Chapter 356: Betrayal

"Kill..."

Qin Pass.

At this moment, the beacon fires were continuous here; Mashan ran back and forth on the city wall, commanding soldiers to resist the Ma Jin soldiers attempting to climb up.

Since Dian Zhang arrived, not even two days had passed before Ma Jin led his 150,000-strong army to arrive, launching a fierce attack on Qin Pass in an attempt to seize it.

In Sizhou, there were only 50,000 troops of the Ma Family.

Qin Pass had even fewer, with only 8,000 men stationed there.

After Ma Jin launched the siege, he could barely hold it; fortunately, Ma Lan and Dian Zhang arrived in time with troops.

Now, they had been fighting at Qin Shan for over six days, and soldier casualties exceeded ten thousand.

After repelling another siege, the battlefield grew quiet.

At this time, a general in Ma Jin's army rode out; it was Ma Chang. He said to Mashan on the wall, "Mashan, you and I are both descendants of the Ma Family, why must we slaughter each other, causing pain to our kin and joy to our enemies? As long as you open the city gates and surrender, the General promises you a promotion."

"Ma Chang, you wolf-hearted and dog-lunged thing, you killed the Ma Family elders; can you sleep at night? You want us to surrender? Keep dreaming!" A voice shouted from the city wall; it was Ma Lan.

Ma Jin killed his father, and now he and Ma Jin were irreconcilable enemies.

Dian Zhang was also on the city wall, and he shouted, "If you want to fight, then fight, stop spouting nonsense. You won't be able to jump around for many more days. Elder Ma Yuan has already gone to Yancheng to bring the Young Master back; he will arrive in these two days, and along with him will come the troops borrowed from Yan Wang."

Ma Chang's expression changed several times upon hearing this.

He snorted coldly and returned to the army, telling Ma Jin what Dian Zhang had said.

"General, if Yan Wang really lends troops to Ma Han, I fear we will not be able to handle it," Ma Chang said.

Having fought the Western Liang together in Jinzhou, they had heard countless things about the Yan Prince Army from the mouths of the Western Liang soldiers.

Fighting the Western Liang soldiers, they were already like a hot knife through butter.

Let alone fighting them.

Ma Jin felt anxious. The reason he was in such a hurry to take Qin Pass and unify the prefectures controlled by the Ma Family was to make his Ma Family's unification a fait accompli as quickly as possible.

Thus,

he could then find a way, either by using Dou Wei to persuade others or by defecting to the Imperial Clan to gain recognition.

But after fighting for these days, Qin Guan was still firmly controlled by Mashan.

"Continue the siege!" Ma Jin said. Now he had no way out and could only bite the bullet and push to the end.

Another day of fierce fighting passed.

The next day, Ma Jin intended to attack the city again, when he suddenly saw soldiers wearing Silver Armor on the city wall.

Seeing this, his heart sank; he knew that Yan Wang's troops had indeed arrived.

Filled with hatred, he said to Ma Chang, "Retreat."

Ma Chang received the order and immediately ordered the soldiers to set out toward Xian City.

With Yan Wang's soldiers there, he could forget about taking Qin Pass.

On the road of retreat, Ma Jin was both angry and afraid.

At the same time, he felt a chill down his spine; he now had no confidence left in his heart.

Without a doubt, Ma Han would definitely continue to lead his troops toward Xian City.

By then, how would he resist the Yan Prince Army that had both Artillery and those strange firearms?

"Dou Wei, I can only beg Dou Wei," Ma Jin gritted his teeth.

In this matter, the Dou Family was the instigator.

If Yan Wang could lend troops to Ma Han, why couldn't Dou Wei lend troops to him?

Thinking of this, he had an idea.

Three days later, he returned to Xian City and immediately contacted the Dou Family members in Xian City.

"General, he said to meet with you tonight at Xian He Zhuang to discuss this matter," Ma Chang said.

The Dou Family had left them a method of contact, and as Ma Jin's confidant, Ma Chang had always been responsible for this.

Ma Jin was overjoyed.

When night fell, he went with Ma Chong and Ma Chang and a team of men to Xian He Zhuang in the city.

