenly changed.
Gu Chi looked indifferently toward the city wall and stood up.
"Don't panic, let's go and take a look."
Even faster than Gu Chi were Shen Tang and his group.
(End of this chapter)
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