Chapter 106

The man who had been staring coldly ahead suddenly turned his head and shot him an icy glance.

At that exact moment, a gust of cold wind swept past. Gongsun Yin wasn’t sure whether it was the wind or that look, but his entire back instantly turned cold.

He quickly shifted his gaze toward the distant city walls, waved his feather fan twice, and changed the subject.

“The rebels on the walls have already had their morale crushed by the crossbow troops. It’s time to attack the city!”

Xie Zheng also withdrew his gaze and looked once more toward Kang City’s walls, which appeared strangely low beneath the oppressive thunderclouds.

“Attack.”

After receiving the order, the messenger officer beside him climbed onto a temporary platform erected within the army formation and roared:

“Attack the city—!”

The sprawling military formation stretched all the way across the wilderness outside Kang City’s gates. A shouted command alone could never travel such a distance.

After hearing the order, more than a hundred flag officers spurred their horses forward, holding command banners high as they raced along the narrow paths left between the formations. They galloped toward the rear ranks while shouting:

“Attack the city—!”

In an instant, beneath Kang City’s walls, the black-armored army surged forward like a tidal wave carrying unstoppable force.

Within the dark military formations, crimson command flags rolled and twisted like dragons swimming through a black sea. The battle cries shook the heavens so fiercely that even the low-hanging thunderclouds seemed to sink lower.

In the distance, Kang City’s walls looked like nothing more than a fragile boat adrift in a black ocean, as though a single wave could overturn it.

The defenders atop the walls had already lost their fighting spirit after the earlier barrage of arrows that had swept over them like a plague of locusts.

Now, seeing the fierce Yanzhou Army charging toward them like hungry wolves and tigers, their faces turned deathly pale.

Even after the Yanzhou troops entered the range of the city’s bows, not a single defender reacted in time to loose an arrow.

Everyone had only one thought:

It’s over.

There was no point in fighting this battle anymore.

Sui Yuanqing flew into a rage. Drawing his sword, he cut down the nearest archer and shouted:

“What are you standing around for?! Shoot!”

Only then did the defenders on the walls begin nocking arrows and drawing their bows with trembling hands.

But they were shaking so badly they could barely pull the bowstrings.

The few arrows they managed to fire traveled only a short distance before dropping harmlessly to the ground.

They posed no threat whatsoever.

The deputy general had participated in several major campaigns before, but seeing the Yanzhou Army flooding forward like an ocean tide still terrified him to his core.

At the far end of the formation, the army seemed to merge directly into the massive black thunderclouds hanging overhead.

It felt as though all of Kang City had already been swallowed by darkness.

Not only the ordinary soldiers—even he felt his legs trembling.

How could he muster even the slightest desire to fight?

Passing several archers who were weakly firing from the battlements, he found Sui Yuanqing and said anxiously:

“Your Highness, Kang City cannot possibly be defended. Allow this subordinate to cover your retreat. As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn!”

Sui Yuanqing slowly turned his dark, gloomy eyes toward him and stared as though looking at a corpse.

“Retreat?”

His voice was icy.

“And where exactly can we retreat to?”

The deputy general’s mustache twitched. His gaze drifted away, unable to meet Sui Yuanqing’s eyes.

Of course he knew.

Aside from Chongzhou, Kang City was the Sui family’s only remaining path of retreat.

His suggestion to protect Sui Yuanqing was merely an excuse.

The truth was that he simply didn’t want to throw away his life in a hopeless battle.

Perhaps Sui Yuanqing had seen through his thoughts.

Suddenly, he lifted the bloodstained sword he had used to kill the archer and pressed it against the deputy general’s neck.

The cold blade, still sticky with fresh blood, touched his skin.

Goosebumps instantly rose across the deputy general’s body, and fear filled his eyes.

Having served under Sui Yuanqing for some time after he took control of Kang City, he knew very well that the man was notoriously unpredictable.

When he went mad, he would kill anyone.

His fear clearly pleased Sui Yuanqing.

The latter smiled slightly and spoke in a voice that sounded gentle yet sinister.

“If General Ma says anything else that harms morale, this heir apparent will personally remove your head.”

The deputy general knew Sui Yuanqing’s capabilities.

Even if he could not defend Kang City, killing him before the city fell would be effortless.

Immediately, he declared his loyalty.

“Even if I die, I will die upon these walls! I was only concerned for Your Highness’s safety!”

Though his words sounded noble, Sui Yuanqing had no interest in investigating whether they were sincere.

With a half-mocking smile, he said:

“General Ma’s loyalty and courage comfort me greatly. Go command the soldiers to defend the city.”

Having narrowly escaped death, the deputy general breathed a sigh of relief and hurried away.

When Sui Yuanqing turned back toward the battlefield below, even that faint sneer vanished from his face.

The hand gripping the stone battlements bulged with veins, and his jaw clenched tightly.

