Xia Cong rode back on horseback. "They refused to surrender. They said they wanted to see you."
"Why waste words with them? It's only a tiny county town. Lord Chen needn't even lift a finger—I can take it with thirty-odd cavalrymen. Kill a few people, and they'll naturally fall in line."
Xiao Zheng asked for permission. "My lord, give the order!"
"No bloodshed."
Chen Sanshi rejected the suggestion. "They merely want to see me. Then let them."
As he spoke, he removed his armor and iron helmet, handed his weapon to Zhao Kang for safekeeping, then rode Qianxun alone out of the army formation, straight toward the city gates.
Xiao Zheng said worriedly, "My lord is going alone?"
"There's no need to worry about that."
Xia Cong planted his spear into the ground. "The strongest people in the city are no more than Bone Tempering realm. With my lord's martial attainments, if he truly wanted to take it, he could do so alone. But what use would a little Meizi County be, even after its surrender? What exactly is my lord planning? What does 'gathering momentum, poised to strike' mean?"
He kept the latter half of those words to himself.
Atop Meizi County's walls.
After Xia Cong left, Wang Feng and the others were restless with unease, having no idea what awaited them next. For all they knew, three thousand iron hooves might charge forward and trample the city flat.
"Do you think Chen Sanshi will come see us?"
"He probably will..."
"Hard to say."
"I heard this man is terrifyingly good at war. We're people of an enemy state, after all. He might fly into a rage and kill his way over here."
Any news took time to spread. The tale of carrying civilians across the river had spread