Nightfire at Iron Wall City

Iron Wall City's nights were far colder than its days.

After days of strict inspections and heightened defenses, even the soldiers on night watch were showing signs of fatigue. Still, they followed their strict orders, patrolling and keeping watch at their assigned posts.

The General's residence, study.

The lamps were still lit. The old General Li Chongshan had not gone to bed. Instead, wearing his old armor, he hunched over his desk and studied a massive map of the northern frontier.

His graying brows were knitted tightly.

The alarms that had sounded day after day—especially the news about the Third Prince and Shadow Kill Tower brought by Chen Qing and the others—weighed on his heart like a boulder. He had placed the You Lan Stones under strict guard and assigned trusted soldiers to protect them, but he knew the enemy would never give up so easily.

"Troubled times indeed..." the old general sighed, his voice sounding especially bleak in the empty study. He rose and walked to the window, gazing into the boundless darkness beyond the city.

"Xuanyuan Yi... you're destroying your own Great Wall!"

Just then, he thought he heard a faint, unusual commotion from far away. Though barely audible, his battlefield instincts instantly put him on alert. He listened closely, and his expression suddenly changed!

It was past midnight, when people were at their sleepiest.

Dozens of swift, sinister presences had appeared in the direction of the armory!

Almost at the same time!

"Fire! The west-city granary's on fire!"

"The eastern barracks' stables are burning too!"

"The south gate! The south gate is under attack! Sound the alarm!"

Gongs and shouts suddenly erupted from several parts of the city at once! Iron Wall City, so recently silent, instantly burst into chaos! Flames soared in multiple places, thick smoke billowed, and figures darted everywhere. Cries of alarm, running footsteps, clashing weapons, and officers' shouts tangled together in a cacophony!

The General's residence was instantly filled with pounding footsteps!

"Protect the general!"

"Guards, assemble!"

Li Chongshan had already rushed out of the study, his face livid.

He shoved aside the guard trying to drape a cloak over his shoulders and barked, "What are you panicking for? Everyone to your posts! Give the orders: First Battalion, fight the fires! Second Battalion, secure the west gate. No one is to open the gates without my written order! Third Battalion, restore order in the streets. Anyone taking advantage of the chaos to cause trouble is to be killed without mercy! Guards, follow me!"

The old general's voice steadied the General's residence like a pillar anchoring the sea. He drew the saber that had been at his waist for years with a ringing rasp. Its edge gleamed coldly in the firelight.

"You want to throw my Iron Wall City into chaos? Let's see if you've got the teeth for it!"

In the small courtyard, Chen Qing opened his eyes from where he sat cross-legged!

"They came after all!" Chen Qing shot to his feet and flashed out the door. Yan Yunxi and Liu Meng rushed out of their rooms at the same time, both already dressed, weapons in hand.

"Brother Chen!"

"Young Hero Chen!"

"Move quickly!" Chen Qing spoke rapidly, but his voice was exceptionally calm. "Yunxi, Escort Chief Liu, take some men to the general's inner residence and protect General Li's family. Be on guard against a diversion. I'm going to the armory!"

"Understood! Be careful, Young Hero!" Liu Meng knew this was no time for courtesies. He grabbed the still-dazed Yan Yunxi, called over the two escorts with less serious injuries, and charged toward the back courtyard of the General's residence. Yan Yunxi glanced back at Chen Qing with worry, then gritted her teeth and hurried after them.

Chen Qing blurred from sight and swept onto the rooftops like a wisp of smoke, his sharp eyes quickly fixing on the armory. That was where the killing intent was thickest! Several powerful presences were closing in fast.

"Awooo!" The Wolf King gave a low growl. Without needing an order, its massive body burst into astonishingly nimble motion, racing after Chen Qing through the alleys, its dark green eyes glinting with savage fury.

The closer they got to the armory, the worse the chaos became. Clearly, the enemy's plan to attack from within and without had been carried out with ruthless efficiency.

Several barracks near the armory had also been set ablaze, the flames blocking the roads. Worse, many "soldiers" in Xia military uniforms, their eyes vicious, were mixed in among those fighting the fires. They suddenly attacked, causing even greater panic!

"Stop them!"

"There's a traitor among us!"

"Protect the armory!"

Officers loyal to General Li were shouting themselves hoarse as they organized a defense, but the situation was too chaotic, and it was impossible to tell friend from foe.

Chen Qing ignored the chaos below. He had only one target—the armory gates! More than ten black-clad assassins were fighting fiercely against the soldiers guarding them.

The assassins' techniques were vicious and unpredictable, and they worked together seamlessly. The ordinary soldiers were no match for them and could only struggle to hold them back!

Even more alarming, two leaders whose auras far surpassed those of the other assassins—the Ghost Shadow and the Deadly Thorn—were darting through the crowd like specters. Each strike brought a spray of blood as they swiftly hunted down the defenders!

Chen Qing's eyes sharpened. He leapt from the roof and plunged down like a falling star! Still in midair, he pointed with two fingers!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Several beams of starlight shot through the air, too fast for the eye to follow! Just as the Ghost Shadow was about to kill a defending officer, a sudden pang of danger seized him. He twisted aside with all his might. A finger-force hissed past his cheek, tearing away a strip of flesh and leaving a scorched mark!

"Who are you?!" The Ghost Shadow was both shocked and furious as he jerked his head up.

