Chapter 2002: Reversal

The aide immediately told them, "The Magistrate wants to inspect the feeding port."

The two soldiers fumbled a few times at the beast-head's jaw, and the beast's mouth opened wide, gaping upwards.

Everyone could see the profound crystals inside sparkling with multicolored light, ranging from light blue to dark green, and even deep yellow.

Huang Chengqi reached inside, scooped out two handfuls of profound crystals, and examined them in his palm.

He had never done this before, but of course, the aide wouldn't stop him.

No one noticed that when Huang Chengqi flipped his wrist and threw the profound crystals back into the beast's mouth, he also discreetly dropped a small crystal into it.

It was also medium green and transparent, no different from the other profound crystals. Coupled with the beast's mouth obscuring it, no one noticed its presence.

Huang Chengqi then said, "Close it."

The two soldiers closed the beast-head and saluted him, and the aide continued the gate inspection with them.

After inspecting two more locations, the aide felt that Magistrate Huang was unusually quiet today.

At this moment, Huang Chengqi clutched his abdomen, frowned, and said, "Let's go down first."

The aide saw that he clearly needed to relieve himself, and not daring to delay, led them down from the gate tower.

"That's enough," Huang Chengqi said, "you don't need to escort us further."

Not long after they left, there was suddenly some commotion above the city wall.

The aide looked up and saw a Hao County soldier on the city wall passionately arguing with a comrade.

This person looked a bit familiar; had he seen him somewhere before?

The aide walked a few hundred paces, when a thought suddenly struck him: he swore he had seen this fellow on the battlefield.

He seemed to be from the enemy's camp!

Could he be mistaken? With a grey helmet on and blood smeared on their faces, everyone looked alike.

The aide thought it over and over, still feeling unsettled, so he changed direction and went to find Tu Shanfang.

He woke Tu Shanfang up and voiced his suspicion.

Tu Shanfang immediately jumped up upon hearing this: "Quickly, to the city gate!"

If the aide wasn't mistaken, what did this enemy, disguised as a Hao County soldier, intend by creating such a ruckus on the city wall?

Of course, it was to draw away the attention of the guards.

With the commotion on the city wall, the crowds below stopped and looked up. A squad of soldiers happened to pass by, and, unable to hear clearly from a distance, they approached the barbican gate.

This action wasn't unusual, as there were already many people in front of the city gate, and this squad of soldiers wasn't from Hao County. The city guards didn't pay them any mind.

The distance between them quickly closed to eight chi (approx. 2.67 meters). Two men from the squad suddenly attacked, releasing a cloud of green smoke.

The four guards were caught off guard, enveloped by the green smoke. Not only were they unable to see, but their faces also burned with unbearable pain, as if scalded by boiling water.

They cried out in agony, bending over and clutching their faces, while the attacking squad rushed forward, their blades flashing!

Afterwards, they rushed into the barbican, heading towards the main city gate.

Mian City originally had only one city gate. To defend against Guo Bai's attack, a barbican was later built behind it, with a very narrow gate for easier defense. Thus, there were now two layers of gates; after entering the barbican, control of the main city gate still needed to be seized.

The Mian soldiers guarding the main city gate were alarmed, grabbed their spears, and rushed forward to stab, intending to force the intruders out of the barbican's narrow gate.

Unexpectedly, with several whooshing sounds from above the city gate, over a dozen arrows rained down!

Of the six gate guards, three were shot down.

The three who survived immediately hid inside the gate archway, positioning themselves in the blind spot above. However, by doing so, they could no longer block the barbican.

Everyone saw that the archers on the gate tower were actually Hao County soldiers.

"Hao County people are rebelling!"

"Hao County has betrayed us!"

Cries erupted one after another, and both above and below the city, chaos immediately ensued.

Hearing these cries, Tu Shanfang's expression changed, and he suddenly grabbed a subordinate, saying: "Damn it, quickly go check on Magistrate Huang!"

