Chapter 271: Turning Point

Tian Ce Army!

Behind the counter, soldiers of the Tian Ce Army, clad in black armor, continuously poured out from a secret passage. One, two, ten, twenty, still more.

Some armored soldiers, annoyed by the obstruction of the counter, used a simple knife to hack it to pieces.

Other armored soldiers, finding the secret passage opening too small, simply chopped at the wooden floor.

Several slashes later, half the main hall floor collapsed, widening the original single-person passage and revealing more armored soldiers waiting inside.

The smooth scales of the Tian Ce Army armor reflected the light. The dense mass of armored soldiers on the floor below resembled beetles, causing Chen Ji's scalp to tingle!

Zhang Zheng muttered, "So many."

The shopkeeper of the Longmen Inn hadn't lied; there really was a passage here leading out of the city. But this secret passage was no longer a path to life, but a dead end.

By this time, the Tian Ce Army armored soldiers who had climbed onto the ground were already charging towards the stairs. The Feather Forest Army soldiers in the main hall roared angrily, "Protect His Highness!" They drew their long swords from their waists and guarded the front of the stairs!

Chen Ji stood on the stairs, caught between advancing and retreating. He turned back, bringing Zhang Xia, Chen Wen Zong, and the others, and ran upwards. He kicked open a room on the second floor and rushed inside!

Inside the room, Chen Li Qin and Liang Di's faces changed. "Chen Ji? What's with the shouting and killing outside the door?"

Chen Wen Zong said urgently, "Father, the Jing Dynasty thieves are killing their way up from downstairs."

Chen Li Qin was startled. "I thought they were only killing in Xu Wei Lane? How did they get here?"

Having said that, he looked towards Chen Ji, but Chen Ji had no time to pay attention to him!

Chen Ji walked to the window. "Zhang Xia, Zhang Zheng, I'll send you down the building to leave from the backyard!"

Before he finished speaking, he saw the scene outside the window and was suddenly rooted to the spot!

Zhang Xia came to his side and looked out through the newly opened window. She saw Xiao Wu, covered in blood, limping out of the stable carrying a vegetable knife. He waved his hand towards Chen Ji on the second floor, his voice hoarse and exhausted: "Guest officer!"

Chen Ji remained silent. The black-on-black fighting at the Longmen Inn was real, and this secret passage in the stable was unexpectedly also real!

The next moment, more Tian Ce Army armored soldiers killed their way out of the stable. They didn't chase Xiao Wu, but immediately surrounded the inn tightly to prevent the prince from escaping!

Chen Jian Xiao rushed in from the next door. He stuttered, "Father, this!!! Where did these armored soldiers pop out from?"

Zhang Xia looked at Chen Ji and said, "These people clearly knew the prince was here. Someone must have informed them!"

I haven't seen the shopkeeper since last night. Perhaps he is the biggest Jing Dynasty spy!

Zhang Zheng said anxiously, "That's not right, is it? Earlier, he was the one who told us the news that the workers from the Yang Family fur shop and the Liuli Workshop were spies. If he was a Jing Dynasty spy, why would he tell us these things?"

Run quickly, run, the Jing Dynasty thieves are coming.

Chen Ji said calmly, "No, this news was given by Xiao Wu, not the shopkeeper!"

Second Miss Zhang is right. It should be the shopkeeper who ran off to report, and even Xiao Wu was kept in the dark!

Chen Jian Xiao hurriedly said, "Chen Ji, aren't you an official? Go out quickly and help the Feather Forest Army kill the enemy!"

Zhang Xia gave Chen Jian Xiao a cold look, then looked at Chen Ji. "You kill your way out. Go hide in the cellar! You can probably get away alone, but it's impossible to get away with us!"

Chen Jian Xiao was anxious. "No, Father, Elder Brother is still here. How can he leave?"

Zhang Xia said angrily, "The Jing Dynasty promised not to massacre the city. Hu Jun Xian only promised to open the gate and offer the city! Now the Jing Dynasty has broken faith and abandoned righteousness. Someone in Gu Yuan city must either return to the Central Plains or announce to the world that the Jing Dynasty has broken faith and abandoned righteousness. This way, our Ning Dynasty will no longer have incidents of opening the gate and offering the city."

Chen Wen Zong was startled. "Second Miss Zhang has a point. This is a matter of state and family. Chen Ji, leave quickly. You must return to the capital alive and report this matter to the court."

Everyone looked at Chen Ji, but found that he was just untying the cloth strips wrapped around his whale knife!

Chen Ji listened to the sounds of shouting and killing outside the room and said calmly, "Xiao Man, what I entrusted to you back then, don't let them kill their way in from the window!"

Xiao Man pursed her lips and hesitated for a moment. "Young Master, did you know early on and were just teasing me?"

Zhang Zheng chuckled. "You didn't hide very well!"

Xiao Man glared at him. "You can still laugh now?"

Having said that, she took out a small, exquisite silver scissors from her sleeve, squatted down, and cut towards the ground. She was actually cutting a shadow from the air, and that shadow struggled and expanded!

Gradually, the shadow grew into a sheep's body with a human face. A mouth like a basin of blood spread from the left armpit to the right armpit, and the four hooves had curled black hair, like four black auspicious clouds!

Liang Di, seeing this monster, retreated continuously in fear. She hadn't expected that there was actually an official hidden within her family's third-class maid.

