Chapter 777: Hei Tian Zhongxin! Bring Your Life!

Anbei Taichin stared at the black jade tablet, the soldiers' grim state in the gray mist, his fingertips trembling slightly.

He withdrew his hand resentfully, then slammed a hard palm onto the black jade tablet.

The tablet shattered, and its light went out instantly.

The gray mist swirled into a few strands of lingering smoke, blown clean by the wind.

Fresh blood streamed down from his right ear.

He raised his hand to cover it, enduring the piercing pain.

Teng Yuan Liangxin stood beneath the stone steps on the inner side of the wall, listening to the wails coming down from the wallhead, his face as still as water, unmoving.

The wails gradually faded; he lifted his head, the gray mist having cleared completely, and realized that Anbei Taichin must have sensed something amiss and withdrawn his spell.

He forced two words out between his teeth: "Useless."

He turned his head toward Hei Tian Zhongxin: "Quick! Order the remaining archers and crossbowmen to go up!"

"Deploy another five thousand infantry to replace all those on the rampart!"

"Yes!" Hei Tian Zhongxin turned and left.

Soon, fresh troops climbed the wall and removed all the soldiers whose eyes were damaged.

The archers and crossbowmen stood behind the embrasure, Arrow tips aimed toward the outside.

But the thick, impenetrable white fog turned the outside into a featureless white expanse, nothing visible.

The archers wore puzzled faces, wondering where to fire.

Hei Tian Zhongxin walked a lap along the wallhead, confirming every position was set, then returned to the stone steps: "Commander, everything is ready."

Teng Yuan Liangxin straightened his collar and climbed the wall again.

He looked down at the rolling white fog below, thinking, "What the hell are the people of the Fiery Nation doing?"

But the fog was too thick; nothing could be seen.

All around was silence.

After a while, a few crisp "clang‑clang" sounds faintly rose from below.

"Commander! That's the sound of iron spades scraping blue bricks!" Hei Tian Zhongxin gripped his sword hilt tightly, "They're digging at the wall's foundation!"

Teng Yuan Liangxin scoffed, "The Royal City's walls are that thick; they think a few iron spades can pierce them? It's pure fantasy!"

"Archers, aim at the wall's base and fire!" he said calmly, "All the rolling logs and stones, hurl them down for me!"

"Yes!"

The archers released their bows, Arrow after Arrow poured down like rain, the whoosh never ceasing.

The soldiers hoisted the rolling logs and stones, hurling them en masse from the embrasure; a dull thud echoed from deep within the thick fog.

Arrows lodged in the shield cart's roof, producing a thudding muffled sound, like raindrops on tiles,

Rolling logs struck the slanted roof, sliding down both sides, crashing to the ground, leaving only a shallow scratch on the roof.

The stones bounced and rolled far, unable to break through the wet mud on the roof.

The clatter of iron spades persisted, and Teng Yuan Liangxin's brows knit tighter.

"Douse with fire oil!" he barked, "Throw torches! Ignite the enemy below!"

"Yes!"

The soldiers lifted the oil‑filled earthen jars and hurled them forcefully toward the city below.

The jars shattered on the shield cart's roof, oil streaming down the roof.

Immediately, dozens of torches flew from the embrasure, landing on the oil stains, the flames spiking up.

But they were all extinguished quickly.

The flames licked the roof, meeting the coarse canvas coated in wet mud; only a hiss sounded, and the few wisp of white smoke that rose was smothered cleanly by the mud.

Burning oil slid down the slanted roof, dripping onto the ground, leaving a few isolated flames that vanished swiftly.

However, the scattered rolling logs and stones still blocked parts of the wall, preventing some of the approaching shield carts from reaching the wall's base.

Below the shield carts, Zhang Wu'an roared loudly, "Can't press against the wall, spread to both sides! Prepare the Heaven Fire Tube!"

Over a dozen shield carts withdrew to the sides, no longer forcing against the wall's base.

At the wall's base, Xiao Er wiped the sweat from his face: "Dig quickly!"

The soldiers worked together, swinging iron spades, and soon dug a pit a little over two feet deep.

"Give me the gunpowder!" Xiao Er growled back.

A few soldiers bent over, handing him bundles of gunpowder.

Xiao Er manually packed them into the pit's bottom, tamped them down, and buried the pre‑wrapped oil‑cloth fuse.

He stood, gesturing, "Retreat to both sides!"

The shield carts moved slowly to the sides.

The soldiers extended the fuse point by point.

"No more sound." Hei Tian Zhongxin, puzzled, said, "Commander, why have they stopped digging?"

Teng Yuan Liangxin's brows furrowed tighter, wondering if the Fiery Nation wasn't trying to breach the wall.