Chen Qing landed and charged straight into the fray without a word! His movements were elusive, flickering through the crowd like starlight. His hands flew, striking with palms that unleashed jolts of Starforce or piercing bodies with finger-force. Black-clad assassins fell like grass beneath a scythe wherever he passed!

"It's him! The target's here!" The Deadly Thorn shrieked and abandoned his opponent. A pair of strange curved daggers in his hands became two streaks of poisonous light, stabbing straight for Chen Qing's vital point between the shoulder blades! Their angle was treacherous, their force fierce!

At the same time, the Ghost Shadow charged through his pain. As he moved, two or three indistinguishable afterimages appeared, working with the Deadly Thorn to seal off every avenue of escape!

The two assassins, both nearing grandmaster level, struck together with a fierce assault.

Chen Qing's expression did not change. As he drove the Ancient Star Ruins Scripture to its limits, that thin layer of starlight appeared around him once more. His steps shifted, and he slipped through the gap between two afterimages, then slapped the Deadly Thorn's curved dagger with his palm!

Clang!

Bare flesh met cold steel! The Deadly Thorn felt an irresistible force, carrying a strange, jolting power, surge up through his dagger. His wrist went numb, his blood and qi churned, and he staggered back in shock!

The Ghost Shadow's real attack struck the starlight behind Chen Qing, but it was like a clay ox sinking into the sea; it could not get through!

"What kind of protective art is this?!" Both leaders were shaken to their cores!

"Awooo!" The Wolf King had joined the fight! It rammed two assassins aside and pounced on the ordinary black-clad men setting fires and attacking the defenders. One swipe of its huge paw snapped a man's bones; one snap of its gaping jaws tore out a throat! Its ferocity instantly eased the pressure on the defenders.

Yet amid the chaos, no one noticed the small figure who, desperately worried about Chen Qing, had secretly followed him. She was now crouched behind a burning supply cart, her tiny face flushed red by the flames, her eyes full of worry—it was A Ning!

A black-clad man flung aside by the Wolf King happened to land nearby. He spotted the little girl alone, a vicious glint in his eyes, and struggled to his feet, raising his blade to strike. "You little brat, die!"

A Ning froze in terror, her pupils suddenly contracting!

Chen Qing and the two leaders clashed, their forces exploding. In that instant, the corner of his eye caught a sight that made his heart stop—

In the flickering shadows of the flames, behind a burning supply cart, A Ning's small figure had somehow ended up hiding there! Her little face was deathly pale. Frightened by the fire and fighting, she looked like a wounded kitten, a steel blade about to fall reflected in her eyes!

"A Ning—!!!"

A roar that seemed to tear the night sky erupted from Chen Qing's throat!

The aura he had kept tightly restrained exploded in an instant!

The Ancient Star Ruins Scripture surged into motion at an unprecedented speed. No longer a trickling stream, it became a rushing river of stars! The thin layer of starlight around him blazed bright, as if countless miniature stars were being born and dying, exploding across his body!

"Get lost!!!"

He did not even bother with a complicated move. With a violent thrust of both arms, he sent his raging Starforce surging outward!

BOOM—!!!

Centered on him, a vast and terrifying force erupted, invisible yet colossal! It was like the shock wave of a volcanic eruption.

The air compressed to the limit, then suddenly swelled and burst!

The Ghost Shadow and Deadly Thorn bore the brunt. The savage grins froze on their faces, turning to fear and shock! They felt like two leaves caught in raging waves!

Their protective true qi shattered like paper. A crushing blow struck their chests, and they spewed blood as they flew uncontrollably backward, slamming into the distant darkness!

They should have been grateful that they weren't Chen Qing's target.

Every weak black-clad assassin charging in nearby was swept away by the invisible force like a hammer blow! The weapons of those closest to him twisted and shattered. Their bodies seemed to have been thrown into a millstone; before they could cry out, they burst into clouds of bloody mist beneath the power of the stars!

Those farther away were flung off like leaves in an autumn gale, their bones broken as they crashed to the ground with screams!

Even the Wolf King, in the midst of its fierce charge, staggered as the shock wave of this sudden, terrifying force struck it.

But the black-clad man raising his blade to strike A Ning was the sole focus of Chen Qing's fury!

The blade he had raised, the arm gripping it, and then his body seemed to be cast into nothingness. Starting at the tip of the blade, he disintegrated and vanished, leaving not even a wisp of ash behind. He was completely reduced to nothing, as if he had never existed in this world!

Rumble!

Cracks spread wildly through the ground like a spiderweb, radiating from beneath Chen Qing's feet!

The next instant, Chen Qing vanished from where he stood and appeared beside A Ning as if by teleportation. The gust of wind he brought with him made the flames flicker.

He swept the terrified A Ning tightly into his arms. His arm trembled slightly from fear for her and the fury still surging through him.

His voice was low, edged with a ferocity he could barely suppress, but he forced it into a sternness that allowed no argument. "Didn't I tell you to stay somewhere safe?! Who told you to follow me?!"

A Ning trembled in his arms, her little face buried in his smoke-stained blue robe. She couldn't speak; only her two small hands clung tightly to his lapels.

Chen Qing drew a deep breath, slowly suppressing the starlight and murderous intent surging in his eyes. He quickly placed A Ning behind a section of broken wall, where she would be relatively safe and far from the battle.

He crouched down, his gaze more serious than ever, and instructed her almost word by word: "Stay here! Don't come out! Don't look again!"