13: Siege

Fifteen li isn't a long distance. Lin Yue galloped on horseback and soon found the old temple!

Lin Yue stopped in front of the temple. The old temple wasn't large, with wild grass growing all around. Only through the dilapidated stone tablet could the name be seen: Mountain God Temple.

Lin Yue eagerly stepped over the threshold and entered the temple. Compared to its crumbling exterior, the interior of the temple was very tidy, but there was nothing particularly different about it.

If there was anything strange, it was that the deity enshrined seemed not to be the Mountain God but a certain Taoist immortal. However, as a young person of the new era, raised under the red flag, he couldn't distinguish between them.

Seeing nothing special, Lin Yue turned to the back hall. What greeted his eyes was an exceptionally tidy study.

Inside the study, there was one table, one chair, and one lamp, exuding an antique Charm.

On the desk, a black long box stood quietly, appearing somewhat out of place.

This must be it!

Lin Yue took two steps forward and slowly opened the long box. A long blade slowly emerged from its sheath.

The blade was about five feet long, slender like a rice seedling, with a thick and slightly long hilt.

Upon touching the long blade, Lin Yue felt a surge of killing intent!

【Miao Blade (Imperial Forest Long Army Blade): Heaven-rank weapon】

Heaven-rank weapon!

In the game, weapons are divided from high to low into five ranks: Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow, and Mortal. He hadn't expected the long blade before him to be a heaven-rank divine weapon!

Suppressing his inner excitement, Lin Yue picked up another item, his eyes narrowing slightly.

【"Xinyou Blade Art": Heaven-rank blade art, a total of eighty-one forms. Attack power +4 for each level of martial arts proficiency.】

Martial arts proficiency is divided into: Slightly Accomplished, Thoroughly Understood, Masterful, Peak Attainment, and Superb Mastery!

Martial arts are about quality, not quantity. In the game, a person can only equip one martial art.

A divine weapon and a blade art, a perfect match!

That old man truly hadn't deceived him. This divine weapon, plus a blade art manual, if fully mastered, could increase his Martial Power by 20 points!

Lin Yue couldn't help but open the blade art manual and began to practice each move and stance, as if entering another dimension.

If a martial arts master were present, they would recognize this as an epiphany!

...After an unknown amount of time, Lin Yue stopped and found that the "Xinyou Blade Art" had actually been cultivated to Superb Mastery!

How is that possible!

How long had he been cultivating? Could it be that he was a martial arts prodigy?

Lin Yue checked his main identity panel:

【name: Lin Yue

Title: Pioneer

Identity: Soldier (Great Qin)

Peerage: None

Official Position: Squad Leader

Martial Power: 51

Intelligence: 30

Command: 21

Politics: 22

Charm: 99

Reputation: 600 (Obscure)

Talent: Amiability

Skills: None】

After cultivating to Superb Mastery, his Martial Power had actually reached 51!

He had actually become an Initial-stage Martial General!

This time, the harvest was quite abundant!

"Poor Daoist congratulates Young Master."

A mellow voice entered Lin Yue's ears. Lin Yue quickly turned around, and after seeing who it was, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Then he cupped his hands and said, "So it's Daoist Priest. Lin Yue thanks you first."

"Such is the predetermined course in the unseen, or rather, it was meant to be so," the middle-aged Daoist Priest said indifferently.

"Meant to be so?"

As Lin Yue muttered to himself in thought, he felt the candlelight beside him flicker incessantly.

The shadows of the two men stretched and shortened.

Lin Yue turned to look at the night sky, which had already darkened outside, and couldn't help but feel a little confused. He had clearly arrived at noon, so why was it night now?

"May I ask, Daoist Priest, how much time has passed since we last met?"

"Six days."

"What? How could six days have passed!" Lin Yue was greatly astonished. How could he have cultivated for so long?

"Young Master entered an epiphany, in a state of complete self-forgetfulness, so naturally, you wouldn't remember the time."

"How is Heye City now? Has anyone attacked the city?"

Lin Yue pressed on, calculating the time. It should be the time Zhao Bo had previously agreed upon for the attack!

"Poor Daoist does not know," the middle-aged Daoist Priest shook his head and said.

