Inside Ye County.
Torches stretched like a long dragon, slicing through the city's night. Shouts and pounding footsteps shattered the stillness and disturbed the sound sleepers.
The Night Patrol Battalion's soldiers poured into the streets, searching every alley and lane in the west of the city for traces of Qin spies. They even barged into civilians' homes to search, leaving countless families gripped by fear and afraid to go back to sleep.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
As bowstrings twanged, arrows suddenly shot from the rooftops of civilian homes. Their gleaming tips pierced the throats of the patrolling soldiers one after another. In the blink of an eye, four or five men collapsed.
The arrows never let up. Another volley came, and four more men fell. The last soldier dropped his longsword and fled in a panic, letting out a shrill cry.
"Over there! He's over there!"
He hadn't even seen what the figure looked like before every one of his companions was dead.
Zhao Cheng leaped down from the rooftop and retrieved arrows and a strong bow from the bodies.
The strong bow he'd used earlier had developed cracks from his frequent use. It wouldn't last much longer.
After slinging the bow over his shoulder and securing the arrows, Zhao Cheng glanced back.
Through a crack in the wooden window of the house, a pair of child's eyes peered out, trying to make out what was happening outside.
Zhao Cheng waved his hand and snuffed out the torch. Darkness swallowed the courtyard, concealing the gruesome sight of blood flowing everywhere.
Then he shot an arrow into the wall beside the window. "Close the window!"
The adult inside gave a frightened shudder and slammed it shut.
Zhao Cheng leaped away and vanished into the night.
A voice rang out through the night wind.
"The Qin Army does not kill civilians. Surrender early and you'll be spared."
The more the Han patrol commander searched, the more unbelievable it seemed. The Qin spy appeared and vanished like a ghost, and his archery had reached the Spirit Communion Realm.
No matter how they tried to surround him, he broke through with ease, taking the lives of one patrol squad after another.
More often than not, his men were wiped out before they even saw the enemy's face.
Worst of all, the fellow always left one survivor behind, letting him flee in a panic and report what had happened. The tale was enough to leave the other soldiers trembling with fear.
As a result, many patrol soldiers no longer dared to act, making them harder and harder to command.
With no other choice, he personally executed the survivor who had fled back!
"That's what happens to deserters! Even if you're the last man standing, raise the alarm at once. Your comrades nearby will come to your aid, and he'll have nowhere to hide!"
"Keep searching! Turn the earth three feet deep if you have to—find him!"
"With so many of us, are we really unable to take down a single Qin spy?"
He'd never imagined that one Qin spy could be such a thorn in their side.
He couldn't help growing frantic.
At that moment, on the city wall, Han Jiang paced back and forth with his brow tightly furrowed.
With the Qin Army besieging the city, he couldn't sleep at all. He was racking his brains for a way out when he saw the city lit up, with countless torches rushing here and there.
He summoned a subordinate to ask what was happening. Only then did he learn that a Qin spy had entered the city.
A Qin spy slipping into the city had been within his expectations. Resources were scarce, and once the northern entrance was opened, even the strictest searches would let a few slip through the gap.
What he couldn't understand was why they were making such a huge commotion over one spy. Once discovered, the man should have been trapped with no way out. They only needed to capture and kill him. How could he cause such chaos in the city?
"It's only one Qin spy. Why all this fuss? What is Du Shuang even doing?"
He frowned, his tone reproachful.
"This subordinate doesn't know either."
Han Jiang looked out at the Qin Army stretching beyond sight, then at the chaos within the city. Irritation welled up inside him.
He waved his hand. "Give him one hour to find and kill that spy. Otherwise, Commander Du can come see me with his head in his hands!"
"Yes!"
Han Jiang shook his head in anger. "Not one of them is any use!"
He was so anxious that his insides felt scorched, blisters filling his mouth. Before the old ones had even gone away, new ones were already growing.
Unable to sleep, he continued racking his brains for a way out.
The Qin Army had massed its forces in the east and south, leaving the west seemingly open as an escape route. But Han Jiang knew it was a dead end.
Meng Wu was waiting for him to lose patience and break out through the west, then trap and annihilate him with an ambush. A breakout would mean certain death.
After turning it over in his mind, he could see no option but to hold fast and await reinforcements.
"By now, the military report should have reached Wan City and Xinzheng. If reinforcements are coming, they'll arrive in two or three days."
"When Qin State exerted its pressure, Chu State also said it would send support. Why haven't we heard anything yet?"
West of the city.
Feng Quan carefully avoided the night patrols.
Every so often, he would quickly hide, his heart pounding as he evaded the guards, then continue creeping toward the military supplies. The journey was perilous, and progress painfully slow.
But as he went on, he suddenly noticed that the patrols were getting thinner. Before, he'd encountered a squad every hundred paces.
Now he'd gone more than three hundred paces without running into another squad.
He couldn't help wondering, "Why are the guards growing more lax the farther in I go? Could this place not be a priority for the military supplies?"
As he wondered, another squad of soldiers hurried over. Feng Quan quickly hid in the shadow of a corner, using a bundle of firewood to conceal himself.
From the dark corner, he heard the soldiers' anxious voices.
"Why were we suddenly ordered to the west of the city?"
"Alas, there's a Qin spy causing trouble over there. He's killed forty or fifty men from the Night Patrol Battalion. Most of the battalion has been sent out, but they still can't catch so much as a glimpse of the fellow."
"The general gave a death order. If they don't catch that spy within an hour, Commander Du will have to go see him with his head in his hands!"
"A Qin spy killed forty or fifty men?"
"Can that be right? Has the Qin Army broken into the city? How could one spy kill so many?"
