Chapter 62: The Nine-headed Dragon Retreats to Huayin

  Shi Jin and Chen Da led the brothers of Mount Liusha to the North Gate, where Shi Yan's voice rang out. He urgently called on his brothers to open the gate quickly and let Shi Jin and Chen Da in, while ordering the archers to shoot arrows at the pursuing government soldiers. Shi Jin led the crowd into the city on horseback, listening to Shi Yan's arrangements, which were simple but impressive for a first-timer facing such a large scene, showing great composure and responsibility.

  Shi Jin and others entered the city gate, pulled back the reins of their war horses, jumped off quickly, and rushed towards the city wall. At this moment, Shi Qian commanded the archers to shoot at Feng Ping's troops who were pursuing them below the city, and the government soldiers who were trapped outside the city had lost the opportunity to attack. Helpless, Feng Ping could only withdraw his troops from the range of the arrows. By the time he reined in his horse again, Shi Jin and Chen Da had already climbed up onto the top of the city wall.

  At this time, although the sunset had fallen and it was almost night, with the help of the remaining twilight, Feng Ping could still see Shi Jin's triumphant face clearly. He saw Shi Jin step on the arrow tower of the city wall again, cup his hands in a gesture of respect, and shout: "Younger brother has arrived home safely, thank you General for escorting me, have a good journey, forgive me for not sending you off far!" As soon as Feng Ping heard this, he was furious. Shi Jin had humiliated him, but what made him even angrier was that he had let Shi Jin escape so easily, without being able to do anything about it. Originally, he had planned to surround and capture these rebels in the northwest camp, but now he had let the tiger return to the mountain, missing the opportunity to defeat them and leaving behind a potential threat. Moreover, with no military achievements to speak of, he would have to go back and face the responsibility of failing to guard the city, which was unbearable.

  Feng Ping's mind was in a mess, and thinking of this made him even more irritable. He glared at Shi Jin on the city wall, hating that he couldn't grab his collar and slash that smug face with a knife. The more Feng Ping looked, the angrier he got, but he still couldn't attack, and was so furious that he trembled all over and couldn't say a word. He could only glare at Shi Jin fiercely, spat out a mouthful of saliva, and cursed: "Next time we meet, I'll flay you alive!"

  "Haha! Alright, I'm waiting, but... I'm afraid your father, the Grand Marshal, can't wait to skin you alive!" Shi Jin heard this and didn't get angry, instead he became even more spirited in teasing him.

  This sentence pierced Feng Ping's sore spot, stirring up his heart and making him gasp for air.

  Shi Jin looked at his flustered appearance and became even more delighted, pouring oil on the fire as he shouted loudly: "However, General, don't be afraid! I'll send someone to fetch some medicine for injuries from falls and blows, just wait a moment and I'll throw it down to you. Hurry up and prepare to leave, so you can receive your reward!" After saying this, the brothers of Shaohua Mountain on the city wall burst into loud laughter.

  Feng Ping's face was no longer able to hold on, and in a rage, he whipped his horse and charged straight to the North City Gate. Borrowing the momentum of the horse, he swung his arm with great force, converting all his anger into power that exploded in this throw. Along with a loud roar, the long spear in his hand shot out, flying straight towards Shi Jing on top of the city wall.

  This sudden change left everyone in the scene unprepared, and no one expected it. The brothers on the city wall only had time to shout "Ah", and the long spear flew up and stabbed, and only Shi Qian's reaction was quick, his footwork moved quickly, and he blocked Shi Jin's chest without hesitation. Fortunately, the spear was heavy enough, and after flying for more than half a meter, it dissipated its force, drew an arc, and fell back to the city.

  Just now this move was made out of Feng Ping's extreme anger, but this throw shocked everyone. Shi Jin saw that his move had fallen empty, and he suddenly came to his senses, snatched Zhang Gong from behind, strung the bow and arrow, and placed it on Shi Chuan's shoulder, shooting at Feng Ping who was about to ride away.

  At that moment, Shi Qian only heard a buzzing sound beside his ear, and Feng Ping let out a painful hum. He was shot in the back with an arrow and fell off his horse after taking a few steps. The soldiers rushed to rescue him when they saw their general fall off his horse. Meanwhile, the brothers guarding the city took advantage of the opportunity to shoot arrows down at the soldiers. Amidst the continuous cries of pain and groans, the soldiers were in a state of panic as they rescued Feng Ping and escorted him away with a group of cavalrymen, fleeing in disarray.

  The soldiers on the city wall saw the defeat of the government troops and retreated, cheering and thundering. But at this moment, Shi Jin's smile gradually disappeared, taking off his silver helmet and taking a deep breath. When Shi Mou turned around to look at Shi Jin again, he found that Shi Jin was extremely exhausted, almost collapsing. Shi Mou was full of concern, hastily supporting Shi Jin, and together with Chen Da, they went into the city tower first. Chen Da also saw Shi Jin's fatigue and knew that his injuries were not fully healed, so he had gone out to fight again, even if he had good energy, there would be a time when it was exhausted, so he quickly called the attendants around him to invite Li Bai Cao to come and treat Shi Jin.

  Shi Jin walked to the edge of the table and sat down, not avoiding outsiders, as Shi Qian helped him carefully remove the armor on the outside. After this trip, Shi Jin's wound on his shoulder reopened, perhaps because of the intense fighting just now, the wound had torn open from the scab on the surface to the raw flesh underneath, fresh blood flowed out along the opened wound, dyeing a large area of his back and clothes red.

  Chen Da looked at Shi Jin's injuries and couldn't help but think of his heroic appearance on the battlefield, that aura made Chen Da involuntarily admire him from the bottom of his heart.

  Shi Qian looked at the wound and couldn't help but say: "Brother, this..."

  There's no battle without casualties, Shi Jing still didn't care about this and smiled: "Everything has a price to pay, what's the big deal with this injury, it will scab over after a night's sleep. But the brothers who died in this breakout can never be replaced... Originally there were few soldiers in the city, now we can't break out... Alas." Shi Jing's voice got lower and lower, so he stopped talking here.

  Chen Da could see the worry in Shi Jin's heart and deeply understood his sorrow, but to be honest, he couldn't think of a good way to alleviate the siege they were about to face. He patted Shi Jin on the back and comforted him slightly: "We've lost many brothers, but compared to the government troops, it's just a small loss. We've come this far and killed our way here, shaking their northwest camp, so we can say we've had a good fight!"

  Shi Jin knew that Chen Da was intentionally comforting him, the discontent in his heart was stuck at the tip of his tongue and he couldn't express it for a moment, so he could only weakly shake his head.

  Shi Jin looked at Shi Jin's appearance and also came to comfort him: "Brother, this time the troops have come out, there is not a small achievement. I just looked at the city, but after all, I am in a high position, and I can see some clues about the overall situation."

  As soon as Shi Jin heard this, his eyes had a hint of spirit. He wasn't concerned about Shi Qian's comforting words "not a small achievement", but rather that being in a high position indeed allowed one to grasp the overall situation better than rushing into battle. Although Shi Jin had some idea of the situation along the way, he was most eager to know about the changes in the overall situation and was looking forward to Shi Qian continuing. So, Shi Jin raised his eyes and looked at Shi Qian's delicate face, waiting very seriously for his next words.