Chapter 436: Master Dao Is Here

Even when nearby patrols spotted them, Yuan Gang had only one word.

"Move!"

They ignored the soldiers entirely and continued running at full speed. A patrol of several men immediately rushed into the house the group had just crossed, only to glimpse figures vanishing over the far wall. The speed with which the intruders scaled the wall and the coordination between them left the soldiers helpless at its base. They hurriedly formed a human ladder. One man stepped on another's shoulders and hauled himself high enough to look over the wall. There was no longer any sign of the intruders.

The human ladder broke apart. The patrol immediately sounded the alarm. Before long, nearby garrison troops were alerted... At the widening breach in the wall, dust billowed and blood flowed across the floor. One man held the pass, and ten thousand could not break through. Meng Shanming sat on the ground with a spear in hand. No one could force his way inside. Dozens already lay dead beneath his spear, while Meng Shanming himself sat in a pool of flowing blood.

Shang Shuqing gritted her teeth and fought beside the breach. Blood stained the edge of her sword. Keeping close to the wall, she had already struck down several men who tried to force their way through. Every movement tugged at the wound in her shoulder, sending fierce pain through her body. She clenched her teeth and endured it. Everyone inside knew they could not hold much longer. But no one intended to surrender without a fight. Their thinking was simple: every enemy they killed before dying was one more gained.

The window Shang Chaozong guarded had already been torn open. Blood covered his body. Saber in hand, he hacked and slashed, having already killed more than a dozen men. He stood fast at the opening and refused to let anyone pass. Behind him, Lan Ruoting, a scholar by nature, had killed until his eyes were bloodshot too. Whenever an opening appeared, he thrust with his spear and filled the gap for Shang Chaozong. In the courtyard outside, Feng Ruoyi had grown furious.

So few people had actually managed to stop an assault by so many of his troops. Seeing sword light flash from inside the broken section of wall, Feng Ruoyi sprang forward and landed at the breach, smashing down with his spear as he arrived.

Clang!

The impact numbed Shang Shuqing's arm. Her sword flew from her hand. Feng Ruoyi swept the spear sideways and hooked the blade toward Shang Shuqing's exposed throat. A spear shadow whipped up from inside and intercepted the attack. Then the shaft flicked against Shang Shuqing's shoulder and knocked her away from the breach, sending her behind the wall and out of danger. At the critical moment, Meng Shanming had acted and saved her life.

Outside the breach, Feng Ruoyi instantly spun his spear like a great wheel of wind and fire. The weapon roared as he drove it through the opening, trying to force his way inside on the momentum. From within, Meng Shanming's spear came out like a dragon. It stabbed and sliced in rapid succession, skillfully suppressing the whirling attack. A flash of spearhead slid along Feng Ruoyi's shaft and cut straight toward the hand gripping it. Feng Ruoyi immediately twisted his spear and forced the attack downward.

The opposing spearhead abruptly withdrew, then thrust again in the same instant. Fast as thunder before the ears could be covered, it shot directly at his chest. Feng Ruoyi was shocked. He twisted and leaped, his entire body spinning through the air to evade the strike. The spearhead skimmed past his shoulder.

Rip!

His shoulder armor tore open. Feng Ruoyi flipped backward and landed in the courtyard outside. He glanced at the half-severed piece of armor hanging from his chest. The clothing beneath at his shoulder had been torn as well, leaving a bloody line across the skin. The injury was minor. Yet the ruthlessness, steadiness, and precision of that thrust still left him shaken. He knew perfectly well that if his reaction had been even a fraction slower, the spear would already have taken his life.

He had never imagined that this crippled old man could still display spearwork this exquisite while sitting on the ground. There was no wasted motion. Every strike was aimed to kill. This was true battlefield spearwork, without a trace of ornamental flourish. Now Feng Ruoyi finally understood why so many men outside had been unable to force their way past the old man guarding the breach. What he did not know was that Meng Shanming was already old.

Had this been Meng Shanming in his healthy prime, Feng Ruoyi might not have dodged that strike at all. Feng Ruoyi stared at the opening, then abruptly pointed.

"Shoot him!"

