Chapter 273: Siege

The sounds of the world seemed to vanish. Chen Ji stood at the end of the stairs, swinging his knife like a curtain, his sweat raining down. He no longer heard the shouts and kills of the Tian Ce Army; in this world, only his own heavy breathing remained.

He forgot how long he had been fighting, in any case, it felt like a very long time. So long that his arms were sore and swollen, his palms numb, so long that his whole body's strength was nearly depleted, making him long to close his eyes and sleep soundly.

In the inn, corpses were piled two layers high, and blood overflowed the soles of shoes. The armored soldiers of the Tian Ce Army stepped on them, making sticky sounds. The stairs had also become sticky and slippery.

A Tian Ce Army armored soldier chopped with one knife, and Chen Ji countered with one knife. The blade of the whale knife stuck to the opponent's blade, rubbing out sparks, and cleanly and neatly cut open the skin, flesh, and bone of the neck.

Qi Shen Luo saw his exhaustion and immediately shouted, "You rest for a bit, I'll take over!"

Chen Ji silently glanced at him, then retreated one step to the left side.

Just as Qi Shen Luo took over, a Tian Ce Army suddenly flew and pounced. They had been waiting precisely for the moment when Chen Ji's strength was exhausted! Qi Shen Luo swung his sword, deflecting the chopping knife of the Tian Ce Army armored soldier, then followed up with a chop on the armored soldier's shoulder.

But that Tian Ce Army armored soldier, like a mad dog, ignored the knife, wrapping both arms around Qi Shen Luo's waist, wanting to use brute force to push him away and clear the entrance to the stairs. Qi Shen Luo wanted to draw his sword and chop again, but the sword blade was firmly stuck by the armored soldier's muscles, bones, and armor.

"Ah!" Qi Shen Luo panicked and roared.

Chen Ji at the side hadn't yet had time to catch his breath, then again with one upward slash, cut off the Tian Ce Army armored soldier's arms. Qi Shen Luo struggled free from the restraint, panicking and retreating backward, watching with wide eyes as Chen Ji breathed heavily and retook the gap.

When he had been watching from the side, he only felt that Chen Ji, guarding this narrow stair entrance, only needed to face one person at a time, which seemed not difficult. But at this moment, he finally realized that just now, Chen Ji had been killing with every knife, which was why he hadn't allowed these fearless armored soldiers to find an opportunity.

Some people and some things are like high mountains. When viewed from afar, they seem ordinary; only when standing at the foot of the mountain do you know its majesty.

Qi Shen Luo said with a difficult expression, "I just wanted to help you." Chen Ji, his back to him, said with heavy breaths, "Go guard the window."

In the main hall, the Tian Ce Army armored soldier, propping up his heavy sword and wearing a black pheasant tail on his head, held a wine jar and drank mouthful after mouthful, his gaze fixed intently on Chen Ji.

The next moment, just as Chen Ji was about to kill another Tian Ce Army armored soldier, he threw the wine jar in his hand. The head-sized wine jar howled through the air, heading straight for Chen Ji's face.

Chen Ji was forced to dodge sideways, creating a momentary flaw. The Tian Ce Army armored soldiers on the stairs saw he couldn't help in time and immediately like mad swung their knives to chop. At the critical moment, the black sword seed in the spots on Chen Ji's waist flew out from the seams of his clothing, lightly passing over the armored soldier's neck.

With a thud, the pouncing armored soldier's strength drained from his entire body, and he softly fell onto the stairs, then rolled down into the main hall.

Chen Ji didn't want to use the sword seed, only because behind this sword seed was still a mountain called "Wu Temple" pressing down... but he had no choice.

In the main hall, the armored soldier with the hanging sword originally thought this strike would open a gap, yet unexpectedly it was his own subordinate who died inexplicably. Just now, the armored soldier's body had blocked his line of sight, so he hadn't seen clearly what had secretly injured him. After the corpse fell down, he squatted beside it, his fingers wiping the corpse's neck. The fine wound looked like a sword qi injury, but the young man upstairs was clearly using a knife.

