Chapter 775: When the Strong Wind Rises, How Can No One Fall (Part 2)

Dong Zhuo, clad in armor and carrying a saber, sat astride a magnificent, large steed. Man and horse complemented each other perfectly. Although Dong Zhuo was stout, he did not appear corpulent or ungainly. Compared to this Southern Imperial King who commanded half of Beiliang's military forces, Zhao Yi and Zhao Biao, father and son from Guangling Road, certainly cut a far less impressive figure. Dong Zhuo straightened his neck, gazing at the white rainbow that had fallen before the city, his eyes shining brightly. He was also a skilled martial artist; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to trick and abduct the daughter of Fifth Luo of Tibing Mountain back then—he would have been beaten thin long ago.

Regarding Xu Fengnian from the opposing camp, Dong Zhuo held no strong animosity from a personal perspective. When they first met within Beiliang territory, Dong Zhuo was the founder of the separatist Dong Family Army, still far from his current position as Southern Imperial King, separated by the difficult-to-break barrier of being a Beiliang Grand General. In fact, it could be argued that had Xu Fengnian not emerged to successfully inherit the title of Prince of Beiliang and win the hearts of both the Beiliang Iron Cavalry and its people, Dong Zhuo would at best be serving under Liu Gui or Yang Yuanzan, much like Hong Jingyan and Zhong Tan. Furthermore, due to the incident involving Tao Manwu, he owed Xu Fengnian a favor. Therefore, if not for the prevailing circumstances, Dong Zhuo genuinely wished to sit down and have a good talk with Xu Fengnian, emulating those famous scholars from the Central Plains who enjoyed philosophical discussions, perhaps choosing a snowy night to warm wine and discuss heroes, rather than their current life-and-death confrontation.

In Dong Zhuo's sight, as expected, that person, out of fear of Tuoba Pusa, did not display the supreme cultivation of the Heavenly Phenomenon realm by "borrowing" weapons from the Humen City border guards or even the Beiliang attacking armored soldiers to block the massive stones hurled by nearly a thousand trebuchets. That figure landed in the open space between the two armies; although he had suppressed his realm and aura, his imposing presence was no less grand than the scene of a thousand cavalry charging out of the city. This inevitably struck fear into Dong Zhuo, who, due to his inherent limitations, could only remain in the Vajra realm. Fat Dong Zhuo might claim that even the Sword Emperor of Western Shu couldn't be an army of ten thousand on the battlefield, but Dong Zhuo knew perfectly well that if Xu Fengnian didn't have Tuoba Pusa as a concern, and was allowed to fight unreservedly, the Beiliang siege army, mostly infantry with only cavalry maneuvering on the flanks, would easily have its formations disrupted. Therefore, Dong Zhuo greatly hoped that the grandmaster would display the demeanor befitting a Land Immortal, ignoring the ants fighting beneath his feet, and ideally come alone to seek trouble with him.

Dong Zhuo had long prepared for this. Besides the top experts clustered around him as guards and the large ballistas capable of firing shots equivalent to a Land Immortal's sword strike a hundred zhang away, Dong Zhuo had also secretly placed many experts with concealed auras within the cavalry on both flanks. As soon as Xu Fengnian became deeply entangled in the formation, it would be easy for Dong Zhuo's forces to form an encirclement when he tried to retreat. Even if they couldn't intercept and kill Xu Fengnian on his way back to Humen City, they could at least exhaust a significant amount of his vital energy, making it almost certain that Tuoba Pusa would arrive on the battlefield in time.

For this purpose, Dong Zhuo specifically consulted several Beiliang grandmasters, repeatedly confirming that upon reaching the Heavenly Phenomenon realm, one achieves the "heaven-human induction" described by Confucianism, enabling resonance with heaven and earth. At this point, a martial artist's internal qi becomes like a surging river in flood, greatly enhancing their power. However, this act of "stealing" the qi of heaven and earth has an inherent flaw: heaven can only add to what's already good, but cannot provide help in times of need. Once a martial artist's fundamental energy is depleted, it remains difficult to fully recover in a short period. Otherwise, wouldn't two grandmasters of the same Heavenly Phenomenon realm fight until the end of time without a clear victor? Back then, there was an aged swordsman named Li Chungang in the Liyang Jianghu, who, by the Guangling River, broke through two thousand six hundred armored soldiers with a single burst of qi. Most common people were shocked by the number of iron cavalry defeated, but only those truly initiated in martial arts would understand the true terror lay in the phrase "a single burst of qi." This meant that the old man named Li Chungang disdained the Heavenly Phenomenon methods that relied on accumulating qi; a single burst was a single burst, and a single sword strike was a single sword strike.