"Exactly! But it seems there's only one of them. None of our men have even seen what he looks like. Everyone who has seen him is dead!"
"The guys up ahead are scared out of their wits. That's why they've sent us poor souls, who know nothing, to die in their place."
"How do you know all this?"
"I pulled some strings to get transferred from the west of the city. Now they've sent me right back there again. I went to all that trouble for nothing!"
"..."
Their voices faded into the distance, leaving Feng Quan stunned.
The Chief Commandant really was a mighty hero!
This was the first time he'd heard of a Death Spy who could openly kill people all over the place. And judging by the chaos, the other side didn't seem to have any way of dealing with the Chief Commandant!
With so many soldiers streaming toward the west of the city, the pressure on Feng Quan eased considerably.
He quietly slipped into the area around the guard post beneath the city wall. He studied the place carefully and committed every detail to memory.
Then, under cover of night, he followed the wall, searching for a weak point in its foundations...
[You killed an enemy and seized twelve years of lifespan!] [You killed an enemy and seized nineteen years of lifespan!] [You killed an enemy and seized two years of lifespan!]
"Heh, that Han banner's flying there. Could that be a Government Office?"
While the Night Patrol Battalion was desperately searching the west of the city, Zhao Cheng had already broken through and made his way to the Government Office district, slightly north of the city center.
Seeing the Han banner fluttering in the night, he grinned.
The Government Office district was the heart of Ye County's power. The main office housed the county government, along with its treasury, household registers, bamboo slips, and emergency provisions. It was a key part of the city's defenses. If he stirred things up here, wouldn't the enemy fall into chaos?
He crept beneath a watchtower and raised his bow.
Two arrows hissed through the air, and the soldiers keeping watch atop the tower toppled down. Zhao Cheng sprang up and seized the tower's high vantage point, surveying the layout of the Government Office district.
From such a commanding position, the layout and troop deployments of the entire district came into view.
Three courtyards stood on a rammed-earth platform. Bronze chime bells hung beneath the eaves to sound the alarm. The storage area lay to the south and was guarded by more than a hundred soldiers. It was clear at a glance that this was a heavily guarded site.
There were also soldiers keeping watch beneath the high tower.
After observing for a moment, Zhao Cheng quickly formed a plan. Taking advantage of his position, he waited until the patrol soldiers came within range, then drew his bow and killed them.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The arrows tore through the night. A dozen patrol soldiers fell one after another.
Some of the quicker ones realized something was wrong and immediately raised the alarm, pounding on a copper gong with all their might.
"Enemy attack!"
The area below descended into chaos. Many soldiers rushed over, and during the confusion, quite a few more fell in quick succession.
The soldiers were horrified. Fortunately, the County Commandant arrived in time and immediately struck the bronze bell beneath the eaves. As its sound rolled through the district, he ordered the soldiers to shoot back at Zhao Cheng atop the high tower.
"Shoot him down!"
"Everyone else, surround the tower! He can't escape!"
The County Commandant had plenty of combat experience. It was only because the Qin Army had invaded and Han had sent Han Jiang to lead the defense of Ye County that he was left to guard the Government Office and manage the supplies.
Now, seeing a lone Qin spy daring to storm the Government Office, he couldn't help sneering.
"Climbing the tower? You've cut off your own escape route! Let's see how you get away now."
But Zhao Cheng had never planned to run. Standing atop the tower, he calmly rained arrows down on the soldiers below.
The soldiers lacked the arm strength to draw a bow fully. Even with a strong bow, they could barely pull it back—and shooting upward made it all the harder.
Their arrows lost all momentum before reaching the tower. Even if one hit Zhao Cheng, it would do little more than sting.
By contrast, Zhao Cheng stood above them, drawing his bow like a full moon and loosing arrows like flowing water, one after another without pause. He showed no sign of tiring.
Each arrow claimed a life, earning him at least three to five years of lifespan, and sometimes as many as twenty or thirty.
In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, his lifespan had increased by another five hundred years!
More than half the soldiers below had already fallen, each killed with a single arrow to the throat.
The others realized something was wrong and began retreating. None dared shoot back at Zhao Cheng any longer.
One by one, they shrank back.
The County Commandant's expression finally changed. Was this damned fellow an enemy Death Spy?
How could they have sent such a mighty warrior to serve as a Death Spy?
"Fall back, surround him, and wait for reinforcements! He can't escape!"
The bronze bell had already rung. The city's Night Patrol Battalion would arrive before long. Once the troops closed in, the man would be trapped with no way out!
The County Commandant was confident.
But he hadn't expected the man atop the tower to have a range beyond anything he could imagine.
Even after the soldiers retreated beyond the normal range of their bows, several were still killed. They had to fall back again before they were finally out of range.
Then came a sharp crack from above. The strong bow had actually snapped in the man's hands!
The County Commandant stared in stunned disbelief. What incredible strength!
Before he could react, the figure leaped down. He slapped the wooden posts of the tower a few times with both hands and landed safely, as if he were a flying tiger!
The County Commandant trembled with fear.
What in the hell was this man? He'd just flown down from there!
But he'd abandoned the tower instead of holding it. And he'd dared come down. Wasn't that just asking to die?
"Charge! Surround him and kill him here!"
The soldiers had been holding back their anger for a while. Seeing that Zhao Cheng had broken his bow and had no more arrows to shoot, they immediately surged forward, intent on surrounding and killing him!
What they hadn't expected was that the man didn't run. He drew his sword and charged straight at a hundred men!
The County Commandant burst out laughing. "How reckless!"
"No wonder the Qin Army used him as a pawn. So the Death Spy who slipped into the city was just a brute."
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