Chapter 642: Turning Point
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The truth was as Yu Niaoniao had expected. There were very few Chen Nation soldiers guarding the Xia family village.
The Eastern Expedition Army easily took down the Xia family village.
Right on the heels of that, they began to advance toward the surrounding villages and towns with the Xia family village as their stronghold.
Battle after battle, more than a month passed in the blink of an eye.
The villages near the Xia family village were recovered one after another. The soldiers of the Eastern Expedition were energetic. Tang Guixi struck while the iron was hot and attacked Heng City in one go.
Although Heng City was small, it was by the mountains and rivers and had a geographical advantage. It was an important place with abundant resources, easy to defend, and difficult to attack.
There were many soldiers stationed here in the Chen Nation’s army.
This also meant that the next battle of the Eastern Expedition Army would definitely be very difficult.
Tang Guixi led her troops across the river and attacked from the front. Xiao Juan led another group over the mountain ridge and attacked from behind.
They attacked from the front and back, cooperating with each other. After fighting for half a month, they still could not invade the city.
The battle was in a stalemate.
If this continued, the rations of the Eastern Expedition Army would not be able to sustain them. However, if they gave up now, all their previous efforts would be in vain.
Tang Guixi was so anxious that she could not sleep for several nights.
However, things changed. The turning point happened in the wee hours of the morning.
At dawn, the city gate of Heng City suddenly opened by itself!
A Chen Nation scout walked out with a scholar.
The Chen Nation scout placed a knife to the scholar’s neck. The scholar trembled and shouted at the Eastern Expedition Army in front of him. “There’s no need to kill envoys when two armies fight! We’re here to negotiate!”
Xia Haisheng looked at Tang Guixi. After receiving her permission, he ran forward with his shield.
The two sides negotiated from a distance of ten feet.
Xia Haisheng said, “We have nothing to talk to you about!”
The scholar had clearly been instructed. He spoke as if memorizing a lesson.
“The general of the Chen Nation said that their people have already found your nest and are attacking now. They will soon be able to wipe out your nest at once. You only have two choices now. Either rush back immediately to save them, or continue to stay here and waste time with them.”
Hearing this, Xia Haisheng’s expression immediately changed greatly.
This expedition had almost exhausted all the troops of the Eastern Expedition Army. Now, the camp in the mountains was filled with the old, weak, women, and children.
Most importantly, the Princess Consort was still there!
If the camp in the mountains was attacked, those people would definitely not survive.
Xia Haisheng forced himself to be calm. “Why should we believe you?”
The scholar said, “They said your nest is hidden deep in the Mang Mountains.”
Xia Haisheng was really flustered now.
Their camp was indeed hidden in the depths of the mountain!
What Chen Nation Army said was true. They were not lying!
Xia Haisheng hurriedly ran back and told Tang Guixi about this.
Tang Guixi was also anxious.
But she knew that she could not panic at a time like this.
She forced herself to calm down and quickly analyzed the situation.
“Since they already know where our camp is, there’s no need to tell us about this. But now, they’ve made this matter public and even forced us to retreat immediately. This could only mean one thing— The situation in Heng City was even worse than we had expected. The Chen Army should not be able to hold on much longer. They were forced to negotiate with us. This is a rare opportunity for us. We can’t let it go.”
Xia Haisheng asked, “But what about the Princess Consort?”
Tang Guixi quickly made a decision. “Go and tell Duke Lang about this and ask him to bring people back to save her. I’ll stay here and continue to attack. I have to take down this Heng City!”
After fighting for so long, they were almost out of ammunition and food. If they retreated, it would be equivalent to wasting all their previous efforts. Not only would this be a huge blow to their morale, but it would also cause the Eastern Expedition Army to fall into a crisis of running out of food again.
The only way to resolve all the dangers facing the Eastern Expedition Army was to take down Heng City.
Xia Haisheng led the vanguard team through the night and bypassed Heng City to find Xiao Juan and the others hidden in the forest.
When Xiao Juan found out that Niaoniao might be in danger, he immediately ordered the troops to retreat.
They hurried back without stopping.
When they rushed back to the camp in a hurry, they saw wooden houses that had been burned to ruins. The ground was messy with footprints and blood, and there were many corpses lying by the roadside.
Seeing such a tragic scene, Xiao Juan felt that the blood in his body was almost frozen.
His brain was buzzing. He couldn’t hear what the people around him were saying. He walked towards his residence with Niaoniao.
As he walked, it became a run.
Initially, he still had hope, but when he saw that the wooden house where he and Niaoniao lived had also been burned to ruins, the last hope in his heart was extinguished.
