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Nangong Minghua unexpectedly wrote a letter to Zhao Tuo, and after reading it, Zhao Tuo immediately tore it to pieces!

”The lives of millions in East Capital City, entrust them to me? Heh, only you, old man Nangong, could come up with that. You’re the damn City Lord of East Capital City!”

Zhao Tuo cursed aloud, saying, ”This old guy is the Crown Prince’s representative in East State. Now, seeing us defeated like a landslide, he’s probably secretly delighted, isn’t he?”

”Hmph, he wants us to rush into battle first, and then he can sit back with heavy troops in East Capital City and reap the rewards. Dream on!”

Lei Shi, standing nearby, said, ”General Zhao, if we do not engage the Dragon Clan in battle soon, when we retreat to East Capital City, the Imperial City will definitely hold us accountable. Facing a smaller number of Dragon Clan soldiers without resistance... In all my years in the military, this is the first time, I feel so useless!”

”Heh, General Lei, now is not the time to act on impulse. If you wish to engage in battle, you can try. You witnessed the might of Long Tianwu on the city gate tower of Sea City that day. Do you think you stand a chance?”

Zhao Tuo looked at Lei Shi and said, ”For people like us, facing Long Tianwu, we would just be hopelessly defeated, possibly even losing our lives outright. In such a case, it’s better to conserve our strength. Now, Long Tianwu’s power is growing rapidly. To suppress this demoness might require those prominent figures from the Imperial City to step in.”

”Those are the illustrious princes of great merit, the War God and Martial King, who look down upon all under heaven. Could Long Tianwu really alarm them enough to act?” Lei Shi was startled.

”The War God and Martial King surely disdain to fight with a little girl, but at this rate, if the Dragon Clan takes over East Capital City and they don’t act, even the Ice Emperor will force them into action.”

Zhao Tuo shook his head, ”Let’s not talk about this. It’s not our concern. What matters now is figuring out how to preserve our strength and lives.”

”Return to East Capital City?”

”Absolutely not. Xiao Zhan is dead, and East Capital City is now Nangong Minghua’s domain. Returning there means following his orders, which I fear the Ninth Prince would not agree to.”

Zhao Tuo’s eyes were sharp like an eagle’s as he thought of Qin Tian, smirking coldly, ”Why not emulate that coward?”

”Coward? Who?”

”Qin Tian in the northeast, heh, this kid is hiding in Hua City, not listening to orders, nor participating in the war, clearly intending to conserve strength and grow during the war. We could learn from him; anyhow, the City Guard Army is in disarray now, leaderless. Let’s see who lasts longer.”

Lei Shi frowned, saying, ”General Zhao, something feels off. The City Guard Army is like this; the Imperial City can’t possibly be unaware. How can they still allow the City Guard Army’s tens of thousands of troops to remain unmanaged? Could it really be because of the conflict between the Ninth Prince and the Crown Prince?”

”Not entirely.”

Zhao Tuo said, ”Actually, it’s not like there’s no one in charge. I’ve heard that the Ninth Prince and the Crown Prince both intend to get rid of Qin Tian, especially now that he’s cowering and unwilling to advance; they both despise him. But unexpectedly, someone in the court spoke up for Qin Tian, protecting him.”

”Who?”

”The Murong Family from the Imperial City.”

...

The day after receiving Nangong Minghua’s letter, Zhao Tuo and Lei Shi directly abandoned the city and led tens of thousands to the northeast.

After discussion, Zhao Tuo came up with a very cunning plan—

They would go to Hua City and station themselves there with Qin Tian!

By then, both their forces would be in Hua City, and Zhao Tuo’s position was half a rank higher than Qin Tian’s. Plus, with his and Lei Shi’s troops outnumbering Qin Tian’s by more than double, Qin Tian would have no choice but to bow his head and admit his mistake.

”Rumble!”

As Zhao Tuo and his men moved thirty miles out, a massive noise erupted from all around, and suddenly, a tidal wave of True Qi surged at their troops from all directions!

There was an ambush!

They had fallen into a trap!

Zhao Tuo’s first reaction was that they were ensnared by the enemy’s plot. He looked up and, as expected, saw enemies attacking from far away, their flags displaying the Dragon Clan insignia!

”How can there be a Dragon Clan army here? How is this possible! Didn’t our scouts report nothing?” Zhao Tuo was baffled.

By this point, Lei Shi was already wielding his large blade and shouted, ”General Zhao, of what use is it to discuss this now? Break through! They outnumber us, but we must fight!”

The Dragon Clan had only fifty thousand troops, indeed fewer than Zhao Tuo and Lei Shi’s forces, but once the battle commenced, the numerical advantage didn’t play out as expected.

Instead, because the East State Army was the side being ambushed, with their morale shaken, combined with the soldiers’ fear of Dragon Clan warriors, after an hour of battle, the East State Army seemed on the brink of defeat, their ranks quickly collapsing!

Zhao Tuo stood on his flying beast mount, observing the Dragon Clan forces gaining an overwhelming edge, his heart sank, frowning, he shouted, ”Our 130,000 strong army can’t defeat just tens of thousands from the Dragon Clan? How... how is this possible!”

But this was the reality.

Yet, with morale low and the troops intimidated by the Dragon Clan, sheer numbers became irrelevant.

After another two hours, the East State Army had collapsed entirely.

Lei Shi was engaged in combat with a Dragon Clan officer.

Their strengths were evenly matched, but on the ground, most of the East State Army soldiers were already in disarray and fleeing.

Zhao Tuo was a crafty man. Seeing the situation was beyond salvage, he ordered his standard waved and led a retreat, fleeing at the fastest possible pace!

He even took some of the City Guard Army soldiers with him.

”General Zhao! Zhao Tuo! You actually... you!”

Engaged in battle amidst the troops, Lei Shi saw Zhao Tuo abandoning him and fleeing, and he roared furiously, ”You treacherous villain, I trusted you, yet you betrayed me!”

Rumble!

Lei Shi’s True Qi Power clashed violently with the Dragon Clan officer’s, both of them forced to retreat repeatedly!

By now, Lei Shi was utterly disheartened, aware that continuing the battle would likely lead to the City Guard Army’s total annihilation.

He hesitated no longer and ordered a retreat.

With this order to withdraw, the battlefield instantly turned into a one-sided massacre by the Dragon Clan forces.

The City Guard Army, numbering 90,000, had over 20,000 taken by Zhao Tuo, more than 20,000 annihilated by the Dragon Clan, and Lei Shi fled with over 40,000 remaining troops, running more than 400 miles to set camp in Sha Po City.

Sha Po City lies over a hundred miles from Qin Tian’s stationed Hua City.

However, the states of the two cities are completely different.

Qin Tian’s Hua City serves as the economic and military center of the northeast, thriving and prosperous.

In contrast, Sha Po City, true to its name, is filled with yellow sand, extremely barren.

Gazing at Hua City from Sha Po City, the more Lei Shi thought about it, the angrier he became, and he started to contemplate about Hua City.