Launching a siege just before a thunderstorm—and creating such overwhelming momentum.

Throughout history, probably only Xie Zheng would dare do such a thing.

Anyone who had read military texts knew that large-scale sieges should never be conducted during torrential weather.

Strong winds and rain drastically reduced the range and lethality of arrows.

Yet Xie Zheng had deliberately done the opposite.

And succeeded.

Since ordinary bows would be limited by the gale before the storm, he had employed giant tread-powered crossbows with greater range and far greater power.

The black clouds pressing upon the city, coupled with the vast Yanzhou formations spread beneath them, resembled a boundless black ocean.

Using the power of heaven itself, the visual impact alone had shattered the defenders’ courage.

The highest principle of warfare had always been to attack the enemy’s mind.

Before this battle, Sui Yuanqing had never imagined someone could execute such a psychological strategy in a manner so straightforward, so direct, and yet so brilliantly effective.

In the past, he had never truly accepted Xie Zheng’s reputation.

He believed Xie Zheng was merely a few years older than himself, benefited from the prestige left behind by his father, Xie Linshan, and happened to encounter favorable opportunities on the battlefield.

Had their positions been reversed, Sui Yuanqing believed he could have achieved the same feats.

Perhaps even better.

But after several confrontations, the sense of destiny and defeat within him grew stronger and stronger.

In this lifetime…

He could never become Xie Zheng.

Everything he had achieved came from studying military classics and strategic schemes.

But Xie Zheng was the kind of person who could create entirely new military strategies.

Nothing in this world inspired greater jealousy—or greater helplessness—than realizing that even after giving one hundred percent effort, you still could not surpass someone else’s ten percent talent.

The Yanzhou Army had reached the city walls.

Ladders slammed against the fortifications.

The defenders frantically fired arrows and hurled boulders downward, but the Yanzhou soldiers climbing the ladders blocked them with round steel shields.

At the city gate, dozens of soldiers carried a battering ram while shouting in unison and repeatedly smashing the gate.

The defenders above dropped logs and rocks upon them.

Yet more Yanzhou soldiers locked their shields together, forming a massive semi-circular iron shell that protected the men carrying the ram.

The rocks crashed onto the shields and rolled harmlessly away.

The Yanzhou Army suffered almost no casualties.

Sui Yuanqing watched everything coldly, like a detached observer.

Setting aside all jealousy, hatred, and unwillingness, when he looked at this siege objectively…

He almost wanted to praise it as perfect.

A general on horseback ought to die on the battlefield.

If he were to die in a battle like this, Sui Yuanqing even felt a strange sense of relief and liberation.

Then, with a thunderous crash—

The city gate finally broke open.

The deputy general, his face covered in blood, pushed through the panicked defenders running across the walls.

After finding Sui Yuanqing, he immediately dropped to his knees.

“Your Highness! The gate has fallen! Kang City truly cannot be defended!”

The rain grew denser.

Sui Yuanqing tilted his head slightly and smiled lazily.

“Get lost.”

The deputy general stared blankly, not understanding.

But Sui Yuanqing had already taken his weapon from a personal guard.

Amid the defenders fleeing like headless flies, he calmly and leisurely walked against the flow of people, heading down from the city walls.

The deputy general stared after him.

Had this man finally gone insane?

—

Once the city gate fell, the defenders scattered in every direction.

The drizzle that had once been as fine as cow hair gradually became bean-sized raindrops falling sparsely from the dark clouds overhead.

Leading more than a dozen personal guards, Xie Zheng rode into the city.

Within the barbican, he encountered Sui Yuanqing.

Standing alone with spear in hand, Sui Yuanqing was surrounded by the corpses of more than a dozen Yanzhou soldiers beneath his horse’s hooves.

Fresh blood still dripped from his spear.

Looking directly at Xie Zheng, he challenged:

“Xie brat, do you dare come and die?”

The guards beside Xie Zheng immediately became furious and urged their horses forward.

But Xie Zheng swept his halberd across their path and stopped them.

“Fall back.”

The dozens of guards exchanged glances and retreated several yards.

Seeing this, the bloodlust and excitement in Sui Yuanqing’s eyes intensified.

Gripping his spear tightly, he dug his heels into his horse’s sides and roared as he charged.

Borrowing the momentum of his mount, the strike was unstoppable.

Yet Xie Zheng remained where he was.

He did not move even an inch.

The Ferghana black-hoofed warhorse beneath him had followed him through countless battles. Faced with such a situation, it showed not the slightest fear.

Only when the spear was nearly upon him did Xie Zheng raise his halberd.

A sharp metallic shriek rang out.

The crescent blade beneath the halberd’s tip locked firmly onto Sui Yuanqing’s spearhead.

The collision of tremendous force drove both man and horse backward half a step.