If the Hao County soldiers were rebelling, then the Hao County Vice-Magistrate who led them into the city three days ago...

The subordinate acknowledged and was about to leave, but the aide interjected: "Magistrate Huang and Vice-Magistrate Yu of Hao County just came to inspect the city defenses."

"Just now?" Tu Shanfang frowned deeply, feeling that something was wrong. "Why would he come with Vice-Magistrate Yu?"

Yu An was an official from Hao County, not Mian City. Magistrate Huang was a cautious and careful man; why would he bring him to see secret facilities?

"I'm not sure," the aide replied. "You were resting, and Magistrate Huang said not to disturb you. They would just look around themselves."

"And then?"

"They inspected the feeding port and two storage rooms," the aide explained, "and then Magistrate Huang went downstairs, seemingly needing to relieve himself."

"The feeding port?" Tu Shanfang's heart sank. He still ordered his subordinate to find Magistrate Huang and Yu An, but he himself turned and ran towards the storage rooms, exclaiming, "This is bad!"

The so-called "feeding port" was actually the inlet for adding profound crystals to the guardian beasts. This was insider jargon within the county government; outsiders had no knowledge of it.

Another messenger soldier ran over to report: "Captain Tu, there's enemy activity outside the gate..."

Before he finished speaking, with several thunderous bangs, the heavy main city gate trembled violently.

"Mountain-Shaking Thunder," Tu Shanfang muttered, his face darkening.

Mian City's guardian beasts were powerful, always tearing invading enemies to shreds. Guo Baiyu had adopted a new method: instead of sending troops or monstrous beasts to directly charge, he had constructed several siege engines. These engines had arched prows, and upon violent impact, the Mountain-Shaking Thunder hidden within them would immediately detonate.

As the name suggested, this explosive was used to crack mountains and split rocks; Guo's army had further purified it, making it even more potent.

One of Mian City's guardian beasts had its eyes damaged by it.

Although the city's formations were strong, how long could they withstand dozens of consecutive explosions?

Magistrate Huang had just shown Yu An the feeding port, and then Guo Baiyu suddenly launched an attack. Was this too much of a coincidence?

Outside the city, roars shook the heavens, as enemy forces surged out from the darkness, spread across the mountains and fields.

But a fierce melee was now raging on the gate tower. Mian soldiers tried to shoot arrows down to prevent enemies from approaching, while Hao County soldiers lunged forward and chopped viciously.

In fact, they were no longer Hao County soldiers; they were Guo Baiyu's army in disguise.

Tu Shanfang blew his bugle, and the Black Armored Army's distinctive horn blast echoed throughout the city.

These three urgent blasts had only one meaning:

Assemble, enemy attack!

Due to frequent battles, the city guards were stationed near the city gate, and hearing the signal, they rushed out en masse.

The passages within the city walls trembled slightly. The soldiers knew this meant the guardian beasts were deploying.

However, just as the guardian beasts bit and killed two approaching monsters, white frost suddenly formed on the wall surface.

The speed of the icing was astonishing; within a mere dozen breaths, the outer city wall's surface was covered in a thick layer of solid ice, freezing even the guardian beasts!

They remained in their original postures, but were solidified onto the wall, utterly motionless!

The guards on the wall saw this and all cried out in alarm.

Meanwhile, Tu Shanfang ran to the storage room, reaching out to twist the mechanism. The beast's mouth, which should have been wide open, was now shut tighter than a clam shell.

He pulled hard twice but couldn't open it, only then realizing the beast's mouth was frozen shut, a massive chunk of ice.

Clearly, the feeding port had been tampered with. Once the guardian beasts deployed and began consuming profound crystals, their movements would be restricted.

Seizing this opportunity, three fiery bulls arrived outside the gate, violently ramming the city gate!

Their size was a full circle larger than their companions previously killed by the guardian beasts, and their entire bodies bulged with muscle.