It doesn't matter what the lord is.

Felita cast several rounds of magic, but her realm was only the seventh level of perfection after all. The ancient magic she cast yesterday to cover the retreat of Wangdong Camp consumed too much of her magic power, and she could not recover to her peak state overnight. Therefore, even if she overdrew her physical strength, it would be difficult to resist Yunyang's army for too long.

Time passed by minute by minute.

The sharp-eyed Lord Yunyang saw the current situation of Xiaxin City at a glance, so he didn't pay too much attention to the crazy actions of his own army. Judging from the cards Fang Shisan had in her hand, she couldn't turn the tables. Her manpower was limited. Although her soldiers were brave, they were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. In addition, there were not enough masters, so she was at an absolute disadvantage from the beginning.

I just don't know when that evildoer's head will be delivered...

Lord Yunyang was slightly dazed, and recalled the stormy night eighteen years ago. The woman knelt in front of him, begging him to spare her life. On that day, the heavily guarded Lord's Mansion was useless. Many masked men in black stood behind him, and their voices were ethereal and empty, but they carried a power that no one could resist.

He didn't know why he thought of that day at this time until he was brought back to reality by the soldiers' screams.

Lord Yunyang raised his head, and the scene in front of him made him slowly widen his eyes.

Xiaxin City did not collapse.

Something fell down, landing in a crowded area. It looked like it was still burning, but being hit by it only caused a slight pain in the head. No one paid attention at first, because compared to the rolling rocks and falling wood, those little things were really too insignificant.

Yunyang’s army was still climbing the city walls, still dreaming their own beautiful dreams.

Just when they were about to succeed, the situation suddenly changed. A fire suddenly exploded from nowhere, and the flames shot up into the sky. Those who were lucky enough not to be caught in the fire watched in horror as their companions wailed in the flames. The hair was burned away in an instant, and the skin and flesh slowly shrank, and the fire did not go out until only bones were left.

The dark sea of ​​people instantly turned into a sea of ​​fire!

29. Holy Judge of Heavenly Fire

The sound of explosions rang out, and countless broken flames streaked through the sky like falling stars.

This sudden change caused the Yunyang army's siege progress to stagnate instantly. Countless people climbed the city wall but didn't know whether to take a step forward. Some people were ignited by the flames, let go of their hands in pain, and jumped down from a height. The generals of Yunyang were also stunned there, not knowing whether to order a retreat or continue the attack. They could only watch the sea of ​​fire covering an increasingly larger area.

It was a flame fueled by human lives, as if it was burning from hell, and it would never go out until everything was burned out.

Lord Yunyang's first reaction was some kind of magic, but after a little thought, he felt it was unlikely. There were only a few famous magicians in the world, and masterless magicians were almost extinct. Where could Lid find another magician besides Fileta? But from the situation of defending the city just now, Fileta's magic power was obviously exhausted, so where did this blazing fire come from?

Lord Yunyang would rather see the scene of Wangdong Camp and Xuanjia Camp fighting to the death than see this scene.

In a manpower battle, what matters is nothing more than the number of people, the quality of equipment, the level of morale, and the availability of food and grass, all of which are within the control of the Yunyang lord. Just like yesterday, Wangdongying looked like a god of war, but if they did not retreat in time, they would soon be annihilated. Because their numbers were decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye, the Yunyang lord could easily calculate how many casualties would be required to take them down.

But now, Lord Yunyang was caught in a dilemma.

He had never seen such a big fire, so he immediately thought it was some kind of magic. Since it was magic, such a huge fire must consume a lot of magic power. Yunyang's army had the upper hand on the battlefield. If they could use the exchange tactic to exhaust the magic power of the magician hiding in the dark, then the plan to attack the city could remain unchanged.

Lord Yunyang looked coldly at the soldiers struggling in the fire. Those painful cries seemed to have nothing to do with him. War was cruel and ruthless. He didn't care about the lives of those soldiers, even though many of them had fought side by side with him.

The fire showed no signs of being extinguished for the time being, and without him giving any orders, the momentum of the Yunyang soldiers' siege on the city had slowed down.

They were just incited by the high bounty, and their enthusiasm, which was easily aroused, would naturally be easily cooled by setbacks.

At this moment, there was a flash of lightning and thunder in the sky, and the cold wind blew up Lord Yunyang's sleeves.

