Reclaiming Houting

"Commander Yuan."

A deep voice pulled Yuan Hao back from his murderous fantasies.

Suppressing his impatience, Yuan Hao turned to look at the newcomer and smiled:

"General Zhou, are you ready?"

The area around Houting County was the first line of defense established by the Great Yan to prevent the southward incursion of the Barbarian Tribe, and it had been under its control for a long time.

It consists of three cities, with Houting County as the main city, and twelve permanent military camps, forming a defensive network that stretches for hundreds of miles from east to west.

After taking command of the mixed cavalry that had marched south to reinforce the city, and after a brief rest, he and several commanders urgently assigned siege tasks.

They had to take the entire defensive line before Zong Qingsheng's central army arrived, and be ready to face an attack from the south at any time.

General Zhou pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice:

"We're ready, but I've checked the snow accumulation near Houting County; it's quite deep, which might not be ideal for a large-scale attack."

"Snow?"

Yuan Hao murmured to himself, glancing at the border town in the distance, amidst the wind and snow.

Snow that covers your ankles is considered heavy snow, and snow that reaches your height is considered very high.

But the months-long blizzards in the Northern Border have left the snow in this wilderness almost enough to cover century-old coniferous forests.

On the plains, snow accumulation of seven or eight zhang (approximately 3.3-4 meters) is common, while snow accumulation of five or six zhang (approximately 3.3-4 meters) is considered shallow. In some low-lying valleys, the snow is almost completely filled.

Heavy cavalry, including the riders, their mounts, and their heavy armor, could weigh several tons, making it impossible for them to maintain their speed and launch attacks across such Snow Plain.

This iron cavalry was able to travel a thousand miles south in half a month entirely because the high-level cultivators accompanying the army took turns day and night to use their profound cultivation to disperse the snow on the ground, clearing a path through the sea of snow for the tens of thousands of heavy cavalry behind them.

After a moment's thought, Yuan Hao chuckled softly:

"It's alright."

General Zhou hesitated upon seeing this:

"Commander Yuan, are you sure you're only taking one battalion to attack Marquis Pavilion?"

Yuan Hao smiled and shook his head upon hearing this:

"General Zhou, as I said before, the cities around Houting County are basically empty; a single battalion of soldiers is more than enough."

"Empty city."

General Zhou frowned upon hearing this, wanting to inquire about the source of the intelligence, but he held back.

They had been staying near Dali Mountain and were unaware of much information, while Yuan Hao, having been parachuted in, should know some intelligence that they were unaware of.

A moment of silence,

General Zhou sighed and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture:

"Since Commander Yuan has already demonstrated his strategic acumen, then I, Zhou, will say no more. May your military prowess continue."

Yuan Hao's grin:

"Then I will take General Zhou's auspicious words into consideration."

He paused for a moment,

Yuan Hao then gave the instructions again:

"Also, General Zhou, don't forget to detonate the Cloud Qi Bomb immediately after I take the city walls. This is Lady Lou Ji's order."

Having said that,

Ignoring the confusion in General Zhou's eyes, Yuan Hao leaped and disappeared into the snowstorm.

Houting County, a separate courtyard.

"Squeak--"

With a soft creak of the wooden door to the side room, a handsome man wearing a loosely draped bathrobe walked out of the room and into the courtyard.

As I walked, I lazily glanced up at the still gloomy sky.

As a being in the Fusion Realm, he doesn't need to sleep, but not sleeping would be too boring.

Because he was placed under house arrest.

After being ripped off by that Xu Changtian and barely escaping with his life, he arrived outside Houting County. There, he was personally welcomed into the city by the local general, and then immediately placed under house arrest in this villa under the guise of "protection."

Thinking of this,

Li Yunqing had already entered the dilapidated pavilion in the courtyard, brushing off the snow as he sighed.

Actually, being placed under house arrest wasn't a big deal; he had long been prepared for it. But the problem was that these sects were inhumane, not even providing him with any entertainment facilities while he was under house arrest.

Forget about hiring male prostitutes to keep them company, they don't even have a picture book to pass the time.

Aside from sleeping, all he could do was sit in the courtyard, admiring the snow and lost in thought.

As for cultivation?

Cultivation is impossible.

If he continues cultivating, he might break through to the third-grade Grandmaster level if he's not careful, and then his older brother will probably have something to say about it.

To avoid internal strife among brothers, it's best not to engage in such unnecessary testing.

Taking out half a pot of unfinished monkey wine from his Sumeru Ring, Li Yunqing began another day of tedious snow-viewing.

Unfortunately, under the thick snow clouds in the sky, the light during the day was almost indistinguishable from that at night.

Without circulating the Cultivation Method, one can only see a dark mass falling downwards, but circulating the Cultivation Method might attract the attention of the sects and border troops outside.

Living under someone else's roof, and to avoid being suspected of plotting something and then disappearing, Li Yunqing ultimately chose to endure it.

It may look ugly, but black snow is still snow. Just bear with it.

There's nothing shameful about being alive.

As Li Yunqing drank glass after glass of wine, he was just beginning to feel slightly tipsy when he suddenly heard a commotion outside the courtyard.

Although he didn't use any cultivation Cultivation Method, his physical attributes as a fourth-grade Fusion Realm cultivator were still undeniable.

At first, the noise was very quiet, and Li Yunqing even thought he had misheard, because those who could serve as guards in the County Office were basically elites from various sects.

While they may not be able to remain unmoved even if Mount Tai collapses before them, they are still a group of battle-hardened veterans, and they can still do the most basic thing of obeying orders in peacetime.

However, Li Yunqing quickly dismissed the idea, as the noise spread rapidly.

The County Office office seemed to be in chaos, and he could even hear the neighing and hooves of these Demon Horse.

Is someone riding a horse inside the County Office?

Are they running away?

After a few breaths of silence,

After careful consideration, Li Yunqing gently placed the wine cup on the stone table and prepared to get up and go out to check the situation.

The next moment,

A beam of light suddenly appeared in the sky, forming a sphere of light about ten feet in size in the sky above the north of Houting County.

The moment Li Yunqing saw the ball of light, his pupils contracted.

He had seen such a sphere of light once before.

Cloud Qi Bomb.

As he pondered this, the surface of the sphere of light in the sky began to crack layer by layer.

Light radiated from the crack, so dazzling it could almost blind a person.

At the moment the sphere of light shattered completely, an invisible shockwave instantly spread out, creating a void several hundred feet wide between the dark clouds in the sky!

Amidst the surging clouds, the impact did not continue to spread. Instead, it was suddenly drawn back at a critical point, forming a circular high-pressure zone about half a meter high on the thick snow-covered clouds.

At that moment, the strange phenomenon in the sky seemed to be paused.

Everything suddenly became eerily quiet.

The next moment,

A violent hurricane is spreading out from the center of the high pressure system!

The wind swept through, sweeping away the vast expanse of snow-covered clouds with overwhelming force.

One breath later,

A ray of brilliant midday sunlight fell upon the ground.

Two breaths later,

The wind swept over snow several meters deep, and the hurricane nearly bent the tree trunks on the ground.

Three breaths later,

The sky was clear and the snow had melted away.

Looking at the scene before him,

Li Yunqing realized something, his eyes narrowed slightly, he sighed, and plopped back down on the stone bench.

"An ultimatum to the Barbarian King and the sect? That's quite a commotion, tsk."

Kaven's Dao Heart Collapse