With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

Lin Ye and the others stood on the wet city wall, their gazes passing over the mottled crenellations, fixed on the black tide of water that had re-established its camp in the rain.

The Northern Xiongnu army did not flee far, but retreated three miles. At this moment, they are setting up camp in an orderly manner, with countless campfires lit in the rain.

Clearly, they had no intention of giving up the siege. Instead, like a wounded beast, they were baring their fangs, preparing for an even more frenzied attack.

"They're telling us to call a truce tonight and fight again tomorrow," Lin Qiang said hoarsely, wiping the blood and rain from his face.

Lin Ye remained silent, his gaze sweeping over the devastated city walls.

At this moment, most of the surviving Northern Han soldiers were slumped on the ground, leaning against the wall and panting heavily. Many of them didn't even have the strength to pick up their weapons, and their wounds had turned white from being soaked in the rain.

Even powerful figures like Liu Yun and Zhu Shaowei were pale-faced, their inner strength nearly exhausted, and even their fingertips were trembling slightly.

If it weren't for this unexpected autumn rain that brought the Northern Xiongnu's offensive to an abrupt halt, Jingbian City would probably have truly changed hands today.

Lin Ye was immersed in worrying about tomorrow's battle, but a busy scene was already unfolding around him.

Lin Qiang had already rallied and was methodically directing his soldiers to clean up the battlefield, care for the wounded, and rotate defense duties.

Zhu Shaofeng further demonstrated the responsibility of a local official.

They organized the people of Jingbian County to climb the city wall. Some carried corpses, some brought dry clothes, and others carried steaming hot ginger soup to warm the shivering soldiers.

Seeing Lin Ye's furrowed brows, everyone tacitly refrained from disturbing him, instead silently speeding up their work.

After this battle, the people and soldiers of Jingbian looked at Lin Ye differently, especially after witnessing his feat of holding off two enemy warriors and killing one of them with the skill of a first-class martial artist, thus turning the tide of the battle.

If Lin Ye hadn't single-handedly held back the enemy's warrior leader, Jingbian City would probably have already fallen to the enemy during that attack.

When Lin Ye came back to his senses from his deep thoughts and looked at the scene of soldiers and civilians fighting together with one heart and one mind, he had already made up his mind.

He beckoned to Liu Yun and the Zhu brothers, and the group came to a watchtower on the city wall where they could take shelter from the rain.

"The Northern Xiongnu army is stationed outside the city and hasn't fled far; it seems they haven't given up on their plan to destroy us." Lin Ye looked around at everyone and asked bluntly, "After the rain stops, the decisive battle will begin. I wonder if anyone has any good strategies?"

The atmosphere immediately became heavy upon hearing this.

Liu Yun pursed her lips, her mind in turmoil.

Reason told him that Jingbian County was not Lin family territory, and that Lin family army had already fought a bloody battle there, doing everything they could.

If we are defeated tomorrow, we should preserve our main force and retreat; there is no need to perish together with this small city.

But as he was about to speak, he caught a glimpse of the resolute faces of the Zhu brothers, Zhu Shaofeng and Zhu Shaowei, and then he saw the people on the city wall who had spontaneously come to deliver clothes and soup.

If a retreat were proposed at this moment, it would not only chill the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in Jingbian, but also contradict the Lin family's vow of "a blood feud with the Northern Xiongnu".

For a moment, Liu Yun opened his mouth, but the word "retreat" stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say it.

Although the Zhu brothers were extremely anxious, they were also responsible for defending their territory and did not know where to begin.

A brief silence fell beneath the arrow tower.

Seeing that Liu Yun and the others hesitated to speak and exchanged glances, Lin Ye understood that they were probably already planning how to ensure the retreat of the main force of the Lin family army should they be defeated.

He didn't want to put his subordinates in a difficult position, nor did he want to betray the trust of the Zhu brothers and the people of Jingbian, so he took the initiative to express his decision.

"Our forces are insufficient and our city defenses are weak. A direct confrontation is not a good strategy."

However, I observed that although the Northern Xiongnu army was large, they only obeyed the command of that one commander.

The leaders of each department appeared to be working together, but in reality, they were fighting their own battles and lacked a unified spirit.

Lin Ye's gaze was sharp as he slowly revealed the core of his plan.

