Chapter 48

Late at night, during the second watch, on the city wall of Jingcheng's North City Gate, patrolling soldiers walked back and forth, each utterly exhausted.

Shen Tianxing and Yang Hongyue wore black clothes, leading five hundred assault troops similarly dressed in night attire, arriving at a concealed spot on the left city wall.

A dozen or so Tunnel Soldiers had been waiting here; seeing Shen Tianxing arrive, they immediately moved a large stone aside, revealing a bottomless pit.

Reporting, sir, from here one can reach a position nearly three streets from the Tianlao; these are tinderboxes placed on both sides of the tunnel, with torches that can be lit upon entry and will automatically extinguish after everyone passes and moves on, sir, you can rest assured.

A Tunnel Soldier respectfully reported the situation; Shen Tianxing nodded, took the tinderbox, and led the way into the tunnel.

The tunnel entrance was narrow, but inside it became extremely spacious—about two meters high and 1.5 meters wide, enough for two people to walk side by side.

Shen Tianxing, your men are incredibly impressive—digging a tunnel this wide, and it didn't even take long; I'm increasingly unable to fathom you.

Yang Hongyue was greatly surprised, but she kept her voice low; no one else heard it, only Shen Tianxing did.

It's nothing; there will be even more surprises awaiting you later—here are torches, I'll light them first.

Saying that, Shen Tianxing also felt somewhat incredulous; first, air circulation in the tunnel would be much slower, so lighting torches here would consume a large amount of the tunnel's air.

Yet Shen Tianxing had already lit several torches without feeling any breathing difficulty, especially as more and more people poured in from behind, and he still felt nothing unusual.

Perhaps because the Tunnel Soldiers are system-summoned, the torches they produce defy normal combustion theory, especially the fact that they automatically extinguish after everyone has passed.

In this dark, damp tunnel, these torches stay lit until we've all passed through—truly miraculous; if they could be used in military marches, they'd surely guarantee invincibility.

Who says women are love‑brains? Our General Yang is constantly thinking about warfare—a true career‑obsessed person.

It's not that simple; once you become their young mistress, you can use them however you wish.

Yang Hongyue gave Shen Tianxing a glance, but couldn't be bothered to retort; she'd long grown accustomed to his unserious remarks, and she even felt a bit fond of him.

Didn't you already agree? Once the matter succeeds and Grandfather consents, you can stop bringing it up all the time.

Shen Tianxing smiled; his main quest is to make Yang Tieqiang loyal to him—if that truly happens, letting him marry his granddaughter would be a trivial matter.

Isn't this just in case you forget? After all, if you say you forgot, I can't do anything—I can't exactly hold a knife to your throat.

My memory isn't that bad; at times like this, couldn't you be a bit more serious?

You mean I can be unserious at other times? Fine, I'll be serious for a moment now.

Yang Hongyue rolled her eyes, then the two exchanged remarks back and forth, which eased her somewhat tense mood. At this moment Yang Hongyue also realized that Shen Tianxing said these things merely to keep him in better condition.

After walking for half an hour, they finally reached the other end of the underground passage.

Shen Tianxing still led the way; upon exiting the cave mouth, he could see several Tunnel Soldiers guarding the exit.

The tunnel's exit was a rockery in the garden of a small residence; this small residence was quite cheap, costing just over a hundred taels of silver.

「Another residence, although it's small, it would still cost over a hundred taels, right? But just to save people, do we need to buy such a small residence in Jingcheng? Outside there's another separate courtyard; spending money like this isn't acceptable. 」

Yang Hongyue obviously had the feeling of a housewife leveling up, and Shen Tianxing naturally wouldn't forget to tease her.

「General Yang hasn't even married me yet, and she's already worrying about my property; it seems I'll have to let Mingyue handle the money from now on, otherwise I definitely won't have any good days. 」

Yang Hongyue's face turned cold, and she let out a cold snort.

「Hmph, is now the time to say these things? Action should begin; let's go raid Tianlao to save people, don't delay the other rescue plan. 」

Shen Tianxing nodded; changing expression this quickly, could it be that he's jealous?

Several Tunnel Soldiers led the way ahead, escorting the group out of the residence; the night wind howled, and everyone felt a chill.

「You few, go back and guard the entrance, be careful. 」

「Yes, sir! 」

Several Tunnel Soldiers replied in unison, then retreated back to the residence; Yang Hongyue led the group out of the alley where the residence was located, and soon they arrived on the main street.

「General Yang, you've kept us waiting long enough; you plan to raid Tianlao with just these few people? That's hardly laughable. 」

In the direction of Tianlao on the main street, thousands of people stood densely packed; the speaker was a General riding a tall horse, with a dark face and full beard, holding a Heavenly Painted Halberd in his hand, his face full of playful expression.

Black Sand Divine Zhang Roc Flight, one of Sun Zhongquan's eight great warlords, is Seventh Grade, seventh level; he just happens to overwhelm me, I'll hold him off, and the rest will be left to you and your men.

Yang Hongyue ignored Zhang Roc Flight, instead turning her head to Shen Tianxing to explain the situation.

Shen Tianxing did not answer immediately, because another system prompt sounded in his ear.

Detected Seventh-Rank Expert Black Sand Divine Zhang Roc Flight, issuing a decapitation mission; slay Black Sand Divine Zhang Roc Flight, completing the mission rewards 200,000 Killing Value, one free upgrade of an intermediate Divine Weapon, a selectable Grand Master-level life skill card, three Ultimate Grade Martial Arts Fragments of your choice, and 1000 taels of gold.

「Or you take my people to deal with the others; you've always wanted to know how strong I am? Now let you see! 」

In the midst of speaking, Shen Tianxing had already taken a sip of Thunder Jade, taken out a flower cigarette and placed it at his lips, which instantly lit itself; he then drew his Slay Dragon Blade from his back and pointed it at Black Sand Divine Zhang Roc Flight.

Black Sand Shen, right? You look pretty dark; if you want to move my woman, first ask my blade.

「Hahaha... you overestimate yourself, pretty boy; you couldn't possibly be the kid named Shen Tianxing that the lord specially ordered to be killed, right? Since you want to die, this General will send you on your way. Giddyap... 」

Zhang Roc Flight's words had just fallen when he spurred his horse forward, his Heavenly Painted Halberd making a sweeping arc to clear thousands of troops, feinting once, then coming down to strike at the head.

「Kill God Three Blades Slash! 」

Shen Tianxing let out a loud shout, his body shooting out like a ghost; the doubled speed of Thunder Jade, plus Wind Thunder Nine Turns and Graceful Wave Step, made his speed truly like a flash of lightning.

Zhang Roc Flight's Heavenly Painted Halberd fell, cutting through empty air; he stared wide-eyed in disbelief, only feeling a pain in his neck, then seemingly losing connection with his body.

Everyone present was shocked to the extreme; in their eyes, just a fleeting afterimage passed, and then Zhang Roc Flight's head flew off, his body falling from the horse, while Shen Tianxing returned to his original position.

「Pathetic; who else wants to come up and die? 」