Lord of the Desert

Chapter 361 Broken City
The next day, September 19th.

Duanli is located in the north of the city.

The clouds are as dense as the sea, and where the wind blows, white waves crash upside down.

On the general's platform, the military flags rang out and everyone was wearing armor.

At 10 a.m., the army formed a battle array and launched a feint attack on the city wall. When they were about to withdraw, the tunnel they were working on was broken through by someone inside the city, resulting in an underground melee.

Bai Shengjun had been working for many days and was unwilling to give up easily.

Xu Yuntao sent more troops; Hong Fan, relying on his fate, also wanted to join the war.

Unexpectedly, as soon as people went down, they saw a high-speed airflow carrying smoke and dust bombarding out from the passage, rushing back from the tunnel entrance to a height of dozens of meters, just like a storm released from a tin can.

Hong Fan retreated to the surface covered in dust and dirt. After discussing with the others, he immediately realized that this was Li Xiqi's method - with the constraints of the tunnel, Feng Xing's martial arts naturally focused, and the power increased several times.

Then poisonous smoke rose again in the city, which had been prepared.

The Tianfeng Army used a mixture of wolf fire, mugwort, arsenic, realgar, Polygonum aviculare, and pepper to burn to produce smoke, and then used Xiaoyao Yinchao to blow air into the underground tunnel. Soon, the earthen platform outside the city was filled with billowing iron ash.

The Baisheng Army had no choice but to fill the hole on its own initiative.

Cheers were heard immediately in the city.

Yi Hong, Jiao An and others sat on the podium, unmoved, with only a sneer on their lips.

At noon, the Baisheng Army cooked a meal and ate it safely under the city gate amid the scolding and shouting of the defenders. After resting for half an hour, all the soldiers lined up.

Someone on the city wall smelled something ominous, and the voices gradually faded away.

At 1:00 p.m., the clouds became thicker, and the sun was not visible even at noon. Everything was silent, and there was only a sense of solemnity.

Li Xiqi sat high on the city wall, leaning on his sword with a smile on his face. He didn't see where Tang Shengwang was, and he was too lazy to look for him.

There was a sudden flash of light from the east.

Dozens of miles away, rain began to roll down from the clouds, forming a pillar connecting the sky and the earth.

The wind blew from there, carrying water vapor and making my face moist.

The innate water spirit energy is exceptionally active.

"General Xu?"

Hong Fan asked, tilting his head.

Xu Yuntao and Qiu Yuankui exchanged glances and nodded slightly.

Hong Fan stood up from his seat, glanced across the battlefield and looked towards the sky covered with dark clouds.

The sky looked back with lightning and thunder.

When the thunder faded away, he pressed down his helmet and visor, and walked towards the central army formation - it was he who cast the White Thunder God, so he was giving Xu Yuntao a reward for the merit of breaking the city.

Half a quarter of an hour later, everything was in place.

Qiu Yuankui took out a green and red jade pendant from his chest, counted to three silently, and input his true energy in a specific rhythm.

The Qi is connected and the innate spiritual energy is stimulated from a distance.

Fifty feet away from the city, Hong Fan stood in front of the army and felt something in his heart.

Before the sound reached my ears, my feet shook.

With the dynamic vision of a warrior superman, he could clearly see the bricks peeling off, the city foundation that was as hard as wrought iron bulging slightly, cracking into countless tiny gaps, and then disintegrating inward into sand, rippling like liquid.

In another moment, the world turned upside down.

The city wall, as thick as a hill, was pushed upwards and was dismembered and shattered along with the flying towers and defenders in the reflected shock wave.

There was no fire, no flame.

Only the highly condensed fire spiritual energy can stretch freely and self-destruct.

The rage surged past Hong Fan, pulling the red cherry on the top of his helmet straight.

Ten feet back, dozens of heavily armored soldiers fell down collectively, and far more than a hundred people died in the explosion on the city wall.

A few seconds later, molten earth and rocks fell from the sky like stars and rain.

For a few breaths, the soldiers were so stunned and stupid that they couldn't even distinguish the thunder.

It was not until Xu Yuntao drew his sword and shouted that someone blew the horn and beat the drum.

Li Xiqi didn't care at all. He just issued a few last military orders in a dull manner, then threw his sword and led his troops out of the city.

Upon hearing the order, the Victorious Army began to advance.

Hong Fan led the way, his pace becoming increasingly quicker.

The closer he got to the city, the narrower his vision became. He could only vaguely see the chaos on the city walls and hear the desperate cries of "the city is broken" and "the sky is falling" that shook the morale.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

With one arm, the smoke and dust rose up like a wall and crashed into the gap.

Hong Fan suddenly took a quick step and was the first to rush towards Duan Li.

Vultures circled high in the sky.

The soldiers rushed like an iron stream.

There was a loud thunder and a rainstorm was about to come.

At some point, the big flag with Tang characters on it disappeared from the city walls.

······
On the same day at 3 p.m., several dozen miles southwest of Duanli City.

The fertile fields are vast, with a mixture of yellow and green.

Leaden clouds hung low.

Beams of sunlight passed through the clouds and pressed down on the earth like stone pillars, revealing patches of light and dark.

Li Xiqi urged his white horse to gallop on the long and straight official road, followed by dozens of light cavalry.

