Bang!
Another trap was triggered, sending more than a dozen arrows flying toward the squealing, panic-stricken pig.
Fortunately, this pig was lucky. As it dashed wildly onward, only one arrow struck its rump. The pain merely made it run faster.
Bang, bang, bang!
Several more traps were triggered in succession. With several arrows sticking out of its backside, the pig continued charging ahead at full speed—though its squeals grew even louder.
As the other wooden crates were opened one by one, the scene became increasingly bizarre. Dozens of pigs raced around in every direction. A few of them, perhaps too terrified to hold it in, even left steaming piles behind them.
Whenever one tried to flee the designated area, the Jinyang Army’s repeating crossbows fired at it, forcing it to keep racing within the prescribed bounds.
Zhou Sui couldn’t help the corners of his eyes twitching. His lord’s method was certainly strange, but it was genuinely effective.
The problem was that it required a great many pigs.
That posed no difficulty for Jiang Jin, who had always placed great importance on animal husbandry. She currently had several hundred pigs on hand.
Yun Chengxuan had also ‘hunted’ quite a few wild boars over time. Pigs were remarkably prolific, too: one sow could produce two or three litters a year, with anywhere from several to more than a dozen piglets in each litter.
Besides, Jiang Jin had to slaughter several pigs every day for meat anyway. Since they were attacking the city today, the soldiers could have some extra food.
Of course, all of this depended on the traps and arrows not being poisoned.
But in all the time she had spent in this world, she had hardly ever seen anyone use poison. It seemed that extracting toxins was not an easy task.
Xia Chanyi, however, wore a face full of admiration. She thought the idea was excellent.
Yun Chengxuan was very excited. “Auntie, I promised Golden Rice Bowl that if it survives this time, I’ll raise it and stop eating it.”
Jiang Jin’s face filled with question marks. “Who’s Golden Rice Bowl?”
Yun Chengxuan pointed ahead. “See that one with the red ribbon tied around its tail? That’s Golden Rice Bowl.”
Jiang Jin couldn’t help twitching at the corners of her mouth. She had wondered why one young pig had a red ribbon tied around its tail. So that was the reason.
She was puzzled. “You named it Golden Rice Bowl?”
Yun Chengxuan nodded enthusiastically. “Yep, yep! Sounds good, right?”
Jiang Jin replied against her better judgment, “It sounds good. Just a little ordinary.”
Yun Chengxuan refused to accept that. “How is it ordinary? Gold is worth so much money! If you have a golden rice bowl, you can eat your fill every day.”
“That makes sense. But since you gave it a name, that means you like it. How could you bear to send it to its death?” Jiang Jin asked, genuinely perplexed.
Yun Chengxuan chuckled. “Auntie, you don’t understand. I wanted to eat Golden Rice Bowl. It looked delicious, but it wasn’t fully grown yet, so I kept waiting and waiting.”
“But it grew too slowly. Since we happened to need pigs today, I recommended Golden Rice Bowl to them. If it died gloriously, I’d get to taste its meat. I don’t mind that it’s small.”
Jiang Jin: “...”
Really, having you as its friend is a blessing—for you. She simply couldn’t understand this kind of friendship.
Yun Chengxuan scratched his head. “Golden Rice Bowl screamed terribly before it was put into the wooden crate. Several people could barely hold it down, and I felt sorry for it.”
“So...” His eyes suddenly lit up. “I tied a red ribbon around it, carried it into the crate myself, and told it that as long as it survived, I wouldn’t eat it.”
Jiang Jin: “...”
Your compassion is something an ordinary person—er, an ordinary pig—simply can’t withstand.
From atop the city wall, Han Ning watched as one trap after another was broken through by the herd of pigs. With pig squeals filling the battlefield, he ground his teeth and shouted, “Where did the Jinyang Army get so many pigs?”
“Archers, get ready! Shoot them when they come closer!” he ordered loudly.
It didn’t take long for him to discover that pigs had thick hides and were even harder to kill than soldiers. Even after being hit, unless the arrow struck a vital spot, a pig could still charge forward with a dozen arrows sticking out of it—and run even faster.
Thus, a ridiculously comical scene unfolded. Whenever a pig reached a point not far from the city wall, Quzhao’s soldiers shot it back.
