Experience Surges

At General Guan's command, dozens of personal guards rushed into the main tent and restrained Cao Li and his trusted subordinates.

"General, what do you mean by this?!"

"Was I framed by Song Jie?!"

Pinned down, Cao Li went pale with shock and kept roaring. The other officers, watching the scene unfold, were so frightened that they rose to their feet, staring at General Guan in disbelief.

After Cao Li had been restrained, Li Yi stepped out from behind the screen and looked down at him.

"You?"

The moment he saw Li Yi emerge, Cao Li's expression turned panicked, and he instantly understood something.

"General, listen to me, I—"

Before Cao Li could finish, General Guan stepped forward and kicked him.

"What do you have to say?"

"You've disgraced Great Chen beyond all measure!"

General Guan threw the secret letters and other evidence before Cao Li, then swept his gaze over the many officers in the main tent.

"Cao Li colluded with the Qing Kingdom, intending to coordinate from within and without and hand Qinghe County over to the Qing Kingdom. The evidence is now conclusive. He is stripped of his post as Sima. Song Jie will temporarily assume the position of Sima and command the army!"

With the irrefutable evidence laid before them, everyone present fell silent as cicadas in winter. Some even glared viciously at Cao Li.

During the recent battle to defend the city, many of their subordinates and trusted men had died at the hands of the Qing Kingdom.

Under General Guan's iron-handed measures, all officers closely associated with Cao Li were placed under control, and the entire camp was put under strict supervision.

Loose on the outside, tight within. Entry was permitted; exit was forbidden.

At the same time, scouts carrying General Guan's military orders quietly slipped out of the camp one after another.

"Brother Yi, you really are something!"

When Han Jia returned to the camp and heard that Cao Li had been taken down and Song Jie had temporarily assumed the post of Sima, he was so shocked his mouth hung open.

"Cut the nonsense. Hurry up and rest—we've still got a hard battle this afternoon!"

Li Yi shot Han Jia an irritated look, then lowered his head to sort out his equipment.

According to the Household Officer's plan, that afternoon, a unit of ten soldiers under Cao Li's command would use a patrol as a pretext to make contact with the Qing Kingdom army, lead them along a small path to the vicinity of Blackstone Town, and launch a surprise attack to wipe out the stationed Chen Kingdom forces.

Now that Cao Li had been taken down, Li Yi would lead his men to guide the Qing Kingdom army into the ambush site General Guan had selected.

Second by second, time passed, and before long, noon arrived.

After eating and drinking their fill, Li Yi led Han Jia and ten carefully selected elite soldiers out of the camp along the predetermined route, pretending to be on an ordinary patrol.

About two hours later, Li Yi and the others arrived at a dense forest.

Looking at the woods, Li Yi gave Han Jia a meaningful glance, then began to whistle.

Three long notes, two short notes, repeated three times.

After whistling, Li Yi stared into the forest and listened quietly.

Caw—

Caw—

Caw—

A moment later, three strange cries came from within the woods.

Seeing this, Li Yi quickly responded.

Before long, four or five lean, wiry men emerged from the forest.

These were Qing Kingdom spies!

The sight of them instantly reminded Li Yi of the two spies in Hundred Trees Forest whom he had secretly disposed of before.

Once the men appeared, Li Yi took out a curved piece of iron and held it high.

"Are you friends from the Qing Kingdom?"

Seeing the iron piece in Li Yi's hand, the sturdy man leading the other side also raised an iron piece high.

At once, the atmosphere in the forest eased considerably.

The two groups quickly gathered together. When they fitted the two iron pieces together and saw that they formed a perfectly seamless circular branch, the Qing Kingdom spies smiled.

"How is it?"

Li Yi nodded at those words and said, "At present, only a thousand soldiers are stationed inside Blackstone Town. The western city wall is manned entirely by my lord's people. When you attack, you can feint at the other three sides and put your main force and elites against the western wall."

