Chapter 522: Bloodbath in the Northern Border of the Jin Kingdom

"Continue the attack!"

Zhu Ying issued the command for a heavy bombardment.

And this time, Zhu Ying channeled the True Qi within his body. Therefore, his command required no messengers to pass it along; it naturally reached the ears of every single Imperial Guard!

In an instant, the Imperial Guard soldiers did not dare to hesitate, and one after another, they ordered the charge!!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Soon, the Imperial Guards deployed even larger caliber artillery. Suddenly, the city walls of this Jin Kingdom city were shattered into pieces!

Seeing this scene, in order to save his life, Yang Kang directly grabbed Wanyan Honglie by the collar and said, "Father, if we don't leave now, the two of us will end up buried within this Northern Capital!"

"We must retreat immediately!"

Having witnessed the strength of this Ming army, Wanyan Honglie was truly panicked.

However, Wanyan Honglie was also afraid that if he lost this Northern Capital, he would be punished by the Emperor. Thus, for a moment, he was caught in a profound dilemma.

Seeing this, Yang Kang did not hesitate. He immediately struck Wanyan Honglie's acupoints, causing him to be completely immobilized!

Immediately after, Yang Kang ordered the five great experts of the Zhao Estate—Sha Tongtian, Peng Lianhu, Liang Ziwen, Lingzhi Shangren, and Hou Tonghai—to hold back the enemy's advance!

"Hurry and stall these people!"

"Do not let them catch up!"

"Quickly!"

With that said, Yang Kang directly led Wanyan Honglie as they jumped down from the city wall and ran toward the Jin Kingdom's Great Capital!

***

Meanwhile, within the Jin Kingdom's Imperial Palace.

The Jin Kingdom Protector also sensed the disturbances in the north.

This Jin Kingdom Protector National Master was, naturally, Ouyang Feng, known as the "Western Poison."

Currently, Ouyang Feng was a peak powerhouse of the Divine Ability Realm.

Although he was not a top-tier expert of the Half-Step Gangqi Realm, because his position was quite close to where Zhu Ying had deployed the [Spatial Portal], Ouyang Feng could naturally sense the massive aura brought about by the portal.

"Not good!"

"Something is happening in the north!"

Ouyang Feng's expression turned panicked.

Standing beside him, Ouyang Ke hurriedly asked, "Father, what has happened?"

Ouyang Ke's strength was merely that of a first-class expert, situated at the fifth layer, so he naturally could not sense the commotion occurring in the north.

Facing Ouyang Ke's questioning, Ouyang Feng said coldly, "There is a powerful aura existing in the north. I fear the Prince of Zhao is in danger."

"How strange, how can such an aura exist? This has never appeared in the martial arts world before!"

"Could it be... another martial arts prodigy has appeared?"

Clearly, Ouyang Feng's face was filled with confusion. Given his current cultivation, he could only sense that something was amiss in the north, but he could not perceive exactly how powerful the force was.

Therefore, Ouyang Feng had no idea what was actually happening.

Upon hearing Ouyang Feng's words, Ouyang Ke also became instantly nervous. He said hurriedly, "Then... what should we do?"

After thinking for a moment, Ouyang Feng said urgently, "In that case, notify the Emperor immediately and see what he says!"

Ouyang Feng was, after all, the National Master of the Jin Kingdom. Although he was required to protect the security of the Jin Kingdom, he was not its Emperor. Thus, the only thing he could do was report this matter to the Jin Emperor, Wanyan Shouxu.

"Alright, I will go notify the Emperor at once!"

With that, Ouyang Ke rushed into the palace of the Jin Emperor, Wanyan Shouxu.

At this moment, the Jin Emperor, Wanyan Shouxu, was admiring the enchanting figures of dancing girls. Ouyang Ke completely ignored Wanyan Shouxu's leisure and rushed directly in front of the Emperor.

"Report!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, my father says there is an anomaly in the north!"

Ouyang Ke understood the urgency, so he did not hesitate for a moment and immediately relayed Ouyang Feng's words to Wanyan Shouxu.

However, upon hearing this, Wanyan Shouxu was stunned for a moment before questioning, "The north? My Jin Kingdom's north is quite vast. Where exactly is this 'north' you speak of?"

"And... how did you find out?"

Wanyan Shouxu held considerable respect for Ouyang Feng, but his attitude toward Ouyang Ke was merely average.

Since Ouyang Ke had rudely interrupted his enjoyment, Wanyan Shouxu's words naturally carried a hint of dissatisfaction toward him.

