Chapter 274: Exhaustion

Wang Gui lay on the ground, clutching his waist, like a river shrimp just pulled from the water, curling and stretching, curling and stretching, but still unable to block the bone-piercing pain. He cursed incessantly, "Little brat, I'll kill you!"

At this time, Zhang Xia, lying on the roof of the inn, looked down from the eaves. She saw dozens of Tian Ce Army soldiers who had removed their armor, knives in their mouths, lining up one by one to climb up.

"Not good, they want to climb to the third floor."

Hearing these words, Wang Gui no longer cared about the pain. He got up and restacked the tables and chairs to climb up, finally managing to squeeze into the gap in the roof just before the Tian Ce Army soldiers climbed up!

Wang Gui lay on the broken roof, cursing, "That little brat next to Chen Ji."

Zhang Xia said angrily, "Shut up, do you want the Tian Ce Army to find us hiding here?"

As she spoke, she peered into the crack, only to see the tables and chairs still stacked together! As long as someone entered this room, they would immediately think that someone was hiding in the roof!

Zhang Xia gritted her teeth, slowly moved her body to lean down, wanting to push down the stacked chairs on the table, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't reach!

Qi Jian Zhe, squatting beside her, said, "Let me do it."

Zhang Xia got up and made way. Qi Jian Zhe lifted a tile and smashed it towards the chair. The chair clattered and fell to the ground!

Just as Qi Jian Zhe was about to say something, Zhang Xia pulled his collar back and retreated, "Be quiet."

The next moment, a Tian Ce Army soldier leaned out of the window of room Tian Zi Jia Hao, vigilantly looking inside the room! After hearing the sounds of Chen Ji fighting people inside the room, he immediately flipped into the room, grabbed his knife, and rushed into the corridor! He didn't even glance at the crack above!

Behind him, Tian Ce Army soldiers filed in one after another, as if endless!

Zhang Xia looked worriedly towards Gu Yuan city. Chen Ji was buying them time, but how long would this delay last! She saw the city engulfed in flames, with more than half of the houses burned down by the Tian Ce Army, like a square chessboard with the black pieces already occupying half the territory!

In the distance, the Jing Chao Tian Ce Army cavalry, like a black flood, charged back and forth under the guidance of the flag, forcing the border army to retreat repeatedly!

The border army and the Yu Lin army at Xu Wei Lane line moved bricks, stones, and earth blocks to build a defensive line, stopping the Tian Ce Army cavalry's straight charge! But the Tian Ce Army cavalry didn't charge head-on. They would charge to a distance of dozens of steps, then bend their bows and draw their arrows, unleash a volley, and like cutting grass, shoot down a swathe of border army soldiers!

The border army soldiers' rattan armor could not block the Tian Ce Army's iron-tipped arrows at all! The border army also bent their bows and drew their arrows, but their range differed from the Tian Ce Army by more than ten steps!

The Tian Ce Army knew this well and only moved within this ten-step range! When archers met archers, a difference of more than ten steps in range was already a chasm!

Again, the sound of vibrating bowstrings echoed from the distance. Li Xuan, hiding behind an earthen house, panted. The weapons of the Gu Yuan border army were shocking to behold, vastly different from the Imperial Front Three Camps. They didn't even have firearms, not even proper hard bows.

He suppressed his urge to look and glanced at the border army soldiers hiding arrows beside him. He couldn't help but ask, "How did you win the battle at Qu Wu Mountain in the 25th year of Jianning? Were there any killing weapons? Any tactics?"

An old border army soldier spat a mouthful of saliva on the ground and squinted at him, "Are you still not awake, young master from the capital? Where on the battlefield are there so many fancy things? You fill it with lives."

"Fill it with lives!" Li Xuan took a deep breath, feeling a sudden surge of trembling heat deep in his heart. He quietly flipped onto the roof and silently moved towards the place where the Tian Ce Army cavalry were gathering and shooting!

Long Men Inn!

Chen Ji panted heavily as he passed through the ring-shaped corridor with his whale knife! Dark clouds overhead followed him, leaping over one crossbeam after another. One person, one cat, one up, one down, like shadow following form!

As Chen Ji passed by room Tian Zi Yi Hao, a Tian Ce Army soldier just rushed out the door and swung his knife towards his side face! Chen Ji took a step back, dodging the blade, and squatted down. With a stab, the blade pierced through the Tian Ce Army soldier's skull from under his jaw!

