Chapter 352 The City Falls

The sound of gongs rang through Crouching Tiger, and Yan Xiangheng was burning with anxiety.

He thought it over and over, but still could not bring himself to wait here, so he grabbed the wooden stick he always kept on his cart and headed out of the Government Office.

Liang Manshan had no way to go with him, and could not talk him out of it either. He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan; in a moment of distraction, Heng’er slipped out, and Liang Manshan could only grit his teeth and stomp his feet at the Government Office gate.

“Uncle! Uncle!” Yan Xiangheng ran over in one breath and found Yan Lao’er, who was organizing people to carry boiling water up to the city wall.

Yan Lao’er had just arranged the order for this batch of helpers. Seeing his Eldest Nephew come over, he glared at him in anger.

“What are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to stay put at the Government Office!”

“Uncle, I’m worried about you. The gongs in the city have been clanging nonstop, shouting for people to come help at the wall. I’m not like Uncle Liang, he has his own duties. Rather than sit in the Government Office waiting for the outcome, I’d better come and help. Live or die, I have to give it everything I’ve got!”

Yan Xiangheng planted the stick on the ground beside him, looking quite imposing.

“Well said!” Magistrate Tian shouted in praise. “This is how we ought to be!”

Yan Lao’er thought, This is bad!

The lie he told earlier was about to be exposed.

But on second thought, so what? Things had already come to this point, whatever happens, happens…

“Huh?” Magistrate Tian pointed at Yan Xiangheng as he suddenly reacted. “You… didn’t you go out of the city?”

Yan Xiangheng pointed at himself, then looked left and right to make sure there was no one else nearby.

The old master means me?

Yan Lao’er said, “Magistrate, this is not the time to fuss over that. Where’s our Wolf-Smoke Signal? Why can’t we see it? Is it that hard to light? Or is it just far away?”

Magistrate Tian looked toward the Signal Tower, narrowed his eyes, and peered into the distance. “Look! Right there, it’s lit!”

Seeing the fire in the night sky growing brighter, Magistrate Tian felt all sorts of emotions. Judging from the situation, the Wolf-Smoke Signal had not been lit wrong, but could they really hold out until reinforcements arrived?

“Get more men up there, the brothers can’t hold them… urgh!” A soldier on the tower had just shouted down when he was backstabbed by a Northern Rong climbing up behind him. He spat blood and died.

Though that Northern Rong was quickly killed as well, several gaps had already opened atop the tower. More and more Northern Rong climbed up, fighting the Border Army for footholds on the wall.

The situation took a sharp turn for the worse!

“Quick, have Second Master and Third Master go back to the granary and guard it well!” Magistrate Tian stayed calm in the crisis and pulled a knife from the bamboo basket that held the weapons.

He took a few steps forward and planted himself at the stairway.

“Fathers and elders, fellow villagers! Right now is the life and death moment of our Crouching Tiger. If we let these Rong bandits into the city, the ground will be littered with corpses and rivers will run with blood!

We cannot let them enter the city, we must hold them here!

To hold this gate is to protect our parents, our wives and children, our brothers and sisters…

We swear to defend this city to the death!”

“Defend the city to the death!”

“Defend the city to the death!”

“Defend the city to the death!”

The Border Army were the first to respond, their morale surging. Then the common folk followed, their voices growing louder and louder.

For a moment, Crouching Tiger was filled with fighting spirit that actually suppressed the enemy and swept the Northern Rong from the wall.

But after continuous fighting, the Border Army grew increasingly exhausted. The instant they retook the wall, they relaxed just a little, and the Northern Rong seized the opportunity…

The two sides clashed again and again. The battle for the wall grew ever more intense and deadly.

“Heng’er, can you see that Wolf-Smoke Signal clearly? Is it because the fire is small that I can’t see it properly?” With no one else to ask, Yan Lao’er could only grab his Eldest Nephew and question him.

