Chapter 223: No Honor Among Thieves

Tu Tu Kesiluo grabbed Li Bo by the collar, his eyes full of amusement. A sinister smile curled his lips as he said to Li Bo, "Don't rush; my lord hasn't arrived yet, so you can't die just like that. You are our great hero; without you, how could we have captured Wucheng so easily?"

Speaking thus, he turned his head and ordered the soldiers behind him, "Take Li Bo away and guard him well; do not let anything happen to him. If anything befalls him, you will all wait to be flayed and have your tendons pulled by my lord."

As he spoke, he gripped the sword hilt tightly, the blade flashing with cold light. Though his tone was relaxed, it carried an air of unquestionable authority. Behind him followed a group of soldiers clad in black, each with a cold expression and holding sharp weapons; they were Tu Tu Kesiluo's trusted subordinates and his most capable helpers.

Hearing Tu Tu Kesiluo's command, the soldiers hurriedly replied, "Yes!"

They stepped forward and took Li Bo from Tu Tu Kesiluo's hands, acting with extreme caution for fear of angering Tu Tu Kesiluo, for they knew this man's temper and methods were not to be trifled with.

To prevent Li Bo from seizing the chance to commit suicide, the soldiers specifically stuffed a cloth strip into his mouth; bound tightly and unable to move, he could only watch helplessly as Tu Tu Kesiluo and others flaunted themselves without restraint on his own territory.

Night had fallen when Jiang Jiang Mingyu, leading sixty thousand elite troops, finally entered the gates of Wucheng; he dismounted and took a step, about to question Tu Tu Kesiluo, when suddenly he heard an unusual sound of bowstrings. Startled, he quickly turned to look, only to see countless cold lights flashing from a pavilion in the night sky—rows of bows aimed directly at him and his men.

"Surname Jiang, go die!" an arrogant voice shouted down from the pavilion.

The teeth-gritting sound of drawn bows rang out, and a feathered arrow shot toward Jiang Jiang Mingyu.

Seeing the danger, Zhang Zhang Jiaqi immediately grabbed Jiang Jiang Mingyu, pulling him down the steps and spinning him around; just as a whistling wind passed his ear, a long black arrow had already arrived, and had Zhang Zhang Jiaqi not reacted so quickly, Jiang Jiang Mingyu's inspection would have turned into a perilous situation.

Zhang Zhang Jiaqi pulled hard, dragging Jiang Jiang Mingyu behind her; agile as a swallow, she spun in mid-air to dodge that fatal arrow, feeling the wind howling past her ears and her heart pounding, while silently praying in her heart: My lord Jiang, you must absolutely not come to harm!

Pulled by Zhang Zhang Jiaqi, Jiang Jiang Mingyu stumbled a few steps to the side; just as he steadied himself, he heard a whoosh sound by his ear. Instinctively reaching up to touch his ear, he found he was unharmed; letting out a sigh of relief, he turned to look at Zhang Zhang Jiaqi, and seeing the worry and concern on her beautiful face, he felt warmth in his heart and said gratefully, "Holy crap, no honor among thieves! Zhang Jiaqi, thanks to you, otherwise my little life would have been handed over right here!"

While Jiang Jiang Mingyu and Zhang Zhang Jiaqi were speaking, a miserable scream rang out; turning to look, they saw a guard who had been following behind Jiang Jiang Mingyu lying in a pool of blood.

He was one of Jiang Jiang Mingyu's personal guards, originally meant to protect his lord's safety, yet who would have thought this single arrow would pierce straight through his left eye socket, spraying his brains all over the ground; before he could utter a single word, he collapsed lifelessly.

The sound of the corpse hitting the ground startled Jiang Jiang Mingyu, for he had nearly been finished; since raising his army until now, aside from the Battle of Lingna, this was the first time he had encountered such a tense situation, and thinking of this, Jiang Jiang Mingyu couldn't help but shout aloud.

"Dog Egg! Surround these bastards for me! Tu Tu Kesiluo! Drag out that bitch who fired the cold arrow for me!" he roared in a fit of rage.

Actually, without needing his order, Li Dog Egg, who had witnessed everything, was already furious.

As one of Jiang Jiang Mingyu's most loyal and brave generals, having shared hardships and joys with Jiang Jiang Mingyu for many years, he was enraged upon seeing his lord nearly assassinated.

"What are you all standing there for? Didn't you hear what my lord said? Surround these damn turtle grandsons for me!" he shouted loudly, waving a large blade in his hand.

