On the night of the fourth day of the eighth month, Shi Jin and the others retraced their path towards Xinzhou, traversing mountains and ridges. Sometime after midnight, the number of Jurchen scouts passing them by in the wilderness gradually increased, indicating they were crossing the mountain range where tens of thousands of Jurchen troops were temporarily stationed. This was near a mountain pass along the official road from Daixian to Xinzhou. Crossing the mountains that obstructed their view, they could vaguely see the light of bonfires rising into the sky. Pressing themselves to the ground, they could feel the humming vibration brought about by tens of thousands of troops even in the night.

In the air, there was even a faint sound of weeping.

By early morning on the fifth, they had reached Xinzhou. At this time, the north gate of Xinzhou was closed, while the south gate was open, allowing soldiers to enter and civilians to leave. The news of the Jurchen army approaching from the south had already reached Xinzhou. Shi Jin and the others entered Xinzhou almost at the last moment before the city closed its gates. By then, the city was already in complete chaos.

The sudden southward advance of the Jin army had already stirred up a massive wave throughout the entire Wu Dynasty, but for ordinary people, the information they received was often varied and diverse. Even though the Jurchens had breached Yanmen Pass and were advancing south, most people still couldn't accurately grasp the implications. Some were willing to leave, but many more were unable to make a decision to flee with their families in such a short time, anxiously awaiting the development of the situation. Due to the influx of large numbers of refugees, tens of thousands of troops, and the panic caused by the departure of some original residents, the city's overall ecosystem was rapidly tilting towards disorder.

Refugees poured into the city and began demanding food from the government. Some, seeing the residents fleeing, began to occupy the empty houses. Frictions amidst the panic led to numerous fights and brawls, and the underlying conflicts between several gangs in the city began to intensify. The army only cared that the city didn't descend into complete chaos, but they wouldn't bother with the details. They requisitioned a large number of houses in the north of the city and began demolishing houses near the city walls to make rolling logs and stones. Many enthusiastic civilians also participated, stockpiling materials for defending the city on the walls.

Qian Fei still had some connections in the local area. He quickly found acquaintances in the government and arranged for Shi Jin and Chen Xiuqing to join the ranks of the civilian laborers defending the city. As for the "Hebei Double Heroes," Chen Xi's right hand was broken, preventing him from moving quickly, and Tang Zuhan had to take care of his companion, so the two of them parted ways with Shi Jin and the others. Encounters and separations in the Jianghu were like duckweed; after this departure, it was unlikely they would ever meet again.

There was no time for much else. Shi Jin and the others helped demolish houses and reinforce defenses in the ranks of the civilian laborers. On the sixth day, the first batch of Jurchen troops arrived on the hills northwest of Xinzhou. After that, waves of cavalry, infantry, and Yisheng Army troops pressing civilian prisoners gathered towards Xinzhou from various directions in the north.

Looking out from the city walls of Xinzhou, the figures gathering in batches on the opposite fields and hills gradually formed a scale of tens of thousands, stretching across the mountains and plains. In front of the Jurchen army formation, large numbers of Wu Dynasty civilians were gathered together. Patrols of cavalrymen passed through the crowd from time to time, raising their whips and even brandishing their steel sabers, drawing blood and flesh from the men and women in the crowd. Amidst the weeping, that dark mass looked like a huge herd of cattle and sheep.

Staggering old men, pale-faced children, women holding infants, blood-soaked young men, and even the corpses of the dead were mostly tied together in pieces with ropes. Wealthy merchants, officials, soldiers, and commoners, in that dark mass, each and every one ragged and emitting low sobs. Because of the Jurchens' scolding and beatings, few dared to cry loudly. Occasionally, one or two would be shot dead by nearby Jurchen archers. Even so, large swaths of weeping still converged into an incomparably miserable wave of sound, transmitted to the city walls of Xinzhou.

The defending soldiers on the city walls could only silently watch all of this. In the afternoon of that day, there was also a brief commotion in this area outside the city when a young general wanted to lead troops to attack, but was scolded back by the main general defending the city. Shi Jin, preparing rolling logs in a corner of the city wall, also silently watched all of this.

The Jurchen army, and the Liao people who originally made up the Yisheng Army, were still gathering continuously, and the civilians who were captured and driven over from nearby were also increasing. On the night of this day, the Jurchen army outside the city didn't even set up large-scale tents. They prepared siege ladders in the mountains and fields behind the army formation, and also waited for the equipment transported by subsequent troops. Large numbers of Jurchens simply slept in the fields and on the hills, with their weapons as pillows, awaiting the dawn.