Ouyang Ke could not afford to care about such things. He said hurriedly, "Reporting to Your Majesty, it should be the Northern Capital where the Prince of Zhao is located. My father sensed a powerful aura near the Northern Capital!"

"I fear a top-tier expert is attacking the Prince of Zhao!"

As soon as Ouyang Ke finished speaking, Wanyan Shouxu immediately stood up from his throne.

Clearly, upon hearing that the Prince of Zhao was in danger, he could no longer maintain his composure.

After all, in the current Jin Kingdom, the status of the Prince of Zhao, Wanyan Honglie, was quite high. Most of these martial arts experts were under the Prince's command. If something were to happen to the Prince of Zhao, it would be a massive blow to the absolute strength of the Jin Kingdom.

"Guards!"

"Send men to the Northern Capital immediately to investigate the situation!"

"As soon as there is a result, report to me at once!"

As Wanyan Shouxu's voice fell, over a dozen Jin guards hurriedly accepted the command!

"Your subordinate obeys!"

***

Meanwhile, in the Jin Kingdom's northern border, the Northern Capital had completely collapsed.

Tens of thousands of Imperial Guard soldiers had charged directly into the city!

However, just then, the five great experts of the Zhao Estate—Sha Tongtian, Peng Lianhu, Liang Ziwen, Lingzhi Shangren, and Hou Tonghai—immediately led the estate troops to charge toward the Imperial Guards!

Sha Tongtian shouted at the Ming Empire's Imperial Guard soldiers, "Who are you people! How dare you attack the Jin Northern Capital! Have you lost your lives?!"

At that moment, an armored general mounted on a warhorse slowly emerged from the Imperial Guards.

This person was none other than the commander of the Imperial Guards, Guo Zhen.

Guo Zhen swept a glance over the five leaders in front of him, and an expression of extreme disdain appeared on his face. Clearly, through that brief exchange of looks, Guo Zhen had sensed the strength of these individuals.

"This general is the commander of the Imperial Guards of the Ming Empire."

"This is by the decree of His Imperial Grandson! To conquer this world!"

Guo Zhen spoke to the crowd in an extremely loud voice.

However, whether it was Sha Tongtian or Peng Lianhu, their faces were filled with confusion upon hearing Guo Zhen's words.

"The Ming Empire? What kind of country is that!"

"In all the world, I have only heard of the State of Ming! I have never heard of this Ming Empire!"

Facing Sha Tongtian's questioning, Guo Zhen did not bother to explain. Instead, he waved his hand, and instantly, the Imperial Guard soldiers raised their submachine guns.

They all aimed them at Sha Tongtian and the others.

"You... what do you intend to do?"

Seeing so many weapons aimed at him, Sha Tongtian was visibly panicked. However, Guo Zhen did not waste any more breath on them.

Instead, he directly ordered, "Fire!"

In an instant, the Imperial Guard soldiers opened fire on the Jin soldiers!

Sha Tongtian was the highest in cultivation, so he was naturally the first to sense the danger. He immediately used his Qinggong to fly up onto a rooftop!

The others also scrambled to hide!

However, Hou Tonghai was not so lucky. His shoulder was shot straight through by the bullets from an Imperial Guard's submachine gun, and he collapsed to the ground!

Afterward, the Imperial Guard soldiers quickly fired several more shots, and Hou Tonghai died instantly!

Seeing the Imperial Guards kill his disciple, Sha Tongtian flew into a rage. He charged directly at the Imperial Guards and engaged them using his martial arts!

However, the Imperial Guard soldiers were no ordinary people. Although the individual cultivation of a single guard was not equal to Sha Tongtian's, one must not forget that there were a total of fifty thousand Imperial Guards!

As soon as Sha Tongtian charged into the ranks, he was immediately surrounded!

What followed was a massive brawl!

Facing the punches and kicks of the Imperial Guards, Sha Tongtian had no power to fight back. Although he tried his best to defend, two fists are no match for four hands, and furthermore, the Imperial Guard soldiers were all wearing specialized bulletproof vests.

Thus, Sha Tongtian's attacks could not harm the Imperial Guards at all!

A moment later, Sha Tongtian was beaten to death by the Imperial Guards!

In an instant, two of the five great experts of the Zhao Estate were dead!

Seeing this, the remaining three—Peng Lianhu, Liang Ziwen, and Lingzhi Shangren—panicked. They knew very well that with their level of skill, they were absolutely no match for fifty thousand Imperial Guards. Thus, they hurriedly retreated!

"Run, quickly!"

"These people are too strong!"

"We are no match for them!"

"Retreat!"

