Chapter 40

  The Dark Slave is not as simple as Tang Yin said, it's not only scary but also has strong combat power.

  They have no emotions, will not be afraid, and can bravely charge forward even in the face of numerous enemies; they have no pain, no life, even if they are mortally wounded, even if their arms and legs are cut off, they can still bite nearby enemies with their teeth.

  In the midst of a chaotic battle with numerous enemies, the five Dark Slaves' killing power was limited, but the intimidation they inspired was immense. Many Ning soldiers didn't dare to approach them, retreating far away as if they had seen ghosts.

  As a result, Tang Yin and Gu Yue's pressure was also greatly reduced.

  Soon, the two of them joined forces to drive off the Ning army on the city wall, winning a brief respite. Looking at those five dark slaves again, two had been completely destroyed, almost cut into minced meat, and the other three were also missing arms and legs, with countless wounds all over their bodies, but they could still hold on to fight.

  Qiu Zhen took advantage of the enemy's retreat and curiously walked up to the three dark slaves, his heart racing as he sized them up.

  After a while, he turned his head and smiled at Tang Yin: "Tang big brother, making more of these dark slaves can be of great help to us!"

  Tang Yin smiled and said, "With my current cultivation, summoning five Dark Slaves is already the limit!" As he spoke, he walked to Qiu Zhen's side, his massive scythe swinging casually, and with three crisp sounds, the remaining three Dark Slaves were cut in two.

  "Ah?" Qiu Zhen, Gu Yue, and Le Tian jumped in unison, exclaiming in surprise, unable to understand why Tang Yin had killed the three Dark Slaves. Although the Dark Slaves were no longer human, they had just fought for them, and yet Tang Yin had slaughtered them so ruthlessly, leaving the trio feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

  Tang Yin half-knelt on the ground, using fresh blood to redraw the six-pointed star, and with the help of Ning Bing's corpse, he summoned five new Dark Slaves.

  Seeing this, Qiu Zhen and the other two finally understood what he meant.

  Tang Yin walked to the edge of the city wall, looking down, and wherever his eyes reached, there were groups of Ning soldiers, densely packed together, impossible to count.

  He let out a soft sigh, raised his eyes and looked at the city wall in another direction. Some places were fighting, some places were close to each other, the soldiers of both sides were mixed together, people shouted, horses neighed, the sound of iron collision and the occasional cry of pain were all connected, there were corpses everywhere, broken weapons everywhere, the entire city wall had become a living hell on earth.

  Now he finally understands that no matter how strong or fierce an individual's strength is, the role they can play in such a large-scale war is only negligible. Of course, this is just his current understanding.

  He leaned against a stack of arrows, sat on the ground, rubbed his belly and said: "It would be great if we could get something to eat."

  Qiu Zhen burst out laughing and sat down next to Tang Yin, shaking his head and saying: "Now even if you let me eat swallow's nest or shark fin, I couldn't eat it." Surrounded by the remnants of limbs and blood, he felt wave after wave of nausea at the thought of eating.

  "Man is iron, rice is steel, one meal missed and the belly's in a panic!" Tang Yin muttered to himself. He raised his head, gazing up at the sky, and said wistfully: "I wonder when this battle will end today."

  Tang Yin was born with a bloodthirsty nature, but from dawn till now, he had been killing non-stop and was really fed up with it. His body and mind felt an inexplicable fatigue.

  "Heaven knows..." Qiu Zhen sighed bitterly.

  He had no confidence in his own side's ability to hold Tongmen, and if there were no reinforcements, if they continued like this, he was afraid that no one would be able to escape in the end. "I don't know where General Wu is now..."

  He had hardly finished speaking when a horn sounded from below the city wall.

  The bugle sounds for advancing and the drum beats for retreating; this is a universal military order.

  Tang Yin regained his spirit and quickly stood up, saying: "The enemy is coming again!"

  Gu Yue was a typical soldier, like a tightly wound machine, with half of the wounds on his body still bandaged. Upon hearing the enemy's war horn, he sprang up from the ground in an instant, grabbed his battle knife, released his spiritual energy, completed his martial spirit transformation, and assumed a combat-ready stance.

  As expected, Ning Jun's attack has come again.

  This time, the Ning army's attack was more concentrated on this section of the city wall, with more troops deployed between the cloud ladders, which were lined up without any gaps. The dark and dense Ning army climbed the cloud ladders, shouting as they killed their way to the top of the city wall.

  Next was another relentless and merciless battle.

  Ning Jun's second attack on the city lasted from noon till dusk, until the sky grew dark and it became unfavorable for attacking, at which point he sounded the retreat.

  This was a war of attrition between the two sides, with Ning's army deploying a total of 100,000 soldiers to attack the city. Only 50,000 were able to retreat unscathed, with casualties exceeding half. The Fēng Guó defenders did not gain an advantage either. After one day, out of the 20,000 soldiers, almost none had escaped injury, and the number of deaths alone reached 8,000.

  The corpses of the Fengguo soldiers and the remaining Ningjun troops were finally gathered together, forming a total of ten mountains of corpses.

  Blood had clotted and dried, the dark grey city walls had turned a deep crimson, scattered helmets and weapons were everywhere, countless in number. The weary wind troops lay down to rest on the spot, sprawling all over the city walls. Now, people's faces could no longer be seen as joyful or fearful, there was no emotion, what met the eye was a sea of numb, expressionless faces.

