Zhou Sui's ears twitched. He swung the blade in his hand, cleaving the incoming arrow in half.
Swish, swish, swish...
Over a dozen arrows flew toward him like falling rain.
Zhou Sui danced his blade into an impenetrable shield, deflecting all the arrows and sending them flying in every direction.
Two arrows flew toward the carriage, embedding themselves into the cabin with a heavy thud.
Fortunately, the carriage was sturdy enough that only the arrowheads pierced through.
Zhou Sui had already charged right up to the archers. Seeing the man and horse rushing at them, the attacking Jiao soldiers immediately scattered to evade.
Stepping in the stirrups and gripping the horse's belly with his legs, Zhou Sui pulled the reins with one hand and leaned his body to the side. A flash of the blade, and two heads flew high into the air, geysers of blood spraying several meters high.
He did not linger to fight. Without horses, these men could not catch up to them, so there was no need to waste time here.
Just as he expected, by the time the dodging soldiers reacted, not only Zhou Sui but also the carriage had already traveled far away. They could only fiercely fire a few more arrows at the retreating carriage.
The South Gate was the same gate Jiang Jin and Zhou Sui had used to enter the city that morning, but now the guards had been replaced by Jiao soldiers.
A small-eyed soldier asked nervously, "Captain, did something really happen to the Great General?"
Less than a quarter of an hour ago, two soldiers had ridden out of the city, saying that something had happened to the Great General and they were going to the military camp for reinforcements. They had ordered the guards to secure the gate and let no one out.
The captain remained silent.
Although the South Gate was not as high as the East Gate tower, the city walls were not low either. They had seen the fires at the governor's manor and the granary, and guessed that something had happened in Liang City.
But they never expected that it was the Great General who had met with a mishap.
A fierce light flashed in the captain's eyes. "We will guard our gate well. Do not let anyone leave."
Suddenly, the sound of galloping hooves came from afar. The guards' expressions tightened, and they all looked warily toward the source of the noise.
Unfortunately, the night was pitch-black and the distance was too great; they could see nothing.
Swish. A faint sound of something tearing through the air rang out.
A Jiao soldier was shot in the neck and fell to the ground, twitching uncontrollably.
The captain shouted, "Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Be careful! Put out the torches, put out all the torches!"
Thwack.
Another soldier preparing to extinguish a torch was shot and fell to the ground.
Holding his bow and arrows, the captain used the crevices in the city wall to shoot.
He could only judge the enemy's position by the sound of the hooves. He missed two consecutive shots, while another man on his side was shot dead.
As the distance closed, the captain finally saw clearly the lone rider leading the way, followed by a wildly galloping carriage.
He and the remaining soldiers immediately fired their arrows at Zhou Sui.
Zhou Sui was unhurried. With a series of clangs, he deflected the arrows and arrived at the base of the city gate in the blink of an eye.
City walls in this era were very thick, generally five or six meters, and the thickest could reach twenty meters.
Therefore, once Zhou Sui and the carriage entered the gate tunnel, those standing on the city wall could no longer see them.
However, they heard screams and knew that the two soldiers responsible for opening and closing the gates inside the tunnel must have been killed.
The captain harbored dark resentment and ground his back teeth, unable to understand where such a formidable master had come from.
He cursed in a low voice, "Han people are just treacherous!"
Then he quickly ordered, "Get ready. Shoot as soon as they show their heads."
His thought process was simple: the enemy storming the gate naturally wanted to leave the city. After killing the soldiers in the tunnel, their next step would be to exit.
As long as they exited the tunnel, the few of them would fire a volley of arrows and definitely kill this arrogant Han thief.
What he never expected at this moment was that while he correctly predicted Zhou Sui and the others wanted to leave the city, he failed to predict that Zhou Sui intended to kill them all before doing so.
Zhou Sui knew very well that if he did not eliminate the gate guards, the commoners who wanted to escape through the South Gate would not be able to leave at all.
The South Gate was the closest gate to the military camp outside the city, and only about two quarters of an hour had passed since Jiao Liang was killed.
With Jiao Liang and most of the Jiao generals dead, the entirety of Liang City was leaderless. Fires at several key locations scattered the city's troops, greatly reducing their communication and efficiency.
The people heading to the military camp outside the city for reinforcements had likely just left the city not long ago.
The military camp was over ten miles away from Liang City. Horses dared not run fast at night, so a round trip would take at least half an hour or even longer. This window of time was the best opportunity for the commoners to flee the city.
This was all they could do for the city's commoners; the rest depended on everyone's own choices.
Inside the gate tunnel, Chen Xi got off the carriage and pushed hard to open the city gates.
Hearing the heavy creaking of the city gates from below, the captain and his men knew the enemy was opening the gates.
They all stared intently at the gate exit, waiting to loose their arrows as soon as the enemy emerged.
Suddenly, the sound of whistling air came from behind them.
Splat. Blood sprayed all over the captain's body and face. Hearing the scream of the soldier beside him, he felt his entire body turn ice-cold and instinctively swung his bow backward.
Zhou Sui's blade slashed horizontally downward. Crack. The bow broke without any resistance under Zhou Sui's strength.
The blade's momentum did not diminish, chopping into the captain's shoulder, bringing forth fresh blood and a heart-wrenching scream.
A soldier on the side raised his sword and hacked at Zhou Sui.
Zhou Sui did not have time to withdraw his blade. He quickly dodged the soldier's attack while raising a foot to kick him.
"Ah..." The soldier was kicked flying several meters, crashing into another soldier who was trying to launch a sneak attack. Both of them fell to the ground together.
Zhou Sui pulled out his blade and, with a backhand thrust, plunged it into the captain's heart. As he pulled it out, a massive amount of blood gushed forth.
Gripping his dripping blade, he walked toward the two men who had fallen to the ground.
In the gate tunnel, Chen Xi finally opened the gates. He picked up the two blades dropped by the Jiao soldiers and placed them inside the carriage. "Put these blades away. We can use them later."
Luo Qingci gave a hum of agreement and placed the blades in the innermost part of the cabin.
Chen Xi quickly got onto the carriage and drove it out of the city. The carriage moved slowly, so Zhou Sui would be able to catch up very soon.
He had absolute trust in Zhou Sui's strength. That was the Great General of Yan State, the former God of War of Yan State!
Even if his body was not in optimal condition right now, dealing with a few Jiao soldiers was more than enough for him.
Sure enough, it was not long before the sound of galloping hooves rang out from behind.
After traveling about two miles, a fork in the road appeared. The left path headed north, the right path headed south, and the middle path led to the military camp.
The carriage unhesitatingly took the left fork.
Zhou Sui looked toward the middle path. The world was pitch-black and silent; clearly, the people from the military camp had not yet arrived.
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The governor's manor was closest to the South Gate, allowing him to exit the city at the fastest possible speed.
But it was also the most dangerous, because the military camp was also closest to the South Gate.
Soldiers from the military camp generally entered and exited the city through the South Gate, and he had been afraid that the two sides would run into each other on the road.
Zhou Sui still chose to leave through the South Gate because the area around the South Gate had the highest population of Han commoners. He had to fight for a path of survival for them.
Now the gates were open, and it was up to the choices of the commoners in the city.
