"Understood."
Shen Dao acknowledged and then led a group of people rushing inside.
Some others stayed behind.
Zhao Ya turned to look at the cavalry outside the gate, a cold smile appearing on his face.
Before coming, Zhao Ya had already discussed with his second senior brother and agreed that he would be the main leader.
Zhao Ya was to fully utilize his advantages, setting fires everywhere and causing a big commotion.
After all, with Zhao Ya’s body technique speed, if he wanted to leave, few could stop him.
However, at this moment, watching the cavalry swarming in, Zhao Ya had no intention of leaving.
He shouted to the people behind him, "Are you all ready?"
"Ready!" The group shouted in unison, then they all took out something resembling a water gun.
"Point it to the sky at an angle, aim above those cavalry’s heads, and fire!"
Zhao Ya was afraid that these untrained martial artists might get excited and accidentally spray kerosene on themselves, so he reminded them.
But he underestimated these martial artists’ abilities.
Compared to complicated fist and foot moves, aiming at a target and pulling the trigger was incredibly simple.
In an instant, a pungent spray of kerosene shot into the sky, then fell like raindrops onto the cavalry.
During this period, Zhao Ya hadn’t been idle; apart from diligently practicing martial arts, he also processed and made a large amount of kerosene.
This stuff was cheap and effective, having played a significant role during the last beast tide siege.
This time, to deal with Wei Hongbin and his cavalry, Zhao Ya prepared a generous amount of kerosene as a greeting gift.
But just having that wasn’t enough. During the last beast tide siege, they relied on the advantage of city walls to use kerosene effectively.
Now, in a direct confrontation with Wei Hongbin in the city, that advantage was gone.
So Zhao Ya followed the method of Cyan Bamboo Ridge’s Third Village Chief Huo Tianxiao and made many kerosene guns.
Although due to material limitations, these things could only shoot seven or eight meters far, with a high failure rate, they were essentially disposable.
But Zhao Ya didn’t expect these to have much power; as long as they could spray kerosene and cover the intended area, it was a success.
At the same time, the cavalry also sensed something was wrong.
"It’s kerosene!"
"Run!"
Those quick-witted among the cavalry turned their horses to flee.
But, as mentioned before, the street in front of the government office was narrow, and the gathering cavalry blocked the road tightly.
So even if these cavalry wanted to run, they couldn’t escape.
Some cavalry, seeing the situation, simply abandoned their horses and tried to escape on foot.
But it was too late.
Zhao Ya raised his hand and threw a fire lighter.
Bang!
Before the fire lighter even hit the ground, the air thick with oil vapors ignited the whole scene.
Blazing flames shot up into the sky, and the pained screams of the cavalry echoed in the fire.
Their cries were so horrific that it was unbearable to hear.
Even some martial artists showed expressions of unwillingness.
Although both sides were adversaries.
Fighting with real weapons to the death was one thing, but being burned alive was simply too tragic.
Yet Zhao Ya was unmoved.
It wasn’t that he had a heart of stone, but that the battlefield was like this by nature.
No need to say anyone’s methods were cruel; Zhao Ya believed that if Wei Hongbin’s men had kerosene, they would use it even more recklessly than he did.
Nor need to speak of only punishing the main offender; from the moment these cavalry entered the city with Wei Hongbin and acted arrogantly, they could no longer wash their hands of it.
After all, people can’t just enjoy benefits and then claim it’s none of their business when it’s time to bear responsibility.
At the same time, the horrific scene of those cavalry burned alive shocked the entire battlefield.
A nauseating smell of scorched meat spread, making people queasy.
Many guards showed fear on their faces, with some even secretly retreating.
In contrast, the martial artists’ morale was greatly boosted.
For a while, the situation on the battlefield began to shift bit by bit.
Previously, the guards relied on the geographical advantage of the government office to block the martial artists’ attack, but now this advantage was gradually being leveled.
However, taking down the government office was no easy feat, as Wei Hongbin’s martial experts were not few in number.
These people were mostly trained by military methods. Although their realms were generally not high, mostly around the second or third realm, their combat abilities were strong due to near-real combat training methods.
Especially adept at formation battles, their power was astonishing.
At this moment, Shang Tiefeng and Jin Zhenming had attacked from the left and right sides, joining forces in front of the government office and the inner courtyard, engaging in fierce combat.
But due to Wei Hongbin’s long-prepared defenses, even with three forces combined, they could not break into the inner courtyard.
So the battle transitioned from an initial fierce battle to a prolonged stalemate.
Zhao Ya ghosted around the battlefield, occasionally striking, harvesting the lives of these military experts.
But these people were Wei Hongbin’s staunch loyalists, the elite of the elite, and even so, they fought to the death without retreating.
Furthermore, Zhao Ya’s previous plan to force Wei Hongbin out of the government office’s inner courtyard was yet to succeed.
Even after instructing Pan Xuexian to shoot fire arrows at the inner courtyard and spray kerosene, the fire was often quickly extinguished as soon as it started.
Zhao Ya knew that Wei Hongbin was obviously well-prepared, and there must be plenty of sand in the rear courtyard for extinguishing fires.
For a moment, Zhao Ya actually felt a sense of helplessness.
Although they had broken through the gate of the government office, if they couldn’t capture Wei Hongbin, it would all be for nothing.
He cut down a strong Third Realm martial artist with a single slash, then silently approached Shang Tiefeng.
"Master Shang, this isn’t working."
Shang Tiefeng swung his two blades, pushing back a battle formation that had been blocking him, then said in a deep voice.
