Scorching air currents surged within, the alien snake's blood seemingly stimulated by a strong stimulus. Although the battle had long since ended, it continued to flow at high speed without stopping.

  Xu Haifeng's face turned bright red, and the redness gradually spread to his neck, chest, and eventually his entire body. The rapid flow of blood caused a high temperature inside him, a kind of heat that could make people boil.

  A faint red mist slowly rose from his body, the mist condensed but did not disperse, eerily enveloping his entire body in a crimson fog.

  Li Mingtang and the monkey child stood firmly by his side, oblivious to this strange scene.

  A series of footsteps came from the rooftop, followed by a tall figure leaping down from the rooftop, none other than the belated arrival of the divine archer Zhebie.

  He saw the situation in front of him, immediately drew his bow and stood aside, forming a triangular formation with the two of them, fully on guard. With the three of them protecting Xu Haifeng, they were afraid that even if Cheng Xuanfeng came back, he would be defeated and retreat.

  The red mist grew thicker and a strange fragrance wafted through the starry sky, making one feel drunk with its scent.

  In a moment, the fog had almost taken on a life of its own, like a huge red cocoon wrapping itself around Xu Haifeng.

  A gentle breeze blew by, but the crimson mist remained still and unmoving, unable to carry away even a single thread.

  In the city of Beijing, the west gate was opened and then closed again. In front of the gate, there were still over a thousand officials and soldiers holding sharp blades, staring fiercely at the crowd.

  Facing these armor-clad, sword-drawn city defense troops, the crowded citizens inside the city all retreated in fear. However, the battle cries within the city grew louder and were gradually closing in on this place.

  The faces of all the people showed a look of confusion and helplessness, some children even burst into loud crying, the scene was extremely chaotic.

  Liu Zhengqi and others had already changed into a set of clothes, they mixed in the crowd, those dozens of guards intentionally or unintentionally surrounded Liu Zhengqi with a protective circle, they were experienced and blended in the crowd without being conspicuous, but anyone who wanted to get close was firmly blocked by them.

  Liu Hualiang was at a loss, and asked in a low voice: "If Ximen is sealed off, what's to be done?"

  Fang Lingde was deeply traumatized after seeing his nephew off, and upon hearing the words, he merely glanced at the closed city gate without responding.

  Liu Zhengqi furrowed his brow and said, "Never mind all that, Hua Liang, go up there and reveal your identity, tell them to make way."

  Liu Hualiang responded with a "yes" and was about to go forward when someone said, "Wait."

  He immediately stopped because he heard that the speaker was Zhang Zihua.

  It's unclear whether it was due to a guilty conscience, but since Zhang Zihua lost his arm, Liu Zhengqi had been extremely trusting of him, listening to and following his advice. Liu Hualang couldn't help but feel envious; for now he was just an official in the Crown Prince's mansion, but who knows what position he would hold when the Crown Prince ascended to the throne?

  But once he thought that the price of such a blessing was an arm, he felt his elbow ache.

  "Your Highness, absolutely not." Zhang Zihua advised.

  "Why?"

  "Keep it down, the dog from the Cheng's is watching." Zhang Zihua's face twitched slightly to the right.

  Everyone looked cautiously and saw that on the high wall to the right, a tall man stood with the wind, who was Cheng Jiali, one of the top masters of the Cheng family.

  "If it's like this, won't it make a big fuss and let everyone know? General Fang's sacrifice would be in vain." Zhang Zihua said hastily.

  Hearing his nephew's name, Fang Lingde's spirit shook, as if he had just woken up from a big dream, and he raised his head. He looked at the noisy crowd around him, closed his eyes, and swallowed hard.

  However, when he opened his eyes again, although he still couldn't hide all the pain, his eyes were filled with determination. He said in a low voice: "No matter what, we can't just sit and wait for death, there's not much time left for us, we have to leave. And we must hurry."

  Zhang Zihua's face suddenly changed, saying: "Not suitable."

  "What?" Fang Lingde asked in surprise, he naturally knew that Zhang Zihua could become Liu Zhengqi's chief advisor, and there must be something extraordinary about him, he wouldn't speak alarmist words for no reason.

  "We can't leave the city like this." Zhang Zihua said.

  Seeing the puzzled eyes of everyone, he continued: "If only we leave the city, the target is obvious, and it will definitely be difficult to escape."

  "Ah..."

  They were all talented and intelligent, but they didn't investigate at the time because they were under the spiritual pressure of Cheng Xuanfeng, which made their spirits dazed, otherwise they wouldn't have come to their senses until now.

  Everyone looked at each other, but what countermeasures could be thought of in such a hurry?

  Zhang Zihua looked at the thousand-man commander in charge of defending the city and suddenly asked: "Who is that?"

  Liu Zhengzhong took a closer look and replied: "I know this man, he is Qijietai, the commander of a thousand men in the city's garrison."

  "What is he like as a person?"

  Liu Zhengzhong shook his head and said, "He used to serve under me. Because of poverty in his childhood, he was bullied by others, so after becoming a skilled martial artist, he loved to fight for justice the most. Alas, with his abilities, even if he were just a Wanren Chang (a military officer) in the Huanglong Army, it would be more than enough, but he offended Prince Hui and ruined his promising future, being demoted to this place as a Qiannan Chang (a lower-ranking military officer)."

