The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 331 Old Friends Return in the Snow

Back inside the main tent, Zhao Ti threw the man in black to the ground and said, "Tie him up."

Upon hearing this, more than a dozen soldiers rushed over, all sent by Zhe Keshi. They grabbed the man in black, smeared his shoulders and bound his arms tightly.

Then he ripped off the black-clad man's mask, revealing the face of an old man with half black and half white hair and beard.

At this moment, the male and female assassins below the wall kept making "woo-woo" sounds. The female assassin had woken up, staring with her almond-shaped eyes, kicking her legs wildly, but her legs were tightly bound by the cowhide rope, and she could not break free at all.

"Xing'er, Xin'er, you..." The old man in black exhaled, his brows furrowed: "Since you found the commander's tent, why didn't you inform me? Why did you act on your own?"

The young man and woman were speechless at that moment; their teeth and tongues were broken, and they could only make indistinct sounds.

The old man noticed something amiss and looked up at Zhao Ti with a furious glare: "Torture of prisoners is not the behavior of a benevolent army."

Zhao Ti glanced at him and said calmly, "The Great Song Dynasty is a land of etiquette and will naturally not take pleasure in punishment. These two spoke rebellious words and acted wickedly, attempting to assassinate me. It is already a great favor that I have not executed them by slow slicing."

"You..." The old man said with resentment, "Although we have fallen into your hands, my Liao army has already surrounded the camp and will soon break through. You should treat us well, and maybe we can exchange it for your life."

Zhao Ti fiddled with the kaleidoscope he had confiscated from the old man. This thing was made of special material, cylindrical in shape, like a monocular telescope, with crystals on both the front and back, and many talismans engraved on the sides and inside. It was a real magic artifact.

He smiled slightly: "You don't look like soldiers, but rather like Khitan江湖人 (jianghu people, people of the martial arts world). With such insignificant status, how can you negotiate with me? You're overestimating yourselves."

Upon hearing this, the old man angrily replied, "Although I am not a soldier, I am one of the seven high priests of the Shamanic religion, responsible for the southern part of the grasslands."

"Oh? A priest from the southern shamanistic tradition?" Zhao Ti stroked his chin.

Shamanism has no leader; nominally, the High Priest is in charge. Below the High Priest are seven priests: four are responsible for the four cardinal directions, and three reside in the Holy See. Li Cangxuan, who is suspected to be the son of Xiaoyaozi and the twin brother of Wuyazi, is the head of these seven priests.

“That’s right, I am Xiao Xuan, one of the seven shamanic priests and the southern priest. If you treat me with respect, my Liao army will break through the camp. You can exchange a few of us for your life to escape!”

"I think you've gone mad from worshipping gods. You few infiltrated my camp to assassinate me, and you expect me to treat you with courtesy?" Zhao Ti shook his head, a hint of mockery on his face.

"King Song, although your martial arts are superb, and you are one of only two I have ever seen besides the High Priest, I have never encountered anyone with higher martial arts than you, and you can even break through magic weapons, how can you escape when surrounded by a large army, even if you have superb martial arts?" Xiao Xuan said loudly, "Even if you are able to defeat a hundred or a thousand men, how can you defeat ten thousand or a hundred thousand men?"

Zhao Ti asked, "Is the High Priest's martial arts skill very high?"

Xiao Xuan said, "My martial arts as a shaman high priest are the best in the world!"

Zhao Ti laughed and said, "With your mediocre skills, you dare to enter the camp to assassinate someone. With my superb skills, how could I not escape?"

"How can that be the same?" Xiao Xuan's expression was solemn, but his words were eloquent: "I sneaked in and took advantage of the chaos. No matter how many soldiers there were, how could they all focus their attention on me? You are different. When you break through the Song camp, all 100,000 troops will be looking for you to capture you. Where will you escape to?"

"Hahaha." Zhao Ti burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"What are you laughing at?" Xiao Xuan asked, a hint of anger in his eyes.

Zhao Ti held up the kaleidoscope in his hand: "Where did this come from?"

Xiao Xuan said coldly, "Since you have people in your camp who are skilled in magic, I won't hide it from you. This is a magical object bestowed by the Shaman God after the High Priest worshipped him."

"A gift from the shaman?" Zhao Ti fiddled with the cylinder for a moment: "This thing has no power, yet it can be called a ritual object? How ridiculous."

Xiao Xuan said, "The world has changed recently, and there are not many people who have cultivated magic power. Not to mention that no one can activate powerful magic objects, even ordinary ones are difficult to use. This magic object is already quite powerful at present. It's just that your martial arts are too strong, so you were able to see through it."

Zhao Ti's eyes gleamed: "Since you have no magical power, how can you use this item?"

Xiao Xuan closed his eyes and said with a hint of disdain, "The artifacts bestowed by the shaman all contain a trace of magic power. As long as you activate your inner strength, you can turn the magic power and directly use the function of the artifact."

"Comes with its own magic?" Zhao Ti looked at the kaleidoscope in his hand and shook his head slightly.

Xiao Xuan opened his eyes and sneered, "I just exhausted the magic power of this thing. No matter how profound your inner strength is, you will not be able to use it."

