Secret Records of the Leader of the Beichen Sword Sect-Chapter 106 - 105 Leaving the City

"Yawn... Brother Tie, beds are made for sleeping on. If you don’t sleep on it, it will get sad."

Just one night with Tie Dan, and Zhen Baiyu was exhausted, feeling like her whole body was falling apart, with her bones aching painfully. Complaining, she brushed off the dirt she had picked up from rolling under the bed all night.

Tie Dan gave her a sideways glance,

"You snore too loudly, the bed was shaking."

Zhen Baiyu was shocked,

"What! No! Impossible! How could I not know I snore!... Is it really that loud?"

Tie Dan couldn’t be bothered to reply, grabbing two handfuls of divination grass, separating bundles with his left hand and then with his right, pinched between his fingers, practicing the arithmetic method taught in the Old Xuan Sect’s teachings.

The so-called calculations of the creation of heaven and earth, the foundation of the array, and the arithmetic is the foundation of the five arts. Whether drawing talismans and setting up arrays, alchemy, or artifact refining, all require basic arithmetic skills. If you don’t even have the basic skills of calculation and planning, many top-notch Daoist skills are destined to be out of your reach in this lifetime.

Therefore, this subject is actually the biggest threshold restricting the number of True Disciples in the Mystic Sect. Immortal Fate can still rely on alliances or the sect to some extent, but arithmetic is a matter of can or cannot, and there’s no reasoning around it.

However, Tie Dan felt alright because he wasn’t fighting alone. Not only did he have reference topics, mistake books, exercise books, practice papers, test papers, and simulation papers from the Old Xuan Sect’s teachings, but he also had Xuantian and Kun giving advice on the side, allowing them to give him special tutoring on the problems he didn’t understand.

Indeed, to Tie Dan’s amazement, not only was Chen Xuantian an arithmetic genius with a lot of equations and algorithms expanding Tie Dan’s horizons, but even Kun’s arithmetic was much better. Especially when it even knew how to use counting rods and an abacus, no wonder it had such a big fish head...

The result was one being distracted by arithmetic and the other by snoring, and they both kept their heads down, walking towards the city outskirts. When they looked up, they found themselves blocked by a large army again.

"The Riding Captain has ordered! The city is sealed for battle starting today! Without Commandant’s permission, no one is allowed to leave the city!"

Tie Dan came back to his senses, put away the grass, and looked up, only to see that the road at the city gate was already sealed off. A squadron of Gen Kingdom cavalry cladded in armor was holding long spears, wearing high-quality heavy armor, and every three cavalry were chained together with iron chains, blocking the road tightly, forming waves after waves like mighty iron tides.

These heavy cavalry didn’t even charge, just strolled the streets. The heavy hoofbeats on the stone bricks resonated like rolling thunder, shaking one’s courage to the core, as pedestrians scattered in all directions.

Tie Dan quickly reached out to stop and held Zhen Baiyu’s waist, pulling her into a small alley.

Zhen Baiyu, caught off guard, had her soft spot grabbed, and with an "Oh-h", she went limp in Tie Dan’s arms, losing all strength.

Tie Dan rolled his eyes at this absolute liability and didn’t bother with her, casting his Divine Sense out and sweeping around, discovering that besides these dozens of patrolling heavy cavalry, there were also a hundred fully armored heavy soldiers at the gate.

The thousand-pound iron gate at the south gate had been lowered, and the drawbridge was pulled up. The four-zhang-wide moat in front of the city, the city walls full of strong bows, crossbows, and catapults—the current Tie Dan, whose power hadn’t been restored, wouldn’t be able to force his way through.

It seemed that the commotion yesterday was too big, and the Riding Captain took it seriously, directly deploying elite heavy forces to block roads and gates. This was right before a war, and no matter the face of any aristocratic or rich family, they were going to close the city and hold fast to it.

"The Riding Captain should be the Ju Family Head."

Although Tie Dan was always teasing her and keeping her at bay, Zhen Baiyu’s gaze was filled with resentment, but she understood.

Tie Dan wasn’t against getting married, he just had high standards. Other men would settle for soft bodies and smooth skin, but Tie Dan wanted functionality—he wanted her to be a woman who could survive in ice and snow...

In short, Zhen Baiyu also knew she couldn’t meet that standard yet. If she couldn’t prove herself ’useful’ enough, she’d definitely be tossed further and further aside, forgotten by him.

"The Ju family is a local powerful aristocratic family leader in Genzhou, deeply versed in military affairs, skilled in tactics, officially appointed as the Riding Captain. Although the position is low, it’s mainly because he’s from a border army aristocratic family, unable to secure a top-three-grade evaluation.

Actually, this family has commanded troops for generations, familiar with military affairs, historically responsible for leading the Iron Cavalry, wielding the Yellow Axe, patrolling the Nine Borders on behalf of the King, advising on military strategies, and overseeing generals, holding deep influence in the military.

This time, the Gen Kingdom lost ten thousand troops, the vast majority from local aristocratic families and military strongmen’s offspring. That’s why these local military strongmen’s families all deeply resent Kan Country’s Marquis Zhongshan for his brutality, refusing to surrender. Most likely, they’ll elect the Riding Captain as leader and wage a great battle in Ye Capital."

"To defend Ye Capital, they must first defend the Zhang River. Once the army crosses the river, it’s over. Even a small force can trap them in the city.

