Jushan City.
Qu Dubian rested for two days, taking the opportunity to thoroughly familiarize himself with the situation in this city.
The garrison here numbered about fifteen thousand.
This included cooks, militia, and other reserve personnel.
The proper regular army totaled around ten thousand, with over a dozen Commanders of a Thousand and a hundred Commanders of a Hundred.
According to Qu Dubian's rank, he could command upward of five thousand men, but he only selected a unit of one thousand, intending to train them into his own direct subordinates in the Northern Frontier.
Er Sen showed him the roster of the Commanders of a Thousand. "There are eleven in total. Their military records, names, and all other information are right here. You just need to select one Commander of a Thousand to be your deputy general, and then pick the rest of the soldiers."
Naturally, simply looking at a list wouldn't reveal much. Qu Dubian casually pointed at a name. "Let's look at this one first."
Er Sen said, "Ah, him..."
Qu Dubian asked, "What's wrong?"
Er Sen replied, "There's nothing wrong with the man himself, but he's a bit of a troublemaker."
Qu Dubian was curious. "How much of a troublemaker?"
Military camp.
A voice full of disbelief drifted out from a tent. "What did you say?!"
"The Seventh Prince chose me?!"
Ye Lianyang pointed at his own nose. "I have to go be his deputy general?"
He was about twenty years old with a somewhat roguish appearance. Right now, his face was full of shock, and the withered yellow blade of grass he had been chewing on fell from his mouth.
Surrounding him were several other Commanders of a Thousand who were good friends of his. Seeing his expression, they burst into laughter. "That's right, it's you! What's wrong with following the Seventh Prince? Maybe you'll just have to keep him company and won't even need to fight."
Ye Lianyang said in annoyance, "What do you know? Getting an extra superior over my head for no reason, how is that a good thing?"
Moreover, he had heard that the Seventh Prince was not even seventeen yet, not even of age. He was just a half-grown kid. What did he know about marching and fighting? Was he looking for a deputy general or a wet nurse?
Perhaps the soldiers on the Northern Frontier all shared a stereotype about princes raised with endless pampering in the capital: they were precious porcelain dolls that needed to be placed on a pedestal and offered tribute. If they accidentally broke the doll, their own heads would likely roll too.
So, unless absolutely necessary, everyone tried to stay as far away from them as possible.
As early as the night the news spread that General Er Sen was going to select a deputy general for the Seventh Prince, they had all silently raised their hearts into their throats.
Please, whatever you do, don't let it be me!
Someone gave him an idea. "When the time comes, whatever the Seventh Prince asks you to do, just act clumsy. He definitely won't want you then."
Ye Lianyang replied, "What if he happens to like clumsy deputy generals?"
"Then pretend to be sick."
Ye Lianyang shot back, "Do you think I could hide that from General Er Sen?"
"Uh..."
An older man spoke up slowly, "The Seventh Prince isn't as arrogant and spoiled as you all think. He actually has real skills."
They probably hadn't even inquired about the Seventh Prince's bandit-suppression exploits before slapping the spoiled label on him. Or perhaps they had heard, but only believed a fraction of it. After all, the border soldiers' stereotypes of capital princes couldn't be changed overnight.
The soldier who had come to summon Ye Lianyang to the main general's tent urged helplessly, "Sir, shouldn't you head over first?"
Dragging it out like this and making the main general and the prince wait was really not appropriate.
Ye Lianyang jumped down from the table and dusted off his behind. "Let's go. I just don't want to work for him, so I'll reject him openly and honestly."
"No way, Brother Ye. You're going to directly defy a prince?"
"He's the Marquis's little grandson. Aren't you afraid he'll make things difficult for you?"
Ye Lianyang scoffed, "I've made my way here with this exact temper. I've had things made difficult for me plenty of times. He can suppress me, but he can't kill me. Once he leaves, I'll still be able to make a name for myself."