As soon as it retreated to this side, the Jinyang Army shot it back again.
As the pigs went back and forth, their numbers dwindled, while Quzhao’s traps were triggered one by one.
Looking at the large stretch of land pocked with pits, Jiang Jin sighed. “There really are a lot of them. Filling in all these traps later is going to take quite a while.”
For now, she had only cleared a small area in front of the city’s southern gate. The rest would have to wait until the city was taken before they could deal with it gradually.
After all, the area outside Dancheng was enormous. No matter how wealthy she was, she didn’t have enough pigs to make traps for all of it.
Zhou Sui nodded. “Indeed.”
“Wow, Golden Rice Bowl is amazing!” Yun Chengxuan exclaimed.
Golden Rice Bowl was charging along with its red ribbon fluttering behind it. It had to be said that the pig possessed an extraordinary amount of luck. It dodged left and right, weaving through the battlefield with such flashy footwork that it avoided several volleys of arrows.
Until one of its feet suddenly landed on empty ground.
The soil covering the trap collapsed beneath it.
Golden Rice Bowl let out a horrified squeal. Its hind legs slammed on the brakes, but its front legs were already dangling over the pit.
It frantically waved its forelegs, as if desperately wishing it could fly. Unfortunately, it had no wings.
Just as it was about to fall into the trap and become a skewer of meat, another pig came charging out of nowhere and slammed straight into it, sending it flying.
The two pigs crashed together and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop. Golden Rice Bowl had narrowly escaped with its life.
Dazed from the collision, Golden Rice Bowl staggered upright and plunged into another round of frantic running. Its gait was even more flamboyant now, its backside practically twisting into a blur.
Little Red snorted, clearly displeased that Jiang Jin had abandoned her old favorite and was now focusing all her attention on a single pig.
Jiang Jin: “...”
“Enough. Prepare the stake arrows!” she ordered.
At her command, dozens of eight-ox crossbows fired almost simultaneously.
The arrows shot forward like lightning, streaking toward Dancheng.
Watching the enormous arrows howl toward the city with unstoppable force, Han Ning’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. He screamed himself hoarse, “Cover! Take cover!”
He was the first to crouch down behind a crenelation.
Bang, bang, bang...
The thunderous noise roared in Han Ning’s ears.
The screams of soldiers rang beside him. Those who reacted too slowly were pierced straight through by the massive arrows, collapsing onto the city wall and twitching uncontrollably.
Fortunately, everyone knew how powerful these large repeating crossbows were, and most of them had already hidden behind the crenellations.
But the thunderous impacts did not stop. Everyone understood that the arrows were striking the city wall, creating an “arrow ladder.” It was far more useful than any siege ladder.
A ruthless glint flashed through Han Ning’s eyes. “Go! Drag the Han commoners up here and make them stand in front of the soldiers. I want to see whether the Jinyang Army will still fire!”
Immediately, several soldiers crawled on all fours until they reached the rampart road, then rose to their feet and hurried down from the wall.
Not long afterward, screams rang out from within the city.
On the Jinyang Army’s side, the crossbowmen and shield bearers began advancing, with the trench bridges following behind them.
They continued forward until they were roughly three hundred meters from the city wall, yet not a single person appeared above the battlements. It was as though they were attacking an empty city, and the eerie silence made the situation seem extremely strange.
Jiang Jin narrowed her eyes. “It seems they intend to use the Han civilians as shields.”
Zhou Sui’s expression darkened. “Yes.”
As they spoke, several hundred Han civilians were driven onto the city wall. They were lined up row after row behind the crenellations, using their own flesh and blood to form a shield in front.
Only then did Han Ning and the Quzhao soldiers dare to stand. Hiding behind the civilians, they looked down at the Jinyang Army, which had nearly advanced into firing range.
Han Ning watched as the Jinyang Army continued its advance without the slightest pause for the Han civilians. His heart sank. If the Jinyang Army truly had no regard for the Han civilians, there was nothing he could do.
Even if he pushed every Han civilian in the city forward, it would take only a few thousand arrows for the Jinyang Army to cut them all down.
“Stop, or I’ll kill your Han civilians!” Luo Zha roared.
