Chapter 1105

Hu Xiaotian led two hundred elite warriors lying in ambush on both sides of the inevitable path to the burning grass field, and not long after he saw a five-hundred-strong troop rushing over; when the troop passed, Hu Xiaotian waved his hand forcefully, and the two hundred warriors simultaneously pulled the crossbow triggers, dense bolts shooting toward the road's center. The Yong garrison at East Luo Storehouse never imagined enemies had already infiltrated their interior; in a moment they panicked, and out of the five hundred, half were struck by hidden arrows, the scene filled with continual wails and cries.

Hu Xiaotian drew the great sword Hidden Edge Sword and, like a tiger leaping from its cage, was the first to charge forward; he swung a sword, although this swing did not successfully emit sword qi, its great force and weight smashed onto the head of a Yong soldier, and how powerful Hu Xiaotian's sword was: it directly shattered the opponent's helmet and split the skull inside into two halves. The two hundred warriors who shared the ambush mission with Hu Xiaotian were all elite picks from the Yong River navy, each a match for ten, surpassing ordinary courage; moreover, each of them clearly understood their situation: if they could not take East Luo Storehouse in the shortest time, they would have only death, and with their backs to the water, each unleashed their full potential, and their combat power exploded to its peak.

Hu Xiaotian led from the front, every strike landed, and with the sword qi he occasionally unleashed, it was as if a god of slaughter had been reborn; a group of Yong soldiers were struck with terror by their killings, over half already dead on the spot, and the remaining dozens, seeing the situation turn bad, panicked and fled with the wind, shouting: "The Kang army is attacking the city! The Kang army is attacking the city!"

Liang Yinghao led that hundred-strong squad and had already successfully ignited the two other predetermined fire points; in an instant, thick smoke rolled and flames shot up inside East Luo Storehouse, and the places they chose for arson were not the main granary of East Luo Storehouse, because today their goal was to seize the city and seize the grain, not to burn down East Luo Storehouse, as grain and fodder were especially important for them to gain a foothold on the Yong River; they would never do such a self-harming, pointless act.

At the same time, Zhan Peng led the remaining seven hundred men in a simultaneous attack on the seven arrow towers; this side also saw the fiercest fighting, for the arrow towers' special position made them easy to defend but hard to attack, each tower garrisoned with four archers who held the high ground and occupied the advantage of terrain; as soon as they realized they were under attack, they launched a counterattack, and in a short time over a hundred men fell beneath their arrows.

Zhan Peng's top-tier archery played a key role in the operation to seize the arrow towers; after suffering heavy casualties of one hundred and ten men, they finally succeeded in controlling six of the arrow towers, and after occupying an arrow tower they would light a torch on it.

Hu Xiaotian looked at the torches on the arrow towers and knew that six had already been taken by them; one arrow tower still held out in desperate resistance, and at this moment Liang Yinghao led a hundred men to join Hu Xiaotian's force; their losses here were not great, with only thirteen dead and six lightly wounded. Hu Xiaotian said: "I will go take that arrow tower; you take control of the western gate, raise the drawbridge, and cut off the retreat of Chang Fanqi and his three thousand troops."

Without waiting for Liang Yinghao to stop him, Hu Xiaotian leapt into the air and vanished into the night in an instant.

The arrow tower at the northwest corner gathered six archers; they aimed and fired densely downward, continually repelling the Yong troops that came to assault, and more than thirty Yong corpses already lay at the tower's base. The six archers defending the tower had realized that aside from them, the other six arrow towers had been completely lost, and now those six towers, under Zhan Peng's command, were shooting down the defending Da Yong soldiers on the walls, and the situation on the battlements was already lost.

These six archers had resolved to die together with the city, when suddenly they saw a white figure rising from the wall, as if riding clouds and mist, clinging to the tower's high wall and swiftly climbing to the top.

The six archers panicked, nocked arrows and aimed at the white-clad person, who was Hu Xiaotian; he used the Art of Soaring to fly onto the wall, then used the Golden Spider Eight Steps to climb the tower, one hand gripping a crack in the tower's stone bricks, the other waving the Hidden Edge Sword, and knocked all the arrows aimed at him aside.

In an instant he was already on the tower; a panicked archer discarded his bow, seized a spear and thrust it at Hu Xiaotian's head; Hu Xiaotian drove the Hidden Edge Sword hard into a diamond crevice of the tower, his right hand bearing his full weight, he turned his body, his left hand firmly grasped the spear, gave a strong pull, and dragged the man's whole body out of the tower, then dropped the spear; the archer screamed as he fell from the tower, crashed heavily onto the wall, breaking bones and tendons, and died.

Hu Xiaotian seized this rare opportunity, already leaping into the tower; an archer at close range shot at his face, Hu Xiaotian tilted his head, and the Hidden Edge Sword swept out horizontally, cutting off the man's head at the neck; once melee began, these archers had already lost their advantage, and Hu Xiaotian, like chopping vegetables, cut down several archers; he threw their corpses out of the tower and then lit the torch.

On the wall rose a chorus of cheers, for the remaining soldiers saw Hu Xiaotian leading from the front, successfully capturing the last arrow tower, could not restrain their inner excitement, and broke out in loud applause.

Liang Yinghao led a hundred brothers to the western gate; since the seven arrow towers were all under their control, the Yong troops originally tasked with guarding the gate had mostly been shot dead on the spot, and Liang Yinghao's group needed little effort to seize East Luo Storehouse's western gate. He ordered the drawbridge raised; since Chang Fanqi had led his three thousand men away, the Yong forces had not timely raised the drawbridge, preparing to welcome Chang Fanqi's triumphant return, and no one had expected the Kang army to burst forth from underground and, with lightning speed, seize their East Luo Storehouse.

