Chapter 281

I don't know how many Xiongnu are in Wise Peace City, nor whether the Xiongnu main force is still on Great Jin territory; since they occupied those two prefectures, news has been cut off. I don't know how many civilians are still alive inside. But I have confidence in the invincible You Prefecture cavalry! What I want to say is that this western expedition is harder than the previous two; we will spare no effort in this fight!

I hereby promise that whoever beheads the Xiongnu chief commander, the Left Virtuous King, will be ennobled as a marquis!

The army immediately became excited, warhorses neighed, and soldiers cheered.

Kill!

Kill!

Kill!

The King sat high on his horse, raised the Sun‑shooting Bow, and shouted, "Attack the city!"

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On a hot summer day, the warhorses' barding and some fittings were packed and hung on the horses' saddlebags; as the cavalry moved, they began circling the horses to don their gear, while on the opposite wall, observers craned their necks to watch.

What are they doing?

Why not just take a nap?!

Here, the horses' armor wasn't fully on yet; the helmets, face guards, and rations that had been hanging as counterweights on the other side were also taken down, and they began to equip themselves piece by piece.

This unit's supply train hadn't caught up, so the cavalry relied only on what they carried—short‑term rations and equipment. Now, for a proper siege, they calmly unloaded the unfinished rations from their horses and then meticulously outfitted themselves with all their gear.

According to the plan, these rations would last three days; now they've all been unloaded outside the city. If all goes well, they can simply turn back and fetch them later; otherwise… the rations would be useless.

The cavalry mounted and began moving toward the gate; only then did Qiu Linyu realize things weren't that simple.

This cavalry's aura……is not right!

Before he could think further, when they reached the optimal range of the Sun‑shooting Bow, Xiao Zao halted.

The King raised the Sun‑shooting Bow and shouted, "Attack the city!"

Having shouted, he first loosed three arrows in succession at the gate of Ruian City; the thick wood‑and‑iron gate instantly gained three huge holes!

From within the gate came the cries of the Xiongnu.

The cavalry still made a rapid march this time, bringing no siege ladders or other heavy gear; they still had to go through the main gate.

With those three arrows, the King had created a breach—perfect for chopping!

But today was far more than that; their rear supply corps had brought fire‑powder crossbows, and the King secretly decided that if the siege went poorly he would wait for the supply corps to catch up and attack then—he would not resort to filling the breach with lives, since we do have the means!

Just now, Qiu Linyu saw a child far ahead on the battlefield raising a bow, and he was still laughing about it!

Whose little lord is this, with such a wild idea?

The nearby clerk promptly reminded him, "Judging by his build, he must be the You King."

Qiu Linyu glared at him and retorted, "The You King is a child?"

……"He's only ten years old."

Qiu Linyu burst out a string of curses—what, are we playing house here?

He hadn't finished swearing when he heard the Xiongnu's cries from within the walls—the gate had been blown open with three huge holes!

Qiu Linyu took a look and then burst out again: "……Today this brat opened the gate; we might as well not go home—let's all hang ourselves here!"

At that moment, the sound of hooves and shouts of killing came from outside, and that brat launched the attack just as simply and brutally!

He climbed the wall again, directing the archers to fire, first at the great banner and the You King.

Then he noticed the King hadn't moved, while the white fluffy creature beside him had sat down; only the sword‑and‑shield troops on both sides were still pressing forward through the arrow storm, and only they needed to get past to break the gate.

"What is that white thing?"

……"I—I don't know! From afar I thought it was a white horse, but it's actually a whole lot bigger than a horse!"

They were speaking on the wall, far away, and with the battlefield full of killing shouts, Bai Ze ought not to be able to hear them.

But when Qiu Linyu and that traitorous clerk mentioned it, the creature's pair of deep‑purple eyes instantly locked onto them; Qiu Linyu felt it might be a coincidence, and besides, he couldn't see clearly from that distance.

The next instant, he saw the white fluffy beast lift a paw and point accurately at his position!

The King's Sun‑shooting Bow in his hand instantly swiveled to aim at his hiding spot on the battlements, and in the next instant a golden‑flashing arrow shot straight at his face!

How can there be such a fast arrow!

"This little brat!"

He dropped into a crouch at once, and almost simultaneously, the battlement where he had been hiding was shattered by a single arrow!

Qiu Linyu's heart jumped—this You King—he's not quite right!

What the hell kind of kid is this!

He finally began to feel tense, realizing the opponent meant no good.

They didn't give him much time to be shocked; the soldiers below reported that the gate probably couldn't hold much longer!

Those shield‑bearers, whose knives were also extremely sharp, launched a fierce hack at the breach the King had blown open, and the wooden gate looked ready to give way.

