“It’s him! He’s actually still alive!”
On the city wall, Jia Yun finally made out that domineering, arrogant figure.
Ling Xiao!
Jia Yun’s face became a picture of emotions.
Anger, venom, rage!
All seemed to converge on his features at once.
Ling Xiao paid Jia Yun no mind. Riding his demon wolf, he arrived below the wall and looked calmly at Jia Lin atop the tower. “General Jia, Ling has pursued the enemy thousands of li and returns victorious. I hope you will open the gates!”
His voice rang loud, ensuring every onlooker in the city heard and saw, letting the soldiers understand.
He, Ling Xiao, was no traitor, but a hero!
As he spoke, he raised Tiemu’er Mutu’s head. “The head of the Black Crow Empire’s Grand Preceptor Tiemu’er Mutu is here. General Jia must recognise this man, surely?”
At these words, the soldiers on the wall were stunned.
They had naturally heard of Tiemu’er Mutu’s great name, and they did recognise his appearance. After all, he was a man of far-reaching fame.
The soldiers might know nothing of the truth. They only followed orders, so Ling Xiao held no great grudge against them.
The situation now felt strange.
The soldiers had heard from above that Ling Xiao was a traitor who deserved death ten thousand times.
But now Ling Xiao returned carrying Tiemu’er Mutu’s head. How to explain that?
Could the higher-ups have been wrong?
For a moment, they fell into confusion.
Jia Lin sneered and shouted, “Listen all! The evidence of Ling Xiao’s treason is ironclad. His sudden return is clearly to open the way for the Black Crow Empire. The Black Crow army may be nearby.
As for that head, any skilled disguise master could fake it. Do not be deceived by this petty villain.
Archers, formation troops, puppet soldiers, prepare! This Ling Xiao is guilty of heinous crimes. He must not be spared!”
The soldiers knew nothing, but they were clearly more inclined to believe Jia Lin.
After all, Jia Lin was their grand commander, appointed by the Emperor himself.
Moreover, with Ling Xiao’s ability, how could he possibly kill Tiemu’er Mutu? They simply did not believe it.
“Truly shameless!”
Ling Xiao looked coldly at Jia Lin. “Surname Jia, are you not afraid that if it is later proven I am no traitor, that I did kill Tiemu’er Mutu, the Emperor will blame you?”
“Rest assured. If it truly turns out to be a mistake, this Jia will kowtow and apologise at Supervisor Ling’s grave. But today, you join rebels to attack the imperial city with malicious intent. As the one responsible for the city’s safety, how could I let you in?”
Jia Lin smiled lightly. “Of course, if you do not wish to die, you may surrender. Since you believe yourself innocent, come with us. That way your grievance can be cleared.”
Hearing this, Ling Xiao cursed outright. “Do you take me for an idiot? Follow you and still have a path to life? Great General Ji Ning trusted you, this shameless scum, too much. Otherwise, with his strength, how could a wretch like you capture him!”
“Hmph. Since that is so, do not blame this Jia for being rude. Feng Mingjun, listen! You are supervisor of the nine gates. Rebels now seek to storm the city. You know what to do, yes?”
This Jia Lin was cunning.
He clearly wanted to kill Ling Xiao, yet shifted the responsibility to Feng Mingjun. If anything went wrong, he could easily escape blame.
“Understood!”
Feng Mingjun’s mind was not as sharp as Jia Lin’s. Moreover, he hated Ling Xiao to the bone. He had never had the chance to act before, but today offered perfect justification to kill him. How could he resist?
What is more, he knew Ling Xiao belonged to Feng Yinshan, who competed with their Ice Phoenix clan’s heir apparent Feng Ming Qishan for the throne.
Killing Ling Xiao would sever one of Feng Yinshan’s arms.
If so, why not?
“Attack!”
With these thoughts, Feng Mingjun hesitated no longer. He raised the command flag and brought it down.
Whoosh whoosh…
Boom boom…
Arrows, formations, and puppet mechs attacked almost simultaneously.
“Withdraw first!”
Ling Xiao waved his hand. He and Yue Nu retreated beyond the attack range together.
The Shenhuang Empire’s imperial city formations were extremely powerful, surpassing even Beimo City’s. Even an expert like Yue Nu could not easily destroy them.
Just as Tiemu’er Mutu had been powerless against Beimo City’s formations.
“Ling Xiao, give me three days and I can raze this city!”
Yue Nu said.
“No time. Today may be the great general’s execution day. We must enter the city quickly.”
Ling Xiao gazed at the towering walls and suddenly recalled the fall of the Holy City.
On the Tianlong Continent, the True Demon Empire had not taken the Holy City by force but through spies who infiltrated.
He could naturally use the same method.
Though the imperial city’s formations were complex and powerful, they were remnants from the ancient holy dynasty, weathered by many wars. Though still functional, they bore many flaws and cracks.
This gave Ling Xiao ample opportunity to slip in.
Moreover, Dark Sting operatives had already infiltrated the city. With their cooperation to sabotage the formations, the chances of success were high.
“Sister Yue Nu, I will signal you later. If Xieli has arrived by then, attack the city with him. The rest must not move. You two are outsiders, so it counts as aiding me, not rebellion. Remember.”
“Be careful.”
Yue Nu looked at Ling Xiao.
“Rest easy. My cultivation has advanced, and I have grasped many new things. This is nothing.”
With that, Ling Xiao vanished. The others pretended to surround him, blocking the view from the city wall.
Using Shadow Step with Shadow Armour, Ling Xiao approached the walls like a phantom, then slipped inside by cracking the defensive formations.
About a quarter of an hour later, Xieli arrived leading over a thousand scorpion people.
At the same time, Ling Xiao began his operation.
Once inside, he contacted the Dark Sting operatives who had entered earlier. He taught them how to temporarily disable the formations and gave them the key materials to do so. Then they split up.
After all, there were too many formations for one person to handle quickly.
His order to Dark Sting was to withdraw immediately after disabling the formations and head to the execution ground to prepare to rescue Ji Ning.
Ling Xiao thought clearly. If the Emperor was determined to kill him, he would simply take this chance to destroy the imperial city and slay the Emperor.
With Yue Nu present, this would not be difficult.
But if the Emperor chose to release Ji Ning and the others, he would make other plans.
After all, destroying the imperial city and killing the Emperor carried too much risk.
