Chapter 6: Sneak Attack on Yào City

  After the Jin Yuan army disappeared, a horse emerged from behind the mountain, with a blood-soaked Hua Tian soldier riding on its back. He looked at the massive Tianyuan City and gasped slightly before urging his horse forward again.

  This man was Liu Jin, who had retreated back to Huan Yue City after his defeat. He rested for a night and the next day sent out troops to search for the Jin army but couldn't find them, so he wasn't at ease and thus dispatched messenger soldiers again.

  The commander of Tianyuan City was shocked upon receiving the news, and hastily dispatched scouts to investigate, but the Jin army had already bypassed them and could no longer be detected.

  Yao City is surrounded by mountains on all four sides, with a flat area around it, forming a typical basin. It is located at the southern edge of the basin, next to a small river that flows northeast-southwest, and has a main road running north-south through the city and extending into the distance. To the north are lush green rice fields, while to the south are low-lying thickets of trees. The city wall of Yao City is approximately 500 meters long, not a large city, with gray-black walls that appear to have been built relatively recently.

  At dusk, the city's cooking smoke rose under the sunset. Two soldiers on the gray city wall began to rumble their stomachs, one of whom touched his belly and shouted to the other: "This sultry weather is unbearable, not a single breeze."

  At this time, a group of twelve peasants emerged from the southern intersection, with one slightly shorter than the others. They had nothing on their backs, only carrying sticks, and it was unclear whether they were defending against fierce beasts or looking for someone to vent their anger.

  Two soldiers on the five-meter-high city wall noticed a group of people coming from afar, dressed in what appeared to be peasant clothing. They gazed patiently, waiting to ask this group what they were doing here so late. The setting sun soon left only a faint glow, and the peasants arrived at the tightly closed city gate. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew up, causing the hair of the two men on the city wall to flutter slightly, and another soldier chuckled: "Look, it's come with the wind."

  The first soldier who spoke did not respond, but instead shouted at the crowd: "What are you doing here! Don't you know that we're currently at war with Jin Yuan and no one is allowed to wander around randomly?"

  With a "whoosh", Yang Tian swung his hand and shot out a wooden stick straight at the mouthy Haotian soldier. With a "thud", the man was pierced through the heart by the stick and fell to the ground with a soft thud.

  Yang Tian immediately jumped onto the city wall and pounced on another person. After that person let out a surprised "ah", Yang Tian's hand knife chopped off his neck vertebra, smoothly resolving the issue.

  The guards inside the city heard a faint "ah" in the distance and continued eating with peace of mind, as it was normal for someone to trip and cry out in pain these days.

  Yang Tian jumped down from the city wall, opened the gate and welcomed in eleven people outside. Distant Lei Meng and others saw Yang Tian and others walking to the gate, also walked on the main road, rushing into the city.

  Before long, night fell and Lei Meng and the others arrived at the city gate. The short and stout commander of the city gate heard the loud footsteps outside the city and hurriedly ran out to take a look. He was surprised to find that the city gate was open! The two guards must have been eaten by ghosts! The commander's anger flared up, and he cursed loudly in his heart.

  "What are you doing! You two want to die, don't you! Actually opening the city gate at this time!……" Just as he was shouting, his neck felt a chill and his voice stopped. It turned out that Yang Tian had suddenly appeared from the corner of the next house, holding a Tang knife lightly on the man's neck.

  "Lead the way! Where is the highest ruler here?" Yang Tian shouted.

  The commander was startled, his body shook slightly, and the back of his neck began to itch where the knife had been placed. His heart suddenly contracted, this "sword" was too sharp, a slight movement would cause bleeding. Better to prioritize his life, hurry up and take him away, General Meng's martial arts skills were so good, maybe he could even capture him and achieve some merit.

  "This way," he said, stretching out his hand behind him and slowly turning around.

  Yang Tian slightly adjusted the position of his Tang knife, allowing Commander Song to breathe a sigh of relief. He turned around and quickened his pace, walking with Yang Tian on the dimly lit streets. Occasionally, the red lanterns from inside houses cast a glow onto the streets, making it possible for people to recognize their surroundings.

  "Liao Yun, Lin Chong, you two follow Yang Tian!" Lei Ming shouted in the darkness. Then, in the darkness, there were two more figures with swords drawn.

  "What about Luo Xiang?" Luoyang Tian heard that nothing was his business, and he felt very uncomfortable. He had just handed over power.

  "Hmm... General Luo has sent troops to seal off the streets, don't let them run wild." Lei Meng thought for a moment and still arranged for General Luo to carry out the task, then reminded him, "Keep your voice down! Be careful!"