"When the time comes, we'll work with you and let you into the city!"

This was all false military intelligence Li Yi and General Guan had agreed on beforehand, meant to deceive these Qing Kingdom soldiers.

After feeding them some information, some true and some false, Li Yi added:

"By the way, half an hour before dinner is when the guards change shifts—and when all of Blackstone Town is at its least vigilant. You can attack then!"

"All right, I'll report back to my superiors. Please tell your lord that on the day the city falls, we will certainly honor our previous promise!"

Having recorded the intelligence, the Qing Kingdom spy led his men and vanished into the dense forest.

Watching the Qing Kingdom spies disappear, Han Jia, who had been suppressing himself for so long, said in a low voice:

"I really want to slaughter those dog bastards right now."

Han Jia's father had been injured by those Qing Kingdom soldiers.

Hearing Han Jia's complaint, Li Yi offered a few words of comfort. Then he led the group onward with their patrol, lest the Qing Kingdom spies lurking in the shadows grow suspicious.

By the time Li Yi and his group returned to the barracks, the entire camp was already steeped in a grim, murderous air.

"General, we've passed the false intelligence to the Qing Kingdom spies. From the looks of it, they didn't grow suspicious."

After returning to the barracks, Li Yi went straight to General Guan to report the situation.

Now that both the Qinghe County yamen and Blackstone Town had been sealed off by the general's men, news of the Household Department office catching fire and Cao Li's group being captured would be difficult to spread.

"Good!"

General Guan's expression brightened as he laughed and cursed, "In a few more hours, we'll make sure these Qing Kingdom brats come and never return!"

Without Cao Li's restraints and interference, Song Jie was now able to command the barracks as easily as moving his own arms and fingers.

The entire Blackstone Town barracks and Qinghe County moved according to the established plan under Song Jie's command.

As the sun shifted westward and evening drew near, plumes of cooking smoke rose from the barracks.

The logistics cooks were lighting the fires and preparing the evening meal.

And as the cooking smoke rose, birds scattered chaotically in the distance, while a cloud of dust soared into the sky.

Seeing this, Li Yi's heart stirred.

The Qing Kingdom army had indeed taken the bait!

Before long, squad after squad of Qing Kingdom light cavalry charged fiercely toward Blackstone Town from afar.

Boom! Boom!

Warning war drums instantly thundered from Blackstone Town's beacon tower.

"The Qing Kingdom is attacking! Return to your posts at once!"

As the order was passed down, the many soldiers who had eaten dry rations in advance hurriedly grabbed their weapons and returned to the walls.

And behind the city walls, even more Chen Kingdom soldiers lay hidden!

"Follow me!"

At the sight, Li Yi swept out his arm and led his original ten archer subordinates, along with Han Jia and the others who had delivered the false intelligence that afternoon, straight for the western wall.

The Qing Kingdom had fallen for it. Only the final few steps remained!

"Lord Li!"

"Squad Leader!"

The moment Li Yi reached the western wall, the hundred-odd soldiers there hurriedly rose in greeting.

Li Yi played a crucial role in this scheme against the Qing Kingdom, so General Guan had specifically ordered him to command the western section of the wall.

Rumble!

Rumble!

The Qing Kingdom light cavalry rapidly closed in on Blackstone Town, continuously circling it and waving their arms.

Seeing this, Li Yi immediately shouted:

"Put on your masks!"

The hundred-plus soldiers had only just put on their masks when the Qing Kingdom light cavalry hurled numerous black balls onto the city walls.

These were mechanical creations developed by Qing Kingdom secret arts masters. They could release a pungent gas that impaired the combat strength of the defending soldiers.

The Qing Kingdom army had used this tactic during its first attack on Blackstone Town.

As the black balls shattered atop the walls, quite a few soldiers were affected. The Qing Kingdom light cavalry swiftly retreated, while squads of Qing Kingdom infantry carrying broadswords and pushing siege ladders charged toward Blackstone Town's walls.

