Each giant rhino was as massive as an ordinary bull elephant, with a conical golden horn rising over four feet tall from its snout.
The Xiji puppet troops had already cast specially crafted grappling hooks onto the drawbridge, looping the other ends around the giant rhinos' horns.
Fu Shanlie blew a whistle, and the three giant rhinos picked up their pace, lunging outward in unison.
As they threw their weight into the pull, their bodies seemed to swell a size larger, and the drawbridge groaned and creaked loudly.
Arrows rained down from the battlements, but the rhinos were simply too gargantuan; the incoming shafts were like fine ox-hair needles against them.
The gatehouse defenders could only rely on siege ballistas. Infused with origin power, these lethal contraptions boasted devastating destructive force.
One giant rhino took a bolt through the back that pinned straight through its belly, its hardened outer hide failing to hold.
Another took a bolt to the rump, which only drove it to charge with greater ferocity.
Because the black beetles were controlling civilians to attack the city guard, chaos had erupted on the inner side of the South Gate as well. Dozens of civilians pushed recklessly against the winches, throwing their weight into the effort alongside the giant rhinos outside.
Working from within and without, both sides forced down the drawbridge.
From the very beginning, this struggle was fiercer than the fight at the East Gate.
The battle ground into a stalemate as the minutes ticked away.
Right before the eager eyes of the Xiji puppet troops, the towering South Gate finally lowered with a groaning rattle!
Controlled by mechanisms, this massive gate served as an entryway barrier when raised and spanned the moat as a trestle bridge for troops to cross when lowered.
More than half a year ago, when Jintao had joined forces with river pirates to lay siege to the city, they had suffered a bitter defeat right before this very South Gate.
Yet now, the infiltration squad Fu Shanlie had slipped inside, aided by the cover of the maddened civilians, had fought to the death to bring it down!
Yuheng's South Gate had fallen!
"Kill!" Fu Shanlie roared, leading the charge at the front.
When He Lingchuan discovered his home base had been overrun, what kind of look would be on his face? Fu Shanlie dearly wanted to see it for himself.
Hundreds surged behind him, storming across the bridge and through the South Gate!
The sturdiest stronghold in former Xiji territory, this mighty fortress painstakingly built by Panlong City, had finally had its outer shell torn open by him, exposing its soft underbelly.
Before sunrise tomorrow, he would be lounging on the roof of the city guard garrison, drinking wine!
"Seize the barbican gate and signal the Jintao army!" Fu Shanlie took the lead in charging the gate of the barbican.
Behind the outer South Gate lay a barbican. High walls enclosed the enemy on three sides like an urn, allowing defenders on the ramparts to rain down arrows on the forces trapped below.
The barbican had a second gate.
Yet this gate was far less sturdy than the outermost portal, and its reinforcement arrays had already been sabotaged by the infiltrators. Fu Shanlie leapt onto the ramparts himself and cut down several archers.
Before long, this gate was battered to splinters as well.
Fu Shanlie laughed heartily and bellowed his command:
"Charge, boys! Push straight through to the eastern quarter and link up with Jintao!"
His side possessed no origin power, yet they had breached Yuheng City's South Gate—proof that his brilliant stratagem had worked to perfection.
The words had barely left his mouth when the thunder of hooves arose ahead.
A dozen or so elite cavalrymen came galloping through the dust.
Seizing a city was a race against every second. Fu Shanlie had planned this painstakingly for so long; he should have met them head-on without the slightest hesitation.
They had only just cleared the gate and their foothold was precarious; only by securing the entryway could they funnel troops inside continuously.
Jintao had also promised to divert troops here as soon as they captured the South Gate.
Yet the cavalrymen before him were far too striking to ignore.
They rode bo beasts—magnificent mounts blessed with iron discipline that could obey their riders even on a night when Emperor's Flowing Dew fell.
The figure at the very front wore dark red armor, a blood-red cloak, and a grotesque ghost-faced mask.
Fu Shanlie instinctively froze in his tracks.
How could the leader of the Gale Army be in Yuheng City? Shouldn't she be fighting on the western front in the Panlong Wasteland?
A stray arrow flew straight toward her.
General Red reached out, snatched it midair, and snapped it in two with a single press of her fingers.
Leading her escort forward, she reined in her mount.
Fu Shanlie reflexively raised his hand, halting the troops behind him.
Inside and beneath the walls, a brief silence fell.
The two sides stared at each other for a dozen breaths before General Red spoke first, her tone amused. "Fu Shanlie, you really do have some tricks up your sleeve, managing to breach my South Gate."
"You're General Red?" Fu Shanlie frowned. "Impossible!"
He studied her carefully. "Why would General Red stand by and watch the city gate fall?"
Where was her renowned Gale Army? Why had only a handful of cavalrymen arrived, with the rest merely Yuheng City infantrymen?
*An impostor, surely?* Fu Shanlie's eyes flickered.
General Red chuckled softly. "Take a look at where you're standing."
Where? Fu Shanlie looked down. He had already passed the barbican gate and stood squarely on the soil of Yuheng City.
What did that mean? A trap?
General Red asked him, "What is your title in Beijia?"
"Scarlet Blood General."
"Good. I haven't killed a general of Beijia yet," General Red said with a laugh. "Your head is worthy of being hung on my wall of honors."
Fu Shanlie said coldly, "Why waste breath on cheap talk? Let us settle this on the battlefield!"
When rivals met on a narrow road, the valiant prevailed. He also wanted to see just how formidable this General Red was, who was praised to the heavens by Lingxu City!
General Red turned her left hand over, producing a pitch-black wheel. She waved it at him twice. "Has your arm grown back? Shall I take it off for you again?"
Intricate runes were etched across its surface.
At the sight of the wheel, Fu Shanlie's pupils contracted sharply.
Last time, when he had ambushed He Lingchuan in the river, the dozen or so aquatic monsters he had enlisted had their lives reaped by an unexpected divine artifact. Had they been able to aid in hunting He Lingchuan, the boy would have been dead long ago.
Yes, it was this very wheel!
He had seen its terrifying might firsthand; this thing showed no mercy, slaughtering humans and demons alike.
Had General Red been ashore back then?
With her capabilities, she could certainly draw out the wheel's power.
"How did the Seven Fortunes Wheel end up in your hands?" Fu Shanlie's brow furrowed tightly, his right shoulder suddenly prickling with an itch.
A few months ago, He Lingchuan had chopped off his right arm in the river, but a ba possessed a unique constitution. Having bathed in two consecutive nights of Emperor's Flowing Dew shortly afterward, his severed limb had rapidly regenerated.
Still, remembering that battle filled him with suffocating frustration!
General Red drawled, "Oh? You know where it comes from?"
Fu Shanlie's gaze wavered.
From the moment this woman appeared, before they had even crossed blades, he could feel his troops' morale plummeting.
Lingxu City had made a special study of General Red. The celestial gods defined her as possessing the body of a "demigod," an existence whose combat strength far eclipsed ordinary cultivators, for reasons yet unknown.
General Red's presence here might merely be a coincidence, but for Fu Shanlie, it was the low-probability accident he least wanted to encounter!
Judging by this, He Lingchuan was indeed not in the city; his scouting and plans had been flawless.
Yet right now, he would rather face He Lingchuan directly.
Fu Shanlie had volunteered to Beijia to come to Longchuan and incite rebellion to achieve merit, not to sacrifice his life.
Beijia brimmed with talents, leaving very little room for his advancement, which was why he had sought an alternative route. But in his plans, he had never intended to go head-to-head with General Red.
Why couldn't a terrifying powerhouse like her be left for the allied armies of Baling and Xianyou?
Chapter 1039