Dong Zhuo's intention was clear: to use the lives of hundreds, even thousands, of Beiliang experts and soldiers to consume a trace of Xu Fengnian's fundamental energy, solely to gain an additional sliver of victory for Tuoba Pusa, the Northern Imperial King, who was rushing to the scene.

In his line of sight, that streak of white rainbow began to charge the formation with a brutal, straight-line advance. Dong Zhuo curled his lips and said, "If he weren't the Prince of Beiliang, but just a wanderer of the Jianghu, who in this world could stop him? He acts like Li Chungang and Cao Changqing, truly unrestrained and dashing... You really can't help but admire this guy. It's said that women from those aristocratic families of the Beiting Jiazi clan have openly offered a price, claiming that if I, Old Dong, capture this peerlessly charming young vassal king and let them have him for one night, they'd pay five thousand taels of gold, and the price is negotiable! Just for one night! How many Dong family lads could I support with that?! Dammit, what's wrong with me, Dong Zhuo, besides being a bit fatter and taller than that guy Xu? Why doesn't anyone scream that just hearing the name Xu Fengnian makes their ears pregnant?"

Fat Dong Zhuo's concubine, listening to his vulgar country slang and crude remarks, quickly coughed a few times, reminding her man to mind his image in public. Dong Zhuo ignored her, continuing to mumble to himself, "If it were me, never mind five thousand taels of gold for one night, five hundred taels of silver would do..."

His concubine, now seething with rage, glared at him and exclaimed, "Dong Zhuo!"

The stout man shrank his neck, discarding the frivolous expression he had deliberately put on to ease his tension, and calmly said, "He's here."

One man, one saber.

Xu Fengnian began to break through the formation.

After over a month of bloody siege, the Beiliang barbarians, born and raised on horseback, had paid a heavy price of over twenty thousand casualties. Facing the towering north wall of Humen City, Beiliang soldiers, from the centurions who had to personally scale the walls to the most ordinary troops, began to mature rapidly. While charging forward, they would anticipate when the various types of crossbows—encompassing all kinds used in Beiliang—on the city walls would fire, and at that precise moment, they would collectively raise their shields. Their advance, of course, would not stop, though their speed would inevitably slow down, potentially giving Beiliang archers on the walls one or two extra rounds of volleys. However, Beiliang had proven that this seemingly insignificant technique yielded unexpected damage reduction. After all, the accuracy of Beiliang's bows and crossbows was astonishing; even advancing in formation, if one dared to ignore the rain of arrows in order to reach the city walls sooner, the Beiliang border army would ensure they lost their lives within three hundred steps of the city.

Before Dong Zhuo's eyes, three dense torrents of armored troops diverged, incorporating almost every siege engine documented in military treatises, a feat for which the surviving people of the Southern Dynasty deserved much credit. There were battering ram carts propelled by dozens of strongmen; mobile siege towers as tall as or even taller than the city walls, covered with special cowhide resistant to rockets, housing nearly a hundred men; and scaling ladders with wheels at their base for easier movement. Also among the forces were trench bridges, originally intended merely to fill moats, which, at the suggestion of Dong Zhuo's strategists, could be deployed onto the city walls to create artificial sloping ramps. These two "miraculous" trench bridges played a crucial role in enabling six hundred Beiliang soldiers to simultaneously surge onto Humen City's walls at one point. Over thirty thousand infantry, with the main assault force on Humen City's north side numbering fifteen thousand, and slightly fewer troops on the flanks attacking the northeast and northwest sides. In the two gaps formed by the three infantry squares, two elite cavalry units, each over a thousand strong, spearheaded the advance to suppress the defending arrows as much as possible. On the outermost flanks, large cavalry forces also launched separate charges. Besides supporting the siege infantry with their skilled archery and preventing cavalry within Humen City from sallying forth, they also had to remotely pin down the Beiliang cavalry stationed along the Huaiyang Pass line, dealing with the lightning raids of the Beiliang Iron Cavalry reinforcements, which were swift and aimed at disrupting formations rather than inflicting heavy casualties.

