Chapter 145 Come into Unavoidable Confrontation
Xu Linghe led fifty thousands of soldiers to the Southern Front. Before leaving, Yan Shen told him over and over again to read the letter. But Yan Shen did not tell him that it was Madam Xu who got the map, because she did not want Xu Linghe to know the truth. Out of the Jin City, Xu Linghe was eager to see the letter. The letter in the arms was wrapped by oiled paper. Xu Linghe asked the soldiers to take a rest in the place, and he took out the letter cautiously. When opening the oil paper, he was surprised to find that it was Qi’s military distribution map. Xu Linghe studied the map carefully. The more he looked, the more shocked he became. Di Qing performed a tactic. Seemingly, he marched to the Southern Front to attack the Jin City, but in fact, he bypassed the Shili Town to the North so as to make a breach. Lin Xiaosa would tie up the Jin army on the Southern Front. Even if he could attack the Jin City, luring the Jin army to the Shili Town and dispersing the troops were half the battle. And then, Di Qing would take advantage of the moment when the Jin army assisted Madam Yu to launch sneak attacks to the Jin City. If so, it was too late to prepare for the attacks even if the Jin army had known it. Di Qing would bombard the Jin City and seize it in the shortest time. Only in this way could Di Qing launch the sneak-attack successfully. Lin Xiaosa just diverted the attraction, and racing Madam Yu was also a camouflage, because Di Qing knew Xu Linghe well that Xu Linghe could not sit by and leave his subordinate to sink. Was there time for intercepting Di Qing? Xu Linghe checked as his fingers pointed along Di army’s routes. If Xu Linghe was right, Di Qing would bypass the northern side of the city and make a breach at the weakest point. However, to go round the northern city, they had to pass the deserted mine, which used to be the source of wealth in Jiangnan. It boasted delicate jade and produced numerous beautiful wares and items every year. Some of them were the favorite accessories of the high officials and noble lords, and some were taken as the first choice to be presented to diplomatic allies. The desolation of the jade mine had a lot to do with unreasonable exploitation. Xu Linghe assembled the military forces to the jade mine, hoping he could reach there in time. Soldiers could not work out the Commander in Chief’s intention, as General Yu was still waiting for the reinforcement. Didn’t Commander in Chief want to save General Yu? Xu Linghe left five thousand soldiers to support the Shili Town and led the rest troops to the jade mine in the northern city. Currently, the safety of the Jin City was being threatened urgently. Any careless movement would bring disaster to the city. Di Qing just wanted for the chance that he could launch a sneak-attack to the Jin City when Xu Linghe came to provide supports to Madam Yu. Compared to Di’s military forces, there were only a hundred thousand soldiers in the Jin City, far behind from Di Qing’s two hundred thousand. Xu Linghe followed the routes on the distribution map to the jade mine.
Marching in the battle relied on quick speed. Di army ran to march, because Di Qing commanded them to reach the jade mine before the night fell. But it was impossible for the artillery battalion, so it must be dragged by carriage. Xu Linghe followed the tracks of the carriage to the jade mine before dark. Viewed from afar, the jade mine lit bonfires. Jin army dispersed its military forces and hid around the mine. Xu Linghe changed into a wisp of smoke and flew to the enemy’s camp. A deserted wooden hut in the mine became Di Qing’s temporary resting place. Di’s high-ranking military officers remained silent, waiting for the Emperor’s order. The jade mine was just a temporary place to take a rest. And after supper, they would march to the northern part of the city. Di Qing did not let down his guard and took every step with great caution. Xu Linghe avoided the Di army and flew to the artillery battalion. Because the artillery feared rain water. Di Qing had the cannons placed in the tunnel for fear of any accident. The moment Xu Linghe entered the tunnel, he was spotted by a soldier. Xu Linghe flipped his spiritual fingers, and the soldier fell to the ground. Hearing the sound, a soldier ahead ran back to have a check, since the Emperor had warned that no accident would happen. Otherwise, the Emperor would kill the whole family of nine generations. Who dared to neglect the duty under so severe penalty? Soldiers patrolled back and forth. In the dim tunnel, candlelight swayed. Xu Linghe hid himself at the corner and observed the soldiers’ movement. It was a piece of cake for him to deal with these soldiers. But if discovered by Di Qing, Xu Linghe would be hard to escape. Di army had two hundred thousand of soldiers while Jin army only had fifty thousand. To win the battle, destroying the artillery was the top priority.
“Liuzi, guard here. No entry without permission.”