"Archers! Shoot arrows!"

"We've shot them……"

The archers certainly weren't slacking now; their arrows were merely the iron arrowheads commonly used by the Xiongnu. Given their metallurgical technology and the rarity of iron among the Xiongnu, such iron points, even if not blocked by a shield, could not pierce the King's armor, and they were certainly not divine archers capable of hitting a person's neck joint or eye in one shot.

They fired plenty of arrows, yet not a single one slowed the Youzhou cavalry's charge.

At this point, the arrows being consumed by the forward rush were those of the shielded sword‑and‑shield troops; the unshielded ones were still hanging back, watching.

That place is outside the Xianbei archers' range.

The King also hadn't moved; he was scanning the entire wall for the leader Bai Ze had just mentioned, but that creature was a timid turtle that had withdrawn its head and never showed it again.

"Zhou Ke, after it's over, don't forget to help the king retrieve the arrows; I lost one when attacking the Eastern Xianbei." Very expensive!

"Yes!"

Wei Shen: ……

You don't look like someone who has two mines at all???

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Qiu Linyi is about to blow his top; these sword-and-shield troops who came to chop the gate aren't even mounted, they've wasted a heap of arrows, and the enemy seems unscathed?

Shouldn't this density have turned them into a hedgehog from arrow fire?

He grabbed the neck of that little clerk who looked like he wanted to run because the situation was bad, shouting, "Speak! What's going on?! Why aren't they afraid of arrows!!!"

"Who knows! I, I'm also seeing this for the first time!"

"What the hell do you know?!"

……

"Not good, General! The gate won't hold!"

Qiu Linyi grit his teeth fiercely, "Don't panic, follow this general and charge out! Though I don't know... a child who doesn't know how formidable the Xiongnu cavalry are!" The Xiongnu iron cavalry have fought all the way to Chang'an; can a petty lord of a remote fief really match them in battle?

Qiu Linyi still made the same mistake as with the Eastern Xianbei's Wan Niu; he should have turned and fled at the first sign something was off.

Stupid.

This is the king's evaluation of him.

Knowing there's a problem, yet he insists on going ahead with false confidence!

And the king just likes to meet force with force; the advantage is his.

Qiu Linyi gave up the chance to shoot down the Youzhou cavalry from the city wall, he went down, mounted up, and led the Xiongnu cavalry inside the city to meet the enemy, bringing the situation to the stage the king likes.

The sword-and-shield troops, upon entering, immediately turned back to fight, heading for the archers on the wall, while the king raised his wolf-tooth lance, the signal to charge.

Even Zhetian knew it was time to act; it left the horse's back, rose into the air, flew slyly to a height beyond arrow range, and began observing the situation below.

At this moment, Qiu Linyi felt utterly humiliated; he saw the king, a small kid lacking stature, truly spur his horse and charge after the cavalry, and he broke his defense.

Regardless of warhorses or cavalry, the opposing side looked far superior to him.

He firmly believed it was just for show, merely flashy on the surface.

He had now forgotten his earlier dream of keeping the king to exchange for silver, and he fiercely raised his longsword, declaring, "This general will take your head today!"

He burst out laughing, "……The Xue Lin who shook the Yumen Pass is dead by my hand! He's the biggest figure I've killed so far as a general, but that'll change from today onward! Is the lord of the Bai Li family? Your head is mine!"

The king remained relatively calm upon hearing it, but his entourage got increasingly worked up.

Wei Shen gripped his saber tightly: "Leave him to me!" Today I'll chop this barbarian into two or three pieces to avenge the Great General of the West!

The king's personal guards were all eager to have a go, the one with such a sharp tongue is still hanging from the walls of Youzhou!

The king waved his hand, telling them to settle down and not be restless.

"I still don't know who you are; could you please state your name first?"

Qiu Linyi gave a cold laugh, "Even if you go down and ask the Great General of the West, it'll be the same!" Having said that, he spurred his horse forward first.

The king sighed, "Negotiations have broken down!"

Wei Shen spurred his horse to meet Qiu Linyi; the king didn't intervene, only gave Ling Yin a glance to have him keep an eye out—his cousin should also get some practice, since the Great General of the West is someone he admires, giving him this chance to try out is quite good.

Wei Shen is only four or five years older than the king, and compared to adult Xiongnu warriors, he looks even more like a slender youth.

Fortunately, he has shot up in height; his stature is sufficient, though he appears only half as broad as others.

He still uses the saber the king gave him, made of top-grade materials, far stronger than the opponent's showy but hollow blade.