  No one spoke, and no one was in the mood for speaking. The only sounds left on the entire city wall were the gasps of breath and the faint moans of the wounded.

  Tang Yin, Qiu Zhen, Gu Yue and Le Tian strolled towards the pagoda, and this was what they saw along the way.

  Suddenly, Tang Yin felt a surge of anger in his heart. He was not angry at the Ning army outside the city, but at the Liang family, one of the four powerful families, whose reinforcements had yet to arrive.

  The defenders of Tongmen are dedicating their lives to the country, bleeding and sweating, with 20,000 men fighting against Ning's army of 400,000, while the Liang family is delaying sending reinforcements due to personal gains, which is utterly despicable.

  He had no particular liking or disliking for the four major powers of Feng Guo, and even if he was promoted by Wu Mei, it was just a coincidence that he met her. However, at this time, he felt an indescribable sense of rejection and anger towards the Liang family, which later became the main reason for his feud with them.

  "Tang Yin!"

  The four of them had just walked to the tower when they suddenly heard someone calling his name from above.

  He looked up and saw that the dancer was leaning out of the tower window, her eyes wide with surprise and delight as she stared at him.

  At this time, the Ling armor on Tang Yin had already dispersed, revealing his true appearance. He rushed towards Wu Mei with a faint smile, and seeing that she was safe and sound, it seemed as if he also let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

  He climbed up the tower to see Mei.

  The tower is not large, about 4 meters long and 2 meters wide, with a space of less than 10 square meters.

  Inside the tower were not only the two sisters Wu Mei and Wu Ying, but also Zong Zhengguang, the guardian of Tongmen.

  Zong Zhenghao had been directing the overall situation from within the pagoda, and hadn't personally taken part in the battle. But after a whole day of this, he looked much more haggard.

  Wu Mei and Wu Ying were obviously involved in the fierce battle, with bloodstains all over their bodies, but they still looked spirited and seemed to be unscathed.

  Before Tang Yin could speak, Wu Mei hastily said: "Where did you run off to? I couldn't find you anywhere!"

  Tang Yin smiled and said: "I've been in the north of the city all along."

  "Oh!" Wu Mei responded with a sound, and then asked anxiously: "What's the situation on the north side? When Ning army attacked the city, I found that they invested a lot of manpower on the north side."

  Tang Yin shrugged and said, "What else can we do?!" He turned his head and pointed to Qiu Zhen and the other two, saying, "In the end, only the four of us are left, everyone else is dead."

  Wu Mei glanced at Qiu Zhen, Gu Yue and Le Tian briefly, without saying much. She let out a soft sigh, turned around and said to Zong Zhengguang: "General Zong, with the current situation, you won't be able to hold onto Tongmen no matter what... We can't delay any further, come with me instead. The Emperor is wise and just, he won't blame you in this situation."

  "Haha……" Zong Zhengguang laughed, his laughter was bleak and bitter. He shook his head and said: "Now I don't care about your punishment or not?! Since you have entrusted Tongmen to me for defense, that is your trust in me, and I'm afraid I will betray your heavy trust!"

  "General Zong Zheng..."

  Zong Zheng Guang waved his hand and interrupted Wu Mei's advice, saying: "General Wu and I have different responsibilities, there is no need to stay any longer."

  "In the past, our country has had many generals who died in battle, but none who fled from the battlefield. Although my brother and I are not capable, we would not dare to be the first to set a bad precedent and bring shame to our country. Today, even if we are outnumbered and face death, I will still stand with the soldiers of Tongmen and share their fate, rather than dishonor the prestige of our great nation."

  Everyone present was moved by these words.

  The guards around couldn't help but lower their heads, wiping away tears from the corners of their eyes. Wu Mei and Wu Ying also had red-rimmed eyes, choking with emotion, unable to speak. Even Tang Yin felt a pang in his heart, sincerely admiring Zong Zheng's unyielding filial piety.

  "I have only one thing to ask of General Wu." Zong Zhengguang reached into his sleeve and pulled out a letter, handing it to Wu Mei, saying: "This family letter, I hope General Wu can deliver it to my home when you return to Yancheng."

  She took the letter with a slightly trembling hand, remained silent for a while, and then spoke again: "General Zong Zheng, you..." As soon as she spoke, but seeing Zong Zheng's firm expression, she swallowed back what she was going to say next, feeling that continuing to persuade him would be disrespectful and insulting.

  She carefully tucked the letter away and nodded solemnly, saying: "General Zong Zheng, please be at ease, I will definitely bring your family letter."

  "Ah, thank you, General Wu!" Zong Zhengguang showed a smile and softly sighed: "This way, I can rest assured."

  He looked out at Ning's large camp outside the city and said, "I don't know if Ning's army will attack again tonight. General Wu should set out now."

  She bit her red lips, made up her mind and said: "I am in Yancheng, waiting for the good news of General Zong Zheng's defeat of the enemy!"

  She herself didn't even believe what she was saying, and by doing so, she wasn't just encouraging Zong Zhenguo to be filial, but also giving herself a glimmer of hope that he could survive.

  "Hehe, if fate permits it, I'll meet General Wu again in Yangzhou!"

  P.S: Finally made it out before 8 o'clock, hope everyone enjoys watching! Also wishing you all a happy Little New Year and a harmonious family reunion!