He withdrew his knife and continued forward. As he passed the door of room Tian Zi Bing Hao, a Tian Ce Army soldier just came out. Before he could even lift his hand to swing his knife, Chen Ji casually swiped. A vague whale force swept across his neck, leaving a streak of blood that splattered on the corridor wall!

Chen Ji's physical strength was nearing exhaustion. He had to seek one-strike kills and avoid prolonged entanglement! But more and more Tian Ce Army soldiers climbed up. Soldiers rushed out of guest rooms one after another like whack-a-mole, never-ending!

Chen Ji could only fight and retreat, but this inn was an octagonal building, and the upstairs corridor was like a huge ring. Retreating and retreating, he would end up back at the starting point, with enemies in front and behind.

He stopped his footsteps and slightly bowed his body! A drop of blood condensed on the tip of his whale knife, then splattered onto the wooden floor! One drop, then another!

Chen Ji slowly lifted the whale knife, looking at the black mass of Tian Ce Army soldiers in front, then coldly turned his head to look at the black mass of Tian Ce Army soldiers behind. Countless soldiers surrounded him in the middle of the corridor!

He took a step forward, and the black mass of Tian Ce Army soldiers moved with him! He took a step back, and the soldiers moved with him again!

A heavy voice came from the back of the crowd. It seemed that the Tian Ce Army soldier with the special heavy sword had also come to the third floor. "Your knife is already slow, your legs are heavy. Will you surrender or not?"

Chen Ji looked around, both hands gripping the handle of the whale knife tightly. Sweat trickled down from his forehead. "Not surrendering!"

The other person in the back of the crowd let out a cold laugh. "Think everyone else is hiding on the roof, right? Those southern officials hid quickly, but no one came to help you. Is it worth it to serve such people?"

Chen Ji calmly said, "An unknown junior, only daring to speak from the back of the crowd?"

The other person was silent for a moment, then coldly said from the back of the crowd, "Kill him!"

In an instant, all the Tian Ce Army soldiers surged towards Chen Ji together. Chen Ji swung up his whale knife. He no longer cared about killing; he could only barely resist by blocking and parrying!

As Chen Ji resisted the frontal attack, an extremely fast knife light flashed out, chopping heavily on his back, leaving a long bloody mark, deep to the bone! Fresh blood flowed down from his spine, and bone-piercing pain pierced into his marrow!

Chen Ji chopped back, but the other person had already hidden back into the crowd, waiting for an opportunity! He could only endure the pain and fight his way forward, forcing the black mass of Tian Ce Army soldiers to retreat repeatedly, but within a few breaths, another knife wound was added to his back!

The next moment, the Jing Chao official hiding in the crowd struck again. Just as the blade was about to chop onto Chen Ji's body, a flash of knife light like white silk suddenly splashed down from the crossbeam on the roof, chopping off the Jing Chao official's arm with one strike! With a clang, the hand and the knife fell to the ground together!

The Tian Ce Army soldiers suddenly lifted their heads to look. They saw a black cat jump down from the crossbeam, landing lightly on Chen Ji's shoulder, gazing coldly at everyone! In the dim corridor, there were countless enemies, and still, one person, one cat, one knife!

Chen Ji panted, "Didn't I tell you to hide well?"

Wu Yun meowed, "If I hid again, you would die!"

From behind the crowd, someone said doubtfully, "What kind of official technique is this? Make way."

The Tian Ce Army soldiers behind Chen Ji suddenly dispersed to both sides like waves. They saw the iron tower-like soldier swing up his heavy sword, chopping down with a force like mountains collapsing and seas overturning.

A black shadow flashed out of room Tian Zi Wu Hao!

The iron tower-like soldier stared closely and saw that it was strikingly a Taotie with ram's horns butting up his heavy sword.

Xiao Man rushed into the corridor. She looked at the streaks of blood dripping from Chen Ji's back. "Young master..."

"Man Tuo Luo Secret Seal, Taotie."

The soldier slowly withdrew his heavy sword. "Where did you get my northern people's official technique?"

Xiao Man said angrily, "What business is it of yours!"

The iron tower-like soldier let out a cold laugh. "Kill them together!"