“Niaoniao, Niaoniao!”
Xiao Juan’s eyes were red as he strode into the wooden house that had already become ruins. He searched it desperately, wanting to find traces of Niaoniao.
Lo Pingsha, Meng Xizhou, Yan Nanguan, and the others also scattered and searched the camp carefully to see if they could find anyone alive.
The corpses were also gathered by them.
In the end, he realized that these corpses were all from the Chen Nation.
Lo Pingsha told Xiao Juan about this.
Xiao Juan immediately felt great hope.
If the people who died were all from the Chen Nation, it meant that not only did the Chen Army not succeed in ambushing the camp, but they were also killed by Yu Niaoniao and the others.
Then Yu Niaoniao should still be alive!
They were not in the camp now. They were probably hiding.
Xiao Juan immediately took out the quiver he carried and lit the fuse. A small arrow suddenly jumped out and exploded in the sky with a loud bang.
This sound was especially abrupt in the silent forest.
The nearby birds were so frightened that they flapped away.
In a cave not far away, hundreds of people were crowded together. If one were to look carefully, one would see that they were all old, weak, women, and children.
They were originally living in the camp as usual. They did not expect the Chen Army to suddenly attack two days ago.
Fortunately, Yu Niaoniao reacted quickly. She gathered everyone immediately.
She led everyone to fight and retreat. The girls who had been learning archery from her played a huge role at this moment.
They carried all the bows and arrows they could use. They did not care if they could hit. In short, they would shoot first.
Finally, they fled the camp and hid in this cave.
They had been hiding here for the past two days. They ate wild fruits when they were hungry and drank mountain spring water when they were thirsty.
The others were fine, but Niaoniao felt especially uncomfortable.
She did not know why, but her appetite had been bigger recently and she had eaten much more than usual. However, for the past two days, she could only rely on wild fruits to fill her stomach. It was really uncomfortable.
But she couldn’t say what was bothering her. She could only grit her teeth and endure it.
Shen Xu realized that her expression was ugly and asked with concern, “Are you feeling unwell?”
Yu Niaoniao waved her hand to indicate that she was fine.
At that moment, they suddenly heard a loud bang.
Everyone was shocked.
They thought that the Chen Army was here again!
Only Yu Niaoniao jumped up and shouted in surprise.
“Ah Juan is back!”
Chapter 642: Turning Point
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The truth was as Yu Niaoniao had expected. There were very few Chen Nation soldiers guarding the Xia family village.
The Eastern Expedition Army easily took down the Xia family village.
Right on the heels of that, they began to advance toward the surrounding villages and towns with the Xia family village as their stronghold.
Battle after battle, more than a month passed in the blink of an eye.
The villages near the Xia family village were recovered one after another. The soldiers of the Eastern Expedition were energetic. Tang Guixi struck while the iron was hot and attacked Heng City in one go.
Although Heng City was small, it was by the mountains and rivers and had a geographical advantage. It was an important place with abundant resources, easy to defend, and difficult to attack.
There were many soldiers stationed here in the Chen Nation’s army.
This also meant that the next battle of the Eastern Expedition Army would definitely be very difficult.
Tang Guixi led her troops across the river and attacked from the front. Xiao Juan led another group over the mountain ridge and attacked from behind.
They attacked from the front and back, cooperating with each other. After fighting for half a month, they still could not invade the city.
The battle was in a stalemate.
If this continued, the rations of the Eastern Expedition Army would not be able to sustain them. However, if they gave up now, all their previous efforts would be in vain.
Tang Guixi was so anxious that she could not sleep for several nights.
However, things changed. The turning point happened in the wee hours of the morning.
At dawn, the city gate of Heng City suddenly opened by itself!
A Chen Nation scout walked out with a scholar.
The Chen Nation scout placed a knife to the scholar’s neck. The scholar trembled and shouted at the Eastern Expedition Army in front of him. “There’s no need to kill envoys when two armies fight! We’re here to negotiate!”
Xia Haisheng looked at Tang Guixi. After receiving her permission, he ran forward with his shield.
The two sides negotiated from a distance of ten feet.
Xia Haisheng said, “We have nothing to talk to you about!”
The scholar had clearly been instructed. He spoke as if memorizing a lesson.
“The general of the Chen Nation said that their people have already found your nest and are attacking now. They will soon be able to wipe out your nest at once. You only have two choices now. Either rush back immediately to save them, or continue to stay here and waste time with them.”
Hearing this, Xia Haisheng’s expression immediately changed greatly.
This expedition had almost exhausted all the troops of the Eastern Expedition Army. Now, the camp in the mountains was filled with the old, weak, women, and children.
