22: Chapter 22 You are surrounded by me

"General, the situation is not right!"

A deputy general rode his horse up to Guo Wenzhuo's side.

"The garrison on the city wall is sparse, and that Zhuge Jinyu is actually playing the zither. This..."

Guo Wenzhuo knitted his thick brows and waved his hand to halt the army's advance.

He squinted his eyes, gazing from afar at the white figure on the city tower.

The young girl's expression was focused, as if she were completely immersed in the sound of the zither, turning a blind eye to the tens of thousands of troops below the city.

"Should we send a few experts at the Golden Core or Spirit Transformation Realm forward to test her?"

Zhuge Jinyu remained seated on the city wall, playing, the melody sometimes low and deep, sometimes soaring and high.

While playing, she also infused some of her spiritual power into the zither strings.

It was fine for high-level cultivators, but for the ordinary soldiers, this zither music was actually beginning to subtly dismantle their fighting spirit.

Guo Wenzhuo, as a cultivator at the peak of the Spirit Transformation Realm, felt his own mind wavering slightly at this moment.

"Bluffing!"

Guo Wenzhuo let out a cold snort, but the vigilance in his eyes did not diminish by even half.

He had fought for many years and knew well the unpredictable nature of the Zhuge Family.

Even though Zhuge Jinyu was just a young girl, he dared not risk his own men on this gamble.

"This yellow-haired girl, does she really think she can force my thousands of troops to retreat with just a zither melody? What a joke!"

Despite saying this, he did not immediately order an attack on the city.

Although the Man in Black Robe had not come with him this time, the entire series of plans had been devised by him.

Even the Man in Black Robe's layout in the Great Qian capital had been exposed by Zhuge Jinyu; this woman before him could not help but make him feel wary.

This 'Empty City Strategy' was set up too thoroughly, which instead made him afraid to act rashly.

He still remembered a piece of advice the Man in Black Robe had given him before he departed.

"That Zhuge Jinyu has someone behind her!"

"Pass down the order: all units are to wait in place. Without my command, no one is to move!"

Guo Wenzhuo said in a deep voice.

"Scouts, scout again. Focus on investigating the forests on both sides and behind the city gate for any signs of an ambush."

Under heavy encirclement, he believed that Zhuge Jinyu would be even more anxious than him.

This time, he had brought eighty to ninety percent of the entire Guo Clan's assets.

Over at Flat Gourd Pass, he had concentrated the majority of his elite cultivators.

When the time came for a pincer attack from both the east and west, he wanted to see how this little girl, Zhuge Jinyu, would escape!

Since their leader had said so, Guo Wenzhuo's subordinates actually began setting up tents right below the walls of Jianging City.

Some even started roasting meat skewers.

For a time, it was harmonious and lively.

It formed a stark contrast to the bleakness atop Jianging City.

Many soldiers ate until grease dripped from their mouths, enthusiastically mocking the garrison of Jianging City.

"I heard the commoners inside Jianging City are still resorting to cannibalism. I wonder if they'll be able to eat meat skewers before they die, hahaha..."

"Why aren't we attacking?"

"You don't understand. Our army has set an inescapable net at Flat Gourd Pass. Everyone there is an elite; one of them can take on hundreds of these Great Qian trash!"

"That's right. When we attack from both sides, Commander Guo is truly too clever. Who could see through such brilliant planning?"

On a mountain peak further away, a figure in a black robe stood quietly alone.

It was none other than the mysterious Man in Black Robe.

He gazed from afar at the young girl playing the zither on the city wall, his eyes flickering beneath his hood.

"The little girl of the Zhuge Family... This courage and bearing truly have a bit of the likeness of her ancestors."

"However, under absolute strength, these little tricks of yours will eventually become vanity."

"Zhuge Family, the things you owe me, I will have you pay back bit by bit."

He extended a pair of hands as thin as chicken claws; on his arm was drawn a strange cyan tattoo.

If someone with broad knowledge saw it, they would generally be able to recognize it.

That was a mark left by the alchemy of the Southern Border.

"My power has also recovered a little."

"Not much, but it's enough..."

Of course, the Man in Black Robe was not yet prepared to rush out and fight Zhuge Jinyu to the death.

Before his cultivation truly recovered to its peak, he had no intention of going head-to-head with the mysterious existence behind her.

On the city wall, Zhuge Jinyu remained alone, standing proudly.

Her fingering was like flowing clouds and running water, and the zither melody became increasingly impassioned.

