Chapter 916
Who is this villain?
"Report—!"
Just then, a private soldier of the Huang family tumbled and crawled into the main hall, his helmet half-fallen off, shouting, "Master! Second Master! Something terrible has happened! A large number of flames have suddenly appeared from the west of the city, and it seems that several thousand troops are approaching us!"
"What?!" Huang Debao exclaimed in shock. "How could they be so fast? Are they out of their minds?!"
Huang Delong was so frightened that he slid off his chair and onto the floor, trembling like a rag doll: "It's here... that evil star has really come..."
"What's the panic!" Huang Debao drew his sword and kicked the messenger soldier to the ground. "Pass on my orders! All troops to the west wall! Archers, prepare fire arrows! Activate the city's defensive formation. Let's see how those peasants from Hongyun City can attack my city!"
Huang Debao strode out of the main hall, shouting as he went, "Go and ask the old master to come out of seclusion! Tell him that someone wants to wipe out my entire Huang family!"
Outside the north gate of White Stone City.
The night was as dark as ink.
Guo Tianyou led a thousand heavily armored infantrymen, like a thousand ghosts disappearing into the night, silently creeping to the edge of a small grove of trees less than thirty feet from the city wall. This would have been absolutely impossible before, but the thick cotton padding inside their heavy armor, coupled with the soldiers' absolute obedience to orders, completely suppressed the clanging of their armor.
On the city wall, the once densely packed sentries were now mostly drawn to the firelight in the west of the city, leaving only a few dozen people patrolling back and forth at the north gate.
Guo Tianyou lay prone behind a rock, glancing back at the crossbowmen behind him. Fifty carefully selected archers had already leveled the specially made heavy crossbows equipped with "armor-piercing talismans," the arrowheads gleaming with a dark red cinnabar light.
Zheng Yi stood beside Guo Tianyou. He was not wearing armor, and his gray fox fur coat fluttered slightly in the night breeze.
"God bless you." Zheng Yi's gaze was fixed on the two huge ballistae above the city gate tower. "See those two big black lumps? The first wave must knock them down."
"Understood." Guo Tianyou made a hand gesture, and the ten crossbowmen immediately locked their targets on the operators of the two ballistae.
Zheng Yi pulled out three poison smoke balls from the withered lotus master's sleeve. Instead of using the catapult, he took a deep breath and suddenly flicked his right wrist.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Three poison smoke balls traced almost invisible black lines in the air, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, and struck the parapet of the north gate tower with perfect accuracy.
With a crisp "crack," the mud shell shattered.
"What's that sound?" A Huang family sentry on the city wall paused for a moment and peered out.
In that instant, a plume of pale green smoke suddenly expanded and, carried by the north wind, instantly enveloped the entire north gate tower.
"Cough cough cough... What's this smell... My hand..." The sentry had just taken a puff of smoke when his face turned deathly green. The spear in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter, and he collapsed limply, as if all his strength had been drained away in an instant.
"Poisonous! Hold your breath! Cough cough cough..."
Chaos erupted on the city wall as private soldiers who had inhaled the poisonous fumes collapsed to the ground, convulsing and foaming at the mouth. Though not fatal, they lacked the strength to even stand.
"Now! Fire the arrows!" Guo Tianyou roared.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Fifty heavy crossbow bolts, each adorned with armor-piercing talismans, were released from their bows.
Because of the cover provided by the poisonous smoke, the defenders on the city wall did not see the incoming crossbow bolts at all.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Violent explosions rang out one after another on the city gate tower! The armor-piercing talisman drawn by Elder Liu himself was extremely powerful. The two heavy ballistae, which could easily pierce through third-tier demonic beasts, were instantly blasted into countless pieces of wood in the explosion. A dozen or so Huang family private soldiers nearby were also blasted into the air, their severed limbs and broken bricks raining down on them.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack at the North Gate!"
The remaining defenders on the city wall finally reacted, their mournful screams echoing through the night sky.
"Shield formation! Charge!" Guo Tianyou suddenly drew his sword and leaped up from behind the rock.
A thousand heavily armored infantrymen roared as they charged out of the woods like tigers released from their cages. They made no attempt to conceal their footsteps; their heavy iron-clad rhinoceros-hide boots thundered like an earthquake on the hard ground.
"Fire arrows! Fire arrows to stop them!" A Huang family officer on the city wall frantically waved his command sword.
A sparse rain of arrows poured down from the city walls.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The arrows struck the heavy armor of the Hongyun City soldiers, only sending up a few sparks, not even leaving a white mark. The heavy armor, forged from the back armor of an iron rhinoceros, offered absolutely overwhelming protection against ordinary arrows at this distance.