Most importantly, the Princess Consort was still there!
If the camp in the mountains was attacked, those people would definitely not survive.
Xia Haisheng forced himself to be calm. “Why should we believe you?”
The scholar said, “They said your nest is hidden deep in the Mang Mountains.”
Xia Haisheng was really flustered now.
Their camp was indeed hidden in the depths of the mountain!
What Chen Nation Army said was true. They were not lying!
Xia Haisheng hurriedly ran back and told Tang Guixi about this.
Tang Guixi was also anxious.
But she knew that she could not panic at a time like this.
She forced herself to calm down and quickly analyzed the situation.
“Since they already know where our camp is, there’s no need to tell us about this. But now, they’ve made this matter public and even forced us to retreat immediately. This could only mean one thing— The situation in Heng City was even worse than we had expected. The Chen Army should not be able to hold on much longer. They were forced to negotiate with us. This is a rare opportunity for us. We can’t let it go.”
Xia Haisheng asked, “But what about the Princess Consort?”
Tang Guixi quickly made a decision. “Go and tell Duke Lang about this and ask him to bring people back to save her. I’ll stay here and continue to attack. I have to take down this Heng City!”
After fighting for so long, they were almost out of ammunition and food. If they retreated, it would be equivalent to wasting all their previous efforts. Not only would this be a huge blow to their morale, but it would also cause the Eastern Expedition Army to fall into a crisis of running out of food again.
The only way to resolve all the dangers facing the Eastern Expedition Army was to take down Heng City.
Xia Haisheng led the vanguard team through the night and bypassed Heng City to find Xiao Juan and the others hidden in the forest.
When Xiao Juan found out that Niaoniao might be in danger, he immediately ordered the troops to retreat.
They hurried back without stopping.
When they rushed back to the camp in a hurry, they saw wooden houses that had been burned to ruins. The ground was messy with footprints and blood, and there were many corpses lying by the roadside.
Seeing such a tragic scene, Xiao Juan felt that the blood in his body was almost frozen.
His brain was buzzing. He couldn’t hear what the people around him were saying. He walked towards his residence with Niaoniao.
As he walked, it became a run.
Initially, he still had hope, but when he saw that the wooden house where he and Niaoniao lived had also been burned to ruins, the last hope in his heart was extinguished.
“Niaoniao, Niaoniao!”
Xiao Juan’s eyes were red as he strode into the wooden house that had already become ruins. He searched it desperately, wanting to find traces of Niaoniao.
Lo Pingsha, Meng Xizhou, Yan Nanguan, and the others also scattered and searched the camp carefully to see if they could find anyone alive.
The corpses were also gathered by them.
In the end, he realized that these corpses were all from the Chen Nation.
Lo Pingsha told Xiao Juan about this.
Xiao Juan immediately felt great hope.
If the people who died were all from the Chen Nation, it meant that not only did the Chen Army not succeed in ambushing the camp, but they were also killed by Yu Niaoniao and the others.
Then Yu Niaoniao should still be alive!
They were not in the camp now. They were probably hiding.
Xiao Juan immediately took out the quiver he carried and lit the fuse. A small arrow suddenly jumped out and exploded in the sky with a loud bang.
This sound was especially abrupt in the silent forest.
The nearby birds were so frightened that they flapped away.
In a cave not far away, hundreds of people were crowded together. If one were to look carefully, one would see that they were all old, weak, women, and children.
They were originally living in the camp as usual. They did not expect the Chen Army to suddenly attack two days ago.
Fortunately, Yu Niaoniao reacted quickly. She gathered everyone immediately.
She led everyone to fight and retreat. The girls who had been learning archery from her played a huge role at this moment.
They carried all the bows and arrows they could use. They did not care if they could hit. In short, they would shoot first.
Finally, they fled the camp and hid in this cave.
They had been hiding here for the past two days. They ate wild fruits when they were hungry and drank mountain spring water when they were thirsty.
The others were fine, but Niaoniao felt especially uncomfortable.
She did not know why, but her appetite had been bigger recently and she had eaten much more than usual. However, for the past two days, she could only rely on wild fruits to fill her stomach. It was really uncomfortable.
But she couldn’t say what was bothering her. She could only grit her teeth and endure it.
Shen Xu realized that her expression was ugly and asked with concern, “Are you feeling unwell?”
Yu Niaoniao waved her hand to indicate that she was fine.
At that moment, they suddenly heard a loud bang.
Everyone was shocked.
They thought that the Chen Army was here again!
Only Yu Niaoniao jumped up and shouted in surprise.
“Ah Juan is back!”
