That arrow shattered the battlements—and shattered the breath the defenders had just managed to draw.
Night fell, but Black Stone County did not sleep.
Bonfires blazed every ten paces along the walls, turning the ramparts as bright as day. They were not for warmth, but to guard against the Wolf Cavalry, who struck by night like phantoms.
Ji Ye leaned against the blind corner of a watchtower, mechanically chewing half a cold, hard steamed bun.
His gaze never left the massive arrow nailed into the pillar. Its shaft was as thick as a thumb, forged entirely from iron, with eagle feathers at its tail.
"Organ Tempering..."
Ji Ye swallowed the bun, feeling as though he had swallowed a lump of iron.
That was the third realm of martial cultivation. Their inner breath was endless, their five organs tough, their strength immense and precise. On the battlefield, such people were mobile artillery towers. If Ji Ye dared show his head to give orders, the next arrow would surely pierce his skull.
"Boss, have some water."
Pockmarked limped over and handed him a waterskin. His left leg had been grazed by a stray arrow and hastily bandaged, yet blood was still seeping through.
"How are the casualties?" Ji Ye took the waterskin but did not drink. Instead, he poured it over the heated shaft of his spear.
"Fifty-six dead, over a hundred wounded." Pockmarked's voice was low. "Mostly during the first wave filling the moat. The brothers went soft... and the Barbarians seized the chance to climb up and cut down quite a few of them."
Going soft came at a price.
"Tell the brothers not to hold back." Ji Ye pointed below the wall. "Logs, stones, Golden Juice—when those run out, tear down the houses. When the houses are gone, tear down the government office. As long as it can crush someone to death, you can throw me down there too."
"Yes."
Just then, a deep creaking sound rose from the darkness below the city.
It was the sound of heavy objects rolling over frozen earth.
Ji Ye's eyes narrowed as he pressed himself to the ground and listened.
"Battering rams."
The Barbarians had not rested. They had brought up the big toys.
Several battering rams covered in thick rawhide, like colossal beasts, slowly approached the gate beneath the cover of night. The rawhide had been soaked in water and frozen solid, slick beyond grip. Fire arrows could not ignite it, and ordinary stones simply bounced away when they struck it.
Once they reached the gate, the logs within could smash it into splinters in less than half an incense stick's time.
"Loose arrows!"
Pockmarked roared.
An arrowstorm fell, but under the cover of the battering rams, the Barbarian soldiers were completely unharmed. Instead, they hid behind the vehicles and let out strange cries.
"It's useless."
Ji Ye rose to his feet and tightened the black sable coat around him.
Conventional methods could not break such turtle shells.
"Bring that thing up," Ji Ye ordered, turning his head.
A moment later, several burly men carefully carried more than a dozen sealed clay jars onto the wall. The jars were heavy, and liquid could be heard sloshing inside whenever they swayed.
This was Fierce Fire Oil, seized from the Black Tiger Gang's secret treasury.
Zhao Hei Hu had originally intended to sell it to the Barbarians at a high price, so they could use it to attack Great Liang's fortified cities. Now, it was finally returning to its rightful owner.
"Boss, does this stuff really work?" Pockmarked was doubtful.
"We'll know once we try."
Ji Ye lifted two clay jars and gauged their weight.
The battering rams had already reached the remains of the drawbridge over the moat. The Barbarian soldiers were trying to lay planks across it so the rams could cross.
"Release!"
Ji Ye wasted no words. With a burst of strength from both arms, he hurled the clay jars viciously outward.
Empowered by Triple Brute Force, the jars flew like stone shot launched from a catapult, tracing precise arcs through the air.
Bang! Bang!
The jars smashed against the rawhide roofs of the battering rams and shattered at once. Thick blackish-brown liquid flowed across them, releasing a pungent stench.
The Barbarian soldiers below froze for a moment. Thinking it was Golden Juice, they instinctively raised their shields to block it.
Then more clay jars fell.
Some struck the vehicles; some struck the ground. The black oil spread over the Barbarian soldiers' ankles.
"Light it."
Ji Ye pulled a torch from the brazier beside him and casually threw it down.
The torch spun through the air, and the instant it fell into the black oil—
Boom—!!!
It was not burning, but an explosive conflagration.
Orange-red flames surged thirty feet high in an instant, like an awakened fire dragon swallowing the battering rams and dozens of Barbarian soldiers around them in a single bite.
Fierce Fire Oil was extraordinarily adhesive. Once it touched something, it burned. Water could not put it out; instead, it spread with the flowing water.
"Ahhh—!!!"
Screams instantly tore through the night sky.
The Barbarian soldiers hiding beneath the battering rams became human torches. They rolled about madly and leapt into the moat, but the flames continued burning atop the water, boiling the river until it bubbled.
The stench of charred flesh mixed with the black smoke of Fierce Fire Oil and rushed straight up to the city walls.
The defenders stared blankly at the scene, struck speechless by the hellish spectacle.
This was the power of Fierce Fire Oil.
In this age of cold weapons, it was a biochemical weapon crushing its enemies from an entirely different dimension.
In the distant Barbarian camp.
The giant commander watched the wall of fire rising ahead. The mocking look on his face finally vanished, replaced by grave fury.
"Fierce Fire Oil..."
He recognized the stuff. It was supposed to have been the Black Tiger Gang's gift to him.
"That Ji Ye—I'll flay him alive."
The giant slowly set down his wine cup. The cup crumbled into powder in his hand.
"Pass the order. Wolf Cavalry, dismount and fight on foot."
"Tonight, no one sheaths their blades. Even if you have to gnaw with your teeth, gnaw open that city wall for me."
As the order spread, countless pairs of green eyes lit up in the darkness.
Several thousand Barbarian elites abandoned their warhorses, curved blades clenched between their teeth. Like a true wolf pack, they used the cover of night and smoke to launch a silent charge toward the walls.
There were no battle cries, only suffocating killing intent.
The true night battle had begun.
Ji Ye watched the figures flickering in and out of the smoke and tightened his grip on his iron spear.
"Everyone, draw your blades."
"Prepare for close combat."
What came next would be the true meat grinder.
Before you continue