Lord of the Desert

Chapter 391 Questioning
June 22, the 30th year of Zhenghe.

The ashes of Fengjianke were destroyed in the sunset, and Yunlan City was burning in fire.

It was already dark when the rebel army broke into the city, and more than 3,000 soldiers were killed or wounded. The soldiers had experienced many ups and downs and were exhausted, making it increasingly difficult to advance.

Feng Manyun and Gu Yixin fought until they were covered in wounds and their true energy was exhausted. They each used their last bit of strength to snatch back the bodies of Feng Mubai and Duan Tiannan.

At 8:00 p.m., Xu Yuntao ordered all troops to station and reorganize with the North City as the core.

Not long after, Hong Fan, who had stabilized his state of mind, returned to the camp and retrieved Mingshen. He learned that in today's battle, the enemy Huang Yuzun was seriously injured and Zuo Chiheng had a broken arm, while his own innate "Shadow in the Cloud" Luo Shangming died on the spot.

That night, Feng Manyun gathered the strength of the entire Feng family and part of the Tianfeng Army, and gathered them at the Feng family mansion in Dongcheng and the Huaiyang Palace, and arranged defenses overnight.

Before dawn, neither side took any action.

June twenty-third.

At 6 a.m., the morning glow was lifted up in the early morning, like a gathering of flamingos.

After being lost in the storm for forty years, Fengyunding is now clear again between heaven and earth.

Taking Yunlan North City as their base, the rebel army launched a fierce attack, sweeping away the remaining Tianfeng troops on three sides and occupying half of the city in one day.

June twenty-four.

The Baisheng Army attacked the Huaiyang Palace from the west and north, annihilated the palace guards and a small number of stubborn Biaofeng guards who stayed behind, and captured the armory.

By nightfall, the rebels controlled 70% of the city.

June twenty-fifth.

From midnight to dawn, the three innate masters of the Feng family entered the city one after another.

The morale of the remaining Feng family members rebounded.

At 8 o'clock in the morning, the rebel army launched a tentative attack on the east city.

At noon, Gu Yixin came out of meditation after three days. His Yuanci realm had stabilized and his injuries were almost half recovered. He challenged Feng Manyun to a fight.

In the afternoon, the rebels launched a full-scale attack.

The battle took place in every street and alley in East City.

The Feng family is in a very difficult situation but they are not afraid. They are resolute in their pursuit and fight like trapped beasts.

The rebel army fought until dusk but failed to win, so they withdrew and regrouped.

Xu Yuntao did not sleep all night.

······
June twenty-six.

Before the hour of Wei, the scorching heat was raging.

On the ceiling of Yunlan City, a white-hot hole hung silently, and the earth seemed to be soaked in melted wax.

The first three streets in East City have been reduced to ruins.

Gu Yixin and Feng Manyun fought outside the city, and the hollow sound of violent anger could be heard from afar.

Hong Fan held the knife with both hands and used the power of Ming Shen to cut out a three-foot red fire, which crashed into the oncoming strong wind.

A flaming tornado rose up, releasing explosive roars of wind and thunder.

The battle lasted for nearly three hours, and the Victorious Army had already exerted all its strength.

In Hong Fan's opinion, his side was superior to the enemy in terms of both combat power and morale. However, no matter how hard he and his partner Qiu Yuankui tried, they could not defeat Feng's camp.

A quarter of an hour later, the rebels retreated to rest.

The temperature reached the hottest time of the day.

The heavily armored soldiers took off their armor like shedding their shells, revealing the lining soaked with sweat. Their skin seemed to be dripping with oil under the scorching sun.

Hong Fan didn't care about the scorching heat.

Holding a knife, he walked through the corpse-strewn street in the sunlight, and caught a glimpse of blood clots in the shape of dots, strips, or spurts stuck to the stone bricks and wooden walls on both sides.

There is purple in red and black in purple.

Hong Fan couldn't help but quicken his pace.

The stench of the five decays of the celestial beings had dissipated a few days ago, but now the streets are once again filled with the smell of rotting mortal corpses.

Stepping on broken bricks and dust, Hong Fan entered the temporary command post.

He first scooped water from a water tank in the shade, held his breath and drank it, then let the coolness roll down his throat into his stomach as if he was drinking alcohol to relax.

Hong Fan spoke to Xu Yuntao while holding the water scoop.