"I shall take my leave first. If I can return, I will certainly repay both of you for your great kindness!" Lin Yue cupped his fists and then ran out. Heye City was the foundation for his meteoric rise; it could not be lost!

Mounting his warhorse, Lin Yue began to gallop wildly.

He was extremely anxious, but in the thick darkness of the night, his speed couldn't pick up.

Lin Yue only knew they were attacking the city today, but not the specific time. He wondered if he would still make it in time.

Opening the regional chat interface, compared to its usual liveliness, it was unusually quiet today.

Then there was only one possibility.

They had already gathered together!

...At the same time, not far outside Heye City.

"Young Master Zhao, when are we attacking the city?" a thin man asked. In the darkness, the red line on the man's neck was extremely conspicuous.

"Three in the morning. That's when people are most relaxed in a day. We'll attack at that time!" Zhao Bo said in a deep voice.

Having been frustrated multiple times, he had already scouted Heye City's deployment. Heye City only had one Army of three regiments of Soldiers. Each regiment had three thousand men, totaling about ten thousand.

The Qin People were arrogant and complacent, so tonight they deliberately exposed the positions of three groups of Mountain Bandits who disregarded orders. The arrogant and self-satisfied Soldiers went to those locations without any suspicion.

Now, there were only about a thousand defenders. In this calm week, he had used large sums of money to gather a thousand players and nearly ten thousand Mountain Bandits.

Going all out, they were determined to capture Heye City today!

As long as they captured the city, relying on the game's resurrection mechanism, they could hold out for a long time.

After they died, they could resurrect in reality in one day, allowing for a continuous cycle of defending the city!

Given the current situation of players, as long as he could hold the city, more and more people would come, and his influence would grow even larger!

"Good, this will be our players' first city!" the thin man said with a smile, beginning a live broadcast into the void.

"Brothers, General Yu is here! We are about to attack Heye City. Our Army of twenty thousand has already arrived at the city gates!"

"Heye City, within reach!"

General Yu said with a laugh, then turned the camera to the swaying crowd behind him.

"Wow, isn't that General Yu?"

"Attack the city! Attack the city!"

"100 copper coins to unlock the live broadcast feature is worth it, I can even watch a monkey."

"When General Yu is on the battlefield, this war will be without suspense!"

The live broadcast room was very excited. Half a month after the server opened, someone actually dared to attack a city!

He was truly the first person to do so since the server opened!

Seeing that the agreed-upon time was getting closer, Zhao Bo and General Yu, among others, all made preparations.

Four hundred-man squads, under the cover of night, slowly approached the four sides of the city wall. The leaders were all Half-step Martial General players, coming from various counties in Liaodong Commandery. In addition, there were dozens of Initial-stage Martial Generals recruited by players in the teams, making them the most elite force.

"Attack from four sides, focus the main assault on the East Gate. This is called 'besieging a point to draw out reinforcements,'" Zhao Bo said with a sinister smile, revealing a mouthful of gleaming white teeth.

"Brilliant, Young Master Zhao is truly brilliant!"

General Yu flattered him, then said to the live broadcast room: "Young Master Zhao says this is 'besieging a point to draw out reinforcements'! Families, watch closely! See how we players capture our first city!"

However, unlike him, the members of the hundred-man squads were all incredibly nervous inside.

The leader of a hundred-man squad was named Zhou Mo. In reality, he was a professional player. After entering the game, he relied on his rich experience and some fortuitous encounters to achieve the strength of a Half-step Martial General, and was responsible for today's main assault!

He had originally been developing in a nearby county and had scoffed when he heard about Zhao Bo's hero's invitation.

Because with years of gaming experience and his analysis of game data, he felt that even if a city was captured, it couldn't be held.

But Zhao Bo had given him an offer he couldn't refuse!

At this moment, he led his hundred-man squad to stealthily infiltrate to the base of the city wall. Then, he took out chains and hooked them onto the city wall, slowly climbing under the cover of night. The rest of the Army remained hidden in the distance, continuing their ambush.

Zhao Bo's eyes grew hotter and hotter, as if the city was about to be breached!

"Who's there!" The quiet night was broken by a shout.

A Soldier on the city wall accidentally discovered iron claws on the battlements. Upon closer inspection, he saw dense figures on the city wall, like ants clinging to a tree trunk, and was immediately shocked.

"Whoosh!"

