"Yes!"
Sun Xiang agreed with difficulty.
It wasn't out of dissatisfaction with the military order, but rather a feeling of disbelief. Still, he immediately went to execute it.
"Wait a moment!" Ren Tianye stood up. "I will go with you. I am also curious whether this Ye Fan can actually make it out of Yunji City."
The two of them left the General's Manor together and soon arrived at the base of the Yunji City wall. Sun Xiang arranged for his men to search every inch of the area.
Over an hour later, the soldiers reported the results to Sun Xiang, who then came trembling to report back to Ren Tianye.
"G-G-General..."
"Did you find any traces?"
"Yes, yes..." Sun Xiang's teeth were chattering. "Traces were found at the base of the wall. It should be Ye Fan, who took Su Xiu and escaped by scaling the city wall."
After saying this, Sun Xiang fell to his knees with a thud. "General, it is my dereliction of duty. I failed to guard the city walls strictly and let that bastard Ye Fan escape."
"Please punish me, General!"
Sun Xiang buried his head on the ground, kowtowing heavily.
His heart was filled with remorse and torment.
From the General's demeanor, he could tell how highly the General valued this Ye Fan. The General had sent him to keep a close watch on the Yunji City walls.
It was just a single wall, yet he had actually let the man get away!
This was more than just a dereliction of duty!
According to military law, he should be beheaded!
The soldiers following Sun Xiang also dropped to their knees one after another.
Their faces were filled with overwhelming shame.
With so many of them, they still let a mere Ye Fan carry someone on his back, scale the wall, and escape. The General had treated them with mountain-heavy grace, and Yunji City was already their home; how could their hearts not churn with turmoil?
"Get up!" Ren Tianye said in a mild tone. "Ye Fan is no ordinary man. I don't blame you."
"Let's go. Take me to see the traces of Ye Fan's escape."
They soon arrived at the spot. There were obvious marks at the base of the wall, and more marks leading up the wall, including the path taken to descend, all clearly visible.
In other words, this was exactly how Ye Fan had scaled the wall to escape.
However...
Ren Tianye took a look at the Yunji City wall.
After being reinforced and heightened by Zhan Shubai, it was over a dozen meters tall. Even the siege ladders of the Imperial Army couldn't reach the top. The surface of the wall had also been made incredibly smooth by Zhan Shubai; any arrows shot at it by the Imperial Army would simply slide right off.
Furthermore, there were always soldiers guarding and patrolling the wall. Following his orders, Sun Xiang had even intensified the patrols.
Yet Ye Fan, carrying a large box on his back with Su Xiu stuffed inside, under the brightly lit city and in a situation where soldiers could have spotted him at any moment, had scaled the Yunji City wall like a gecko!
Hah!
"Makes perfect sense! Total sense!"
"Female-oriented novels are just so logical!"
Just then, the dispatched scouts returned to report, "Reporting to the General! The group of twenty-two people has stopped to rest. They lit a campfire for warmth. We could see clearly that it is undoubtedly Ye Fan and Su Xiu."
"The twenty men following them are all burly and strong; they should be soldiers."
The scouts arrived one after another.
"Reporting to the General! Ye Fan's group has mounted their horses and is heading south."
"Reporting to the General! Ye Fan's group is heading in the direction of Qiniu Town."
"Reporting to the General! Qiniu Town has sent out a hundred men to receive Ye Fan!"
...
Ren Tianye's gaze turned cold and sharp.
Qiniu Town!
He knew this place. It was a dilapidated little town not far outside the city. It had no walls to defend and no soldiers stationed there. It was a completely perilous location.
Ye Fan went in that direction?
Did he have some sort of backing there?
Or was he merely passing through Qiniu Town?
However, none of that mattered anymore.
He ordered all the men in the scout camp to continue their reconnaissance and report back, ensuring that no trace of Ye Fan's movements was missed. Meanwhile, Ren Tianye ordered Sun Xiang, "Beat the drums! Send orders to the three armies to assemble!"
"Assemble?" Sun Xiang was momentarily stunned.
Generally, unless something monumental happened, the three armies would not casually assemble. After all, beating the drums to transmit orders was equivalent to issuing the highest directive.
Once the drums sounded, any soldier of Yunji City, no matter what they were doing, had to immediately come and gather; otherwise, they would be subjected to military punishment.
Right now, there was neither a barbarian invasion nor a threat from the Imperial Army. Assemble?
Sun Xiang didn't understand.