"Damn! What the hell are they wearing, a turtle shell?" The Huang family officer was dumbfounded.
Guo Tianyou took the lead, braving the sporadic rain of arrows to reach the moat. The moat of Baishi City was not as wide as that of Hongyun City, only less than three zhang (approximately 10 meters).
"Build a bridge!"
Dozens of soldiers carried several heavy wooden ladders and slammed them hard onto the moat.
The procession, like a black torrent of steel, instantly crossed the moat and headed straight for the redwood city gate covered with iron sheets.
"Smash the log! Smash it for me!" Guo Tianyou roared.
Dozens of the strongest soldiers were carrying a thick battering ram, preparing to charge the city gate.
"Step back."
A calm voice clearly reached everyone's ears amidst the chaos of the battlefield.
Guo Tianyou was taken aback, then quickly waved his hand, and the soldiers carrying the battering ram immediately retreated to both sides.
Zheng Yi had arrived at the city gate without realizing it. He looked up at the heavy city gate, which was two zhang high, and the rusty iron nails on the gate surface gleamed coldly in the firelight.
"There's a heavy gate behind the city gate; ramming it won't work," Zheng Yi said calmly.
He slowly drew the purple-gold longsword from his waist and gently stroked the spine of the sword with his left hand.
"Om-"
The sword emitted a high-pitched, clear sound, and golden flames instantly spread from the hilt to the tip. But this time, the flames were no longer a gentle burning; instead, they carried a violent, destructive aura, with the flames flickering erratically.
The Huang family's private soldiers behind the city gate were bracing themselves against the bolts, and when they heard the sudden silence outside, they felt a chill run down their spines.
"There's no movement outside... Have they withdrawn?" a private soldier asked, trembling.
next second.
"boom!"
A dazzling purple-gold sword beam, like divine punishment from the heavens, struck straight down in the center of the city gate.
At that moment, it was as if time had stood still.
There was no sound of wood breaking, only a sickening metallic melting sound. The mahogany city gate, covered with three layers of refined iron and two feet thick, melted away the moment it came into contact with the sword's edge, like snow under the blazing sun, along with the heavy gate behind it, creating a huge gaping hole, ten feet high and eight feet wide!
At the break, molten iron flowed red-hot, and the wood turned to ashes before it even had a chance to burn.
The dozens of Huang family private soldiers standing behind the door didn't even have time to scream before they were turned into charred remains by the impact of the sword energy and the high temperature.
"The door is open." Zheng Yi sheathed his sword and turned to the side. "Tianyou, the rest is up to you." Guo Tianyou stared wide-eyed at the huge gap still dripping molten iron. He swallowed hard, pointed his sword forward, and roared in a voice that was almost hoarse:
"Spear formation! Push in! Leave no one alive!"
"kill!"
A thousand heavily armored infantrymen surged into White Stone City through the breach like a tidal wave.
A fierce street battle broke out instantly.
The Huang family's private army was indeed a well-trained force. After the initial panic, they began to organize a counterattack in the streets.
"Spearmen, stab them in the face! Axemen, chop their legs!" Huang Debao had already led his men from the west city over, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at the Hongyun City army pouring in.
Rows of yellow-haired spearmen lined up on the main street, their spears thrusting like a forest at the oncoming heavy infantry.
"Jingle bells!"
A series of impacts rang out. However, what happened next brought despair to the Huang family's private soldiers.
Those spears that should have pierced the enemy either slid off or broke off when they struck the rough, grayish-white heavy armor.
"This is impossible! What kind of monster is this?!"
"Advance!" Guo Tianyou stood at the front of the column, smashing a Huang family soldier's brains out with his shield, and then slashing the throat of another man with his sword.
"prick!"
The spearmen of Hongyun City shouted in unison, thrusting out their wolf-tooth spears like venomous snakes spitting their tongues.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
The sound of sharp blades piercing flesh rang out rapidly. The spearheads, forged from wolf fangs and rhinoceros horns, were incredibly sharp, easily piercing the standard leather armor worn by the Huang family's private soldiers.
"what--!"
Screams rose and fell. This was no equal battle. It was a thousand human bulldozers crushing a group of children holding toys. The three days and three nights of bone broth and medicinal baths had brought the soldiers of Hongyun City to a terrifying level of physical strength and power. Every thrust of their spears was powerful and heavy, a mere graze would cause injury, and a single touch would be fatal.
Blood instantly stained the bluestone slabs of the main street of White Stone City.
The Huang family's defenses collapsed at the very first contact.