The fires stretched on. The Jurchen army's gathering in batches never stopped from beginning to end that night. Cavalry scouts walked around the city with torches, simply preventing the Wu Dynasty army from attacking. The next morning, when a thin mist still rippled in the air, Wanyan Zonghan looked at the surrounding situation on the hillside, and then waved his hand.

"Attack," he said.

The Jurchens sounded the horns.

**************

The intense pain had gradually become numb. As the chill descended, he seemed to feel nothing. When the noisy sounds rang out, he was dragged to his feet and pushed forward. A thin mist rippled in the air. Far away was the city wall of Xinzhou. The Jurchen's voice came from behind.

His name was Wu Cheng. He was a farmer near Daixian, thirty-five years old. Not long ago, he had a wife and a daughter who was about to come of age and marry. Now, he had nothing.

He… always felt that everything happening before him was an illusion, that perhaps he could wake up at any time…

Two days ago, a team of Yisheng Army soldiers rushed into his village. They were dragged out. He saw a group of people raping his wife and daughter, then killing them, breaking one of his hands, and hitting him on the head with a stone.

When he woke up, he was already tied and pulled into the team. The broken right hand caused unspeakable pain with every pull. He staggered forward, trembling. What flashed before his eyes was only the scene of his wife and daughter dying. He kept thinking back to that moment, regretting why he hadn't found a hoe or rake, or… there was a kitchen knife not far from him at the time, but he didn't know why he didn't go get it.

In front of him was a fat woman, about forty or fifty years old, whose clothes had been torn to shreds, barely covering her body. She kept crying. His broken hand was being pulled, and the pain caused him to fall不停的. His clothes and pants were not very good to begin with. The belt broke, and the pants tripped him when they fell to the ground. The Jurchens came over and beat him. The teams walking back and forth dragged him in the mud. From then on, he had no pants on his lower body, and he was dragged in the team just like that.

A middle-aged man, dragged all the way without pants, what does it mean? It was hard for him to think clearly. All the way forward, without stopping, many people in the crowd had shit and pee in their pants, and the stench rose as they walked. There was no food. Only when passing streams were they allowed to drink water. After two days of marching, they were gathered under the city of Xinzhou. And after this night passed, Wu Cheng was dragged to walk again.

Why not fight? … He thought to himself, but all around him were people who were crying and had no choice but to move forward. It seemed that someone was killed in the back, and the Jurchens' voices became even more fierce. In the dazed vision, Wu Cheng knew that the Jurchens were driving them towards the direction of Xinzhou City. There were Wu Dynasty flags on the city wall, and densely packed officers and soldiers. Wu Cheng thought that they might come down to save people. But some kind of understanding and fear in his heart grew deeper and deeper. Surprisingly, he knew in his heart that there was going to be a war.

The pulling force made him stagger a few steps forward. The Jurchens' voices were getting closer and closer. Then someone passed by him and cut the rope, but they were the strange-looking Jurchen soldiers who mixed in the crowd and raised their bows and arrows towards the city wall.

In the noisy sounds, someone shouted in the back: "Go! Run! If you don't go, you'll die!" Intermittently, there were also screams. The rope tied to Wu Cheng's arm was still there, but it was no longer connected to the people in front and behind. But Wu Cheng was still pushed and squeezed forward. In front of him were the Jurchens who had already lowered their bodies and moved forward with bows and arrows. Wu Cheng wanted to go up and bite him, but it seemed that some kind of repulsion prevented him from doing so. The scene of his wife and daughter being insulted was shaking before his eyes again. His daughter was torn off her clothes and screamed in the crowd…

With a whoosh, the Jurchen soldiers in front released their bowstrings. Arrows flew towards the city wall of Xinzhou from all directions. Not far from the side, long ladders were moving.

The advancing momentum suddenly rose into greater chaos. Countless voices disturbed Wu Cheng's ears. He was pushed and rolled on the ground. Someone stepped over him. When his vision returned again, the fat woman who had been walking in front of him was howling not far away. She was crawling on the ground, half covered in blood, crying frantically. One of her calves had been broken, twisted terribly, and the white bones were revealed in the blood. When a Jurchen rushed towards her, she desperately supported herself on the ground with both hands, trying to crawl aside to avoid him.

Why not fight? … The thought rang in Wu Cheng's mind again, but he was in pain all over, and his hand was broken. But he thought that he could still use his body to kill one person, bite him. Thinking this, he struggled to stand up. Suddenly, a greater thrust knocked him to the ground. An arrow flying from the city wall shot into his neck.

