Earlier, when Cai Qiyong showed up leading the troops, Wen Daolun had muttered to himself, wondering where He Lingchuan had gone.
It seemed Commander He wasn't leading his troops in the proper fashion again; instead, he had snuck into the city to fight as an individual combatant.
Ordinary people were not privy to the details, but Wen Daolun knew very well that Yuheng City once had two secret tunnels leading outside. One had been dug by the former local government for troop transport and escape; the other had been secretly excavated by a wealthy family near the northern wall, and no one knew how long they had taken to dig it.
In any case, when the Gale Army conquered this place, the mansion's master had fled through that tunnel.
Yuheng City publicly blocked off the official tunnel, but kept the more clandestine private tunnel just in case.
He Lingchuan had quietly returned to the city through that very secret passage, saving Wen Daolun in the nick of time.
From the very beginning, he had planned a two-front battle. The Yuheng Army he took to Longchuan, though repeatedly regrouped along the way, was far smaller than it appeared on the surface. While Longchuan was bustling with people coming and going, half of them were actually local bandit gangs and native residents.
He had also left behind a thousand elite troops ambushed to the north of the city.
The orders Cai Qiyong received were to choose the right moment to reinforce Yuheng City.
Fu Shanlie dared attack Yuheng City likely because he was confident he could strike from both inside and out. Therefore, He Lingchuan left eight hundred men with Cai Qiyong, taking two hundred elites through the tunnel into the city himself to deal with internal trouble.
Sure enough, fighting had broken out in total chaos inside the city as well.
While the two were talking, Meng Shan swung his spiked club, moving to deal with the other giant mantis.
Yet the creature instantly regained its agility, pouncing straight for Meng Shan's head and face.
Meng Shan swung his spiked club, intending to bash its brains out, only for the thing to suddenly disperse before him into hundreds and thousands of tiny insects that swarmed to gnaw on his face and head.
These were no beetles, but miniature mantises dozens of times smaller, each barely the length of a pinky finger. Yet they had everything they should, missing none of their vicious weapons.
Meng Shan roared forward, a blast of qi knocking away a large swarm of the strange bugs, but several dozen circled around to sting the back of his neck.
A few more went straight for Wen Daolun.
Wen Daolun hurriedly formed a hand seal, burning the bugs to ash.
He Lingchuan stepped forward, unleashing several flashes of saber gang with rapid slashes, cutting down the insects swarming Meng Shan.
He didn't need to kill them one by one; wherever his saber qi reached, the strange bugs dropped in heaps.
Meng Shan was utterly dazzled, chilled gleams flashing around him, and then—there was no then.
Uh, he hadn't seen clearly at all.
Had the Commander's cultivation progressed this fast? Two years ago, he could still pin the Commander to the ground and give him a sound beating.
He Lingchuan tilted his head slightly. "Old Wen, come with me. Don't stray too far."
The Jintao army outside the walls was caught in a pincer attack from front and rear, and with the interference of Emperor's Flowing Dew, they were sandwiched like biscuit filling. Once they couldn't withstand the pressure, soldiers began to break and flee.
When Emperor's Flowing Dew descended, most people lost their reason. Compounded by the battlefield frenzy and the pressure of a desperate situation, their psychological defenses collapsed easily.
The Yuheng Army seized the chance to press their advantage, and after several more rounds of charging and cleaving through enemy lines, the forces inside and outside successfully joined up!
This also meant they had severed the Jintao army in half lengthwise.
East of Yuheng City, the battle was decided!
Only after He Lingchuan confirmed the surroundings were safe did he wave over a squad of guards, stuffing Wen Daolun right into the center of the formation. "All right, you're safe! I'll be going ahead."
This guard unit numbered over a hundred men; only under the protection of abundant origin power was Wen Daolun truly safe.
Seeing that the Jintao army's defeat was certain, He Lingchuan detached three hundred men to rush to the South Gate to support Willow.
