Chapter 786: Saved and Reborn

Shatter-crystal gun! Target, poison-mist sprayer! Three-shot rapid fire!

Yue Fei's order was sent via a short-range transmission device, clearly reaching the ears of the twenty elite archers scattered and lying in wait.

They had already set up their weapons, breathing steadily, their sights locked on the few toad-shaped mutant beasts that were continuously spraying poison mist, exerting tremendous pressure on the Ming troops at the breach.

Fire!

Hiss—!

Twenty faint momentum-energy pulse beams, under the cover of battlefield noise, shot out almost simultaneously!

These beams are invisible to the naked eye, but when they hit a target, they burst forth!

Unlike the explosion or penetration of gunpowder weapons, momentum-energy pulses act more like 'dissociation' or 'neutralization' on dark-energy constructs.

I saw the thick, slime- and cyst-covered dorsal sacs of those poison-mist sprayers; where the beams struck, the eerie blue light flickered and dimmed, then violent energy clashes erupted inside.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A muffled explosion rang out.

The sacs didn't burst completely, but huge scorched holes appeared on their surface; the stored high-concentration poison mist mixed with viscous bodily fluid sprayed out uncontrollably, dousing nearby low-rank battle slaves who couldn't dodge, corroding them with a sizzling sound.

The continuous poison-mist spraying came to an abrupt halt.

At the breach, the Ming troops, who had been unable to lift their heads under the poison mist, suddenly felt the pressure ease!

Now! Charge!

The main force of the Northward Aspiration army, lying in wait on the opposite side, under the deputy commander's lead, burst forth like an arrow from a bow, advancing in a loose infantry charge toward the predetermined target—the barracks ruins near the breach.

Their appearance was extremely sudden, their speed extremely fast, and their charge route cleverly avoided several enemy concentration points.

Only after they had crossed half the distance did nearby Qing units react.

Several squads of battle slaves howled, attempting to intercept.

"Don't stop! Use the armor-breaking pick to clear the way! Charge through!" the deputy commander roared; his specially forged strange-metal longsword glowed with a faint golden light, cleaving an obstructing battle slave, armor and all, in half.

Northward Aspiration soldiers swung their blades in silence; their honed, ruthless close-combat skills, seamless coordination, and equipment advantage quickly tore a bloody path through the intercepting battle-slave squads.

People kept falling, but the tip of the charge never stalled.

Finally, after paying the cost of dozens of casualties, the remaining over three hundred Northward Aspiration troops successfully stormed the ruins' high ground.

"Hold the position! Unfurl the flag!"

The dark-red 'Aspiration' character flag was quickly tied to a broken beam and raised high!

The flag unfurled in the wind amid the pervasive gunpowder smoke and eerie blue mist!

Its vivid color and unfamiliar insignia immediately caught the attention of the Ming troops fighting desperately on the city wall!

"What is that?!"

"Reinforcements? Where did reinforcements come from?!"

"I've never seen that banner before!"

Amid the doubtful shouts, Xu Da was the first to spot that flag.

He was drenched in blood, his left arm wound hastily bandaged, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

The flag's style, the ancient seal script on it——were absolutely none of any force he knew!

But they were attacking the Qing forces!

Moreover, their method of attack——those beams, that peculiar yet effective harm to dark-energy units——

A near‑ridiculous yet hopeful spark of an idea flashed across his weary mind.

The Chen dynasty?!

That which exists only in the most top‑secret files and the emperor's offhand remarks—a legend from beyond the light curtain?

"Whoever they are, they're helping us!" Xu Da bellowed hoarsely, "Concentrate fire, support them! Clear out the dark‑energy rabble near the breach!"

The Ming army's cannons and firearms instinctively began to direct their fire toward the Qing troops around that flag.

Although aim suffered from the chaos, the sheer momentum was terrifying and succeeded in pinning down part of the enemy.

On the ruins' high ground, the Northward Aspiration forces hastily erected a simple defensive line.

"Set up the portable generators! Purify the surrounding poison mist!"

"Snipers, focus on eliminating nearby enemy commander units—those with high crystallization and guards around them!"

The deputy commander quickly deployed.

Several small momentum‑energy neutralizers were set up, emitting a steady golden halo that dispersed the poison mist and dark‑energy corrosion within dozens of steps of the high ground, granting the exhausted Ming troops a rare patch of respite.

Meanwhile, the Northward Aspiration troops' precise shatter‑crystal gun fire began systematically eliminating those seemingly insignificant dark‑energy units that might be command nodes.

