Chapter 720: And there's this too!

Tuan Tuan raised his little fist: "It's that cowardly villain who won't show his face again!"

Xiao Er's palms were sweaty; he rubbed them on his pants, and Lu Qi pulled out an iron lotus seed from his bosom and clenched it in his palm.

An Imperial Guard stepped forward and pried open the box lid with a short shovel.

The Masked Man lowered his head and stared at the things inside the box.

No matter how Tuan Tuan stretched his neck, he couldn't see inside the box: "Uncle Er, what's inside? I can't see."

"It's too far away," Xiao Er was also anxious in his heart; whatever is buried in the Imperial Ancestral Temple must not be mundane, "I can't see either."

"Why are you two in a hurry?" Lu Qi glanced at the two of them, "Soon they might bring it out themselves."

The Masked Man lowered his head and looked for a moment, then reached out and touched the things inside the box: "Take them out."

Several Imperial Guards lifted out the items one by one and carefully leaned them upright against the box.

They turned out to be several copper tubes and some low crossbow bases.

Xiao Er's eyes widened instantly: "What is this?"

"I told you so!" Lu Qi looked pleased.

"Yes! Uncle Lu Qi, you're right!" Tuan Tuan stared fixedly at those copper tubes, "But what are they used for, Uncle Lu Qi?"

"……" Lu Qi was speechless: "I don't know either; I've never seen anything like it."

Each copper tube was over three feet long, its body cast with coiling dragon patterns, the dragon tail winding all the way to the mouth.

The mouth flared outward like a trumpet, and at the rear a flat, round leather air bag was attached; two small wooden handles protruded from the bag's tail, sized to fit one palm.

The Masked Man paced back and forth staring at the copper tubes, leaned in to peek inside, then squeezed the leather air bag and gave an order.

Several Imperial Guards turned and ran toward the outside of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

After about the time it takes to burn two incense sticks, the sound of cart wheels approached from afar.

Those Imperial Guards drove a cargo cart pulled by a warhorse back.

On the cart, four black glazed ceramic jars about a person's height were secured with thick hemp rope; the jars were round-bodied, and their glaze shone with a dark, oily sheen in the firelight.

Each jar was full, weighing at least three or four hundred catties.

Xiao Er's face changed dramatically; these were the Imperial Guard's mysterious glaze jars used to store fierce fire oil! Why bring so much of this stuff?

Tuan Tuan pointed at those huge ceramic jars: "Uncle Er, what's inside?"

Xiao Er replied: "Fierce fire oil, different from ordinary tung oil; this oil ignites on contact with fire, and splashing water doesn't extinguish it—it makes the blaze even fiercer."

Tuan Tuan blinked: "Are they trying to burn down the Imperial Ancestral Temple?"

Xiao Er: "..."

The Imperial Guards carefully unloaded the mysterious glaze jars from the cart and carried them to the copper tubes.

An Imperial Guard used a dagger to cut the seal on the jar's mouth.

The Masked Man pointed at the leather air bag: "Fill it!"

Several Imperial Guards jointly lifted the mysterious glaze jar, aligning its mouth with the inlet of the leather air bag.

Fierce fire oil poured out of the jar, emitting a dull gurgling sound.

As more oil flowed in, the leather air bag gradually swelled.

After it was filled, an Imperial Guard snapped the copper nozzle shut with a "click."

The Masked Man examined the crossbow base, noting that the bow arm's position had been replaced by a semicircular bracket: "Put it in and try."

Several Imperial Guards slid the copper tubes into the bracket; the dragon patterns on the tubes meshed perfectly with the recesses inside.

The Masked Man pointed at an old cypress tree by the wall: "Press the handle; when you do, hold the torch in front of the copper nozzle."

That old cypress tree standing in the rear courtyard of the Imperial Ancestral Temple is likely over a hundred years old, thick enough for three people to encircle.

An Imperial Guard knelt beside the air bag, gripping the two wooden handles at its tail, and pressed down hard.

The fierce fire oil inside the air bag was instantly forced out, rushing along the copper pipe into the tube's body and spraying forth from the copper nozzle at the dragon's mouth.

Another Imperial Guard stood by the tube's mouth holding a torch, waiting for the oil to pass through the flame.

With a "boom," it ignited.

A fire column roared out of the tube's mouth.

The flame lashed out like a whip, striking the old cypress trunk violently and exploding into a blaze of white light.

Splashed fire oil clung to the bark and kept burning, creeping up the branches; in the blink of an eye the whole tree was wrapped in a giant torch.

Oil seeping from cracks in the trunk was ignited by the flames, making a crackling popping sound.

Flames poured out of the cracks, rolling out countless sparks.

The sparks drifted down onto the nearby grass.

The air filled with the pungent smell of burning fire oil, so strong it almost made people unable to keep their eyes open.

The scorching heat drifted upward, blown by the wind, roasting the faces of the three on the roof until they felt warm.

Xiao Er unconsciously gripped his sword hilt, his expression solemn.

This thing's spray reaches over ten zhang! Terrifying.

Lu Qi's throat moved as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't.

Tuan Tuan stared with his small mouth open for a long time: "That poor tree."

The Masked Man stood before the firelight, his bronze mask illuminated in shifting light and shadow.

He remained motionless, gazing at the burning old tree, his eyes shining brightly.

Immediately, more than a dozen Imperial Guards jumped into the deep pit and dug vigorously at every corner of the bottom.

They then lifted out several large chests.

The chest lids opened, revealing identical copper tubes inside.

Xiao Er silently counted; there were actually eighteen in total!

These eighteen are enough to burn down Jingcheng.

His heart sank; this is a city-defense weapon—with it in hand, even siege towers and catapults cannot escape being burned.

Lu Qi suddenly realized: "Those big vats full of water!"

"Uncle Seven," Tuan Tuan turned to look at him: "What's wrong with the water vats?"

Xiao Er and Lu Qi exchanged a glance, instantly understanding.

Lu Qi whispered: "Miss, those water vats placed under the city wall can prevent fire."

Xiao Er nodded: "As it turns out, they're not only to stop people from coming out of the underground passage beneath the wall, but also to use this!"

"Oh," Tuan Tuan said, half-understanding: "They want to set fire, but fear burning themselves, so they prepared so many water vats."

Xiao Er stared; the miss had never seen a siege, so it's really hard to explain to her.

As they spoke, an Imperial Guard ran toward the gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Soon after, three carriages arrived, and the Imperial Guards lifted the copper tubes and crossbow mounts onto the carriages.

After loading, the carriages slowly drove toward the gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, with dozens of Imperial Guard guards following closely beside them.

Xiao Er and Lu Qi turned and followed at the same time.

The carriages arrived at the city wall, and the defenders carefully carried the items from the carriages onto the wall.

Xiao Er's heart sank to the bottom of the valley—sure enough!

Tuan Tuan's face turned pale in an instant: "Little Eleven!"

"Isn't he still supposed to go up there? Won't he get burned?"

Only then did Xiao Er and Lu Qi remember: right, there's still that matter!