General Er Sen valued the moral character of his soldiers. As long as their character passed muster, he appointed people based solely on merit. As long as one didn't mess up on major matters of right and wrong, capable people would always be recognized.
After he left, the other Commanders of a Thousand and Commanders of a Hundred who weren't on patrol duty today pushed and shoved each other, eventually all crowding over to follow him.
"Go, go, go! There's a show to watch."
"Ouch, hurry up, you stepped on my shoe!"
Inside the main general's tent.
Qu Dubian heard the commotion outside.
A young voice pierced through the tent. "This humble general, Ye Lianyang, greets the Seventh Prince."
Er Sen said, "He's here. Let's go out."
Qu Dubian lifted the tent flap. He saw a lightly armored general half-kneeling in front of him. He was quite young, with somewhat roguish features. His hair was a bit of a withered yellow, styled into bangs swept to the left, covering one eye.
"..."
His look was a bit alternative.
He said, "Rise."
Er Sen said mildly, "You are late. What were you doing?"
Ye Lianyang cupped his fists. "Reporting to the General, this subordinate does not wish to be the Seventh Prince's deputy general, nor do I wish to be a soldier under his command! I ask the Seventh Prince to choose someone else."
Qu Dubian looked thoughtful as he glanced around at the surrounding soldiers.
He guessed there was no small number of Commanders of a Thousand and Commanders of a Hundred among them.
The aura of these men was different from the soldiers in Qingzhou and Jizhou; they carried much more of a battle-hardened air.
Er Sen scolded, "Ye Lianyang, you are a soldier. Soldiers follow orders. Do you have the right to pick and choose your commanding officer?"
Ye Lianyang muttered, "Soldiers follow orders, but the person on top has to be worth listening to. If the person commanding us can't earn our respect, isn't the chance of something going wrong even greater..."
Er Sen, worried that Qu Dubian would get angry, hardened his face. "Get out of here and take twenty strokes of the military cane."
If he got beaten, he wouldn't have to be chosen.
Before Ye Lianyang could even show a look of joy, Qu Dubian interjected, "Don't. He makes a good point."
He walked up to Ye Lianyang and circled him once.
"You're right. But according to what you said, the selection between a general and a deputy should be mutual. Since you are so picky about me, what abilities do you have to make me feel you are qualified to pick and choose your commander?"
Ye Lianyang puffed out his chest. "Six surprise attacks on the enemy, all victorious! As for martial skills in this camp, if this subordinate claims to be first, no one dares claim to be second!"
Qu Dubian looked at Er Sen. "Uncle Er Sen, has he fought you?"
Er Sen nodded. "He is quite talented in martial arts. When neither of us uses lethal moves, he beats me by half a move." It was just that his personality was too arrogant; in Jushan City, he only listened to Er Sen's orders.
Qu Dubian's interest was piqued. "Have you fought Xia Fuyang?"
Ye Lianyang hesitated before saying, "We crossed blows, but the young General Xia defeated me bare-handed in ten moves."
Qu Dubian patted his shoulder. "I'll give you a one-hand handicap and only use ten moves. On the martial arts stage, if you can knock me down, I will admit you have the right to pick and choose your commander."
"A one-hand handicap??"
"Ten moves??"
Low gasps of shock rippled through the surroundings.
After a moment of astonishment, Ye Lianyang immediately agreed, saying, "Alright, you said it yourself. However, this humble general thinks we can just spar normally."
Er Sen frowned. "Ye Lianyang!"
Yi Shier stopped him, shaking his head and saying in a low voice, "His Highness is very strong."
Qu Dubian had already taken the initiative to drag Ye Lianyang toward the martial arts arena. Along the way, who knew how many soldiers heard the news and sneaked over to watch the spectacle.
By the time the two stood on the stage, a large crowd had already gathered.
Er Sen hadn't expected the Seventh Prince to actively spar with Ye Lianyang. "You are His Highness's personal guard? Ye Lianyang is different from the others. When he fights, he sometimes goes crazy."
