Chapter 535 (1/2)

Chapter 535: 535

Just at this time, an urgent intelligence report was delivered to the tent, which said that enemy reinforcements were only half a day’s march away from Lishan City .

“So soon?” Ling Zhang furrowed his brows . It seemed that the reinforcements of the Luohai Kingdom were also aware of the strategic importance of Lishan City and had been traveling day and night .

“Is it doable to take Lishan City within half a day?” inquired Ling Zhang .

“Lishan City’s defenses are about to give way . We can take it within half a day if we go all out,” replied Yuwen Jin .

Xiao Jiangyue shook his head . “We’ll need some time to get prepared after taking Lishan City, in case enemy reinforcements attack us when our troops are tired . ”

Xiao Jiangyue, an experienced general, covered all the bases .

Yuwen Tong had the same opinion .

Ling Zhang thought about it for a moment and then said, “I’ll sneak into the city and figure out a way to open the gates . ”

“How are you going to get in there?” asked Xiao Jiangyue .

Ling Zhang said, “My Lightness Skills are pretty good . I’ll climb over the ramparts when the defenders’ attention is drawn to you guys . ”

“That would be great!” said Yuwen Jin excitedly .

Yuwen Tong cast him a warning look and observed, “That’s too dangerous . ”

Yuwen Jin, taken aback by his second cousin, recalled Ling Zhang’s ident.i.ty and hastened to agree, “Sire is right . You should not do that, Brother Zhang . ”

Ling Zhang said, “I’ll be careful, and I’ll take Jiang Xi Yao Yi and some others with me . Even if I can’t open the city gates, I’ll kill as many enemies as possible to distract them . ”

Xiao Jiangyue and the others looked at Yuwen Tong .

Yuwen Tong inclined his head eventually . “You must be very cautious . ”

Having got Yuwen Tong’s consent, Ling Zhang, along with Jiang Xi, Yao Yi, w.a.n.g Dashan and some others, immediately blended in with the crowd of soldiers attacking the city, sneaked to the foot of the ramparts and, while the defenders were distracted by the troops, secretly found a spot where they soundlessly climbed to the top of the ramparts before entering the city while no one was watching .

The moment they gained entry into the city, Ling Zhang noticed that the city gates were blocked by a giant rock the size of a mound .

“Holy s.h.i.+t . What a huge rock,” exclaimed Qiu Bing in a muted voice .

“They must’ve transported the rock there with chariots, given the deep ruts in the ground,” remarked Ling Zhang .

They were now hiding in a secluded corner nearby, observing the situation at the city gates .

“If we are to open the city gates, we’ll have to figure out a way to remove that rock, but even with all our strength combined, moving a rock that size will take a lot of doing, and there’s no way we could do it quietly enough not to be spotted . The soldiers will definitely attack us . This is tricky,” said Jiang Xi .

“Enormous as the rock is, it’s not really immovable,” observed Ling Zhang . With his powerful internal energy, he could remove the rock single-handed, but it would take some time . After this thought occurred to him, he said, “Dashan and the others are to adopt a defensive formation and hold the enemy soldiers at bay . I’ll take care of the rock . ”

“Let us help,” said Yao Yi .

Fortunately all of them were top-notch kung fu masters with superb internal energy .

Ling Zhang nodded, quickly made some arrangements and then, while none of the defenders had noticed their intrusion, sprinted at the city gates with the others .

Jiang Xi, brandis.h.i.+ng his spear with wicked gleams, charged into the crowd of enemy soldiers and instantly attracted all their attention . w.a.n.g Dashan and the others, taking advantage of the chaotic situation, streaked into the short pa.s.sageway behind the blocked city gates, quickly killed all the soldiers inside, turned around and formed into a defensive formation, holding the other defenders back .

Ling Zhang, Yao Yi and some others stood beside the giant rock . Ling Zhang scrutinized it for a moment and said, “This rock is not very solid . ”

They could break it where it was, but the large pile of broken rock would still make it inconvenient for the city gates to be opened, so they decided to remove it .

Ling Zhang, who had reached the sixth layer of his cultivation method, had long since developed a high proficiency in his palm technique, and his internal energy was more than enough for him to halve a rock the size of a mound .

He immediately mobilized all his internal energy and gave the rock a stupendous push with his palms .

The gigantic rock jolted and then started moving backwards, grating violently across the ground .

Yao Yi and the others were also straining every sinew, trying to help Ling Zhang remove the immense rock . At first the rock was edging along, but after a few moments, when they had more s.p.a.ce and could better exert their power, the rock moved a lot faster .

“Don’t let them remove the rock! Shoot them!” someone bellowed outside .

Ling Zhang frowned but was still pus.h.i.+ng with all his might, teeth clenched .

BOOM!

When the rock was about to be pushed out of the pa.s.sageway, Ling Zhang yelled at w.a.n.g Dashan and the others, “Step aside!”

w.a.n.g Dashan and the others rapidly backed deeper into the pa.s.sageway as the enormous rock toppled forward to the ground with a great cras.h.!.+

With that Ling Zhang gave a palm strike and the next moment elemental internal energy exploded inside the mound-sized rock which was instantly reduced to numerous flying pieces .

All the defenders in the vicinity were hit by the shooting pieces .

“Open the gates!” shouted Ling Zhang .

Yao Yi and the others spun around and lunged at the gates as a hail of arrows arrived .

Ling Zhang, who had just taken a breath, whipped out his sword and, mobilizing his powerful internal energy, wielded the sword in a fluid circular motion at the broken rocks on the ground and with that they flew up into mid-air before shooting towards the incoming arrows .

A flurry of clinks rang out as more than half of the volley of arrows were downed by the flying rubble, the remnants of them blocked by Ling Zhang’s sword . Two or three arrows whizzed past Ling Zhang but were then parried by those behind him .

At the same time, Yao Yi had quickly removed the long iron bolt, unlatching the city gates …

…

No sooner had the gates been unbolted than troops of the Great Wen flooded into the city and engaged the defenders .