CHAPTER 493: CHAPTER 423: CONSTRUCTING THE CORPSE INTO THE CAPITAL!

At this critical moment, suddenly a thunderous shout was heard—

"Stop!"

The dazzling sharp blade was about to strike Dai Junliang’s head, halted by this shout, Ma Xu turned fiercely, "Who dares to stop me!?"

As soon as the words were spoken, his face immediately showed a shocked expression, and the knife in his hand froze in mid-air.

Amidst the crowd, a tall figure sat firmly on horseback, clad in armor, valiant and exceptional. Especially when the first ray of sunlight fell, illuminating that handsome face, the fierce gaze added more intimidation.

Seeing him, Ma Xu was immediately stunned on the spot, dumbfounded, "You, you are—"

Mu Xian, who was beside Yu Wenye, frowned and immediately said, "Hurry up and pay respects to the Assistant General!"

Assistant General?!

Upon hearing these five words, Ma Xu’s complexion changed instantly, and those around were also startled, hurriedly moving to the sides and bowing on the ground. Ma Xu quickly dropped the knife in his hand, stepped forward to salute, "Greetings, greetings to the Great General!"

As he spoke, his voice unconsciously trembled.

And Dai Junliang, who had been knocked to the ground, hurriedly stood up to bow and salute Yu Wenye, "Subordinate Dai Junliang, pays respects to the Great General."

For a moment, the entire Fufeng seemed to fall silent.

Yu Wenye gently shook the reins and paced forward.

He glanced at the two men and then said, "What are you doing?"

Dai Junliang raised his head, about to speak, when Ma Xu immediately stepped forward, bowing, "Great General, the subordinate wanted to execute the traitor and eliminate harm for the court."

"Traitor?"

Yu Wenye slightly raised his brow, "Who is the traitor?"

Ma Xu immediately pointed at Dai Junliang beside him, "It’s him, Assistant General Dai Junliang! This person is cowardly and afraid of battle; previously when the subordinate wanted to go out of the city to fight, he obstructed in every way, causing delays in battle opportunities. If not for him leaving behind those troops, the subordinate would definitely have defeated Xue Xian’s army!"

"..."

"Helping the enemy like this, he must be a traitor!"

Hearing this, Dai Junliang was also anxious, quickly saying, "General Ma, please don’t slander me, the reason the subordinate obstructed is because Xue Xian was obviously prepared for that battle; recklessly going out to fight was impossible to win!"

"Nonsense!"

Ma Xu jumped and cursed at him, "You’re just a traitor, I’ll kill you!"

Seeing them argue with flushed faces, Shang Ruyi slightly frowned.

Yu Wenye remained unmoved, merely giving a glance to the sides, Mu Xian and others immediately stepped forward to separate them. Yu Wenye looked at Ma Xu, then at Dai Junliang, and said, "You just mentioned Xue Xian was prepared, what is going on?"

Dai Junliang hurriedly reported, "Reporting to the Great General, on the evening of the sixteenth, Xue Xian’s vanguard arrived under the city, camped at the west five miles outside the city, separated by Little Forest River. Later, Xue Xian led twenty thousand troops across the river, suddenly challenged under the city, General Ma saw they crossed the river with few people and had just arrived, he determined they were fatigued from continuous marching and surely couldn’t withstand a strike, hence wanted to lead all city defenders out to fight."

Upon hearing this, Yu Wenye slightly furrowed his brow.

He asked, "And then?"

Dai Junliang said, "The subordinate believed, since Xue Xian had marched for days, they should rest and recover strength before challenging; but he came to challenge before even preparing the camp, clearly having prepared for the battle and not resting, just showing weakness to lure the enemy, there must be deception in it."

"..."

"Thus, the subordinate forcibly prevented General Ma from going out to fight. But—"

Before he finished speaking, Ma Xu’s face already showed panic, hurriedly saying, "Great General, please don’t listen to his one-sided words, if he hadn’t obstructed, leading everyone with me out of the city would definitely have led to a great victory!"

Yu Wenye coldly said, "Speak of the result."

Those three words were like an invisible hand, suddenly choking Ma Xu’s throat.

Again meeting Yu Wenye’s stern eyes, as sharp as swords, piercing his heart, he suddenly couldn’t utter a single word.

Dai Junliang lowered his head, heavily said, "When General Ma went out of the city, those twenty thousand troops were defeated in less than a moment and began to retreat. General Ma pursued them for victory, but upon reaching the shore of Xiao Lin River, it was already dark, and suddenly two groups emerged from both sides of the river, surprisingly Xue Xian had secretly hidden two troops before crossing the river. They surrounded from both sides, blocking the retreat, those eighty thousand troops—"

At the end of his speech, his eyes reddened, voice hoarse and choked.

And the surrounding soldiers also collectively lowered their heads.

