Chapter 1038: with translation of chapter title

Cao Lin stood on Chen Wuji's side, giving a frantic analysis, which thoroughly annoyed Li Yu, who was already on the verge of exploding, and the Uyghur commander of a thousand; the two spoke up at once, hurling all kinds of nasty remarks at Cao Lin like a string of firecrackers.

Cao Lin listened with a smug smile, nodding now and then, as if strictly obeying the teachings.

His attitude instantly made the two people who were cursing feel very displeased.

They cursed to vent their anger, but Cao Lin's attitude made them feel like they were punching cotton.

"You Cao, you're really sick!" Li Yu's face turned ferocious, his eyes nearly bulging from rage.

Cao Lin spread his hands and said, "Hey, you two, I'm standing here taking your scolding honestly—aren't you satisfied? Is there anything wrong with what I said? Not at all, yet I still get a dressing-down from you, and now you find fault with me again? This is really too much to tolerate."

Cao Lin shook his head, then said seriously, "If that's the case, it seems I can only ask you two to die—it's too much to tolerate, I can't stand it, let's switch to a simpler way of getting along."

Li Yu's face twitched slightly, "What do you mean?"

"Just the literal meaning, nothing else." Cao Lin wore a faint smile and raised his hand.

A knife suddenly pierced through Li Yu's chest.

Li Yu struggled to turn his head, looking in disbelief at the attendant standing behind him, "You..."

This attendant was his true confidant, having followed him for ten years.

How could he?!

"Don't look at me, turn away, sir—they gave too much, I really can't refuse!" The attendant forcibly turned Li Yu's head back, his right hand, holding the knife, shoved it in and twisted it counterclockwise violently.

The vitality on Li Yu's face vanished instantly.

The Uyghur commander of a thousand was startled by the sudden change, immediately raised his knife and pointed it at Cao Lin, "General Cao, what is the meaning of this?"

"What could it mean? Just the death throes of a turtle in a jar." Cao Lin let out a long sigh to the heavens.

Before his voice faded, Cao Lin suddenly shifted sideways, slamming his elbow hard into the commander of a thousand's chest.

As the commander of a thousand flew back, Cao Lin chopped out with his palm, seizing a weapon, gripped the hilt with both hands in reverse, and sliced into the commander's neck.

"But not including you worms—I've wanted to kill you for a long time; I never expected to get the chance until today!" Cao Lin's face darkened as he muttered, "This southern campaign, aside from this, I have no regrets; only this matter leaves me uneasy."

At the same moment he acted, the Soldier crowded on the city wall simultaneously brandished their weapons.

Li Yu's subordinates and the Uyghur troops, caught off guard, turned into corpses that fell from the wall.

Whether intentional or not, they died cleanly and departed in utter peace.

They took Cao Lin's troops as allies, but Cao Lin's troops had come from the start to take their lives, even their positions deliberately chosen.

The deaths of tens of thousands finally opened up space on the city wall.

The soldiers took out the prepared food, sat on the ground, and hurried to eat.

Their stomachs had been growling for two days, but with Li Yu's subordinates and the Uyghur People present, nobody dared to take out the little food they had, forcing themselves to endure.

Cao Lin was also eating, still his own provisions.

Two biscuits, soaked in water and now noticeably moldy, tasted awful, but Cao Lin ate them with extra vigor, chewing big bites while staring north.

"They'll probably use boats, right? This city really has hundreds of thousands of civilians; if we keep waiting for the water to recede, how many survivors could be left in the city?" Cao Lin muttered, his fierce gaze taking a bite of the biscuit.

The officer beside him couldn't help but say, "General, why not find a few good swimmers to paddle a raft out to surrender?"

"Wait a bit longer." Cao Lin shook his head. "Chen Wuji's love for the people like his own children is no act."

... yes.

Their wait lasted nearly another day.

But as evening approached, the shadows of boats appeared in sight.

Big and small, new and old, various kinds of boats packed the waterways, arriving with a mighty drumbeat.

The Nan Jun troops' siege began.

Cao Lin leaned on the parapet, using his knife to pry ant eggs from the cracks to relieve boredom; hearing the distant commotion, he instantly perked up, jumped to his feet, and shouted, "Hey, Laborers, shout out—we surrender!"

"Yes!"

"We surrender, we surrender!"

"We've surrendered!"

……

Xu Zengyi brought Lu Ji and Xie Fengxian up onto the walls of Yan Zhou, where they received Cao Lin's enthusiastic 'reception'.

The food was assorted jerky pooled by the soldiers; there was only one jar of wine, which Cao Lin had brought himself.

"I've long heard of Mr. Xu's name; today I finally get to see him. There's not much wine, I'll take a sip to show my respect."

After some pleasantries, Cao Lin was the first to raise his small wine cup.

Xu Zengyi's expression was somewhat strange; Lu Ji and Xie Fengxian each harbored their own wariness.

Information about these people in Yanzhou Cheng had come to them countless times, and Cao Lin in particular had been mentioned repeatedly.

Yet the Cao Lin described in the intelligence differed greatly from the one they now faced.

Cao Lin set down his cup, seeing Xu Zengyi and the others merely lift their cups without intending to drink, he wasn't annoyed and went straight to the point: "I've already cleaned up Li Yu and the Uyghur People; the corpses are all at the base of this city wall, the only regret being that five thousand elite troops got away."

"In the days before you reached Yan Zhou, Huo Wudi led a unit of Bīngmǎ away from Yan Zhou. I later asked Li Yu about this; he said Huo Wudi went to fetch reinforcements, but I don't think that's the case."

"Huo Wudi, this Lao Zamao, is the true confidant of the Wise King, his status even above Li Yu's; I suspect this old bastard, seeing that Nanyue Jun could not turn the tide, pulled a lizard's tail trick, deliberately leaving Li Yu here to die while he took the elite forces north."

Xu Zengyi's eyelids twitched, "Let him get away again?"

"Mr. Xu, bandits like these usually have sharp instincts; Huo Wudi fleeing all the way from Nan Jun to Nanyue Jun surely already has the experience." Cao Lin said.

"However, it's just Huo Wudi; although regrettable, it's no great loss."

Xu Zengyi rubbed his forehead, suddenly feeling a headache: "This person is a major threat to the lord's confidant; letting him escape again will look bad in the report."

"This..." Cao Lin slapped his hand in frustration.

"I wasn't aware of this; if I had known earlier, I would have changed my approach to deal with Li Yu and those Uyghur People. Now I don't even know where they are, and even if I tried to think of a remedy, I wouldn't know where to apply my efforts."