Li Hu had long been prepared. He ordered someone to light the beacon smoke atop the city walls. Black smoke shot straight into the sky, forming a dark cloud above Sunset City. This was the signal Lin Taichu had arranged beforehand. As soon as they saw the smoke, it meant they could act.
Zhao Hu and Qian Ming beneath the city walls saw the beacon smoke and immediately led the Vanguard Camp soldiers in retreat, pretending to be defeated. Thinking victory was within reach, the Protectorate Army soldiers charged forward, and their formation instantly fell into disorder.
"Now!" Lin Taichu shouted. "Throw everything down!"
The defenders on the walls had long been ready. Baskets of lime, logs, and huge boulders rolled down along the city walls.
Caught completely off guard, the Protectorate Army cultivators stumbled about blindly after the lime got into their eyes. Those struck by the logs screamed as they fell, and their formation collapsed in an instant.
"Retreat! Retreat now!" King Bai Ze saw that something was wrong beneath the city walls and shouted furiously. But it was already too late. Arrows rained down from the walls, and the Protectorate Army soldiers were packed together so tightly that they could barely run. Their casualties were devastating.
Standing atop the walls and watching the chaos below, Lin Taichu said to Li Hu, "Take advantage of this. Have some men leave through the east gate, circle around behind King Bai Ze, and set fire to their supplies."
Li Hu immediately nodded and sent fifty defenders slipping quietly out through the east gate. Before long, flames rose from the direction of the Protectorate Army camp, and thick smoke billowed into the sky.
"Oh no! The supplies are burning!" The Protectorate Army soldiers saw the flames and panicked completely. They no