That night, besides Ma Xu who escaped back alive under the protection of the soldiers, no one truly witnessed the circumstances at the riverbank, nor knew what kind of fierce battle those eighty thousand troops went through, ultimately none survived!

However, the whole night, they heard sounds in the wind.

Screams of shock and cries.

The sound of swords piercing flesh, tearing noises, and the sound of blood spurting out, dyeing the night with hues of red...

Even now, mentioning that night, everyone seems to be immersed in a bloodstained nightmare. Although there are still soldiers in the city, with swords in their hands, they have lost their fighting spirit, and the people have lost their reliance. The entire Fufeng is almost on the brink of collapse.

And all of this was because of that Ma Xu!

Thinking of this, Dai Junliang, his eyes red with anger, glared at Ma Xu with hatred.

Ma Xu, who was initially confident, found himself facing Yu Wenye’s sharp, piercing eyes. Instantly, he felt them cut through him, causing his knees to buckle as he fell to the ground, banging his head repeatedly in plea.

"Great General, I, I didn’t—"

At this moment, even Shang Ruyi furrowed her brows.

Though victory or defeat is common in warfare, this person is overly boastful and stubborn, given the authority to lead troops but lacking the talent to command them. This is his crime, causing eighty thousand troops to be lost without returning, an unforgivable sin!

In that moment, she wished she could just rush up and stab him!

Yet Yu Wenye, after giving him a cold glance, no longer looked at him. Instead, he dismounted his horse, lifted his head, and looked ahead. In front of them were towering city walls and tightly closed city gates. Fortunately, Xue Xian’s forces hadn’t attacked here, so the walls and gates were without signs of damage, appearing sturdy.

Yu Wenye said, "Let’s go up the city tower first."

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

At this time, shouldn’t he, as the Great General, first deal with Ma Xu, who rashly went to battle and suffered defeat? Or rather, count the remaining troops in the city. Why go up the city tower now?

Even Dai Junliang hesitated, saying gravely, "Great General, it’s better not to go up the city now."

Shang Ruyi glanced at him.

Yu Wenye didn’t look at him, only said blandly, "I came here to understand the situation, especially the final outcome of that battle. Otherwise, it won’t be beneficial to the future battles."

After speaking, he waved his hand, "Up the city tower."

At this, the crowd dared not disobey, and they dismounted, following him onto the city tower.

Shang Ruyi followed behind him, looking at his back, a bit puzzled—Yu Wenye’s mention of "the final outcome of that battle" was strange. Wasn’t the final result the annihilation of the eighty thousand troops? Why did he say he needed to see the final outcome?

Could there be another outcome?

With these thoughts, she quickened her steps, but just as she was about to reach the tower, a breeze suddenly blew, and Shang Ruyi instinctively sniffed.

What’s that, a stench in the wind?

Moreover, a very repulsive, foul stench?

While she was puzzled, the group had followed Yu Wenye to the city tower. Suddenly, their view expanded. From the towering city wall, they could see vast distances, taking in all of Fufeng County. The low houses were densely packed inside the city, and even the city tower on the other side appeared faintly under the sunlight.

At this moment, Shantong’er suddenly let out a scream—

"Ah! What is that?!"

Shang Ruyi was taken aback and quickly turned her head.

Because of her position, she only saw the city after reaching the tower. But actually, Yu Wenye brought them up to see outside the city, to the other side. At this moment, Shang Ruyi hurried to his side and looked forward.

Instantly, her face changed.

Outside the city gate was an expanse of open ground, with numerous chaotic footprints and bloodstains, clearly remnants of the battle days ago. Following those blood traces, at the edge of their sight, under the sunlight was a shimmering silver chain, the Little Forest River, serving as the city’s moat.

This was the site of their clash with Xue Xian, where they lost eighty thousand troops.

Though it was too far to see the riverbank’s condition, one could almost imagine the horrific scene that evening, as described by Dai Junliang.

But what horrified them wasn’t that river.

It was the high wall that appeared across the river!

That high wall, astonishingly, wasn’t built from stone or bricks. From such a distance, with the day yet to fully brighten, it looked blackish and somewhat bloody, with hints of bone white, unsure what it comprised, capable of constructing such a tall wall outside Fufeng City!

An unusual shiver suddenly coursed through Shang Ruyi’s heart.

A gust of wind blew, causing that high wall to tremble slightly in the breeze, and the foul stench enveloping Fufeng prompted Shang Ruyi to cover her mouth and nose.

That is—

Just then, more sunlight pierced through the clouds and illuminated the high wall.

They finally saw it clearly.

It was a pile of soldier corpses, stacked together to form a wall!

The Capital!

That is the Capital!

Xue Xian had gathered the corpses of the eighty thousand soldiers who died at Fufeng to build them into a Capital!