Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 104 A Night of Slaughter in the Snow (Part Six)

Putting down his bow and arrow, Zhou Ye secretly breathed a sigh of relief, realizing it was just a false alarm.

It turned out that the group was He Jing and Gu Jiu. They brought back more than a dozen large carts loaded with various goods, undoubtedly making a considerable haul.

Laughter and cheerful voices filled the air, creating a joyful atmosphere.

Zhou Ye also saw the centurion and his soldiers, who were also carrying large and small bags, showing them off to those around them with great enthusiasm.

Zhou Ye felt no envy or temptation whatsoever for the benefits these people gained. As long as they returned, that was enough. Ideally, everyone would all survive until dawn safely.

Just then, someone suddenly advised He Jing, "Master Jing, why don't we go and pull off another heist? We're just killing time anyway, and there's plenty of good stuff out there."

Gu Jiu, standing to the side, nodded in agreement: "Uncle Jing, after tonight, there will be plenty of shops without the master. If you don't seize an opportunity, you'll suffer the consequences. The more shops you can seize, the greater the benefit for the He family, and Uncle Jing, you'll also be able to achieve another great feat. Our Gu family doesn't ask for much; how about just giving us 20%?"

He Jing hesitated somewhat: "Didn't you see the fireworks just now? Aren't you afraid we'll get caught in the crossfire and end up losing more than we gain?"

Before he could finish speaking, the centurion said impatiently, "Master Jing, it's precisely because of those firework shells that we can see the direction of the battle. If we avoid them in advance, we'll actually be safer. Let's do it! My brothers and I can't wait."

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

"Master Jing, please agree!"

'

'

He Jing's expression showed inner struggle; he was clearly very tempted. And almost everyone around him was already buzzing with excitement; those who had been wanted to go again, and those who hadn't were even more eager to go—

"Alright! Let's go and come back quickly. But this time, everyone must follow my orders. Once I say it's over, everyone must stop! Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"Good! Master Jing is awesome!" "Master Jing, we'll do whatever you say!"

The entire audience erupted in cheers.

Zhou Ye observed coldly the whole time. He chuckled inwardly; He Jing was just too easily swayed, and still held onto that businessman's mindset. He tried to make money through peaceful means and didn't want to offend anyone.

This time, even more people went, including a significant number of the guards. Less than 100 remained?

Watching He Jing and the others leave happily, Zhou Ye shook his head with a wry smile. Since even you don't care, why should I? Even if we encounter some danger, it's just a matter of running away, right?

After looking around a few more times and finding everything normal, Zhou Ye simply went to the bookshelf in the room, picked up a book at random, and sat down in the recliner to casually flip through it.

As a high-class brothel, it still paid considerable attention to refinement. Therefore, Tingfeng Tower offered a variety of arts and crafts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. However, these things were ultimately just props. Therefore, this book was brand new; it's likely that no one had ever read it after it was bought.

Interestingly, this book narrates the history of the Great Yin Kingdom and also briefly introduces the geography of various states and counties. Moreover, it was compiled by the imperial court, making it a relatively standard official version.

Strangely, according to the book, the Great Yin Kingdom had existed for over 630 years, a long history. But before the Great Yin Kingdom, there are no records of any other dynasties? It's as if a great dynasty appeared out of thin air?

That just doesn't seem possible, does it? The Great Yin Kingdom had billions of people? Could they really have survived only 600 years? There must have been a long history before that. Otherwise, did all those people just spring from rocks?

Another example is Emperor Taizu of Yin. According to the book, Emperor Taizu was sent to the mortal realm by several immortals, and immediately received the reverence of the people. He then expanded his territory, creating a powerful empire in the wilderness. It wasn't until Emperor Taizu was over 200 years old that he was welcomed to the celestial court by the immortals, where he enjoyed eternal bliss.

Okay! There's definitely a lot of mythological influence here. But there are also quite a few suspicious points. Could there be gods and immortals in this other world? And a celestial court?

