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Judging by their skilled horsemanship and individual combat effectiveness, the fighting ability of this pursuing army should be on par with the level-four elite fubing in Wei Tingyu's system barracks! It was a pity that these elite soldiers of Wuguo were all going to perish in this Tianxing Gorge today!
"These soldiers didn't get this skilled in a day or two!" Ren Ruyi also saw the signs from the enemy's skilled horsemanship, and she squinted and said, "It seems that King Danyang has long had rebellious ambitions!" When she said this, Princess Yang Ying's small hand trembled again! At this moment, she was one hundred percent certain that her imperial brother, King Danyang, had long coveted the throne of Da Wu! After all, these thousand elite soldiers were the best proof!
"Is that His Highness King Li on the slope?" Zhou Jian was also stunned when he saw that the three people on the high platform were completely calm, and were even drinking and eating leisurely. Then, his eyes darted around, and he shouted loudly. Of course, at this moment, he was also afraid that he might have mistaken the person, because King Li was, after all, a prince of Da Wu, so why would he be kneeling next to Wei Tingyu, an external official, and pouring him wine and serving him food? Could it be that there was some special romantic relationship between this Marquis Wei and the King Li of Da Wu?
Zhou Jian, from his position, naturally didn't know the secret that Yang Ying was a woman disguised as a man, and as a killing dagger in King Danyang's hand, he couldn't possibly know every detail!
"It is me!" Yang Ying, upon hearing Zhou Jian's words, actually shouted back, and then she asked loudly, "General Zhou, were you ordered to kill me?"
Are you allowed to say something like that directly? Zhou Jian was stunned, then his eyes darted around, and he quickly shouted, "Your Highness must be joking! How could this humble official dare to do such a thing?" As soon as he said this, the three people, Wei Tingyu, Ren Ruyi, and Yang Ying, rolled their eyes in their hearts. You only acknowledge King Danyang and no one else! Even if the Emperor of Wuguo were sitting in front of you, you would still dare to kill him as long as King Danyang gave the order! And now you're trying to act innocent in front of me?
"Then why did my imperial brother, King Danyang, send you to follow me?" Yang Ying had been taught by Wei Tingyu how to speak before, and she immediately asked again. Moreover, this time, she directly pointed out that King Danyang was behind Zhou Jian, which meant that she was saying, you don't have to hide it anymore!
"..." Zhou Jian was stunned, and at this moment, a staff officer on a fast horse came up and whispered a few words to him.
"His Highness King Danyang was worried that you might encounter robbers on the way, so he specially sent this humble official to protect you!" Zhou Jian immediately nodded after listening to the staff officer and answered loudly again. At this moment, he, of course, knew that the target he was supposed to kill was on the slope in front of him. As long as he waved his hand, a thousand cavalry would charge up and trample them into a pulp!
But the problem was that the other party wasn't stupid, was they? Since they already knew that King Danyang had sent him to kill them, why would they dare to sit there so leisurely, drinking and watching a show? So in Zhou Jian's mind, Tianxing Gorge was undoubtedly a huge trap at this moment! Of course, it was also possible that they were putting on a show of bravado, pretending to be strong to deceive him. But the problem was that Zhou Jian had victory in his hands right now, and he didn't need to take this risk. If he could deceive King Li and Marquis Jining into coming down themselves and surrendering, wouldn't that be a foolproof plan?
"Since General Zhou is so loyal, then I have wronged you!" Then Yang Ying's voice came again, and Zhou Jian's face immediately lit up with joy. As expected, he's a newly appointed prince who hasn't seen the world and was deceived by my words! Now all I have to do is coax him into coming down himself!
However, before he could be happy for long, he heard Yang Ying on the other side shout again, "Then please, General Zhou, come over alone and have a drink with me?"
"..." Upon hearing this, Zhou Jian was stunned, and then his entire face immediately darkened. He had just clearly seen Marquis Jining, Wei Tingyu, whispering something in Yang Ying's ear, and only then did King Li say that. It seemed that he could deceive this little prince, but he couldn't deceive the cunning Marquis Jining! No wonder His Highness King Danyang had specially reminded him in the letter to be wary of this external official, Marquis Jining, saying that this guy was definitely not simple!
Zhou Jian wasn't a fool. If he went up, wouldn't he be walking into a trap? Thinking this, he also understood that as long as Marquis Jining was there, this little prince would never be deceived into coming down and surrendering obediently! Since that was the case, there was only one way!
"Since Your Highness is in such a good mood, then this General will go up with his brothers to offer Your Highness a drink!" Zhou Jian sneered and then shouted loudly. Then he waved his whip, and the thousand-strong cavalry team started moving again, accelerating toward the slope.
Seeing this scene of a thousand horses galloping, Yang Ying's small face turned even paler! Although Wei Tingyu was by her side, it was impossible for a young woman to not be scared when faced with such a scene, which was also accompanied by the huge rumbling sound of thousands of hooves hitting the ground! Even Ren Ruyi's face showed a look of nervousness and vigilance at this moment. It seemed that the other party wanted to use this momentum to trample the three of them! If that were to happen, they probably wouldn't even be able to find a trace of their bodies!