He wanted to face Fu Shanlie.
That was the true main battlefield of this conflict.
After he departed, Wen Daolun continued directing the East Gate battle.
So far, Yuheng City had executed their established tactics, first repelling Jintao's offensive.
Pick the soft persimmons first; the troops Fu Shanlie borrowed from the state of Jintao could add luster to a triumph, cause disruption in Yuheng, or coordinate from within and without, but they were incapable of waging a tough siege on their own.
Even the elite of the Jintao forces could not hold, and the entire army broke westward in rout.
As the saying went, a defeated army collapsed like a landslide. Once the retreat began, it spiraled out of control; no commander or general could halt it.
Just as Wen Daolun was about to pursue them out through the East Gate with the army, someone behind him suddenly called his name.
Turning around, he was surprised to see Zhao Linyang running out of an alley, covered in blood.
"City Defender Zhao, what happened?"
Zhao Linyang ran up and pointed into the alley. "I just heard cries for help from inside. When I went in to look, a giant insect was devouring people! My guards were actually no match for it."
A giant bug? Wen Daolun immediately dispatched a dozen or so men to charge into the pitch-black alley.
"How is the battle going?" Zhao Linyang naturally walked shoulder-to-shoulder with him, flanked by several dozen guards who crowded around them.
"The situation at the East Gate is settled. Cai Qiyong has gone to pursue the Jintao army to cut down as many as possible before they escape back across the border."
Over the past year, Jintao had caused no shortage of trouble for Yuheng City, so the Yuheng Army would certainly beat the drowning dog to vent their frustration properly.
Just then, a loud boom came from a dark alley to the west—some kind of explosion, though what caused it was unknown.
Wen Daolun instinctively turned his head to look.
This turn exposed the nape of his neck right in front of Zhao Linyang.
Zhao Linyang leaned closer, opening his mouth as if to speak, when someone suddenly squeezed in beside them and slapped a hand on his shoulder:
"Old Zhao!"
He turned his head and saw that He Lingchuan had actually returned.
"I ran into something. Old Wen will temporarily act in command at the East Gate. You come with me." Saying this, He Lingchuan sniffed a couple of times, furrowing his brows. "What is that smell?"
Wen Daolun asked in surprise, "Commander He, what's wrong?"
"Trouble in the center. Go about your business."
Zhao Linyang naturally raised no objections, stepping out of the formation to follow He Lingchuan.
As the two turned a corner, the two hundred elite soldiers stationed here immediately fell in behind them.
Watching the backs of the two as they departed, Wen Daolun felt something seemed off, yet he couldn't put his finger on it.
Never mind. The battle took precedence.
Meanwhile, He Lingchuan and Zhao Linyang hurried toward the South Gate.
Because of Emperor's Flowing Dew, horses could not be controlled, so everyone had no choice but to run on foot.
He Lingchuan asked Zhao Linyang, "Old Zhao, what did that giant bug you saw in the dark alley look like?"
It turned out he hadn't left after all, having overheard their entire conversation.
Zhao Linyang seemed to think for a moment. "About the size of a person. From behind, it looked like someone wearing a cloak."
"Then how did you spot it?"
"It was crouched on the ground, devouring a civilian."
"You've studied demonic beasts. Could you tell what kind of monster it was?"
Zhao Linyang shook his head. "No, I don't know much about demonic beasts."
He Lingchuan said with surprise, "Huh, did I misremember?"
"You misremembered."
He Lingchuan let out a long "oh," no longer dwelling on the subject.
Passing through civilian districts along the way, commoners were frequently rioting under the effects of Emperor's Flowing Dew, and He Lingchuan casually dispatched a soldier or two each time to quell the disturbances.
After running another hundred paces or so, Zhao Linyang gradually began falling behind.
Every time he slowed his pace, He Lingchuan made sure to stop and wait for him. "Old Zhao, your physical stamina really won't do. How about joining my troops for field training later?"
Chapter 1037