However, before he could grasp the hilt of his sword, a silver flash blinded his eyes, followed by a sharp pain in his wrist.
Xie Nanxiao pulled back his spear, stepped forward, and began to punch and kick Qu Chi, cursing as he beat him.
"I gave you face, didn't I? I told you to put your clothes on properly but you refused. Did you think your pale, naked flesh was a pretty sight?"
"If I had such a massive body with only a tiny little lump down there, I'd die of shame! How do you have the nerve to let it dangle? What are you jiggling it for? No matter how much it jiggles, it's still just a tiny lump!"
"I was kind enough to offer you clothes to cover your ugliness, and you don't appreciate it? Do you have no sense of shame? A barbarian is a barbarian. You should roll right back to your Quzhao."
Smack, thwack, thump, bang.
Qu Chi's eyes nearly split open in fury. Getting beaten was one thing, but being stark naked was already humiliating enough, and now he was being insulted like this. He was so angry his eyes rolled back. "You... you push people too far!"
Xie Nanxiao kicked him in the stomach and then landed two punches on his face. "Push people too far? We are a nation of etiquette. When have we ever bullied anyone?"
"The ones who push people too far are you barbarian Tartars. You burn, kill, and pillage on our land. Your crimes are monstrous, and a thousand deaths would not be enough for you."
Qu Chi almost coughed up a mouthful of old blood. I'm a barbarian? And you, the one beating me up, are from a nation of etiquette?
Yet, he was beaten so badly he had no power to fight back, and his pierced thigh throbbed with a bone-deep agony. He spat out a mouthful of blood and, finally unable to endure it any longer, fainted dead away.
Watching Xie Nanxiao still dealing out a frantic beating, Qiu Wu couldn't help but remind him, "Lao Xiao, if you hit him any more, he'll die."
On the other side, Zhou Sui led his men charging straight toward the military camp.
Not far from them, a small squad of patrolling soldiers was running toward the south gate, having just heard the commotion from that direction.
"Captain, there are hoofbeats," one of the Quzhao soldiers warned.
He didn't need the warning. The captain had already stopped, his eyes filled with alarm and uncertainty. Listening to the rapidly approaching hoofbeats, his pupils suddenly shrank. "Quick, retreat!"
Before he even finished speaking, he darted swiftly toward the houses on the left side of the street.
However, Zhou Sui was faster. Galloping on his horse, he swung his long sabre down.
Slash.
The captain was cleaved cleanly from his neck to his shoulder. Blood erupted like a fountain, and a blood-curdling scream tore through the night sky.
After cutting down the captain, Zhou Sui did not stop but continued his wild charge.
The soldiers following behind him drew their bows and released their arrows, cleanly shooting dead the remaining Quzhao soldiers.
The military camp.
When the night watchman heard the screams and hoofbeats, he realized something was wrong. He shouted a loud warning, "Not good, enemy attack! Get up quickly! Enemy attack, everyone get up!"
Thwack.
An arrow pierced through his throat. The immense force drove him two steps backward before he crashed heavily to the ground.
Just as the corpse hit the dirt, Zhou Sui had already dismounted, leading his men as they stormed into the camp.
According to the information they had gathered, there were about fifty soldiers in the camp at night, so Zhou Sui had brought a larger force, consisting of two squads.
Hearing the warning outside, the more alert Quzhao soldiers had already gotten up, while some were still groggy from their dreams.
At that moment, Zhou Sui rushed into the barracks with his men and slashed his sabre at a soldier who was running out.
Immediately, several Quzhao soldiers grabbed the swords by their beds and charged toward Zhou Sui.
Zhou Sui's eyes were icy. His long sabre slashed down, and a mist of blood sprayed all over his face and body.
Before the others could react, his long sabre swept horizontally toward another Quzhao soldier...
The two squads of soldiers following him slaughtered the Quzhao soldiers like wolves, like wolves descending upon a flock of sheep...
Jiang Jin led Yun Chengxuan around the corner tower, jogging all the way toward the arrow tower.
It wasn't long before they saw a soldier standing outside the arrow tower. "Why did you come over? What's going on in the city?"
Jiang Jin waved at him and pointed toward the south gate.
The soldier didn't understand what she meant, but he didn't harp on the issue and continued to ask, "I thought I just heard hoofbeats. What's going on?"
By now, Jiang Jin was very close to him. The arrow tower had no lit lamps, so they could only see each other by the pale moonlight.
Yun Chengxuan took a large stride forward. With a swift raise and drop of his blade, the soldier was decapitated before he could even let out a cry.
Jiang Jin took long strides into the arrow tower.
Inside the arrow tower, it was pitch black, making it almost impossible to see anything.
A gust of wind sounded near her ear. Jiang Jin thrust her sword without hesitation, and a scream echoed.
Pulling out her Tang sword, she swung it horizontally with dripping blood toward a blurry dark silhouette. The sound of a blade slicing into flesh could be heard.
A faint noise came from behind her. Before she could even strike, she was splashed with a warm liquid.
In the darkness, Jiang Jin saw a blurry figure being split in two!
Yun Chengxuan, having finished off another person, was very happy. "Auntie, another two! Hehe, that makes six! Awoo, it'll be ten soon!"
Jiang Jin wiped the blood from her face and gritted her teeth. "Can't you kill a bit more elegantly?"
Yun Chengxuan expressed his confusion. "Auntie, isn't this exactly how you kill people?"
Meaning, I learned it from you.
Jiang Jin: "..."
She strongly suspected that this foolish nephew of hers was not actually foolish at all.
She exhaled softly. "Got it. Let's go, to the north gate. There are more people there."
Yun Chengxuan was very excited, howling as he ran forward.
Jiang Jin: "...You're running the wrong way."
Yun Chengxuan slammed on the brakes, looked back at Jiang Jin, chuckled twice, and turned around to run back.
Watching Yun Chengxuan breeze past her, Jiang Jin found it amusing and quickly followed.
The horse ranch.
There were not many people guarding the horse ranch, only three soldiers and five stable slaves.
Normally, when they didn't have enough hands to graze the horses, they would use the commoners in the city to save costs.
Dealing with this handful of people was a piece of cake for Yun Yu. Leading a few men, he quickly killed the Quzhao soldiers and brought the stable slaves under control.
The horses in the ranch were startled by the screams and became somewhat restless. Fortunately, Yun Yu was very experienced and swiftly calmed the herd down.
There was no one patrolling on the city walls, so Jiang Jin and Yun Chengxuan reached the north gate without a hitch.
Xia Chanyi and her group had not yet arrived, and the north gate was currently dead silent.
Well, not entirely dead silent. Since this place wasn't too far from the military camp, they could hear the chaotic screams from the camp and the hoofbeats from within the city.