Lord Yunyang raised his head and felt a cold liquid falling on his face.

——It’s raining.

In the south in summer, the rain always comes and goes as it pleases. Pedestrians who are lucky enough not to bring an umbrella will often be soaked by the sudden rainstorm. This is a characteristic of the climate and cannot be changed by human power. In theory, heavy rain will have a huge disadvantage for the attackers, because the city walls will be slippery and difficult to climb when it rains, but now this rain has become their hope to continue the attack.

Lord Yunyang's gaze fell on the layers of dark clouds, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved upwards.

God's will was on his side after all! The ruler is the ruler, the minister is the minister, the father is the father, the son is the son, all things have their objective rules, and the rebellious son disobeyed his orders and raised the flag of rebellion against him, and was finally punished by the law of heaven. Perhaps the fire magic just now was the last counterattack launched by Fang Shisan, but unfortunately, heavy rain is coming.

The rain poured down like a bucket, and in an instant it came upon the world with the power to wash away everything.

The personal guard held an umbrella for Lord Yunyang, but Lord Yunyang's attention was all on Xiaxin City. He shouted loudly:

"Attack, attack! Their fire is about to go out. Take this opportunity to capture Xiaxin City and double the reward! Don't retreat, don't give them a chance to breathe, charge forward in one go, Xiaxin City is about to be destroyed!"

Yunyang's army looked up and saw that, as expected, the heavy rain was slowly taking away the last chance of life of the Yuxi City soldiers.

Their movements began to become slow, and the frequency of various rolling rocks and falling trees was much lower than before.

Although there were some people in strange clothes standing ready for battle, those guys looked very weak, without big muscles and without solid armor. It was obvious that their training intensity was far from that of Wangdong Camp and Xuanjia Camp. Most of them were reserve troops. The fact that such people were pulled to the front line meant that the defenders really had no other options.

“Charge forward!!”

I don’t know who shouted first, but the enthusiasm that had been dried up by the fire overflowed again.

The rainstorm was a new layer of armor for them, and ordinary flames would retreat when they saw it. A new round of siege warfare had begun, and the sound of rams hitting the city gates was like a war drum that shook the earth. The soldiers of Yunyang shouted and climbed the city walls to attack frantically. The rain was heavy, and many people fell off the city walls and were smashed to pieces, but more people continued to move forward while stepping on the bodies of their companions.

However, at this time.

In their eyes, the reserve army simply and boringly dropped a new round of city defense weapons.

There were no rolling stones, no falling wood, no boiling oil, only small objects filled with unknown liquids. They looked so inconspicuous - at least, before these thrown objects exploded.

The flames exploded again like a maggot attached to the bones, covering everyone in the range. The soldiers of Yunyang were horrified to find that the rain could not extinguish the flames at all, or that the power of the flames was far greater than this rainstorm. It was only then that the Lord of Yunyang realized the seriousness of the problem. Fang Shisan did not have another magician at his disposal. They were using a brand new weapon that no one had ever seen and could not quantify.

It is a weapon that can cause widespread damage with just a simple throw, and can be used by ordinary people.

While Lord Yunyang was stunned, a black cannon on the city wall was quietly aimed in this direction.

Inside the Shenji Camp, two officers were whispering to each other:

"We are within range. Do you want to shoot?"

"There are limited artillery batteries and shells... We agreed that this time we would mainly use incendiary bombs, so we shouldn't reveal more cards."

"Tsk. But the Yunyang Guards and the guest officials of Yunyang are not here now. This shot clearly has a great chance."

"…Why don't you give it a try?"

"Let's give it a try. The general also said that we can take advantage of it this time. It doesn't matter if we miss or are blocked. If it succeeds, we'll make a lot of money. If it doesn't, we won't lose either."

"Okay, let's adjust the angle. I'll play second fiddle to you."

A cannonball wrapped in pure copper was stuffed into the barrel.

A small flame started on the fuse, and the two men held up their hands to block the rain until the fuse burned out.

There was a loud bang.

The flames cut through the dark clouded sky with a sharp sound.

It was like the first ray of sunshine piercing through the long night, announcing the arrival of a new era.

30. Reinforcements and old grudges

For the first time, the morale of Yunyang’s army fell to the bottom.