"Today's battle situation is actually worse than yesterday's. The opponent is incredibly tenacious."

Half complaint, half inquiry.

As he spoke, he scooped another bucket of cold water and poured it over his head.

"There's a problem on our left wing." Xu Yuntao replied in a low voice, the skin on his cheeks seeming to be hardened.

"It should be around noon, when they slowed down their offensive, and they have been just pretending to be strong since then."

Hong Fan was surprised.

"What do you mean?"

He threw the ladle back into the jar.

"The left wing is mainly led by Lan Hai, the 'Sky Full of Clouds', and Chao Zheng, the 'Blood Slaughterer'. The former lost 200 men this morning, and the latter 300. Perhaps the weather was too hot, or perhaps the Feng family's position was too strong. In any case, they were unwilling to fight any longer."

Xu Yuntao replied.

Hong Fan nodded silently, untied the Mingshen from his waist and pressed it on the table.

This was what he had been worried about a few days ago.

Yunlan City had accumulated too much wealth after two hundred years of plunder; now that Feng Jianke was dead and Duan Tiannan was no longer around, many people inevitably lost their confidence and had other ideas. They were unwilling to fight with the Feng family, who were fighting like a trapped beast, and some even had other ideas.

Not long after Qiu Yuankui returned, someone came from outside the hall with urgent news.

"There was a looting group in West City. Our people went over and couldn't stop them. They almost resorted to violence..."

Outside Tiandong City, the sound of Gu Yixin and Feng Manyun fighting could still be heard from afar.

Hong Fan's face was as gloomy as water and he clenched his sword tightly.

······
On the same day, at 8pm.

The Gong family mansion in front of Yunlan South City is where the rebel army’s main tent is located.

The courtyard was brightly lit with lights.

All the high-ranking leaders of the rebel army were present.

"The military's power lies only in enforcing orders and prohibitions."

Qiu Yuankui stood in the hall with a sad voice.

"Before we marched, we agreed that the coalition forces would be under unified command and abide by our military discipline."

"However, in today's battle, the left-wing Hongxia Army and Chaozi Camp were cowardly and delayed the opportunity to fight..."

"Do you two have anything to say?"

He looked to the left, where sat the famous Huaiyang gunman "Xia Mantian".

"Please be clear, there may be delays, but there will be no neglect of life!"

Lan Hai responded immediately.

"My men have fought for their lives and Japan is exhausted. How can they be charged with such a crime when they are running out of energy?"

He was so confident in what he said, without any confusion at all.

On the contrary, Qiu Yuankui did not expect that the other party would dare to argue so in such a reverse way, and his momentum was slightly stifled.

The battle was fierce, and each unit of the rebel army was independently organized. He did not interrogate anyone from the left army to verify the evidence - and besides, this was never necessary when Duan Tiannan was around.

The atrium was silent for a moment.

Hong Fan glanced at the three innate rebels who were seated in order - "Qing Yu Jian" Ling Zhiyun had a gloomy expression, "Xia Man Tian" Lan Hai seemed excited, and "Xue Tu Shou" Chao Zheng leaned back in an armchair with a look of disapproval on his face.

He thought back to when he first met them in early June.

The sun and the moon have risen and set only a dozen times, and the people are still the same people, but their appearances are very different.

"What about the rebellion in West City?"

Qiu Yuankui suppressed his anger and asked again.

"Master Chao, your men robbed seven families today, raped two women, and killed one person. How do you explain this?"

"According to the military law of the Hundred Victories Army, it was naturally my brother who made the mistake."

Chao Zheng replied, cupping his hands.

"Since Lord Baisheng has brought this up personally, I will punish them severely when I return."

He spoke very seriously, but his eyes were relaxed - the so-called severe punishment was probably a few beatings with a military stick and a fine.

As everyone knows, although Qiu Yuankui is very powerful, he has a gentle and generous personality and can never lose face.

In troubled times, war is as fierce as fire, and it is inevitable that some unfortunate people will be burned, Chao Zheng thought leisurely.

Qiu Yuankui kept his mouth shut but couldn't stop thinking.

Although he was the nominal leader of the three-county righteous army, he was actually just one of the many. He tried his best to take everyone into consideration in everything and did not want to break his loyalty.

The fact that things had been handled to this point in the past could serve as a reminder to the bandits and military leaders present.

(End of this chapter)