However, not understanding didn't mean he wouldn't obey. He immediately ordered men to beat the drums. Instantly, a booming sound like muffled thunder echoed from the military camp in the inner city of Yunji City and spread far and wide.
Yunji City was still brightly lit. Countless soldiers who had gone out to search for Ye Fan hadn't even returned to camp yet. Upon hearing the drumbeats, they immediately turned their horses around and hurried back.
None dared to delay for even a moment.
The drumbeats also startled half of Yunji City.
Yunji City was already restless tonight. Once the drums sounded, even more people couldn't sleep, terrified that some catastrophic event had occurred.
Inside the Su Manor, Su Hong rushed out.
He gazed into the distance toward the direction of the drums, his face turning pale.
"W-What is going on?"
"Is it a barbarian invasion?"
"If it truly is a barbarian invasion, then it would be a great opportunity for our Su Manor. Without having to place my hopes on my two nieces, I can also make the Su Manor regain its former glory and rise to an even higher level!"
...
After three rounds of drumbeats ended, all the soldiers of Yunji City had assembled.
On the massive open training ground at the inner city military camp of Yunji City, Ren Tianye stood upon the commander's platform. His gaze swept over the troops, and he nodded in satisfaction.
Over this recent period, through the continuous recruitment of new soldiers, the number of troops in Yunji City had reached a scale of ten thousand.
Having undergone training, and especially... with the motivation of high monthly salaries, this ten-thousand-strong army could already be considered elite.
Clad in the equipment of the Imperial Army, with most of them having experience fighting against the Imperial Army, it could be said that these ten thousand men were a force not to be underestimated.
They might not compare to the former Chifeng Army, nor could they quite match the Great Yu Imperial Army, but they were absolutely a formidable force!
"I am here to announce a few matters..."
Ren Tianye's voice rang out. "Zhang Shi!"
"This general is here!"
"I order you to muster one thousand five hundred light cavalry, one thousand five hundred heavy cavalry, and take the Eight Hundred Army. You will follow me out of Yunji City!"
Zhang Shi was taken aback for a moment.
Was this a campaign to sweep across the Northern Frontier?
But to sweep across the Northern Frontier, wasn't this number of troops a bit too small?
Furthermore, hadn't the General said that the barbarians were about to attack? Going out to sweep the Northern Frontier at a time like this?
He didn't understand.
But that didn't prevent him from executing the military order immediately.
"Yes, sir!"
"Sun Xiang!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
"During the time I am away from Yunji City, the defense of the city is entrusted to you. The barbarians are highly likely to invade during this time. You must be extremely cautious and absolutely cannot afford the slightest negligence or carelessness!"
"You must defend Yunji City well!"
Sun Xiang felt a loud boom echo in his head.
His first reaction was panic and fear.
It wasn't that he was worried about failing to hold the city. After all, having experienced the previous siege by the Imperial Army, he understood clearly that with Yunji City's location and the city walls built by Zhan Shubai, even seventy thousand elite imperial guards would suffer a crushing defeat, let alone the barbarians who were unskilled in siege warfare.
The General had even left him with seven thousand men.
He was very confident in holding off the barbarian attack with seven thousand men.
His panic and fear stemmed primarily from the anxiety of being left without Ren Tianye's personal command.
He initially followed Ren Tianye because, among all the guerrilla generals, Ren Tianye was the most unique and the most capable of commanding respect.
Later on, every single thing Ren Tianye accomplished only deepened his sense of awe and trust in the man.
But now, the Great General was leaving the city.
He would be left without his pillar of support.
"Sun Xiang, I believe in you!"
"Great General!" Sun Xiang gritted his teeth. "Your subordinate will definitely defend Yunji City!"
"Even if I have to lay down my life, I will keep Yunji City safe."
"Good!" Ren Tianye nodded in satisfaction. He valued Sun Xiang the most and had entrusted many matters to him; the man was already more than capable of taking charge on his own.
Sending Sun Xiang to Shanhe City to escort the families of the Eight Hundred Army had been a deliberate test to temper him.
The results proved that Sun Xiang had been tempered exceedingly well.
Now...
It was time to give Sun Xiang an even greater trial.
Pausing for a moment, Ren Tianye shouted, "Soldiers of the three armies, hear my command! After I leave Yunji City, you are to obey General Sun Xiang's orders without fail!"
"Furthermore..."
"Zhang Shi, order the three thousand men accompanying me to each pack seven days' worth of dry rations. We depart in half an incense stick of time. There must be absolutely no mistakes!"
...
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
