Chapter 1416 - 339: Reverse Meaning

Chapter 1416: Chapter 339: Reverse Meaning

The Pixiu, under its master’s deliberate control, could only take slow steps, watching warhorses beside it gallop off as the riders spurred them on.

After a short while,

seeing that the shouting and killing ahead was still raging, Lord Zheng simply pulled on the reins, signaling the Pixiu beneath him to turn around.

Can’t go any farther. Too dangerous.

The Sword Saint had already gone back to his wife, kids, and warm kang bed—without him nearby, Lord Zheng really didn’t feel safe on the battlefield.

Especially since the slaughter at West Mountain Fortress was still ongoing, and might well last into the night, which meant it was easy to run into stray Chu troops out here.

Forget it,

a wealthy man’s son doesn’t sit beneath a leaning roof.

Better not take that risk.

Lord Zheng returned to the city gate. Xue Three was still clamping his legs together as he continued bandaging Fanli, fully interpreting the deep friendship between demon lords.

Getting down from the Pixiu, Lord Zheng walked up onto the city wall.

This stretch of wall had, over these days, borne who knew how many bouts of brutal fighting between the two sides’ soldiers; now, corpses were piled crosswise, even walking up the steps took some effort.

But in the end, Lord Zheng still made it up.

On the wall, there was a squad of wounded Yan State soldiers, bandaging each other’s wounds. When they saw Lord Zheng appear, they immediately started to salute.

"Stay seated, stay seated."

Lord Zheng pressed his hand down, then walked forward onto the gate tower.

Part of the city gate had been destroyed, and it was bristling with arrows, scorched marks all over it.

A Ming dragged a chair out from inside. Lord Zheng didn’t sit right away, but instead yanked down a Chu military flag hanging to the side and wiped the chair with it before sitting.

Then A Ming dragged over another chair, wiped it with the flag, and from his own pocket took out peanuts, sunflower seeds, and some other snacks.

Lord Zheng asked in some surprise:

"You don’t strike me as the type who eats this kind of thing."

"I thought, my lord, you might want something to crack between your teeth while directing the battle."

Lord Zheng shook his head. "Up on a high platform with the wind howling, how are you supposed to crack seeds? And anyway, it doesn’t show."

"What, am I supposed to set up a Guzheng?"

"Actually, you’ve reminded me—if I get the chance later, I should learn Guzheng or pipa or something. Next time I run into a scene like this, I can sit there and play ’Ambush on Ten Sides’ to match the atmosphere."

When it comes to putting on a show, demon lords and their lord are all professionals;

and they even do in-depth analysis and experience summaries, hoping to achieve better, less clichéd effects.

Lord Zheng grabbed a handful of peanuts and slowly started shelling them.

Though the shouting and killing inside the city were still rising and falling, West Mountain Fortress could already be considered taken.

With East Mountain and West Mountain, the two military fortresses, captured, it was like a crab having its two big claws torn off;

it meant that the defensive system the Chu people had laid out north of Town South Pass had lost its support and anchor.

The Yan Army could now, with perfect legitimacy, bring up their main force, concentrate superior troops to clean out the remaining fortresses and stockades. You could say, shaving everything north of Town South Pass bald and forcing Chu influence back to the Town South Pass line was only a matter of time.

But,

this was only just beginning.

From his last conversation with Tian Wujing, Tian Wujing clearly didn’t plan to smash his head straight against Town South Pass. East Mountain Fortress and West Mountain Fortress had already been this hard to take, and Town South Pass was a mighty pass that could stand side by side with Snow Sea Pass; with endless Chu reinforcements behind it, trying to gnaw it down would be far too hard.

Besides, it seemed there was no need.

The reason for pulling out all these fortresses and stockades was actually to smooth the field out, make it broader.

Lose land to save people, and you lose both; save people and lose land, and you keep both.

This, roughly, was Prince Jingnan’s theme for this campaign against Chu.

Only, it wasn’t prepared for himself—it was prepared for the Chu.

The mighty pass was here; its strength was its towering majesty, and its weakness was, in truth, also that towering majesty.

Because it can’t grow legs or move, from start to finish it can only stay put.

Just like when Tian Wujing led his army into Jin land back then, fighting a thousand li in ten days, directly smashing the Helian and Wenren families’ entire main force; after that, half of Jin land was basically taken just by issuing proclamations.

Even Lord Zheng’s Shengle City had surrendered early; the later back-and-forth was just local strongmen wrangling.

Outside, a command flag was planted there.

When Lord Zheng entered the city, he was escorted by a group of Li Fusheng’s personal guards.

When Li Fusheng went up to the front line to fight, he hadn’t forgotten to order part of his guards to stay behind specifically to protect him.

And by regulation, wherever Lord Zheng went, the command flag was planted there.

"Heh, I’m done eating."

Lord Zheng clapped his hands.

In the end he just couldn’t imitate Li Fusheng’s sense of style—sitting there covered in blood, nibbling side dishes and drinking strong liquor used for treating wounds.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of corpses or that the surroundings made him squeamish,

he just simply couldn’t find that kind of mood.

"Squeak squeak squeak, glug glug glug glug..."

Lord Zheng turned around and saw A Ming holding a wineskin, bleeding a corpse into it.

The dead man wore a decent set of armor, probably an officer. To be chosen by A Ming meant his cultivation base in life must have been decent.

A Ming finished bleeding him and tossed the corpse aside.

"Hey, can’t you draw a bit more?"

It was obvious he hadn’t drained him yet.

"My lord, the fresh blood in a body is actually divided by zones and parts. I’ve already taken the best portion; what’s left doesn’t have that flavor."

"Luxurious."

A Ming sat down on the threshold beside him, took a sip, let the tip of his tongue slide past the corner of his mouth, and rolled that faint smear of blood in as well.