Chapter 348 Retreat to Defend the Royal City
Yu Haitang was combat-ready, looking as if he was determined to fight against Leng Changxi to death. But right at this time, he heard tense drums, a call for soldiers to muster in emergency situations. It meant that the military camp was under attack.
How could it be? Yu Haitang looked at Leng Changxi who was calm and wore a smile. He had planted an enemy agent, Shu Fulai or Lieutenant Shu, in West Xia. And he got the news that Mu Qingyu had been misled by Shu Fulai to take control of the West Xia army. Supposedly, Leng Changxi and Qin Yunuan couldn’t be able to mobilize the army, let alone send people to start a sneak attack.
Those were soldiers from the Leng Army?
Ho, what could just 1,000 soldiers do?
But at the time, an intelligence soldier shouted at Yu Haitang 30 meters away, “General, the entire army of West Xia launched an attack outside. Our soldiers were not prepared for this, and now, the enemies have broken into through the east gate.”
How could this happen? Yu Haitang looked serious. He stared at Leng Changxi and wanted to say something, but he didn’t.
But Leng Changxi smiled and said, “So, Mr. Yu, you don’t worry about anything in such an urgent situation?”
Yu Haitang sneered and replied, “I have locked the general of West Xia in my tent. Why should I be worried?”
“But Mu Qingyu, Infanta Mu, can lead the army when I’m not with them,” Qin Yunuan said while giving Yu Haitang a sweet smile. She smiled because she truly felt complacent and frank, having no resentment or grievance towards Mu Qingyu who drove her away. “What do you have? Your soldiers are either traitors from the Qi army or laymen who know nothing about how to fight a battle. Do you think you can rely on these people to defend a city?”
“Shu Fulai? He works for you?” Yu Haitang was not sure. After all, Shu Fulai was always his pawn in West Xia. Mu Qingyu seemed to have scruples about him, so she didn’t place him in important positions or inform him of important news and information. Although the news Shu Fulai sent to him was useless, he had no reason to betray him.
“Shu Fulai? No time to deal with him,” Qin Yunuan said while shaking her head. “I don’t even care about who he works for. I only care about whether Infanta Mu is clear-minded and make sure she’s in our camp all the time.”
In their camp all the time? Then why did she drive Qin Yunuan away? Yu Haitang figured it out. They played a trick to fool him. Hahaha, he originally thought he was smart, but unexpectedly, he had been fooled by them many times.
“General, the West Xia army also broke into through the south gate too. We can’t defend gates in the west and north either. General, please follow me to the path and leave here.”
Sneak away when the battle began? Seeing Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi were so complacent and confident, Yu Haitang felt more aggrieved.
While leveraging his genuine energy in secret, Leng Changxi smiled at Yu Haitang and said, “Mr. Yu, just leave when you can. Or you will end up here.” In fact, Leng Changxi wanted to kill Yu Haitang right now. He had absorbed half of Yu Haitang’s inner Qi which was a big help for him. But it took a long time to integrate it with his own internal skills in Tongming Gate. Now, he couldn’t integrate them and leverage them at ease yet. If he rushed to fight against Yu Haitang, it might be life-threatening as Qin Yunuan worried.
“You’re provoking me?” Yu Haitang slid him a sideways glance.
At this time, the lieutenant who urged Yu Haitang to leave just now couldn’t wait anymore. In spite of the order that Yu Haitang gave before, he directly rushed into the tent. To his surprise, he saw Leng Changxi and Qin Yunuan weren’t injured. Then he cupped his hands and said to Yu Haitang sincerely, “General, please go with me.”
The lieutenant was responsible for guarding the south gate. When the West Xia army broke in, he was afraid that Yu Haitang would punish him for his neglect of duty. Thus, he directly rushed into the tent and tended to escort Yu Haitang out to make up for his mistake.
“General, we still have the chance to get back at them. Please go with me now.”
The lieutenant sounded worried. To echo with his worries, soldiers were shouting and crying outside. It seemed that something outside had burned up. In the distance, they could smell the burnt wood. Dreadful cries rose and fell, most of which came from soldiers of Yu Haitang. They hadn’t fully prepared for this, so they were directly killed by the West Xia army.
Outside the tent, they heard the familiar calls from Leng Wu and Leng Shuang who were followed by Yuanyang.
Leng Wu held two halberds; Leng Shuang, the sword; and Yuanyang, two machetes. They three rushed into the tent together.
“Madam,” Yuanyang walked to Qin Yunuan and protected her subconsciously. Qin Yunuan shook her head to hint her that she was alright. Leng Shuang and Leng Wu wielded their weapons to Yu Haitang.
