195: Chapter 196 Where is Commander Wang?!

General Zhang Tie was originally full of rage, but after that strike, he paused for half a breath.

Because with that last blow, he had already tested it.

Luo Ming's strength was different from before.

"Bronze?"

He blurted out.

Luo Ming nodded slightly.

"Just luck."

As soon as those two words left his mouth, the fire in General Zhang Tie's chest burned even hotter.

"Luck?"

"You eat the food of my Flower City, consume the meat of my Flower City, and receive the kindness of my Flower City, only to turn around and reach Bronze, and you still have the nerve to tell me it's luck?!"

"Spit it out!"

Before his words had even faded, his second strike came crashing down fiercely.

This strike was heavier than the last.

Luo Ming raised his spear to block again.

"Clang!"

The ringing blast exploded.

The city bricks beneath their feet seemed to tremble along with it.

This time, Luo Ming couldn't fully parry it.

The shaft of his spear sank, and the blade grazed past his shoulder armor, leaving a line of blood directly.

Once the blood appeared, General Zhang Tie's eyes turned red.

He lunged forward and launched a frenzy of attacks.

One strike.

Two strikes.

Three strikes!

Every strike was delivered with lethal intent.

Luo Ming was forced back several steps by the pressure.

On the other side of the city wall, batches of Flower City soldiers were already climbing up.

The Liang City garrison tried to reinforce the line.

But as soon as the two sides clashed, the defensive line was brutally torn open.

Some flew out screaming.

Others didn't even hold their blades steady before being struck by a shield, spitting blood from their mouths.

Still others, just as they turned to shout, found the second wave of Flower City soldiers already rushing up behind them.

"Hold the line!"

"Hold it quickly!"

The Liang City deputy general shouted until his voice was hoarse.

But the more he shouted, the colder his heart grew.

Because he could see it clearly.

The troops on the Liang City side were merely holding on.

The people on the Flower City side were pressing forward.

The momentum was completely different.

Luo Ming naturally saw it too.

With his spear in hand, enduring the wound on his shoulder, he blocked General Zhang Tie while glancing around.

The Flower City forces had already scaled more than just this section of the wall.

Black armor was surging up on both the left and right sides.

If they kept fighting like this, only more and more would die.

And the city still wouldn't be held.

Thinking of this, the spear in his hand suddenly slowed by half a beat.

General Zhang Tie slashed through the spear shaft, then immediately slammed his shoulder forward with force.

"Bang!"

Luo Ming felt a tightness in his chest, and his whole body stumbled back two steps, his back slamming heavily against the parapet.

His long spear slipped from his hands.

General Zhang Tie turned his blade and held it directly against his neck.

The cold blade pressed, drawing a line of blood.

On the city wall, that last bit of resistance was extinguished in that moment as if someone had pressed it down.

Luo Ming gasped for air, looking up at General Zhang Tie.

General Zhang Tie stared back at him intensely.

The Liang City deputy general nearby saw this and wanted to grit his teeth and rush forward.

But Luo Ming spoke first.

"Everyone, stop!"

This shout was loud.

It drowned out the sounds of slaughter across half the city wall.

Someone nearby paused.

"General?!"

Luo Ming swallowed hard, raised his voice, and shouted again:

"I said, everyone stop!"

"Surrender!"

"Liang City... surrenders!"

As these words fell, the city wall went dead silent for a moment.

Immediately after, it was as if the bones had been pulled out of the Liang City garrison.

Swords and spears fell to the ground one after another.

Some stood there in a daze.

Some squatted down.

Others let out a long breath, their legs turning to jelly.

Below the city, the Flower City knights who had been charging toward the barracks and main street also paused.

The next moment, Luo Ming turned his head sharply and shouted into the city:

"Put down your weapons!"

"Do not ring the bells!"

"No more fighting!"

"Whoever strikes again, I'll cut them down first!"

As these words were spoken, those who were about to rush out from the barracks also stopped in their tracks.

The entire city truly fell silent just like that.

From the moment General Zhang Tie raised his torch to move forward, to the moment he held his blade to Luo Ming's neck on the city wall, less than twenty minutes had passed.

...

By the time the Hua flag was raised on the walls of Liang City, the city itself hadn't even truly started burning.

Weapons were collected.

The main street was sealed.

The city gates had changed hands.

Yet, standing on the city wall and watching that flag with the character 'Hua' being pulled up bit by bit, General Zhang Tie didn't feel the satisfaction he had imagined.

He should have been happy.

The military order was completed.

The last city had also been taken.

But the lump in his chest wouldn't dissipate no matter what.

"General."

The Flower City deputy general beside him walked over quickly and lowered his voice.

"How should we deal with this person?"

General Zhang Tie turned back.

Luo Ming was being held kneeling on the ground, his hands tied behind his back, the wound on his shoulder still seeping blood.

His face was somewhat pale.

But his expression was still relatively calm.

General Zhang Tie stared at him for two breaths, then suddenly stepped forward.

Approaching him, he didn't waste any words and spoke directly:

"Where is Old Dao?"

Luo Ming remained silent.