This Xian He Zhuang was a property of the Dou Family.

However, except for him, outsiders did not know at all, only thinking it was an ordinary restaurant.

"Brother Dou, this time you must save me."

Seated in the Heaven-grade room of Xian He Zhuang, Ma Jin cupped his hands toward a middle-aged merchant.

His name was Dou Han, and he had been responsible for contacting Ma Jin and Ma Chong.

"General Ma is too polite, but what matter has made the General so flustered?" Dou Han said. While speaking, he inadvertently glanced at the wall to the side.

Ma Jin said, "To tell you the truth, Ma Han has borrowed Yan Wang's troops and has already arrived at Qin Pass. It is estimated that he will attack in these two days. By then, I fear this Xian City will not be able to hold. If Ma Chong and I fall into Ma Han's hands, I fear the matter with the Dou Family will not be kept secret either."

Ma Chong also nodded.

Dou Han's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Ma Jin's words were clearly threatening him.

The implication was that if the Dou Family did not help him, he would reveal the matter of his collusion with the Dou Family.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he again inadvertently glanced at the wall to the side.

Ma Chang, standing behind Ma Jin, discovered Dou Han's abnormality.

Because he had just set an ambush to kill the Ma Family elders, and the situation was now critical, he was very sensitive.

He immediately felt worried, but he remained calm and did not show anything.

After all, he was just overthinking.

"Speaking of which, the Dou Family has already given me word before. General Ma, do not worry; our Dou Family will not sit idly by. Tonight, just drink to your heart's content," Dou Han smiled lightly and toasted Ma Jin.

"Really?" Ma Jin was delighted and drank a cup of Wine with Dou Han.

Dou Han nodded.

Ma Jin laughed heartily, his heart relaxing, and then the two of them exchanged cups and chatted happily.

After drinking for an hour, Ma Jin felt slightly tipsy and stood up to leave.

At this moment, a fierce glint suddenly erupted in Dou Han's eyes, and he smashed the Wine cup on the table onto the floor.

The cup shattered, and suddenly three doors appeared in the three walls, from which death warriors dressed in black surged out.

The moment Dou Han smashed the cup, Ma Chang knew something bad was about to happen.

He immediately pushed Ma Jin out of the room, stood alone at the doorway, drew his sword to resist the death warriors, and shouted, "Someone come, there are assassins!"

Ma Jin instantly sobered up, breaking out in a cold sweat from fear.

After the terror passed, he was furious to the extreme.

"I have done so much for your Dou Family, and you actually want to kill me! Men, attack for me, don't let a single one go!" Ma Jin shouted.

If Ma Chang hadn't suddenly pushed him out, he would likely have died under a flurry of blades by now.

The accompanying guards were already standing watch outside the door.

Downstairs, there were also Ma Jin's soldiers on guard, and they immediately rushed up to fight.

The sound of weapons clashing continuously emanated from the room.

Before long, Ma Chang came out of the room, dragging Dou Han's corpse in his hand.

"General, he took poison and committed suicide; there are no survivors among the death warriors," Ma Chang said.

Ma Jin was still immersed in immense rage.

"Heh heh..." Suddenly, Ma Jin began to laugh bitterly; after the bitter laughter, it was like crying and like laughing.

After a long while, he stood up and said to Ma Chang, "Ma Chang, now everyone wants to kill us."

Ma Chang said bitterly, "Since they are heartless, why should we be righteous? This subordinate just received news that Western Liang and Northern Di have formed an alliance. It is hard to say if this Great Song empire will be theirs in the future. Currently, Western Liang is closest to us; it would be better to defect to Western Liang, have the Emperor of Western Liang appoint the General as a king to govern this region, and then order Western Liang to lend us troops to resist the troops of Yan Wang."

Ma Jin was stunned for a moment; he also knew this news.

After a moment of silence, he nodded heavily, "This is all forced upon me by them."

Dou Han's assassination attempt had completely destroyed all his hopes.

"You immediately send someone to Western Liang and say that if Western Liang is willing to lend me troops and appoint me Prince of Qin to govern Qinzhou and Yongzhou, I am willing to pay homage as a subject."