When the water level dropped to about waist level, Li Fu could no longer take it.

Fortunately, the ordinary soldiers were able to withstand the flow of the floodwater by this point.

Ren Baqian was shocked at Li Fu's appearance. His hair and beard stuck to his face, he was pale, and his eyes were dull. It was as if he had been bled dry for three days and three nights of battle. He no longer looked like the peerless warrior he was.

"Senior… Are you alright?" Ren Baqian asked with great concern.

"Young man, you have landed me in a miserable state! You better stay far away and not talk to me!" Li Fu said weakly.

"Oh…" Ren Baqian realized that the number one expert in the world was a human after all.

Initially, Li Fu looked like a G.o.d due to his ability to smash a mountain with one strike. Looking at Li Fu's miserable appearance now, Ren Baqian didn't know why he was laughing behind his sleeve.

There was no apparent reason for feeling this way as this guy had helped to save thousands of soldiers.

However, seeing that a deity was just a mere mortal made Ren Baqian feel more at ease.

After all, Li Fu was so powerful that everyone was in awe of him.

Even the empress was far behind him in comparison.

"Senior, have a good rest first. I will prepare some items to replenish your energy, items like phallus of a saber-toothed tiger, phallus of a panda, medlar, epimedium, and cistanche…" Ren Baqian smiled solicitously.

"So many c.r.a.ppy things!" Li Fu was fuming with his eyes wide open. He might not know about the rest, but he definitely knew what a tiger phallus was.

He hadn't been near a woman for over 200 years, so if he took the tiger phallus, how was he going to sleep?

After Li Fu found a resting spot, Ren Baqian went to the empress and reported, "Your Majesty, although the soldiers are alright, the military supplies are all gone."

All that was left were the goats and cows sent from Gu City and the mounts of the winged cavalry. These goats and cows were positioned at the rear and were rushed to the hill in time. However, at present, the meat was mixed with grain to be eaten during this war campaign. Their current supplies would only last for one meal if the army was to eat until they were full.

"There is food in the city," the empress said casually before summoning Xi Wanya. "Get the soldiers to cut down trees and build rafts to cross the river."

She then summoned Gong Zheng, "Get the winged cavalry ready to cross the river once the water has receded. The requirement for you is to stand firm and not engage the other side. If they do not attack, don't take the initiative to attack them."

"Understood!"

After two hours, the water began to recede, revealing that the previous farmland was now covered with sediment. Fish were flopping on both riverbanks, and a few big ones were three or four meters long and had sharp teeth.

Ren Baqian ordered his people to quickly gather the fish. At the very least, there would be grilled fish tonight. If the military supplies hadn't been lost, they could even have had fish soup to drink.

It was a pity that those pract.i.tioners who had attacked them just now were all dead or had escaped. Otherwise, he could use one of them to test the fish for poison.

However, most of the fish should be alright, and they only needed to pay attention to those that looked weird.

By the time the riverbank on their side was exposed, the water level of the opposite riverbank was under about one meter of water. However, the rebels on the other hill could no longer wait. They, successively jumped into the water and ran through the river into the distance.

Nevertheless, the water couldn't get rid of the smell on their bodies, and they avoided each other in the river. Finally, the whole army became scattered troops that ran wildly toward the distant city.

The winged cavalry waited for the opposite riverbank to reappear before they started crossing.

As the flow of the water began to weaken, the winged cavalry followed Zong Shen and threw some logs into the river. Dozens of them worked together to place a floating log every five or six meters. The end result looked like three floating bridges.

Following this, they crossed one by one to the other side.

Occasionally, some fools stepped on both ends of a log, fell into the water, and were stepped on by those coming from behind by the time they got back on the logs. After getting stepped on by countless of people, they finally arrived at the other side with their noses bruised and faces swollen.

They subsequently tied seven or eight logs to form a raft and linked them together to form a floating bridge.

When the sky turned dark, everyone was already on the other riverbank.

During this period, some baihu reported that the rebels who had escaped and went back weren't permitted to enter through the front gate. Instead, they had to bypa.s.s it and went to the rear of the city.

Otherwise, their smell alone could reduce the fighting prowess of the city defenders by about 30 percent.

At the same time, even the fighting capacity of the soldiers attacking the city would be affected.

Not everyone could be unfazed by such a disgusting smell.