Sui Yuanqing gritted his teeth, his face twisted with effort.

But before he could free his weapon, the shaft of the halberd slammed heavily into his abdomen.

Instantly, it felt as though his internal organs had shattered.

As he was launched from the saddle, a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips.

When he hit the ground, darkness flooded his vision.

Everything split into double images.

Only the bean-sized raindrops striking his face still carried a trace of cool sensation.

Above the city wall, the Sui family banner was cut down by Yanzhou soldiers who had seized the battlements.

The fierce wind carried the fallen flag to Xie Zheng’s horse.

The horse’s hoof crushed it mercilessly.

The dragon-patterned halberd blade came to rest against Sui Yuanqing’s throat.

Holding the weapon with one hand, Xie Zheng looked down from horseback as though gazing at an insect.

His eyes were utterly indifferent.

“So all these years of training as the Sui heir were spent improving your mouth?”

Sui Yuanqing ignored the mockery.

His mouth was filled with blood.

Looking at the towering figure before him—a mountain he could never climb—he laughed in satisfaction.

“Kill me.”

“Give me a clean death.”

Xie Zheng looked at him coldly.

Then he withdrew the halberd and ordered the guards behind him:

“Tie him up and take him back.”

As the guards stepped forward, Sui Yuanqing shouted hoarsely:

“Xie Zheng! If I’m going to die, dying by your blade would at least be worth something! Those executioners aren’t worthy of taking my head!”

The rain intensified further.

Watermarks the size of broad beans spread across the stone bricks below.

Xie Zheng had already ridden several steps away.

Hearing those words, he glanced back.

“There’s someone the Sui heir should meet.”

His voice remained cold.

“After seeing that person, you may not be so eager to die.”

Soon afterward, the guards bound Sui Yuanqing and dragged him away.

Gongsun Yin arrived belatedly, holding his feather fan over his head to block the increasingly heavy rain.

He clicked his tongue.

“So the moment the thunderstorm started, Kang City really fell?”

Xie Zheng ignored him and continued riding deeper into the city.

At the same time, he instructed his generals:

“After entering the city, no one is permitted to harm or harass the civilians.”

The generals immediately clasped their fists.

“Yes, General!”

…

The thunderclouds gathered over Kang City eventually became a torrential downpour that lasted an entire day and night without stopping.

Inside a brightly lit room, candles burned steadily.

Xie Zheng sat bare-chested.

Under the dim yellow candlelight, the powerful muscles of his body appeared even more sharply defined.

A long diagonal wound stretched across nearly his entire back.

The ends had already scabbed over, but the center had split open again.

Dark brown scabs mixed with fresh red flesh, creating a horrifying sight.

Without applying any medicine, he simply grabbed a clean strip of white cloth and wrapped it around himself.

Even though pain caused fine beads of cold sweat to form on his forehead, he did not so much as blink.

His discarded clothes lay in a messy pile on a nearby table.

Among them sat a crudely carved wooden figurine with arrogantly upturned eyes.

It was particularly eye-catching.

The door suddenly burst open.

Gongsun Yin entered excitedly.

“I took that Zhao fellow to see Sui Yuanqing. You have no idea—”

His words abruptly stopped.

Staring at the gruesome wound on Xie Zheng’s back, he frowned.

“When did you suffer such a serious injury?”

Xie Zheng’s expression remained cold.

After quickly tying off the bandages himself, he pulled on an outer robe.

“When I captured Zhao Xun.”

Gongsun Yin looked astonished.

“The Zhao family can actually afford guards that powerful?”

Xie Zheng directly changed the subject.

“How did things go with Sui Yuanqing?”

Gongsun Yin immediately lost his earlier excitement.

“He doesn’t want to die anymore.”

“He only wants to return to Chongzhou, kill that fake elder brother of his, and save his mother.”

After speaking, he returned to the topic of Xie Zheng’s injury.

Glancing at the table and noticing the absence of any medicine bottles, he frowned even more deeply.

“That wound on your back has split open like that.”

“You’re not applying medicine?”

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“I’ve felt something was off ever since you came back.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve had another falling out with Miss Fan?”

Xie Zheng suddenly spoke in an icy voice.

“If there’s nothing else, leave.”

Gongsun Yin froze.

He immediately realized he had guessed correctly.

It was rare to see Xie Zheng’s face this grim.

Judging from his expression, the conflict was no minor one.

The thought of teasing him vanished at once.

After years of friendship, he understood Xie Zheng’s temperament well enough.

This was not the time to say more.

As he stepped out of the room, however, he cast another glance at the wooden figurine on the table.

There was no way such an ugly ornament would normally appear in Xie Zheng’s room.

Most likely, he had brought it back from Chongzhou during this trip.

After walking a considerable distance away, Gongsun Yin summoned a personal guard and quietly instructed:

“Make a trip to Chongzhou…”