Jiaohua

Chapter 1555: Destroy its Vigor

The deputy general rode away. Xia Junnan got off the horse and looked around.

The snow in front of the palace was in chaos, with all kinds of footprints mixed in. To say that the other side retreated was a polite statement, this was clearly a panic-stricken escape.

A lieutenant rode back in the snowy fog at night: "General, Chen Ping and his men have changed into Northern Yuan Dynasty clothes. When will the performance begin?"

Xia Junnan looked at the tall steps of the palace in the distance and said, "Wait until the captives behind get furious. The more chaotic the better. Only then will those assassins take advantage of the chaos to make their move."

"Yes!"

The departing deputy general was at the end of the army, loudly mocking these Northern Yuan captives, saying in fluent Northern Yuan dialect that the Xia family army had sent messengers here in advance to deliver a message, and as long as they had enough cash, they could be redeemed. As a result, the owner of the palace ran away directly and had no intention of saving them.

"I thought you Beiyuan people were heroic and righteous, haha, but you are nothing more than that. The powerful don't care whether you live or die!"

"Forget about the old ones, they have already stepped half of their feet into the coffin, but they don't even care about you little ones! Didn't you Bei Yuan people insist on fighting with us Han people? Many people died, and the population is getting smaller and smaller?"

The deputy general cursed and whipped them with his whip: "You are a bunch of unwanted Beiyuan dogs. I thought I could exchange you for a lot of treasures! Bah! You are wasting our time!"

"You are trash, a bunch of damned beasts!"

The children and old people kneeling on the ground huddled together and shivered. Many children cried out of fear, with their mouths tightly covered by the old people.

Under the firelight, the deputy general was observing the expressions of these people.

A person's good or bad temper, stubbornness or cowardice, are all written on their eyebrows and lips.

So the deputy general focused on those with bad tempers and whipped them the hardest with the whip.

Finally, these enraged Beiyuan elders stood up and wanted to fight to the death with the deputy general and the surrounding soldiers.

As the conflict became more and more intense, more than fifty tall men wearing Northern Yuan Dynasty clothes and with their faces covered ran out from the darkness and attacked directly towards the Xia family soldiers.

The deputy general pretended to be shocked and shouted: "There are assassins! Who are you?"

The other party replied loudly in Beiyuan dialect: "The Beiyuan hero who followed you all the way from Qingquan Town!"

The scene was in chaos. In the confusion, many prisoners were released, and they crawled and ran around in all directions.

While the Xia family army soldiers were chasing them, they also had to deal with more than fifty masked men.

A large number of torches fell to the ground, and the visible light became less and less.

In the darkness ahead, dozens of guards including the fifty-plus masked men quietly approached Xia Junnan.

The deputy general had also returned, staring at the darkness around him: "General, is there really an assassin?"

Xia Junnan gripped the reins tightly and said in a deep voice, "Yes, the Northern Yuan Dynasty has no shortage of death warriors. They have been taught by those in power since they were young to take death as an honor, especially when they are killed while assassinating the enemy leader. The honor and reward they receive is no different from successfully assassinating the enemy leader."

The deputy general said: "I understand! To assassinate us now would actually give them the opportunity to have fun!"

After the words fell, Xia Junnan suddenly said: "It's out!"

Everyone around was immediately on alert.

Xia Junnan followed Xia Zhaoyi's instructions and kept the distance outside the opponent's possible shooting range, but he never expected that the opponent's speed was so fast.

When Xia Junnan saw the figure suddenly rushing over from the dim firelight, the thought that flashed through his mind instantly was that only people like the Second Miss and General Shen could handle such a move!

The deputy general shouted loudly: "General, be careful!"

The Zhonglang general on the other side shouted: "Release!"

In an instant, the soldiers of the Xia family army raised their hands and shot their crossbows forward like rain.

  It's not a good idea to shoot at something without a target!

A Beiyuan man shouted in the darkness: "Retreat first!"

That's too late.

They are very fast, but the short-range crossbow has a high-explosive recoil mechanism, which makes it even faster and has full force.

Two muffled groans and a scream were heard in the darkness, and the opponent's assassination attempt failed in the shortest time.

The torches were relit, and the soldiers raised their spears and shields, forming a circle and slowly approaching the three assassins. The blood soaked the frost and snow, and the three assassins were pierced through the heart by thousands of arrows, dead.

Xia Junnan was still in shock, but as a veteran after all, he quickly adjusted his mentality, rode over, and looked down at the three men.

These three are all top-notch masters.

If they did not have their responsive arm crossbows, it would have taken the lives of more than twenty soldiers to capture these three masters, even though they were outnumbered and well-equipped.

