A lowly soldier becomes king, I slaughter my way through the late Tang Dynasty!

The two hundred Imperial Guards were locked in fierce combat when they heard Li Rui shout "Scatter!" and they were all confused.

Just as they were puzzled.

Those mountain bandits, composed of refugees, actually came up with an unbelievable weapon of mass destruction.

Ballista!

This thing is taller than a person.

Each crossbow bolt was comparable to a spear!

Once fired, the crossbow bolts are powerful enough to easily pierce through armor, causing immense damage!

This thing is undoubtedly a deadly weapon.

Logically speaking...

Ballistae were major military weapons, even more valuable than armor.

Generally, only large military governorships or prefectures could store a small amount of supplies in their armories.

Anyone who dares to misappropriate or manufacture these materials without authorization will be prosecuted for treason!

How could this band of mountain bandits, made up of refugees, have ballistae?!

Li Rui was completely baffled.

But now is not the time to think.

The ballista has been pushed to a distance of twenty meters, which is very close!

The bandit leader, a sinister smile playing on his lips, ordered his men to aim their ballistae at a corner of the Imperial Guard's circular formation.

"Get the fuck out of here!"

"Get out of my way if you don't want to die!"

After a reprimand, the refugees blocking the way were driven away.

The crossbow bolts, resembling long spears, gleamed with a chilling light.

Like the King of Hell taking attendance, the names of the Imperial Guards at the front were written into the Book of Life and Death.

Whoosh!

An arrow flew by and killed a bandit who was operating a ballista.

The arrow was shot by Li Rui, but it could only slow down the enemy's movements.

The bandit leader was so frightened by Li Rui's superb archery skills that he cowered in fear.

"What are you all standing there for? Fire the arrows!"

After a shout, someone pulled down the rope behind the ballista.

Feng! Feng! Feng! ...

Six enormous crossbow bolts instantly tore through the air and shot into the Imperial Guard's circular formation like lightning!

In just a moment.

Those Imperial Guards who were hit by crossbow bolts flew backward one by one!

The armor that was once impenetrable to swords was now as flimsy as paper, offering no protection whatsoever.

"ah!!"

The Imperial Guards let out mournful screams.

His body had been completely pierced by a crossbow bolt!

Two glaring bloody holes remained at the front and back, gushing out blood.

The once-steady circular formation was disrupted after only one volley of crossbow fire.

It directly tore open a huge gash!

For a moment, both sides in the battle were stunned.

The refugees had never seen anything so powerful, and the Imperial Guards were stunned by the pitiful state of their comrades.

The bandit leader was overjoyed at the sight and roared.

"Charge! Charge!"

The refugees suddenly realized what was happening, and, brandishing all sorts of farm tools, rushed towards the breach in the circular formation with howling shouts.

Once the formation was broken, the Imperial Guards were completely unable to resist.

The number of refugees was more than twenty times that of them.

Even if each person throws a punch, they can be beaten into a pulp!

Soon, the Imperial Guards began to collapse.

Some people disregarded everything, abandoned their comrades, and cried out for help, trying to escape.

But with refugees pouring in from all directions, where could they run?

Some people even wanted to surrender.

The refugees didn't care about any of that; they simply grabbed the knife and killed him with a single blow!

Each death of a member of the Imperial Guard was like a piece of honey dropped on the ground, attracting countless ants to lick it.

The refugees swarmed forward, some stripping off armor, others looting valuables.

Some were so hungry that they even started gnawing on people!

This is a scene straight out of hell.

Feng Yao witnessed everything through the carriage window, and was filled with fear and helplessness!

Some refugees had already set their sights on the horse-drawn carriage.

These emaciated people are now nothing short of cannibalistic demons.

They saw Feng Yao's stunning beauty and her panicked state.

The crowd gradually went wild...

A vagrant, laughing maniacally and shouting things like "beauty," charged toward Feng Yao.

"what!"

Feng Yao was so frightened that she fell back into the carriage.

The refugee lunged onto the carriage, reaching through the window and grabbing wildly inside.

The filthy, withered hand caused the two women in the carriage to turn pale with fright and scream in terror!

"ah!!"

The more they shouted, the more excited the refugees became.

He ripped open the curtains and stuck his whole head into the carriage.

Feng Yao's beauty made him swallow hard once again!

Even Yunlian, standing beside them, was a stunning beauty whom these refugees had never seen before!

The refugees' smiles grew even more manic.

His face, gaunt and skeletal, was twisted into a horrifying shape.

Foul-smelling saliva dripped down, filling the entire carriage with a nauseating stench!

Feng Yao was too terrified to make a sound.

She just mechanically huddled in the corner, her lips completely bloodless.

Yunlian screamed wildly, her inner fear nearly causing her to faint!

suddenly!

Li Rui killed six people in succession, broke free from the crowd, and rode up to the scene.

The long sword slashed down suddenly!

puff!

The cut surface is very neat.

The refugees' necks were chopped open as easily as tofu!

The head, so thin it was barely recognizable as human, fell into the carriage.

His face still held a lewd and greedy grin as he rolled towards Feng Yao's feet.

Feng Yao's pretty face turned pale, and she hurriedly kicked her head away.

Yunlian panicked and started hitting her head repeatedly with the wooden stick she used to lift the curtain!

Li Rui shouted into the car through the window.

"Stop hitting him, he's had enough of being dead."

Yunlian stopped in a daze, her emotions so turbulent that she burst into tears.

Despite her fear, Feng Yao, being the Empress, maintained a degree of rationality.

"What do we do?"

Li Rui said quickly.

"We can't stop them now. Can you ride a horse?"

"meeting!"

Even in chaotic times, women still needed to know how to ride horses.

Li Rui killed a refugee who rushed forward in the chaos with a single blow, and then severed the connection between the carriages.

The carriage was pulled by only one horse, which was already frightened by the chaos around it.

Li Rui planned to first stabilize the horses.

The result was unexpected.

Feng Yao stepped on the coachman's corpse and jumped onto the horse!

The horse struggled violently, but Feng Yao held the reins tightly.

The horse chosen to pull the empress's carriage was naturally a rare and fine horse, and it quickly settled down.

This series of actions impressed Li Rui.

This empress was far from the gentle and weak woman one might imagine.

"Yunlian, come up here quickly!"

Feng Yao reached out, trying to help Yunlian onto the horse.

Yunlian was overjoyed and quickly reached out her hand.

But just then...

Among the chaotic crowd, there was one mountain bandit who knew how to shoot arrows.

He aimed directly at Yunlian and shot an arrow!

His archery skills were poor; the arrow grazed Yunlian's ear and cut her skin.

But after passing her, it pierced Feng Yao's chest!

Feng Yao's delicate body instantly froze in place!

The inferior arrow had already penetrated deep into the body.

Bright red blood kept seeping out.

Feng Yao felt a sharp pain in her chest and her mind went blank!

She also wanted to pull Yunlian onto the horse.

The intense pain rendered her unable to do anything.

Yunlian watched helplessly as the arrow flew past her and viciously pierced Feng Yao's body.

Her eyes trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes!

"Empress!!"