Based on the valuable siege experience summarized by Zhong Tan at Hulu Pass on the eastern front, the continuous assault on Humen City, while committing sufficient troops for "ant-like" assaults on the front line, also required a second line: ten or so centurions leading a force of ten thousand well-rested troops positioned close to the battlefield. Should an emergency arise where a centurion's unit suffered two hundred to three hundred casualties beneath the city walls, regardless of the outcome, that unit was to immediately withdraw from the battlefield and be swiftly replaced by another centurion leading troops from the rear. This formidable force of ten thousand, if they found an opportunity somewhere on the battlefield, was also granted discretionary military authority by Dong Zhuo, allowing them to commit their troops to battle immediately without waiting for orders from the commander's tent. Those centurions who, hoping for no faults rather than merits, missed such opportunities, were executed on the spot by a detachment of Dong Family cavalry sent by the Southern Imperial King before they could even return to camp, with two such instances occurring. This led to two commanders of ten thousand being demoted to centurions. One of them, seeking redemption, eventually led three hundred death-defying warriors in an assault on Humen City's walls. After killing a Beiliang colonel named Chu, he was personally slain by Liu Jinu, dying on the wall. His body was then impaled through the neck with a grappling hook by Beiliang soldiers and hung from the city wall. After Beiliang retrieved the mangled body, Dong Zhuo personally placed the first commander of ten thousand to die on the central battlefield into a coffin and had him transported back to the Southern Dynasty.

At this very moment, two skirmishing cavalry units, which had advanced first by interweaving through the infantry formations, upon seeing that lightning-fast figure collide with the central infantry, had some cavalrymen skilled in archery, upon receiving orders from their commanding general, simultaneously unleash a volley of arrows towards the central empty area from both sides. Even though almost all cavalrymen had anticipated the figure's speed and aimed not at the person but at the area ahead of him, they still only saw arrows landing behind that streak of white rainbow—he was simply too fast!

The two cavalry units stopped wasting arrows and continued their charge.

As Xu Fengnian charged forward, his left hand lightly rested on the saber hilt at his waist. From landing before the city walls after descending from them, in an instant, he could clearly see the faces of the central infantry's foremost ranks. In the early morning, those Beiliang barbarians, uniformly carrying shields, exhaled great plumes of mist. Many were in their prime, perhaps seasoned veterans of countless battles from years ago. There might still be tension in their eyes, but none of the bewilderment of a first-time combatant. This was not surprising; whether it was cavalry clashing with cavalry, or heavy infantry forming anti-cavalry defenses, the soldiers at the very front were always the most skilled in combat and the most daring elites in the army, because their role was precisely to "rush to their deaths."

Beiliang's defense strategy of "first crossbow, then bow, then crossbow again"—these three moves—had already caused the Beiliang infantry immense suffering, whether at Wohu City or Xiaguang City in Hulu Pass. Within that initial "crossbow volley," there was a clear sense of layering, categorized by the weight of the crossbows. Ballistas, Great Yellow Crossbows, and Tread-drawn Crossbows—Beiliang border army's three most famous heavy crossbows—were fired in sequence by crossbowmen specialized in three roles: drawing, loading, and firing.

Before Xu Fengnian charged into the Beiliang formation, crossbow bolts from giant repeating ballistas on the city walls behind him had already shot forth. The strings were tied with iron bags, capable of piercing a cavalryman and his horse clean through on the spot. The crossbow bolts were as large as spears; one of them grazed over Xu Fengnian's head, struck a mobile siege tower, and passed directly through it. The massive bolt, stained with the blood of bodies inside the tower, did not stop there but landed in the infantry formation behind the siege tower, tearing a huge hole through a soldier's shield and chest—a soldier who had mistakenly believed he could at least die later by being positioned behind cover. The terrifying penetrating power killed the soldier instantly, before he could even feel pain.

Xu Fengnian drew his Liang saber in an instant.

A single man breaking the formation!

On the first line of Beiliang infantry, directly facing Xu Fengnian, several soldiers responsible for shielding the archers behind them "slowly" raised their shields.

Xu Fengnian passed through them in a flash, and the Beiliang soldiers' shields and bodies simultaneously split in half, flying to either side.

Along this straight line, the shield-bearers in the first few rows and the archers slightly behind them, without exception, exploded into a mist of blood.

In the horizontal positions near the direct path, for some reason, compared to the gruesome deaths along the vertical line, the latter casualties died silently. Perhaps an almost imperceptible red dot appeared at their temple, pierced by a subtle, needle-like object, or they were impaled from one shoulder through to the other, or their heart was pierced. Their deaths were inexplicable, their appearances not horrifying; only after their bodies fell would a trickle of blood slowly seep from the wounds, while the figure that had torn through the dense formation was already far beyond the fallen bodies.

At an astonishing speed invisible to the naked eye of ordinary martial artists, his childhood sweethearts, Huang Tong and Pifu, spun wildly around their master.

Four flying swords stirred a lightning pond.