A group of archers surged forward behind him. Bowstrings drew taut. A rain of arrows hissed into the breach. Inside, Meng Shanming hooked a corpse with his spear and lifted it before himself. In the next instant, arrows thudded into the body until it resembled a hedgehog. Once the volley passed, men rushed the breach again. Meng Shanming swept the corpse aside. The spearhead flashed. One man came, one man died. Two came, two died. Beneath his graying hair, the old marshal's eyes remained cold and sharp.

Yet the sight was also desolate and tragic. Shang Shuqing had already retrieved her sword and clenched her teeth as she continued fighting beside him.

Boom!

A tremendous crash sounded from the rear hall, followed by the pounding of a great many feet rushing inside. Everyone in the front hall felt their hearts tighten. The defenses behind them had been broken.

"Fall back!"

Shang Chaozong turned, seized Lan Ruoting, and pulled him toward Meng Shanming. The men who had forced their way through the window immediately pursued. Shang Chaozong swung his saber and chopped several down as he retreated. All four personal guards defending the rear hall were dead. Only one remained in the front hall. He joined Shang Chaozong and the others. Large numbers of troops poured inside and forced the group into a corner beneath concentrated attack.

Shang Chaozong stood at the front with his saber, while Meng Shanming held the other side. Together they formed two horns against the assault. Behind them, Shang Shuqing, Lan Ruoting, and the final personal guard attacked through openings and helped hold the line.

Feng Ruoyi entered with the troops and shouted, "Fall back! Archers forward!"

The attacking soldiers immediately withdrew. A line of archers stepped up, drew their bows, and aimed at the handful of people trapped in the corner. Meng Shanming hooked a broken table toward himself with his spear and used it as a shield. Shang Chaozong rolled to one side, dragged a long table back with him, and lifted it in front. The group crouched behind the furniture. In the next instant, arrows covered the fronts of both tables. When the archers failed to finish them, soldiers surged forward again.

The tables were shoved aside. Meng Shanming and Shang Chaozong fought together once more, resisting the assault. Shang Shuqing's sword was too short to reach the attackers in front.

She looked left and right, then began dragging overturned tea tables, chairs, and other furniture toward their position, preparing for another possible rain of arrows. Perhaps they could still use them.

Feng Ruojie turned to a subordinate and ordered, "Send men outside to climb onto the roof. Strip away the tiles and shoot them from above!"

The officer immediately accepted the order and led men out to scale the roof.

"A pack of useless trash! Move aside!"

Seeing that they still could not take the position, Tao Yan lost his temper. He roared, charged forward with a long-handled saber, leaped into the air, and hacked down fiercely at Meng Shanming. He intended to overcome skill with brute force and crush the crippled old man through raw strength.

"General Tao, come back!"

Feng Ruoyi's expression changed sharply. Having already suffered under Meng Shanming's spear, he knew how dangerous the old marshal was. But it was too late. Tao Yan had already attacked. A cold gleam flashed through Meng Shanming's eyes. Still seated on the floor, he showed no fear. He twisted the spear upward and met the descending blade. His wrists shook. The spear struck twice in rapid succession, snapping against the shaft of Tao Yan's weapon like a spring. The two impacts knocked the heavy saber aside. The spearhead turned.

Meng Shanming drove it forward one-handed. Tao Yan's eyes flew wide. Caught completely unprepared, he could only watch as the spear punched through his throat. A burst of blood erupted from the back of his neck. Tao Yan dropped from the air and landed. Meng Shanming yanked the spear free with one arm and thrust again. His other hand caught the butt of the spear and gave it a sharp swing.

Crack!

The shaft smashed across Tao Yan's cheek. He fell to the floor and convulsed in a pool of blood. Meng Shanming did not spare him another glance. He turned the spear and continued fighting the attackers. Feng Ruoyi had already been prepared for something like this. Feng Ruojie and Nong Changguang, however, stared in disbelief. They were almost stunned senseless. A fierce general like Tao Yan had actually been killed with a single spear thrust by this crippled old man?

For something that should have been absolutely certain, the Feng family had actually lost one of its generals? Even Feng Ruoyi was left speechless. In a nearby residence, Yuan Gang climbed onto the roof to assess the situation. At almost the same moment, he saw troops climbing onto the roof of the target compound. He immediately realized Feng Lingbo probably had not succeeded yet. He also understood that whoever was trapped inside the building beneath those troops must still be making a desperate last stand.

