Our Chief Commandant Appears on the Enemy City Wall!

Zhao Cheng remained unruffled. "Very well, we shall accompany you."

Feng Quan and Feng Ruo were startled; as spies for the Qin Army, their identities could not withstand a thorough investigation.

The city kept household registers and official records; if they were checked, the discrepancies would be inevitable, and their covers would be blown.

What were they to do?

Both Feng Quan and Feng Ruo began to grow anxious.

Zhao Cheng, however, was completely unbothered. If others didn't know, how could he not?

The household registers and records within the city had long since been reduced to ash by his own hand.

To attempt to verify their identities through those records was nothing but a pipe dream.

Seeing him so relaxed and composed, the soldier lowered his guard significantly. "Let's go."

Zhao Cheng followed him forward, then added, "There is one more matter I must report to the Lord. Yesterday, the Centurion in the north of the city gave us a task, ordering us to go into the mountains today to hunt game, then present it to the General and roast the meat for him."

"Since it concerns the General, we dare not delay, for we fear we cannot bear the consequences of such negligence."

"I beg you, Lord, to help us pass a message that we cannot go this morning."

The soldier froze, a look of hesitation appearing on his face.

He had not expected these hunters and woodcutters to have any connection to the General.

Anything involving the General was no small matter to him; if the hunters couldn't bear the consequences, neither could he.

"This..." he asked, "Are you certain you know the Centurion in the north of the city?"

Zhao Cheng replied, "I roasted a roe deer and a wild hare for Lord Xu just yesterday, and Lord Xu even praised my skills. Otherwise, how would I have the honor of roasting meat for the General?"

It was no secret that Xu Shan had a personal friendship with General Han, and the soldier had heard as much; hearing this, he felt it sounded exactly like something Xu Shan would do.

After weighing his options, he said, "Then come with me to the north of the city to verify this with Lord Xu. If this is a lie, you shall be executed on the spot!"

Zhao Cheng agreed repeatedly.

The soldier led the three of them toward the north of the city, explaining the situation at every strict patrol checkpoint along the way.

The three of them soon arrived at the north of the city.

Upon seeing Xu Shan, the soldier immediately explained the situation, and Xu Shan chuckled.

He looked at the three of them and said, "You three are certainly bold. With such a commotion last night, you actually slept until dawn."

"Very well, I ordered this. This lad is a master at roasting meat, and the General has been in low spirits lately; perhaps eating some roasted meat will improve his mood."

The soldier was reassured and left after offering a salute.

Xu Shan gave Zhao Cheng his orders, commanding him to catch at least two wild roe deer before noon, and then allowed Zhao Cheng to leave the city and enter the mountains.

Once they entered the forest, the three of them ventured deeper and deeper until they spotted the markers and secret signals of their allied forces.

Zhao Cheng said, "Send word to the General that Ye County can be taken within the day. Tell him to wait for my signal; once the time is right, he may launch the assault."

Feng Quan and Feng Ruo were confused. "What signal should we set? If we are already inside the city, it won't be easy to pass a signal."

Feng Ruo added, "Lord, you don't intend to use the opportunity of roasting meat to assassinate the enemy commander, do you?"

"That is the heart of the enemy's stronghold; please, do not do anything reckless."

Zhao Cheng said impatiently, "Why ask so many questions? Just pass the message as I instructed."

Feng Quan and the other looked at each other, but having no choice, they dispersed, following the secret markers to relay the intelligence to multiple locations.

As for Zhao Cheng, he slipped into the deep mountains to play the part of a hunter, moving through the dense forest like the wind as he searched for his prey.

He had been a skilled hunter in the past, and now that his body refinement was complete and his Primordial Qi was as vast as the sea, catching two roe deer was hardly a difficult task.

Before long, the wooden spear in his hand was already skewered with three roe deer, and he roasted one on the spot.

Just as the roe deer's skin turned golden brown and the meat became charred on the outside and tender on the inside, footsteps approached rapidly, followed by an angry shout.

"Who is lighting a fire here? Could it be Qin Army spies!"

This familiar line again?

Zhao Cheng was speechless.

He looked up to see two soldiers approaching quickly, their eyes glued to the roe deer as they swallowed hard.

Zhao Cheng said nothing.

The two reached him and shouted, "You lit a fire and created smoke—you're trying to signal the enemy, aren't you?"

Zhao Cheng acted as if he hadn't heard, calmly picking up two stones from the ground and playing with them in his palm.