Many ordinary soldiers could not even withstand the sound wave attacks infused with her spiritual power and had passed out.

But though she appeared calm, the clothes on her back had long since been soaked with cold sweat.

To hold off thousands of troops alone—the pressure was immense.

"Sir... everything is left to you."

Zhuge Jinyu thought silently to herself.

"Of course, it would be best if you could win."

"But no matter what, you must be safe!"

Flat Gourd Pass.

It was different from Jianging City.

It had already become a battlefield where blood flowed like a river.

Inside the canyon, the sounds of killing and shouting shook the heavens.

Guo Wenzhuo had transferred the main forces from three cities here, ambushing a full five thousand elites.

Among them were no shortage of experts at the Golden Core and Spirit Transformation Realms.

There were even thirteen Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators!

This was the confidence he had to dare to oppose the Great Qian imperial court.

One must know that the Great Qian imperial court originally only had the Old Emperor, Liu Xuan, at the Integration Realm, and seven or eight at the Spirit Transformation Realm.

This group at Flat Gourd Pass was originally in an advantageous position where they could advance to attack and retreat to defend.

If the army to the east of Jianging City besieged Jianging City tightly, they could charge out from the rear and deliver a fatal blow to the Great Qian army.

If they failed to surround it, and the Great Qian army retreated from the rear toward Flat Gourd Pass, they could also intercept and kill the Great Qian army here.

However, what they were encountering at this moment was not the Great Qian army they had originally anticipated.

It was a group of... nightmares that they had never imagined.

A white phantom, ghostly and demonic, shuttled back and forth across the canyon.

He was about three meters tall, not a physical entity; his form was slightly transparent, yet as solid as if carved from white jade.

His face was still shrouded in a layer of faint mist, making it unclear.

This person was naturally Su Chen.

This was a brand-new form he had developed to adapt to fighting in small-scale environments like this valley.

He held no physical sword in his hand.

He merely pointed his fingers to form a sword.

But with every point, a sword aura, condensed to the extreme, would whistle out.

Wherever the sword aura passed, whether it was sturdy shields, heavy armor, or the spiritual light barriers erected by cultivators.

They were all like paper, easily torn apart and pierced through.

For a time, screams rose and fell within the valley.

The attacks from the rebel soldiers landed on that white phantom like mud oxen entering the sea, unable to cause any damage at all.

And every strike from the opponent inevitably took away several lives.

This was completely a one-sided massacre with unequal strength.

"Form ranks! Quickly form ranks!"

Several great Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators roared non-stop, organizing a battle formation and condensing a massive spiritual power attack to blast toward Su Chen.

The Sword Immortal phantom that Su Chen had transformed into did not dodge or avoid it.

He merely raised his finger and slashed gently toward that torrent of spiritual power.

"Rip."

That torrent of attack, which had condensed the power of hundreds of people, was instantly split in two from the middle and collapsed with a roar.

The backlash force caused the rebel cultivators who had formed the array to all spit blood and fall to the ground.

"Monster! How can Great Qian still have such a monster!"

The morale of the rebel army collapsed instantly.

Su Chen's figure flickered back and forth among the crowd.

Wherever he passed, men and horses were overturned, and severed limbs and broken arms splattered everywhere.

He was not a bloodthirsty person.

But at this moment, facing the enemy, he would not show the slightest mercy, directly employing the most ruthless and terrifying means.

To prevent being tied down while fighting, he hadn't even brought the five Golden Core secret guards that Zhuge Jinyu had originally assigned to him.

"This won't do. That girl Xiao Yu is, after all, holding off thousands of troops all by herself."

"Although no one is directly confronting her, if it goes on for too long, she won't be able to bear the psychological pressure."

"I need to see if there is any faster way to clear the field in one go..."

"Quick! Send a signal! Ask the City Lord for reinforcements! We can't hold on!"

A rebel general at the Spirit Transformation Realm roared in despair.

A dazzling signal spell shot into the sky, only to be shattered mid-air by Su Chen's sword aura, turning into specks of light that vanished.

However, although the transmission signal hadn't gone out, the rebel general's words had given Su Chen new inspiration.

He was at the top of Flat Gourd Pass.

He himself, the soldiers at the bottom of Flat Gourd Pass, and the Guo Clan rebel soldiers who had already started camping in front of Jianging City at the foot of the mountain could just happen to form a straight line.

Moreover, this straight line did not pass through the main city of Jianging City or Zhuge Jinyu on the city wall.

For a moment, Su Chen had a bolder idea.

"It feels... like it would be very cool."