He slightly narrowed his eyes and looked up, but could no longer see any clue.

In the inn's backyard, more than ten Tian Ce Army armored soldiers didn't waste time looking for ladders. Some silently removed their heavy armor and lightly equipped, while others layered themselves to form a human ladder, easily lifting two unarmored colleagues to the second floor. The lifted Tian Ce Army soldier grabbed the edge of the window sill with one hand and burst out, "Up!"

The layered armored soldiers beneath his feet suddenly stood up, lifting him so that half his body was sticking out of the window sill. He didn't care if there was someone behind the window, following the momentum with a chop inside. This knife was meant to kill someone if possible; if not, it would at least prevent being ambushed.

However, unexpectedly, this knife didn't chop empty, yet it felt like chopping into a lump of soft, sticky yellow mud. He fixed his eyes and looked, and in front of him was shockingly a monster with black smoke winding around its entire body standing in the room, suddenly opening a blood basin mouth from its chest and abdomen!

In an instant, Taotie swallowed half of his body in one gulp, and a deluge of blood poured down, drenching the armored soldiers on the human ladder below. The armored soldiers below suddenly looked up, yet saw that everything from their lifted colleague's waist up had been swallowed into the monster's mouth.

Someone saw Taotie and exclaimed, "Taotie! Mandala Secret Seal!"

At this time, not far away, another armored soldier similarly stuck his body out, wanting to flip into the next window, and just happened to meet Qi Shen Luo. Qi Shen Luo, with the indignation from earlier in his sword, sealed his throat with one strike.

The Tian Ce Army below threw down their colleague's corpse, without any intention of retreating, and again lifted two people to feign an attack.

At the same time, a Tian Ce Army armored soldier with a black pheasant tail on his helmet held a plain knife in his mouth, quietly and soundlessly climbing upwards. Without anyone lifting him, his thick fingers casually grabbed, and the bricks and stones of the inn wall were like tofu, several holes grabbed out, actually hand-climbing the wall bricks to grab out a "road"!

Like a gecko, he quietly and soundlessly approached the window, and just as Qi Shen Luo chopped another Tian Ce Army soldier, he exerted force and leaped! This armored soldier loosened his mouth in the air, and the plain knife just fell into his hand. Knife light suddenly appeared!

Qi Shen Luo had just exhausted his strength with one sword and could only hastily bring his hand back to block. Qi Shen Luo was startled, subconsciously lifting his hand to look. The sword in his hand had actually been chopped broken by the opponent's one knife. His hair suddenly stood on end, and his whole body turned cold!

He had previously always thought that the Yu Lin Army was called a dandy army because of their origins. Until this moment, he finally understood why the three great camps before the emperor looked down on them.

Qi Shen Luo quickly retreated backward, watching with wide eyes as Tian Ce Army armored soldiers drilled into the room one after another: "Chen Ji, someone has broken in, save me!"

Chen Ji dragged his tired body and pierced the front armored soldier with one knife, turning his head just in time to see Qi Shen Luo rapidly exiting the Di Zi Wu room. He shouted loudly, "Zhang Xia, go to the third floor!"

Saying so, he raised the whale knife high with both hands, and with one horizontal chop towards the front stairs, he didn't chop through. An armored soldier rushed up, and he forced him back with one knife, then swung another knife around towards the stairs!

The wooden stairs couldn't bear the weight, accompanied by creaking sounds, and along with the more than ten armored soldiers on the stairs, they all fell down. The entrance to the stairs became a "cliff."

Chen Ji was about to go block the door of the Di Zi Wu room, yet he heard the armored soldier propping up his heavy sword in the main hall slowly say, "Young man, serving those southern people has no meaning; they look down on martial men. We northern people are different; surrender to my Tian Ce Army, and you will be enfeoffed as a marquis for generations. When the father dies, the son succeeds; when the elder brother ends, the younger brother succeeds. That is several lifetimes of glory and wealth."