After the last person had reached the other side, a full meal was provided to everyone using the fish gathered from both riverbanks as well as one-third of the goats and cows. The soldiers then took the opportunity to march forward at night. By the time the moon was in the middle of the sky, they reached the vicinity of the city that they saw earlier.

With the empress beside him, Ren Baqian pointed to the city in front of them and said, "Your Majesty, this is Xueyang City. It is within the borders of the Southern Metropolis, and it is said that Xie Kun is in this city. Xueyang City has a force that's at least 100,000 strong."

The top of the city walls was brightly lit by torches and was full of archers armed with bows and arrows as well as infantry with sabers and lances. They were all full of murderous spirit.

On top of the city gate were a few generals looking at the advancing soldiers. They were fully aware that the aboriginal soldiers were already here. Even with the moonlight, they couldn't see very far. They could only vaguely see the outlines and hear some sounds carried by the wind.

They could hear and know where the aboriginals were, but they couldn't really see anything, and those manning the city walls were apprehensive.

On the other hand, the aboriginals could see everything at the top of the city wall clearly.

"Pa.s.s down the order to rest for half an hour and attack the city tonight," the empress ordered Xi Wanya.

Ren Baqian distributed the grenades that he had brought back on this trip and was ultimately left with 60 or 70 gadgets that looked like fortified smoke bombs.

Ren Baqian looked at these gadgets and started laughing heartily.

When he was buying grenades, he thought that he might have a use for these things, but he didn't expect to use them so soon.

He instructed Gong Zheng on the method to use them and then got him to distribute them down the line.

After half an hour, Xi Wanya began to organize the army. Loud cries pierced the night sky as the people at the top of the city wall became agitated.

"They are going to attack! Prepare the archers, and be ready to use the boiling oil!" a general ordered from the top of the city wall.

Pot by pot, the oil that was being heated earlier was taken up to the city wall.

All eyes were fixed on the darkness below the city wall. Faint outlines could be seen moving, footsteps were heard approaching, and loud cries were continuously heard.

Each and every city defender clenched the weapons in their hands, but even this didn't make them feel secure.

Based on the propaganda they heard, everyone knew who the people in the darkness were.

These were the savage and cruel barbarians.

Everyone believed that they would inevitably be slaughtered once the city was conquered.

Whether it was for their own sake or their family members, they would fight with all their might and bite off a piece of flesh from the barbarians even if they were to die.

The general at the top of the city wall threw down a torch in front of him, instantly illuminating the advancing figures that were big and tall.

"Fire!"

Everyone shot their arrows in the direction of the area they had just seen. A group of archers fired their arrows, immediately changed positions with the archers behind them, and another shower of arrows rained down into the darkness.

Flashes of sparks from sabers came from the darkness, forming a ma.s.s of lights and shadows as the arrows were parried by the sabers.

At lightning speed, hundreds of people rushed toward the base of the city wall. At the same time, dozens of cylindrical objects were thrown toward the top of the city wall.

"Lower your heads!" Gong Zheng shouted. All the winged cavalry warriors immediately tucked their heads.

Bang! Unlike a grenade explosion, this blast was followed by a bright and intense light.

With a blinding range of up to 30 meters and due to the fact that the defenders were staring into the darkness of the night, these sudden flashes were even more effective.

Most of the people at the top of the city wall, who were straining their eyes to see the enemies below, saw a flash of white and then couldn't see anymore.

This included some of the pract.i.tioners who were at the top of the city wall. Everyone was covering their eyes and howling hoa.r.s.ely, "I can't see anything at all!"

Furthermore, not only were many people unable to see anything, they were also unable to hear anything.

In addition to a luminosity of up to one million candelas, a noise of about 170-180 decibels was unleashed at close range and temporarily deafened those exposed to the loud sound.

This sudden loss of sight and hearing caused a huge panic at the top of the city wall. Many people collided into each other in the panic. One by one, the boiling pots of oil were knocked over, causing even more chaos. As a result, many people even fell straight off of the city wall.

At this moment, hundreds of small melons were thrown toward the top of the city wall.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions and flames were heard and seen.

Only after this did the 700 winged cavalry warriors jumped to the top of the wall. Blood rained all over as their sabers flashed.

Previously, the rebels had made all kinds of preparations and plans, and they were still confident even when the landslide and flood strategies had failed. This was because they had enough military strength to defend the city.

However, they didn't expect the city to fall so quickly.