  Luoyang's face was straight and wide-eyed, as if I were a three-year-old child. Do you need to remind me of even this little common sense? He snorted, turned around and left. Luoyang's angry expression was a bit comical, fortunately it couldn't be seen clearly in the dark, otherwise the people around would burst out laughing.

  "Sun Ming, Zhang Shan, Song Yi, Liu Yi! Lead the elite troops to patrol around and disperse any gathering of soldiers you find!" Lei Meng ordered again.

  "Yes!" The four of them responded in unison and went to carry it out. In the darkness, only they knew whether their eyes were darting about, or their teeth were clenched in a straight line, or their faces were expressionless.

  Yang Tian pushed the city gate and directed for two hundred meters, arriving at the entrance of a mansion in the center of the street that was lit with many lanterns. The mansion's entrance had two lanterns hanging from it, and two guards were standing beside the door.

  One of the guards looked at Liu from a distance and saw him stiffly walking towards the mansion, so he smiled and asked: "Liu, what wind brought you here? Why aren't you guarding the South City Gate properly?" It turned out that this fatty's surname was Liu, and Yang Tian understood.

  Liu Pangzi straightened his body, forced a smile and said: "Ah, ah, I've come to find General Meng about something." His heart was racing with anxiety, if he took two more steps forward, they would see the sword on my neck, was my life going to end like this?

  Yang Tian felt Liu Pang trembling on the Tang knife, secretly smiling, you're afraid that I'll cut off your head now. Yang Tian slightly increased his strength, pressing down on Liu Pang's waist, making him take two steps forward, and then suddenly flashed to the front of the two guards, the Tang knife stabbed quickly, and the two guards covered their necks and fell down.

  Liu Pangzi felt a weight lift off his shoulders, but just as he was about to feel relieved, he saw a short man flash before him and then disappear. The two guards, however, fell to the ground. A chill ran down his spine, and the weight on his shoulders returned - it turned out that the one escorting him was a short man.

  "Go in!" Yang Tian gave a light shout. Liu Zhuangzi took a deep breath to muster his courage, and then stepped inside the door.

  Outside the hall, through the doors and windows, it was clearly visible that there were four people sitting at a square table drinking together in the brightly lit hall.

  "General Meng is so young and yet holds such an important position, he will surely have a bright future ahead of him!" A slightly flattering voice said.

  "Haha ~, General Huang's military strategy is superb, and in the future, he will be a prominent figure. Come on, cheers!" A young and bright voice responded.

  Four bowls clinked together, and immediately the sound of gulping came, the wine in the bowl was drunk up, and a few drops were spilled on the ground. Liu Pangzi was pushed quietly into the hall door, immediately attracting the attention of the four people.

  That General Meng was the first to notice Liu Pangzi's abnormality, and asked loudly: "Liu Pangzi, what happened!" Liu Pangzi made a bitter face, his right hand gestured to his neck, where a knife tip was exposed.

  "Whoosh!", General Meng casually flung the bowl of un-poured wine in his hand, curving it towards Yang Tian behind Liu Pangzi. Yang Tian heard the sound and knew he couldn't hide anymore, lightly slashing the blade across Liu Pangzi's neck, lifting his foot to kick him towards General Meng's table, and swiftly dodging the bowl.

  "Bang!" The bowl crashed against the doorpost and shattered, scattering shards all over the floor.

  A sturdy man standing next to the table stood up, stretched out his hand to catch Liu Baozi, turned his body to the left, and gently put him down on one side. However, Liu Baozi's neck had already been cut open, otherwise he would have shouted loudly. At this time, his face was deathly pale as he fell softly to the ground, with blood flowing from his neck but not being treated because he knew it was over.

  "How dare you!" The man glared at the bloodstains on his own body, furious and shouting loudly. Then, astonishingly, he sprang forward, swinging his fist towards Yang Tian's face as he stood by the door with a raised knife.

  Yang Tian was amused. This person actually came to kill without using a weapon, did he think his Tang knife was a toy? He refused to show weakness and swung his knife to stab at the incoming fist.

  That man saw the knife tip swiftly stabbing, changed his fist to a palm to catch the knife tip, secretly thought it was a good opportunity, smiled on his face, exerted force and pulled, intending to snatch the knife from Yang Tian's hand, and then he could stretch out his leg to kick the flying person. This move was quite familiar to him, and it was an infallible technique that had been tried many times.

  Yang Tian felt the knife being pulled with great force, his body involuntarily lunging forward. He was shocked in his heart, this person's martial arts skills were not bad! Instead, he exerted force under his feet and took a step forward with his left foot, his right hand fiercely pulling backward to open up the Tang knife, his left hand's knife sheath striking forward towards that sturdy man.

