Chapter 70: The Great Wind Army Returns to the City

No one responded beside him. Zeng Feixiong turned his head to look—where did the person go?

He Lingchuan had vanished.

Zeng Feixiong felt his scalp tingle. Under the Young Master's lead, their side was opposing a Heavenly God. With the Black Flood Dragon clearly on its last legs, did he think the Heavenly God would turn around and vent his fury on them?

He definitely would; he absolutely would.

He had never heard of any god with a good temper.

Could the Young Master have fled the battle? Fortunately, Mao Tao said in time, "The Young Master jumped down from the city wall. He wants me to tell Commander Zeng that if the Black Flood Dragon is about to be frozen, fire the cannons at it!"

Fire the cannons? Zeng Feixiong felt a jolt, and his entire body felt clear.

That’s right! The Heavenly God possessing Nian Songyu wanted to freeze the Black Flood Dragon to avoid repeated fighting. If they fired the cannons to strike the Black Flood Dragon and help it regenerate, wouldn't that work?

There was no time to lose. He turned around and shouted, "Brothers, set up the cannons and crossbows, load the largest shells, and finish them off!"

The Heishui City army asked, "Finish which ones?"

"The dragon and the man together." Zeng Feixiong slapped his subordinate on the head. "If you don't want to die, hurry up!"

Everyone scrambled to obey.

A pile of cannon shells and several explosive crossbow bolts appeared out of thin air on the city gate. Just looking at the amount of gunpowder on the arrowheads, one knew these were no mere showpieces.

Clearly, the Great Square Pot also approved of their approach.

Now that the Black Flood Dragon was barely moving and Nian Songyu had to keep chanting, it was the easiest target imaginable.

Two nail-shells and a crossbow cart had just been loaded when two soldiers suddenly screamed, clutched their chests, and fell off the city wall. Zeng Feixiong was startled and leaned over to look, only to see Sun Fupei slowly lowering his magic staff.

Despite being in a wretched state, his gaze remained sinister.

That was right; how could they have forgotten the State Preceptor? How dared they forget the State Preceptor? Zeng Feixiong had no intention of wearing him down, so he ducked his head and said, "Fire! Quickly, quickly!"

After a few thunderous roars, the half-frozen Black Flood Dragon shattered into pieces. The explosive crossbow bolts performed a great service; they pierced into the ice before detonating, exploding even more viciously than the cannon shells.

Nian Songyu was also struck, but the nail-shells could not pierce his barrier and only pushed him back several yards.

The look this man cast upward made the Heishui City army even more terrified; it clearly meant: "Just you wait."

The reason he did not act immediately was that the sound of hooves suddenly came from outside the city gate, rushing toward them like a fierce storm.

Everyone ran to the other side of the battlements to peer out and was shocked: a vast army, surging like a tide, with chilling killing intent and disciplined ranks. Their banners fluttered in the wind, and a large character "Zhong" was visible—it was the Great Wind Army returning to the city.

This was their home turf. The Great Wind Army’s speed was more than twice as fast as it was in the outside world. Almost as soon as the sound of hooves began, the army flowed into the city like water.

There was no challenge, no response. The leading generals waved their spear tips, and hundreds of cavalrymen spurred their horses to accelerate, launching a charge at Nian Songyu.

Perhaps the laws within the illusion were far freer than in the outside world; these hundreds of cavalrymen split into groups on their own and actually began to overlap with one another.

The people on the city wall thought their eyes were playing tricks on them and seeing double, but when they rubbed their eyes and looked again, the hundreds of cavalrymen had merged into five riders.

Each of these riders was clad in heavy armor, their eyes glowing red; they no longer looked human. In particular, the riders and their warhorses had more than doubled in size. Riding the horses was like riding giant elephants, and the tips of their spears and halberds flashed with dark light.

Their method of attack was also simple and unadorned; relying on their immense strength and sturdy horses, they raised their weapons and charged straight at Nian Songyu.

Every thrust was filled with ferocious power, making everyone on the wall feel a chill down their backs.

