Chapter 700: Golden Juice Doused on the Face, the Desperate Plot; Gecko Tail Severed Survival Path

At three quarters past the Wei hour, the sun was low in the west, yet it was the hottest moment in this north‑western land.

Below Licheng, even the air visibly warped under the searing heat, and the distant Huangtu slopes seemed to sway as if in a pot of oil.

Yet at this moment, more suffocating than the scorching heat was the murderous aura of desperation that had reached its limit beneath the city.

"Charge forward! Everyone, charge forward for me!"

"Anyone who dares step back will face Execution by Beheading! Think of your wives and children back home!"

Behind the Qi army camp, thousands of overseer squads clad in bright armor and wielding ghost‑headed Great Swords formed a copper‑wall of iron, snarling ferociously.

Under the glare of their shining slaughter knives, the three thousand Vanguard Camp soldiers that Ku Di Gan had selected as "discarded ones" let out wails as mournful as beasts on the brink of death.

They knew they had been abandoned.

Behind them were comrades' swords; ahead loomed an insurmountable fortified city.

"Kill—!"

"For survival! Give it all!"

The three thousand went completely mad. They tossed aside their heavy Shields, even their helmets, just to run a little faster.

They had no formation, no cover, like a horde of driven zombies, bearing crude ladders, pushing squeaking assault carts, under a dense rain of arrows from the city walls, launching a desperate charge.

There was not even a hint of tactics; it was simply using lives to fill the moat and corpses to pile up the walls.

Above Licheng's city tower.

Wei Shaokuan, over fifty, Senior Pillar and Duke of Yun, clad in armor weighing dozens of jin, hand on the parapet, like a stone statue that has stood here for a thousand years.

In his weather‑worn eyes reflected the enemy troops scrambling below like a swarm of ants, yet his expression showed no ripple, only a chilling indifference that made the heart race.

"Grand General, the enemy has already mounted the ladders! The assault carts are about to smash the gates!" the deputy shouted anxiously, wiping hot sweat from his face.

Wei Shaokuan narrowed his eyes slightly, a cruel curve lifting his mouth, and gently raised his right hand clad in iron gauntlets.

"Since they're here, let them have a hot drink."

Wei Shaokuan's voice was hoarse and flat, as if inviting guests for tea, "Send the order, pour the Golden Juice."

With that command, behind the city wall, hundreds of Great Zhou garrison troops, in pairs, lifted massive iron pots still boiling and spewing thick yellow smoke.

What boiled in the pots was not meat broth, but the repulsive "Golden Juice".

It was a mixture of the city's collected excrement, the deadly Wolf Poison Vine Juice, and boiling Blazing Oil, cooked to a rolling boil in this sweltering weather.

"Pour!"

A bellow.

Wha—!

Hundreds of iron pots tipped over simultaneously.

The scalding, viscous Golden Juice fell like a yellow waterfall, streaming through the ladders and wall gaps with a grimacing grin of death, pouring down headlong.

"Ah—!!!"

"It's burning me to death! Ah—!"

In that instant, the ground beneath Licheng seemed to become the most brutal oil‑pot hell of the eighteen layers of the underworld.

The wails even drowned out the rumbling war drums, soaring into the heavens.

Such carnage defied description.

The scalding oil and waste instantly seared through the seams of Leather Armor, pouring directly onto flesh.

A sizzle rang out as skin and flesh were instantly cooked and rotted, emitting plumes of white smoke.

Some were doused over the head; their faces instantly turned into a blood‑soaked mess, eyes burned blind, writhing in agony on the ground, clawing at their own faces until they choked out.

A blend of cooked meat, charred flavor, and a nauseating stench spread instantly beneath the walls, making the defenders atop the city gag.

Yet it was not over.

Wei Shaokuan showed no mercy, and immediately waved again: "Fire Arrows, fire."

Hundreds of Fire Arrows shot into the piled crowd and ladders.

The Golden Juice laced with Blazing Oil ignited instantly, the flames roaring, devouring the wounded rolling on the ground.