“Uncle, once the Wolf-Smoke Signal rises, the beacons pass the message along. After we light it here, it has to be relayed from one place to the next to send the news out.” Yan Xiangheng explained nervously.

“What?!” Yan Lao’er snapped his head toward the wall, then in the next moment turned back to the Wolf-Smoke Signal.

“What if someone in the middle doesn’t see it? Or doesn’t see it right away and delays it, then we…”

Yan Xiangheng tightened his grip on the stick in his hand and said, “Uncle, I’m going over to help.”

Even Magistrate Tian was hacking madly at the Northern Rong who had fallen down but were still breathing. How could he just stand here and watch?

“You get back here!” Yan Lao’er yanked him hard.

Was this the time to play the hero? Over there both Northern Rong and Border Army were killing like mad.

If the Border Army could hold the gate, then fine. But if the gate fell, with his Eldest Nephew so close, he would not even have a chance to run.

His big brother only had this one heir!

No matter what, he had to keep his Eldest Nephew safe!

He raised the Bamboo Crossbow in his hand, but his lips trembled and he lowered it again.

It was not that he was unwilling, but that he could not.

His girl had only casually fitted this Bamboo Crossbow with twenty Bamboo Arrows when she brought it. If he emptied it here, what would they do later?

Imitating Magistrate Tian, he pulled a knife from the bamboo basket. After thinking a moment, he took out another and handed it to his Eldest Nephew.

“Take it.” Afraid Heng’er would misunderstand, he said solemnly, “For self-defense.”

Then he added, “And don’t throw away the stick either.”

The screams seemed to be getting closer and closer, along with the harsh, ferocious shouts of the Northern Rong and their weird, garbled foreign language…

Yan Lao’er watched as the Northern Rong cut their way from the wall down to the stairway.

The clay pots of boiling water could no longer be carried up at all.

The Border Army were pushed back step by step and could no longer fight their way onto the tower.

The Northern Rong, on the other hand, were rampant with their advantage.

One man jumped down from the stairs and charged straight at Magistrate Tian. A loyal servant threw himself in the way, and Magistrate Tian used the chance to stab the attacker to death with one blow.

Yan Lao’er had just let out a sigh of relief.

But in the next instant, that loyal servant was stabbed through the heart by another Northern Rong…

The old master was caught off guard and froze on the spot.

On instinct, Yan Lao’er raised the Bamboo Crossbow and fired!

A Bamboo Arrow sank precisely into that Northern Rong’s eye socket.

Magistrate Tian snapped back to his senses. Shouting, he drove his knife viciously into the man’s belly…

Howling with pain, the man struck back, slashing Magistrate Tian’s arm with a backhand blow.

Yan Xiangheng rushed out without hesitation and slit that Northern Rong’s throat with the knife in his hand.

Magistrate Tian pulled his knife free, fresh blood dripping down the blade.

“The city’s fallen! Run for your lives! The city’s fallen! The Northern Rong have broken in…”

Before Magistrate Tian could react, Yan Lao’er grabbed him and ran like a madman.

“Heng’er, quick, run with me!”

At this moment Yan Xiangheng exceeded all expectations, showing the insight of someone far older.

He even thought to help his uncle support the old master as they ran…

Pinned between the two of them, Magistrate Tian even lost hold of his knife as they fled.

“Let go of me, let go of me! Hey! You two… Yan Lao’er! Let me go back! Nonsense, nonsense!” By the end his voice was hoarse from shouting.

Yan Lao’er knew exactly what Magistrate Tian wanted to go back for. He had just been shouting slogans about defending the city to the death…

He himself did not know why he had grabbed the old master and run. His brain had no time to think it through, his hands had simply acted on their own.

“What are you going back for…” Yan Lao’er panted hard, sprinting for dear life while cursing fiercely. “The city’s already fallen, what are you, an old man, going back for? Other than throwing your life away, you think you can take that gate back or something!”

(This chapter is finished)