It was already night, and the Yunyang soldiers who were attacking the city withdrew to the barracks. The Yunyang Guards and Yunyang's senior generals also stayed indoors. A sad and depressing atmosphere permeated the barracks. Even though the casualty figures were not announced, everyone knew that today's siege would definitely cause heavy losses.

Most importantly, the lord was injured.

During the day, the Yunyang Guards and the guest officials of Yunyang came out in full force, and for the first time, the defense force around the Yunyang Lord was empty. At this moment, a ball of flaming object bombarded the Lord's side. Although the personal guards rushed over to save him, the large-scale explosion still swept the Lord into it.

According to eyewitnesses, the lord had multiple burns on his body and a deep wound on his chest caused by a copper plate, and he was taken to hospital for emergency treatment on the spot. So the siege had to come to an end temporarily, which was also a good thing for the soldiers of Yunyang. After seeing their companions melted by the flames, they could not muster the courage to attack the city again in a short period of time.

"Have you heard? The Lord may be seriously injured and unable to recover..."

"Shh! Shut up! Is this something we can discuss?!"

"But I have a friend who said he saw the Lord covered in blood..."

"Yes, yes. My father is an old friend of a doctor here. The doctor also said that the Lord's injuries are very serious. Even if he recovers, he will still have a chronic disease."

"Ah, if something happens to the Lord, what will Yunyang do in the future?"

"This... Isn't the prince still here?"

"Who knows? I have figured it out. No matter how much reward money is given, how many of those who rushed to the front today can come back alive? Those guys from Yuxi City are not human at all. Yesterday they charged forward fearlessly, and today they created this kind of fire that burns people to the point where not even a bone is left. They, they are simply like demons from hell!"

"Now that you mention it, I remember that I just heard from the guests that none of the people who rushed into the city to cause trouble for the city lord have returned. Could it be that they have all gone to... hell?"

The soldiers in Yunyang couldn't help but shudder and stopped chatting at the same time.

Everyone was thinking about this possibility, and the more they thought about it, the more anxious they felt.

Inside the big tent, Lord Yunyang was wrapped in bandages, with his one exposed eye staring at a candle hanging above his head.

He could easily guess that there must be rumors in the barracks, but he had no choice. Lord Yunyang's injuries were not serious. His personal guards sacrificed themselves to save him and helped him block most of the force of the explosion. He had more burns on his body. The problem was that he was now wrapped in bandages. Even if he appeared in front of the soldiers and told them the truth about his injuries, I'm afraid not many people would choose to believe him.

This kind of rumor-busting is meaningless and will only increase the feeling of trying to cover up something.

The senior generals of Yunyang gathered around the lord, wondering what the gloomy lord was thinking. But they were not nervous at all. The battle judgment today was basically made by the lord of Yunyang himself, so they could not be blamed. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that it was not because our army did not work hard, but because the enemy was too cunning.

After a long time, Lord Yunyang said quietly:

"Pass the order and call back the 50,000 border troops from Kalpas."

Yunyang's senior generals all looked up, with a hint of joy in their shock.

Kalpas is one of the veterans of Yunyang. He is about the same age as the Lord of Yunyang, but he is a bit rigid and unsociable. He is currently stationed in the east of Yunyang with 50,000 troops, training them day and night in preparation for the future attack on Tiancheng Territory. The senior generals of Yunyang were shocked because the Lord of Yunyang's move was equivalent to giving up the fight for Tiancheng Territory and spitting out the fat meat in his mouth to deal with the current troubles. This also means that the Lord of Yunyang acquiesced that he had lost the battle today and needed reinforcements.

They were delighted because the better Kalpas performed in the Eastern Expedition, the greater the threat to them. If Kalpas really conquered a large number of cities in Tiancheng Territory, then in the future, the military's voice would inevitably decline for these generals who followed Lord Yunyang.

Lord Yunyang glanced at the generals following him and sneered.

He knew what these people were thinking, and he laughed at their short-sightedness.

He didn't know what was burning in his own army today, nor did he know what was exploding next to him. But he knew one thing, that is, the people who used those things were not famous martial arts masters, nor were they great magicians who looked down on everyone, but just a group of ordinary people who were unknown to the public.