For a moment, the three of them hurriedly led their estate troops toward the inner city!

Seeing this, Guo Zhen was not in any hurry at all.

In fact, Guo Zhen did not even order them to fire, but instead watched with his own eyes as they ran into the inner city.

The reason Guo Zhen was so calm was primarily because he was about to attack the inner city himself.

In the current Jin Kingdom, every city was divided into an inner city and an outer city. The inner city was where the Jin people lived—the so-called Jin people!

Furthermore, most of these Jin people were nobles of the Jin Kingdom, and some were even members of the imperial family.

In the outer city, however, were the Han people!

In daily life, the Han people in the outer city were absolutely forbidden from entering the inner city. In other words, the inner city was a forbidden zone for the Han!

If a Han person accidentally entered the inner city, they would certainly be killed by the Jin soldiers!

However, the Jin people could freely enter and exit the outer city without any restrictions, and even if a Jin person intentionally killed a Han person, they would face no punishment whatsoever.

This was the reality facing the Han people.

Zhu Ying was naturally very aware of this. Therefore, after the army entered this Wuxia world via the [Spatial Portal], especially after entering Jin territory, Zhu Ying had ordered Guo Zhen to destroy the entire inner city where the Jin people resided!

And to slaughter every single Jin person!

Soon, as the commander of the Imperial Guards, Guo Zhen had already led the army to the base of the inner city walls.

"Pass my command!"

"Bring out the latest generation of Red Coat Cannons!"

As Guo Zhen's voice fell, over a hundred of the latest generation Red Coat Cannons were aimed at the inner city walls.

At this moment, the Jin defenders atop the walls were also panicking.

Not long ago, these Jin soldiers had fully experienced the power of these cannons on the outer city walls!

Therefore, seeing so many cannons again, they were naturally incredibly nervous!

"Fire!"

Guo Zhen did not hesitate and immediately issued the order to attack!

In an instant, the Imperial Guard soldiers reloaded!

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

Suddenly, a rain of cannonballs smashed into the inner city walls.

In less than a minute, the entire inner city wall collapsed. This was the power of the Ming Empire's artillery!!

"Kill!"

"Kill every living person you see in the inner city!"

"Do not leave a single one alive!"

As Guo Zhen's voice fell, nearly fifty thousand Imperial Guards of the Ming Empire charged into the inner city in one breath.

At this moment, the entire inner city was completely surrounded by the Ming Empire's army.

Seeing this, Peng Lianhu, Liang Ziwen, and Lingzhi Shangren knew very well that there was no longer any way out.

Thus, the three of them could only grit their teeth and lead their troops to fight the Ming army!

But unfortunately, with their strength, they were simply unable to withstand such a massive number of Imperial Guards!

In less than half an hour, Peng Lianhu, Liang Ziwen, and Lingzhi Shangren were all shot dead by the submachine guns held by the Imperial Guards. Clearly, their strength was completely negligible in front of the Imperial Guards!

After dealing with these three, the Imperial Guards began a massacre within the inner city!

The Imperial Guard soldiers, wielding submachine guns, began an indiscriminate attack on the citizens of the inner city!

Whether old or young, male or female, as long as they were Jin people living in the inner city, they all became targets for the Ming Empire's Imperial Guards.

High in the sky, Zhu Ying was riding the Wyvern, observing everything happening in the inner city.

At the same time, Zhu Ying summoned the phantom of the [Longevity Fruit Tree] and cast it over the inner city to absorb its blood qi!

After a mere two hours, looking out across the area, the entire inner city was a landscape of corpses!

The Imperial Guard commander, Guo Zhen, reported to Zhu Ying: "Reporting to His Imperial Grandson, all the Jin people have been killed! Please inspect, Your Highness."

Zhu Ying swept a glance over the scene in the inner city and said in a cold tone, "Well done."

"These Jin people deserved to die. They spent their days harming the Han people; now, this is their end!"

"Clean up these corpses. Also, tell the Han people in the outer city to cut off their queues!"

"Restore the Han people to their original appearance!"

Once Zhu Ying finished speaking, Guo Zhen immediately accepted the command!

Although many Han people felt a slight sense of resistance upon hearing that they had to cut their queues—after all, these Han people had been bullied by the Jin for far too long.

To stay alive, the Han people had no choice but to keep their queues and live in humiliation.

Before Zhu Ying arrived, if the Han wanted to survive under Jin rule, they could only keep the same queues as the Jin; if they did not have a queue, they would naturally lose their lives!

Therefore, upon hearing that the queues were to be cut, many Han people were still filled with panic.

... (End of Chapter)