Chapter 2001: The Traitor

General Chongwu said patiently, "We're different. He Xiao will definitely personally lead the attack on Anrong City; he himself is the target of the Heavenly Gods!"

In truth, he understood that the God-Discended Bodies Qingyang had handed over to the various powers likely also had problems.

The other Shanjin magnates didn't know the inside story, but General Chongwu had roamed and studied in Beijia for years, and had also received Qingyang's patronage, so of course he knew God-Discended Bodies weren't Chinese cabbage by the roadside that you could plant and harvest at will; how could so many be given out at once?

But he was confident that even if what Qingyang gave others was fake, what he gave to him, Chongwu, would be real.

Because Qingyang still needed to use him to tie down He Xiao!

On the Shanjin Plains, right now, besides Bai Tan, only Chongwu could be called He Xiao's match.

Taking the initiative to meet He Xiao in battle wasn't him being arrogant; rather, Pixia had only this one road left.

He had no choice.

Chongwu then persuaded his father, "Taking a step back, even if we can't win, we can still retreat and defend the city."

"Fine, we'll do it!" the Pixia Clan Chief finally made up his mind, "Life or death, survival or extinction, rests on this one gamble!"

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Three days later.

Guo Bai Yu maintained his offensive rhythm throughout; the people of Mian City were both hungry and exhausted, and still had to deal with sudden assaults on the city.

Within a single day, the enemy attacked three times.

At dusk, when Tushan Fang came down from the city wall, he smelled a strange fragrance in the air.

This was a sign that the Divine Nectar was about to arrive; no one would choose to attack at a time like this, so it looked like they could have a good night's rest tonight.

His heart relaxed, and he had just sat down in a corner of the alleyway when his snoring shook the heavens.

He hadn't closed his eyes for three days and three nights. Even with the Divine Nectar's comfort, he was exhausted in both body and mind.

Tushan Fang was like this; the fatigue of the Mian City soldiers and civilians was unimaginable.

His deputy came over, wanting to report military affairs; seeing him sleeping soundly, he tiptoed back out.

A soldier leaned over from behind: "Captain Tu..."

"Shh!" the deputy waved his hand, "Let the captain rest a bit. What is it?"

"Arrow fletchings aren't enough again."

The deputy looked up at the sky: "The Divine Nectar seems to be coming again. No fighting tonight; we'll talk about this tomorrow morning."

What Mian City lacks now is far more than just arrow fletchings?

One should ask, what isn't lacking?

Oh right, mouths to eat with aren't lacking.

The city wall seems to be noisy again; Hao County's soldiers and Mian City's locals don't get along, conflicts often break out.

Precisely at a time of lacking food, medicine, and sleep, everyone's tempers are high; a few words of quarrel can escalate into a large-scale brawl — it happened the night before last.

"These white-eyed wolves from Hao County, eating our grain and still fighting us!" a Mian soldier grumbled, "They really should all be driven out of the city to fend for themselves!"

The Mian City people themselves have no rice to eat, yet still have to allocate some to the Hao County people.

And in the Mian City government office, former Hao County Assistant Magistrate Yu An was discussing the distribution of supplies with Mian City County Defender Huang Chengqi. In today's Mian City, grain was entirely rationed; even with money you couldn't buy any.

Huang Chengqi naturally prioritized military needs; after all, if soldiers don't eat, where will they get the strength to defend the city and fight? But Yu An still wanted to fight for a larger quota for the Hao County people.

In the end, Yu An still compromised, letting out a long sigh: "Brother Huang, there's one more major matter I need to discuss with you privately."

"Me too." Huang Chengqi raised his hand to dismiss the others, personally shut the doors and windows, then walked back, "Brother Yu, please speak."

"Brother Huang, you speak first."

Huang Chengqi shook his head: "What I have to say can be put off for later, it's not urgent."

Yu An had been here for quite a few days, and in the city defense coordination he had also been conscientious. Huang Chengqi felt he could now tell him the secret that the Black Armor Army was gathering nearby, preparing to attack Guo Bai Yu.

For the time being, only he and Tushan Fang and a few other Black Armor Army members knew this secret; it was my lord Moqi who had notified them via magic three days ago.

Yu An leaned in, lowering his voice: "I have reliable information — there's a spy for Guo Bai Yu inside the city defense army!"

His voice was low, so Huang Chengqi naturally leaned in to listen: "Who?"

"Captain Tu."

Huang Chengqi was greatly shocked: "How is that possible, who did you hear that from..."

He had just raised his head when, caught off guard, his heart turned cold —

Yu An drew a dagger from his sleeve and pierced straight through his heart.

Huang Chengqi wanted to cry out, but couldn't make a sound.

Only then did Yu An lean close to his ear and whisper, "My Lord Huang, I'm sorry! You refused to surrender, so Guo Bai Yu threatened my whole family's lives. Besides, the Dragon God and the Black Armor Army won't be coming; Mian City can't be held no matter what. Rather than being massacred by Guo Bai Yu, it's better if I lead them to surrender — there'll still be a way to survive."

Huang Chengqi glared at him, his throat made a few gurgling sounds, then he breathed his last.

Yu An then fished out a leather pouch from his sleeve and opened it.

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A gray-black bug crawled out from the bag opening, shaped like a scorpion, but its tail had two long thin needles.

Yu An pointed at County Defender Huang's corpse: "Just died, go in."

The gray bug jumped onto the corpse, shook its whiskers contentedly, and was even steaming; very fresh.

Then it burrowed in through the wound on Huang Chengqi's heart, finally stopping at the Dazhui position.

The miraculous thing was, once it entered, the blood flowing from Huang Chengqi also stopped. The wound quickly grew a layer of soft membrane, preventing the bloody smell from leaking out.

Yu An hurriedly wiped the blood off his own hands, then took out prepared clothing and changed Huang Chengqi into it.

He had just finished these two things when Huang Chengqi raised his head and opened his eyes.

Even though Yu An was mentally prepared, this scene of returning from the dead still made his scalp go numb.

As a dead man, Huang Chengqi's complexion was actually not bad.

Only at close range could one see that his pupils were dilated, slightly lifeless.

"Let's go." Yu An said carefully to Huang Chengqi, "The timing is perfect."

Huang Chengqi stood up, and a dry, hoarse sound came from his throat: "Go."

The two walked out of the government office, and along the way, the bailiffs saluted Magistrate Huang, and two minor clerks came up to make reports, but Magistrate Huang dismissed them: "Tell me later."

"But, but it's important information..."

Huang Chengqi grew impatient, waved his hand to shoo them away: "Tell me later."

The two left the office and hurried toward the city gate.

The worm-demon-controlled Huang Chengqi moved freely without hesitation, no different from a living person.

Upon reaching the city gate tower, the deputy commander of the garrison came over to report: "Captain Tu just came downstairs and is now resting."

"He's too tired; let him rest properly." Huang Chengqi said to him, "You just take me up to inspect."

It's precisely this moment that's the key.

As the county magistrate, he regularly inspects the city gate tower—it's part of his duty. The deputy had no suspicions: "Please, this way."

He also glanced at Yu An, this Haoxian county clerk following closely behind, also climbing up the city gate. But Magistrate Huang kept him behind, and the deputy said nothing.

Inside the city gate tower there is a narrow passage, extremely narrow, only allowing one person to pass at a time; even the fat man couldn't get through.

After checking the two passages and the partition walls, Huang Chengqi said: "Go to the feeding inlet."

So the deputy turned two corners and led them into a granary. Each section of the passage ends in a granary used for storing supplies. Here two soldiers stood guard on either side of a beast-head wall carving.