  "General, you say he's good at taking up the cudgel for the oppressed?" Zhang Zihua raised an eyebrow, a hint of chilling starlight flashing in his eyes.

  "It's true, he offended the Duke of Hui because he stood up for what was right and refused to admit his mistake even in death, that's why he suffered repression." Liu Zheng replied firmly, without hiding a hint of regret.

  Zhang Zihua looked around and suddenly turned to leave, coming to a single woman holding a child in her arms. He said in a low voice: "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry."

  The woman had just become separated from her family and was now alone, holding a young child in her arms. She was at a loss for what to do when she suddenly heard someone speaking to her, which made her pause in surprise. When she looked up, it turned out to be a middle-aged man who was a complete stranger to her.

  Her heart tightened, just as she was about to speak, suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, and immediately fainted.

  Zhang Zihua took the still sleeping and sweet infant from her arms and returned to Liu Zhengqi's side.

  His actions were beyond everyone's expectations. All he said was, "If only we leave the city, it will be impossible to guarantee our safety. For now, the only way is... to survive in the chaos."

  After finishing speaking, he sat down with his legs crossed, put the child on his lap, and with his remaining left hand, he randomly pulled at his clothes a few times. Then, he picked up a handful of dust from the ground and smeared it on his face, instantly looking disheveled and wretched.

  He picked up the child and, under the astonished gaze of the crowd, stumbled out of the throng and hurried towards Qijietai.

  "Halt..."

  A stern shout, several long guns were held horizontally and approached him.

  Zhang Zihua secretly exerted force on the child's buttocks and pinched hard, causing the child to cry out in pain and burst into tears.

  With a "thud", Zhang Zihua fell to his knees and wailed loudly: "General, save me!"

  Zijie Tai stepped forward with big strides, pushed away the long spear in front of him and asked: "Who are you? Why do you want to shout for help?"

  "General, the Huns have invaded the city! They're killing anyone they see and shouting that they'll slaughter everyone!" Zhang Zihua cried out loudly, his voice carrying far and wide, instantly causing a commotion.

  "What did you say?" Qizhetai thundered, his eyes bulging with rage, the anger in his heart reaching a boiling point.

  Zhang Zihua held the wailing child in his arms, heavily knocking his head on the ground, and said: "General, they came from the north and killed everyone in my family except for this child. The imperial palace was also breached by the Xiongnu people."

  Zijie looked northward with a distant gaze, his fists clenched, the veins on his face bulging, and his eyes almost spewing fire.

  "General, they are about to kill us. My death is not worth lamenting, but I have a young son, and if no one takes care of him, he will surely die. You... please spare us, let us leave the city, only then can we find a way to survive."

  Zhang Zihua kept kowtowing to him, and after a moment, his forehead was covered in blood.

  Every one of his words was a loud shout, and not only the soldiers in front of the city gate but also the crowded civilians inside the city could hear clearly.

  For a moment, nearly ten thousand pairs of eyes were fixed on Qijietai.

  Sweat dripped from his forehead, he hesitated, looked up and saw that the eyes of the crowd were filled with despair, but the eyes looking at him had a glimmer of hope.

  "Wow..."

  Zhang Zihua pinched the child's buttocks again with force, and the child cried even more miserably in ignorance.

  Qijie Tai looked at the crying child and saw Zhang Zihua's busy figure, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh, saying: "Open the city gate, let them go."

  His deputy's face changed and he stepped forward to persuade him: "Brother, it won't do, without the commander's order, privately opening the city gate is a capital offense."

  "A capital offense?" Zijietayi sneered, pointing to the civilians inside the gate and said: "So you want me to watch them die miserably at the hands of the Xiongnu, becoming lonely ghosts in the wilderness?"

  The deputy commander sighed and turned his head away, no longer trying to persuade him.

  "Open the door... let him go..." Qijie Tai shouted loudly.

  The heavily fortified Xizhimen Gate of Beijing is opening for the second time tonight.

  Zhang Zihua knocked his head again and shouted loudly: "General Meng, have mercy, everyone hurry up and leave!"

  Suddenly, the crowd erupted in an uproar, and all the people rushed to the city gate in a frenzy. The tide of people was endless, with more and more citizens joining the fleeing army after hearing the news, making the entire procession look bloated and unwieldy.

  Countless civilians fled in all directions, scattering and escaping. The Xiongnu outside the city were initially hit by a barrage of arrows, losing half their men. At this point, no matter how great their abilities, they could no longer form an encirclement.

  Zhang Zihua left the city gate and met with Liu Zhengqi and others. At this time, he was empty-handed, and the young child in his arms had gone missing.

  Fang Lingde and others glanced at him, turned their heads away, and unexpectedly no one asked a single question.

  Zhang Zihua jumped onto the horseback which had been ready for a long time and said: "We mustn't delay, let's hurry."

  Liu Zhengqi gazed at the high wall behind him and said word by word: "Wait, Gu will be back."

  Having said that, he cracked his whip and the warhorse under him lifted its four hooves.

  A group of people galloped away quickly, leaving a cloud of dust behind them.

  Behind them is the majestic Great Han Kyoto.