Chapter 873
Stealing the Corpse
"His Majesty was killed by the Oirats, and they even took his body away. General, please ask Master Pan for help to retrieve His Majesty's body."
Without saying a word, Pan Yun led Miao Zhen and the other three to the city tower.
Kuang Ye is commanding the army.
From his high vantage point, he could command the entire operation and use flag signals to communicate with all the troops. All the soldiers, both civil and military officials, put aside their past grievances and cooperated wholeheartedly. In their anger, they actually managed to trap Esen, preventing him from retreating.
Upon seeing Pan Yun arrive, Kuang Ye said in a hoarse voice, "Master Pan, you are right. Cultivators are not invincible. We killed twelve lamas."
Pan Jun looked over and saw a group of monks in earth-yellow robes wielding their weapons amidst the crowd. Ming soldiers attacked in formation, almost risking lives to tear through their protective shields and rush in to snatch the corpses that were being protected in the very center.
But those who rushed in were often killed by the Oirat soldiers protecting them inside.
At present, rushing in would only be a pointless suicide.
Kuang Ye looked at her with a deep gaze, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "We absolutely cannot let them take His Majesty's body away, Master Pan, if you can't get it back..."
What I haven't said yet is that even retrieving a fake one would be acceptable.
Kuang Ye said, "We must bring the body back in full view of everyone."
Pan Yun glanced at him and said, "I will bring back the real one."
She said softly, "We can't let him wander off to a foreign land."
Upon hearing this, Kuang Ye's eyes stung, and she almost burst into tears again.
Pan Yun looked at Miao Zhen and the others, but before she could speak, they said anxiously, "Junior Uncle, we'll go with you!"
Xue Shao also said, "If a subject dies for his sovereign's disgrace, and His Majesty has fallen into such a predicament, then we would be unworthy of being human if we were to cherish death."
Pan Yun then threw out the Three Treasures Cauldron and jumped into it in full view of everyone.
The four followed closely behind, each drawing their swords with a swift motion, their fierce gazes fixed on the retreating center of the battlefield.
The Three Treasures Cauldron flew into the battlefield with a whoosh, and Kuang Ye ordered his men to beat the war drums.
After a fierce battle, the soldiers, whose strength and anger had subsided with the hacking and slashing, heard their fighting spirit reignite. Occasionally, they would look up and see the Three Treasures Cauldron flashing through the air. They were both surprised and overjoyed, shouting, "We too have extraordinary warriors to aid us—"
"Our gods have arrived! Our gods have arrived!"
Morale soared.
At that moment, Pan Yun, sword in hand, descended from the sky with Miao Zhen and the others.
Both she and Miaozhen were experts in formations, and they could see the weaknesses and strengths of their protective formation at a glance.
The Three Treasures Cauldron spun rapidly in the air, and all the arrows flying from the ground struck the cauldron. A few arrows managed to penetrate the cauldron, but by then, the five people had already jumped out of it.
Five people, five positions, all armed and attacking fiercely downwards.
Pan Jun was aiming for the center of the formation when he thrust his sword down. The Yuan power and Buddhist power collided, unleashing a burst of intense white light, causing the nearby soldiers to involuntarily close their eyes.
When Esen saw it from a great distance, his heart skipped a beat and he became uneasy.
With a popping sound in the air, the lama's protective formation was broken. The senior lama who was maintaining the formation suppressed the metallic taste in his mouth, smashed the Buddhist prayer beads in his hand, and the beads spun rapidly, striking Pan Yun's vital areas such as her heart and brow.
Pan Yun spun in the air to dodge, but as soon as she took off, spears came from all directions. She lightly touched one of the spears with her toes and barely dodged it, but she was still hit on the arm by two spears, and blood flowed freely.
Pan Jun seemed to feel no pain. With a sweep of his longsword, his Yuan Power was like the scythe of death, drawing blood wherever it passed, and the Oirat soldiers fell one after another.
