Chapter 1729

When the West Gate fell into chaotic battle, Yuan Qing Shan was being escorted to prison; at the sound of cannon fire, he knew something had happened. He turned to the four soldiers escorting him and said, "Release me, let me go—something's happened at the West Gate!"

The four soldiers looked at each other, none daring to release him; all four were Su Yuchi's close confidants, always obeying his commands.

Yuan Qing Shan snapped, "What are you hesitating for? Let go!"

At that moment, a figure swooped down from the sky. Before Yuan Qing Shan could see the person's face, the four soldiers escorting him were all knocked to the ground. The person's black iron sword flashed, cutting the ox-tendon rope binding him from behind.

Only then did Yuan Qing Shan see clearly that the person was a young man. He eyed him warily, not understanding why this stranger would come to his rescue; from his appearance, they seemed to have never met before.

The young man said, "Let's make this brief—whether we can avoid a massacre rests on your decision. The West Gate soldiers have mutinied, Su Yuchi has been killed, and if no one steps up to take charge, Yunyang will surely descend into a bloody slaughter."

Yuan Qing Shan said, "Impossible, the general couldn't have come to harm." Although he was dissatisfied with Su Yuchi's actions this time, it didn't mean he rejected Su Yuchi entirely; he had always respected Su Yuchi, and hearing of his death left him shocked yet doubtful.

The young man said, "Whether you believe it or not, if Yunyang's situation continues, it will inevitably spiral out of control. The only plan now is to give the refugees a passage, let them pass through Yunyang—the King of Zhenhai has already agreed to take them in."

Yuan Qing Shan's mind became a tangled mess; he suddenly recalled Su Yuchi's earlier words and whispered, "Who exactly are you? Are you sent by Hu Xiaotian? Is all of this your behind-the-scenes scheming?"

The other laughed loudly: "Accusations need no excuse—the King of Zhenhai always acts openly and honorably; he merely sent grain to the disaster victims, hoping to save the people from fire and water. But Su Yuchi, stubborn and cold-blooded, not only refused to let the victims pass, he massacred them en masse. Where there is oppression, there is resistance—water can carry a boat, yet also capsize it. Don't you understand this? Yunyang's predicament is entirely your doing; what does it have to do with the King of Zhenhai? I came to see you only to prevent soldiers and civilians from slaughtering each other, to avert a tragedy."

Yuan Qing Shan pressed his lips, still half-believing, half-doubting the man's words.

The young man said, "Your future rests entirely in the general's mind!" Without another word he turned and left; Yuan Qing Shan hurried after him, calling, "Wait…" But when he reached the corner of the street ahead, the figure had vanished.

Xiong Tianba took a step forward, then sprang up like a cannonball fired from its barrel, shooting into the sky. He had absorbed the inner strength of Li Yuncong and Bu Wu; its power was immense, rarely seen in the present age. What's more, he had received Li Yuncong's inner strength transformed by the Void Great Law, and his physique was extraordinary—he completely absorbed every bit of inner strength poured into him and could exert it at full strength, something even Hu Xiaotian could not manage.

Seeing this monster like a deity descending, Su Yuchi sensed trouble; his troops had no one so fierce and powerful. He kept retreating as a group of soldiers shielded him. Xiong Tianba swung his great hammer, which missed, but a fierce gust of wind surged ahead, shaking the soldiers guarding Su Yuchi off their feet. The hammer slammed into the ground; though it missed its target, the massive shockwave radiated outward, shaking the earth and mountains, causing the surrounding soldiers to lose balance and tumble down.

The Xichuan refugees were also startled by the strong tremor; having just fled an earthquake from Xichuan, most were jumpy, and they thought Yunyang itself had suffered an earthquake.

Su Yuchi staggered, finally managing to steady himself, when Xiong Tianba lunged forward like a lion and struck his abdomen with a hammer. The blow was oddly skillful—though it hit his body, it caused little damage; only when the hammerhead landed on his abdomen did it release force, effectively shoving him away. Su Yuchi had thought he was surely dead, but he quickly realized the attacker hadn't intended to kill him with one strike; he flew away like riding clouds and mist, landing among the refugees.

Before Su Yuchi could get up, someone shouted, "That's Su Yuchi—kill him!"

Upon hearing he was Su Yuchi, the refugees surged forward. Though Su Yuchi was brave, he had already been half-dead from the fall, and with two fists against many hands, he could not stand against so many refugees.

Seeing enough, Xiong Tianba held back, strictly following Hu Xiaotian's strategy, suppressing his killing intent. He swung his great hammer, and everyone scattered. This man was practically a demon reborn—anyone who provoked him was sure to die.

Liang Yinghao blended into the refugees, saw that the situation was settled, and quietly slipped away.

