Leng Lianfeng ordered his Personal Guards to escort Zhao Yan to rest. The military doctors accompanied them to care for Zhao Yan in case of any emergencies.
Suddenly, another Wind-Catching Secret Agent hurried into the tent, delivering several urgent intelligence reports.
With Governor Zhao unconscious, the authority of the Conductor temporarily fell into Leng Lianfeng’s hands. This was a contingency plan they had made well in advance.
Taking the reports, Leng Lianfeng’s brows knitted tightly together.
"Tiger Fist Demon, Fast Blade Demon, and even the Lone Goose Guest of the Eight-direction Mountain People have all appeared in Zou County? Hmph. What a capable Praise Envoy Xu Hongru is, to actually mobilize so much of the White Lotus Sect’s forces."
Although Xu Hongru had been attacking in all directions, he had yet to deploy his true experts. This was why Leng Lianfeng and a group of Silver Orders had stayed behind in Yanzhou—if this Prefecture City was lost, all of Shandong would be in danger.
Leng Lianfeng snorted. The number of White Lotus Sect experts in Zou County was steadily increasing. Counting the White Lotus Sect forces causing riots in Qingzhou, Dengzhou, and Laizhou, Shandong alone had gathered nearly a quarter of the renowned experts of the White Lotus Sect.
Not to mention those supporting the Bangchui Association in Hebei. What exactly was the White Lotus Sect plotting?
Leng Lianfeng couldn’t figure it out. He could only order the Wind-Catching Secret Agents lurking in Zou County to continue gathering information.
Leng Lianfeng flipped to another report. This one detailed the White Lotus Sect’s offensive on Xia Town.
Zou County and Teng County were originally vital sections for water transport along the Canal. Xia Town was the absolute most crucial node on this stretch of the Canal.
Now that Zou and Teng had completely fallen into the hands of the rebel army, Xia Town absolutely could not be lost.
The secret report stated that just an hour ago, Xu Hongru’s brother, Xu Heyu, launched a sudden, fierce attack on Xia Town. Moreover, over a dozen Aliens had appeared in his army. They were invulnerable to blades and spears, possessed immense strength, and felt no pain, instantly tearing several holes in the defensive line.
If Garrison Commander Peng Zheng had not led his men in a bloody battle, beheading several Aliens in succession, they wouldn’t have been able to repel Xu Heyu and secure Xia Town.
However, the defending army suffered heavy casualties, and Peng Zheng was severely injured in the process. The defenders of Xia Town hastily sent a message to Yanzhou, requesting reinforcements and experts—experts capable of slaying the Aliens.
Leng Lianfeng stood up abruptly and summoned a Personal Guard. "Immediately order Yang Guodong to lead troops to reinforce Xia Town.
"These Aliens that are invulnerable to blades and spears must be the product of a Demon Technique of the White Lotus Sect. Xia Town needs experts... Chen Copper Order, I can only trouble you to make a trip. Take a group of Divine Robes and reinforce Xia Town alongside Yang Guodong."
"Yes, sir," Chen Xin accepted the order. He then continued, "Leng Gold Order, the soldiers of Xia Town are exhausted and General Peng is injured. Yet, the Demon Thieves’ Aliens haven’t suffered much loss. They might launch another siege in a short amount of time."
Hearing this, Leng Lianfeng immediately nodded.
"Chen Copper Order, you and your men ride ahead on fast horses. Don’t wait for the official army. Speed is of the essence!"
***
The lineage of the White Lotus Sect could be traced all the way back to the White Lotus Society of the Tang and Song Dynasties. Over a thousand years of transitions, the White Lotus Sect had absorbed various small sects and factions, embracing all who came. There was no telling how many Qimen and Abnormal Skills they had harvested along the way.
It was not surprising that they possessed this kind of Magic for refining Aliens.
From the intelligence sent from Xia Town, Chen Xin could deduce that while the Aliens on the battlefield were invulnerable to blades and spears and possessed immense strength, this was only true when facing Ordinary soldiers.
Otherwise, Xu Heyu’s offensive wouldn’t have been repelled by Peng Zheng, who led the Martial Artists in the army.
Chen Xin led twenty Divine Robe Imperial Guards, bypassing Zou County and Teng County via backroads, and rushed toward Xia Town along the Grand Canal.
The usually endless stream of merchant and grain ships was nowhere to be seen, leaving only an empty waterway.
The relatively low city walls of Xia Town appeared ahead.
When Chen Xin’s group of twenty riders approached the side gates, the skittish defending soldiers were startled and immediately prepared to nock their arrows. Fortunately, a sharp-eyed companion stopped them; the attire of these newcomers was completely different from that of the rebel army’s Aliens.
A General climbed the city wall. Chen Xin channeled his Inner Strength into his palm and tossed his Divine Robe Copper Order up.
"It’s the experts from the Divine Robe Guard!" Taking the Token and inspecting it carefully, the General was overjoyed. He quickly ordered his subordinates to let them in.
Less than fifteen minutes after Chen Xin entered the city, deafening war cries erupted outside. Xu Heyu’s grand army was attacking once again!
The Demon Thieves Army brought up Cloud Ladders that they had just constructed from local materials. Braving the defenders’ rain of arrows, they forcefully propped them against the city wall. The soldiers below immediately swarmed up the Cloud Ladders like ants, preparing to storm the walls. Several figures even dashed ahead at speeds far exceeding normal humans.
"Rolling stones! Logs! Golden juice!" the Garrison Commander roared.
The soldiers brought over the collected rolling stones and logs, as well as the boiling Golden juice, preparing to pour them down on the enemy troops scaling the Cloud Ladders.