However, Wei Tingyu just waved his hand slightly, and then a huge rumbling sound also came from the gorge behind the slope! This time, not only did Zhou Jian look at the direction of the sound with a look of surprise, but Ren Ruyi and Yang Ying also turned their heads in unison.
Immediately, a group of heavily armored cavalry also appeared in everyone's sight, and they were heading straight for Zhou Jian's cavalry team. These cavalry were dressed in black helmets and black armor! Even the warhorses beneath them were almost pure black! They also wore masks like black jade, only revealing their pairs of eyes, which were filled with killing intent and staring directly at the enemies in front of them!
The number of these soldiers was also considerable, on par with the pursuers Zhou Jian had brought, seeming to be around a thousand as well. And leading these thousand Xuanjia cavalry were Wei Tingyu's four male Jinyingwei! They weren't wearing armor, but each of them exuded a murderous aura that made people feel they were even more terrifying than the black-armored soldiers behind them!
"This... this is..." Ren Ruyi was completely bewildered at this moment. She had never in her wildest dreams thought that Wei Tingyu would have a thousand heavily armored cavalry waiting in ambush in the gorge! But the question was, where had these heavily armored cavalry been hiding before? She had been with the welcoming envoy team the whole time and hadn't noticed any clues at all?! Furthermore, the armor and warhorses of these soldiers were all jet black, and only on their banners and capes was a large "Wei" written in a vibrant red font! Such a cool appearance would definitely cause a huge stir no matter where they appeared! If such an army truly existed, how could the Zhuyingwei, where she had been employed, not have received any information at all?!
"Don't be surprised!" However, when Wei Tingyu saw the bewildered and surprised expression on Ren Ruyi's face, he just waved his hand calmly and said with a smile, "They're just my private army!"
Private army? However, when Ren Ruyi heard Wei Tingyu's words, the expression on her face became even more shocked. Just now, she had been thinking that King Danyang of Wuguo had long had rebellious ambitions, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to train such an elite cavalry unit. But it seemed that her Marquis was even more ambitious than King Danyang! If nothing else, just looking at the gear of this army, which was armed to the teeth, as well as their skilled horsemanship and unwavering killing intent, it was clear that it must have cost a fortune to train an army to this state!
Wei Tingyu saw what was on Ren Ruyi's mind, and he also felt a pang of heartache in his heart! Of course, it cost a fortune! An elite fubing cost a full three hundred taels of silver! This amount of money was enough for the annual expenses of ten middle-class families! Of course, the system wasn't completely a scam. Besides these well-trained and fearless soldiers, the three hundred taels of silver also included their full sets of armor, warhorses, bows and arrows, and weapons!
And when Wei Tingyu chose to recruit soldiers for the first time, he was surprised to find that he could even customize the appearance of the recruited soldiers! Of course, this was a free bonus from the system, which led to the appearance of this very cool Xuanjia army with black helmets, black armor, and black horses!
"Turn and engage!" Zhou Jian, as a general who could be entrusted with an important task by King Danyang, was naturally not a fool and had good military literacy! When he saw the thousand Xuanjia cavalry charging toward him, his surprise was only fleeting, and he immediately ordered his army to adjust their direction and also charge toward the other side head-on. After all, judging by the current speed of both sides, Zhou Jian knew that his army's spearhead would not reach Wei Tingyu and King Li before this suddenly appeared Xuanjia army would intercept them! At that time, if they were to meet the other side's head-on charge with their flank, the losses would be disastrous! The only way now was to adjust the direction of their attack and meet the other side head-on. At least this way, neither side would come out on top!
And the thousand pursuers led by Zhou Jian were also well-trained, and they immediately adjusted their direction to follow their commander! It was only at this moment that Ren Ruyi understood. No wonder Wei Tingyu had sat here as steady as a mountain with her and Yang Ying, putting on an air of watching a good show. It turned out that he had no intention of personally acting today, and had already planned everything perfectly! Even the distance of the charge between the two sides was perfectly predicted by him!
Ren Ruyi was shocked at this moment. If her Marquis truly had ambitions for the world, he would probably be unstoppable in a matter of time! Of course, the young woman Yang Ying's eyes were now filled with a look of intoxicated adoration for Wei Tingyu! After all, young women admire heroes! And now, with a wave of Wei Tingyu's hand, a thousand soldiers came to save her. How could this not make Princess Yang Ying even more infatuated with him?!
Just as the vanguards of the two cavalry forces were about to make contact, the four Jinyingwei on the Xuanjia army's side suddenly leaped out from their warhorses. Their sharp swords, carrying sword qi, drew four almost perfect arcs of light in the air and struck the enemy in front! Immediately, wherever these four arcs of light passed, Zhou Jian's cavalry were instantly decapitated, and blood splattered everywhere! Their armor had almost no defensive effect against the sword qi formed by internal energy. Even the heads of the warhorses beneath them were severed by the sword qi!
