Undying Life

Chapter 278: Securing Wushuang City

"Quick, notify the commander!" the general ordered urgently.

Swiftly, a messenger took to the skies, heading toward the floating island. However, the island was shrouded in a barrier that blocked any spiritual sensing. As the messenger approached the island:

"Fire!"

With a shout from Zhao Chuan of the Daxuan Army's First Battalion, a volley of arrows surged towards the approaching figure. The messenger, merely at the early Nascent Soul stage, had faced many battles, but he had never encountered a barrage of this scale.

Tens of thousands of arrows, at least ten thousand, flew towards him. Terrified, the messenger turned to flee, activating all his defensive artifacts, weapons, and shields. But how could his feeble defenses withstand the power of ten thousand arrows? Even a thousand would be too much. In the blink of an eye, he was struck down, falling lifeless to the ground, while Zhao Chuan led his troops to secure the area around the floating island.

On the Northern City Wall

"General, what should we do? The enemy is advancing!" one of the officers exclaimed anxiously.

"We can't! The commander ordered us not to leave the city," another officer replied, equally concerned.

"But if we can't notify the commander, and the gates are breached, we'll lose the city!"

"If the gates fall, won't the commander be in danger?"

"The commander is at the Imperial Realm level. While he can't deal with an army of 200,000 alone, if he needs to retreat safely, no one can stop him."

"But what do we do now? The southern gate is under attack, and the east and west gates are also in crisis."

"We still have 400,000 soldiers here. We can't afford to lose more. Besides, the south is only being attacked by civilians. I've already sent 200,000 troops. There shouldn't be a problem... possibly, there shouldn't be any problems."

At the Southern Gate

From outside, the situation at the southern gate seemed unclear. People saw only a steady stream of their comrades scaling the walls, unaware that many inside had already fallen. They continued to send more people into the city.

Once inside, the attackers had no escape. They had to fight. Having already killed many of the Dayu soldiers, if they failed to break through the gate, they would face certain death. The battle within the city was brutal beyond words.

On the walls, the general screamed orders, but there were simply too many enemies. Four million—how could they kill them all?

Finally, after over two hours of battle, the reinforcements arrived. A vast army rushed forward from the distance.

"Boom!"

The southern gate of Wushuang City fell with a thunderous crash.

The southern gate had been breached. Countless civilians surged into the city. As they poured in, they were stunned by the sight: bodies, countless bodies. Friends and family who had gone before them were all dead. Dead?

Who had killed them? The Dayu soldiers, it was them! It was them!

"Ahhhhhhh!"

With a heart-wrenching scream, the assault on the Dayu soldiers began anew.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The civilians, four million strong, flooded into the city, attacking any Dayu soldier they encountered. With the civilians now inside, Shui Wuhen, following Zhong Shan's orders, led his remaining 150,000 troops into the city as well.

Thanks to the preceding onslaught by the four million, Shui Wuhen's entry into the city went smoothly.

Entering the city, Shui Wuhen had a single task: not to kill the enemy troops, but to disrupt their formation. Whenever they encountered enemy soldiers, their task was simply to scatter them. Killing the enemy? That was the job of the vengeful advance force; it wasn't hard for four million people to kill a few scattered soldiers.

The strength of an army lies in its unity and coordination, combining small forces into a formidable power. Once the enemy's formation was disrupted, they became powerless. War is extremely brutal. Once defeated, it's nearly impossible to regain victory. The masses swarmed into the city, attacking all directions, making it easier to capture the east and west gates. Under Shui Wuhen's coordination, a sudden volley of arrows within the city killed most of the guards behind the gates. When the soldiers from the towers came down, people were already at the gates, starting to open them.

Defeat cascaded like a landslide, and it happened too quickly. The Dayu army suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of absurdity—they had 1.5 million troops, how did they suddenly lose? When news of the south gate's fall reached the north city tower, the generals didn't believe it. After sending scouts to check, not long after, the east gate fell, and then the west gate fell. Before nightfall, the Daluo army was already attacking the last, the north gate.

Messages of defeat poured in one after another, while the commander was still in negotiations? Negotiations?

The Negotiations on the Floating Island

At this moment, on the distant floating island, inside a small house, Zhong Shan, Ah Da, and Wu An stood up.

"Talking with the general has truly been enlightening for me," Zhong Shan said, sighing.

"Haha, negotiating with Mr. Zhong Shan is one of the most satisfying experiences of my life," Wu An said modestly.

"Well, if things go as we discussed earlier, the general's capture of Daxuan City will be within reach. Congratulations, General," Zhong Shan said, smiling.

"Once Daxuan City is captured, Mr. Zhong Shan will undoubtedly be the key contributor," Wu An laughed.

