Chapter 11: Slaying the Enemy Commander! Rescuing Zhu Gaoxu!
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“Keep quiet.”
“As long as we pretend to be corpses, we can escape once we’re out of the city.”
“Damn Chen Heng. How dare he betray the imperial court? If he hadn’t defected, how could we have lost to those Yan rebels?”
“All right. No more talking.”
“Pretend to be dead properly. Once we’re carried outside the city, we’ll live. Otherwise, we’re all doomed.”
Amid the heaps of corpses, several men were whispering to one another.
Though they were covered in blood and lying motionless on the ground, they were only pretending to be dead.
Xie Gongchu, whom Zhang Yu had ordered the entire city to search for, was among them.
When Chen Heng defected, Xie Gongchu knew that Tongzhou could no longer be held. He had immediately led his personal guards toward the southern gate in an attempt to flee. But Chen Heng was not the only officer in the city to have defected. Apart from those who had been completely subdued by the imperial court, many former officers of the Beiping Army still remained loyal to the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di. The southern gate had also been sealed off.
As a result, Xie Gongchu had been unable to escape.
His subordinates had urged him to hide in a civilian residence and disguise himself as an ordinary citizen.
But Xie Gongchu knew that the Yan army would certainly search the entire city. Thus, he had decided to hide in plain sight. While the Yan logistical troops were clearing away the corpses, he would use the opportunity to escape from the city.
It was dangerous.
Yet, given the current situation, hiding inside the city would only delay the inevitable. He would eventually be discovered and certainly killed.
By pretending to be dead, there was at least a slim chance of survival.
At that moment, Zhu Gaoxu had already led the logistical troops tasked with clearing the corpses toward the area of the fighting in the inner city.
“Brothers of the logistics corps!”
“Speed up the clearing of the corpses!”
“Once we’re finished, we can all get some proper rest!”
Zhu Gaoxu shouted loudly.
He had more or less grown accustomed to the bloody scene by now. Without worrying about his status, he joined the logistical troops and began clearing the corpses with his own hands.
He did not carry the bodies, however. Instead, he picked up the weapons scattered across the ground and placed them onto the carts.
Most of the weapons were still intact and could be used again. Even those that were damaged could be reforged by a blacksmith. Naturally, none of them could be wasted.
The same applied to the armor worn by the corpses.
At that moment, Zhu Gaoxu picked up weapons while scanning his surroundings. He had drawn within only a few paces of Xie Gongchu and the others.
Yet he detected no danger at all.
Xie Gongchu and the others, lying on the ground and pretending to be dead, were already trembling with panic, their hearts pounding wildly.
Still, they could only endure it in silence.
As for Zhu Zheng, he was positioned to Zhu Gaoxu’s right, rapidly searching the corpses and collecting attributes.
He seized every opportunity.
This time, he would certainly gather even more attribute points than he had outside the Prince of Yan’s residence.
“Collected 1 point of Strength…”
“Collected 1 point of Strength…”
“Collected 1 point of Spirit…”
The notifications announcing each collected attribute echoed endlessly in Zhu Zheng’s ears. They were a form of invisible encouragement. Every time he gathered an attribute and felt its power enter his body, Zhu Zheng felt utterly invigorated.
But just then—
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“Ah!”
A cry of pain suddenly rang out beneath Zhu Gaoxu’s foot.
Zhu Gaoxu abruptly lowered his head.
His foot was pressing down on the fingers of a corpse, and that corpse had suddenly moved and begun to cry out in agony.
The fingers were connected directly to the heart. After being crushed beneath Zhu Gaoxu’s foot, the man naturally could not hold back his scream.
Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu froze for a moment before instantly realizing the truth.
The man was pretending to be dead.
“Someone… someone come here!”
“There’s an enemy here!”
“He’s pretending to be dead!”
Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly shouted.
His cry immediately drew the attention of all the nearby logistical troops.
Even the combat troops patrolling in the distance turned their eyes toward them.
“Damn it.”
Upon seeing this, Xie Gongchu’s expression changed drastically.
He had already seen numerous Yan soldiers closing in.
At this point, it seemed impossible to escape by pretending to be dead.
“Brothers!”
“Fight these traitors to the bitter end!”
“The imperial court will honor us after death, and our families will receive the emperor’s grace!”
Xie Gongchu suddenly sprang to his feet and shouted.
Then, sword in hand, he charged toward Zhu Gaoxu.
The enemy soldier beneath Zhu Gaoxu also suddenly seized Zhu Gaoxu’s legs and clung to them with all his strength.
“Follow the commander!”
“Fight these traitors to the death!”
The few personal guards who had been pretending to be dead alongside Xie Gongchu roared as they rose to their feet. Following Xie Gongchu, they charged toward Zhu Gaoxu.
It was not that they knew Zhu Gaoxu’s identity. He simply happened to be the closest target, and he was wearing the armor of a deputy company commander.
“This is the end!”
With both legs held fast, Zhu Gaoxu was nearly dragged to the ground.
Xie Gongchu was only a few paces away. His sword thrust fiercely toward Zhu Gaoxu, leaving him no chance even to draw his own weapon.
Despair enveloped Zhu Gaoxu from head to toe.
At that critical moment, just as the blade was about to pierce his body—
Whoosh!
A long saber tore through the air and shot toward Xie Gongchu.
With a wet, cracking sound, the blade pierced through his armor and straight through his chest.
The tremendous force sent Xie Gongchu flying backward.
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“Ah!”
Xie Gongchu let out a scream of agony. He fell several yards away and writhed on the ground. Then, in the blink of an eye, his head lolled to one side, and he died.
Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu whipped around.
Zhu Zheng stood nearby in the posture of having just thrown the saber, his hand not yet lowered. Around him, the logistical troops drew their blades and rushed over.
“That cautious soldier saved me.”
With a single glance, Zhu Gaoxu recognized Zhu Zheng. This was the soldier who had been so careful as to inspect every corpse.
He had never expected that soldier to be the one who saved his life.
“You killed the enemy commander, Assistant Commander of the Capital Guards Xie Gongchu. Collected 100 points in all attributes, 100 taels of silver, and 100 days of lifespan. Reward: one first-tier treasure chest.”
At that moment, a notification rang in Zhu Zheng’s ears.
Upon hearing it, Zhu Zheng was stunned.
“Holy crap!”
“Killing enemies lets me collect attributes too—and far more of them!”
“And this man was actually an enemy commander. Assistant Commander of the Capital Guards… He must have been the principal commander stationed in Tongzhou.”
“I can’t believe he didn’t flee. He was hiding among the corpses and pretending to be dead.”
“What incredible luck.”
“I actually took out the enemy’s principal commander with a single saber strike.”
“I’ve struck it rich!”
When Zhu Zheng came back to his senses, indescribable excitement and joy surged within him.
That single strike had earned him a fortune.
Not merely military merit—
He had also gained a boost to every attribute.
At the moment those hundred points in all attributes entered his body, Zhu Zheng could clearly feel his entire body transforming. His strength surged once again.
“All attributes have surpassed 300 points. Reward: one first-tier treasure chest.”
“All attributes have surpassed 400 points. Reward: one first-tier treasure chest.”
The panel notifications rang out once more.
Before Zhu Zheng could immerse himself in the joy of his breakthrough—
“Commander!”
“Commander Xie!”
Several of the personal guards who had been pretending to be dead cried out in terror, their voices filled with despair.
Then—
“Kill these traitors!”
“Fight to the death!”
The few personal guards roared and charged directly toward Zhu Gaoxu, brandishing their battle sabers.
…
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