With just this one move, Zhou Jian's cavalry lost twenty to thirty men in an instant! And this was precisely the vanguard of their cavalry unit, which was equivalent to the tip of their spear! At this moment, the spearhead was instantly broken, and the charge of the entire cavalry team was momentarily halted!
And it was in this split second that the vanguard of the Xuanjia army, like a sharp sword, went through the gap that the four Jinyingwei had just created and directly pierced into the center of the enemy cavalry team! For a moment, the neighing of warhorses and the clanging of weapons were endless.
The three people on the slope, Wei Tingyu, Ren Ruyi, and Yang Ying, had the clearest view! Amidst the blood and severed limbs, the Xuanjia army, like an incredibly sharp blade, directly pierced through the enemy's body, killing the cavalry unit led by Zhou Jian! And at this moment, the cavalry behind the Xuanjia army quickly came up from both flanks, directly splitting the enemy's cavalry into two parts and surrounding them!
After one charge, both sides suffered losses! But it was clear that two to three hundred of Zhou Jian's men were knocked off their horses, while the Xuanjia army only had about fifty to sixty men! Relying on the fact that their warhorses were far superior to the enemy's and that their armor was more durable, the Xuanjia soldiers, even when knocked off their horses, could still quickly get up and continue fighting with their spears!
With the two waves of cavalry squeezed together, they no longer had the ability to charge, and both sides immediately drew their short swords for close-quarters combat. At this time, the Xuanjia army's advantage became even more apparent! Because of the crushing superiority of their weapons and equipment, they quickly gained the upper hand. In addition, the four male Jinyingwei on the Xuanjia army's side, relying on their agility, moved up and down through the chaotic army formation, and every time their swords drew an arc of sword qi, they would take the lives of two or three enemy soldiers! In less than half an hour, the winner was decided! Zhou Jian was left with only the last twenty or so guards, surrounded by the remaining nine hundred-plus Xuanjia army!
"I surrender! I'm willing to surrender!" Zhou Jian, seeing that all was lost, immediately threw down his weapon and shouted loudly. At the same time, when his remaining subordinates saw their commander surrender, they also threw down their weapons and knelt to beg for mercy.
However, Wei Tingyu said nothing and just raised his arm, making a gesture of a killing blow! Zhou Jian's face immediately turned pale! He was about to beg for mercy again, but before he could speak, the world spun, and then his eyes were plunged into darkness. A male Jinyingwei stood behind Zhou Jian's headless body and put away his sharp sword, while his twenty-plus subordinates who had begged for mercy were also instantly killed by the spears of the remaining Xuanjia army!
Upon seeing this scene, Ren Ruyi's expression didn't change at all, and she didn't say anything. Instead, Princess Yang Ying, who was a little scared, held on to Wei Tingyu's arm.
"Don't be afraid!" Wei Tingyu smiled slightly at the two women's reactions. Then, while comforting Yang Ying, he looked at Ren Ruyi and said, "I wouldn't be willing to kill prisoners unless it was necessary!"
"I understand!" Ren Ruyi nodded. Her eyes seemed to be sparkling as she looked at Wei Tingyu, and she said again, "The Marquis just wants to be sure!"
Wei Tingyu nodded. Fortunately, his woman was very sensible and didn't throw a tantrum with him because of this. After all, this Zhou Jian was King Danyang's subordinate, and his loyalty to his master was definitely very strong. What use would a person like that be to Wei Tingyu? He couldn't possibly treat him as one of his own! He might even cause trouble at a crucial moment... Besides, besides himself and Ren Ruyi, there was also the clueless young woman Yang Ying in the team! If he were to be soft-hearted for a moment and that led to the death of the woman by his side, Wei Tingyu would never forgive himself!
As for Zhou Jian's last twenty subordinates, not one of them had shown any willingness to surrender before, and they were no different from deathsworn. They were only willing to surrender after seeing Zhou Jian surrender! In other words, if Zhou Jian were to suddenly turncoat again, there was a high probability that they would also turn with him! Besides, since the day these people started plotting rebellion with King Danyang, they should have been mentally prepared to die at any moment. Now that they had failed, they had no reason to complain even in the afterlife. After all, if Wei Tingyu hadn't had the system, these powerful martial arts skills, the Jinyingwei, and the Xuanjia army, it would have been him and his women who died today!
Would Zhou Jian have been merciful and spared his life if he had begged for mercy? There was no need to think; it was absolutely impossible! So, if you do it first, I'll do it second! Wei Tingyu had no psychological burden when it came to killing people like Zhou Jian!
As for Yang Ying, there was even less to say. Although she didn't quite understand why Wei Tingyu wanted to kill these captives at this moment, in the young woman's heart, whatever he decided must be the right thing to do! The only reason she was scared was that these bloody scenes were making her uncomfortable!
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