My Qin Army's spy, infiltrating the Han Army to defend the city?

Centurion Xu Shan watched with a smirk as Zhao Cheng finished dressing the rabbit and set it over the fire to roast.

In his eyes, a hunter's family wouldn't starve to death if they went a day or two without rice.

As long as his family remained hungry, this hunter would be forced to head into the mountains tomorrow to hunt with his life on the line.

Once he returned from the hunt, wouldn't he have to bring the game to the city and roast meat for him personally?

Xu Shan was quite satisfied with his own scheme, slicing a piece of meat off the roasting roe deer and stuffing it into his mouth.

As the meat hit his tongue, the savory aroma blossomed, leaving Xu Shan in a state of pure bliss.

"Hah, delicious!"

The Qin Army had been besieging the city for several days, and the garrison's rations were growing increasingly meager. He hadn't tasted meat in days, let alone something roasted to such perfection.

If only...

Xu Shan's eyes darted around, appraising Zhao Cheng once more before saying, "Come down from the mountain tomorrow and report to me with your catch."

"This..." Zhao Cheng's expression turned troubled. "What does the officer need this lowly one to do?"

Xu Shan laughed. "I see you are tall and sturdy, and quite skilled at hunting and roasting. Why not join the ranks and contribute your strength to resisting the Qin Army?"

Zhao Cheng froze, his heart jolting in shock.

Wait, I'm a Qin Army spy. You want me to join the Han Army and defend the city??

Seeing him stunned and looking utterly shocked, Xu Shan chuckled. "Don't be afraid. Relax, you won't have to fight. Just keep doing what you're good at—go into the mountains, bag some game, and roast it for the General!"

"This is a grand opportunity. It's only because I have a close personal relationship with the General that you're getting such a lucky chance to roast meat for him."

"Roast meat for the General!?"

Zhao Cheng was even more shocked.

I'm currently fretting over how to kill your General, and you want me to go roast meat for him?

Wouldn't that mean your General is finished?

I thought this guy had some brains, but he's the ultimate teammate from hell!

"You're unwilling!?" Xu Shan's face darkened instantly, a flicker of killing intent surfacing.

Zhao Cheng nodded repeatedly. "Willing, this lowly one is more than willing! It is my honor to roast meat for the General!"

"That's more like it." Xu Shan's expression softened considerably. "With the Qin Army besieging the city lately, those despicable, cunning Qin soldiers haven't dared to attack, but they've insidiously built dams to cut off the water supply, leaving the city nearly parched!"

"The General has been stressed and in a foul mood lately. If you go and roast some game for him, perhaps he'll be so pleased he'll even grant you a rank. Then, will your family ever have to worry about going hungry again?"

"Many thanks, Officer! Many thanks, Officer!" Zhao Cheng thanked him profusely, appearing entirely sincere, and even suggested, "How about I go roast meat for the General today?"

The Centurion looked at the roasting roe deer and shook his head. "What meat do you have to roast right now? Besides, a roe deer must be eaten fresh off the fire; it's no good once it's cold."

"Tomorrow it is."

"Alright, get going. Report to me tomorrow with your catch. If I don't see you..."

Xu Shan's gaze turned dangerous.

Zhao Cheng promised repeatedly that he would be there tomorrow without fail.

As he walked out of the camp, the sounds of merry feasting drifted from behind him.

For the soldiers, eating roasted meat was nothing short of a carnival.

Following the markers left by Feng Quan and Feng Ruo, Zhao Cheng soon rendezvoused with the two in an alleyway.

Seeing him, Feng Quan and Feng Ruo both let out sighs of relief.

"Sir, that was too dangerous."

"We were terrified for you the whole time."

Zhao Cheng smiled. "The harvest this time is not small."

The two hurriedly pressed for details. Once Zhao Cheng explained the situation, their expressions turned bizarre.

"This... the Han Army truly isn't human. Not only do they want the hunter's meat, they won't even let the man go."

"But we're Qin Army spies. Him asking you to roast meat for the commander—isn't that delivering yourself right to his doorstep?"

"Not necessarily. Even if you go to roast meat for the General, the area will be swarming with heavy guards. What could you possibly do?"

"At the very least, I can obtain critical intelligence."

Whether it was Feng Quan or Feng Ruo, both instinctively felt that assassinating a commander on the ramparts of an enemy city was no different from seeking death.

But Zhao Cheng knew his own situation. While slaughtering the entire garrison alone might be troublesome, once he got close to the commander, killing him would be effortless; no number of men could stop him.

He thought for a moment and said, "I have my own plans for this. Tomorrow, you two will follow me out of the city and pass the intelligence along to the General."

"Have you prepared a place to hide?"

"Follow me, sir."

Feng Quan led Zhao Cheng toward the south side of the East Market.

In Ye County, the residential areas were divided into wards, totaling twenty-three in all. The area south of the East Market, as mentioned by Zhao Cheng, was precisely the Commoner Ward where the common folk resided.

Feng Quan and Feng Ruo had already grasped Zhao Cheng's intent while he was probing the Big-Headed man, and by now, they had already prepared a place to stay.

The three men traversed the city. Along the way, they heard the people of Ye County in a state of panic; every household was running low on water and grain, and they viewed the Qin Army with a mixture of hatred and fear.