He was the type who fought more fiercely the longer a battle went on.
"What if His Highness gets hurt?"
Yi Shier replied, "I am here. He won't."
On the stage.
Qu Dubian raised a hand to tighten the colorful hair tie on his head, then placed one hand behind his back and said to Ye Lianyang, who was also bare-handed, "You can still choose a weapon."
Ye Lianyang: "That would be taking too much advantage of you."
Qu Dubian thought to himself, not letting you use a weapon is the real bullying. "You better choose one. If you lose, you have to honestly be my lieutenant. From then on, if I say go east, you don't go west."
This fight had to be fought. If not, the soldiers chosen later would not be convinced.
Grandfather was right, at the border, strength speaks for everything. Just like when Xia Fuyang first came here, beating all the dissenting voices into submission would do the trick.
Ye Lianyang still didn't choose a weapon, "Fine! If I lose, I'll be your lieutenant. Not only that, your father here will wash your stinky socks for a month! And scrub your shoes for two months!"
By the end of his sentence, the previously feigned 'this humble general' had directly turned into 'your father'. Once he took up a fighting stance, his reckless and unbridled temperament was fully exposed.
Er Sen's face also darkened completely.
What did he mean by 'your father'? Daring to refer to himself this way in front of a prince, that son of a bitch, he really wasn't afraid of losing his head!
Qu Dubian: "Come." He paused for a second and couldn't help but add, "Your socks are the stinky ones."
Ye Lianyang raised his fist and advanced. Qu Dubian tilted his head, and the biting wind of the punch brushed past the tip of his nose.
He raised his hand and grabbed Ye Lianyang's wrist. Ye Lianyang immediately tried to pull back, but unexpectedly, his wrist felt as if it were firmly sucked onto something and couldn't be shaken off no matter what. Following that, Qu Dubian took advantage of the momentum and delivered an elbow strike.
Ye Lianyang took a hit to the chest and stumbled back two steps.
He was secretly shocked.
Such strong internal energy. It seemed to lack aggressiveness, but possessed an extremely terrifying pulling force.
"One move."
The moment Qu Dubian grasped his wrist, he had pretty much figured out his foundation. "Using internal energy makes it seem like I'm bullying you. How about I only use fist and foot techniques to compete with you?"
Ye Lianyang was indeed quite good.
Coming from an ordinary background and still successfully opening his dantian, he clearly had a certain level of talent.
Having someone several years younger than him repeatedly say they would go easy on him made Ye Lianyang's ears turn completely red. He gritted his teeth and said, "If you don't use it, I won't use it either. There's no need for Your Highness to yield!"
Knee strike to the chest, stepping forward with a reverse elbow.
The two quickly engaged in close-quarters combat.
The things Qu Dubian had learned were very diverse: all sorts of fist and palm techniques, as well as the close-quarters combat skills taught to him by Liuliu. His moves were agile, and his reactions were swift.
His way of attacking was completely different from Ye Lianyang's.
Er Sen watched more and more intently. "Did the Seventh Prince also learn a few moves from Ting Feng? Some of his attacks are very much of the military style."
Yi Shier said, "I'm not sure."
When His Highness was wiping out bandits, he also learned a few of Zuo Tianlang's signature moves, and even studied the offensive and defensive methods that General Zhang excelled at.
It was just that very few people dared to spar with His Highness, which resulted in most people being unclear about exactly how high His Highness's martial prowess was, except for him, who occasionally practiced with His Highness.
Qu Dubian grabbed Ye Lianyang by the collar, tossed him upward, and then slammed him fiercely onto the stage.
"Six moves. Do you still want to fight?"
Ye Lianyang panted for a moment, then flipped over with a scissor kick. "Come on!"
Qu Dubian didn't give him a chance to get up at all. He grabbed his ankle and ruthlessly slammed him down again.
Bang!