Just then, a maid from Tingfeng Tower entered the room, respectfully offering a cup of hot tea and two plates of pastries. Seeing the book Zhou Ye was reading, she smiled and said, "Master Tian, ​​this is a book used by scholars for the imperial examinations. Are you also interested in history and geography?"

"I'm somewhat interested." Zhou Ye chuckled. "By the way, young lady, did you know that there were other dynasties before the Great Yin Kingdom?"

In Tingfeng Tower, many of the young ladies and maids were well-educated. At the very least, they had a broad range of knowledge and could keep the guests company by chatting and relieving their boredom while they played.

Sure enough, the maid covered her mouth and chuckled, "Never heard of it? Our Great Yin Kingdom's history is only about 600 years old. Before that, they must have been barbarians eating raw meat and drinking blood, right? That's why Heaven sent down His Majesty the Great Ancestor to educate the people!"

"oh oh!"

This is indeed very interesting. Perhaps this other world holds many secrets. Should I wait until I'm strong enough before seeking an opportunity to travel the world?

"Young lady, don't you know this book—?"

"Uncle Tian, ​​it's just a book. If you like it, please accept it!"

"hehe."

59

But just then, a desperate shout suddenly rang out from below: "Enemy attack! There are so many enemies outside! Prepare for battle!"

Holy crap!

He hurriedly sent the maid away. Zhou Ye immediately extinguished all the lights in the room and crept behind the window to peek out. He discovered that a large number of bandits armed with weapons had already gathered outside. Furthermore, fierce fighting had broken out in several places along the wall.

Because there were too few guards left, the entire wall soon became extremely dangerous.

Meanwhile, the bandits outside were equally invigorated. One of their leaders raised his knife and shouted excitedly, "Damn it, charge in! There's money and women inside, whoever gets them all gets them—"

"Whoosh—!"

An arrow struck the leader squarely in the face, piercing him through. Then came several more swift arrows. The bandits at the forefront were all hit. The sudden barrage of arrows brought the bandits' advance to a halt. Many scrambled to dodge, and they quickly retreated.

Putting away his bow and arrows, Zhou Ye crouched down and changed windows. He whispered to He Da and He Er behind him, "You two must stay close to me and make sure the supply of arrows is not interrupted."

"Yes, Master Tian."

As they were talking, the bandits launched their next attack. This time, however, they were much smarter. They had already removed several door panels from the surrounding houses and were holding them up as shields.

"Charge! Once we're inside the walls, we won't be afraid of arrows anymore!"

However, so many bandits couldn't be hidden by a few doors. Besides, Zhou Ye had already replaced the window, giving him a new angle of attack.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

After several waves of attacks, dozens of bandits lay dead outside the wall. The guards also suffered over a dozen casualties.

Facing the bandits gathering behind them, a guard leader shouted, "Friends outside, we are from the He family. Can we please leave peacefully? Continuing the fight will only increase casualties. I promise you, if you leave, we will reward you with 1000 taels of silver!"

People who aren't family shouldn't enter the same door.

I didn't expect even the head of the guards to start using money. But if things can be settled with money, that would be even better.

Surprisingly, in response to this blatant attempt to bribe them, the other party replied: "1000 taels is too little, at least give us 5000 taels!"

"Impossible. We can only give you 1500 taels at most. Otherwise, we can't raise that much!"

"Nonsense. You aristocratic families are always wealthy and powerful; you wouldn't even blink an eye at ten thousand taels of silver. How could you possibly not be able to scrape together a mere few thousand taels?"

"A maximum of 1800 taels. Otherwise, forget it!"

"Holy shit! That's your life-saving money! Keep it for your funeral money! I'll come in and get it myself."

"Wait, wait. It's only 2000 taels. My friend, 2000 taels is actually quite a lot. If you divide it among your men, each of them can get several taels, right?"

"5000 taels! Not a single coin less. Otherwise we—"

'

Hearing the haggling outside, Zhou Ye was completely numb.

I never expected that after transmigrating to another world, this place would still be a makeshift operation. The battles were conducted like a business transaction.

However, at that moment, Zhou Ye suddenly noticed that more than a dozen figures were rapidly approaching from outside the wall behind him.