A Martial General behind Zhao Bo directly drew his bow and shot an arrow. Despite the three-hundred-meter distance, it was a shot to the throat!

This was a bronze summon token he had exchanged from players using his 'money ability,' summoning a Mid-Level Military General named Zhao Fusheng, a divine archer from the Song Dynasty.

He was also one of the few among them with ranged power!

The Great Qin Empire was very strict about armor and bows and crossbows. He had only managed to exchange a few longbows from the Huns!

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" The sound of arrows piercing the air awakened many defending Soldiers, who all shouted loudly.

Zhou Mo, seeing this, quickly sped up. If the enemy cut the chains, he would either die or be crippled from the fall. One had to know that the pain of death in the game was incredibly real!

"Ten thousand against one thousand, the advantage is with me!"

"Charge!" Zhao Bo shouted. They had to draw fire, otherwise the hundred-man squad players would be very dangerous.

"Charge!" General Yu then shouted, "Brothers of the Yu Family Army, advance!"

"Xiao Ran, build trebuchets, we'll launch a strong assault!" Zhao Bo instructed the young girl beside him.

The girl nodded. She had accidentally obtained trebuchet blueprints and completed the artisan's class change, allowing her to build trebuchets on the spot!

"Brothers, the enemy's firepower is very fierce, but don't be afraid, we have trebuchets! Watch me throw at them!"

General Yu picked up a stone and threw it. The stone drew a graceful arc in mid-air.

"Holy crap! Who threw that stone!"

Not far ahead, a tall, thin man clutched his face and crouched on the ground, fumbling for something.

"Don't step on me, my glasses are broken!"

"Brother Da Yi!" A nearby player quickly pulled up the tall, thin man to prevent him from being trampled by the players and Mountain Bandits behind.

General Yu, seeing his good brother accidentally injured by him, shrank his neck, and then interacted with players in the live broadcast room.

Zhao Bo couldn't help but curl his lips after seeing this. If it weren't for the fact that General Yu had some influence, he wouldn't even look at such a person in reality.

Zhao Fusheng shot several arrows consecutively at the Soldiers above Zhou Mo, each arrow hitting its mark! A vacuum zone appeared on the city wall, and Zhou Mo climbed directly onto the city wall along the iron chain!

The two sides engaged in a fierce battle on the city wall!

Heye City was just a small frontier town, and only about a thousand people remained. Normally, they could defeat Mountain Bandits relying on their sturdy armor, but at this moment, the city wall was full of rebel elites, and there were quite a few ranked Martial Generals, so they could only fight and retreat.

Fortunately, the resting Soldiers had heard the commotion and had already arrived as reinforcements, but facing the desperate players, they were somewhat unable to conceal their decline.

"Who are you people? Aren't you afraid of the Empire's retaliation?" an old Qin Soldier asked with difficulty after being knocked to the ground.

"Hmph, what is Great Qin? Now is the world of us players!" a player said, then plunged his steel blade into the old Soldier's heart.

The old Soldier's eyes revealed an expression of disbelief. In his last moments, he might have wondered what players were, and why they dared to attack a Great Qin city?

This was just the tip of the iceberg; the battlefield was constantly filled with death.

Zhao Bo looked at the city wall and smiled. Soon, the city would fall!

His father had keenly sensed that this game would be a new trend. If he could be the first to attack a city and establish a faction, then both father and son would gain the upper hand!

Thinking of this, he felt completely clear-headed, every pore exuding a comfortable sensation.

In the distance, a group of people quietly watched the battle on Heye City.

"Ama, why are they fighting each other?" a bald boy turned his head and asked.

"They are the 'Outsiders' sent by the Main God, different from the Qin People.

This could also be a great help to us in the future!

Eighth child, you must remember that there must be unity within the tribe; only then can the greatest strength be unleashed!

Otherwise, you will only end up like them, exhausting your strength in internal strife for nothing."

The big man said to the bald boy.

"Then can they win?"

"They will, but very soon, the Qin state will counterattack!

A temporary victory is not a victory. I hope you understand this principle." The big man looked at Heye City and said earnestly.

"Let's go. The flames of war have already ignited, and we must also prepare."

"Yes!"

Then, the group quietly retreated.

As for Lin Yue...

At this moment, he was rushing on horseback...