Kou Zhong removed his disguise, back to his original self as he returned to the gate at the end of the Imperial City. He noticed the tight security on the gate, with layers of guards, with the intensity of the atmosphere before the storm clouds approached.
Inside the Imperial City, even more teams of soldiers were pushing logs [to be rolled down in defense of the city], cloud ladders, armored vehicles to block arrows, and other battle equipment, forging ahead toward the Palace City.
Lang Feng was extremely busy. Seeing Kou Zhong returning, he only said that Wang Shichong was waiting for him in the Shangshu Mansion, hence Kou Zhong went to the Mansion alone.
Under the escort of more than a dozen city guards, Kou Zhong went to see the radiant looking Wang Shichong inside the heavily guarded private room inside the Shangshu Mansion.
After he was seated, Wang Shichong said with a cold laugh, "I have already sealed off all the gateways into the Imperial City, to force Yang Dong to hand over Yuan Wendu and Lu Da, two men. Currently the Palace City is completely dependent on Dugu Family's support. As long as I can eliminate Dugu Feng, the Palace City will crumble without any attack, I am not worried that Yang Dong will not surrender.”
Kou Zhong spoke heavily, "If we could sever Palace City's supply line, how many days are they going to survive?”
Wang Shichong replied, "The Palace City has always had large quantities of army provisions in store, plus Dugu Feng has already had an intention to confront me. I am afraid two, three months would not be a problem for them.”
"Does Li Mi's side show any activity?” Kou Zhong asked.
Wang Shichong replied, "Although on the surface Li Mi seems to hold back his troops without moving, but secretly they are mobilizing the troops and horses, as well as amassing provisions. Looks like your scheme to lure the enemy has shown some results.”
Delighted, Kou Zhong said, "The day Li Mi succeeded in burning down our fake granary will be the day he will deploy his troops. At that time we must launch a surprise attack. Therefore, our top priority right now is to send people to investigate the situation around Yanshi, to gather intelligence on his marching route.”
Wang Shichong spoke without restraint, "Li Mi's surprise attack and his scheme to entice the enemy are well-known throughout the world. This time, if we could use his trademark method back against him, it will be extremely delightful.”
And then, changing the subject he said, "These past ten days a lot of Jianghu figures have arrived in Luoyang. Because our focus was in dealing with the Dugu Clan, we have not been paying attention. Do you have any information or perhaps an opinion?”
While cursing ‘Old Fox' in his heart, Kou Zhong's mouth was saying, "I have just found my Xiongdi, Xu Ziling and Ba Fenghan, and together we went all over the place, stepping on plates and scouting information. Right now the most important thing is your safety. As long as Shangshu Daren is safe and sound, victory will be ours.”
Wang Shichong laughed and said, "You don't have to worry about me, but there is one thing that I'd like to ask you to do.”
Stunned, Kou Zhong asked, "What is it?”
※ ※ ※
‘Bang!'
Chen Lang's back knocked against the courtyard's wall, he slipped down along the wall to the ground, fainted.
Xu Ziling looked up to the heaven; his heart was filled with grief and indignation.
Using thunderous method of reversing the blood and qi, Xu Ziling has forced Chen Lang's confession on Duan Yucheng, four men's tragedy.
Turned out they arrived in Luoyang six days ago, and that very night were besieged by the martial art masters under Shangguan Long's leadership.
The four men showed great progress in their martial art skill, they managed to engaged Shangguan Long and his men in fierce battle.
The end result was Shi Jie and Ma Gui died in the battlefield, Bao Zhifu was seriously injured and was captured. Only Duan Yucheng managed to escape albeit heavy injury.
Comparatively speaking, Bao Zhifu's fate was more tragic than Shi Jie and Ma Gui, who heroically sacrificed their lives in the battlefield; he was cruelly tortured by Shangguan Long, and after giving out everything, Shangguan Long personally pinched and shattered his throat that he died.
After sharing delights and common hardships for a period of time, Xu Ziling grew fondness toward Duan Yucheng and the others. Today was the first time that he learned about their tragic fate, how could his heart not filled with fury? At the end of the day, didn't Bao Zhifu, three men, lose their lives because of them?
Taking a deep breath, Xu Ziling suppressed his anger completely before leaving the alley, and walked over to Shangguan Long's mansion in large strides.