Chapter 300 (1/2)

Sowing Discord

Dozens of catapults caused rocks to rain down onto Ruyin. The ground continued to quake. Sun Qian felt really bad and his back was drenched in cold sweat.

“Milord. This Sun Qian seems to be a talented person. He could stay calm even from this attack!” Liu Ye felt inferior as he looked up the walls. Sun Qian was still sitting on the chair. The two subordinates by his side held their heads and cowered to the ground like two ostriches. However, Sun Qian remained sitting, his expression calm.

“Calm?” If Sun Qian had heard that, he would have went straight to Liu Ye and get violent. He wasn’t calm and also wanted to run. However, his legs wouldn’t move. He was scared frozen. His face was also scared stiff. Sun Qian was also someone that have experienced war before. Liu Bei was called Runaway Liu because he was always defeated. Sun Qian had been following Liu Bei for a long time and had experienced a lot. However, he had never experienced this before. The rocks were larger than people and could even break down the limestone walls. If it were to hit someone they would perish immediately.

In fact, Sun Qian’s fear was superfluous. Liu Mang had given the order for the catapults to avoid firing at Sun Qian. Although the catapults could not fire precisely, it was still able to avoid firing at a certain spot. After all, the walls were big.

“Ah, I really underestimated Sun Qian!” Liu Mang could not help but nod. ‘Although Sun Qian was not great at making strategies, he was certainly brave to not escape while being attacked by the catapults.’

“Han Sheng. It is your turn now!” Liu Mang initially used the catapults to investigate the situation. If Sun Qian had ulterior motives, he would certainly go down the walls. Who would have known that Sun Qian remained indifferent. Now, he could only use the best marksman in the Three Kingdoms, Huang Zhong.

Huang Zhong shot three arrows towards Sun Qian. The three arrows formed a triangle.

“I am doomed.” Sun Qian’s looked as though he was dead. The three arrows seemingly sealed his fate. Even if he wanted to escape, he was unable to escape. There was nowhere to escape. Sun Qian felt regret. If he knew this would happen, he would not have implemented this empty city strategy. He had simply courted death.

The three arrows struck the wall behind Sun Qian. One was above his head while the other two was below both his armpits. The arrows securely held Sun Qian in place.

“Hansheng. Nice shot!” Liu Mang looked at the three arrows from a distance.

A target could be shot directly. It would be easier as a person was large. However, Huang Zhong managed to hit his target without harming them. This was Huang Zhong’s skill.

“Your Highness overpraised me!” This kind of skill was Huang Zhong’s special ability.

“Teacher!” The two soldiers stood up in fear and approached Sun Qian. “You truly are a deity. The enemy is attacking with rocks and you are still calm and composed!” One of them looked at Sun Qian and sighed with admiration. Sun Qian was so knowledgeable. He wondered when he himself could reach that level.

‘Bulls.h.i.+t!’ Sun Qian cursed in his heart. With great efforts, he moved his rigid face. “Q-q-quickly s-s-send me d-down.” Sun Qian stuttered.

“Teacher! What’s wrong?” The two of them rushed forward and asked.

“My leg cramped!” Sun Qian could only tell the truth. “Quickly take me down. We cannot stay here. We cannot stay in Ruyin. We must leave!” Sun Qian was already frightened of Liu Mang. He did not know what would happen next. Arrows and rocks were already flying over, ready to take his life. Sun Qian only just now realized the beauty of life.

“Black fatty. This one and you are irreconcilable!” Sun Qian had also thought that he was abandoned. He could have left the city at night as he had already completed his task. He even removed half the troops from the city. He never expected Pang Tong to really place an ambush at Yingshang. Sun Qian was unhappy that he was not told about the ambush. If he was told, he would be able to make preparations for it. Now the ambush was a success and Pang Tong gains merit but the enemy came to take revenge on Sun Qian. This made Sun Qian feel hateful.

“Hm? Is there really an ambush in the city?” Liu Mang calmly looked at Sun Qian. ‘He did not even dodge Huang Zhong’s arrows. Did he know we would not kill him? Liu Mang began to suspect that it was not an the Empty City Strategem and that they really wanted to take the fight to the streets. If they had over ten thousand soldiers inside the city, the results would not be good. Just as Liu Mang hesitated, two Urban Army soldiers ran towards him.

“Report! The city. The city is empty! Ruyin is empty! There are no soldiers and no people!” These two soldiers were amongst the twenty soldiers given to Wei Yan to enter the city and look for information.

“The city is empty?” Liu Mang froze. If that was true, why was Sun Qian so indifferent?

“Milord! Look at this!” Xu Sheng suddenly had a weird expression and shouted towards Liu Mang. In his hands was a telescope. When Sun Qian left, he had knocked over a table. It was moist under it.

“Sigh.” Liu Mang shook his head. Liu Mang lamented the fact that he was almost tricked just like Liu Ye. “All soldiers. Enter the city!” Liu Mang commanded with a wave of his hand. The Urban Army and the Black Flag Army began to enter the city. The catapults were also being dismantled.

After the army entered the city, the defences had been given to Xu Sheng. Meanwhile, Liu Mang and the Urban Army went to the storehouse. After all, they were here for provisions. Liu Mang was very excited to find out how much they would get this time. However, when the door to the storehouse was open, he found out that it was completely empty.

“Where are the provisions!” Liu Mang was irritated. He attacked these Ruyin and YIngshang for provisions. Now, he had found nothing. “Go and arrest whoever that is in charge and ask them where are the provisions!”

Two bodyguards accepted the order and left. A short while later, they brought back an old soldier.

“General. Spare my life!” The detained soldier begged in front of Liu Mang.

“Spare your life? If you answer my questions properly, I will not kill you!” Liu Mang was not interested in killing the old soldier. Liu Mang would laugh if such a person was part of the regular troops. The man was not a threat at all. If he were to return to Liu Bei’s Army, all he would do is hinder Liu Bei as there would be an additional person to feed.