After Hu Xiaotian and Zhan Peng met, they counted heads: they had lost a total of 160 dead and wounded, leaving 840 men; they assigned 640 to hold the walls and arrow towers, while Hu Xiaotian personally led 200 into the city to hunt down the remaining Yong troops.

Chang Fanqi had just led his three thousand troops into the hills when he noticed the surrounding mountains and forests ablaze; Chang Fanqi flew into a rage, looking ahead at the three catapults already set alight, knowing the enemy's intention was merely to distract his attention, and the enemy forces had already withdrawn before his own unit arrived.

Chang Fanqi secretly thought "not good", turned and saw that the direction of East Luo Storehouse was already blazing with fierce fire, his heart shocked, he realized he had fallen for a "lure the tiger away from the mountain" ploy, and in panic he led his three thousand men rushing toward East Luo Storehouse.

Zhu Ba's two thousand Beggar Sect disciples left via the rear mountains, took a southeastern detour, and circuitously approached the eastern gate of East Luo Storehouse; they almost arrived at East Luo Storehouse together with Chang Fanqi's troops, except they chose the eastern gate while Chang Fanqi's party chose the nearest western gate.

Chang Fanqi's back-and-forth rushes had exhausted his three thousand soldiers to the point of utter fatigue; when they reached the western gate of East Luo Storehouse, they only then discovered the drawbridge hoisted high, a large banner flying above the gate, a black 'Kang' character embroidered on a gold-yellow field, which made Chang Fanqi shout "wah yah yah" in anger, he raised his eighteen-foot serpent spear and roared: "Bold villains, listen to me—I am Chang Fanqi, the defender of East Luo Storehouse! You treacherous petty men, who plotted to seize the city, dare you face me openly in battle?"

Zhan Peng and Hu Xiaotian stood side by side on the city tower, seeing Chang Fanqi's face flush with rage from embarrassment, both laughed at once. Hu Xiaotian shouted: "Chang Fanqi! Do you have any brains? A defeated general, how dare you speak of courage? You lost East Luo Storehouse; returning means only a dead end. I advise you to surrender to me, turn from darkness to light, and at least you can save your life."

"Nonsense! Hu Xiaotian, if I manage to catch you, I will surely cut you into ten thousand pieces, gnaw your flesh, drink your blood, only then will my hatred be appeased!"

Zhan Peng took down his long bow from behind, nocked an arrow, aimed at Chang Fanqi, and released it with a "whoosh!".

The feathered arrow tore through the air with a sharp whistling, the airflow from its swift flight causing the drifting snow to scatter; Chang Fanqi saw the incoming arrow, his eighteen-foot serpent spear in hand stirred in the air, struck the arrow squarely, deflecting this full-speed arrow aimed at him to one side, and the arrow, having lost its direction, slanted into the snow.

No sooner said than done, Zhan Peng's second arrow was already loosed; this time he aimed not at Chang Fanqi but at his deputy commander, who lacked Chang Fanqi's skill; seeing the arrow approach, there was no escape, and with a "puff!" the arrow pierced his throat, the tip emerging from the nape of his neck; the deputy commander flung himself backwards from his horse and collapsed in the snow, obviously dead.

Chang Fanqi sucked in a breath of cold air, the enemy's archery skill truly chilling to the heart; seeing the deputy commander killed by arrows, the troops behind him were frightened and retreated several steps, leaving only Chang Fanqi still standing defiantly before the gate; he turned to look left and right, then shouted angrily: "Rubbish! They're all just a bunch of cowardly wretches!"

Although he cursed those soldiers with his mouth, in his heart he understood that East Luo Storehouse had been taken over in a confused manner, and with only their three thousand soldiers they could not hope to break through its sturdy gate, especially since they lacked sharp siege equipment; if they resorted to a frontal assault, they would likely suffer as many deaths as they inflicted.

Hu Xiaotian had not spoken wrong when he said that losing East Luo Storehouse meant a dead end upon return; now the only plan seemed to be a forced attack, and for a moment Chang Fanqi found himself torn, possessing martial skill yet able only to gaze at the city and sigh.

Inside and outside the walls it was a world of ice and fire, the two sides' moods differing greatly; the Yong troops within the city, seeing the situation lost, many willingly laid down their arms and surrendered, and they had captured twelve hundred prisoners; at the second watch, Zhu Ba's two thousand Beggar Sect disciples entered the city through East Luo Storehouse's eastern gate, bringing their garrison there up to nearly three thousand.

Liang Yinghao pressed a Yong officer before Hu Xiaotian; this officer was Jiang Yunfu, commander of the North Storehouse of East Luo Storehouse, also a greedy, cowardly sort, trembling all over like chaff in a sieve, and Liang Yinghao kicked him in the buttocks, saying: "Speak up, what do you have to say!"

Jiang Yunfu fell to his knees with a thud before Hu Xiaotian and said: "Sir Hu, I am Jiang Yunfu, commander of the North Storehouse of East Luo Storehouse; I wish to turn from darkness to light, from now on follow you, and I beg you to spare my life."

Hu Xiaotian sneered: "Turning from darkness to light is good, but you must show some sincerity, otherwise how can I trust you?"

Jiang Yunfu said: "Sir, as long as we capture Chang Fanqi's old mother still inside East Luo Storehouse, we need not worry that he will not obey!"

Hu Xiaotian's heart gave a start, a faint cold smile curled his lips as he silently cursed Jiang Yunfu's baseness, for preserving himself he had even thought up such a trick; he nodded and said: "You lead the way, bring Chang's old lady over." He also told Liang Yinghao: "Do not be rude to the old lady."

"Yes!"

Two chapters delivered, please support with monthly tickets! (To be continued~^~)