In terms of weaponry he outclasses them; after training his body with the Owl Cavalry for so long, his strength also outclasses theirs; even the battlefield killing techniques taught by Ling Yin and the king's military NPCs are what he excels at in moves and tactics; the only thing Wei Shen lacks compared to his opponent is battlefield combat experience.

His opponent, however, has been in the army for twenty years, older than him in age.

Qiu Linyi quickly realized this fact as well; he had thought he could finish off Wei Shen in two moves and then deal with the Youwang. As it turned out, that scrawny kid's first strike carried a ferocity mismatched with his age! Looking at his armor, different from the soldiers beside him, it was clear his status was not ordinary.

As they fought, he discovered that though the skinny lad looked thin, his strength was immense, his moves tight as a drum, leaving no opening to exploit, not even a sliver of advantage.

How could this be possible?

He's still just a greenhorn!

"Could it be that you're actually the Youwang?" Qiu Linyi was the first to speak up, interrupting.

Wei Shen sneered: "I am Wei Shen of Changzhou, son of a noble! Unlike you lot of rats who dare not give your full name! When you go down, don't forget to tell the Great General of the West that it was his next-door neighbor who helped him get revenge!" Moving his mouth didn't hinder his action; he used the top-grade armor the king gave him to bluntly block Qiu Linyi's strike, and the moment the opponent thought his blow had landed, in the next instant his saber sliced off the opponent's head!

One strike, dead!

Head and body separated!

Just say how strong he is, how full of hatred!

"Cousin, mighty!" the king shouted at the top of his lungs!

The king was surrounded by several personal guards, hadn't even gotten a chance to act, and was just watching the battle from nearby.

Beautiful!

Wei Shen saw that his opponent initiated a move a beat slower; in fact it was a deliberate opening, the enemy thought he would surely block, but seeing the opponent had no reaction, Qiu Linyi felt a flicker of joy, thinking his words had distracted him.

Too bad his joy didn't come faster than Wei Shen's saber; his head hit the ground, that delight forever frozen on his face.

The king shouted from the side, "Huh? Is that the highest commander here? Don't let the horse step on his head, I have use for him!"

The anger of the surrounding Fierce Slave People surged; the Great King immediately sprang into action, brandishing his wolf-tooth spear with tiger-like vigor.

The Fierce Slave People also got an eye-opener today; the Great King's build is just that of a child, and it's the first time they've seen a child wield such a heavy weapon.

Anyone swept by the wolf-tooth spear is at most lightly knocked off their horse.

Being struck by that thing feels as if one's internal organs have been shifted.

The Fierce Slave People cavalry lack that kind of armor the enemy has; being hit by it is unpleasant beyond description. If unlucky enough to be struck in the head, it's truly unfortunate—usually they die on the spot.

The battle settled into the Great King's favorite rhythm again; there were only four or five thousand Fierce Slave People in Auspicious Peace City, and the fighting ended faster than they expected.

The cavalry quickly swept through the entire city again, sealing the property of the Fierce Slave People's garrisoned government offices. Valuable items such as antiques and jewelry were taken by the Great King, so he didn't need to spend money to test people's hearts. The remaining silver was tallied, recorded, and handed over to the officials from You Prefecture who came to take over, for use in the subsequent reconstruction of Auspicious Peace City.

The Great King of Hillforest Town said he wanted the heads, and so he had them collected, processed, and sent to Long Peace, with instructions to place them before the spirit of the General Who Pacifies the West.

Of course, there was also no lack of the intention to disgust Baili Jin.

Xue Lin was a native of Long Peace; in life he at least held the rank of Grand General. After the ceasefire, his corpse was transported back to Long Peace for burial. The Great King had heard of this before, and only now realized he could do the same.

Wei Shen was overjoyed—he had taken revenge for his idol!

His smug expression succeeded in earning him a white eye from White Marsh.

The Great King and White Marsh had developed such tacit understanding that he instantly grasped White Marsh's meaning.

"One-for-one at the limit—it's not that you won, it's that my armor won. Without this armor you'd already have lost half your shoulder, weak!"

Wei Shen's smile instantly faded: "Alright, I admit I'm relying on the armor's quality. Without this armor I wouldn't fight like this either—I'm not stupid!"

The Great King gave him a doubtful look, "Really?" Obviously disbelieving.

That infuriated him no end; Wei Shen gritted his teeth, "Wei Taiping!" That guy's a real buzzkill, pouring cold water on someone's happiest moment.

"I am now Baili Jing—watch your words! I think your skills are lacking; you still need to train!"

Wei Shen also knew he still needed tempering, he straightened his expression: "I won't slack off—rest assured."

Hearing those words, the Great King finally let him go.