This is no siege; it is plainly a one‑sided slaughter.

At this moment, Dou Luling, the Lingzhou Chief Historian standing beside Wei Shaokuan to aid the defense, watched the infernal scene, his brows furrowing tighter.

He came from a noble military family and was a meticulous thinker.

"Grand General, something's wrong."

Dou Luling pointed at the enemy troops struggling in the sea of fire below, his tone laced with deep doubt: "Look at these men; their assault is fierce, as if they have no regard for life. Yet most of their armor is tattered, and many are still wrapped in blood‑soaked bandages."

"And… after fighting this long, we see no elite of the Qi army? If Ku Di Gan is desperate, why send only these weak soldiers and wounded to die?"

Wei Shaokuan heard this, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.

He slowly turned, raised his Horse Whip, and pointed eastward several li away at the Qi army camp that had once been a sea of banners.

"Chief Historian Dou, look over there!"

Dou Luling followed the direction of the whip.

The Qi army camp still displayed fluttering banners and the war drums kept beating, but at the far rear of the camp, behind the rolling hills, a massive column of yellow smoke rose like a colossal dragon rolling northward.

The smoke obscured the sky, even more spectacular than the battlefield before them.

"That is…" Dou Luling's pupils snapped shut, then he shouted hoarsely, "It's the dust raised by a marching army! They're retreating?!"

"Indeed."

Wei Shaokuan snorted coldly, his voice laced with insight and ruthlessness: "Ku Di Gan is playing the 'Gecko Tail Severed' trick. The three thousand he left here are merely bait to confuse us, a dead piece he sacrificed so his main force of over forty‑thousand could escape."

"He knows that once the whole army retreats, our forces will inevitably chase out of the city. So he deliberately sent these three thousand to charge like mad dogs, not only to hold us back but also to create the illusion of a continued decisive battle."

His words awakened the dreamer.

Dou Luling felt a surge of hot blood, his eyes instantly blazing with fervor.

"Grand General! Since it's a lure, that means they're scared! It shows they really intend to flee!"

Dou Luling slammed a wall turret, his voice trembling with excitement: "Opportunity never comes twice! Grand General, issue the order to open the city gate at once! I am willing to lead two thousand elite cavalry, bypass these cannon fodder, and strike straight into the rear of the Qi army!"

"Ku Di Gan's main force is withdrawing now, so their morale is shaky and their formation scattered. If we thrust in like a spear, we can shred them to pieces! That's the collapse of a forty‑thousand‑strong army! Such earth‑shattering feats are within easy reach!"

Several subordinate generals nearby heard this and, eyes reddened, each clasped their fists and begged for battle.

"Grand General! Dou Luling, the chief historian, is right! The Qi dogs slaughter our people and destroy our fields; we cannot let them escape like this!"

"Grand General, issue the order! Subordinate General volunteers to be the vanguard!"

The lure of glory, combined with the frustration of being besieged for days, made everyone eager to rush out and slaughter everything.

Yet, faced with the generals' boiling emotions, Wei Shaokuan remained unusually calm, even cold‑hearted to the point of inhumanity.

He slowly withdrew his gaze, not even glancing at the eager commanders, but staring at the burning corpses below the city, and uttered a command that chilled everyone like a plunge into an ice cave.

"Relay the order to the entire army."

"Hold the city firmly and reinforce the defenses..."

"No soldier may go into battle!"

Wei Shaokuan snapped his head around, his murky old eyes flashing murderous intent like a drawn sword sweeping the crowd: "Disobey, and be beheaded!"

Dou Luling was stunned, his face full of disbelief: "Grand General! Why? This is a once‑in‑a‑thousand‑years opportunity…"

"Silence!" Wei Shaokuan barked sharply, cutting off Dou Luling's words.

He gave no immediate explanation, merely turned his back to the crowd and stared at the swirling yellow sand and smoke.

"Dou Luling, you only see the glory of battle, but you ignore the danger behind it..."