Ye Lianyang's vision went black for a second, and a sharp pain flared in his chest.
The surrounding commanders of a thousand who were watching turned their faces away, unable to bear looking.
Whoa.
Good heavens.
How long had it been since they saw Ye Lianyang in such a miserable state?
Qu Dubian: "That makes seven moves. Continue?"
"I lost a long time ago." Ye Lianyang rested on the ground for quite a while before raising his head, his face covered in dust. He said, "I'll be your lieutenant, but I still want to fight you. Let's use weapons."
Qu Dubian let go of him. "All right."
Ye Lianyang scrambled up. "What weapon do you want?"
Qu Dubian thought for a moment. "Anything is fine."
He wasn't picky about weapons, but he liked archery the most because if blood splattered when killing someone, the chances of it getting on him were smaller.
Ye Lianyang threw him a long saber.
Qu Dubian weighed it in his hand. "Come."
Ye Lianyang chose a long spear for himself to avoid injuring someone with a blade. He at least had this bit of sense, since he didn't want to actually get his head chopped off.
The two locked eyes for a moment, and in the next second, they directly clashed.
They fought from morning until noon, and from noon until dark.
The soldiers below the martial arts arena came and went in waves. They brought their bowls over to eat while watching. Their reactions went from tension at the beginning, to cheering and applauding in the middle, to bored sighing at the end.
"When are they going to finish fighting?"
"I don't know. Aren't they hungry?"
"Seriously..."
It was simply absurd.
The two people on the arena changed weapons one after another, until the sky turned pitch black and was densely dotted with stars.
Ye Lianyang was drenched in sweat, trembling as he half-knelt on the ground. The palm of his right hand had been jolted so hard that small cuts had faintly split open, slightly oozing blood.
Qu Dubian crouched down to look at him. The three-colored string used to tie his ponytail slipped to his chest, and a small rabbit pendant hung from the string, dangling back and forth.
A moment later, he reached out and poked Ye Lianyang's shoulder. "Do you still have any strength left?"
Ye Lianyang barely managed to raise his head. The youth in front of him had fought for so long, yet he only had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, his cheeks were slightly red, and he wasn't even panting heavily.
He stared at that completely unthreatening little rabbit pendant for two seconds. From this kind of ornament that only children would wear, he bizarrely perceived a hint of ruthlessness.
Ye Lianyang knelt down and kowtowed to him. "I've lost. From now on, Ye Lianyang is Your Highness's lieutenant. If Your Highness tells me to go east, I will absolutely not go west!"
Qu Dubian also breathed a sigh of relief. After fighting for a day, he was tired too. Even with his continuous internal energy sustaining his breath, if they kept fighting, he figured he would probably just fall asleep right there on the stage.
Uncle Er Sen was indeed right; Ye Lianyang was a bit crazy. Otherwise, what normal person would fight with such desperate vigor for a whole day?
"You're quite exhausted. Go down and get a good rest. Come over tomorrow and help me pick out soldiers."
Not only was he personally selecting a lieutenant, but he also had to select soldiers.
"Yes!"
Ye Lianyang limped away.
Qu Dubian also said a word to Er Sen. Under the amazed gazes of the soldiers, he returned to his own tent. Then, his imposing aura instantly dissipated as he collapsed headfirst onto his bed.
So sleepy that his eyes glazed over: "Liuliu..."
Yi Shier brought a basin of hot water in and said, "You fought for too long, Your Highness. Your body will definitely be sore tomorrow."
Qu Dubian shook his head. "Is there any news from the Northern Frontier?"
Yi Shier: "Not yet."
Qu Dubian sighed softly, a trace of worry flashing in his eyes.
"Over the next couple of days, try your best to contact the shadow network in the Northern Frontier and see if there are any still usable."
"Understood."
Qu Dubian shook his head, quickly ate a meal, washed up, and then went to sleep.
The next day.
Early in the morning.