This means that if Lid is given more time, he can equip more soldiers with that kind of weapon, and each soldier will be equipped with more weapons of greater number and variety. In just two years, a minor disease has become a serious problem. If it continues to drag on, Yunyang may really be finished.

Choose the lesser of two evils. Even if Yunyang does not fight for Tiancheng's territory and does not participate in the future changes, it must first solve its own problems. Therefore, Lord Yunyang will not retreat. He will continue to stay here and confront Fang Shisan, while waiting for the arrival of reinforcements from the rear.

If 20,000 people are not enough, then 50,000 people.

If 50,000 people are not enough, there will be more. If all the scattered border troops of Yunyang are added up, there are still more than 100,000 of them.

If it's still not enough, recruit soldiers and buy horses. If it's still not enough, borrow money from other territories.

Even if he had to rely on the advantage in numbers, he had to bury Reed here.

However, what even the Lord of Yunyang didn't know was that Kalpas, a frontier official of similar age, had an unpleasant past with his eldest son Liyi. That year, Kalpas was still in the Central Government, and his wife was flirted with while strolling on the street. Afterwards, Kalpas sent someone to investigate and found out that the person was Yunyang's eldest son Liyi who was out for fun.

That year, Li Yi was the most popular candidate for the crown prince and a hot young star in Lingyun City.

That year, Kalpas wisely did not have any conflict with Li Yi. In the subsequent external transfer, he quietly left Lingyun City and went to the border to lead troops.

No one knew about this except the two parties involved. Even the Lord of Yunyang was kept in the dark, so he did not hide anything and asked the generals to release the news to boost their morale. Otherwise, if Fang Shisan sent people to attack the camp, the soldiers of Yunyang would not even have the courage to resist.

Late at night, bonfires flickered in the military camp.

Li Yi, who had slept all afternoon, got up, stretched his body, and walked out of the military tent. The people sent by Lord Yunyang wanted to stop him, but Li Yi kicked them to the ground one by one, and walked out with a swagger under the pretext of inspection. Most of the soldiers had already gone to bed. Li Yi walked around the tent and saw a few sentinels talking with red faces:

"Have you heard? The Eastern Army is coming to support us."

"This time Xiaxin City is doomed... Fifty thousand people, with just one spit from each person, can flood Xiaxin City."

"I really hope General Kalpas will come soon..."

Li Yi listened silently. At first he felt that the last name sounded familiar. After thinking about it for a while, he suddenly woke up from a dream.

He remembered the dark alley, the desperate cry of the woman, the laughter of his men who helped the evil, and the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Someone found out about his house, and his people reported the woman's true identity, but he didn't care at that time.

The whole court was on his side, so what kind of trouble could a mere military commander cause? At worst, he could just find a reason to kill him in the future.

After that, the name faded from his sight for a while. But he didn't expect to hear it again at this time.

Li Yi's body was shaking slightly.

31. Breathing is like a prairie fire

Li Yi returned to the military tent in a daze.

A half-drunk bottle of wine was still on the table, several beauties who had just received the emperor's favor were lying on the bed wrapped in thin quilts, civil officials and military officers were waiting outside the door, and those who were singing operas and songs had also arrived at the door. As long as Li Yi stretched out his hand, all the beautiful things that were pleasing to the eye would come to him, allowing him to satisfy all kinds of desires.

But tonight Li Yi showed no interest at all.

He felt himself shivering, sweating all over in the hot weather. His position was as stable as Mount Tai that year, so he naturally didn't care what a general thought of him; but now it was different. The call for a new crown prince was rising, and this time the Lord of Yunyang personally led his troops and failed to capture Yuxi City in one go. In this case, can the old general of the border army with a large number of troops personally come to the scene, and the past grudges can be wiped out?

In panic, Li Yi recalled the image of Kalpas silently clenching his fists outside the lord's mansion that year.

There seemed to be a flame burning in the veteran's eyes.

"Damn..."

Li Yi stared at the wine bottle on the table with his red eyes, grabbed the bottle and threw it out fiercely, the bottle broke, and the scarlet wine spilled all over the floor. The beauty in the bed was startled and said in a delicate voice:

"Hateful. If the prince is in a bad mood, he can just vent it on me. Why bother with that bottle of wine?"

Li Yi turned his head suddenly, pointed at the door of the military tent, and shouted:

"Get out!"