Dark clouds gathered in the sky once again. Pan Jun pretended not to see them, and after killing off the surrounding Oirat soldiers, he quickly approached the Grand Lama using his light-footed skills.
The high lama put away his prayer beads, his large palm as hard as iron, and with a sweep of his hand, a gust of wind was created.
As soon as Miaozhen and the other three got close, they were swept away and their blood and qi surged, and they couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. They could only turn around and carefully fight with the other young lamas.
The Ming soldiers rushed in the moment the defensive formation broke down. Miaozhen and the other three blocked the little lama, and they only needed to fight against the Oirat soldiers.
Very good, mortals against mortals, cultivators against cultivators.
Kuang Ye, seeing this from the city tower, breathed a sigh of relief and ordered the drums to be played faster.
Influenced by the war drums, Pan Yun's blood surged, his blood was hot, and his attacks became even more fierce.
Seeing her reckless fighting style, the Grand Lama couldn't help but shrink back. In that moment of retreat, Pan Yun seized the opportunity, her sword strikes pressing and injuring his palm. She then flashed to the side of the corpse he had been protecting behind him.
The Oirat soldiers carrying the corpse immediately dropped the emperor and drew their swords, but before they could even draw their swords, Pan Jun killed them with a single stroke.
Pan Yun picked up the emperor, and the Three Treasures Cauldron, which had been spinning in the air, crashed down. She stepped on two soldiers and leaped up, carrying the emperor back to the Three Treasures Cauldron.
Esen saw this from afar and was furious. He immediately ordered his archers to fire at a distance, disregarding whether they were friend or foe.
More than a thousand Oirat riders raised their arrows, and at Esen's command, the arrows flew out.
Countless arrows flew into the sky and then fell towards the Three Treasures Cauldron from all directions.
The moment Pan Yun fell into the cauldron, the Three Treasures Cauldron closed. The arrows struck the cauldron, and although they could not penetrate the cauldron, their force would still affect the Three Treasures Cauldron.
The Three Treasures Cauldron shot out wildly, swaying precariously, almost falling to the ground.
The people on the city wall saw the Three Treasures Cauldron flying rapidly towards them and were so frightened that they scattered in all directions.
Finally, the Three Treasures Cauldron crashed into the wall of the city tower with a bang, and the broken stones fell down, embedding the Three Treasures Cauldron into the wall.
The soldiers struggled mightily to pull the Three Treasures Cauldron from the wall, then shouted loudly through the cauldron, "Master Pan, Master Pan, you've returned safely! Open the cauldron!"
After a long while, the Three Treasures Cauldron slowly opened. Pan Jun stood up, pale-faced, and was helped out by the soldiers.
As soon as she stepped outside, she couldn't help but hug the city wall and vomit. The power of the arrow array was beyond her imagination. She felt that if she had been any later, she would have fainted.
Soon, Kuang Ye personally entered the cauldron and carried out the emperor's body. After confirming that it was indeed the emperor, he burst into tears.
A soldier stood up from the cauldron, holding a black cat by the neck, and said, "There, there's another cat here."
No one paid him any attention, except for Pan Yun who glanced up at him.
But soon, she continued to vomit, and finally, she collapsed on the city wall, completely exhausted, gazing into the distance at her third nephew and Xue Shao, who were still fighting among the crowd.
She pointed down, speechless. A soldier grabbed her fingers enthusiastically, his face beaming with excitement: "Master Pan, don't worry, we will definitely bring Master Miaozhen and the others out!"
After saying that, he went to ask Kuang Ye for permission to go down from the city wall to fight.
Kuang Ye agreed, and simultaneously informed the three armies that the emperor's body had been recovered, and that they should now kill and drive out these Oirat people.
The war drums sounded again, and the fighting spirit of the three armies was once again ignited.
Arachiin rushed to Esen's side and roared loudly that he wanted to retreat!
Esen was unwilling, but he had no choice but to order a full retreat. (End of Chapter)