He turned and ordered, "Set fires!"

There was no longer time to reach the target compound before starting one. Setting nearby houses ablaze would serve the same purpose. He could only hope Tianyu Sect saw the smoke and arrived in time.

"Boss!"

Yuan Feng and the others shouted in alarm. Yuan Gang had handed command to the four team leaders. Then, saber in hand, he charged ahead alone.

Yuan Feng and the others left several men behind to start the fires, then led the rest of the team after him in urgent support. Seeing armed strangers setting fire to their home, the household nearly wept. They had encountered such fierce men and did not even dare call for help. There was no need anyway. The group's reckless movement had already alarmed the garrison. Large numbers of troops were winding toward them through the alleys... At the yamen, Feng Lingbo paced anxiously back and forth.

Why had no signal of success arrived yet? Then he suddenly heard that the garrison had been alerted and was converging on the target area to search. He immediately rounded on the subordinate reporting the news.

"Who told them to move?"

Yuan Gang dropped into an alley and charged directly toward the main gate of the residence. The soldiers guarding it had barely registered what was happening when his saber tore into them. Bodies fell in every direction.

Crash!

One sweep of saber light shattered the gate. Yuan Gang seized half of the broken door and dragged it with him as he charged inside. From the rooftop earlier, he had seen that some of the men climbing the building carried bows. He raced directly toward the main hall. His speed was so great that the defenders were caught unprepared.

"Loose!"

At an order, a line of archers blocking the way fired together. Yuan Gang threw the half door up before himself. Arrows hammered into the wood with a rapid series of heavy thuds. The volley had barely passed when he flung the door aside and leaped high. He landed directly among the archers. The Three-Roars Saber swept out. Blood and flesh flew. Screams erupted around him. Inside the main hall, Shang Chaozong and the others, trapped in the corner, suddenly looked upward in alarm.

Large numbers of roof tiles were crashing down. People above were sweeping the tiles aside with their feet at speed. Through the widening gaps, they could clearly see archers on the roof drawing arrows from their quivers and setting them to the string. There was no need to ask who those bows were aimed at. But at that exact moment, the archers above suddenly fell into chaos. Screams erupted. One man even smashed through the roof and fell into the hall. Several gleaming metal bolts protruded from his body.

Outside, two lines of men appeared atop each of the courtyard walls, charging forward as though running along narrow beams. Nine-Bolt Repeating Crossbows hissed in their hands. Bolt after bolt struck the archers on the roof with deadly accuracy even across the distance. The troops outside, whose attention had been drawn toward Yuan Gang's bloody charge, only then noticed the figures on the walls.

Someone shouted, "Archers! Left and right walls!"

After eliminating the archers on the roof, the men atop the walls immediately jumped down. Using pavilions, rockeries, flowerbeds, and walls for cover, they moved independently while alternating fire and protecting one another.

"Master Dao is here! Master Dao is here!"

Inside the shattered main hall, Shang Shuqing suddenly cried out in delighted excitement. She had recognized the metal bolts protruding from the man who had fallen through the roof. She had seen those special bolts before. They were used by Yuan Gang and his men. More importantly, the garrison troops could not possibly be killing their own side at a time like this. Who else could it be but Master Dao? Coupled with the screams of fighting now erupting outside, Shang Chaozong and the others were instantly reinvigorated.

Tears of joy spilled from Shang Shuqing's eyes. No outsider could understand what it felt like to be trapped in utter desperation and suddenly see reinforcements arrive. She had known Niu Youdao would not abandon them. She had believed it all along. Feng Ruoyi was shocked.

Master Dao was here?

How could Niu Youdao possibly have entered the city? But at this point, the Feng family could no longer afford to lose.

Feng Ruoyi raised his spear and roared, "Pile the men in! Anyone who retreats dies!"

Feng Ruojie roared as well, "Forward!"

The two brothers had thrown everything into the gamble. They were actually prepared to heap up the lives of their own soldiers to force a way through.

[End of Chapter 436]