Wu Cheng was nailed to the ground and died forever.

Around this corpse, countless people were screaming, running, and shouting. The Jurchens drove the civilian prisoners, shot arrows, and carried siege ladders, rushing towards the three-zhang-high city wall of Xinzhou…

**************

Shi Jin poured down a pot of boiling oil, standing there, watching the Jurchens rushing frantically.

He was taught by Wang Jin, the drill instructor of the 800,000 Imperial Guards, and later joined Liangshan. He had also fought against government troops and seen some of the world. He roughly understood what a siege and defense should look like. Although he didn't know how many government troops the Wu Dynasty had prepared in Xinzhou at this time, based on his rough estimate, the defense preparations could be said to be quite sufficient.

The Jurchens had almost no preparation for siege equipment. They gathered under the city of Xinzhou in just one day. What could be transported from places like Yanmen Pass and Daixian, or made from local materials, were only simple objects like siege ladders. They didn't have a single large piece of equipment like a trebuchet. But they still launched an attack like this.

Arrows covered the top of the city wall, and the Wu Dynasty's defenders immediately returned the favor. In the surging crowd below, most were civilians who originally belonged to the Wu Dynasty. But at this moment, no one

had the power to choose. When the Jurchens drove them over, their fate was almost already decided.

Afterwards, siege ladders were erected, followed by flying grappling hooks.

The Jurchens carried siege ladders and pulled ropes, climbing upwards bravely and frantically. The defenders above dropped rolling logs and stones, and used wolf-tooth rakes and yaksha mallets with barbed iron thorns to defend. In Shi Jin's eyes, the Jurchens even had obvious dodging movements while climbing so quickly.

"What are you doing! Don't you want to live! Get down!"

Seeing Shi Jin stand there for a moment, a Wu Dynasty officer suddenly rushed over and pulled Shi Jin. He was a young officer. Shi Jin quickly dodged to the back, and was told to go down and move stones. Then the young officer took out a small iron pot-like chest protector from his arms and threw it to Shi Jin.

The officer crouched behind the parapet and gesticulated and shouted: "Wear it on your head! Wear it on your head!" Perhaps he regarded Shi Jin as a stupid, big fellow.

Shi Jin rushed down the city wall. When he came up for the second time, he saw that the young officer had an arrow in his head, lying motionless in a pool of blood. He untied the bow and arrows carried by the young officer and shot a few arrows towards the city wall. An arrow also grazed his cheek. In the surging crowd, a Jurchen archer saw him. Shi Jin also returned an arrow. This arrow didn't hit the opponent, but killed a civilian slightly ahead. The opponent shot another arrow. Shi Jin dodged it. When he drew his bow with all his strength at the bottom, the small bow broke with a bang.

On the entire city wall that stretched out, the Jurchens were climbing up frantically. They dodged the sweeping of wolf-tooth rakes and yaksha mallets, and even cut off the ropes of these defensive weapons. Further away, the Jurchen cavalry was rapidly deploying in two directions. The knights on these cavalry mostly carried bows and arrows and grappling hooks, posing a threat to the city walls in other directions of Xinzhou.

In the past, Shi Jin had heard of the Jin people's sieges. In the most amazing news, Wanyan Aguda led a large army to conquer the Liao Dynasty's capital in just three hours. This was almost unbelievable. But the moment he witnessed the offensives of these Jurchens, he suddenly understood that this statement might not be strange.

When the arrows covered the city wall, the Wu Dynasty's defenders hardly dared to raise their heads. However, under the city wall, those tall, fierce Jurchens directly and quickly climbed up the ladders and ropes. Some people's ropes were cut off and fell into the moat, but the moat was already filled with the blood and corpses of Wu Dynasty civilians. If these people were not dead, they would rush out and start the second round of climbing. With the city wall as the boundary, in the huge conflict and chaos, the first Jurchen soldier rushed to the top of the wall in less than half an hour after the start of the war. After being killed by Wu Dynasty soldiers, the city wall of Xinzhou was repeatedly set foot on by the Jurchens.

Shi Jin gritted his teeth, ran down the city wall, and rushed to a nearby blacksmith shop that had been demolished. The blacksmith had been called away by the army to make weapons, but there were also some things that the army didn't want here. It was an iron rod buried in the ruins. Shi Jin pulled it out and rushed to the city wall again. A huge chaos was ringing on the other side of the city wall. On Shi Jin's side, a Jurchen climbed up the wall and was swung on the top of his head with a stick by Shi Jin. His entire head burst open like a watermelon and fell down.

