Chapter 40 Thank you, Lord! The army is at the gates.
The guards of Fengxi Town, seeing the sky filled with flying arrows, cried out in terror, "They're here! They're coming!!"
"She's here!!"
All the soldiers present recalled five years ago when Xie Zhu, along with his deputy Xie Yan, besieged and killed the direct descendants of the Xie clan. They fought their way from the main camp to their ancestral home, killing for three days and three nights, burning for three days and three nights, and shooting arrows for three days and three nights, uprooting all 8,800 members of the direct descendants.
She was all alone.
Now, Lord Xie has finally decided to kill Xie Yan's lineage.
The Xie Yan faction in Fengxi Town were terrified and immediately launched an attack.
But the cavalry was too fast. In the blink of an eye, they were at the city gates, a dark mass, carrying ten cannons packed in jars.
The cannons were soaked in kerosene, and the vanguard soldiers skillfully hurled them at the city walls and gates. With two loud "booms," dark clouds rose, and the gates and walls collapsed.
Xie Lanzhi fastened her waist knife and charged into the city gate. She was met by a guard with a round hammer, but his horse was not as tall as hers, and his weapon was one foot long while hers was six feet long. So when he was within five steps of her, she used brute force to thrust and instantly knock him off his horse.
Then, leaping over the horse, he stomped on it, and with a soft thud, the sound of liquid and bone shattering filled the air.
Xie Lanzhi never looked back. This was her first time killing someone, but it was war, so she naturally accepted the life-or-death rules.
The garrison commander of Fengxi Town was killed in one blow, without even a chance to get up. The soldiers of Fengxi Town were terrified and all thought, "The Grand Marshal is indeed still in her prime. Who said she had lost her martial prowess?!"
How did their lineage leader, Xie Yan, misjudge the situation and disobey Lord Xie?
"Retreat! Retreat now!"
No one expected that just five thousand men could force twice the number of troops to retreat.
Xie Feng was killing with gusto, and the more ruthless he was towards his own kind, the more his gaze was fixed on Xie Zhu in front of him.
She rode her horse with a heroic and graceful bearing, yet her movements were completely effortless, as leisurely as if she were enjoying the spring scenery. However, if anyone dared to stand in her way, she would strike them dead instantly.
Xie Feng and his group of young soldiers all looked up at Xie Lanzhi with admiration.
It seems that as long as Xie Lanzhi is in front, she can shield them from all dangers and cowardice, becoming their strongest shield.
"Kill them!!" Xie Feng shouted furiously, "Kill the traitors and uphold the prestige of my Lord Xie!!"
"Kill the traitor and establish my Lord Xie's prestige!"
The men behind her, so spirited and ready to sacrifice themselves, startled Xie Lanzhi. Why were they even more excited than she was? She didn't turn around, but simply focused her gaze on her surroundings.
To avoid wasting energy, she wouldn't make any unnecessary movements unless it was an enemy specifically attacking her, because she knew very well that she was relying on brute force.
Then I remembered the day I sparred with my brother-in-law. His spinning sword seemed very suitable for a long halberd.
Soon, an eight-man formation appeared ahead, specifically designed to deal with cavalry, but it was only eight against one, with the men wielding spears, shields, and short swords clearly coming for them.
Xie Lanzhi estimated the distance and looked at the three directions surrounding her to the left, right, and top. She took a deep breath and stepped into the small formation's attack range. Her long halberd danced in her hand like a pen. With the force of the slashing blade and the impact of the horse, with a "whoosh and clang," the shield was first cut in two. Then the horse rammed into her, and just then, her sharp long halberd was spinning 360 degrees at high speed, like cutting a melon.
"Aaaaaah!!" The sound of flesh and bone being chopped apart, along with screams of agony.
She didn't look back and continued charging forward. Some of the cavalry behind her lost to the small square formation, while others jumped off their horses and started hand-to-hand combat.
The fighting became fierce. Seeing that blocking the road was ineffective, Xie's soldiers set up sharp wooden obstacles at the crossroads. Xie Lanzhi's cavalry followed behind seized the opportunity and launched a barrage of cannon fire, blowing them up.
"Well done!" Xie Lanzhi's horse cleared the obstacle.
Xie Feng, who was behind him, gave him a boost and pointed out the direction, saying, "There are ten mountain-shaped intersections ahead. Marshal, you must be careful this time. Once you cross the hurdle, you will reach the residence of that old thief Xie Yan. If you see him again, he will not dare to hide behind you and will have no choice but to accept your punishment."
