Part 2
He remained calm and continued eating his breakfast.
And the Emperor’s silence made Xie Qianli regret his momentary lapse into playfulness. He suppressed his excitement and returned to his dutiful self, tucking away his “wagging tail.”
“I am entirely at Your Majesty’s disposal.”
The military doctor didn’t understand the situation and could only laugh it off. “General Xie’s physique surpasses that of ordinary men. He has been injured many times, and his recovery has always been very fast.”
Ying Xi nodded. “I believe you.”
Thinking about it, including the two days he was asleep, they had been surrounding Xindu for over thirty days.
Ying Xi commanded, “Since General Xie’s injuries are healed, I have a battle to assign to you. I see that Li Yilong is also about to break. Go and deliver the final blow to Xindu.”
Today was a clear day, and the light beneath the observation deck was brilliant.
Ying Xi led the generals of the various armies to gather and watch the battle. The sound of drums shook the heavens.
The battle had advanced to Xindu—
The besieging soldiers fought bravely, while the rebel defenders continuously hurled stones from the city walls. Cloud ladders and battering rams all rushed toward the main gate.
Of the twenty-four “Star Generals” Li Yilong had dubbed, less than half remained.
Seven or eight enemy generals surrounded Xie Qianli.
He was the primary commander for today’s siege. Killing him would not only make one famous across the world but would also boost the rebels’ morale.
The enemy generals each used their best skills.
Thus, not long after the siege began, a duel between generals formed outside the city.
The Youlong E was as light as a feather in Xie Qianli’s hands.
When he brandished the long spear, only flashes of silver could be seen. The clear light of the spear shaft blurred into one; from a distance, one couldn’t sense its weight.
However, when Xie Qianli exerted force and the Youlong E struck an enemy general, it suddenly knocked the man off his horse, sending him flying several feet. Only then could people feel the terrifying power of that heavy weapon.
Cheers erupted from the observation deck!
Before the cheers could fade, two nearby enemy generals took advantage of the moment before Xie Qianli could retract his spear. They thrust out their guandao.
The two guandao came with fierce momentum.
The observation deck fell silent.
Without realizing it, Ying Xi’s palm tightly gripped the armrest of his dragon chair. His brows furrowed as he stared intently at the battlefield.
Xie Qianli pressed his waist down, leaning back flat against the horse’s back. The two guandao clashed together. His snow-white warhorse carried him out of the circle, and as he sat up, he countered with an upward thrust.
The enemy general was unseated! The guandao fell to the ground!
Everyone on the observation deck breathed a sigh of relief.
Two of the rebels’ famous generals had been cut down in succession by Xie Qianli, and the encirclement suddenly grew sparse.
The enemy’s morale plummeted. From a distance, some horses could be seen hesitating, their riders intending to wait for others to wear him down first so they could reap the benefits.
Ying Xi said in a low voice, “End this quickly. Beat the drums.”
At the Emperor’s command, the drums rolled in unison.
Thousands of drumbeats resonated densely, carrying the order to advance into the battle formation.
Xie Qianli urged his horse forward to fight again. Almost in sync with the drumbeats, he found his target and thrust his spear. Another general fell from his horse.
The Youlong E was stained blood-red!
Xie Qianli pulled the reins to stop his horse and held his spear horizontally.
Simultaneously, the four enemy generals in front of him scattered in fear, looking at each other but not daring to approach.
It was too terrifying. One enemy general even turned and fled, his voice cracking as he shouted, “Mr. Fan, open the gate! Mr. Fan!”
Lian Qing shouted, “Traitor, don’t run!”
That fleeing general was intercepted by Lian Qing. Lian Qing had finally caught a chance to score a merit; if he fought too mediocrely, he wouldn’t be able to face his father when he returned.
Lian Qing’s blade fell, and the fleeing general, who had already lost his will to fight, became another fallen star of the rebel army.
Seeing that both fighting and fleeing were useless, the remaining generals simply shouted:
“Charge together! Kill him!”