"Hold on! Hold on for me! Anyone who dares to retreat will have their entire family executed!" Huang Debao frantically waved his command sword from behind, cutting down two private soldiers who tried to escape, but he couldn't stop the rout at all.
"Second Master! We can't hold them off! Their armor is too tough, impervious to swords and spears! And they are incredibly strong, our shields can't even withstand a single blow!" A lieutenant, covered in blood, retreated to Huang Debao's side, crying out.
"Useless! They're all useless!" Huang Debao roared in exasperation. "Launch rockets! Burn them alive!"
Suddenly, hundreds of archers from the Huang family appeared on the rooftops on both sides of the street, their arrows all wrapped in strips of cloth soaked in kerosene and already on fire.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
A barrage of rockets rained down on the heavily armored infantrymen in the middle of the street.
"Raise your shields!" Guo Tianyou roared.
A thousand heavy shields covered by the belly skin of the Flame Lion were raised instantly, forming an impenetrable shield wall above their heads.
The rocket landed on the shield wall, and flames exploded instantly. However, the Flame Lion's belly skin was naturally fireproof, and the flames extinguished themselves after burning on the shield surface for a while, without even scorching a single hair!
"This...this is the hide of a Flame Lion?!" The Huang family officer on the rooftop gasped as he saw the shield reflecting the firelight. "Just how many high-level demonic beasts did they kill?!"
"Archers, return fire! Clear out those rats on the roof!" Guo Tianyou shouted through the gaps in his shield.
Below the shield wall, the crossbowmen of Hongyun City quickly nocked their crossbows. Although they did not use armor-piercing talismans, the power of the heavy crossbows was still astonishing.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A volley of crossbow bolts shot upwards, and the Huang family archers on the roof screamed as they fell to the ground like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
The procession continued its unstoppable advance, crushing everything in its path that dared to resist, straight toward the Huang family mansion in the city center.
Inside the Huang family mansion.
As Huang Delong listened to the increasingly deafening shouts of battle outside, his face turned ashen. He had already stuffed all the valuable land deeds and silver notes of his family into a bundle, clutching it tightly to his chest.
"Where is the old master? Has the old master come out of seclusion?" Huang Delong grabbed a servant by the collar and shook him frantically.
"Reporting to...Reporting to Master, the door to the old master's seclusion room is still locked. The people sent by the second master are kneeling and kowtowing outside, but there's...there's no movement inside!" The servant was so frightened he almost wet his pants.
"boom!"
With a loud crash, the vermilion gate of the Huang family mansion was forcefully flung open with a bloodstained spear, crashing heavily onto the screen wall in the courtyard and shattering into pieces.
Guo Tianyou, covered in blood, strode across the threshold like a bloodthirsty bear. Behind him, a dark mass of heavily armored infantry surged into the luxurious courtyard like a tidal wave.
"Huang Delong! You coward, come out here!" Guo Tianyou banged his sword against his shield, making a deafening clanging sound.
Huang Debao, with his remaining three hundred or so loyal bodyguards, retreated to the steps of the main hall. His hand gripping his sword trembled violently as he watched the Hongyun City army approach like gods of death.
"How dare you attack my Huang family! My nephew is an outer sect steward of the Qingyun Sect. Aren't you afraid of being wiped out?" Huang Debao shouted, his voice trembling with fear.
The crowd parted in the middle like Moses parting the sea.
Zheng Yi slowly walked out. His fox fur coat was still spotless, standing out starkly from the blood-soaked battlefield around him.
He looked at Huang Debao standing on the steps, then at Huang Delong trembling behind the main hall door, his eyes calm and without a trace of emotion.
"When those tens of thousands of demonic beasts attacked the city, did you ever think about whether the people of Hongyun City were afraid of being wiped out?" Zheng Yi's voice echoed in the spacious courtyard.
“You…you are Zheng Yi?” Huang Debao swallowed hard.
"Kill." Zheng Yi didn't waste any more words, just one word.
"Leave no one alive!" Guo Tianyou roared and led the charge.
"Fight them!" Huang Debao shouted desperately, raising his sword to meet the attack.
Just as Guo Tianyou's sword was about to strike Huang Debao's face.
An extremely terrifying pressure suddenly shot up from the depths of the Huang family mansion's backyard!
The oppressive force was palpable, like a mountain pressing down on everyone's hearts. Every Hongyun City soldier charging forward felt a tightness in their chest, and their movements involuntarily slowed.
Guo Tianyou was the first to be hit. He felt as if the horizontal sword in his hand was a thousand pounds heavier, and he couldn't bring himself to chop it down.
"Who is it?" Guo Tianyou asked in shock, then took two steps back.
"Who dares to act so presumptuously in my Huang family!" (End of Chapter)