"If we can find a way to assassinate that leader, the various tribes of the Northern Xiongnu will surely fall into chaos, and even become suspicious and hinder each other."

If we strike while things are in disarray, we still have a chance to win.

"Assassinate the commander?!"

These words shocked everyone present.

In this world of extremely high combat power, high-level martial artists do indeed possess the ability to take the head of an enemy general amidst a vast army, so "decapitation strikes" are not a pipe dream.

However, this situation usually only exists in legends, and at least requires the intervention of a martial artist who has acquired skills, and the opposing camp cannot have guards of equal skill.

The current situation is that not only do they lack any acquired martial artists, but even their only first-rate martial artist, Lin Ye, was just chased all over the field by the opposing shaman leader, looking utterly disheveled.

Everyone looked at Lin Ye with surprise and doubt, and the same question arose in their minds.

Could it be that General Lin has exhausted his strength from the series of fierce battles, to the point that he has lost his mind?

Has he forgotten how he was overwhelmed by that shaman warrior on the city wall?

"I plan to take advantage of tonight's rain to infiltrate the enemy camp and assassinate that young commander." Lin Ye's voice was resolute and unwavering.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shaofeng's eyes instantly reddened, and he choked out, "Lord Lin, you have already fought a bloody battle for Jingbian for a day, your kindness is like giving me a second life... You absolutely don't need to risk your life again for our tiny town..."

Zhu Shaowei, standing beside him, clenched his fists tightly, his eyes burning with a resolute flame.

"If General Lin goes, I, Zhu Shaowei, will go with him! An extra knife means an extra chance of survival. At worst, it's death, but the men of the Zhu family of Jingbian will never hesitate!"

Lin Ye raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.

He glanced at the Zhu brothers, then at Liu Yun, who looked worried, and slowly shook his head, saying, "No. You each have your own responsibilities."

"Magistrate Zhu, you must remain in the city to appease the people and manage the grain supplies. If I fail, you must lead the army and the people to prepare for the worst."

"Lieutenant Zhu, you must lead the garrison and guard against a nighttime raid by the Northern Xiongnu."

"As for me, although that shaman warrior is strong, I have my own way of escaping. The key to assassination is secrecy; too many people will only be a burden."

At midnight, the rain intensified, and the inky darkness swallowed all light. Only the torches on the city walls flickered in the wind and rain, barely illuminating the small area.

Lin Ye was dressed in a tight black outfit, his figure appearing like a ghost in the rain.

He crouched slightly, then suddenly exerted his strength, leaping directly from the three-zhang-high city wall, displaying unparalleled lightness skill, transforming into a black shadow that was almost impossible to detect with the naked eye.

In an instant, it swept across a hundred-meter-wide open area, flew past the edge of the torchlight, and completely disappeared into the boundless darkness.

On the city wall, the Zhu brothers, who had watched Lin Ye disappear, were so shocked that they could not close their mouths, their faces full of disbelief.

"Lord Lin... could he already be a post-natal martial artist?" Zhu Shaofeng muttered to himself, turning to look at Liu Yun beside him.

Zhu Shaowei followed closely behind, instinctively shaking his head in rebuttal: "No, impossible... Even a martial artist who has acquired mastery of martial arts might not possess such ghostly lightness skills..."

"My young master is simply unparalleled in his lightness skill." Liu Yun's lips curled up slightly, his tone filled with pride.

It turns out that during the daytime battle on the city wall, Lin Ye's lightness skill was already amazing, but it was only a short-distance maneuver.

Only now did the people of Jingbian truly witness the terrifying skill this young lord possessed in light-footed martial arts.

"With such lightness skills, one can fly silently across the fire warning zone, so that the Northern Xiongnu scouts will not even notice that someone has left the city."

A glint flashed in Zhu Shaofeng's eyes, and he instantly understood Lin Ye's intention: "As long as there's no advance warning, Lord Lin might actually create a miracle!"

Without further hesitation, he turned around abruptly and gave a stern order.

"Quickly! Order the entire army to conceal themselves behind the city gates and await orders! Once we receive Lord Lin's signal, we will immediately charge out and strike straight at the enemy camp!"

Under the rainy night, the entire city of Jingbian seemed like a giant beast awakening, holding its breath and waiting for the signal for the fatal blow.