A figure wielding dual sabers charged up a Cloud Ladder, appearing before the defenders like a phantom.
It was an Alien, invulnerable to blades and spears and possessing immense strength!
"A monster! A monster has come up!"
The defending soldiers turned pale with terror. Last time, it was these very Aliens who first scaled the walls, tore open gaps in the defenses, and recklessly hacked many men into mincemeat. Their counterattacks had been completely useless; thrusting a long spear at them didn’t even leave a scratch.
As the Alien raised its dual sabers, the defending soldiers widened their eyes, their bodies going soft. They recognized this guy; it was the monster who had hacked down thirty of their brothers last time, only being repelled by General Peng after both of its sabers were chipped and rolled.
SWISH—
The Alien brought its dual sabers crashing down.
The defending soldier closed his eyes and ducked his head, waiting for death.
THUD!
It was the sound of a hard object hitting the ground. The defending soldier let out a whimper of fear and hurriedly felt his head, only to find that it hadn’t fallen off.
He quickly opened his eyes and saw that the seemingly invulnerable Alien had been decapitated and was now collapsed on the ground. A handsome, starry-eyed Divine Robe Guard with sword-like eyebrows stood there with a saber in hand, looking like a descending deity. It was one of the men who had just arrived as reinforcements!
The defending soldiers were ecstatic. They could kill the Aliens! Thank goodness, Xia Town was saved!
"He never practiced martial arts; he was clearly an Ordinary person," Chen Xin muttered to himself as he stared at the Alien he had just killed. "Yet, he possessed defenses comparable to Copper Skin and Iron Bones, the strength of an ox, and bizarrely fast speed. This makes no sense!"
Chen Xin half-squatted and probed his Divine Illumination Internal Power into the Alien’s body. Sure enough, while the Alien appeared normal on the surface, its Life Force had been completely overdrawn; it hadn’t been far from death anyway.
He mused, "As expected, power doesn’t just come from nowhere..."
On the city wall, the battle was extremely intense. The Demon Thieves Army’s Aliens rushed up en masse, tearing into the defenders like tigers among a flock of sheep. The garrison was thrown into utter chaos, leaving them with no time to deal with the enemy soldiers scaling the Cloud Ladders.
Fortunately, the twenty Divine Robe Guards brought by Chen Xin were there. Although they weren’t as strong as Chen Xin, they were still far superior to Ordinary soldiers. They each executed their Saber Skills and Sword Skills to restrain the Aliens, preventing them from slaughtering the defenders on the wall.
With the Divine Robe Guards joining the fray, the wall’s defensive line ceased to crumble. The defenders poured down logs, rolling stones, and Golden juice, inflicting massive casualties on the Demon Thieves Army scaling the walls like ants.
In the rear of the Demon Thieves Army.
Overlooking the entire battlefield and seeing his troops fail to take the wall despite prolonged efforts—even being pushed back off it—Xu Heyu stomped his feet in fury. "Damn it! Chen Canyu, I need more Snake Slaves!"
As Xu Hongru’s brother, he was responsible for attacking Xia Town and completely cutting off the Grand Canal.
However, because no true experts or additional troops had been sent to reinforce him, Xu Heyu had been entirely unable to chew through Xia Town’s defenses.
He had finally managed to requisition the Golden Snake Demon of the White Lotus Sect from Zou County. By refining Snake Slaves to siege the city, they had achieved a breakthrough and heavily crippled the defenders. Seeing that Xia Town was on the verge of falling, he never expected this assault to be thwarted once again.
How could Xu Heyu, who was eager to establish his merit, possibly accept this?
Beside Xu Heyu stood an elegant man in his twenties. His brows were deeply furrowed. "Xia Town’s experts were completely wiped out during the last attack. They shouldn’t be able to block the Snake Slaves’ advance."
"Twelve Hours. Calculating the time, could your Snake Slaves have died up there?" Xu Heyu blurted out.
"Hmph. Foolish," the Golden Snake Demon, Chen Canyu, said, shooting him a sideways glance. Even if this man was the Praise Envoy’s brother, Chen Canyu would insult him without hesitation. "The Snake Mother’s venom forcibly overdraws the Snake Slaves’ Life Force, stimulating a frenzy that lasts exactly Twelve Hours—not a moment less. We only refined the Snake Slaves last night. How could their time be up today?
"In my opinion, the Court’s experts have arrived..." Suddenly, his expression changed, and he looked toward the north. A cloud of billowing Dust rose in the distance—a unit of the official army was rushing over!
"Dammit!" Xu Heyu’s expression drastically changed.
Atop the walls of Xia Town.
The defenders also spotted the reinforcements from Yanzhou Prefecture from afar. Everyone’s morale skyrocketed. Their exhausted bodies drew strength from nowhere, fiercely hacking at the rebel army with slash after vicious slash.
Chen Xin’s figure wove across the city wall. The Majestic Seven Luminaries Finger reaped the lives of the Aliens restrained by the Divine Robe Guards one after another.
At the same time, he was experimenting with the Soul-Stealing Secret Manual to see if he could control these frenzied creatures.
The vast majority of the Aliens were impossible to control. Madness had completely swept through their Heart Spirits. Their minds contained nothing but an urge to kill—there was simply nothing else left.
Fortunately, a few Aliens still retained a shred of sanity and memory.
Chen Xin used the Soul-Stealing Secret Manual to expel their frenzy before questioning them. These controlled Aliens would then comprehend Chen Xin’s questions using their residual sanity and answer based on their remaining memories.
After controlling and interrogating several Aliens in a row, Chen Xin finally pieced together the truth behind these "Aliens."
"Golden Snake Demon..."
"Snake Mother..."