"That’s right, although this group doesn’t have strong individual combat skills, they excel at military combined assault techniques, and each one fights fearlessly, making them indeed troublesome."
"I plan to scout the rear courtyard." Zhao Ya said sternly.
Shang Tiefeng was startled, "No, it’s too dangerous!"
Both Shang Jingchuan and Shang Luoluo had mentioned more than once that for his own safety, Wei Hongbin had fortified the rear courtyard of the government office like a fortress, filled with traps and mechanisms, where going in usually meant death.
Even though Zhao Ya’s skills were astonishing, Shang Tiefeng still felt it was too risky.
"Delay leads to change, and if we can’t capture or kill Wei Hongbin by dawn, our operation this time will be considered a failure. Besides, rest assured, Master Shang, I know my limits. Once I’m in, Master Shang, you’ll temporarily lead the whole situation."
After saying that, without waiting for Shang Tiefeng to respond, Zhao Ya flashed his body, detoured around the battle formations formed by these military experts, and flew towards the rear courtyard from the side.
Jin Zhenming saw this and couldn’t help but retreat to Shang Tiefeng’s side, asking in a low voice, "Where did Ya go?"
"He said he was going to scout the rear courtyard."
"Foolish, how could you let him take such a risk?" Jin Zhenming said in shock.
Shang Tiefeng glanced at Jin Zhenming, "As if he would listen to me if I told him not to go."
"Stop talking nonsense, think of a way to break these battle formations quickly and rush into the rear courtyard to support Ya, that’s the main thing." Shang Tiefeng said.
The two of them rejoined the battle.
Meanwhile, as the fierce battle raged inside the government office, at the South City Gate, Nie Jingnian was also engaged in a life-and-death struggle with Yu Guizhi.
Nie Jingnian’s eyes were red, his twin blades dancing like the wind, wishing he could cut Yu Guizhi down with one blow.
If it wasn’t for her deception in opening the city gate, he wouldn’t have ended up like this.
She was the culprit behind everything.
Now given another chance for redemption, it’s easy to imagine how desperately Nie Jingnian was fighting.
In contrast, Yu Guizhi seemed a bit absent-minded in her fight.
She had already heard the news of Yuan Chenfeng’s death, and she could faintly hear the shouts of battle coming from the city, leaving her mind in turmoil.
Now that Yuan Chenfeng was dead, the Chenfeng Martial Arts Hall was doomed, and without a patron, if Wei Hongbin was defeated, her own fate would be predictable.
So Yu Guizhi had to start thinking about her own escape route.
Especially now, with Nie Jingnian’s aggressive attack, Yu Guizhi was even more inclined to retreat.
Just then, there was a loud boom from the tower, followed by someone shouting, "Senior Brother Nie, the tower has been taken!"
Hearing this, Yu Guizhi became even more alarmed and ran away, not caring whether the news was true or not.
But how could Nie Jingnian let her go?
Before coming here, he swore a deadly oath to chop off Yu Guizhi’s head, and he wouldn’t stop until he succeeded.
At this moment, Yu Guizhi certainly didn’t dare to run into the city, so she turned and leaped off the city wall, running towards the mountains and forests outside the city.
Nie Jingnian followed closely, also jumping off the city wall.
Then the two rushed into the forest one after the other.
Feeling utterly dejected, Yu Guizhi couldn’t help but shout, "Nie Jingnian, when possible, one should show mercy. Now that the South City Gate is yours, do you really have to be relentless?"
Nie Jingnian sneered repeatedly, "That’s right, today I do intend to be relentless."
Saying this, he tightened his grip, aiming his blade relentlessly at Yu Guizhi’s vital points.
"Do you really think I’m afraid of you?" Yu Guizhi was also enraged.
In terms of strength, she was indeed slightly superior to Nie Jingnian; she had just been distracted earlier. Now, taking it seriously, Nie Jingnian immediately felt immense pressure.
But Nie Jingnian didn’t care about this at all; he didn’t even mind Yu Guizhi’s palm techniques aimed at him, attacking with a suicidal determination for mutual destruction.
This momentum successfully intimidated Yu Guizhi.
She certainly had no desire to perish together with Nie Jingnian, so she muttered "Madman" under her breath, then turned to run deeper into the mountains.
It was then that two old men leisurely walked out from the forest.
Both were dressed in rough cloth garments, wearing cloth shoes with soles reinforced by a thousand layers, holding large tobacco pipes, looking very much like rural farmers.
What’s more, the two looked identical, with one holding the tobacco pipe in his left hand and the other in his right, standing together as if there were a mirror between them.
It was certainly uncanny for such a pair of old men to appear suddenly in the midnight forest.
But at that moment, Yu Guizhi couldn’t afford to care about them.
These two old men happened to block her escape route, so she shouted while running.
"Get out of the way!"
One of the old men grinned upon hearing this.
"Is this how the youngsters in Yunxiao County speak so rudely?"
Saying this, he leisurely raised the tobacco pipe in his hand, struck a fire with the flint at his waist, and slowly started smoking.
By that time, Yu Guizhi had already charged forward; only upon getting closer did she suddenly realize something, her pupils contracted instantly, and the curse at the tip of her tongue was swallowed back down as she intended to detour around the two old men.
But it was too late; the smoking old man casually waved his hand, and the tobacco pipe in his hand struck Yu Guizhi’s forehead at an unbelievable angle.
With a dull thud, Yu Guizhi’s head was shattered, her brains splattering as she died.
Afterwards, the old man leisurely exhaled a puff of smoke, grinning at Nie Jingnian not far away.
"Young man, could you tell me, is the Yunxiao County city ahead?"