Zhu Yan regained her senses and looked at him upon hearing the sound.
Their eyes met, momentarily bewildered.
Jing Lin’s eyes were bloodshot. Unable to bear Shen Du’s miserable state, he growled, “Madam, now that Mo Qianzhi is dead, we no longer face any threat. We should seize this opportunity to attack the Fire Moth Party and obtain the antidote to save the Grand Commander.”
Jing Lin’s analysis was correct, but Zhu Yan had her considerations. She massaged her temples and, after a long while, finally spoke softly, “Go, hang Mo Qianzhi’s bloodstained clothes on the city wall and sound the war drums.”
Jing Lin’s eyes gleamed, “Yes.” He turned to leave, fearing that Lai Fu might escape if they delayed.
“Wait,” she suddenly called out to Jing Lin. “Regarding Mo Qianzhi’s matter, do not speak of it further.”
Jing Lin nodded without asking questions. After receiving the order, he left hastily, leaving only two people in the room.
“If it were you, you would have done the same, wouldn’t you?”
Zhu Yan’s face was filled with worry, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on Shen Du’s hand.
But there was no response. Shen Du had lost too much blood, his face pale and bloodless, with the veins beneath his skin visible.
Zhu Yan couldn’t help but want to cry.
—
Following the instructions, Jing Lin quickly arrived at the city wall.
The surrounding officers and soldiers all looked at him, unsure of what was happening.
They saw him hang a bloodstained outer garment on the city wall. With a grave expression, he shouted, “Sound the war drums!”
The war drums thundered, splitting the dark clouds and revealing the long-hidden sunlight.
Dawn had broken; everything would get better.
In the Fire Moth Party’s camp, upon hearing the war drums, everyone automatically lined up but waited in place for a long time without seeing Mo Qianzhi.
Suddenly without a leader, no one knew how to proceed.
Soon, someone called for Lai Fu.
Lai Fu was concocting poison and was displeased when summoned. However, with the persistent sound of war drums, she had to reluctantly come to assess the situation.
“Where is Lord Mo?” The officers who had followed Mo Qianzhi surrounded Lai Fu angrily. “What have you done to Lord Mo?”
These Half-Faced Ghosts behaved strangely and were known to eat human flesh. Now that Lord Mo was missing, how could they not be suspicious?
If it weren’t for Lord Mo’s instructions, they would never have allied with such people.
Lai Fu scoffed, “How ironic, the thief crying ‘stop thief.’ You know best where your Lord Mo has gone.”
“We know you’ve harmed Lord Mo.”
“Hand over Lord Mo!”
Lai Fu found them troublesome and glared, “Just focus on the battle ahead. Don’t ask about these trivial matters.”
Her harsh tone sent chills down their spines.
They had long heard that this Fire Moth Party leader was ruthless, but now with no sign of Mo Qianzhi, dead or alive, these officers couldn’t act rashly.
After much effort, the two groups finally advanced to battle, though with divided hearts.
As they approached, someone reported seeing Lord Mo’s bloodstained official robes on the city wall of Yingzhou.
Jing Lin shouted at the top of his lungs, “Mo Qianzhi is dead! Surrender immediately!”
Instantly, the officers’ eyes reddened, unwilling to believe. The Fire Moth Party members also looked up at the bloodied clothes, waves of discussion rippling through the ranks.
Lai Fu glared at the blood-soaked official robe, its original color lost to the stains. A hole in the chest area fluttered in the wind.
It was indeed Mo Qianzhi’s clothes. He had always prided himself on his official status and never removed his uniform. However, this wasn’t his formal court attire but the informal uniform he wore for daily duties.
Last night, Mo Qianzhi had come to Lai Fu inquiring about the antidote. Connecting the dots, Lai Fu’s eyes darted about as she coldly snorted and spoke up:
“This must be a trick to deceive us.”
With battle imminent, a wavering morale was a grave danger.
She turned her horse to face the sea of troops, her face grim: “Lord Mo must have been captured by them. We can’t be distracted now; our primary task is to engage in battle.”
The main force of officers remained unmoved, loyal only to Mo Qianzhi’s commands.