Ye Lianyang, carrying a wooden basin under his arm, made his way to the outside of Qu Dubian's tent.
He was full of energy: "Is Your Highness awake?"
Yi Shier: "Just woke up."
Ye Lianyang: "Your Highness! May I come in?"
Qu Dubian was still getting dressed. "Is there something the matter? If it's not important, just say it outside."
Ye Lianyang took a deep breath, sinking his qi to his dantian: "I've come to wash your socks!"
Wash your socks for you—
Wash your socks—
Socks—
The lingering echoes reverberated throughout the military camp.
Qu Dubian: "..."
Many people almost spat out their food, laughing, "No way, is that voice Boss Ye?"
"He lost the martial arts competition yesterday, hahahaha, he has to wash them for a month."
Inside the tent.
Qu Dubian held back his exasperation: "There's no need, I was just joking yesterday."
Ye Lianyang: "No! I said I would wash them, so I will wash them! Your Highness, it's fine, I am a man of my word. Even if your socks are—mmph!"
A hand grabbed him directly and yanked him into the tent.
A moment later, Ye Lianyang emerged with a bruised and swollen face, carrying a wooden basin and slinking away dejectedly.
This briefly became everyone's favorite source of entertainment during meal times in wartime.
The Northern Frontier commander responsible for fighting Xu Jin was the Right Worthy King under Jirgal.
He had a pair of eyes that could see very far. At this moment, he was riding on his horse, holding a half-drawn defense map in his hand, looking at the city of Zhongyi from afar—
Up on the walls, agents from the Great Zhou's Inspection Bureau were conducting routine checks on the defending soldiers in twos and threes.
Every time it was the hour for routine inspections, he would come here to watch.
With each day he observed, the defense map in his hands became a bit more complete.
Only when the people from the Inspection Bureau descended from the city tower did the Right Worthy King stop his drawing for the day. Then, he turned the page and wrote two words on the paper: Xu Jin.
After writing them, he tore off the piece of paper and used his internal energy to crush it into powder.
Xu Jin.
This towering stone monument guarding the border between the Northern Frontier and Great Zhou, hated to the bone by the Northern Frontier's pro-war faction, had grown old.
Old people should just die quickly.
They stayed in Jushan City for two months.
During this time, Qu Dubian finished selecting his direct subordinates.
The soldiers were reassigned into a new unit and began to get used to working with each other.
Qu Dubian cordoned off a separate training ground and had to carve out the better part of each day to train them and select new centurions.
In his remaining free time, he drew up blueprints for a new large-scale ballista while researching how to improve the quality of gunpowder in small batches.
He already had a rough idea of the optimal ratio in his mind; in at most seven or eight days, he would be able to formulate it.
However, he actually really wanted to replace the saltpeter in the formula with potassium chlorate. Potassium chlorate was known as yellow powder in the modern era of his past life. In modern warfare, it relied on imports, and the gunpowder made from it was several times more powerful than domestic versions.
The difficult part was that potassium chlorate was virtually impossible to synthesize artificially in ancient times, so he could only dream about it.
The place where Qu Dubian researched and mixed gunpowder was in a small courtyard within the city, at the edge of the military camp. This was mainly because the noise made during the research process was truly too loud, and it was dangerous.
After witnessing an explosion once, Er Sen had moved him, his pots, and his entire research base to the very outskirts.
Qu Dubian sat at the table in the courtyard mixing powder. He massaged his neck, his ears twitching. "You're here? Speak if you have something to say." His hands were pitch black, and the two strands of bangs on his forehead had been singed into curls by the fire.
Ye Lianyang stood at the door, refusing to come closer. "Boss, you're not going to light a fire right now, are you?"
Qu Dubian: "I'm not. Come in."
Only then did Ye Lianyang seem to breathe a sigh of relief. "Boss, it's our turn to patrol outside tonight. Are you going?"
Qu Dubian clapped his hands to dust them off: "Of course I am."