“Good, very good. Leng Changxi, you really earned a lot this time,” Yu Haitang said, seeing West Xia soldiers in black armor flooded in. “You took away my hard-earned inner Qi and played a trick to fool me. That’s great, so great. And you, Qin Yunuan.” Yu Haitang turned to look at Qin Yunuan with deep regret. This look was very like that of Sima Ray when he looked at Qin Yunuan but had nothing to say before. No, actually, Yu Haitang was Sima Ray. He lived as Yu Haitang now.
“Qin Yunuan,” Yu Haitang said with a bitter smile. “I have done a lot for you. For you, I betrayed my father to usurp. I did so just for completely owning you and giving you the most respected title. But you, you just took advantage of my love for you.”
“Mr. Yu, please don’t say so,” Qin Yunuan put on a poker face. For her, these seemingly loving words were so disgusting. “Oh, no. I should call you Your Royal Highness. Don’t label yourself as a faithful and affectionate man. You are just self-moved. Besides, don’t say that you betray the country and collude with enemies for me. Otherwise, people might think I was the scourge. I’m just an ordinary woman and not capable of anything you said. I disdain to take advantage of your so-called love. Be your true self.”
The more Qin Yunuan said, the angrier Yu Haitang looked. But Qin Yunuan didn’t want to set him free. Following the marks she left before, the leading soldiers in black armor had arrived. So, Mu Qingyu would lead the rest here soon. At that time, even if Yu Haitang wanted to run away, he couldn’t. So she had to play for time.
“Besides,” Qin Yunuan took a glance at Yu Haitang. Although Leng Changxi had absorbed half of Yu Haitang’s inner Qi, he still looked more and more like Sima Ray because the latter had a stronger mind than the former. “I didn’t find that Yu Haitang’s body worked well with your soul, when I took no look at you. But when having a closer look, I’m more convinced. It means that you two originally looked similar.”
“You…”
“General, it’s time,” the lieutenant who came to rescue Yu Haitang didn’t say much. Red smoke, a high-level alert, appeared in the distance, which meant that the rest two gates were broken too and that Mu Qingyu would lead many soldiers to rush in soon.
After thinking for a while and taking a loving look at Qin Yunuan, Yu Haitang turned around to leave resolutely.
The shouts outside became louder. As Qin Yunuan and Mu Qingyu planned, Mu Qingyu would divide the remaining soldiers into five teams. Four of them would launch attacks to four gates respectively with the east gate as the main target. In fact, they attacked the other three gates just for scaring enemies. Qin Yunuan had guessed that Yu Haitang would run away through the mountain path nearest the west gate, so she already arranged the fifth team to ambush there.
Yu Haitang suddenly left, so the remaining Qi soldiers lost their leader. They hadn’t prepared for this sneak attack so had no choice but to be suppressed. They were like a flock of sheep losing their bellwether, seeing their fighting capacity decreasing dramatically.
There were 500,000 soldiers in the camp, and Yu Haitang had led less than 50,000 away. Soon, when the West Xia army broke in, the left soldiers either surrendered or were killed for fighting back.
Leng Wu and Leng Shuang dealt with the mess quickly and reported casualties. Leng Shuang was poker-faced, and she seemed to have no intention to ask Leng Changxi where Heiying was. Even Qin Yunuan couldn’t bear seeing that, and she climbed up the wall.
Leng Changxi stood on the high and cold wall to look at green hills in the west. It was so quiet there, but Leng Changxi seemed to have seen how fiercely soldiers were fighting there through peaceful hills that stretched out far. The chief of the fifth team which ambushed there was Mu Qingyu’s competent guard. He was tall and not handsome. However, the fact that Mu Qingyu appointed him to perform the task meant that he was outstanding.
As expected, Leng Changxi received a battlefield report soon.
“General Leng, on our way to launch the sneak attack, we met with a sudden mudslide. Lieutenant Zhuge made quick adjustments, so all soldiers have survived. But enemies have escaped.”
“I see. You can leave now,” Leng Changxi said and still looked into the distance. He tapped his fingers on the cold and solid battlement, making a clear and doleful sound. Yu Haitang really had something, and he could even predict when natural disasters like the mudslide would happen. Zhuge indeed faced a tough situation. Once a mudslide happened, it could cause many casualties. He truly had made great contributions by saving all West Xia soldiers.
Speaking of Zhuge, then he arrived. Firm footsteps came downstairs. Leng Changxi turned his head in surprise. Yu Haitang’s inner Qi and his Tongming Gate internal skills were slowly integrating, and his senses became more sensitive now. So, right when Zhuge Qingtian walked upstairs, he sensed that he was way more skilled than an ordinary guard.
“General Leng, I’m Zhuge Qingtian,” that man cupped his hand and greeted Leng Changxi. He did this in a smooth and surprisingly natural way. He looked very imposing.
“You must have learned a lot from Infanta Mu over the years,” Leng Changxi said and slightly turned his head. “You look a bit like a royal member. If people don’t know you, they may think you are a lost prince.”
Hearing these plain words, Zhuge Qingtian suddenly shook.