General Zhang Tie's eyes sharpened.

"Where is Wang Shuai?"

Luo Ming still wouldn't speak.

The fire in General Zhang Tie's chest flared up again.

The attack on the Ten Cities this time had the capture of the cities as the ostensible military order.

On a higher level, it was to root out Wang Shuai's line.

Now that the last city had been taken.

The person who knew the truth was kneeling right in front of him.

If he couldn't get a single word out of him, this battle would always feel like it was missing something.

Thinking of this, General Zhang Tie grabbed Luo Ming by the collar and dragged him up directly.

"I'm asking you!"

"Where is Old Dao? Where is Wang Shuai?!"

Luo Ming stumbled from being dragged, his lips pressed tightly together.

Still not speaking.

General Zhang Tie stared at him, his teeth nearly clenched to the point of breaking.

"You think just because you don't talk, I have no way to deal with you?!"

As he spoke, he turned the blade and pressed it directly against Luo Ming's neck.

Just half an inch further, and this head would be gone.

Yet Luo Ming remained silent.

The Flower City deputy general nearby was getting anxious.

"Why act like a mute!"

"Do you really think I don't dare to cut you?!"

Saying this, he drew his sword with a "shing" and raised his hand to hack down.

General Zhang Tie, however, suddenly raised his hand and stopped him.

The deputy general paused.

"General?"

General Zhang Tie ignored him.

He only stared at Luo Ming, his voice lowered.

"Speak."

"Tell me the whereabouts of Wang Shuai and Old Dao."

"I will ensure you survive."

This time, Luo Ming finally spoke.

He looked at General Zhang Tie, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"Brother Zhang."

"We are the same kind of people."

"Why do you insist on asking?"

The force in General Zhang Tie's hand suddenly faltered.

He understood this sentence.

Because if it were truly swapped...

If it were him, General Zhang Tie, who had fallen into someone else's hands today, and the other party was holding a blade to his throat asking where the Flower City commander was, where the City Lord was, he would be the same—he wouldn't utter a single word.

Even with a blade at his throat.

Even if he were to die.

The Flower City deputy general beside him didn't understand, or rather, understanding it only made him more annoyed.

"Still putting on an act when death is at your doorstep?!"

He cursed and raised his sword to strike again.

"Enough."

General Zhang Tie spoke suddenly.

The voice wasn't loud.

But the deputy general's movement stopped instantly.

General Zhang Tie slowly pulled his blade back.

Then, he turned around, back to Luo Ming, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Untie him."

The deputy general's eyes widened.

"General?!"

"Untie him?!"

"Are you intending to let him go?!"

General Zhang Tie didn't look back.

He just stood there, looking at the sky outside the city that was brightening bit by bit, and spoke in a deep voice:

"City Lord has an order."

"Old Dao and his group once helped our Flower City outpost intercept a beast tide; they have a debt of gratitude to Flower City."

"Do not kill them."

On the city wall, it went quiet all at once.

Even the Flower City deputy general was stunned.

A moment later, he gritted his teeth hard and punched the nearby battlement.

"Bang!"

Dust fell in a flurry.

Luo Ming, on the other hand, shuddered violently.

He raised his head, looking toward the direction of Flower City, his lips trembling.

"City Lord Zhou..."

This sound was extremely light.

So light it seemed it would scatter with a gust of wind.

But only he himself knew how heavily those three words struck his heart.

He knew better than anyone that that beast tide back then wasn't much of a burden for the Flower City outpost at all.

If they had really let it pass, those bright-eyed young people of Flower City could still have crushed it fiercely.

If one were to really speak of it, it was they who had stolen the opportunity for the Flower City citizens to show their worth.

But now, yet...

City Lord Zhou, he...

He!!!

Thinking of this, Luo Ming's eyes instantly turned red.

The moment the ropes were untied, he went "thump" and knelt straight down.

He wasn't kneeling to General Zhang Tie.

He was kneeling in the direction of Flower City.

Immediately after, he knocked his forehead heavily against the city bricks.

"Thank you, City Lord Zhou..."

"For the grace of sparing my life!"

As these words left his mouth, his throat was already hoarse beyond recognition.

General Zhang Tie stood at the front, his spine suddenly pulled taut.

He couldn't listen anymore.

And he couldn't watch anymore.

That fire in his chest, that breath, that uncomfortable feeling that was unclear whether it was anger, frustration, or the pain of old debts being reopened—it all surged up to his throat.

Finally, he squeezed one word through his teeth:

"Get lost!"

Luo Ming's body trembled.

But he didn't say anything else.

He kowtowed once more toward the direction of Flower City, then slowly stood up and walked down the city wall, stumbling.

General Zhang Tie never looked back.

Not until the sound of footsteps faded did he lift his head and look toward the horizon again.

The sky had finally brightened.

The previously glaring gray-white had now spread out.

The morning light pushed over bit by bit from the east, tearing open one gap after another in the night.

On the Liang City walls, that newly raised Hua flag was suddenly caught by the wind and unfurled with a snap.

General Zhang Tie leaned against the blood-stained battlement and looked into the distance.