"Because this is a rule set by the old marshal, the two commanders must compete for the position based on their strength, and the one who loses cannot win the hearts and minds of the people. We, the deputy commanders, will take measures to punish him one after another! We will continue to punish the loser until he is killed!!"
"I'll leave the rear to you." Xie Lanzhi didn't turn her head, picked up her long halberd, and spurred her horse at full speed, crossing two mountain-shaped intersections in one go, while arrows shot at her from both directions nearby.
She was prepared, running close to the left wall. Although it was slow, it reduced the danger by at least half, leaving her only vulnerable to arrows from the right. During the fight, she didn't waste her time using shop signs as shields.
This caused those who were firing arrows at various building entrances and street corners to frown.
"Why would you use this kind of fighting style?"
"This is not like the style of a Grand Marshal at all."
"She is Lady Xie! You must not underestimate her!"
Xie Lanzhi used the shop sign as a shield with her right hand. The arrow almost pierced through the sign. At the next intersection, she picked another shop sign and continued to change. She passed through five intersections without exhausting herself.
After the remaining five intersections were cleared, Xie Yan's junior officers immediately ordered, "Move the longbows! Even if she blocks, it won't help!"
The longbow is very powerful. Although it is not a primary weapon in combat, it is a powerful tool for sniping. It not only has strong penetrating power, but it is also suitable for small-scale battlefield tactics. One arrow can kill a single enemy. The only drawback of the longbow is that it takes longer to draw than a regular bow, and Xie Lanzhi was riding a horse.
It's obviously a bit difficult to apply the force.
The man holding the longbow was a giant two meters tall. He stood on the rooftop, aiming at Xie Lanzhi as he was about to release the bow.
Suddenly his eyes widened as a flying knife hurtled toward his right eye at high speed. The pain caused the big man to lose his aim, and the knife grazed Xie Lanzhi's right shoulder, almost hitting her.
Xie Lanzhi threw another throwing knife. She didn't care where she aimed; she was accurate and strong, so her throwing knife became a deadly weapon at the sixth intersection.
Xie Lanzhi kept drawing throwing knives from her waist. She carried a total of ten. Because her armor was black, her throwing knives were also black, so when they were together, they were practically invisible unless you looked closely.
The longbow did indeed hit Xie Lanzhi's plaque, piercing the thick plaque in an instant. The arrowhead even pierced her armor, but fortunately, she was well-equipped and only got scratched.
She pulled out her bow and arrow and saw that there were only four paths left, with longbowmen attacking her from all sides.
She thought for a moment, then dismounted. She patted the horse and urged it to run ahead. The horse charged forward with a burst of energy, and Xie Bing, who was about to shoot an arrow, realized it was an empty horse.
Hiding in the streets and buildings, Xie Bing couldn't find anyone, so he sent people out to search. They saw that the shop across the street was open and there was a signboard that Xie Bing had thrown away on the ground.
They immediately shouted, "Thank you, sir, for coming upstairs!"
"Hiding here and there is not pleasant at all."
"Quickly keep an eye on the building across the street, then set it on fire!"
Xie Bing quickly piled up firewood and was about to throw the torch when a figure jumped down from the second floor. Chang Jian stole from two people, then snatched the torch and threw it into a nearby watchtower.
Upon seeing this, Xie Bing, a young general, quickly led a hundred men downstairs to surround Xie Lanzhi, but unexpectedly, Xie Lanzhi ran into the burning building.
A hundred people gave chase, and the next moment, a loud explosion occurred inside the building, blasting a group of people into flames.
"Yes, it's a Wopao! Thank you, she brought a Wopao!!"
"What? They're using their clan's deadly weapons against us!"
"Quickly report to Seventh Uncle that Lord Xie is carrying a cannon, which is an unfair victory. Tell him to be careful!!"
This group of people are spouting nonsense. They don't even consider that Fengxi Town has twice the manpower of five thousand, and also has the advantage of terrain. They launched several surprise attacks, and now they complain that Xie Lanzhi's victory was unfair.
With the threat of artillery fire in place, Xie Bing withdrew from the intersection. Just then, a whistle rang out from a nearby alleyway: "Whoosh!!!"
Xie Lanzhi whistled, and the horse that had been released returned instantly. This time, however, Xie Lanzhi mounted the horse, holding a long halberd in her right hand and three wine jars in her left with a rope.
Seeing this, the remaining four intersections dared not make any further rash moves.
Because Xie Zhu was holding three cannons, if he threw one at them, they wouldn't even have a chance to run away.