Upon reaching the south of the East Market, the three arrived at a corner of the Commoner Ward, where three inconspicuous civilian houses stood.

Feng Quan and Feng Ruo led Zhao Cheng into the middle house, shut the wooden door, and walked into the inner room. A withered old man sat on the ground, bound and staring at the three of them with a face full of terror.

"My Lord, these three houses are in a secluded area with little contact with other neighbors. No one in the city pays them any mind. Since we three are ostensibly neighbors, we have tied up the occupants of all three houses."

"Whether to kill them or not is for you to decide, My Lord."

Zhao Cheng looked at the old man and shook his head. "No need to kill them. Tie them up well and throw them into the cellar. Make sure it's secure so he cannot make a sound."

Although killing could grant him longevity, he disdained slaughtering unarmed commoners.

Feng Ruo and his companion obeyed the order, handled the matter swiftly, and returned to report.

Zhao Cheng looked at the sky. "We act at nightfall. You two go and scout the military strength and the reality of their defenses, then relay it to the General tomorrow."

"I will go and check the grain stores..."

Deep in the night, the sound of the watchman's clapper echoed through the city.

Three black shadows slipped out of the Commoner Ward without a sound.

The leader stepped into the night and vanished instantly, like a wild leopard.

Of the other two, one crept toward the foot of the eastern city wall, while the other headed toward the south. These two directions were the main axes of the Qin Army's planned assault; the enemy would certainly divide their forces to defend them, with some points being strong and others weak.

Beyond that, they needed to scout for sections of the wall that had fallen into disrepair, such as spots prone to water seepage during the rainy season or areas where the foundation had settled, to facilitate the Qin Army's breach of the wall's weakest points.

Currently, the Han Army in the city was on high alert, with strict security and soldiers patrolling everywhere in squads of ten, swords in hand and bows on their backs.

Once Zhao Cheng entered the city, shielded by the night, he felt as comfortable as a dragon returning to the sea.

He darted across rooftops and low walls, silent and agile as a wild cat in the dark.

Before long, he locked onto a patrolling squad of soldiers.

Time to take some pressure off Feng Quan and the others.

With that thought, Zhao Cheng descended lightly. He stood silently behind the last soldier in the patrol and grabbed the man's neck with one hand, squeezing!

With a snap, the soldier's neck shattered instantly; his head lolled, and he was dead.

You have killed an enemy. You have plundered fifteen years of life.

The snapping sound seemed abrupt in the quiet of the night. The soldier in front turned his head. "Xiao Jiu, did you step on something... ugh!"

The moment he turned, his pupils contracted.

He saw that Xiao Jiu had already collapsed to the ground, dead. Before him, a sturdy, tall black shadow was rushing forward, wielding his own longsword. The blade grew larger and larger in his vision!

Swoosh!

A head flew into the air.

As blood sprayed, the squad finally reacted and fell into chaos.

"Who is it!?"

"Enemy infiltration!"

"It's a Qin spy!"

"Sound the alarm, sound the—"

Someone was about to strike the bronze gong at his waist when Zhao Cheng's hunting knife flew out, embedding itself instantly into his throat and killing him from a distance!

The patrolling soldiers were terrified. Several of them, in their panic, swarmed toward Zhao Cheng.

But in this environment, they were no different from wild rabbits in the forest to Zhao Cheng.

The vital energy filling his body surged like a landslide or a tsunami.

With a mere flick of his hand, his longsword swept across.

Swoosh!

A soft sound.

The heads of the four charging soldiers flew off simultaneously. They collapsed in a heap before Zhao Cheng, blood spraying and flowing in a stream.

The remaining soldiers saw this and their pupils shrank. Their hair stood on end, their legs went weak, and they stood frozen, not daring to advance.

"A... a demon!"

They dared not move, but Zhao Cheng had no intention of letting them go. He charged forward and easily cut down every last one of them.

Amidst the blood and corpses on the ground, he paced away, his silhouette merging back into the night.

You have killed an enemy. You have plundered seventeen years of life.

You have killed an enemy. You have plundered nine years of life.

[You have slain an enemy, seizing twenty-three years of lifespan.]

"Tsk, so many short-lived wretches."

Zhao Cheng tested the bow he had seized; he wasn't entirely satisfied, but it would suffice for now.

A short while later, the corpses were discovered within the city, and as the urgent clanging of gongs rang out, the west side of the city fell into chaos.

More troops flooded into the west side, pursuing the direction of the bloodstains and footprints, but they had not gone far before they encountered yet another squad of fallen soldiers.

"Another squad! Every one of them killed by a single arrow to the throat!"

"Just how many people have the Qin Army infiltrated? They've killed twenty of our men, and yet they haven't suffered a single casualty?"

"Looking at the footprints, it seems to be only one person!"

"How is that possible!? One man killed twenty people and retreated unscathed?"

In an instant, everyone was chilled to the bone.

The commander responsible for the city's security roared, "Keep searching! We cannot let him run wild in this city. Keep the squads close together, surround them from the west, and don't let a single fly escape!"

"I refuse to believe that one man can slaughter the entire Night Patrol Battalion!"

Torches illuminated the west side of the city as a massive number of patrolling soldiers flooded the streets and alleys, closing in on the direction Zhao Cheng had departed.