The little soldier named Liuzi was going on patrol warily. Xu Linghe flew up to hit Liuzi’s acupoint. The little boy tried to cry for help with scare, but he was hit on the aphonic acupoint. Although the boy tried to struggle, he was dragged to the corner. Xu Linghe used the ninth-level sound transmission to ask the boy where the artillery was placed if the boy wanted to survive. Liuzi did not dare to refuse, as he had been fallen to the ground with fright. Xu Linghe held the Liuzi and flew to the depth of the tunnel. Time was imminent. When the stone door opened, Liuzi bit the back of Xu Linghe’s hand when Xu Linghe was distracted. As long as the mechanism of the stone door was activated, Xu Linghe would be done, and Liuzi himself could seize him easily, and then claim the credit from the Emperor Di. Liuzi’s plan was good, but unluckily, he encountered Xu Linghe, so his plan would only be a joke. Xu Linghe swept out, and his Spirit Power cut Liuzi’s neck with blood spouting out. Xu Linghe flew to the artillery. At the same time, the Di army in the jade mine was about to continue their march. The soldiers began assembling. Di Qing came out of the wooden hut. The army could set off as long as finishing the gathering. On the other hand, the Jin army was worried about the Commander in Chief outside the jade mine. Two hours had passed, but the Commander in Chief still did not show up. Vice-commander had been waiting so anxiously that he led one thousand soldiers into the jade mine from the side. The darkness in the night was the best cloak. They bypassed Di Qing’s main forces to the tunnel. Xu Linghe found the artillery soon, but it was not easy to destroy the weapons in such an enclosed place. If things went wrong, Xu Linghe himself would be blown off. So he figured out a method to burn out the artillery. His fingers gather Spirit Power and swept to the cannon barrels. To his surprise, burnt by the Spirit Power, smoke sprang up. Then, Xu Linghe hurried to dissipate his Spirit Power. It seemed that water inundation was the only way. He called out the spiritual beast. Its huge tail swayed and a cloud of spray came out after a roar of the dragon. Xu Linghe flew onto the dragon’s back. The tunnel was so narrow that it restricted the Giant Dragon to demonstrate its power. Xu Linghe gave a commander, and then a burst of water was spouted from the dragon’s mouth. In an instant, the water flooded the artillery. And Xu Linghe thrust a palm in the water and smashed the black iron artillery into pieces. Gunpowder was tumbled over in the rainfall. And the rain was about to brim over the stone door. Suddenly, the stone door was pushed open from outside. The little soldiers gaped. The unexpected flood rushed right to them. No one could imagine that there was a giant dragon in it. Xu Linghe drove his spiritual beast and flew to the entrance of the tunnel.
However, the entrance was blocked tightly. Di Qing stood at the entrance and thought that Xu Linghe was so rampant that he dared to barge into the barrack alone. Was Xu Linghe really tired of living? Di Qing set the archers in line and ordered them to target at Xu Linghe. Seeing the Commander in Chief being trapped in the entrance, Jin’s soldiers decided to strike first to gain the initiative and ran to the Di army. The Jin’s soldiers came out so unexpectedly that they disturbed Di army’s plan. Di Qing transformed himself into Black Dragon and suspended in the mid air. With Di Qing’s order, the archers shot out the arrows with burning oil on them, so the arrows could ignite spontaneously in the air. In the narrow tunnel, the Giant Dragon was burnt by the fire. In a fit of anger, the Giant Dragon spouted out huge water column, and those archers were blown to the mid-air. The Giant Dragon rushed out of the tunnel. Seeing the Commander in Chief come safely out of danger, the vice-commander could rest his heart. Black Dragon spat the Fire Elixir and pressed hard at Xu Linghe. Seeing there were several thousand Jin soldiers, Di’s soldiers flooded in. As for fighting with swords, Jin army was at a disadvantage and surrounded by Di army. Blood dyed the jade mine red. More and more Di’s soldiers gathered at the entrance of the tunnel. Meanwhile, the Jin’s soldiers outside the jade mine heard the fighting sound and encircled the jade mine immediately. Before entering the jade mine, Xu Linghe had divided the military forces into ten columns, each of which had five thousand soldiers. Only by launching sneak-attacks could Jin army have the chance to win. First, separate the enemy’s military forces, and then annihilate them little by little. Jin’s five thousand soldiers confronted with Di’s twenty thousand soldiers. Although Jin army was at a disadvantage, the odds were pretty good for Jin army. Jin army beset with great caution and managed to find out the breaches to attack Di army. Ten subgroups broke Di’s two hundred thousand soldiers into ten parts. Di army was disturbed by the unexpected attack. Jin army’s attacking style of using the few to suddenly defeat the many was figured out by Xu Linghe, since there was no other way out. Under the circumstance where the enemy was extremely stronger, it was the most effective attacking style. Just as the silkworm nibbled the leaf, Jin army depleted Di army little by little. When the opponent realized it, the golden opportunity had been missed. Although the method sounded risky, Jin army would spare no effort to win the battle, because withdrawal led to nowhere but a death road, but going forward would bring a ray of hope.