"General." The soldiers shouted, looking at Xia Junnan, waiting for orders.

Xia Junnan said, "Hang the bodies of these three people up, the higher the better. Tie up all the captives who didn't run away to the steps of the palace."

After a pause, Xia Junnan continued: "Behead."

The deputy general next to him was slightly stunned and whispered: "General, I know I shouldn't be soft-hearted, but these prisoners are all children and the elderly. Do we really have to behead them?"

Xia Junnan sighed: "Who would want to kill children and the elderly?"

"This is actually something we should be thankful for," said the General. "The Second Miss didn't like killing people before, but now she kills decisively. She has the demeanor of a brave general and a king."

Xia Junnan frowned and said, "You shouldn't say that. The Second Miss doesn't like to kill people now."

"Yes, I made a mistake!"

Xia Junnan suddenly became a little worried that his men might have misunderstandings of one kind or another, so he simply rode forward and turned around and said, "Brothers! Let me say a few words! Everyone listen carefully!"

All the soldiers looked towards him.

Xia Junnan said, "I know that everyone is loyal and will not have any other intentions. For the Xia family army and the second young lady, everyone is willing to sacrifice their lives and die without hesitation! But today in Qingquan Town, killing the unarmed elderly, weak, women and children is the first time for my Xia family army! Now, everyone listen to me!"

"One!" Xia Junnan raised a finger, "These Beiyuan people believe in fate. We have given them many chances along the way, but they were not treated well by fate. Among the first batch we deliberately let go and the second batch we are releasing now, fate did not choose them and they stayed. In the words of the Beiyuan people themselves, these people are abandoned by fate."

"Second! If we are kind to them, who will be kind to our children and elders? Besides, we gave them two chances, but did they ever give our elders and children a chance? Moreover, I have said that all the people in Beiyuan are soldiers. The old people may have set foot on our land and killed our compatriots ten years ago! The young ones now are the future soldiers of Beiyuan!"

"Three! We are not killing them just for the sake of killing. Their heads are chess pieces that the Second Miss had Guan Chi, Fan Yu, and Liang Dechang arrange in Hengxiang. If their heads are not placed in front of this palace, they will be hung on the tallest building in Qingquan Town."

Xia Junnan is the most talkative and joking one among the four veterans, but now, the expression on Xia Junnan's face is extremely serious and solemn.

The deputy general said solemnly: "General, I understand!"

Xia Junnan continued, "This palace is actually quite wonderful! Placing the head here will make it more powerful! The first thing the Second Miss wants to destroy is the sharpness of this King Changyan and his so-called arrogance of slaughtering all the people! When our butcher knives meet and we chop them down with the momentum of revenge, do you think that the people of Beiyuan will remember what happened to Zhitu? Will they be terrified?"

The General of the Central Army raised his hands and clasped his fists: "So the Second Miss has such a far-reaching plan! But in fact, General, you don't have to tell us this. As long as it is the Second Miss's order, we will do it even if it means going through fire and water! Not to mention killing these young children and the elderly, even if it means killing newborn babies, as long as the Second Miss orders us, we will go!"

Xia Junnan said, "I know you will go, but being able to do it and being willing to do it are two different things. As a general, how can I bear to see my soldiers do things against their will? Okay! Now that we have talked about it, there is no need to say anything more! Everyone just needs to remember that our Second Miss has always had a kind heart! We will never lose our humanity and blood! Okay, everyone, do as you are told. The bodies of those three people must be hung high so that more and more people can see them!"

"Yes!" the deputy general responded loudly.

The rest of the soldiers responded.

Not long after, the bodies of the three assassins were hung high up under the eaves of the palace, two meters above the ground.

The young children and the elderly brought from Qingquan Town were also pushed to the high steps of the palace by the soldiers of the Xia family army.

Big knives were raised and chopped down on their heads.

Blood splattered and spilled down the steps. The howling north wind carried the cold and fishy smell far away, and the wolves responded by looking up.

The survivors who ran far away looked back and wiped away tears of sorrow.

A little girl yelled, "Han people are bastards! I'm going to kill them!"

A boy cried: "Why is there no army to protect us? Why is there no one to pay money to redeem us?"

The old people were all indignant. Their homes were destroyed and they were penniless. They could only snuggle up to each other and go out together on cold winter nights.

The Xia family army also turned around and left in the dark night, chasing the Xia family army heading south at a speed of thousands of miles.

Along the way, they saw countless villages being destroyed. Those who had luckily survived the previous wave of Xia family army's butcher knife finally couldn't escape this wave.