Half an hour later, under cover of the thin mist, Xu Shiying's entire force of fewer than two thousand had left the camp they had held for half a month, crossed the floating bridge and the frozen river, and spread out by squads to lie beneath and atop the embankment. Xu Shiying himself stood on the embankment in iron armor and a White Short Cloak, gazing absently at the Eastern Capital Army's main camp, which seemed utterly undisturbed.
But only a moment later, the cloaked general of the Exorcising the Dragon Army raised his longsword.
"Light the torches."
His voice was not loud, but it rang particularly clear in the night, beneath a sky whose moonlight was shrouded by cloud and mist. Once given, the order immediately spread outward through the guards around him. The torches prepared in advance were lit one after another, soon illuminating the entire embankment, then piercing the mist to cast their glow into the Eastern Capital Army's main camp.
Only then did clear signs of activity appear inside the camp.
This time, Xu Shiying did not hesitate for an instant. He swung up his longsword and, his expression unchanged, pointed it level at the night ahead.
"Kill!"
The sudden shout carried his true qi and rumbled faintly like thunder. At the same time, dense green Longevity True Qi spilled out, rolling and extending along the blade, instantly kindling a green glow in the darkness that threatened to envelop the soldiers around him.
The soldiers around him visibly paused. But soon, without waiting for the staff officers and other officers to pass on orders, these men, who very likely had followed Xu Dalang for more than four or five years, some of them even house-born retainers, scrambled to their feet, shouting and clamoring for blood. Armored