Like a sharp weapon carving a blood groove into flesh, Xu Fengnian paused slightly after breaking through the formation by one hundred and sixty steps with a single burst of qi. He looked up, and as expected, three Beiliang martial arts masters, alerted by the commotion, were already closing in for the kill. Further away, another group of experts, agile as hares and falcons, were rushing to the scene. The Beiliang infantry formation, however, did not slow its pace because of this; they brushed past him amidst the thunderous drumbeats. When Xu Fengnian had arrived at Humen City and witnessed the Beiliang army's remarkably orderly retreat, he had found it deeply troublesome and grew to admire Liu Jinu's skilled defense of Humen City even more. Taking advantage of the brief opening as the leading saber master brought his blade down, Xu Fengnian, with an air of "leisurely elegance," flicked his wrist. It seemed as if he was casually shaking blood from his Liang saber, but the fierce qi emanating from it sent the bodies of the Beiliang armored soldiers to his left flying backward in swathes.

The saber master faced death fearlessly; his blade, which he believed had reached perfection, was infused with all his qi, and a faint blue aura emanated from its tip, clearly indicating a formidable cultivation possessed only by a Second-Rank Junior Grandmaster.

As the death-defying Junior Grandmaster attracted Xu Fengnian's attention, two other individuals on either side simultaneously accelerated. One, a powerfully built man fighting bare-handed, suddenly lunged forward after dropping from above. To Xu Fengnian's right, a short old man with his mouth tightly shut, one hand pressed to his chest and the other trailing behind as if holding a long spear diagonally, stooped and charged towards the young man, who was rumored to be one of the Four Grandmasters of the world. The sudden burst of vibrant killing intent sent a chill down the spines of the ordinary Beiliang soldiers, who, though trembling, kept their eyes fixed straight ahead.

The Junior Grandmaster who had leapt high and struck with an unstoppable saber widened his eyes abruptly.

The "old fellow" in his hand, a heavy weapon among sabers that had been his companion for half a lifetime, was casually grasped by the blade by the young man with an effortless extension of his hand.

At the same time, the brawny man who had delivered the twin-fisted strike seemed to suffer a heavy blow. His stout body faltered, then he gritted his teeth and continued to lunge forward, after which a series of subtle yet continuous sounds emanated from his chest. This Jianghu martial artist, conscripted by a single order, was indeed a tough man. Even with his entire chest riddled with holes from the four flying swords piercing back and forth, he still attempted to smash his fists onto the young man. But despite being only seven or eight steps away, it felt like an insurmountable distance. After four consecutive impacts, not only was blood gushing from his chest, but blood also streamed from all seven orifices on his face. His steps faltered, and he ultimately swayed unsteadily, his life-force-draining punch ending up limp and powerless, as if merely trying to brush the opponent's shoulder. His eyes filled with unwillingness, the man fell dead, ultimately failing to even touch a corner of that person's clothes.

Even before the strongman died, the Junior Grandmaster who had swung his saber at Xu Fengnian had his weapon fly from his hand, and he was casually sent flying by a flick to the chest from Xu Fengnian.

The short old man ignored the deaths of the other two. With a spin of his body, his feet churned up a cloud of yellow dust from the ground. Through the blurred vision, the hand that had adopted the "dragging spear" stance produced a sinister hidden weapon, known for his reputation, that flew out of his sleeve, while the hand previously pressed to his chest unleashed a flash of white light from its palm. After two soft "ding-ding" sounds, the unmoving Xu Fengnian grabbed the old man's head with one hand and slowly lifted him. The old man, mouth tightly shut, showed no struggle. He gave the young man, who was right before him, a sinister smile and then spat out his true killing move hidden beneath his tongue!

This frail old man, who had spent his entire life only comprehending half a move of the Finger Mystic realm, used his tongue tip as a sword tip, earning him the nickname "Sword-Spitting Elder" among the demonic sects of Beiliang Jianghu. Countless experts of comparable realms had died under his unexpected "spit" of a flying sword. Unfortunately, just before the old man died, he witnessed an unbelievable sight: his half-inch flying sword, cultivated for years, hovered in the air between them. As Xu Fengnian pressed the old man's head downwards, before it became a puddle of flesh, he faintly saw a true flying sword in front of his own half-baked one.

And the saber master, who had been sent flying by Xu Fengnian with a single hand but was surprised to find himself not severely injured, did not get to savor his feeling of having survived a great calamity. A sudden sharp pain erupted from his chest, and only after falling to the ground did he discover a crossbow bolt, almost as formidable as an iron spear, lodged in his chest.

