Chapter 9 Jerot is a Little Bored

"Nine already..." Jerot, feeling slightly bored, shook his hand. He couldn't even be bothered to shoot more of those ant-like figures scaling the main gate, instead focusing on picking off the small leaders who were shouting and goading their underlings. But for an archer of Jerot's caliber, shooting straight at this range of a hundred paces or so required absolutely no skill, and was quite dull. Beside him, the guards manning the cannon felt the same way. Even with this light crossbow cannon that could be quickly disassembled and installed, the range was still four hundred paces. Firing at crowds that didn't require any accuracy, they were almost yawning.

While commanding his soldiers to defend, Huo Dong frequently glanced back at the two crossbow cannons and the Type II fire oil bombs stacked to the side. As an officer of the Imperial Guards, he had at least received training in the use of trebuchets and fire oil bombs in Yu Hang, so he naturally recognized that crossbow cannons, especially these small ones, were much more useful than trebuchets, which could only be used for city defense and large-scale decisive battles. Although Ye Tao had never considered developing anything like a company-level support fire system in this era, these small crossbow cannons could indeed serve such a purpose. When defending passes, these small crossbow cannons and fire oil bombs might be slightly underpowered, but in medium-scale battles, especially in urban warfare, they were extremely useful for attacking courtyards and other non-fortress buildings. Even now, the fire oil bombs fired from the two cannons prevented the gang members and the Yizhou garrison troops under Fu Chong, who had already pressed forward, from gathering too closely, otherwise they might not have time to dodge when a fire oil bomb arrived. Moreover, the fire oil bombs casually thrown at the swarming enemies below the second gate prevented them from amassing a strong enough attack. In this way, the defense of the second gate felt quite impenetrable.

Suddenly, two flashes of saber light emerged from the forests on both sides, cleaving down on Huo Dong's head, followed by a dozen or so highly skilled individuals. Some were brought by the mysterious men, while others were inspired by them and climbed up from both sides, preparing to break through from the forest side as Jin Jie Gang members.

Huo Dong snorted coldly, showing no fear. He drew the long saber from his waist and raised it in a backhand parry. The personal guards around him, along with the soldiers holding various weapons who had not yet been deployed to the front lines, also reacted immediately, catching the attackers somewhat off guard.

This was perfectly normal. In other units, encountering close combat with martial artists would inevitably require paying a heavy price to resolve, but these guys sent by Ye Tao to protect him were either Imperial Guards or personal guards of the Prince of Juxian's manor. They might be at a loss in a real decisive battle, but defending mountain villa courtyards and guarding against assassins and strongmen was their job, and they were very adept at it.

However, amidst the chaos behind the gate, the mysterious man had already led several highly skilled subordinates away, bypassing the soldiers defending the gate and heading straight for Fuxin Courtyard.

Seeing this situation, Jerot quickly drew a signal arrow and shot it into the air. Then he casually inserted the longbow back into the quiver on his back, drew the two scimitars from his waist, and fought with the several thieves who rushed up to destroy the crossbow cannons. Although Jerot was a top-ranked archer in Yunzhou, his swordsmanship was equally exquisite and sharp, especially when combined with the two Damascus scimitars, which made him even more powerful. It should be noted that not long ago, the Damascus scimitars with their beautiful patterns were only collectibles used by some tribal leaders to flaunt their wealth, but now, the two scimitars, which did not look very luxurious and had handles wrapped with medium-thick ropes for a comfortable grip, were firmly in his hands. The guys who had been measuring distance, adjusting cannons, winding strings, and carrying cannonballs were also baring their teeth and claws, ready to kill. Operating cannons was only their side job; these elite guards were ruthless.

The guards in Fuxin Courtyard heard the warning, but did not make any major moves. They had already made all the preparations. At this moment, Fuxin Courtyard was even calmer and more relaxed than usual.

Guan Huan, who was ordered to protect Dai Qiuyan and others, did not follow Dai Qiuyan closely like the guards under his command and the two female guards who were protecting Dai Qiuyan. Instead, he stood on the roof, leaning against the eaves, with a long blade of grass in his mouth. In the house behind him, which he was leaning against, Dai Qiuyan was chatting softly with the maids and the two female guards. It didn't seem to be a serious topic, and they could occasionally be heard laughing happily. Dai Qiuyan was not unaware of the impending danger, but being able to face such danger with Ye Tao was a kind of happiness for her, and she had always had complete confidence in Ye Tao and the people around him. At this moment, this usually unthinking woman had vaguely become the backbone of those who had little combat power, calming everyone's minds along with her.

There were guards on every roof around, but they didn't look tense like they were facing a great enemy. Instead, they were finding various ways to pass the time. Some were playing hopscotch on the roof ridge, others were jumping back and forth between two roofs to show off their jumping ability, and two guards were even tossing beanbags back and forth on the roof, not only having to catch them steadily, but also not making any noise to disturb the governor.