Could they dodge an attack like that? Nian Songyu did not dodge; he met them head-on with his blade.

Just at this moment, an exceptionally familiar voice suddenly rang out from outside the city: "Chuan'er!"

"Chuan'er" was not on the city wall, but Zeng Feixiong heard it. He turned around, pleasantly surprised, and said, "It’s the Lord Prefect!"

Everyone leaned against the battlements to look down; He Chunhua was actually standing under the second southern gate!

The current Panlong City had three layers of gates. Nian Songyu and the Black Flood Dragon were fighting inside the city, while Prefect He appeared inside the outer second gate, separated from the battlefield by a barbican, making it relatively safe.

He had over a dozen personal guards with him, all waving to their colleagues on the city wall.

Everyone was overjoyed and grabbed rope ladders to throw down for them to climb up.

As soon as He Chunhua climbed up, Zeng Feixiong rushed over to salute: "My lord, are you unharmed? We heard about State Preceptor Sun’s schemes!"

"I’m not dead." He Chunhua looked left and right, his expression anxious. "Where is Chuan'er?"

"The Young Master jumped off the city wall, saying he had things to attend to." Zeng Feixiong pointed toward the south of the city.

He Chunhua let out a long sigh of relief: "That’s good." His son was not dead, and from the sound of it, he was fine too; that was good.

"How did you escape? Why are there only these few people left?" Zeng Feixiong still did not understand. "And what about this Great Wind Army?"

"It’s a long story. After entering the pool, dozens of people went missing and haven't come to rendezvous yet." He Chunhua observed the battle, frowning for a moment. "Is Nian Songyu really this powerful?"

Facing the reinforced Great Wind Army, Nian Songyu’s displayed strength was far too formidable, greatly exceeding his expectations. With such talent, why hadn't the Royal Court sent him to Woling Pass to fight the rebels? "That’s not Nian Songyu anymore!" Zeng Feixiong hurriedly explained to him. "State Preceptor Sun invited a Heavenly God to descend, possessing Commandant Nian, which is why his divine power has surged. So now it is a Heavenly God fighting the Black Flood Dragon; none of us can intervene."

Mao Tao squeezed over to add: "That Heavenly God first wanted to possess the Young Master, but it didn't succeed, so he chose Nian Songyu instead!"

He Chunhua’s expression changed drastically: "What? There is such a thing! Where is Sun Fupei?"

"Right over there—" Zeng Feixiong pointed to the ruins below, then let out an "Eh." "He was just there a moment ago."

The ruins were empty; State Preceptor Sun was gone.

Now, blade qi crisscrossed beneath the city, and they were evenly matched, with Nian Songyu even appearing to have the slight upper hand. If the humans on the wall jumped down directly, they would likely end up ground into meat paste.

He Chunhua’s expression shifted; he hesitated at first, then gritted his teeth, and finally made up his mind: "Let’s go, we’ll go down from the side!"

￥￥￥￥￥

Half an incense stick of time ago.

The empowered Nian Songyu quickly discovered that these silent cavalrymen were not easy to deal with.

No matter how capable the Heavenly God was, the vessel he possessed was not up to the task, which directly limited the exertion of his power. After taking three attacks head-on, Nian Songyu felt exhausted, the web between his thumb and index finger on his right hand split open, and his hand trembled so much he couldn't lift it.

This was not good. Before the battle had even lasted long, he already felt a long-absent fatigue.

The worst part was that the Black Flood Dragon had regenerated once again.

After being damaged by the explosive crossbow bolts, the Black Flood Dragon’s regeneration speed should have been slower than before, but over ten thousand Great Wind Army soldiers rushed toward it, suddenly turned into red light, and drilled into its wounds one after another.

Nian Songyu’s expression finally changed.

Taking advantage of a moment when he forced the incoming enemies back with a ground-splitting slash, he leaped to Sun Fupei’s side: "Why are you here, but the sacrificial array is opened outside?"

There will be another update later. Barring any other accidents, there will be two updates every day starting from today until the book is officially launched.

Everyone, feel free to keep reading; the following parts are compact and exciting.

(End of chapter)