The Empress’s Gigolo

Following the orders of Ren Baqian, the soldiers from the Rearguard Commandery went into action. One after another, they jumped onto the roofs and occasionally fetched a couple cans before heading in another direction.

As the rebels were planning to draw the aboriginals to the city center by retreating while fighting, there weren’t many soldiers in the south part of the city. Therefore, the soldiers from the Rearguard Commandery didn’t face any major resistance.

“There’s one here and two to the northwest!” One old man on the roof pointed out. Three younger people, of both sexes, immediately jumped to the locations indicated and departed with the oil cans.

The old man’s ears pricked up and noticed that the battle cries from the front seemed to lessen.

“I cannot believe that they can come up with such a diabolical plan,” the old man muttered to himself.

As his voice faded, the old man jumped onto a few roofs and subsequently spotted an oilcan underneath a pile of firewood in a courtyard. He put the oil can on a roof and then headed in another direction to search.

In the house below, a woman who was huddled in a man’s arms asked fearfully, “What was that noise on the roof just now?”

“Don’t think too much.” The man tried his best to calm himself and said, “Even if the outside world is overturned, we will be fine as long as we hide inside.”

Although he said these words, he still looked very pale.

The minutes passed by as Xi Wanya stood on a roof looking at the slow advance ahead. His eyes were like that of a hawk as they swept the horizon from time to time and seemed to be able to penetrate the darkness to see those people moving forward.

“According to Protector General Xi, most of the oil cans in the southern part of the city have been found,” Zuo Leng announced politely as he landed not far from Xi Wanya.

Xi Wanya nodded and then said loudly, “Hurry up! I hope the only rebels left by dawn are corpses.”

“Kill them!”

Xi Wanya’s voice rang out in the night and was followed by loud cries as the attack was launched.

…

In an inconspicuous house at the western part of the city, the windows were wide open and not even a glimmer of light could be seen coming from the room.

It was only possible with the aid of the moonlight to see that a few people were sitting in the room.

Mister Ning cupped his ears to listen to the faraway sounds and said, “They are increasing the intensity of the attack.”

Tie Zihe looked ghastly pale and remained silent.

“Based on the intensity of the attack, it will take about one hour for them to reach the warlord’s residence. Let’s start the fire at his residence and let it spread like a prairie fire to engulf the whole city.” Mister Ning displayed a smile. Destroying the aboriginals along with the whole city and all its citizens was a rarely seen scene.

This caused his heart to beat faster.

“Wait for them to reach the warlord’s residence before we disperse,” Xie Kun said.

“It’s a pity we cannot stay in the city to watch such a scene,” Mister Ning said with a tinge of regret.

“Mister Ning!” Tie Zihe suddenly opened his mouth.

“Chief Tie, what’s the matter?” Mister Ning turned his head to ask.

His pupils dilated as he saw a radiant flash in the darkness.

Clang!

The sound of a sword striking metal rang out.

“Are you crazy?” Xie Kun used his long saber to ward off Tie Zihe’s sword. His face expressed incredulity.

“You are actually going to kill me?” Mister Ning was caught off guard.

“Whether the battle is won or lost, he’s no longer useful. If we win, the aboriginals will be defeated and no longer able to stop us, making him useless. If we lose, even if we escape, we will no longer be able to contend with the aboriginals, and keeping him will be useless.” Tie Zihe growled with a crazy look and shouted, “Let him die together with the commoners of this city!”

“Hahahahaha!” Mister Ning convulsed with laughter. “I am only the planner. The one who implemented the plan is you! Are you trying to put the blame on me because you cannot bear the responsibility? Are you deceiving yourself to such an extent that you will not even take any responsibility at all? What credibility do you have to lead the North Alliance?”

“That’s right—you are deceiving yourself!” Xie Kun growled angrily and continued, “Do you think everything will be over once this battle ends? What should we do in the future? How do we deal with the strength of the aboriginals and where do we get weapons?”