So, the remaining intersections fell silent. This time, Xie Lanzhi chose a main road and charged straight ahead. As she made her way there, a rope snapped, the jar fell to the ground, and shattered into pieces.
It was an empty jar!
Xie Lanzhi was still pretending to carry two things, but Xie Bing, who was behind her, was already filled with regret. Xie had already passed ten alleys, and according to the rules, they could no longer stop her. Otherwise, even if they won the sneak attack for a while, they would be torn to shreds by the hundreds of thousands of people in Tianjing.
Moreover, not everyone in Fengxi Town wanted to be enemies with Master Xie.
"Bai Chang, are we really just going to let it go like this?"
"Will Seventh Uncle blame us?"
A centurion slapped the soldier on the head: "Do you really want to fight to the death? Let the higher-ups handle their own grudges. What are we shrimp soldiers and crab generals doing getting involved?"
This expresses the sentiments of some people in Fengxi Town.
At this very moment, Xie Lanzhi had arrived at the largest mansion at the crossroads, the Fengxi Town Governor's Mansion.
Xie Yongding waited anxiously for Xie Zhu to arrive. She had come all the way here, and apart from some dust, she had almost no wounds.
What frightened Xie Yongding even more was that despite having so many people lying in ambush, not a single one of them could harm her.
Until I reached my own hurdle.
Xie Yongding steeled himself, carried his gun on his back, and walked out of the mansion, looking up at Xie Lanzhi on horseback.
He swallowed hard and said, "This humble general is Xie Yongding."
Seeing that this man was carrying a gun and walking steadily, Xie Lanzhi knew that he was not the small fry from before. Dealing with him would probably be very risky. She had come to deal with Xie Yan, the veteran general.
An elderly man in his fifties with martial arts skills could at least match the strength of a woman in her early twenties.
Xie Lanzhi looked down at Xie Yongding and said, "I am Xie Lanzhi, the head of the Xie family."
"Isn't Xie Ying?" Xie Yongding asked timidly in a low voice.
The next moment, he saw that Xie was carrying two wine jars. He thought they were wine, but the two jars fell from Xie Lanzhi's hands, were lit on fire, and rolled in front of him.
Xie Yongding's face turned pale: "Damn it, it's a 'fool'!"
He darted into the mansion and lay down. Just as he lay down, Xie Lanzhi dismounted swiftly, passed through the mansion gate, and stepped on Xie Yongding's back.
She then pulled out the sword and struck Xie Yongding hard on the back of the head. Xie Yongding was struck so hard that he immediately lost consciousness.
The jar didn't explode. The fire at the mouth of the jar went out after it burned out.
Xie Lanzhi had just stepped into the mansion.
"Clang!" The buzzing of sharp blades clashing, a strand of hair was cut off by her ear, Xie Lanzhi felt a chilling killing intent descend upon her. She subconsciously raised her long halberd, and with a clang, the blades clashed. She could not see anyone, but a tiger-headed broadsword was already hanging over her head.
With just two moves, Xie Lanzhi felt a powerful pressure. Unlike the shrimp soldiers and crab generals she had just encountered, this time it was a true master.
Xie Lanzhi became even more cautious, and she carried seven throwing knives at her waist.
The moment she moved her hand, an old man in armor suddenly appeared in front of her. He kicked the vermilion door so hard it shook, and in one swift motion, he roughly pressed down on the longsword to split the door open. Then, he grabbed the handle of the longsword and slashed it directly at Xie Lanzhi's head.
Xie Lanzhi couldn't dodge in time. She drew her sword, Eshilian, along with its sheath, and barely managed to block the attack. She then retreated into the mansion, putting ten steps away from the old man. After only three strikes, her arm was already slightly numb.
She stared intently at the old man, who had thick eyebrows and fierce eyes, a chin covered in thick, bushy hair like a pig's mane, a strong physique standing nine feet tall, and an imposing aura. He wore a gray armor and held a heavy longsword as easily as if it were a woodcutter's knife.
Looking at herself, she considered herself quite strong, but the old man had already surpassed her in just three strikes.
"Xie Yan," Xie Lanzhi said tentatively.
Xie Yan impatiently rubbed his beard, looking Xie Yan up and down. He felt something was off about the Xie Yan before him; this was no longer the Xie Yan he knew. Yet, the person before him was undeniably Xie Yan!
He sneered, "What kind of movement technique was that just now? And how much strength did you have?"
"Xie Ying, when did you fall so low that you can barely withstand a single blow from this old man?!"