Yuan Qing Shan organized a two-thousand-strong heavy-armored unit and rushed back to the West Gate; the sight before him shocked him, and he shouted urgently, "Make way, everyone! Let them in—do not block them! Hear me—do not block them!"

The civilians and soldiers on the scene had gone berserk; no one listened to his orders.

Yuan Qing Shan, helpless, could only order the heavy armored troops to hold their shields and forcefully charge in. Forming a human wall with the heavy armored troops, he forcibly separated the two sides. In fact, the city's fall today was purely unexpected; even if the Xichuan refugees jointly rammed the city gate, Su Yuchi would have ordered archers to shoot them down before they reached the gate, and these refugees could not mount a decent attack. If it weren't for Zong Tang using the thunderclap bomb to blast the gate open, the situation would not have deteriorated to this point. But Hu Xiaotian's plan was meticulous, step by step guiding the situation, and now it has completely slipped out of control.

Whether it was the Yunyang soldiers or the Xichuan refugees, nobody knew exactly what had happened; of course there were also clear-headed people among them, Su Yuchi being one of them. He had already realized that Hu Xiaotian's arrival with grain must have other motives, so Su Yuchi refused Hu Xiaotian's request to take in the refugees, even refusing to let Hu Xiaotian's side escort the relief grain, personally handing the grain to the refugees. He would rather assign personnel at Bai Lang Dui to do this. The result was that the Yunyang garrison detached ten thousand troops to Bai Lang Dui, naturally weakening the city's defensive forces considerably.

No matter how cautious Su Yuchi was, he ultimately did not expect Hu Xiaotian to breach his gate from within. Once the Xichuan refugees flooded into Yunyang, the situation was no longer under Su Yuchi's control.

Xiong Tianba, this scoundrel, could snatch a general's head from among ten thousand troops; today he displayed his ability to the fullest. Although he did not personally kill Su Yuchi, he personally delivered Su Yuchi into the hands of the refugees.

It should be said that Su Yuchi's side was ultimately careless; if they had mobilized the heavy armored troops earlier, perhaps the situation would have been timely controlled and would not have deteriorated to such a dire state. When Yuan Qing Shan brought in the heavy armored troops and used a shield formation to separate the two sides, casualties on both sides had already reached nearly five thousand, of course most of them were Xichuan refugees. Yunyang's greatest loss was Su Yuchi, this Dakang famed general who galloped the battlefields and earned countless merits for Dakang, actually beaten to death by an angry mob of refugees, an ending truly tragic.

The heavy armored troops drove back the refugees, and Yuan Qing Shan found Su Yuchi on the bloody ground, Su Yuchi covered in blood, lying on the ground already dead. Yuan Qing Shan cradled Su Yuchi's corpse, grief surging from his heart, hot tears streaming from his tiger eyes. Seeing Su Yuchi slain, the soldiers behind him were naturally filled with righteous indignation, and someone shouted, 'Brothers, kill these rebels to avenge the Grand Marshal!'

Yuan Qing Shan roared, 'Everyone, calm down!' He slowly rose to his feet; at this moment Yuan Qing Shan already understood that today's events were likely Hu Xiaotian's layout. Although he had no concrete evidence, from various signs it was clear that someone was fanning the flames, but if it weren't for Su Yuchi's stubbornness, the situation would not have deteriorated to this extent.

Standing there, scanning the crowd, the soldiers' expressions were angry, bewildered, sorrowful, or hesitant. After all, they were facing not enemies today but Dakang's civilians; to avenge Su Yuchi would mean launching another massacre.

But if we do not avenge him, would Su Yuchi not have died in vain?

A voice suddenly sounded in Yuan Qing Shan's ear.

'The lives of these people are entirely in General Yuan's hands; General Yuan, why not give the civilians a way to live?' This voice was clearly that of the young man who had previously rescued him.

Yuan Qing Shan searched everywhere but could not find the speaker's figure; he bit his lip hard and shouted loudly, 'Let them leave Yunyang!'

'General Yuan!'

Yuan Qing Shan bellowed, 'I will bear all responsibility!' At this point, only by yielding can we prevent casualties from further expanding; Yuan Qing Shan no longer has time to consider the consequences.

The Yunyang side quickly organized troops, tightly guarding both sides of the streets, opening the east and west gates to let those Xichuan refugees pass through the city. Yuan Qing Shan stood on the ruined city wall, watching the crowd of people supporting the elderly and carrying the young as they trudged forward, feeling an inexplicable lightness in his heart. He realized his decision was not wrong; although it defied the court's orders, after all he had given tens of thousands of refugees a path to survival. Why was Su Yuchi unwilling to do so? If he had made this choice earlier, perhaps this tragedy would not have occurred.

A soldier came to his side, clasped his fists, and said, 'Report to General Yuan, the King of Zhenhai has arrived!'

Zhangyu caught a cold, fever, headache, tears streaming, couldn't hold on, went to sleep! (To be continued~^~)