Control the upstream, build a dam in the dry season to cut the water supply directly to below the city. In the rainy season, open channels to flood Ye Capital.

Then Ye Capital will inevitably fall."

Tie Dan pondered for a moment,

"I understand this reasoning. As a dignified Commandant, commanding troops for generations, he’d never seal all four gates tight and hand the natural barrier of the Zhang River to others.

Let’s go, the North Gate should still be open."

Just as Tie Dan expected, not only was the North Gate open, but it was bustling with traffic, although it was all military carts and supply wagons being brought into the city from outside. Meanwhile, the assembled army was leaving the city in batches, setting up camps and forts on the south bank of the Zhang River, controlling the crossings both large and small.

Zhen Baiyu was curious, "But can’t they bypass from the east via the Huan River?"

Tie Dan nodded, then shook his head,

"Theoretically, it’s difficult. Dividing forces may be a clever move, but if the circle is too large, and if the scouts discover them, they’ll lose the element of surprise and easily fall into a disadvantage.

Even if they take the risk of swiftly crossing under the city, cavalry can’t siege the city, and by then, the main force across the Zhang River can’t come over. The diversion is at risk.

Besides, from what I understand of the Kan Army, they only head south for plundering and burning, not for lengthy sieges. If it were the dead of winter, perhaps they might risk crossing over for a fight when the Zhang River freezes over, but at this time of year, it’s out of the question.

Therefore, as long as the Kan Army’s vanguard reaches the river and finds Gen Army camps and defenses along the coast with no weaknesses to exploit, they’ll have to go home after a standoff, extorting some gold and silver."

"Oh..."

Zhen Baiyu remained silent for a while before asking the critical question,

"Then why is the King fleeing?"

Who knows, perhaps this too is Heavenly Destiny...

"Wait here."

Tie Dan observed the Gen Army’s flags and commands, quickly figuring them out. After all, while Ye Capital wasn’t short on people, most were new recruits. Sending them to block an elite horse-riding unit would be a death sentence, and they probably couldn’t hold them back through even one charge. Their only purpose was to fill positions, build fortifications, and bluff the Northern Army into hesitating to easily cross south.

These newly assembled conscripts couldn’t possibly organize overly complicated and rigorous military orders, especially since the Kan Army swept through too quickly, causing a shortage of military equipment and flags.

Therefore, the Commandant used the twelve hours as camp codes and used local resources, organizing the front, middle, and rear armies with Tongguan, Golden Phoenix, and Jade Qilin as the three divisions, and stockpile royal banners and ceremonial guards.

And indeed, at first glance, it appeared mighty and imposing, with a strict and orderly military appearance. Just a moment ago, ten thousand were lost, and in a blink, they assembled another army. While it certainly credited the Gen Kingdom’s national power accumulation, the person in charge indeed had some skill.

Usually filled with the greedy and corrupt occupying high positions, taking advantage of the spoils, but when the building collapses, those in idle positions flee at the first chance, while the suppressed capable heroes emerge like waves, advancing one after another, turning the tide.

The Demon Palace is truly a miraculous place.

Tie Dan was adept at sneaking into camps, having infiltrated both the Kan and Gen armies’ camps.

This time, he skillfully acquired two sets of military uniforms, helped Zhen Baiyu dress up, then they hid in an alley. As a new batch of soldiers began to march past, he suddenly used the Red Evil Sword to start a fire in the distance, drawing attention. They seized the chance amidst the chaos to blend into the crowd. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

It was too simple, just like going home. The only thing left was to clear the way, cross the bridge, exit the city, and find an opportunity to slip away...

Suddenly, Tie Dan’s whole body shook, feeling a domineering Divine Thought sweep over him. The Red Evil True Qi in his Qi Sea and meridians boiled as if a spark had fallen into an oil pot, nearly erupting!

Someone was using magic! Or...

"Roar—"

A roar came from the sky, a colossal Evil Dragon, a hundred zhang in size! Its entire body was fiery red, gliding down from the sky!

In its open Dragon Mouth, a brightly glowing gold-red Flame Pearl gathered larger and larger, radiant like a golden sun!

Tie Dan’s eyes were sharp and hands fast, hugging Zhen Baiyu into his arms and leaping off the bridge!

"Roar—!"

"Boom—!"

"Ah—!"

In the next instant, an overwhelming dragon’s breath spewed forth, sweeping across the land! The flames of the dragon’s breath surged along the main road, burning through the drawbridge, along its path, and onto the city gate!

An encampment of three thousand troops was gathered, packed tightly together on the military road, with almost no room to escape! The all-consuming flames hit them directly!

At least a hundred were instantly blasted to death! Over a thousand were turned to charred remains! Countless screaming fiery figures fell off the bridge with splashes, discarding helmets and armor, and fleeing in all directions!

Tie Dan, holding Zhen Baiyu, submerged under the moat water, hiding beneath the shield of Divine Sense, coldly watching the circling Red Dragon in the sky through the shimmering reflections on the water’s surface.

It hovered for a long time yet didn’t fly away, landing with a "Boom!", standing with four feet at the city gate, on Ye Capital’s city walls. Gazing down upon the charred corpses and fiery hell, upon the living beings struggling and wailing in the sea of flames.

Its golden dragon eyes bore a cruel killing intent, endless pressure, repeatedly scanning the moat and city walls, among the crowd wailing and struggling in the sea of flames. It looked left and right, seemingly searching for something.

This damned thing, could it be coming for him...

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