"Is that so?" Zhao Ti smiled slightly, activated the Great Freedom Sutra, and channeled a stream of magical power into the cylinder. The crystal wall in front of the cylinder lit up with a dazzling light.

He held the tube up to Xiao Xuan and shone it on him. The colorful light shone brightly, layer upon layer, and reflected on Xiao Xuan's face.

Xiao Xuan was immediately dazzled by the sight of all sorts of colors, shapes, and patterns rushing towards him, as if he had fallen into a colorful and strange world, and his mind went blank for a moment.

"You, you..." Xiao Xuan exclaimed in surprise, "You actually practice Taoist arts?"

Zhao Ti said, "What are mere Taoist arts? I cultivate both magic and martial arts; how could you possibly imagine such a thing!"

"King Song, even if you possess magical powers, you cannot fly or disappear at this moment. You still cannot escape the encirclement of the army. Please release me quickly and treat me with courtesy, so that I may be able to exchange it for a way to live," Xiao Xuan said, his eyes flashing.

"Is that so?" Zhao Ti listened to the commotion outside and laughed, "A large army is besieging them? The sounds of battle are fading, the shouts are fading, and close combat is becoming less frequent. The Khitan are already gradually retreating. Where would a large army come from to besiege them?"

"I...I don't believe it..." Xiao Xuan's expression changed again, and he said urgently.

"If you don't believe me, you can listen outside. Can you still hear the sounds of the fierce battle from before?" Zhao Ti sneered.

Xiao Xuan angrily said, "My Tanzhong acupoint is severely injured, and all my internal energy has been destroyed. King Song, you are deceiving me by saying I couldn't hear you clearly at all..."

Zhao Ti raised the corners of his mouth and said to the soldiers beside him, "Gag him so he won't make a fuss."

"I, I, you, sob sob..." Xiao Xuan turned his head and struggled, but the soldiers held his head down, slapped him hard twice, and stuffed a piece of rag into his mouth.

Zhao Ti tucked the kaleidoscope into his robes and walked toward the tent entrance with his hands behind his back.

Unexpectedly, the assassin was actually a shaman priest. The shaman was able to bestow a magical artifact. Although Xiao Xuan had a high status, he seemed to be so devout in his belief in the gods that he was not very bright. Before he could be tortured, he blurted out everything.

He stepped out of the tent, and the sounds of fighting subsided once again. The Liao army had stopped attacking the camp and was only shooting arrows into it.

Two messengers ran from where Zhe Keshi was commanding, saluted, and said, "Your Highness, General Zhe requests permission. The Liao army's arrows are a feint, perhaps to cover their retreat. May we pursue and kill them?"

Zhao Ti looked into the distance and saw that the Khitan troops were scattered and moving about, probably preparing to withdraw.

He said, "We can pursue and kill them, but we must divide our forces; it's not good for one large army to march straight ahead." Xinbing added, "General Zhe, please ask Your Highness, if permission is granted to pursue and kill them, and if we find an opportunity at the city walls, can we kick down the city walls?"

Zhao Ti smiled upon hearing this, "Does he also want to achieve victory in one battle? I'm afraid it will be difficult. Go back and tell him to act according to circumstances and to be cautious. The battlefield is ever-changing, so let him figure it out himself."

"Yes!" The two messengers saluted, turned around, and jogged away.

Zhao Ti stood in front of the tent for a while longer. The Liao army's arrows gradually thinned out, the torchlight moved into the distance, and the army's shadows retreated.

At this moment, shouts of battle erupted from within the camp, deafeningly loud, as Zhe Keshi led several cavalry squads in pursuit.

Zhao Ti glanced around for a few more moments, then returned to his tent. He no longer paid attention to Xiao Xuan and the other two, but sat behind his desk and began to read books. Ice silkworms crawled out of his collar and slid around on his shoulders, making cheerful chirping sounds.

After a while, soldiers began to come in to report on the situation at the front, and this continued until dawn.

Seeing the white light breaking through the dawn outside, Zhao Ti stretched, startling the little silkworm on his shoulder. It sprang to his chest with a "whoosh," then sneakily burrowed into his collar and refused to come out again.

"They've actually started fighting over the city gates?" Zhao Ti muttered to himself.

Just now, a group of messengers came to report that Zhe Keshi had divided his troops into several groups to pursue the Liao soldiers, and finally they converged in front of the city east of Miechuan and began a battle.

The Liao army was too large, making it difficult to return to the city. Milechuan was not a formidable pass, and although there were residents, their numbers were not large. In fact, like Wulahai, it was a military town.

This city does not have gates on all four sides, nor does it have six or eight gates like some large cities. Instead, it only has three gates. On the west side of the city, there is a wall, making it impossible to enter.

With so many Liao troops, it would normally take them some time to get in, not to mention the pursuers behind them. They rushed forward in a panic.

The Song army was caught in a stalemate, and the city walls could not provide cover for the soldiers to enter. The south and north walls were barely separated by arrows, but the east side was locked in a stalemate.