"The Qing Kingdom has truly spared no expense—they've sent three thousand men!"

With a single sweep of his gaze, Li Yi roughly gauged the number of attacking Qing Kingdom troops.

The infantry attacked all four sides of Blackstone Town. Under Li Yi's orders, the soldiers defending the western wall kept firing arrows, but the arrows they shot were limp and weak, with no accuracy to speak of.

One side acted deliberately; the other came with intent.

Before long, more than a thousand Qing Kingdom soldiers had gathered beneath the western wall.

Seeing this, Li Yi followed the agreement between the Household Department and the Qing Kingdom and quickly had Han Jia raise a large blue flag.

Emblazoned upon the flag was the banyan tree emblem popular in the Qing Kingdom.

The moment the banyan flag rose, the Qing Kingdom soldiers became instantly excited, as though they had been pumped full of chicken blood.

Meanwhile, Li Yi led his men in throwing numerous ropes down from the city wall.

Han Jia, meanwhile, led his men in feigning resistance at the junction between the western wall and the other walls, preventing the soldiers from the other sections from rushing over to stop Li Yi.

"Haha, this Chen Kingdom traitor truly has some skill!"

Watching Li Yi continuously toss down ropes as the city wall descended into chaos, a Qing Kingdom thousand commander revealed an excited expression.

If Li Yi had seen this man, he would have recognized him as the Qing Kingdom spy who had contacted him earlier.

"Charge!"

Seeing that Blackstone Town's situation matched their prior agreement without the slightest discrepancy, the Qing Kingdom centurion was instantly overjoyed and took the lead in charging up the city wall.

For a time, a ceaseless stream of Qing Kingdom troops climbed the western city wall along the ropes hanging from it.

With Li Yi deliberately cooperating, those Qing Kingdom soldiers who had rushed onto the wall were swept along toward the inner wall.

"Qinghe County is ours!"

Watching fifteen hundred Qing Kingdom soldiers charge into Blackstone Town, the leading Qing Kingdom thousand commander hurriedly ordered his men to wave their military banners and relay all manner of commands.

But just as the Qing Kingdom thousand commander was brimming with triumph, the hanging ropes suddenly snapped.

What was going on?

The thousand commander abruptly turned his head, only to see Han Jia—who had been blocking the Chen Kingdom soldiers from the other directions—whirl around and slash the Qing Kingdom soldiers beside him with the nine-ring saber in his hand.

The two groups that had been fiercely fighting moments ago instantly merged into one, joining forces to slaughter the bewildered Qing Kingdom soldiers.

On the other side, Li Yi, who had retreated to another section of the wall, repeatedly drew his bow and nocked arrows, shooting through the hanging ropes.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Bursts of war drums rang out. From behind the northern and southern walls by the inner wall, huge numbers of Chen Kingdom soldiers surged forth.

One glance was enough for the Qing Kingdom centurion to see that there were at least nearly two thousand Chen Kingdom soldiers!

"This is bad—we've fallen into a trap!"

The thousand commander instantly flew into a rage, glaring fixedly at Li Yi, who was shooting through the ropes.

Watching this scene, Li Yi felt his blood boil throughout his body.

"Kill them! Slaughter every last one of these Qing Kingdom dogs!"

Li Yi raised his arm with a shout, and five iron arrows were instantly set upon his iron-backed bow.

Five Stars in a Row!

Whoosh!

In an instant, five Qing Kingdom soldiers were struck in the neck and fell to the ground twitching.

To Li Yi, the more than one thousand Qing Kingdom soldiers now trapped in the encirclement were living, moving experience points!

After luring these Qing Kingdom soldiers into the ambush, Li Yi was like a god of slaughter. Iron arrows continuously flew from his hand, and soldiers fell one after another.

Under Li Yi's eager gaze, the experience of the [Archery] skill on the skill panel surged wildly!