“We can send someone to the Yun Nation again or even to Great Xia. Nobody will know how he died. Even if they know, they won’t care as long as we are still of value,” Tie Zihe said. “In order to destroy the aboriginals, we have to burn all the commoners. After the war, I will not have the face to command the North Alliance.”

“What do you mean?” Xie Kun was surprised again.

“Tianjing Basin doesn’t need the three major factions! As long as you can convince Green Bell Flower, you can be the chief of Tianjing Basin. The three major factions have been fighting for decades, and it’s high time to end the alliance,” Tie Zihe said coldly.

“My last request is to kill him!” Tie Zihe glared at Mister Ning.

Mister Ning’s expression changed as he said, “Don’t forget that you were the one who gave the orders.”

“You have a point. It’s no loss to trade the lives of the commoners for 10,000 aboriginals, but for their lives, these people have been ruled by my North Alliance. Therefore, you, me, and the citizens of Youxin City will die together.” Tie Zihe had a crazy look in his eyes.

“You are crazy! You are actually crazy!” Mister Ning shouted.

“You are crazy!” Xie Kun continued, “Although he’s the one who suggested it, you are the one who implemented it, but now, you want to kill him? I don’t know what has gotten into you, yet I do not want to stop you.”

Xie Kun suddenly loosened his grip while talking, and the long sword of Tie Zihe slithered like a snake to pierce the chest of Mister Ning.

“Ah, ah… ah…” Mister Ning clutched his chest, smiled grimly, and jeered, “The most pitiful man!”

Then, he fell to the floor.

“Did you know that I have thought about dying together with you…? However, Tianjing Basin needs a leader and that woman, Rao Yu, can’t do it.” Tie Zihe sneered at Xie Kun, pulled out his long sword, and strode out of the room.

“Mister Ning, you know that I can’t refuse him.” Xie Kun sheathed his long knife and bowed.

Blood was foaming from Mister Ning’s mouth as he muttered to himself, “Ah, ah… A bunch of delusional people…”

“Delusional? Maybe! How will you know if you do not try?” Xie Kun laughed.

In the courtyard, Tie Zihe stared silently at the bloodstained long sword in his hand.

A man in black landed beside him and reported, “Sir, there are many warriors running around on the roofs, and they seem to be looking for something.”

“It looks like they have discovered our plan. In that case, send the order to begin!” Tie Zihe walked out of the courtyard after giving the order.

The direction he was heading in was where the fighting was the most intense.

One by one, the guards in the courtyard followed behind him.

“All of you withdraw and leave! They are fighting and need a leader,” Tie Zihe said without turning his head.

“However, if there are no guards beside the leader, it will seem too shabby,” said one of the guards behind him.

…

After Tie Zihe had departed, 500 men wearing black clothes scattered to various parts of the city. They took out oil cans from under the firewood piled in the corners and poured the oil on the firewood or simply on the houses.

When the warlord’s residence, which was right in the center of the city, was lit up by a huge fire, little sparks of fire started everywhere in the city and began to spread.

However, when viewed from high above, these sparks were seen mainly in the east, west, and north of the city.

In the southern part of the city, when a man in black went to the place where he had stored his oil can and firewood, he was shocked to find that the oil can and firewood was gone.

Thereafter, he set out toward another location and was impaled to the ground by a long sword that descended from above.

In another place, a man in black went to three locations and found all the oil cans missing… In one instance, even the firewood was missing as well.

Finally, he had no choice but to crouch down and try to light up the firewood with his matchsticks.

When a figure suddenly plummeted down behind him, blood spurted from his mouth after he was smacked on the head.

While another man in black was looking for his stored oil can, Ren Baqian sat on a tree behind him. Ren Baqian slowly pulled out his gun, turned the safety catch, and aimed at the target below…

Bang! Bang! Bang…!

He fired six shots in succession and saw blood spurting from the body. Ren Baqian wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, “It’s not easy to aim at night!”