Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

"They...they shouldn't have followed us here, right?"

Yelü Longxu's eyes showed a hint of fear, and he even stuttered a little when he spoke.

The technology, which was a thousand years ahead of its time, was such a devastating blow to them that Yelü Longxu felt as if he had been transported to another world.

He had participated in the southward war against the Song Dynasty before, but this was the first time he had ever seen such a massacre, especially since the victims were soldiers from their own Liao Dynasty!

Empress Dowager Xiao frowned as she looked at him, sighed deeply, and walked to the tent entrance, lifting the curtain to peek outside.

By this time, it was already fully light, but no unusual signs were found in the surroundings.

After a short while, Empress Dowager Xiao lowered the curtain and turned to her personal guards: "Where are the scouts I sent out?"

"It's not time for the shift change yet, they should be back soon, right?"

Empress Dowager Xiao frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed.

She took Yelü Longxu's hand, walked to the map, and pointed at it a few times: "We will break camp immediately and the entire army will retreat 40 li north, leaving the cavalry to cover the rear."

Just as Empress Dowager Xiao and Yelü Longxu were discussing, a very faint sound came from outside the camp.

The sound was so soft that it was almost inaudible unless you were deliberately standing nearby.

As the sound came, several soldiers patrolling outside the tent fell to the ground at the same time.

They were originally assigned by Empress Dowager Xiao to patrol the streets, but they never expected to die so quickly, without even having a chance to report the news.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp, Zhou Feng's 500 Taoist followers were crept along the flank of the Liao army, hiding in the shadows of the grass.

An army of this size would have an incredibly vast camp area. Capturing the Emperor and Empress Dowager of Xiao Kingdom through a direct assault would be far too difficult.

After all, reality is not a game. Once these two realize the danger, they will definitely choose to escape decisively.

To think that they could break through the main camp to the central army and stop these two was simply a pipe dream.

That's why Zhou Feng sent people to use sniper rifles to take care of the scouts patrolling outside, and then had them ambush here.

Just then, Yelü Longxu, who had just finished discussing with Empress Dowager Xiao, pushed open the door of the central command tent and was about to call someone to issue an order when he heard a long, sharp whistling sound from above!

He instinctively looked up and saw a white plume of smoke streaking across the sky, trailing thick smoke as it flew towards the camp.

Then came a violent explosion!

"boom--"

The moment the rocket hit the ground, it felt as if the ground had been ripped open from underneath.

Flames and black smoke exploded simultaneously, and soil and rubble were overturned dozens of feet away.

The tent closest to the explosion's epicenter was torn to shreds by the blast wave; the people inside didn't even have time to scream before losing their lives.

Immediately afterwards, the second and third rockets flew over with long tails and exploded in different locations in the camp.

The explosion was deafening, the shockwave overturned several tents, and the warhorses were so frightened that they neighed, broke their reins, and ran wildly in all directions.

The soldiers screamed and scrambled to their feet. In their panic, they were like headless flies, unable to even tell which way was which!

"Divine punishment has arrived! It's divine punishment!"

"Run! What are you waiting for?"

"Great Heaven, please forgive your people!"

The routed soldiers returning from the front lines were already filled with panic, and now, seeing these even more powerful rockets, they completely lost their minds.

Some people dropped their weapons and continued to flee north, while others knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the sky.

Although the soldiers in charge of logistics had not witnessed yesterday's massacre, they had now heard the earth-shattering roar with their own ears and seen the huge crater and charred corpses with their own eyes. How could they possibly remain rational?

When Empress Dowager Xiao rushed out of her tent, her face showed the panic of being startled by the loud noise.

Such divine punishment-like attacks leave them unable to even defend themselves, leaving them only able to passively endure the blows.

Seeing the chaotic scene in the camp, Empress Dowager Xiao's lips moved a few times before she finally turned to Yelü Longxu: "Mount up, let's go!"

Her voice was very clear and crisp, but on the battlefield, it was completely drowned out by the sound of the explosion. Yelü Longxu didn't even have time to react.

Left with no other choice, Empress Dowager Xiao could only reach out and grab Yelü Longxu's arm. But before the two could leave, a loud bang came from the direction of the camp's main gate, and the wooden fence was shattered by the explosion of the rocket launcher.

Immediately afterwards, more than a dozen military trucks ran over the wood chips and drove straight in.

"Damn it, they caught up with us here so quickly!"

Yelü Longxu cursed angrily, but before he could say anything more, Empress Dowager Xiao had already grabbed him and ran towards the stable.

Empress Dowager Xiao had already noticed those massive steel behemoths that had stormed in.

At the same time, they saw that the arrows shot by the Liao archers had no killing power in front of those steel behemoths. Instead, flames kept appearing on the enemy's chariots, and the Liao people around them fell to the ground one after another.

"Let's go! Let's leave first. As long as we're alive, we can always rebuild!"

Empress Xiao gritted her teeth and glanced in the direction of the military truck, then turned around with Yelü Longxu and continued running towards the stable.

Just as the two were about to leave, a series of crisp gunshots suddenly rang out from the flank of the camp.

Before the guards could even form a protective formation, they were riddled with bullets.

"Don't move!"

They rushed to block Empress Xiao and Yelü Longxu's path. Behind them, even some guards attempted to retaliate, but were shot directly in the head and beyond saving.

"Damn it!"

Seeing himself being pointed at by so many gun barrels, Yelü Longxu suddenly turned around and drew his scimitar.

He was no match for these people, but he was unwilling to be captured and humiliated in the capital of Song. He might as well end his life here!

Unfortunately, before he could even warm his grip on the hilt of the knife, he heard a soft "thud" and the curved knife on his wrist was knocked away. The impact caused him to stagger, and he clutched his numb hand, too afraid to move.

The courage to commit suicide lasts only a moment; once it's stopped, it's very difficult to make the decision again.

Empress Xiao looked at the row of dark gun barrels in front of her, and then at the camp that was being engulfed by fire and chaos. Her expression finally darkened completely, and she lost her previous composure.

She took a deep breath of the still-smelling air, her voice hoarse: "Whose men are you?"

No one answered him; instead, several Taoist priests stepped forward and bound her and Yelü Longxu's wrists with ropes they had prepared beforehand.

He moved very nimbly throughout and didn't say a single extra word to her.

By the time Tie Jianguo and his men reached this position, the remnants of the Liao army who were fleeing into the distance had already disappeared from sight.

Perhaps some of them discovered that Empress Xiao and Yelü Longxu had been captured, but with things in such a chaotic state, who would dare to come to their rescue?

By the time Zhou Feng's jeep arrived, most of the Liao army camp had already been burned down, with wisps of black smoke rising from the ground and broken banners and overturned objects scattered around.

The captured Liao generals squatted in an enclosed open space, heads bowed, like quails.

Only these generals were worth capturing; the rest of the soldiers were only given a bullet as a reward, and nothing else came of it.

"Boss, Empress Dowager Xiao and Emperor Shengzong of Liao were both there, and we captured them all!"

Upon seeing Zhou Feng get out of the SUV, Tie Jianguo quickly stepped forward to report.

Zhou Feng glanced at the mother and child, dressed in fine clothes but bound, and then at the still-smoking camp before nodding in satisfaction.

It's nothing special to repel the Liao people; what's truly remarkable is capturing their empress dowager and emperor!