Seeing the shield carts had retreated far enough, Xiao Er shouted, "Stop!"

The shield carts halted.

He pulled a fire‑starter from his chest, blew on it, crouched, and pressed the fire‑starter to the fuse's end.

The fuse hissed and ignited, sparks racing swiftly along the line.

"Boom—!" A thunderous blast roared through the heavens like thunder.

The wall shuddered violently; Hei Tian Zhongxin staggered, bracing with one hand to avoid falling.

Broken bricks and rammed earth burst from the wall, smoke and dust roaring as they spewed from the breach, engulfing the entire section of the wall.

Some soldiers on the city wall were blown into the air by the blast wave, screaming as they fell down the wall.

More people were shaken so badly they lurched left and right, lying on the crenel, their hands desperately gripping the brick seams, their faces deathly pale.

"The city wall blew up, Master!" Tuan Tuan cocked her ear to listen, her face full of excitement, "Did you hear that? It must have been Second Uncle's doing! He's the strongest!"

Chu Yuan's lips curled up, the azure light at his fingertips gradually fading.

He withdrew his hand, and three turtle shells fell onto the table.

Tuan Tuan looked curiously at Master: "Master, do we no longer need the turtle shells?"

Chu Yuan rubbed her little head: "No need, the city wall has been blasted open, and your second older brother and his men have already charged inside."

Tuan Tuan's eyes lit up: "Did Father win?"

Chu Yuan smiled: "That's right, your father has won another splendid victory!"

Tuan Tuan jumped up: "I'm going to find Jing Ning! Tell her she can go home now!"

Having said that, she ran out of the tent on her short little legs.

Just as she lifted the curtain, Lu Qi reached out a big hand and scooped her into his arms: "Miss, where are you going?"

"Find Jing Ning!"

"All right, I'll take you there."

Chu Yuan listened to Lu Qi's footsteps fading away, thought of the common folk in the mass grave, and sighed: "Boundless Immortal Venerable!"

On the walltop, smoke and mist gradually dispersed; a soldier beside the crenel looked down and shouted in a voice so shrill it almost split: "The city wall has been blown open!"

Tengyuan Liangxin shook the dust from his head and face, hearing the shout his heart tightened, and he barked: "Hei Tian! Take men down there to stop them!"

"Crossbowmen, follow him down! Even if we have to fill it with corpses, we must block the gap for me!"

"Yes! Everyone, follow me!" Hei Tian Chongxin drew his sword and rushed down the stone steps.

Tengyuan Liangxin walked to the crenel, steadied his stance, and looked out over the city.

The white mist had by now grown thin, making the area beneath the city wall clearly visible.

Only see, a section of the city wall's center had been blasted open, leaving a gap several zhang wide, with blue bricks and rammed-earth chunks scattered across the ground.

He finally understood: it turned out the people of the Fierce Kingdom dug under the wall in order to bury gunpowder!

This war god, Prince Ning, truly is full of tricks!

He snorted: "Come, follow me down." Having said that, he turned and walked away.

"Yes!"

Soldiers surged down the stone steps on both sides of the city wall, lunging toward the gap still spewing smoke and dust.

Some shouldered sandbags, some pushed carts loaded with broken stone, while many more simply raised their swords and shouted as they charged into the breach.

Then they saw a row of dark, hollow copper nozzles.

Zhang Wu'an thrust his broadsword into the ground, raised his arm and brought it down hard: "Ignite!"

Five torches were brought together to the copper nozzles.

The soldiers gripped the handles and pressed down with all their strength.

Five blazing jets of fire shot out from the copper nozzles, slamming into the Eastern Ocean soldiers who were rushing outward from the gap.

In an instant they were engulfed in flames, screaming as they fell to the ground and rolled about.

The burlap sacks filled with sand and stone were burned through, sand trickling out from the holes.

The carts were set ablaze, splintered wood crackling in the flames as black smoke billowed upward.

Basically no one could get near that gap.

"Archers!" Hei Tian Chongxin shouted loudly, "Release arrows!"

The archers had just raised their bows.

"Again!" Zhang Wu'an issued another command.

The five blazing jets of fire once again roared forth.

Before the arrows could leave the strings, the archers were already aflame, frantically discarding their large bows as they rolled on the ground, wailing.

Five thousand cavalry swept past the sky-fire tubes and charged into the gap.

Xiao Ningchen took the lead, his spear flashing with a piercing cold light, and at a glance he saw Hei Tian Chongxin huddled beside the gap, his eyes swollen shut from the scorching flames and thick smoke.

Xiao Ningchen reined in his horse to a halt, eyes wide, and roared angrily: "Hei Tian Chongxin! Give me your life!"