The roaring cries of killing that occurred when the city was breached had long since disappeared, but he knew that the crisis was not over yet.

If the purpose was just to escape, a congenitally strong person would be much faster than a warhorse. Unfortunately, Li Xiqi was unwilling to abandon his comrades whom he had entrusted his life to - as a warrior, defeat was already unbearable, and escaping with his own life was even more unbearable.

The white horse was breathing heavily, and its neck was wet with a layer of sweat.

The master patted his mount and could not help looking back - in the distance, Duanli City was being engulfed by the rainstorm, blurry and swaying.

Raise the whip and make it crack.

The warhorse leaped forward, but only after going a few dozen feet, it saw a streak of golden light slanting down from the front of the official road.

A bell rang out of nowhere.

A palm print as big as a house rolled into the ground, kneading the soil like dough, and blowing away the sand, stone, and grass.

Li Xiqi used his powerful true energy to hold his mount tightly, but more than a dozen knights behind him were still blown away.

The horses neighed and rose and fell, but no one cried out in pain.

Everyone looked up and saw a burly figure floating in the air, blocking the road.

"Where does the defeated general flee to?"

The person who came to speak was Duan Tiannan. Li Xiqi had no expression on his face and his body was relaxed.

"really."

He scoffed in a low voice.

"Sure enough?"

Duan Tiannan asked.

"Since you dare to leave the army and act alone, it turns out that you and Tang Shaoyou have already had a tacit understanding."

Li Xiqi replied lazily.

Duan Tiannan did not answer.

"Surrender or fight to the death?"

He landed on the ground and asked in a calm voice.

As soon as the words came out, there was a sound of swords being drawn on the other side.

Li Xiqi was stunned when he heard the voice, looked around, and finally shook his head.

One Yuan magnetic and four gates, against one innate, two perfect, and dozens of connected.

The latter has no chance of winning.

"Mr. Duan..."

He was halfway through his words when he saw Duan Tiannan suddenly frowning and shouting at him as he walked to the side of the road.

"Who is it? Get out!"

A man responded by rushing out from the woods beside the road.

It was Tang Shengwang.

"Why would you come here to seek death if you don't want to live?"

Duan Tiannan asked coldly when he saw that it was a member of the Tang family.

Tang Shengwang's face turned pale, and after hesitating for a while, he actually knelt on one knee.

"I beg Lord Iron Palm to spare General Li's life."

He cupped his hands and begged.

Li Xiqi sat on his horse with his chin slightly raised.

"Is this what he meant?"

Duan Tiannan asked back, looking displeased.

"No, no; I have worked with General Lee for a long time, so I came here on my own..."

Tang Shengwang said anxiously.

Duan Tiannan's expression eased slightly, but he still did not comment.

Li Xiqi suddenly turned over and got off the horse.

"Three days ago, you used your helmet to hold water for me."

He cracked his whip in the air and pointed his whip at Tang from a distance.

"Did you know what happened today?"

Li Xiqi asked proudly.

"I don't know, I really don't know!"

Tang Shengwang answered hastily. He wanted to explain further, but his lips trembled and he didn't know what else he could say.

"That's right."

Li Xiqi lowered his head and sighed, then made another sarcastic remark.

"Li, I think you are just a warrior, how can you be so cunning?"

Tang Shengwang had always been proud of his noble family, so he was instinctively angry when provoked. But when he came to his senses, he saw Li Xiqi's mouth slightly grinning.

Probably laughed.

The smile was stingy and mean, with a hint of coldness, which made him feel indescribably sad.

"It's over now, don't bother with it."

Li Xiqi waved his hand and turned to Duan Tiannan.

"Duan Tiannan, I am a lieutenant general of the royal court and cannot surrender to the rebels."

He spoke solemnly.

"Is Taotie worthy of your loyalty?"

Duan Tiannan sneered.

"It doesn't matter if you are loyal or disloyal, you just serve your mission."

Li Xiqi replied calmly.

"If Li surrenders, the Li family of Yunlan will die."

As he spoke, he threw away his whip, carefully adjusted his armor, and finally straightened his helmet.

"That's it."

Duan Tiannan nodded, strode forward, and struck Li Xiqi in the chest with his palm.

A light and muffled sound.

The iron palm was retracted, and the black iron heart guard peeled off like sand, revealing the intact cotton armor inside.

"This defeat is not due to war."

On his deathbed, Li Xiqi looked directly into Duan Tiannan's eyes, made a rebuttal, then knelt down and died.

Duan Tiannan observed a moment of silence and looked at the other knights.

"The commander is dead. Those of you who wish to surrender, kneel down."

he asked.

More than ten of the forty people knelt down one after another.

After confirming it for the second time, Duan Tiannan spared no effort and killed the standing Li's personal guard swiftly and bloodlessly, and finally glanced at Tang Shengwang.

"Temuz is a general of the Tianfeng Army. I cannot leave his body to you."

After he finished speaking, he carried Li Xiqi on his shoulders and escorted the remaining surrendered soldiers and war horses back north.

The men and horses moved away.

Tang Shengwang stood among the corpses on the ground for a long time without moving, feeling lost.

Until the heavy rain came from the south, embraced everything and soaked him.

(End of this chapter)