Qi Shen Luo, hearing these words, suddenly panicked, "Chen Ji, don't listen to his nonsense! If you become a surrendered general, you will be tattooed on your face and forever be looked down upon! After returning to the capital, I will betroth my sister to you, and you will still have a lifetime of glory and wealth!"

Chen Ji indifferently glanced at him, lifted his knife, and killed his way to the front of the Di Zi Wu room door: "Take everyone to the third floor. From the Tian Zi Jia room, go to the roof to delay time. Delay for as long as you can."

Upon hearing this, Qi Shen Luo immediately protected the prince and ran upstairs.

In another Di Zi room, Xiao Man pulled Zhang Xia and Zhang Zheng, about to go upstairs. Chen Wen Xiao hurriedly said, "Don't go, you must stay here to block those Jing Dynasty thieves! After returning to the capital, I will promote you to first-class maid and give you a five-tael monthly salary increase!"

Xiao Man, while walking, mockingly said, "Who cares! I am young master's maid, but I don't listen to you all. Not to mention becoming a first-class maid, even becoming your mother won't do!"

Chen Wen Xiao roared, "Cheap servant girl!"

Xiao Man ignored him, running out the door without looking back. As she went out, the little girl's eyes turned, and she casually closed the door!

Chen Wen Xiao's eyes were about to crack. He hurriedly opened the door and helped Chen Wen Zong support Liang Shi, helping his mother lift her hem.

When Chen Li Qin went out, she tripped over the charcoal basin on the ground, just as another Tian Ce Army armored soldier stuck his head out of the window. Wang Gui had already run to the middle of the stairs, but he actually gritted his teeth and turned back to carry Chen Li Qin and run upstairs.

For Wang Gui, wealth and honor were sought in danger. Anyway, Chen Ji couldn't hold out, everyone would die, so he might as well gamble big! If everyone died together, then so be it. If they really survived, this would be life-saving grace!

After everyone ran to the third floor, Chen Ji feigned an attack with one knife to force back the Tian Ce Army armored soldier, then flew back upstairs. He chopped off sections of the wooden stairs, making it impossible for the Tian Ce Army to follow.

Seeing this, the Tian Ce Army armored soldiers turned and ran to the windows, holding plain knives in their mouths, and climbed to the third floor with their hands.

Long Men Inn was an octagonal building, and the windows on all four sides made it impossible to defend. Once one gap was opened, the entire floor would fall. The Tian Zi Jia room was originally where Chen Ji and the others had lived. When the Red Sleeve Addict's assassins attacked, Chen Ji had split open a crack with his whale knife.

Zhang Xia and Xiao Man carried tables and chairs to stack together. Chen Wen Xiao was about to climb up, yet Xiao Man pulled him by the collar and pushed him away: "Get aside, Sister A Xia first."

Zhang Xia didn't hesitate, stepped on the chair, and climbed from the crack to the roof. Zhang Zheng, the prince, Qi Shen Luo, Chen Li Qin, Liang Shi, Chen Wen Zong, and Chen Wen Xiao all went up, not one left. Only Xiao Man and Wang Gui were left at the end.

Zhang Xia stuck her head out from the crack, extended a hand, and loudly called, "Xiao Man, what are you doing? Hurry up!"

Xiao Man hesitated for a moment, finally still shaking her head: "No, I promised Auntie to protect young master. He must live to marry a high-ranking legitimate daughter!"

Zhang Xia was startled.

At this time, Wang Gui had just climbed onto the chair, about to climb to the roof. Xiao Man's eyes turned, and with one kick, she overturned the table and turned to run outside.

Wang Gui let out a cry of pain as he heavily fell to the ground, covering his waist and unable to stand up from the pain.