And what was Ye Tao doing at this moment? He was listening to Feng Zi tell the bizarre stories surrounding the Hidden Dragon Box. Feng Zi, who had the ability to memorize everything he saw, was originally interested in such anecdotes. He had a large amount of data and confidential files to read when he was writing the Great History series of manuscripts with Ye Tao, and later when he was debating. He told the story in a colorful way. The shouts of killing and the sound of fire oil bombs exploding outside seemed to be annotating the many stories connected by the Hidden Dragon Box, which condensed countless blood and tears.

At this moment, Bi Xiaoqing, who had finished the defense arrangements, stood at the door of the main hall. Guards ran to report the situation from time to time. Although his responsibility was to oversee all defenses, he clearly understood that Ye Tao was the enemy's most valuable target, and protecting Ye Tao was more important than anything else. While maintaining contact with several parties, he did not want to disturb Ye Tao, Feng Zi, and others' extremely rare leisure time at the moment, so he stood at the door and directed the defense. As for Sun Jin and his group, they had already moved everyone and all important items to Fuxin Courtyard. The personal guards that Chang Hongquan sent to Sun Jin were surprisingly good.

The two guards brought bad news. The sound of the signal arrow just now indicated that the enemy would come to Fuxin Courtyard at any time. Bi Xiaoqing turned and walked into the hall, interrupting Feng Zi's wonderful story, and reported: "Master, the second main gate has become a melee. Although they have enough manpower and there will be no problems, many people have broken through the mountain ridge and entered the manor. The situation at the back door is similar. Zhao Yan asked if he should concentrate some people to suppress the enemies who entered the manor. Captain Huo didn't say anything, and the pressure at the front gate is not too great."

"No need to search and kill. Let Zhao Yan take care of the back door. It doesn't matter if a few enemies come in. If the manpower is reduced and the back door is breached, it will be fun." Ye Tao shrugged and said, "Are the people who entered the manor all coming here?"

"That's how it should be. The guards found them gathering. They should be trying to gather some numbers to launch a concentrated attack." Bi Xiaoqing said.

"Did the enemy kill people and set fires?" Ye Tao asked.

Bi Xiaoqing said with a light laugh: "Thanks to Uncle-Master's prestige, no. Although the outer manor drove the people in the manor to concentrate and control them, there was no killing or arson."

"That's good. The next thing depends on the brothers." Ye Tao encouraged.

"Don't worry, Lord Ye. ... By the way, Madman, tell me the story again when you have time." Bi Xiaoqing raised his eyebrows and asked Feng Zi.

"Can you read?" The clerk who had been faithfully taking notes on Feng Zi's story muttered, "Go back and read it yourself."

Bi Xiaoqing chuckled, turned around and went out to prepare to meet the enemy. He quietly called the two human-shaped meat grinders, set up the last crossbow cannon in the garden, lit up a dozen people, and personally led the team to launch an attack on the enemies gathered on one side, and suddenly dispersed the newly gathered Jin Jie Gang members and Fu Chong's mixed troops. The two sides, which were not subordinate to each other, and did not have a strong enough personnel to lead them, made it difficult for this group of people to form any cohesion. As soon as this group of people dispersed, Bi Xiaoqing immediately greeted the manor's devotees to lead a team of villagers to launch a separate search and kill. For a time, the entire manor was very lively.

At this moment, the mysterious man who had been wearing a cloak broke into Fuxin Courtyard with a few of his most trusted subordinates. Behind them were dozens of Jin Jie Gang members who had been selected as having passable skills.

"I'll go take a look." Liu Yong, who had been sitting next to Ye Tao, heard the guards' warning and slowly walked out of the main hall, standing at the door. The guards were divided into groups to fight off the enemy, advancing and retreating in an orderly manner. After Bi Xiaoqing led the team to attack, Wu Pingan, the leader of the guards, assigned tasks in a simple and clear manner, and he also stepped up his efforts, resisting these people. Although there were not many people here, their skills were not bad, and for a while everyone couldn't solve the problem, and fell into a stalemate. The mysterious man in the cloak gave a loud shout, and those who had been avoiding the search and kill by the villagers outside the courtyard trembled, and then rushed towards Fuxin Courtyard as if their lives depended on it, as if the guards led by Bi Xiaoqing and the original defense forces in the village could be ignored.

"Is the Zen Heart Skill used to call people?" Liu Yong jumped up and attacked the mysterious man. He heard the cultivation contained in the words that the mysterious man shouted, which seemed like a magic spell. Liu Yong knew that if the other party did this, they would really attack Fuxin Courtyard with all their strength. Although the guards were indeed very combat effective, because the difference in numbers was too great, they really couldn't hold on for too long. He needed to make a quick decision, and if he could solve this guy who seemed to be the leader of the other party, it should be of great benefit.

But when he touched the other party with his palm, Liu Yong's face changed. He raised his eyebrows, hummed, and said, "Mo Leng, you didn't bring your Eagle Hall men, but you brought these wastes to die?"

Hearing this, the mysterious man took off his cloak and threw away his mask casually. This guy was the leader of the Daoming Sect's Eagle Hall, Mo Leng.