In this chaotic world of vying for power, I can become stronger by marrying a wife.

"Want to get into the city? Pay with your life!"

Every word struck the barbarian soldiers hard.

Among the Northern Barbarian army, several deputy generals looked at each other, their eyes filled with terror as they stared at the corpses on the ground.

With the commander-in-chief killed and the supplies burned, how can we continue fighting?

"Retreat! Retreat to the camp ten li away first!"

The barbarian army retreated like a tide. Although their formation remained intact, their arrogant and domineering attitude had been completely shattered by that arrow.

Murong Yan stared at Su Ming's profile, her heart pounding.

Born into a military family, she had seen countless sharpshooters, but she had never seen such a domineering and unreasonable arrow.

Just how many cards does this man still have up his sleeve?

"Stop looking, or you'll be charged." Su Ming turned his head, reverting to his usual nonchalant demeanor.

Murong Yan blushed and turned her head away: "Who's looking at you? I'm looking at that bow."

"You like it?" Su Ming handed over the Great Archer Bow. "Want to play with it for a couple of days?"

Murong Yan instinctively reached out to catch it, but as soon as her hand touched the bow, she was almost knocked over by its heavy weight.

"So heavy?!" she exclaimed.

"Eight hundred catties." Su Ming chuckled, taking back the bow. "A man can't do without some weight in his hands."

Murong Yan rolled her eyes, but the admiration in her eyes was impossible to hide.

"grown ups!"

Wei Lang ran over excitedly, "The Prefect's Office sent twenty cartloads of wine and meat, saying it's to reward the brothers of the Divine Machine Battalion!"

"Oh?" Su Ming raised an eyebrow, glancing at Wu Yong, who was still pretending to be dead on the ground. "Lord Wu, you've come to your senses quite quickly."

Wu Yong shakily got up, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Commander Su, your might is unparalleled, I admire you greatly. This wine and meat is a small token of my appreciation, please accept it, Commander Su."

He was genuinely scared.

If that knife had landed just now, he'd probably be queuing up on the Bridge of Helplessness by now.

"Then I thank Lord Wu on behalf of my brothers." Su Ming patted Wu Yong on the shoulder, startling the latter. "But, what about the city defenses?"

"It's your decision! It's all your decision!" Wu Yong quickly declared. "This humble official will return to the manor immediately to prepare rolling logs and stones, and will absolutely not hold Captain Su back!"

After saying that, he and a few of his followers scrambled away.

Su Ming watched his retreating figure and sneered.

"Keeping someone like that around is just a waste of food," Murong Yan said coldly. "Why not kill him?"

"If I kill him, who will raise money and supplies for me?" Su Ming turned and walked towards the city wall. "Besides, killing such a piece of trash would dirty my knife."

Back to the temporary command post.

Li Yueru had already prepared hot tea.

Seeing Su Ming come in, she quickly went to greet him and helped him take off his cloak, her movements as gentle as a young wife.

"Brother Su, are you tired?"

"Not bad, just shooting a fly, no trouble at all." Su Ming took the tea, took a sip, and looked at Murong Yan, who had followed him in. "Speak, what is it?"

Murong Yan took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Although Tuoba Lie is dead, the main force of the Northern Barbarian army is still there. They retreated today to regroup, and tomorrow will probably be the real battle."

"I know." Su Ming tapped his fingers on the table. "Besides, they won't give me another chance to shoot the commander-in-chief."

"So what do you plan to do?"

"Cold salad."

Su Ming opened the system shop, looked at the luck points he had just acquired, and a crazy smile appeared on his lips.

Since conventional methods are ineffective, let's use some technology and ruthless tactics on them.

"System, exchange for the [Basic Black Powder Recipe]."

"Exchange for the [Fragment of the Mo Family Mechanical Arts]".

As points are deducted, a wealth of knowledge floods into my mind.

Su Ming opened his eyes and looked at Wei Lang beside him.

"Wei Lang, go to the city and find all the blacksmiths and carpenters for me. Also, arrange for some people to collect saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, the more the better."

"Sir, what do you need these for?" Wei Lang asked, completely bewildered.

"Let's make firecrackers." Su Ming grinned like a villain. "It's New Year's, we have to give the barbarians a good bang."

Murong Yan looked at his eerie smile and suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

She had a premonition that tomorrow, the city of Jing'an would become a living hell.

……

Late at night.

The Northern Barbarian camp was brightly lit.

Inside the central command tent, an old man dressed in a long robe made of animal skin was staring at the crystal ball in front of him.

Within the ball, the figure of Su Ming standing on the city wall shooting an arrow could be vaguely seen.

"High Priest, this man's archery skills are divine; we cannot defeat him by force." A barbarian general knelt on the ground, trembling.

The old man slowly raised his head, revealing a withered face covered in tattoos, his eyes devoid of white, only pitch black.

"Divine archery skills?" The old man's hoarse voice sounded like bones grinding together. "That's the influence of the Central Plains' destiny."

He stood up, walked outside the tent, and looked in the direction of Jing'an City.

"Pass down the order: attack the city tomorrow, and deploy the Giant Spirit God."

"High Priest, the giant spirit god is not yet fully tamed; what if it goes out of control..."

"That's perfect." The old man grinned, revealing sharp fangs. "Let it chew that city, along with that sharpshooter, to pieces."

In the darkness, several muffled growls came from the depths of the camp, and the ground trembled slightly.

That was the sound of some enormous creature turning over.

……

The walls of Jing'an City.

Su Ming was instructing the craftsmen on how to assemble a series of strange pottery jars when he suddenly stopped.

He looked into the darkness in the distance, his brow furrowed slightly.

[Ding! An extremely dangerous creature has been detected approaching! Host is advised to prepare defensive measures!]

Extremely dangerous?

Su Ming touched his chin.

It seems like tomorrow's battle is going to be interesting.

"Everyone, give it your all!" Su Ming clapped his hands. "If we don't finish these amazing things tonight, we'll be eaten as snacks tomorrow!"

"yes!"

In the firelight, the black fuses on those pottery jars, like the tentacles of death, silently awaited the moment they would be lit.

Before dawn, the drill ground in Jing'an City was already as lively as during the Lunar New Year.

Dozens of blacksmiths stood around a pile of pottery jars, hammers and chisels in hand, but they didn't know where to begin.

"Captain Su, is this thing you're talking about really capable of killing people?" An old blacksmith wiped his sweat and asked cautiously.

Su Ming was squatting on the ground, stuffing a layer of colored powder into the ceramic jar.

"I don't know if it can kill people, but it's definitely enough to kill you." He didn't even look up. "Stop talking nonsense, do as I say: saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, three parts in two parts in one, crush them up, mix them well, put them in a jar, and seal it tightly."

The old blacksmith swallowed hard and did as instructed.

The carpenters nearby were also busy assembling strange wooden frames.

Wei Lang looked at the shelves and scratched his head: "Sir, this thing looks like a crossbow, but it's not quite."

"This is called a catapult." Su Ming patted the wooden frame. "Later, put these jars on it, light them, and throw them out. I guarantee the barbarians will be in deep trouble."

Wei Lang's eyes lit up: "Brilliant!"

Murong Yan stood aside, watching Su Ming busy himself, her brows furrowing more and more tightly.

Are you sure this thing will work?

"Not sure." Su Ming stood up, dusting off his hands. "But it's better than just waiting around."