The Demon Lords

Chapter 491 13 Sword Saint_2

Just then, the sound of a whistling arrow rang out again.

Liang Cheng, unable to bother with the arrow lodged in his shoulder, shouted toward the fort, "Zuo Jiqian!"

Inside the fort, Zuo Jiqian immediately rose. Beside him were over two hundred knights, seated on the ground next to their warhorses.

"Mount up!"

Zuo Jiqian swung himself onto his horse and, with a forward sweep of his saber, cried, "Charge!"

CRACK...

The fort gate swung open at that moment.

The Jin soldiers outside were stunned. Soon, the thundering sound of galloping hooves erupted from within the gate.

Two hundred cavalrymen charged directly out of the fort, wielding their sabers, and began a slaughter of the Jin soldiers below.

On the wall, Zheng Fan had just cut down a Jin soldier attempting to scale it. He frowned as he watched the cavalry charge out from the fort.

But he quickly understood. Xue Three was still hidden between the Jin army's main camp and the fort. The first whistling arrow had signaled that the enemy was about to launch a night raid. The whistling arrow just now conveyed another message: The main general of the Jin army, seeing that the vanguard had failed to breach the wall, was not planning to force a large-scale siege at this time. This meant the Jin army was currently disjointed, their head disconnected from their tail. Liang Cheng's order for Zuo Jiqian to charge out of the fort was indeed the correct decision. However, such a decision was also predicated on absolute confidence in Xue Three's reconnaissance abilities. If it had been anyone else, and the signal had been mistaken, the Jin army might have seized the opportunity to storm the gates and enter. So, isn't he lucky? Other transmigrators had to struggle, starting from scratch, while he was directly blessed with a full complement of talented individuals.

After a swift assault, Zuo Jiqian did not get bogged down in a protracted battle. He promptly led his soldiers back into the fort.

The fort gate was closed once more and reinforced from behind with sandbags.

「Calmness descended again.」

Zheng Fan silently took out another cigarette. After a moment's thought, he decided against smoking it on the wall; puffing away with his rear end sticking out felt too undignified.

After descending from the wall, Zheng Fan found a corner to sit down. He took out a cigarette and placed it between his lips, only then noticing someone else already seated in the depths of the corner.

This person was hugging their knees, hair disheveled, and trembling.

"Why are you so..." pathetic?

Zheng Fan was about to scold, thinking it was one of his soldiers, but then he suddenly realized—this wasn't just any soldier; it was Emperor Jin!

At that moment, Emperor Jin bore no resemblance to a ruler. He looked exactly like a modern-day gambler who had lost everything and was contemplating a leap from a rooftop.

Zheng Fan smoked his cigarette in silence while Emperor Jin sobbed quietly beside him.

Truthfully, even now, Zheng Fan was unsure of the reasons behind Emperor Jin's actions. Was he genuinely addicted to gambling, naively believing he could always win? The Yan Emperor had passed through Jin to attack another state; the Qian Emperor had used the Yan people as a 'borrowed knife to scrape poison from the bone.' Did he, Yu Ciming, really think he could play the same kind of game? Didn't he look at the cards they held versus his own...?

「A short while later,」

Emperor Jin took a deep breath and began to meticulously tidy his clothes and appearance.

"General Zheng, could you pass me your waterskin?" he asked.

Zheng Fan unfastened the waterskin from his waist and tossed it to Emperor Jin.

Emperor Jin carefully poured water from the waterskin and began to smooth down his hair.

Zheng Fan puffed on his cigarette, watching Emperor Jin's every move.

Emperor Jin, seemingly unconcerned by the scrutiny, meticulously groomed himself, then slowly stood up. He cupped his hands in a salute to Zheng Fan and said, "Thank you, General Zheng, for repelling the Situ Family's rebel army and ensuring my safety. The people of the Three Jin will also be indebted to you for your kindness."

Zheng Fan dropped his cigarette butt to the ground and stubbed it out with his foot, a slight smile playing on his lips. "I was merely doing my duty."

"Then I shall go and rest now."

"Please do, Your Majesty."

"You've worked hard, General Zheng."

Emperor Jin departed, his back straight, yet his figure exuded desolation.

He left a strangely inexplicable impression, almost as if he were heartbroken...

Siniang approached at this moment to check Zheng Fan for injuries. He shook his head, took her hand, and said, "Your protection was thorough. I don't have a single scratch."

After all, it hadn't been a large-scale siege; the Jin army was merely probing. The only arrow that had truly threatened him was blocked by Mo Wan.

"My lord, was that man just now Emperor Jin?" Siniang asked.

"Yes."

"But aren't those his troops outside?"

"Who knows? This Yu Ciming is certainly a character, but he lacks the destiny and the ability. Still, we're sounding a bit like Monday-morning quarterbacks, haha," Zheng Fan mused. "After this, all his hidden cards are gone. The troops he had hidden in the capital city, the deserters he'd recruited by squandering his savings, his biggest trump card—they've all turned against him now. In the future, it'll be hard for him *not* to become infamous."

"So, he's useless to us now?"

"I can't think of any use he could be. Damn it, thinking about this now is pointless. We don't even know what's happened to our Shengle City!"

Zheng Fan's heart ached. He had left Green Willow Fortress, which he'd personally overseen the construction of, intending to establish a new base. Who could have imagined the territory would be lost before he even had a chance to take up his new post?

He figured Green Willow Fortress had probably already been assigned to someone else by Hui Wenzu. There was no going back now.

"My lord, even if the territory is lost, we can just take our time finding a new one. There's no rush," Siniang said.

"You certainly take things in stride."

"Well, that's one thing your servant truly does take in stride. In the past, who knows how many of my establishments were blown down by gales? I've long since gotten used to it."