Beneath the eastern city walls, the two armies clashed in a chaotic battle. The Liao army, unable to advance into the pass, had no choice but to turn back and fight. The fighting became increasingly disorganized, with some Liao soldiers fleeing to other areas. At one point, the Song army even reached the city gates.

Seeing this, the city had no choice but to send troops out to repel the enemy, resulting in chaos and utter disarray.

After daybreak, the Song army once again reached the city gate, only to be blocked by the Liao army that rushed out. Zhe Keshi glanced at the sky and began to order a retreat.

It was not advisable to continue fighting at dawn. Firstly, they did not know how many troops were still in the city, and secondly, the Song army was quite exhausted, having already fought twice during the day and almost fought all night.

As the soldiers gradually withdrew and separated from the Liao army, stones and arrows began to be thrown from the walls of Miechuan. After all the Liao soldiers returned to the city, the city gates were slammed shut and the drawbridge was raised.

Inside the camp, Zhao Ti sat in his tent listening to the general report on the battle situation. He nodded. Judging from the course of the battle in front of the city, it was almost certain that Miechuan had about 150,000 soldiers.

After several battles, not counting the wounded, the enemy had about 15,000 to 16,000 corpses, so the enemy should have had more than 130,000 soldiers left.

If the wounded are removed, the number of soldiers still capable of fighting in the city will probably be around 100,000.

On the other hand, the Song Dynasty suffered very little damage, with only a few thousand wounded and a few hundred killed, maintaining almost the same fighting strength. The only problem was that they were too tired and needed to rest.

Zhao Ti ordered the soldiers who had been left to guard the camp to patrol, and those who had gone out to fight to go back to their tents to rest after finishing their meal.

A day passed in the blink of an eye, and there was no movement at Miechuan; the city gates remained unopened.

Meanwhile, the Song army began constructing fortifications. Three days later, various trenches and obstacles were completed, but the city in front remained unresponsive, lifeless, and like an empty city.

Zhao Ti mustered five thousand men and went out of the camp to observe. He saw that various stakes and shields were set up on the city wall of Miechuan, but he could not see the specific scene behind them clearly.

Zhe Keshi said, "Your Highness, if the other party continues to feign death without leaving the city, there is nothing we can do."

Yao Shimin said, "Although we have fewer troops and cannot besiege the city, we can still set up camps around the city and try to cut off their supply lines."

Zhe Keshi said, "This is difficult to implement. Miechuan is a military town, and its reserves are not too small. It does not need to be replenished in a short time. If foreign countries send grain and fodder over, it will inevitably be a reinforcement of troops. If they come during the day, our army cannot launch an ambush. Then, if the city is attacked from both inside and outside, it will be difficult to stop them and we will be easily attacked from both sides."

Upon hearing this, Yao Shimin frowned and remained silent for a long time.

Zhao Ti said, "This matter cannot be delayed any longer. We must fight a quick battle and resolve it quickly. If the enemy is hiding and not coming out, then we should find their weakness and defeat them in one fell swoop. Now that the New Year is approaching, we should try our best to seize this city before the New Year."

The generals nodded in agreement, and Zhao Ti added, "Although we can't completely surround this city, it's still necessary to station troops around it. Even if the enemy sends reinforcements, we don't need to stop them, but we can at least send messages and cause some disturbance."

The generals agreed again. Zhao Ti thought for a moment and said, "Now we will send troops there and try to station them on high ground so that we can see further. We will search for loopholes in the city's defenses every day and report any problems as soon as possible."

Afterwards, the crowd dispersed, and the next day passed uneventfully. Zhe Keshi arranged for the military to be stationed on the south, northwest, and south sides of the Mi'e River, and scouts were sent out over a hundred miles away to monitor the northern grasslands daily and seize opportunities to exploit weaknesses in the city.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye. The garrison in the north of the city sent a messenger to report that they had discovered a Liao cavalry force of over 10,000 men, escorting grain and supplies toward Mi'e River.

Zhao Ti ordered that no rash actions be taken and that further investigation be conducted.

Not long after, soldiers came to report that the Liao army, which had been holed up in the city, suddenly opened the north gate and tens of thousands of troops came out of the city to meet the troops.

Zhe Keshi, standing nearby, suggested, "Your Highness, should we send out of the camp to intercept them?"

Zhao Ti pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "Beware of a trap, and observe the situation."

Later that evening, another messenger reported that more than 10,000 Liao cavalrymen from the north had entered Miechuan City with the supporting army and had not made any further moves.

Zhao Ti ordered the troops stationed in various locations to be on guard against sneak attacks and not to advance rashly.

The next day, heavy snow began to fall, covering the grasslands, cities, and camps in a blanket of white.

Zhao Ti was discussing strategies for breaching the city with his generals in his tent when a soldier guarding the camp suddenly reported: "Your Highness, a woman has come out of Miechuan City and is requesting an audience with you in front of the camp."

Zhao Ti raised an eyebrow: "What woman?"

The soldier said, "Wearing a white fur coat, riding a white horse, claiming to be an old acquaintance of His Highness, named Yuan Xiaoxian."

(End of this chapter)