On the wall of Humen City, a crossbowman was given a furious slap to the back of the head by the ballista commander, who was sweating profusely from fear. The commander, constantly monitoring the battle below, angrily cursed, "Damn you, Jiang Wensheng! Are you a spy sent by the Beiliang barbarians or something? Missing the siege tower is one thing, but how did you almost injure our Lord?! Just four or five steps off! Do you still want to be a crossbowman? Fine, get out of the way, I'll do it myself!"

Jiang Wensheng, the young crossbowman from Humen City, despite his youth, was already ranked among the top-tier elite crossbowmen of the border army due to his exceptional eyesight and astonishing strength. At this moment, he wore a grim face, not daring to utter a sound. The commander was about to shove aside this young rascal who had almost caused disaster, but he stopped when he saw the crudely bandaged wound on the young man's face. This kid had been shot in the cheek by a Beiliang barbarian archer half a month ago; luckily, he dodged quickly, but the arrowhead still tore off a large chunk of flesh. These days, others in the squad often joked that he was already ugly, and now with a disfigured face, it would be even harder to find a wife. The commander was severely short-handed and didn't bother asking if the kid could continue firing the crossbow. Jiang Wensheng didn't disgrace their Ballista Platoon C either; from then on, he gritted his teeth and never left the city wall. But the commander knew that this young lad slept restlessly during his rotational breaks; with such a large piece of flesh torn from his face, how could it not hurt?

At this moment, a loader loudly exclaimed, "Commander, look!"

Not only the crossbowmen of Platoon C but also those from nearby platoons widened their eyes.

The figure in the distant battlefield put away his Liang saber and pulled out the crossbow bolt from a body on the ground, seemingly intending to use it as an iron spear to continue breaking through the formation.

The crossbowmen from the platoons near the city wall grumbled enviously, "Damn it, Platoon C is really showing off today!"

The commander chuckled, then slapped Jiang Wensheng on the back of the head again, asking, "Does it still hurt?"

The young soldier grinned, accidentally pulling on his wound, immediately grimacing while drawing a sharp breath through a bright smile, "It's nothing!"

The commander looked around and roared, "What are you gaping at! Enemy at two hundred paces! Ballistas as usual! Everyone else, switch to foot-drawn crossbows! Treat the Beiliang barbarians like women you're riding—mount them!"

On the battlefield, Xu Fengnian lifted the crossbow bolt and looked forward.

Further away, Dong Zhuo squinted his eyes, his face grim. Deaths were normal, especially with Xu Fengnian personally on the field; losing a few Jianghu experts didn't pain him, the Southern Imperial King, in the slightest. But if they died for less than expected, or if this were in court instead of on the battlefield, Fat Dong Zhuo would definitely be hopping mad and cursing. His concubine beside him, who often vied with his main wife of noble birth, frowned and whispered, "Sending them in batches like this for Xu to kill isn't ineffective, but it might not last until Tuoba Pusa arrives. It would be best if you, husband, withdraw to the rear army and send those First-Rank masters, especially those in the Finger Mystic realm, all out together. And they should only harass from the sides, no close-quarters combat. Like a blunt knife cutting meat, slowly wear him down."

Dong Zhuo shook his head slightly, chuckling sinisterly, "If you don't first serve the guest a few appetizer dishes, they won't even sit down at the table. Besides, it's fine if Xu Fengnian doesn't want to join the table. For every one of my experts he kills today, I'll ensure Humen City carries out a hundred more bodies today. We'll see who has better patience and temper. Old Master Dong here, I've got a vast family fortune, I can afford to play!"

Dong Zhuo suddenly turned and roared, "Issue the order! Have Cui Hong lead another fifteen thousand infantry to advance in formation! At the same time, tell those three commanders of ten thousand at the front line that for today's siege, a unit is only allowed to retreat when it has suffered five hundred casualties per thousand men! Send out executioners! Anyone who dares to cower or retreat without orders will be killed! After the battle, their families and tribes will be held accountable!"

Soon, Dong Family Army messengers went to convey the military order.

Dong Zhuo tapped his teeth, whispering, "If they're capable, they'll make me order a retreat only after five hundred out of every thousand men have completely died."

Her scalp tingled, and she asked with a trembling voice, "Husband, won't acting like this be too extreme?"

Dong Zhuo scoffed coldly and said in a deep voice, "Only by overcoming the threshold of Humen City will the fighting strength of my Dong Family Army truly be able to contend with Beiliang's three hundred thousand border troops."

Going even further, if they could cross Beiliang and crush the Xu family's Iron Cavalry, then there would be no army in the world capable of competing with his Dong Family Army. Every extra person who dies here today might mean ten fewer deaths later in Liyang's Central Plains. This calculation is very cost-effective!