Seeing Zhao Cheng ignore them, the two soldiers grew furious. "It must be a Qin spy! Seize him!"

As they spoke, they actually lunged forward, intending to pin Zhao Cheng to the ground and subdue him.

Zhao Cheng merely smiled and flicked his fingers.

With a burst of Primordial Qi, the stones shot out like bullets, emitting a sharp, whistling sound.

Swish!

Before the two soldiers could even reach Zhao Cheng, stones pierced through their brows, and they collapsed stiffly to the ground, silenced instantly.

[You have killed an enemy, stolen fifteen years of life]

[You have killed an enemy, stolen eleven years of life]

"Do you think it's still yesterday? You still want to extort meat from me?"

Zhao Cheng curled his lip, grabbed the two men, and tossed them up to hang from the tree branches.

Now that the matter of the mole in the city was known to all and Zhao Cheng's identity was confirmed, there was no longer any need to worry about alerting the enemy.

After finishing his roasted meat, Zhao Cheng estimated the time and headed toward Ye County, carrying two roe deer.

Along the way, whenever he encountered enemy soldiers who tried to extort his roe deer, he killed them with a flick of his finger and hung their corpses from the treetops.

By the time he reached Yu Pass, he had stolen over one hundred and forty years of life—a decent harvest.

"Not bad, not bad. The time is still early; I can still make it back for the General's lunch."

"You there, send this man to the East City Camp. Tell them that Xu Shan heard the General has been worried about the city's defenses lately and is deeply concerned. He feels ashamed that he is unable to share the burden... He happened to encounter a hunter recently who is a master at roasting meat, so he is presenting him along with the military supplies to the General, to roast meat for the General and ease his troubles."

"Alright, go. Wait—one more thing. If the General refuses, say this..."

The string of flattery was so long that his subordinate couldn't even remember it all.

While struggling to memorize the words and muttering them under his breath, the man dazed and confused led Zhao Cheng toward the East City Camp.

East of Ye County, Qin Army camp, Flying Cavalry arrived to report.

"General, the intelligence from the city has been returned."

"Bring it here."

Meng Wu and Meng Tian sat in the tent and began to read the reports.

Zhao Cheng was not the only death spy who had infiltrated the city; reports from other subsequent infiltrators had also been sent out, allowing for cross-verification.

The more they read, the stranger their expressions became.

"...Not long after the Hour of Hai, the Night Patrol Battalion in the city suddenly mobilized to surround and kill in the west of the city. Upon investigation, it was found that a comrade was creating chaos everywhere. The enemy forces could not capture him and repeatedly deployed troops to surround and kill... In the west of the city, corpses were laid out everywhere, every arrow piercing the throat..."

"...In the middle of the Hour of Hai, a fire broke out at the Government Office, and the sounds of slaughter rose everywhere. Over a thousand men besieged the office but could not take it for a long time. Hundreds were killed or wounded, and when the commander died, the thousand men fled in a rout. The Chief Commandant chased the thousand men alone, all the way into the east of the city..."

"...The city camp deployed another two thousand troops to surround and kill. The Chief Commandant fought throughout the city, breaking through encirclements everywhere, until he was finally trapped in a Dark Alley. The enemy was bloodthirsty and charged wave after wave. I was terrified and unable to provide rescue..."

"...By the Hour of Zi, the surrounding troops grew fewer. The defending general realized that more than half had been killed or wounded and fled in a rout, with the Chief Commandant in hot pursuit. Later, I entered the alley and saw bones like mountains and rivers of blood. Truly, one man can hold the pass against ten thousand; the Chief Commandant's divine courage is unmatched..."

The tent fell into a dead silence. The father and son had been startled at first, but as they read on, they became increasingly speechless.

This was merely the cross-verified information seen by other moles.

How many great feats had Zhao Cheng accomplished in the places they hadn't seen?

Meng Tian was sweating with excitement, scratching his head as he read. "A death spy can do this? Ah Cheng turned the inside upside down. No wonder the Han Army on the city walls was in such a mess last night."

"It's just that, facing such a dangerous encirclement, Ah Cheng must have had a brush with death to break out."

Meng Wu also sighed at Zhao Cheng's recklessness. "The enemy actually surrounded the boy in a Dark Alley, letting him use the terrain to his advantage; otherwise, it would have been truly dangerous."

"Han Jiang is likely going to be so angry he coughs up blood."

"Look at this one; it's very detailed."

He picked up the report on Feng Quan and Feng Ruo, his expression quickly turning serious.