Zhou Ye immediately shouted, "They're in the back building direction! Go and provide support!"

As he spoke, Zhou Ye nocked an arrow and fired, "Whoosh whoosh whoosh—"

Fifteen minutes later, the bandits' attack was repelled once again. The bandit leader outside was furious: "!"

"Two thousand taels it is, but I'll also add that archery bastard's head! Kid, if you've got the guts, give me your name! Don't let me catch you, or I'll burn you alive!"

You know what, with Zhou Ye's archery support, the guards' morale actually soared. The bandits couldn't break through for the time being. It was best if this stalemate continued; after all, it wasn't Zhou Ye and his men who were in a hurry.

However, this reminder made Zhou Ye much more vigilant. Such underhanded tactics were indeed particularly likely to provoke hatred, and he had finally become a thorn in the side of the bandits.

He checked the face shield again. Zhou Ye then instructed He Da to drive away everyone on the top floor and the floor below so he could move back and forth between the two floors. The key was to prevent the bandits from locking onto him and to constantly change his shooting position.

But just then, a huge cheer suddenly erupted from the guards: "Reinforcements have arrived! Master Jing has finally returned to provide support!"

Hearing that He Jing and the others had returned, Zhou Ye couldn't help but beam with joy. But just a few moments later, the bandits outside erupted in cheers: "Reinforcements have arrived! Those bastards inside, just wait to die!"

"???"

Before long, Zhou Ye roughly knew what had happened.

It turned out that He Jing and Gu Jiu had also gained a lot from this trip. But when they returned in high spirits with their spoils, they happened to encounter a group of people dressed as miners on the way.

Because He Jing and his men outnumbered the miners, they quickly and decisively defeated the group after a fierce battle.

Unexpectedly, more and more miners arrived from all directions, and another fierce battle broke out between He Jing and his men.

To be honest, they had so many spoils this time that they must have been worth a lot of money, so He Jing and the others couldn't bear to throw them away.

At that moment, He Jing and his men demonstrated the utmost willingness to die for money. Almost every one of them fought bravely, and in the end, they actually defeated the miners.

However, at this moment, the main force of the miners finally appeared in the distance. Sensing the danger, He Jing, Gu Jiu, and the others immediately abandoned all their spoils and hurriedly fled back to this spot—

To be honest, Zhou Ye didn't even know how to complain about all this mess.

Is this how you do things? Not only were you defeated, but you also attracted the main force of the miners.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that He Jing and Gu Jiu had also suffered heavy casualties, many of them wounded. Even the centurion was nowhere to be seen, and only a dozen or so of his soldiers remained.

The only good news is that there's finally one more Ming Jin master here, along with several late-stage Entry Jin martial artists and dozens more Entry Jin warriors. Furthermore, another 160 or 70 people escaped and, together with the guards here, can at least defend the entire wall.

However, apart from this good news, everything else seems to be bad news.

They could see that the main force of the miners had arrived one after another. They were organizing their forces in groups, preparing to launch an attack.

He Jing gathered Zhou Ye and the others together: "Don't worry, they don't have many experts. What expert would be crazy enough to become a miserable miner? It's just that they have armor and weapons, making them a little harder to deal with. But we can hide behind the wall to defend ourselves. Also, there are less than two hours until dawn. As long as we hold on, everyone will definitely find the miners here, and they will definitely come to our aid."

"Master Jing, do you know how many people are outside?"

"Should it be thousands? Or several thousand? It doesn't matter. This area is only so big; at most, a few hundred people can face the wall. Listen up, everyone: as long as we can defend this place, the He family will reward us handsomely."

"yes!"

"Don't think I'm just talking nonsense. Although all the spoils of war were lost this time, the properties in the inner city are still there."

Many families are still willing to rely on the He family. So there's no need to worry about rewards; the He family is wealthy!

"good!"

At least after the massive spending spree, morale has recovered somewhat.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhou Ye briefly exchanged ideas with the others before quickly returning to his fighting position.

They still maintain a high vantage point, launching sneak attacks and preparing to support various dangerous battlefields.

The wind and snow intensified in the night sky. The battle was about to begin.