Chapter 98

Successfully solving the Taishou task of Leigang City counts as half completed; the remaining matter of occupying Leigang City is left to Cheng Yaojin, Shen Tianxing leaves all troops there, letting Cheng Yaojin manage.

Shen Tianxing's idea is to hand Leigang City over to Cheng Yaojin, just as after capturing Leyun City he plans to give it to Zhang Wenyuan, after all, at present the only major generals under his command are these two.

As for Leifu City, Shen Tianxing still needs to produce a famous general; neither Zhao Lingfei nor Tian Guangguang have any military talent, only a simple Martial Dao Realm.

Of course, handing it to Yang Tieqiang and his three sons would also be fine, but of course we still need to see what they think.

"Leigang City is yours now; I and Wenyuan will go to Leyun City, striving to capture it before the third watch tonight, so that by tomorrow morning in Leizhou the surname will be changed to Shen."

"My lord, rest assured, there is no problem. I will go to Leiming City early tomorrow morning to report."

"Good, then you continue; I'm leaving."

"Seeing off my lord!"

Shen Tianxing and Zhang Wenyuan led the remaining 5000 personnel toward Leyun City.

The Prefect of Leyun City was anxiously waiting on the city tower; Li Fei was his brother-in-law, leading troops for so long yet no news had arrived; if something happened, he couldn't explain it to his wife.

"Li Fei has been gone so long, why hasn't he returned? Did you send people down to check?"

"Reporting, my lord, we sent them out, but they still haven't returned; no one knows what condition Lieutenant General Li is in now."

Prefect Zhuang Xiefa of Leyun City paced back and forth anxiously; the steward beside him reported truthfully, making Zhuang Xiefa keep wringing his hands, thinking that if the men didn't return tonight, how would he face his wife?

Zhuang Xiefa himself was merely a butler who knew a little martial arts, but being good‑looking, he was taken by Li Fei's sister as a live‑in son‑in‑law.

The Li family was wealthy and influential; they bought him a minor official post, later they latched onto the big tree of Sun Zhongquan, and gradually he became the Taishou of Leyun City in Leizhou.

Zhuang Xiefa himself had little ability; many matters were decided by his wife, just like the appointment of his brother‑in‑law as Lieutenant General, which was also arranged by his wife.

"My lord, Lieutenant General Li has returned, but he is badly wounded; of the over 20,000 troops, only 5,000 remain, and they are now on their way back, almost here."

A soldier sent out to gather news hurried back; upon hearing this, Zhuang Xiefa was overjoyed and turned to run down to the city tower.

"As long as Li Fei is still alive, it's fine if the troops are gone; we simply can't withstand Leiming City's attack, so we might as well surrender—after all, he cannot die."

Zhuang Xiefa's words were loud enough that almost all the soldiers heard them; the already low morale plummeted.

Upon reaching below the city tower, Zhuang Xiefa immediately ordered the gate opened; far off he saw a ragged remnant of troops heading toward the gate.

Zhuang Xiefa didn't hesitate, mounted his horse and galloped over.

"Your strategy is simple, effective, and unusually smooth—the gate opened just like that, and the Taishou even ran out, without losing a single soldier; but I want that Taishou's head."

Shen Tianxing gave Zhang Wenyuan a thumbs up; Zhang Wenyuan modestly shook his head.

"This also thanks to my lord being able to instantly send over the captives' armor; otherwise, how could it have gone so smoothly?"

Zhang Wenyuan was speaking the truth; according to his idea, the plan would require another trip to Leiming City, but Shen Tianxing doesn't need to go through that trouble—he just has Hong Yi put the captives' armor into the system package and retrieve it.

"It's just a trifle, not worth mentioning—the Prefect of Leyun City has come; I'll see him off, you bring the troops in afterward; since this Prefect is dead, they probably won't put up a last‑ditch resistance."

In the midst of speaking, Shen Tianxing charged forth on his lightning steed at extreme speed; in a moment he met Zhuang Xiefa galloping to meet him; before Zhuang Xiefa could speak, Shen Tianxing raised his blade and cut off his head, and the system prompt sounded at once.

"Congratulations, Host, for slaying the Sixth‑Rank Warrior, Leyun City Taishou Zhuang Xiefa; you have obtained 100,000 Killing Value, item drops: one each of level‑5 red, yellow, and green gemstones, one fragment of the Divine Weapon Feilong Spear, a special item: a box of Kang Shuifu Iced Red Tea, and 100,000 taels of silver."

It must be said, Zhuang Xiefa is far poorer than the two previous Taishous—he only brought 100,000 taels of silver, perhaps because his wife controls the purse strings, all the silver being with his wife.

"The Taishou is dead; they are not Lieutenant General Li and the other brothers but enemy troops—quickly close the gate."

The steward on the city tower, at least dutiful, shouted loudly.

It's a pity that, after seeing the Taishou die, none of the defending soldiers felt sorrow; instead they heaved a deep sigh of relief. They then rushed down from the tower, not closing the gate but instead running out to kneel on the ground and choose surrender.

"We surrender, please spare our lives, my lord."

"We surrender......"

They say a defeated army collapses like a mountain, but here it has utterly collapsed even before any defeat, all because of that sentence Zhuang Xiefa uttered when he came down from the tower: "The soldiers' lives are not lives"; he's dead, so who would still risk their lives for him?

"My lord, it's I who am sorry to you!"

The steward on the city tower watched the many soldiers surrender, helplessly closed his eyes, muttered something, then stabbed himself in the belly and jumped down from the tower.

"Wenyuan, this Leyun City is yours now; they are also yours. Treat the people well—I need not say more. As for the occupants of the Prefect's Mansion and the Lieutenant General's residence, if they do not resist, let them leave; if they resist, kill them."

"This One respectfully follows my lord's orders."

Zhang Wenyuan dismounted, dropped to one knee. Shen Tianxing smiled and helped him up, gazing at the bright moon in the sky, thinking of his own two bright moons, he turned his horse and headed for Leiming City.

Leizhou has already been taken 4/5; after a month of preparation, the actual time used was less than a day and night. Returning, we will reset the date for the grand wedding, to see if Yue Yunyang will come to congratulate, or else after the wedding we will lead troops to Leizhou City.

Congratulations, Host, for completing the counteroffensive city mission; rewards: 3,000,000 Killing Value, 500 sets of high‑grade standard equipment, 500 portions of medium‑grade gold wound medicine, one Divine General Summoning Card, three Famous General Summoning Cards, two Ultimate Grade Martial Arts Fragments of your choice, ten thousand bundles of grain and fodder, and 1,000,000 taels of silver.

When Shen Tianxing arrived at Leiming City and had just entered the city, the system prompt sounded, indicating the third mission was completed.

Shen Tianxing did not rush to summon the Divine General and Famous General, nor did he hurry to choose an Ultimate Martial Art; he returned to the Taishou Fu at the fastest speed.

Along the way the townspeople were tidying up tables and chairs; although Shen Tianxing had no grand wedding, they still enjoyed a good meal, and upon seeing him they greeted him and expressed their gratitude.

Shen Tianxing also waved in response, but did not linger; when he arrived at the Taishou Fu gate, dismounted, entered the front courtyard, he saw Yang Hongyue and others waiting for him in the front courtyard pavilion.

"Isn't today our grand wedding? You made all these plans—why didn't you mention a word? Is it just to use the grand wedding as a pretext to carry out your plan?"

"Are you perhaps being excessive? Should you apologize? Moreover, the most crucial point is whether you are injured—why won't you let me go help you kill the enemy?"