On the city wall, Fan Zhiai’s eyes narrowed. Those three generals were already showing signs of defeat.
A soldier said in a trembling voice, “Mr. Fan, should we open the gate to welcome the generals back?”
The drumbeats were urgent. Fan Zhiai could see that those generals had long wanted to return to the city; they were fighting while retreating toward the gate.
“Mr. Fan, there are no more generals left in the city!”
“Archers, prepare,” Fan Zhiai said coldly.
The soldier was stunned. Mr. Fan wanted to lure Xie Qianli close and kill him with hidden arrows.
The master archers in the city could draw bows of a thousand jin. The range of those bows surpassed all others. The archers had already reached the battlements, their heavy bows drawn to the limit.
If they could… if they could kill Ying Xi’s top general.
If not…
Xie Qianli was coming!
Xie Qianli entered the sniping range. He killed two of the three remaining generals, while the last one continued to fight and retreat.
Fan Zhiai said coldly, “Release!”
But the arrows were never fired. A black shadow streaked across the sky, faster than any bird on earth. With a forceful claw and scratch, the heavy bows fell off the city wall.
“Skree—!”
Fan Zhiai quickly ducked.
How could Little Black let him fire?
The black falcon left Fan Zhiai’s face a bloody mess. The city tower was filled with Fan Zhiai’s screams: “Drive it away! Quick, kill this feathered beast…!”
The soldiers on the wall were in a chaotic mess trying to shoo the bird.
Below the city, another rebel general fell.
Xie Qianli pointed his spear at the city gate and shouted, “Open the gate and surrender!”
The Qin soldiers shouted with excitement:
“Open the gate! Long live Great Qin!”
“Open the gate! Long live Great Qin!”
The sound was like a crashing wave, enough to shake the city tower down with volume alone, and more than enough to inspire every man in the Imperial army.
Fan Zhiai shrieked, “Close it! We don’t want the soldiers outside anymore! Do not let the Qin army in! Fire the arrows…!”
But how could the arrows on the wall distinguish between friend and foe?
The rebel arrows killed countless of their own men—the last of the living forces of the Xindu garrison.
The soldiers’ faces were gray as they fired. Such a city… even if they just surrounded it without attacking, it would collapse in an instant. They had already lost.
“Do you have a clean handkerchief?”
Lian Qing was stunned by the question. They were supposed to go see the Emperor after their victory, but as generals who had just performed great merits and killed several enemy generals, those bloodstains were the capital for claiming rewards.
Yet General Xie wanted to wipe them off.
Lian Qing was dumbfounded.
Even though he knew Xie Qianli loved cleanliness, he had never gone to this extent before.
Lian Qing pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve. Since it wasn’t his turn to do much work today, the handkerchief wasn’t soaked in blood. “Here.”
Xie Qianli opened his water skin to dampen the cloth and hurriedly wiped his silver armor until it gleamed, making sure no blood could be seen, nor the few new small scratches.
The observation deck was ahead, and the Emperor was in the center.
Ying Xi looked noble and dignified. The sunlight reflected off his pale, almost translucent face.
The silk of his dragon robe shimmered like a layer of bright moonlight surrounding him.
Xiao Xi is glowing.
No one knew the secret from last night—that he had once touched the outline of the moon.
Xie Qianli was filled with a surging joy. He suddenly turned and threw the Youlong E several yards away!
The weapon that had just been covered in blood traced an arc of light, like a silver dragon leaping. It landed tip-down, stabbing diagonally into the soil.
Lian Qing was even more wide-eyed. “General, what are you doing?”
Perhaps Xie Qianli had his moments of youthful arrogance, but his releases of intensity were usually confined to the battlefield.
Once off the battlefield, Xie Qianli followed the rules. He carried a sense of propriety carved into him by his parents over many years; he was cold and calm. Why would he throw away the Youlong E for no reason?
Lian Qing naturally didn’t dare to question him.
But he felt that Xie Qianli had changed in some way, as if something were breaking through his frost-like shell.
He was moving step by step to embrace that moon.
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