Around him were flying arrows and countless shouting sounds of fierce fighting. Shi Jin hid by the parapet. When another Jurchen soldier rushed up, he rushed over and killed the opponent. On the other side not far away, fighting sounds rang out. A tall Jurchen man rushed up and killed two Wu Dynasty soldiers like cutting melons and vegetables. Shi Jin rushed over, and with a thrust of the iron rod, shattered the man's knee. The Jurchen man fell to the ground, and with a horizontal swing of the steel saber, cut off a soldier's calf, and then was stabbed to death on the ground.

More Jurchens were rushing towards the city wall…

**************

First one, two, three, then five, six, seven, eight, nine… When he killed the fifth person, "Iron Hook" Chen Xiuqing also rushed up, signaling to Shi Jin. When he killed the seventh person, Shi Jin switched from the iron rod to a spear.

The qi and blood in his body rolled and flowed, and his palms had become scorching hot. On this battlefield, a person's energy and spirit were concentrated to the peak. Flying arrows could take his life at any moment, and in this situation, he also needed to kill the enemy accurately. The power contained in each strike had reached its limit, and many of his previous combat experiences were no longer applicable here.

In the martial arts competitions of the green woods, there was a distinction between the real and the false. The reason why there was a distinction between the real and the false was because when you made a move to the opponent, the opponent would avoid it when he saw how powerful it was. Many moves in the past kung fu required you to calculate the opponent's dodge in advance. You made a feint, pretending to attack his vitals, and he dodged. Then, your more powerful moves would greet him. But here, there was no longer any distinction between the real and the false. Every move you made had to be all-out. The opponent would hardly care about your feint. If he pounced on you with a knife, and you couldn't kill him, you would die.

In the past, the enemies Shi Jin faced, whether they were government soldiers or bandits, he would wave an iron rod and run around, breaking people's hands and feet. The opponent would fall to the ground and wail, and he would lose his fighting ability. More people would even be scared away by his bravery. But at this moment, even if you broke the opponent's knee, he might still swing a deadly knife at you. It was similar to stabbing someone in the stomach with a knife. If you didn't twist it hard to crush his intestines, he might cut off your head. This kind of life-and-death situation was happening on the city wall every moment…

After an hour of fighting, the battle line on the city wall was like a violently fluctuating waterline. The Jurchens' offensive was simple and direct. Their strong fighting will and personal combat skills were transformed into reality, directly and forcibly pushed onto the city wall. Shi Jin had never seen such solid combat. Even at the height of Liangshan, they couldn't fight like this.

He could only take the opponent's vitals with every blow with a spear or a steel saber. After killing about a dozen people, Chen Xiuqing was killed by Jurchen soldiers in a pool of blood. Shi Jin was shot with an arrow in the shoulder and took two knife wounds on his body. Fortunately, he was skilled in martial arts, and these were only minor injuries. However, the pressure brought by the fierce and frantic fighting was directly reflected on everyone on the city wall. Every time Shi Jin killed a person, he could feel the drastic consumption of mental energy. The Jurchens' offensive was almost endless, constantly crashing into this reef. The city wall was often rushed up, and even broke through the obstacles. Then the Wu Dynasty defending generals would mobilize soldiers to forcibly suppress them back to the city. But the overall situation was still collapsing at an almost visible speed.

For the Wu Dynasty generals, whether it was Yanmen Pass, Shuozhou, Daixian, or Xinzhou, every batch of defenders may have heard rumors about the Jurchens before, but almost everyone was facing the Jin people head-on for the first time. In the battle of defending the city, they all had a bit of reason and confidence in the beginning. But perhaps every time, their confidence was quickly shattered by the Jurchens' madness.

In the Battle of Xinzhou, the Wu Dynasty gathered 48,000 defending soldiers, facing Wanyan Zonghan's 32,000 Jurchen infantry and cavalry and more than 10,000 Yisheng Army soldiers. The Jurchens began to drive civilians to fight in the morning, and around noon, the first place to be breached was the south gate of Xinzhou.

In this battle, the northwest city wall of Xinzhou was the one that truly suffered the Jurchens' frenzied attack. More than 10,000 Jurchen soldiers and the Yisheng Army, who were originally Liao people, launched almost continuous attacks here, driving the same number of civilians. At the same time, two teams of Jurchen cavalry circled the city.