Outer patrols consisted of units of a hundred or a thousand men patrolling thirty miles around the city. They were responsible for checking if the corpses on the battlefield had been cleaned up properly, as well as scouting whether the enemy army had set traps around the city or was spying on them.
He washed his hands and went to find Er Sen.
Er Sen had been under a lot of pressure lately.
In the span of two months, the Northern Frontier had attacked the city six times, all of which were repelled by Jushan City.
However, even though they had repelled the attacks, the situation was not looking good.
"It's as if their gunpowder is endless. The amount has been increasing over these past few attacks. No matter how sturdy our city is, it won't be able to withstand such a prolonged bombardment."
Qu Dubian stood on the city wall, looking ahead. "Is there any news from Grandfather's side?"
Er Sen: "He sent a message yesterday asking me if there was any movement from the Northern Frontier army here at Jushan City. We sent people to scout last time, and their defenses are even stricter than usual."
Qu Dubian's heart skipped a beat, subtly sensing that something was wrong.
He felt as if he had faintly grasped something, but the thought vanished in a flash.
"Why would Grandfather suddenly ask about this?"
Er Sen frowned: "I'm not sure either. Perhaps it's just the Marquis's routine inquiry, because there was only this one sentence and nothing else." He patted Qu Dubian's shoulder. "Your Highness, don't overthink it for now. I'll send a letter to ask tonight; we'll have news in a day at most. It's your turn for the outer patrol today, so stay safe."
"Alright."
Qu Dubian temporarily pushed the matter to the back of his mind. When evening came, he had a simple meal and led his soldiers out of the city.
Dongyi City.
Xia Fuyang vaguely felt that something was strange.
The Northern Frontier soldiers attacking the city these past few days seemed to retreat too quickly.
Moreover...
Although their attacks were fierce, they mainly relied on gunpowder, and fewer men were dispatched. Could it be that they wanted to reduce casualties and fight a war of attrition first?
But the problem was that if it was a war of attrition, their side hadn't been worn down much either. It felt more like a diversionary tactic.
Xia Fuyang knitted his brows, his fist lightly tapping the scabbard at his waist.
"General, what are you thinking about?"
Xia Fuyang touched his right eyelid: "Left eye twitches for wealth, right eye twitches for fortune... it's nothing, nothing..."
Lieutenant: "...?"
Xia Fuyang still felt something was amiss. "Call someone with good skills to go out and scout. See what the situation is on the other side."
Lieutenant: "Now? We just finished fighting during the day."
Xia Fuyang: "Just go when I tell you to, and be careful."
Lieutenant: "Understood."
On the other side.
The moon rose above the branches.
Qu Dubian led his unit on their outer patrol.
The thirty miles surrounding the city were very quiet. Because of the war, even the chirping of insects was rarely heard. There were only the occasional caws of crows or the cries of vultures.
The lingering stench of gunpowder smoke and the smell of charred flesh and blood, along with the chill of the desolate night, seeped into one's bones bit by bit amidst the silence.
Qu Dubian could only smell a little bit of it.
It had been a while since he last used acupuncture on his pressure points, so the effect was slightly wearing off.
He used the tip of his sword to pick out a severed arm from the grass. "It's a Great Zhou soldier."
Ye Lianyang raised his hand, and immediately, soldiers dug a hole in the ground and buried the severed arm.
When outer patrol units encountered severed limbs, they were not allowed to bring them back; they had to bury them directly on the spot.
Qu Dubian exhaled a breath of cold air.
It was April now, but once night fell, the Northern Frontier was still very cold. The only things growing more robust were the wild grass by the roadside, and the warhorses, cattle, and sheep of the Northern Frontier.
Reaching the thirty-mile mark, Qu Dubian stopped. The terrain here was relatively high, allowing them to see the enemy's camp.
They had occupied Great Zhou's Xi'er City. Watchtowers with torches stood tall, and the guards were heavily fortified.
