Chapter 104: Bloodlight

North of Yancheng.

A courtyard.

Dim, yellow candlelight shone through the window paper, parting the thick night.

Inside the room, Tuoba Lie sat at the head of the table, with six sturdy men seated in order below him.

"The gates of Yancheng are already sealed, and the Great King's army will arrive in a few days. Our duty is to ensure the gates are opened to let our Northern Di grand army enter." Tuoba Lie held a sharp Dagger, carefully trimming his fingernails as he spoke.

"Yes, Commander," the six said in unison; they all belonged to Tuoba Lie's command.

After the Northern Di took the Ningjin Dusi, they had a plan to capture Yanzhou.

Afterward, the Heavenly Khan entrusted this matter to the Nine Great Kings.

Since then, they had followed Tuoba Lie into Yanzhou to carry out assassinations and gather intelligence.

For this Autumn Hunt, Tuoba Lie had summoned them from various commanderies in Yanzhou.

They entered the city under the guise of a merchant caravan, intending to coordinate from within on the day of the siege.

"However, it may not necessarily require our action; the Zhang Family's death soldiers will move first." Tuoba Lie slammed the Dagger into the table. "The Great King was very angry about the last incident, so this time we must ensure there are no mistakes. Once the Zhang Family starts the uprising, we will seize victory in the chaos."

The six nodded slightly; with the Zhang Family's help, the matter was more secure.

Tuoba Lie then brought out a defense map of Yancheng.

This was what they had scouted during the day, and he discussed with the six how to capture the city gates.

At midnight, he finally let the six return.

……

Zhang Family Mansion.

Steward Zhang Yue's face was as heavy as water, completely different from the humility he showed before Zhang Kang in the past.

In the storeroom, he picked up a short sword, examined it for a moment, and put it back into the chest.

Such chests filled the storeroom, all prepared for the death soldiers.

"Have them take their Weapon back; the Northern Di people will be here in these two days," Zhang Yue said to a young, strong servant in front of him.

During this time, the Zhang Family death soldiers had entered the city one after another.

Some were hiding in the Zhang Family's shops in Yancheng, and some were concealed within the Zhang Family Mansion.

In order to seize the city gates, he had been left in Yancheng by Zhang Kang to be in charge of this matter.

Upon receiving his order, the young servant turned and left to contact the death soldiers in other locations.

"Life, death, glory, and shame all depend on this battle," Zhang Yue muttered to himself as he watched the servant leave.

Zhang Kang promised him that once the matter was successful, his deed of servitude would be returned to him, and he would not only be rewarded with ten thousand taels of silver but also given a position as a County Magistrate.

Such a huge temptation was something he could not refuse.

"Yan Wang, for the sake of my wealth and glory, I can only trade it for your head," Zhang Yue laughed sinisterly.

……

The moonlight was like silver.

Several black shadows flashed through the streets and alleys of Yancheng, finally gathering in one place.

The movements of Tuoba Lie and the Zhang Family had not escaped their eyes in the slightest.

After continuing to tail them for a while, they discovered that the six Northern Di spies had returned to their resting place and remained still.

Meanwhile, some of the Zhang Family's death soldiers went to the Zhang Family Mansion and returned with items, after which they also remained still.

"Go and report to General Chang; we can move," Xu Ke said to Chai Wu.

For this operation, they had to ensure every death soldier and spy was present, leaving no one to slip through the net.

Chai Wu nodded and disappeared into the darkness, heading toward the North Camp.

At this time, inside the North Camp, Chang Wei sat before a candle, his gaze bright and spirited.

As soon as Chai Wu arrived, he almost jumped up with joy.

After learning of the Zhang Family's plan, he always felt disgusted.

If not for Yan Wang telling him to endure, he would have already led his troops to hack these bastards to pieces.

"Can we move?" Chang Wei asked urgently.

"We can." Chai Wu took a map from his bosom and spread it out before Chang Wei. "However, you must be careful when marching. They all have people on night watch. Once they are alerted, there will definitely be those who slip through the net."

"

Chang Wei nodded solemnly.

Chai Wu continued, "The circled areas are their strongholds."

Chang Wei examined them carefully.

It had to be said that these people were very cautious; there were over thirty strongholds from south to north and east to west, and they were very scattered.

If someone escaped from one stronghold, people in other strongholds might relocate.

"This General understands," Chang Wei said to a soldier at this moment.

Before long, thirty-six commanders walked in.

"Each of you is responsible for one location. When the dawn drum sounds at the hour of Mao, we will all move together. You cannot let a single person go," Chang Wei said.

"Yes, General," the commanders acknowledged and left.

A moment later, thirty-six groups of soldiers assembled on the Drill Ground.

Each group had one hundred soldiers.

After the leading commanders gave the key points for the encirclement, the soldiers left the North Camp in the night.

They were all very careful, walking as quietly as possible and staying only in the shadows of the buildings.

In this way, they were difficult to discover, but the only drawback was that they moved very slowly.

It took one hour for them to all arrive at their encirclement points.

By this time it was already nearing the hour of Mao, and the eastern sky was faintly revealing the glow of dawn.

"Dong, dong..."

The heavy sound of a bronze bell rang out slowly and continuously.

Every city rings a morning bell at dawn, for it signifies the beginning of a day.

In the courtyard.

Tuoba Lie was awakened by the bell, or rather, he had been sleeping very lightly.

The closer the day of the siege drew, the more uneasy he became, fearing that he would fail at the final hurdle.

But just then, he suddenly heard a burst of hurried footsteps, and then the courtyard door seemed to be kicked open.

He was greatly startled, hurriedly grabbed the short sword hidden under his pillow, and rushed out of the room, only to see a group of soldiers wearing Silver Armor searching everywhere with swords in hand.

"Yan Wang's Personal Army." Tuoba Lie's heart sank.

There was no time to think about how he had been discovered.

The Yan Wang soldiers charged toward him.

At the same time, the other death warriors in the courtyard were also alarmed; they rushed out from various places wearing thin undergarments and holding swords and blades.

Soon, the courtyard became a scene of slaughter.

"Dog thief, die!" a Personal Army Colonel roared, drawing his sword and killing toward the Northern Di death warrior.

Relying on the sturdiness of the Plate Armor on his body, he feared no hacking from the Northern Di death warriors, completely abandoning defense, with every move being a killing blow.

The other soldiers were the same; they had a reckless posture, fighting with wide and sweeping movements.

Within a very short time of coming into contact with these soldiers, the hearts of the Northern Di death warriors turned cold.

They had not even had time to put on armor, and the blades in their hands, when striking the Yan Wang soldiers, left nothing but dents and could not cause them any harm at all.

Yet a single strike from the soldiers would take their lives.

What was most detestable was that these soldiers even had their hands covered in Armor.

Even if their swords were knocked away, a punch thrown over was extremely heavy.

Moreover, these soldiers were all well-trained and robust in build, completely different from the Dasong soldiers they had seen before.

After less than a quarter of an hour of contact, the fighting in the courtyard presented a one-sided situation.

On the ground, Northern Di death warriors lay in a swathe, and blood stained the blue bricks on the ground red.

Tuoba Lie retreated as he fought, his heart filled with shock.

When he saw this set of Armor on the Yan Wang soldiers these past two days, he had not taken it to heart.

Now that he had come into contact with it, he realized that this Armor was extremely hard; the armor made by their Northern Di was far inferior to this.

Thinking of this, a feeling of extreme terror suddenly rose in his heart.

If the Nine Great Kings attacked Yancheng, he feared they would suffer heavy losses.

But it was already too late for him to get this news out.

He.

Had already been completely surrounded by Yan Wang soldiers.