Following behind him were several thousand elite soldiers, veterans tested through countless battles; upon hearing Li Dog Egg's command, they immediately formed up and charged toward the pavilion.

To dare harm Jiang Jiang Mingyu was a capital crime; in less time than it takes to blink an eye, Jiang Jiang Mingyu's sixty thousand men had surrounded Li Bo's thirty thousand troops so tightly that not even water could leak through.

Having originally thought his ambush would eliminate Jiang Jiang Mingyu in one stroke, he unexpectedly fell into a predicament instead; looking at Jiang Jiang Mingyu's cold and sharp gaze, his heart panicked, for the ambusher knew he could not escape today.

Immediately, Tu Tu Kesiluo flashed forward and threw the enemy soldier who had fired the hidden arrow right in front of Jiang Jiang Mingyu.

"Big Brother, this bastard nearly took your life; he is the one who fired that hidden arrow."

He pointed at the longbow in that enemy soldier's hand, making it clear to Jiang Jiang Mingyu at a glance.

With just one order from Jiang Jiang Mingyu, he would without hesitation tear this enemy soldier to pieces; Jiang Jiang Mingyu stared coldly at the enemy on the ground and asked, each word ringing like metal.

"You want to kill me, don't you?" His voice brimmed with endless killing intent, sending chills down one's spine.

Yet that enemy soldier showed not a shred of fear, instead lifting his head proudly to reply, "Yes, I intend to kill you; you sinister and cunning fellow, you used schemes to capture my lord, and you deserve to die ten thousand deaths."

"Not only that, all of you people deserve to die, especially that traitor Meng Meng Fujun who sold out his country for glory; you are all enemies of my lord."

"Even if I cannot kill you today, I will not let you have an easy time; even if I die, I will become a vengeful ghost to haunt you." Speaking thus, he glared fiercely at Zhang Zhang Jiaqi and said with hatred, "And you, you cheap woman; if not for you, that petty man surnamed Jiang would have long been beheaded by me under his horse."

"Don't think you'll have peace either; you will surely suffer heaven's retribution and die a horrible death..." His voice grew louder and louder until it became almost a scream.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu smiled lightly. "Very well, you do have courage and insight; you count as someone of stature."

"Men, flay this fellow and pull his tendons to see if he can still become a vengeful ghost." No sooner had the words left his mouth than several soldiers stepped forward to pin down that enemy soldier, slicing him into pieces amidst his screams.

Blood dyed the horizon red, and flames illuminated severed limbs and wreckage.

Li Bo, bound to a pillar with a cloth stuffed in his mouth, watched all this with his eyes wide open.

His heart was filled with remorse; if today he had not listened to Su Su Zimo's strategy to ambush Jiang Jiang Mingyu, even in a frontal battle, he would not have ended up in such a plight.

Moreover, regarding the brother who fought desperately for him, he hadn't even remembered his name.

He wished he could tear Jiang Jiang Mingyu into ten thousand pieces; if only he could find a sliver of hope for survival today, he swore to be irreconcilable enemies with him until death.

Li Bo's roaring screams reached Jiang Jiang Mingyu's ears; turning his head, he sneered. "Li Bo, are you very angry, wanting to eat Jiang Mou alive and peel him raw? Unfortunately, you brought this upon yourself, so you cannot blame others." Looking at the other's terrified gaze, he spoke indifferently.

"Since that is the case, Jiang Mou will not waste more words; in any event, I never intended to spare you." Li Bo's mouth emitted a series of muffled sounds, clearly cursing Jiang Jiang Mingyu.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu paid him no heed, merely addressing the thirty thousand people trapped within the city. "Look at your lord; he has no hope left, so what else do you intend to do?" Facing Jiang Jiang Mingyu's cold expression and the bloody mess on the ground, all thirty thousand men shivered.

The scene just now was too brutal; they simply could not imagine how painful it would be if it were themselves in that position.

With a clang, one militia member could not help but drop his weapon; immediately followed by a second, then a third... before long, all thirty thousand knelt before Jiang Jiang Mingyu.

"We beg you to spare us; we are willing to surrender; that arrow just now had nothing to do with us." Yet Jiang Jiang Mingyu had long ago decided to exterminate these people.

Toward the common people, he could be benevolent and generous, but toward enemies, he would show no mercy.

"Dog Egg, execute these people along with Li Bo to vent my anger for me."

In any case, Wucheng was already in hand, and the card named Li Bo held no further value; in the moments that followed, amidst the flash of blades and swords, the original thirty thousand who had surrendered inside Wucheng ceased breathing in a pool of blood.