The Jurchen cavalry was extremely fast, but the defenders on the city wall were not necessarily as fast. Near noon, they made a feint attack on the east wall. Then they quickly concentrated near the south gate, and launched an extremely fierce attack with bows and arrows and grappling hooks. The entire breach of the city took less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. The Jurchens who rushed into the city opened the city gate, and the south of Xinzhou fell into street fighting. At the same time, the possibility of Wu Dynasty defenders and residents escaping was cut off.

About an hour and a half later, the north gate was forcibly broken, and the defense of Xinzhou was forcibly defeated. A frantic and tragic street battle in the city began…

*************

The setting sun scattered in the sky, and smoke columns rose with the flames. Countless screams and wails rang in his ears. When the warhorse rushed over, the man placed one end of the spear on the ground and lowered his steps.

With a loud bang, the sound of crashing, the horse's corpse pushed him, along with the Jurchen rider, to the end of the alley, and then collapsed a wooden frame. In the dust, the Jurchen rider staggered to his feet. He identified the things in the dust, and then the tip of a spear pierced his neck. After he fell, another wobbly figure扶着才扶着 the wall, emerged from the dust.

He was also covered in blood, and the ragged clothes revealed the chest and back with abrasions. On that figure, the dragon tattoo was clearly revealed.

It's over… it's already over…

Looking at this city that seemed agitated in destruction, the thought flashed through Shi Jin's mind. On this day, he participated in the entire process of the battle, and truly witnessed what was called overwhelming power. In front of the Jin soldiers, even if they defended the city, they could only fight to this extent, then there was no mention of fighting in the wild, and what the situation would be.

As a result… I forgot what I came up here to do…

At that time, he was watching the crowd fleeing in the county seat, and he originally wanted to run, but when he heard Qian Fei and the others' discussion, he wanted to come up and take a look. As a result, at this time, some of them died, and some scattered. Now he might be about to die…

He took out a piece of dry food from his body, only ate a small bite, tried to breathe evenly, and recovered his strength. When the footsteps of another team of soldiers came, he climbed over the wall, and then chose a direction and ran.

The key places to leave the city were said to have been controlled by the Jurchens. At this time, tens of thousands of troops and the same number of civilians were divided in this city. Resistance and fighting were still fierce, but most of the resistance and fighting were happening in a state of collapse, and they would be annihilated sooner or later. Xinzhou was really over, and he didn't know if he would still be able to survive. When he rushed into a courtyard like this, climbing over the wall was a bloody mess. He suddenly faced five Jurchen soldiers who had just killed people.

Both sides were stunned, and the other side raised their knives to kill him. Shi Jin turned around and ran, crossing halls and rooms. When he rushed to the front, he bumped into another Jurchen soldier. The other side slashed with a knife, and Shi Jin was hit on the wall with a leaning crash. Shi Jin backhanded and slashed with a knife, opening the man's throat. Blood spurted out, and the other people had already surrounded him.

In the waving of knives, Shi Jin cut off one person's throat, and his arm was also hit with a knife. At this time, the sound of wind whistling came. Someone rushed into the room, waving a large knife,

and slashed towards the remaining four Jurchen soldiers. Shi Jin took the opportunity to kill one person. The big knife killed one person. The other two Jurchen soldiers were hit by shurikens in the back and fell directly.

The one wielding the big knife was a burly and tall man. The one throwing the shurikens from outside was a middle-aged woman. Both of them had experienced fierce fighting, and their bodies had a lot of blood. The three looked at each other for a moment, and the big man said, "Are you a brother on the road? You have good skills. Do you want to come with us?"

Shi Jin just looked at them. The woman raised her head: "You have good martial arts, follow if you want to come." She turned around and left. The tall and strong man waved his hand: "Let's go, everyone together is better than you alone."

Shi Jin nodded and followed suspiciously. The woman in front was extremely fast, and the big man also quickly followed. Shi Jin exerted force under his feet, but his speed was not lower than theirs. The woman in front was obviously very skilled in martial arts. Compared with Shi Jin, she was probably not at a disadvantage, and her breath was long, and she still had energy to spare. Every time she went forward a distance, she would quickly change course when she noticed that there were Jurchen soldiers in front. Seeing that Shi Jin's martial arts were indeed strong, the big man holding the knife bowed his hands and said in a low voice, "I am Peng Dahu from Shuanglian Mountain. What is your brother's background?"

"Wild man, Shi Jin." At this time, he didn't need to hide his identity. He bowed his hands in return while running, "Where are you going?"

"To see Grandmaster Zhou," Peng Dahu said.