Xu Linghe intercepted the Di army halfway to save the Jin City, because once the warfire burnt to the city, not only would the defence infrastructure suffer, but also the people in the Jin City. Instead of this, Xu Linghe would rather reduce the loss to the minimum, so that the Jin City could avert the warfire. Without the defence, the Jin City would be more exposed to danger. As the Master of the Jin City, Xu Linghe should think for the people there.
Di army was divided in the Shili Town. How could Xu Linghe know Di Qing’s plan and hurry to the jade mine overnight, even flood the artillery? Was there a spy in Di army? However, seldom people had access to the secret. Xu Linghe clearly knew the route. The Giant Dragon spouted out watery cannonballs to Black Dragon. Di Qing collected himself and spat out the Fire Elixir. And then, the silver and the black were entangled with each other. Jin soldiers were struggling to resist the Di army while on the clouds, the white and the black were fighting with each other. The fighting and killing sounds were deafening in the jade mine. No one could be spared from the battle. It was a game for braves. If you were weak, you would be killed by others. Jin army’s tenth squad broke a breach. Confronted with the devil army’s offensive, they had to use the Hongjun Crossbow, as it was the sharp weapon to kill devil soldiers. The arrows rubbed with Melting Souls Liquid were shot out. Next second, the devil soldiers were injured and killed numerously. The Hongjun Crossbow forced the devil soldiers to hide as far as they could. Black Dragon swept its huge tail and smashed many Hongjun Crossbows. Without the help of the Hongjun Crossbows, Jin army was reduced at a disadvantage. The devil army began slaughtering, and a palm could kill scores of people. After all, mortals were not devil army’s march. Soon, Jin’s five thousand soldiers were killed half. Since Di army had the devil army as the accomplice, Jin army was no match at all.
Xu Linghe drove the dragon to the enemy’s battalion. The Flowing Light turned everywhere it went into ruins. Although it was Kunlun’s sect rules that divine device could not be used to mortals, Xu Linghe could not be kind to the devil army.
The Flowing Light brandished and pressed hard to the sky. The airflow diffused in all directions. In the night sky, dragon’s roar shook the earth and trembled the mountains. Xu Linghe droved his spiritual beast and held the Flowing Light Sword in his hand. The Sword slashed with a thunderbold momentum, and the spirit light dashed to the Black Dragon layer upon layer with a momentum of crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood. The mine was collapsing, and the entire mountain was rolled up in the cover of the spirit light. In the floating light, the defensive cover became thinner. Black Dragon suspended in the Flowing Light. Without the protection of the defensive cover, how could Black Dragon dodge the power of the Flowing Light Sword? When the Flowing Light Sword penetrated the defensive cover, Black Dragon leaped up and swayed its extending tail to Xu Linghe. The Di’s soldiers on the ground were shocked about what monster the Emperor Di was. The dragon’s talons targeted at Black Dragon, and Xu Linghe spread his Spirit Power. Sword Qi of the Flowing Light swept away. Seeing the thing going worse, Black Dragon dashed to the clouds, and the Giant Dragon followed it. Xu Linghe in the jade mine also drove his spiritual beast to the clouds. Di Qing set tactical formation and took his blood as an inducer to call the dragon elixir. Xu Linghe followed up with the Flowing Light Sword in his hand. The rolling Spirit Light flowed from the hilt, and the spiritual beast in the sword was full of Sword Qi and slashed to Black Dragon with a thunderbolt momentum. The Heaven and Earth Pouch rang, and the zither flew out. Xu Linghe slipped his spiritual fingers. The zither’s sound was loud and sonorous, encouraging the Jin soldiers to fight more bravely. The soldiers did not expect that their Commander in Chief was an immortal. High morale repressed the Di army. The devil soldiers were dodging the zither’s sound. The Spiritual Sound spread to the Di army’s barrack and scared the devil soldiers to flee in all directions, because the sound could tear the devil soldiers into pieces, even smash their souls. Black Dragon rolled the Jin soldiers up and threw out. Xu Linghe conjured a spiritual net to shield the Jin soldiers. These soldiers showed great admiration to their Commander in Chief. The Giant Dragon shot out watery cannonballs. Black Dragon was struck and fell from the clouds. Then, a crash of thunder roared in the night sky, and the sky was torn off.
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