Chapter 904

First Volume, Chapter 904: Tuntian Soldiers and Jiabing

Zhao Ling had fought on the Front Line and clashed with Beixi County; he recognized at a glance that these arrows were standard Beixi County issue, crafted with exceptional precision—especially the shafts, straight to the point, with not a single visible curve to the naked eye.

In contrast, their own arrows, worn down by several major battles, could only be drawn from old stockpiles, and due to prolonged storage, the shafts had warped to varying degrees.

Warped shafts directly affected the arrow's flight path, thereby diminishing its lethality.

The straighter the shaft, the farther the shot, the higher the accuracy!

At a distance of TwoHundredSteps, as both sides exchanged arrows, Zhao Ling—despite all his advantages—suffered heavy casualties, as if being massacred unopposed.

Zhao Ling gave the decisive order: "Advance!"

If they closed the distance to Hundred FiftySteps, they could offset the disparity in arrow quality.

But as Zhao Ling's troops pushed forward, Qin Feng immediately ordered his men to retreat; with only one hundred men, his force had superior mobility, and even in retreat, the formation remained intact.

Qin Feng maintained a consistent distance of one hundred eighty to two hundred twenty steps from Zhao Ling, using the superior quality of his arrows and the Beixi Soldiers' superior archery to steadily consume Zhao Ling's men.

Zhao Ling was furious to the point of despair: earlier, when facing Zhang Zhenhai, he had been confident he could annihilate those thirty Tianji Camp Guards in a prolonged fight—but… this enemy was cunning, refusing to engage, fleeing the moment things turned unfavorable.

Now facing Qin Feng, he couldn't match arrow volume, couldn't catch up despite both sides being Infantry, and after just a few exchanges, over twenty men had already been felled.

Even with ten plus Supervisors of the Army beside him, Zhao Ling could not control the situation—some soldiers were already slipping out of formation, fleeing without looking back while the Supervisors weren't watching.

Of all bad timing, Qin Feng's voice came at this very deadline.

The voice was neither humble nor arrogant, calm and composed; at first hearing, it carried no threat—but that unshakable composure in the face of disaster made Zhao Ling's scalp prickle.

"The EmperorofBeidi summoned this Marquis; I have come to Wang Du to discuss matters of state."

"You ambush me on the road—do you intend to rebel?!"

Faced with Qin Feng's accusation, the remaining soldiers' legs went weak; they had been kept in the dark, and upon learning they were to kill their target, their morale had already shattered—now, under Qin Feng's questioning, their combat will vanished entirely.

Zhao Ling gritted his teeth: "Qin Feng, Lü Zhu Guo wants your life—you die today!"

Hearing this, Qin Feng burst into laughter: "Hahahaha! Want to kill me? With your rotten potatoes and trash birds? Greatest Joke in the World!"

"My Crimson Robe Guards have already returned to Changshui to request reinforcements—right now, Ning Hu leads five hundred Beixi Soldiers and one hundred Tianji Camp Guards to come to my aid."

"Within one incense stick time, you will be totally annihilated!"

At this, Zhao Ling stammered in panic: "Lies! Even if your men returned for help, they couldn't arrive this fast—you're just bluffing!"

Qin Feng smiled as he studied Zhao Ling from afar, thinking: this fellow isn't stupid—he must be an old veteran pulled from the Front Line.

Indeed, Qin Feng was bluffing; according to Liu Ming's reconnaissance, the entire fifty Li radius had been sealed off by Night Owls—even the Anwu Guard couldn't break through, let alone reach Changshui for help.

But Qin Feng wasn't worried: this army, its morale near collapse, likely had few veterans—most were Tuntian Soldiers.

Everyone knew Tuntian Soldiers had the weakest combat effectiveness.

True combat-capable forces were either Jiabing or Jiabing.

When people thought of Jiabing, they imagined cruel enforcers who bullied the weak—but the truth was the opposite: Jiabing were mostly private guards of wealthy landowners, well-equipped, highly trained, and extremely formidable in battle.

Strictly speaking, Beixi Soldiers were Jiabing, while Tianji Camp Guards were equivalent to the Qin Family's "Jiabing"—Qin Feng's personal guard.

These Tuntian Soldiers before him? Merely lambs.

How many lambs could a tiger care about?

Qin Feng didn't regard them at all; he sneered: "One incense stick time remains until reinforcements arrive—then every last one of you will lose your head!"

Saying this, Qin Feng's gaze sharpened as he scanned the soldiers, lowering his voice deliberately: "I am here by order of the EmperorofBeidi—if you persist in your folly, your Nine Clans will be exterminated!"

"I give you one final chance: bring me Zhao Ling's head, and you will be pardoned and dismissed on the spot—no further punishment!"

At these words, Zhao Ling suddenly felt a chill crawl down his back; he stole glances at his men and saw their eyes turning increasingly hostile.

Zhao Ling quickly gathered his Supervisors of the Army around him and roared at the soldiers: "If you dare defy Lü Zhu Guo, you will die without a whole corpse!"

At that moment, Qin Feng's voice came again: "Lü Zhu Guo? Hahahaha—that old villain dares ambush me? When I reach Wang Du, I'll uproot him entirely!"

"You needn't fear—Lü Li won't have time to punish you; he'll be killed first."

These words became the final straw.

The soldiers, now without hesitation, raised their blades and lunged at Zhao Ling with snarls.

Zhao Ling's Supervisors of the Army, though brave, were swiftly slaughtered under overwhelming odds—several times, even ten times their number.

Zhao Ling fought desperately with a spear, but alone, he could make no difference; soon, a blade stabbed him from behind, then his head was severed in one stroke.

One soldier raised Zhao Ling's head high and shouted: "Marquis Qin! We were deceived by this man—we didn't know we were ambushing the Marquis Qin! Please, Marquis, spare our lives!"

Qin Feng gave no reply; he simply waved his hand, signaling a Beixi Soldier to retrieve Zhao Ling's head, then turned to the trembling soldiers and said gravely: "I always keep my word. Since you've turned back from error, I grant you your lives—disband on the spot!"

The soldiers exhaled in relief and fled without looking back.

Seeing this, Li Xiaolan frowned slightly, riding up beside Qin Feng to whisper: "Feng'er, are the Bei Di soldiers really this weak? So easily do they mutiny?"

Qin Feng smiled: "The Bei Di National Treasury is empty—they can't afford so many Elite Troops. All true Elite Troops are under the EmperorofBeidi's control. Lü Li can only muster Tuntian Soldiers."

"If these were real Elite Troops, the scene would be entirely different."