Chen Ji turned around and walked out of the room. Zhang Xia pulled him and said in a low voice, "Chen Ji, no one in this inn is worth saving. You still need to go see the County Lord alive."

Chen Ji said calmly, "Gu Yuan may not be lost!"

Zhang Xia was startled. "You think Hu Jun Xian..."

Chen Ji lowered his head and thought. He didn't understand Hu Jun Xian and Zhou You, but he understood Jing Wang and Bai Long!

That Jing Wang had grand ambitions but suffered from an incurable disease. He wasn't willing to die just like that, so he spent several years setting up a plan, using his own death to make it work!

That Bai Long was ruthless and cunning, almost demonic. Chen Ji didn't believe the Jing Dynasty could break Bai Long's scheme by just burning the granary!

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Xia. "What is the Jing Dynasty's Tian Ce Army famous for?"

Zhang Xia replied, "The Tian Ce Army is skilled in archery and horsemanship. Their long-distance raids are the best in the world. Together with the Jing Dynasty's Hu Jing Army and Hu Bao Cavalry, they are called the world's cavalry!"

Chen Ji asked again, "How can the Tian Ce Army be severely damaged?"

Zhang Xia shook her head. "Very difficult! Even in the battle before Qu Wu Mountain, the Tian Ce Army only suffered three-tenths casualties! They retreated too quickly. After returning to the Jing Dynasty and reorganizing their army, they could return to the battlefield, unless they are surrounded tightly!"

She said up to this point, then suddenly looked at Chen Ji. "You mean Hu Jun Xian intends to open the gate and offer the city, leading the Tian Ce Army into Gu Yuan city and using Gu Yuan as a prison cage? By this time, I fear over half of the Tian Ce Army has already entered the city to kill. If there really is an ambush, the Tian Ce Army must suffer heavy casualties and need at least several years to recuperate!"

Outside the room, the sounds of shouting and killing shook the sky. Inside the room, there was a dead silence. The crowd looked at each other, a glimmer of hope rising in their hearts!

However, Chen Jian Zong beside him opened his mouth and said, "That's not right. Even if all the Tian Ce Army enters the city, how can Hu Jun Xian kill so many Tian Ce Army soldiers? Relying on border army soldiers wearing rattan armor, using rusty knives, and lacking bowstrings? Those border army soldiers are fine for guarding the city, but fundamentally not opponents of the Tian Ce Army in a field battle!"

Chen Ji was silent. This was also his biggest doubt at the moment!

He naturally knew that Bai Long was secretly manufacturing firearms, but he was very clear about the power of firearms in this era. The firearms produced temporarily were fundamentally not enough to kill so many Tian Ce Army soldiers!

Chen Ji looked at the crowd and asked, "Which army in the Ning Dynasty can contend with the Tian Ce Army?"

Chen Li Qin said in a deep voice, "The Imperial Front's three great camps just fought a battle at Chong Li Pass and fundamentally cannot appear here. This should be the confidence of the Tian Ce Army to dare to launch a surprise attack on Gu Yuan!"

The hope that had just risen in the crowd's hearts was extinguished again!

At this moment, Chen Ji and Zhang Xia suddenly said in unison, "There's still one army!"

The two people looked at each other. Chen Ji carried his knife and turned to walk out. "I'll go guard the stairs. You guard the window. Perhaps there's still a chance for a turnaround."

Zhang Zheng pulled Zhang Xia in confusion. "What riddle are you playing? A turnaround what?"

But Zhang Xia didn't answer, just watched Chen Ji's departing back!

The inn was already tightly surrounded by Tian Ce Army armored soldiers!

In the main hall, the thirty Feather Forest Army soldiers were now only five remaining. They were covered in blood, waving their long swords in the middle of the stairs, retreating little by little towards the second floor!

The stairs were narrow, and the Tian Ce Army armored soldiers were temporarily unable to win by sheer numbers!

The Feather Forest Army soldiers excitedly waved their long swords while angrily roaring, "Come on, you sons of bitches! Have the guts to come up!"

In the middle of the main hall, an armored soldier as tall as an iron tower stood by the counter and took off his helmet. Among all the soldiers, only he had a black pheasant tail feather inserted on his helmet!

He seemed unfazed as he took apart an altar of burning wine and poured it into his mouth. "Good wine."

Having said that, he swallowed another mouthful of wine and sprayed it on his heavy sword, then wiped the bloodstains clean with the hem of his clothes!

While wiping, he didn't even look at the Feather Forest Army on the stairs. He just said calmly, "They only have five people left. Can they still block my Tian Ce Army? We can exchange lives for them!"

Hearing these words, the Tian Ce Army armored soldiers under the stairs looked at each other, and actually used the method of exchanging lives, charging forward without regard for their own lives!

The first person had his abdomen pierced through the armor by a long sword, but he actually let the long sword pass through his body and chopped his large knife towards the head of the Feather Forest Army soldier.

The Feather Forest Army team had never seen such fierce fighting methods. They wanted to pull the sword out of the armored soldier's body, but the sword blade was tightly clamped by muscle and bone. Caught off guard, the soldier's head was chopped off!

In just a few breaths, the remaining five Feather Forest Army soldiers were swallowed up!

The Tian Ce Army armored soldiers threw the corpses on the stairs down the building, lifted their legs, and were about to rush upstairs!

However, at this moment, the sound of footsteps came from the top of the stairs again!

The Tian Ce Army armored soldiers lifted their heads and looked. One person stood leaning on a knife!