Ye Lianyang said in a low voice, "If we go any further, we'll be discovered. Boss, let's circle around for the patrol."
Qu Dubian crouched down and pondered for a moment. "I remember Uncle Er Sen saying that the enemy's outer defenses during the last scouting mission only had about three thousand men?"
Ye Lianyang: "Yeah."
Qu Dubian: "But looking at their outer guards now, there are at least four thousand at a glance. And did you notice? Among them, some are wounded."
Once he mentioned it, Ye Lianyang also felt something was wrong. "Should we go take a look? But with the guards so strict, can we get in?"
Qu Dubian: "We can't, but someone else can."
Ye Lianyang: "Who?"
Qu Dubian: "Just wait."
About a quarter of an hour later, Yi Shier landed nimbly in front of Qu Dubian.
Ye Lianyang: "Y-y-y-you are that personal guard!" That rather inconspicuous personal guard!
Yi Shier glanced at him, then stated solemnly: "Your Highness, it is empty inside."
Qu Dubian's heart plummeted. "Completely empty?"
Yi Shier: "Completely empty. It is nothing but an empty shell with only four thousand defenders."
"Then where did the enemy forces go? For them to go to such lengths to conceal their movements..." Ye Lianyang asked, but suddenly trailed off, his face turning grim.
Qu Dubian looked in the direction of his grandfather. "Zhongyi City."
This was a diversion that had been plotted for who knows how long. The Northern Frontier's plan to divide their forces and attack the eastern, western, and central border cities was perhaps a ruse right from the start.
Seizing the two western cities was to better cut off the western defenders' reinforcements to the central city.
Perhaps, it was even more so to severely delay the transmission of intelligence.
Ye Lianyang grew anxious: "What do we do now?"
Qu Dubian: "Liuliu, go back and find Uncle Ersen. Tell him to leave just enough soldiers to defend the city, and send all the rest to reinforce the central city."
Yi Shier did not pause for a second, swiftly heading back to the city to deliver the message.
"Boss, what about us?"
Qu Dubian took a deep breath, a bloodthirsty glint rising in his eyes.
"We head to the central city immediately!"
The distance was vast; they had to advance at full speed.
Zhongyi City.
The flames of war raged.
Jirgal, the Left Worthy King, and the Right Worthy King were all mounted on horseback, narrowing their eyes as they watched the siege ahead.
Smoke and gunpowder filled the air.
Almost all the elite forces of the Northern Frontier had converged before Zhongyi City on this night.
They surrounded Zhongyi City on all four sides, turning it into an isolated fortress.
Of course, what they wanted even more was to turn it into a truly desolate, empty city with no one left alive.
Xu Jin stood with his hands clasped behind his back. The sparks stirred up by the blazing war could not burn away the frost at his temples.
His expression was as composed as ever. Just like in countless past battles, his presence here was like a stabilizing pillar, capable of putting the hearts of countless soldiers at ease.
Lang Qing hurried up the city wall and wiped the blood from his forehead: "Marquis, the western gate is on the verge of falling."
The Northern Frontier forces seemed extremely familiar with their defensive deployments and guard rotations. Yet, during the state of combat readiness, anyone in the city familiar with the defenses absolutely had no opportunity to make contact with outsiders. Even the personnel from the Inspectorate, in strict accordance with the Marquis's orders, had all stayed inside their tents without stepping out after completing their inspections.
Below the city walls, Jirgal curled his lips into a cold sneer.
He cracked his neck, producing a loud popping sound, and spoke with surging killing intent:
"A two-hundred-thousand strong army besieges the city! Xu Jin, today the Northern Frontier will claim your life!"
Xu Jin burst into boisterous laughter. The corners of his eyes and brows were filled with a glaring mockery. To Jirgal, his expression carried an eyesore of wild arrogance and pride.
His voice, amplified by his inner energy, spread out and echoed mightily in the night wind.
"This old man is right here! If you have the guts, come and kill me!"