At this moment, Yue Fei's sniper team had already shifted position.

They had attracted some pursuers, but after securing footing on the ruins' high ground, the pressure suddenly lessened.

"Move toward the wall! Find an entry into the city!" Yue Fei ordered decisively.

They moved swiftly along the shadow at the base of the wall, clearing small enemy groups along the way, and finally discovered a half‑collapsed soldiers' hideout caused by an explosion, inside which seemed to be a passage leading into the city.

"Go in!"

Almost at the same time.

Before the Martial Hero Hall plaza, Zhu Yuanzhang refused the last suggestion to evacuate by boat through the water gate.

"I, will not go."

His voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable resolve.

"Your Majesty! The north city has been breached in multiple places! If we don't leave now……" Liu Ji's voice trembled with urgency.

"I said, I will not go." Zhu Yuanzhang cut him off, his gaze sweeping over the chaotic court to the north, where flames and smoke rose skyward.

Then he saw it.

In the midst of the sky filled with dark blue and smoke, a strange, dark red flag stubbornly rose on some ruins.

The characters on the flag were clear to him.

Aspiration

An indescribable throbbing, as if rising from deep within his blood, struck him without warning.

It was not a memory.

It was a kind of… resonance.

"That is…" he murmured.

At that moment, a squad of soldiers smeared with black ash and blue-green slime, wearing peculiar armor, led by a burly commander wielding a long halberd, broke through the scattered resistance at the palace outskirts and charged straight toward the Hall of Martial Glory!

The Embroidered Uniform Guard protecting him were startled, just about to intervene.

"Stop!" Zhu Yuanzhang bellowed.

He fixed his gaze on the commander at the very front.

He also saw him, his steps unceasing, yet he raised his hand and performed an extremely ancient, somewhat unfamiliar salute of clasped fists.

The motion was crisp, carrying the sharp vigor of a veteran of countless battles and a kind of… indescribable vicissitude.

"Chen Dynasty, Northward Aspiration Army Commander, Yue Fei." The commander's voice cut through the clamor, clear as he said, "By order of our sovereign, I have come specially to escort His Majesty the Hongwu Emperor in retreat!"

Yue Fei?!

The Chen Dynasty?!

Behind Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, Liu Ji, Tang He and the others were struck as if by lightning, dumbfounded.

That name… that name which should have fallen at Fengbo Ting hundreds of years ago?!

Zhu Yuanzhang, however, seemed to have long sensed it; he merely drew a deep breath of air thick with the smell of scorched flesh and blood.

"Conditions?" he asked, his voice unusually calm.

"Nothing else." Yue Fei had already reached the steps, his eyes like torches, "But please, Your Majesty, quickly follow my troops in breaking out. The light‑curtain passage will open only for a limited time; this place… cannot be lingered in."

"My subjects…"

"Your Majesty!" Yue Fei's tone suddenly grew grave, "To preserve the people is to preserve the land; lose the land and you can still save both! The spark of civilization outweighs a lone city! Please decide swiftly!"

At that moment, from the sky farther north came a heart‑pounding, low hum like a giant beast stirring awake.

Those several floating dark‑energy nodes once again began to wildly converge their light, their target… appearing to lock onto the imperial palace!

"Go!" Zhu Yuanzhang said harshly, without further hesitation.

"Xu Da, Tang He, Liu Ji, Li Shan… and the chief artisan of the Investigation of Things Institute, the keeper of the Library Pavilion… follow me!"

"The rest of you, fight on your own, scatter and break out! Preserve your lives as much as possible!"

The decision was made.

The trusted ministers and key personnel named, after a brief shock, quickly gathered.

Yue Fei waved his hand; the Northward Aspiration troops immediately stepped forward, shielding these people in the center and handing out simple breathing masks and anti‑contaminant potions.

"Route?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

"Return the way we came, exit the city through the Soldiers' Cave, link up with my main force, then charge the gap!" Yue Fei spoke rapidly, "Your Majesty, please keep close behind me!"

No more nonsense.

This odd force, composed of the Chen Dynasty's elite and the core of the Ming court, under Yue Fei's lead, advanced toward the Soldiers' Cave they had come from, against the fleeing crowds and scattered enemy incursions, launching a desperate reverse charge!

Their goal was no longer to hold fast.

But rather the flag bearing the 'Aspiration' character fluttering above the ruins, and beyond it, that illusory yet now sole path to survival—the light‑curtain passage.

The road to salvation, each step trod upon burning homeland and piled corpses.