Chapter 162 The Famous Ploy – Part 3 (1/2)
Chapter 162 – The Famous Ploy – Part 3
Thirty minutes later.
All officials and six visitors fell asleep as planned. The performers were delighted by the changes of events as they did not have to bed these men.
”All of you can go now. They have slept, so the party is over.”
The dancers bowed and left in a hurry with a bright smile while the maids rushed in to clean up the tables and the mess in the hall.
”My lord, what should we do with the sleeping men?” One of the maids asked Tong.
”Leave them be. You can take all the food and the tables away. I'll have the soldiers handle the men later.”
With Tong's order, the maids cleaned the hall and took away tables, food, wine jars, and all mess that the banquet participants created.
In ten minutes, the hall was left with sleeping men, Jia Xu, Tong, and Zhang He.
”Junyi, go check how outside banquet is doing. If all of them are sleeping, you can start.”
Zhang He bowed and was about to leave, but Jia Xu stopped him.
”Don't kill them right away. Strip their clothes and armor first. I want to use their clothes and armors for my next move.”
Tong and Zhang He paused to look at Jia Xu for a moment. It did not take long for them to understand Jia Xu's intention. They smiled and nodded.
”So, we'll disguise as Imperial troops next? Can't we use the same ploy to kill Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun?”
”That's impossible. Those two are elites of the elites. Once they notice that Han Fu and that man aren't with us, they will suspect us and the success chance of this plan will be too low. Don't forget that they have 140,000 men with them. We can't possibly feed them all with drugs or invite all of them into the city. The risk factors are too many, my lord.”
Tong sighed. Though this ploy was efficient to the point that they did not suffer any casualty, it was a pity that this plan could not be used again.
”For now, please get rid of those six men. I'm but a weak civil servant, I'm not suitable for killing people directly.”
”Okie dokie…”
Tong walked to the sleeping commanders of Huangfu Song's force. Then, he noticed Ju Shou who was still awake. His face was so pale that it was as white as a paper sheet, yet his distorted glared gave Tong a chill down his spine.
”Please allow me to witness their death or I won't have a proper sleep tonight.”
Tong gulped and nodded. This man was scary! His killing intent was on par with the soldiers in his army.
He sat on top of one of them who was sleeping on his stomach. Tong touched his neck to feel his pulse, it was weak. He also had stopped breathing for some time now.
'Rules of thumb. Kill a person twice to ensure a 100% kill.'
Tong slipped his palm under the chin while his other hand grabbed the head of the commander. He twisted the head with both hands.
*CRACK*
The neck rotated in an unnatural angle as his neck was broken.
Jia Xu watched Tong's method of killing. He sighed and complained.
”Such a barbaric way of killing. Can't you be more civilized? You can just cut his throat and be done with it.”
”And who will clean up this place? We'll have to use this hall again. I don't want to sit on that throne while smelling the blood of these people tomorrow!”
As Tong and Jia Xu were bickering at each other, Tong walked to Bao Xin and was about to break his neck.
The eyes of Bao Xin snapped open. He pulled a small pin from his secret sleeve bag and attempted to stab Tong with it, aiming at his neck.
Sensing a killing intent and a bad premonition, Tong leaped backward. Bao Xin's needle punch hit the air!
A trail of blood dripped from the corner of Bao Xin's mouth. He bit his tongue to stay awake as he suspected that the alcohol was too strong and everyone fell asleep too fast.
His suspicion was correct, he was plotted against by the locals.
”WHO ARE YOU!?” Bao Xin shouted as he withheld the pain from his wounded tongue. The drug effect hit him hard to the point that he could hardly breathe anymore. Throwing a punch just now was all of his remaining strength.
Tong did not answer. He only glanced at Bao Xin, drew his sword, and disappeared from his sight.
Bao Xin felt a cold sensation from his neck. His vision suddenly spun, and he lost the sense of his body along with the ability to breath. He did not realize that his head was severed before his vision turned black forever.
”I told you. Cutting their necks is more efficient. You can simply disable the surviving ones without having to dodge that counter-strike.”
Jia Xu continued his complaint. Tong, on the other hand, could only sigh in resignation.
Aside from Bao Xin, all of his subordinates were not aware that they were drugged. Tong snapped their necks one by one till the last person.
Ju Shou watched Tong killing these men to the last man. Satisfied by their death, he fell asleep.
…
The outside situation was not as smooth as in the government hall, not all Bao Xin's soldiers attended the outside banquette.
Three thousand of 10,000 men did not participate in the party. They immediately noticed the unusual cleaning up process and attempted to group up together to breakout from this city.
The three thousand cavalries without horses rushed toward the south gate where they had entered.
The garrison force of Zhang He was already there, barricading the gate and waiting on the walls.
”Fire!” The guard captain shouted.
Night arrows rained upon the approaching soldiers. Without a leader or commander to guide them, the three thousand escapees ran around in disorder and was shot by arrows.
Zhang He also gathered a group of guards and chased behind the remnants of Bao Xin. He dove into the mob and swung his halberd, crashing onto their armors and sent them flying.
Anywhere he charged, the onlookers could see flying soldiers or severed parts of human limbs.
The chaos lasted for 3 hours. Tong had to come out and assist the garrison force chasing the escapees in the dark night as the remnants scattered everywhere around the southern area of the city.
On the other hand, Jia Xu claimed that he was tired and went to sleep alone in the midst of the chaos. He had no ”F” to give to the ruckus outside as he completed his job.
The garrison soldiers slowly boxed in the remnants and forced them to the main street. By the time they realized that they were surrounded, only five hundred of them remained alive.
”Drop all your weapons! You have nowhere to go!” Zhang He shouted.
”We surrender! Please don't kill us!”
A captain of Bao Xin's remaining force shouted while the others looked around in despair.