Zhong Shan gave a slight smile and said humbly, "I wouldn't dare compete with the general for credit." He appeared very deferential.

"Hahaha..." Wu An laughed heartily, clearly pleased.

Suddenly, "Boom!" A volley of arrows shot over, instantly destroying the floating island's defenses. The black energy barrier collapsed immediately, and the buildings within were also reduced to rubble. In the midst of the smoke, the three flew into the sky.

Sensing the direction from which the arrows came, it turned out to be from the north of Wushuang City.

"Damn it!" Wu An roared angrily from the wreckage. Were his own soldiers rebelling?

But in the next moment, Wu An saw fierce fighting on the north city tower. Several generals were locked in combat. The earlier arrow volley was launched by a thousand brave soldiers who had risked their lives to get close to the floating island and shoot at it, and these soldiers were quickly killed by the Daluo troops beneath the island.

Wu An was dumbfounded, staring at the battle on the distant city tower, an overwhelming sense of surrealism engulfing him. What was going on? This wasn't the world he knew; what was happening?

"We've been tricked!"

Wu An's first reaction was to quickly look at Zhong Shan, but by this time, Zhong Shan had already been taken far, far away by Ah Da.

"Shoot!" Zhao Chuan's voice rang out from below.

In Wu An's shock, 200,000 arrows came flying towards him.

Too Late to Ponder, Quick Escape

"Impact!" A multitude of shattered astral arrows narrowly missed Wu An's shield, shattering it instantly. Fortunately, he was unharmed except for a slight scratch on his arm. There was no time to think, he quickly rushed towards the city tower.

Flying towards the city tower, Wu An descended freely, knocking away the enemies surrounding his subordinates with a single palm strike. However, the response he received was one of despair. "General, we've lost! We've been defeated!"

Looking at the countless masses in the city, Wu An suddenly felt like he was dreaming. It had been a long time since he last dreamt, but this felt surreal. Why was everything happening like this?

"General, let's retreat!" a general shouted at Wu An.

At this moment, the First Battalion of the Daxuan Army, with two hundred thousand soldiers, rushed over. The gates were already open, and the battle was lost.

"Retreat!" Wu An roared.

With a single command, it seemed like Wu An had exhausted all his energy. In an instant, the leisurely atmosphere of sipping tea was replaced by chaos. Everything had changed. Why did it have to be like this?

With a single command to retreat, the last shred of resistance in the Dayu army disappeared. They turned and fled, but a large number of shattered astral arrows rained down, causing countless casualties.

"Zhong Shan, I hate you!" While fleeing, Wu An yelled at Zhong Shan on a distant mountain peak.

"General Wu An, don't forget to attack Daxuan City!" Zhong Shan laughed from atop the mountain peak.

It was all lies, everything was a lie. Zhong Shan had never intended to help him capture Daxuan City. He had deceived Wu An. In that moment, even Wu An, an expert at the peak of the martial realm, felt his face flush red with anger. Suddenly, he felt a surge of blood in his chest, as if he were about to spit it out.

It was all Zhong Shan's scheme. He was deliberate, he was a fraud, the greatest fraud in the world.

"I will avenge this one day. I will tear you apart!" Wu An fled with his remaining forces.

"Waiting for your esteemed presence at any time!" Zhong Shan chuckled.

Behind the commander, there were still two hundred thousand remnants of the army. They fled with Wu An, followed closely by Zhong Shan's two hundred thousand troops.

Zhong Shan waved his hand!

The signal to retreat spread rapidly.

"Sir, why are we retreating? Shouldn't we pursue victory?" Ah Da asked, puzzled.

"Don't chase a defeated enemy. Besides, why should I pursue? My task was only to take Wushuang City. Wu An has twenty thousand remaining troops, and there are countless scattered remnants in the city. What I want is to stabilize Wushuang City quickly." Zhong Shan said.

"Yes, sir," Ah Da nodded immediately.

The two hundred thousand Daxuan troops quickly returned, escorting Zhong Shan into the city.

At this moment, the two hundred thousand Daxuan soldiers were extremely excited. This was their commander, General Zhong.

In Wushuang City, the people were already prepared for a fierce battle, but not a single one died, not a single one was injured. They just shot some arrows, and they were inside the city?

Wu An felt as if he had been transported to another world. Wasn't this two hundred thousand Daxuan troops the same? It was too unreal, like a ghost.

Regardless of whether it felt real or not, Wushuang City was captured. At the north city tower, the enemy had already retreated, leaving only the scattered remnants dispersed by Shui Wuhen's army. Dispersed enemies meant nothing; a couple of civilians could easily defeat them.