  That person was caught off guard and counterattacked, unable to help but let out a "huh?" as he casually brushed aside the incoming knife strike. The two of them retreated from each other.

  "Not bad!" General Meng praised lightly on the other side, "Follow me, and you'll have benefits later!"

  "Idiot!" Yang Tian muttered a sentence, but he didn't attack immediately. He wanted to aim at where to start.

  Liao Yun and Lin Chong, who had followed outside the door, exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves that they were in trouble as they had encountered an expert. Liao Yun whispered, "That General Meng is a very formidable expert, I've heard of him before, didn't expect him to be here, looks like we're in for some trouble."

  "The person who just fought with Yang Tian was quite skilled too. Go and get Master over here." Lin Chong said, frowning.

  Liao Yun hesitated for a moment, then said: "Alright. You be careful." After finishing speaking, he turned around and quickly left. General Meng and the strong man in the hall exchanged a brief glance before looking back inside the hall.

  Yang Tian saw the other person's eyes shift elsewhere, raised his knife and stepped forward to feign a slash at the strong man's right shoulder. The man stretched out his hand to catch it. Yang Tian immediately retracted his knife and stabbed straight ahead, using the "Penetrating Taihang" technique with a light spit of force on his sword.

  That person couldn't change his move in time, and hurriedly exerted force with his hand, sweeping the knife to the side. The knife was blocked, but that surge of energy didn't stop, still shooting straight at his right chest. He couldn't dodge in time, so he took a deep breath and used his chest to harden against the incoming force.

  He let out a stifled groan, his right chest hit, and he took a step back with his hand on his chest. A thread of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

  Yang Tian did not continue his attack because he had a feeling of being stared at by a venomous snake.

  The robust man slowly backed away, took a couple of deep breaths, and with his breathing slightly calmer, he solemnly asked: "I wonder who your master is? Where are you from?"

  Yang Tian's eyes rolled, and he said: "If you want to fight, then fight. If not, sit down and don't move!" General Meng heard this and laughed, saying: "You're the one who rushed into my place, how can we be wrong for asking you?"

  As General Meng smiled, the staring feeling dissipated, and Yang Tian felt a bit better. He chuckled and said, "Then why don't you follow me from now on? We can have all sorts of delicious food, spicy or not." He didn't answer the other's question, but instead teased him back.

  It was just Yang Tian's teasing that scared them. It wasn't a few people who came, but a large army! General Meng and the strong man looked at each other, shocked to see the fear in each other's eyes. They had failed!

  Lei Ming quietly reached the back door of the hall and gave a reassuring gesture to Yang Tian at the front door. Yang Tian's heart calmed down a bit.

  "Come in!" General Meng shouted loudly, but suddenly his face changed color as he remembered that the person at the front door must have been killed.

  "Charge! Take him down!" General Meng shouted the order, and the four of them were about to launch a siege to take down Yang Tian. But Yang Tian and Lei Ming launched an attack first, and in order to increase their power, they both used the Xīnguì Jiàn Fǎ (Stellar Sword Technique) at the same time. With their left hands wildly absorbing energy, they took a step forward, and with their right hands, they swung their swords, shooting out sword energy that swept across the four of them.

  Four people rushed to both sides, and the other two officers dodged too late, being pierced by the sword energy and dying on the spot with a mouthful of blood. General Meng and the strong man avoided Yang Tian's attack, but did not expect that there was still someone behind them, and Lei Ming's sword energy directly hit his left rear shoulder. Fortunately, the two had deep internal strength, only spitting out blood and falling to the ground without dying. It wasn't until then that they realized there was another expert sneaking up from behind to launch a sneak attack on them, letting them fall before they could even make a move. The despicable expert gave them a tragic result!

  After the two men fell to the ground, they spat out another mouthful of blood and felt a bit more comfortable. General Meng weakly asked Lei Ming: "Let Meng die with a clear conscience, who are you?" The strong man also stared at Lei Ming with dead eyes.

  "We? We are abandoned wandering troops." Lei Meng thought for a moment, secretly worried in his heart, "Now you can rest assured?" After finishing speaking, he was about to go forward and give them a good beating.

  "Wait!" Yang Tian stopped and said, "Lei Meng, they are heroes, let them stay."

  Lei Meng looked at the two generals seriously, and they just spat blood and fell to the ground, but their breathing was still smooth. He shook his head and said, "These two are masters, and they didn't die under the sword energy. After they recover, we will face the enemy together and won't leave them behind."

  "Before you came, they didn't besiege us, I appreciate them." Yang Tian paused for a moment and said, "I want to let them join us."