Chapter 38: Nine-Striped Dragon Takes Advantage of the Fire to Loot (Part 3)

  But the fight between the two sides made the situation even more serious. The two groups of soldiers who were originally killing each other were now clearly shocked by the appearance of more and more black-clad men, and it seemed that they had only just realized they had been tricked, momentarily stunned, and suddenly put aside their previous grievances, shouting and screaming as they rushed towards the city gate.

  At this moment, although the vanguard of the wind rudder had broken out of the city gate, most people were still blocked by the officials and soldiers who had reacted earlier. A battle for the gate was about to unfold. Fortunately, the official army registered in Huayin County had lost more than half of its strength in the previous self-destruction, and only a few scattered troops hastily assembled by Liu County Magistrate remained.

  Even so, Shi Jin still couldn't feel at ease in his heart. After all, the officials and soldiers were numerous and demonstrating their power, surrounding and engulfing them like a pocket, and the rudder was still not taking advantage of any opportunity.

  Shi Jin was indignant and secretly scolded, if Lao Zi's team were here now, they would have been chopped down by these bastards! Unfortunately, I'm alone now, taking action is useless, not taking action but my heart is driving me crazy, it's really frustrating.

  There's no other way, now it can only be watched with eyes wide open, the wind rudder guards in the outer circle were forced to retreat by the government soldiers. But the more anxious he was, the more his mind was a complete blank. Shi Jin's heart had long been raised to his throat, and both hands were tightly clenched into fists.

  Shi Jin's heart was racing with anxiety as he gazed out at the city gate. After a round of fighting, his brothers who were responsible for escorting him were falling one by one under the siege of the government soldiers. Although they had killed many soldiers, the disparity in numbers made it impossible to withstand the relentless onslaught. Shi Jin's heart was racing with fear, especially whenever someone carrying a package was struck down, his heart would ache with a sharp pain.

  This silver is still left to recruit soldiers and horses, waiting for the future to start from scratch. It's a pity that it was lost on the battlefield! Shi Jin frowned with some heartache. But the government troops fought more and more fiercely, looking like they wanted to encircle and capture them all at once.

  Shi Jin secretly thought it was bad, if the rudder is allowed to be swallowed like this, then there really is no way out.

  In this critical moment, Shi Jin's flustered eyes caught sight of a pine tree not far from the west city gate. The tree was entirely dark green, though not very thick, its branches were dense and lush, with a canopy that reached the top of the city wall. This unintentional glance at something had suddenly enlightened him.

  With a quick glance, he rushed through the streets, picking up a bow beside the dead soldier and grabbing an arrow quiver scattered on the ground. In his haste, he didn't care about his appearance, awkwardly climbing onto a nearby civilian house.

  Shi Jin stood with his feet apart on the roof, in a proud and majestic pose, ready to shoot a large eagle. He placed an arrow on the bowstring, hooked his middle fingers together to draw the string, pulled it back to full moon shape, and aimed at the outer edge of the surrounded government troops.

  Those officers and soldiers had just been blindly self-mutilating, but now they understood to zip up their pockets and swallow their words. There must be someone in charge, and as long as that person was caught, the rest would be easy to handle. But who was this person? Two county lieutenants were dead, and there were many heads under them. In the current situation, no one would dare to reveal their identity on their forehead.

  Shi Jin anxiously searched around, and in a short while, a man standing outside the government army's perimeter caught his attention. The man was holding a wooden sword and making gestures, shouting something at people, running east one moment and west the next, but no matter how he ran, he didn't seem to be heading towards the windmill.

  Shi Jin's heart rose with suspicion, and he shot an arrow at the man wielding a wooden sword, shouting loudly. With a whizzing sound, it pierced through the carved beams and painted rafters, through the fiery night sky, and finally through the armor and throat of that person, who was just about to swing his arms in a converging motion. The head of the man immediately splattered blood for five steps, dying on the spot.

  As expected, that man's death caused the government army to lose direction in a hurry, and for a while, there was no capable person to take over. This made the officials and bandits who controlled the windmill extremely happy. Although the government soldiers were still rushing forward fiercely, they now seemed like headless flies, completely unlike their previous orderly manner, and the encirclement began to show signs of dispersal as it tightened.

  The people of Fengbiao took advantage of the uneven attack position of the government army and gradually rearranged their formation under the command of Kui'er, but they were struggling to cope with the increasing number of soldiers and horses rushing over. If they didn't think of a way to escape soon, being annihilated was likely only a matter of time.

  Shi Jin looked down from his high vantage point, everything in front of him crystal clear. As he gazed out at the lax formation of the government troops, he thought to himself that this was an opportunity not to be missed and made up his mind to take a risk.

  Victory or defeat hangs in the balance!

  Shi Jin's mind flashed, and he jumped down from the house, rushing to the edge of the battlefield in one breath. He hastily searched around for a bow, and Shi Jin combined the two bows together, using his fingers to tightly tie the bowstrings into one strand. In a nearby civilian house that was on fire, he pulled down a burning beam from the window frame. He steadily placed it on top of the double bows, his eyes half-closed as he aimed directly at the lush part of the pine tree's crown.

  Shi Jin gritted his teeth and exerted the strength of ten days to pull the bowstring full, then shot it out. One arrow was shot, and another arrow was added...

  Before the busy killing crowd came to their senses, the oil secreted by the pine tree for many years had been ignited by the open flame. Not long after, the fire raged on, and the whole tree was shrouded in a raging inferno.

  This commotion not only caught the attention of the government soldiers, but also made the wind vane officials and bandits who were surrounded by the siege see a glimmer of hope. Especially at this moment, Qiu Er, who was in a flurry, fighting with the government army, was particularly eye-catching. This old oil slick, who had been mixed up in the rivers and lakes for many years, had eyes that were not only exceptionally bright, but also saw through the chaos of people and horses chasing after the "rocket" and caught sight of Shi Jin, who was still pretending to be a general, playing tricks on them. However, Shi Jin had always pretended to be a general, playing with them, but he didn't know at all, and only thought that it was just a chivalrous and kind-hearted person who came out strongly, without any power.

  Shi Jin's arrow, although shot with great effort, had an unexpected effect: the three-finger-thick window crossbeam was actually shot out a great distance. The pride in his heart was indescribable. This shocking display of archery skills was indeed impressive, and he quietly made a mental note to improve his strong bow, but for now, he couldn't afford to think about that. Seeing the big tree catch fire, dozens of soldiers from the periphery were also approaching him.

  Shi Jin saw that the situation was not good, so he hastily pulled out a flaming torch, strung his bow and with all his might shot an arrow at the approaching soldiers. The torch flew towards them with a whooshing sound, causing a burst of shouting.

  Although the "arrow" shot was intimidating, it didn't have much killing power. Shi Jin had a slight sense of pride in his heart, but at this critical moment, he wasn't blindly arrogant. Just as the government army shouted and hesitated for a moment, Shi Jin threw away his bow and arrow and picked up a wooden knife that an officer soldier had abandoned after being injured or killed. Then he took off running.