The strength and weaknesses of the city's defenses and the condition of the walls were detailed with great precision.

This intelligence alone was enough for Meng Wu to break the city within four days.

However, it ended with a message from Zhao Cheng, saying that they could attack the city today and that Meng Wu should wait for his signal.

Meng Wu examined it carefully.

He flipped the letter over and over for a long time, then frowned deeply while rubbing his head.

"...Where is the signal?"

He told This General to wait for his signal, but he should have made it clear what the signal was!

Meng Wu was furious. How could he leave out such an important detail?

Without knowing the signal, how was he supposed to make arrangements?

Meng Tian was also caught between laughter and tears. "Perhaps Ah Cheng was afraid the intelligence would be intercepted and the plan exposed, so he could only send the signal when the time was right?"

Meng Wu rubbed his temples and decided to trust Zhao Cheng. "Let's use a two-pronged approach. If today doesn't work, we can still break the city within four days."

"According to this intelligence, send men to secretly dig at the foundation of the walls, and send others to lie in wait at the weak defense points in the south of the city."

"If we truly receive that signal from Zhao Cheng today and the timing is right, we will attack the city immediately."

Orders were quickly issued. Many of the commanders in the army were confused by these arrangements, but they did not question them and immediately began to act.

At the end of the Hour of Si, the Qin Army suddenly pressed forward, setting up camp outside the enemy's firing range and engaging in a close-quarters standoff with the Han Army on the city walls.

A murderous aura pressed down like a dark cloud.

The atmosphere was so heavy it felt as if it might drip water.

Han Jiang stood upon the Parapet, his brows tightly knit, his heart burning with anxiety.

Amidst this suffocating atmosphere, a subordinate suddenly came to report.

"General, Centurion Xu Shan from the north of the city has delivered military supplies."

Han Jiang waved his hand, "Just put them in the storehouse."

The subordinate continued, "Xu Shan said he knows you have been worried lately, and he is ashamed that he cannot share your burden..."

"...so he has offered many wild game and a hunter skilled in roasting meat, saying this man is to roast meat for you."

Han Jiang grew impatient. What time was it, for heaven's sake? Where would he find the appetite?

"I won't eat!"

The subordinate did not retreat, so Han Jiang barked, "If there is anything else, say it all at once!"

"He said that if you roast meat on the city wall, it will show such composure that it will strike a blow to the morale of the Qin Army, demonstrating your strategic mastery and making the Qin Army suspicious and fearful, daring not to attack lightly."

Han Jiang narrowed his eyes upon hearing this, staring at the subordinate until the man began to break into a cold sweat.

Only then did he speak, "Is he trying to teach me how to do my job?"

"He doesn't know a damn thing!"

"Tell him to get lost!"

"Yes!"

The subordinate took the order and left in a huff, prepared to go back and berate the man.

Just then, another urgent report arrived.

"General, a secret letter from Wan City."

"Bring it here quickly."

Han Jiang opened the secret letter, glanced at it twice, and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha, reinforcements from the Chu State will arrive tomorrow. With an attack from both inside and out, we can surround and slaughter the Qin Army, wiping them out entirely right here."

"Splendid!"

His heart was filled with relief, and he suddenly called out to the subordinate who was just leaving.

"Wait a moment!"

"Let that hunter in. I think what Xu Shan said isn't entirely wrong. Today, I shall roast meat on the city wall and let the Qin Army see my composure and strategic mastery!"

A quarter of an hour later.

Meng Wu stood in his camp, gazing toward the city wall, when he suddenly noticed Han Jiang had appeared there, looking back at him.

There was no longer any trace of worry or deep thought in Han Jiang's eyes; instead, he appeared completely composed, meeting his gaze without flinching, full of confidence, and looking much healthier than before.

Meng Wu frowned, sensing that there might be a change in the situation.

Could it be that reinforcements are arriving?

Or is this a feint?

As he was guessing and deducing, he suddenly noticed a familiar figure flash across the top of the wall.

Meng Wu raised an eyebrow and looked in that direction.

The figure appeared and disappeared behind the Parapet; he had only barely caught a glimpse of it in his peripheral vision, and now it was gone again.

Meng Wu was filled with doubt and uncertainty. Could he have been mistaken?

But the next moment, the figure wandered back to the edge of the wall.

He saw a tall, sturdy figure with a face obscured by wood ash, yet still showing signs of heroism. He was running back and forth carrying two Roe Deer, appearing busy, yet constantly loitering right at the edge of the wall.

Who else could it be but Zhao Cheng!?