Left with no choice, Lai Fu devised a plan: “Even if we haven’t seen Lord Mo’s corpse and don’t know if it’s true, even if he is dead, I, Chen Huoe, have ways to resurrect him.”
The image of Chen Huoe emerging unscathed after being shot by an arrow days ago was still fresh in everyone’s minds. With these words, all were invigorated. That’s right, even if he were truly dead, he could be revived.
“Charge!” Everyone’s spirits lifted as they galloped towards the gates of Yingzhou.
Jing Lin couldn’t help but admire Lai Fu’s skill in manipulating people’s hearts. He issued orders to defend the city gates at all costs.
“Yes, sir!” The imperial guards and city defenders responded in unison.
Meanwhile, the Fire Moth Party and the former imperial troops launched a fierce assault on the city. Especially Mo Qianzhi’s former subordinates, determined to break through the gates and rescue him, each climbing ladders with reckless abandon or working together to ram the gates with iron-clad battering rams.
Previously held back by Mo Qianzhi, they now attacked with full force.
Lai Fu was pleased with this reaction, thinking that perhaps Shen Du was already dead, and they were using Mo Qianzhi’s everyday clothes as a ruse to deceive them.
Jing Lin directed the defense, simultaneously preventing the enemy from scaling the walls and encouraging everyone to hold the gates. He wished he could split himself in two. At this moment, Pan Chi arrived in full armor, exchanged a glance with Jing Lin, and quickly went down to command the troops defending the gates.
Not skilled in warfare, he left the task of defending the walls to Jing Lin.
Without Mo Qianzhi, the common people lost their resolve. Thinking of the merciless Half-Faced Ghosts on the other side, the young and strong voluntarily came to help.
As the city gates shook violently, those who were exhausted still gritted their teeth and persevered.
“Switch! Those in the back, come forward!” Pan Chi calmly directed the troops in rotation.
Since ancient times, those who win the hearts of the people in the world. He refused to believe that with so many citizens fighting, these demons could prevail.
At this time, Jing Lin observed from the city wall and saw a group of reinforcements joining the Fire Moth Party’s ranks. The situation looked grim.
“Defend Yingzhou City to the death!”
As soon as he spoke, a thunderous boom resounded as the city gates were breached. The Half-Faced Ghosts rushed in like madmen.
The city gates had fallen.
Pan Chi, sword in hand, shouted, “Ah, you’ve come quite quickly!”
The situation wasn’t good on Jing Lin’s side either. The reinforcements, skilled in lightness kung fu, quickly scaled the walls and leaped in. Jing Lin had to lead his men to resist, with no time to warn Pan Chi.
Both sides engaged in fierce combat.
Although the former imperial troops didn’t harm ordinary citizens, the newly arrived reinforcements were all highly skilled in martial arts and ruthless in their attacks. The imperial guards and city defenders gradually found themselves overwhelmed.
Pan Chi raised his arm and shouted, “As officials and generals, we’d rather die standing than live on our knees! Charge!”
Inspired by his words, the desperate defenders found a surge of courage, rallying their spirits to continue the fight.
Pan Chi had a plan in mind and moved closer to Lai Fu. His primary goal was to find the antidote for Shen Du and repay the life-saving debt.
Seeing Yingzhou City about to fall into the Fire Moth Party’s hands, Lai Fu couldn’t help but laugh triumphantly. Upon seeing Pan Chi, she showed no surprise: “So you’re alive. Hehe, but Shen Du is surely doomed. How wonderful, how perfect.”
Pan Chi twirled his sword, creating a flurry of blade-flowers, and retorted sarcastically, “You neither-male nor female monster, it would be wonderful, perfect, and especially good if you were dead.”
With that, he lunged forward to strike. Lai Fu parried and counterattacked. After a few exchanges, Pan Chi was already out of breath and no match for her. Lai Fu snorted coldly and said disdainfully:
“I shall take your life in exchange for Governor Pan’s city. How does that sound, Young Master Pan?”
Pan Chi’s phoenix eyes gazed into the distance as he smiled innocently, “Do you mean that?”
Lai Fu found Pan Chi’s question strange and raised an eyebrow at him.
Pan Chi tilted his chin, pointing eastward, gesturing for Lai Fu to look.
Lai Fu turned to look, her face turning pale.