With this look, his entire body froze in place.

Because it wasn't just the flag on Liang City that had lit up.

Further away.

Southeast.

Northwest.

Due south.

Due north.

City wall after city wall revealed its silhouette in the morning light.

And on every single city wall, there was a Hua flag, pulled open by the same morning breeze.

The sky had dawned.

Ten city walls.

Ten Flower City flags.

Unfurling in the wind.

...

The sky hadn't fully brightened yet.

Deep within the North City Lord's Mansion, that wartime Sound Transmission Array had already lit up more times than one could count.

The array light flashed on again and again, and went out again and again.

As if it couldn't catch its breath.

The first message that came through was a shriek, distorted by panic.

"Flower City night raid!!"

Immediately following was a chaotic din.

The clash of weapons.

The screams of the crowd.

And the roar of exploding Spells.

Then, the array light trembled violently and cut off.

When it lit up the second time, the sounds were even more chaotic.

"Save... hurry and save..."

Before the second half of the sentence could be uttered, only a scream remained.

The array cut off again.

The third time.

The fourth time.

The messages coming through were getting shorter and shorter.

"Enemy troops have scaled the wall!"

"Can't hold it..."

"Open the array quickly... open the array quickly!!"

"General!!"

Each time it only lit up for a fleeting moment.

Each time it was as if someone had shoved half a bloody sentence into the array, only to have it slashed off by someone's blade.

In the great hall, no one dared to make a sound.

Everyone's gaze fell on the figure in the front wearing a black cloak.

Wang Shuai stood before the array platform, motionless.

There wasn't much expression on his face.

But those eyes were deeper than the night.

Old Dao stood half a step behind, the sweat on his back already soaking his inner garment.

He knew the declaration of war on the Ten Cities was a trap.

He also knew Wang Shuai hadn't treated those Ten Cities as a real trump card at all.

In Wang Shuai's eyes, the purpose of those Ten Cities had never been to win.

It was to drag Zhou Yun in.

It was to force Zhou Yun to accept the cities.

It was to force Zhou Yun to reach his hand into the territory of the Wang Group.

But now...

What was coming back through this array didn't sound like dragging them in at all.

This was clearly about to be brutally crushed!

Just then, the Sound Transmission Array lit up again.

This time, the sound was closer than the previous times, and even more chaotic.

"Liang City... preparing for battle..."

"Flower City will soon arrive..."

"General Luo..."

Immediately after, a loud "boom" exploded into the hall.

As if the city gate had been violently smashed open by something.

Subsequently, the array light went out.

It went completely dark.

Wang Shuai finally raised his hand.

"Open the southern line."

The array master nearby felt a tightness in his heart and hurriedly activated the second Formation Plate.

The array light turned on.

Wang Shuai's voice was as cold as ice.

"Tell the two cities behind the southern line to immediately pull their elites north."

"If the forward cities really lose their defense, just block the gap for me."

No one answered.

"Open the eastern line again."

"Tell the cities on the eastern line, don't just sit in the city waiting for death."

"Get out of the city for me first."

"Intercept the retreat of the Flower City army."

Still no one answered.

"Western line."

"Let them combine their forces."

"Press south."

"Encircle them with the remnants of the forward troops."

"Northern line."

"Open it again!"

One Formation Plate.

Two.

Three.

The secondary arrays in the hall specifically used for contacting the Ten Cities lit up one after another, and went dark one after another.

Not a single response.

A hint of sharpness finally flashed in the depths of Wang Shuai's eyes.

He had originally thought that Flower City would at most have time to brutally take down the first few cities.

Even if they were faster, there should have been a few cities in the back that could react.

As long as three cities, no, even if two cities were still standing.

This game could still be saved.

He could completely mobilize the manpower of those cities to press south, block the Flower City army, and lock Zhou Yun tightly between these Ten Cities.

But now...

Nothing.

Not a single one.

All the Sound Transmission Arrays were as dead as could be.

The hall was terrifyingly quiet.

Old Dao hung his head, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Wang Shuai, however, suddenly smiled.

But that smile was very cold.

"Interesting."

"It seems Zhou Yun is even more impatient than I thought."

He said, turning his head.

"Come here."

Someone outside the hall immediately knelt down.

Wang Shuai didn't even look at him, just calmly spat out a sentence:

"Go."

"Look clearly at every single city on the road for me."

"Come back and tell me exactly how many have been lost."

The man's heart trembled.

"Yes!"

...

When that messenger rushed out of North City, the horizon was just beginning to show the first hint of white.

He wasn't too panicked at first.

If he were to say he was afraid, he definitely was.

But he still harbored a bit of luck in his heart.

Maybe the front was just chaotic.

Maybe it was just the first few cities that had run into trouble.

It was also possible that those useless people had just been stunned by Flower City and hadn't had time to reply.

But when he rode his horse over the first gentle slope and saw the first city, that bit of luck shattered on the spot.

The city was still there.

The wall was still there.

But the flag on the city wall was no longer the original flag.

It was a Hua flag!

Being pulled straight by the morning breeze!