Chapter 404 - 341: No One Is Undying, and No One Is Unkillable

The top of Yanmen Pass’s city walls were riddled with craters from boulders, stained with blood, and covered in scorch marks.

Five days had now passed since Xiao Mo began his defense of the city.

Over the past few days, the Wei Kingdom’s army had launched a fierce assault on Yanmen Pass.

Fortunately, Yanmen’s City Defense Array was quite durable, and Xiao Mo had been on the walls day and night directing the defense without a moment’s rest.

Thus, even after five days, the Wei Kingdom’s army had made no headway.

The Wei Kingdom’s general, Guo Xin, was starting to grow anxious.

Every day Yanmen Pass held out, the remaining Eleven Southern Cities of the Southern Realm fell into greater peril.

Although Xiao Mo’s army was short on provisions and extremely low on all kinds of supplies, were the Wei Kingdom’s Eleven Southern Cities truly well-stocked? Their situation was hardly better than that of Yanmen Pass.

Furthermore, the longer the siege remained at a stalemate, the more it wore down his army’s morale.

Morale was crucial in a major battle. Without it, an army was like a pile of loose sand—not only difficult to command but liable to shatter at the first charge.

So, in the days that followed, Guo Xin tried various tactics.

For three consecutive days, Guo Xin attacked by day and retreated his army at nightfall.

But on the night of the fourth day, in the dead of night, Guo Xin launched a massive assault.

To his surprise, Xiao Mo was already prepared. Countless flaming arrows rained down on them, turning the battlefield as bright as day.

When the night assault failed, he resorted to digging tunnels.

A city’s City Defense Array typically provided "no-fly" and "protection" effects, but its influence was limited to the ground and the sky; it could not reach underground.

Therefore, digging tunnels was a rather fitting strategy.

However, not only did the Northern Wilderness Army detect every tunnel they dug, but Xiao Mo even turned the tables on them. He would wait for the Wei Kingdom soldiers to emerge from the holes before finishing them off.

Moreover, Yanmen Pass was home to a type of venomous Fierce Beast called the Giant-Killer Wasp.

As its name suggested, this Fierce Beast was, first, giant—four times the size of an ordinary hornet—and second, its venom was lethal.

Although these Giant-Killer Wasps were inedible, they now had their uses.

Xiao Mo dropped the hives directly into the tunnels, and the Wei Kingdom soldiers screamed incessantly.

Finally, when Xiao Mo felt enough was enough, he ordered his men to seal the tunnels.

「On the night of the tenth day of the siege.」

The Wei Kingdom army camp was quiet, with only the regular patrols making their rounds.

Inside his command tent, Guo Xin, who hadn’t slept well in days, was still agonizing over how to take the city.

Just then, a cacophony of shouts, clashing swords, and pounding hooves erupted outside his tent.

"A night raid!"

"The Northern Wilderness Army is staging a night raid!"

"The Northern Wilderness Army is attacking!"

As shouts echoed through the camp, Guo Xin rushed out of his tent.

The soldiers in the Wei Kingdom camp scrambled to don their armor and grab their weapons to meet the enemy.

Not far off, under the moonlight, Xiao Mo led three thousand Snow-Trampling Dragon Cavalry, rampaging through the camp.

’How does Xiao Mo dare?!’

Guo Xin froze.

’I didn’t attack tonight. Shouldn’t Xiao Mo be letting his troops rest?’

’How dare he risk a night raid with his cavalry?!’

"Damn it!"

When Guo Xin saw Xiao Mo fighting his way toward the rear of the camp, his heart sank. He instantly knew what Xiao Mo was after!

"Stop Xiao Mo! Don’t let him get any farther!" Guo Xin roared.

But it wasn’t long before Xiao Mo and his Snow-Trampling Dragon Cavalry broke through to the rear of the Wei Kingdom camp. They found the siege engines, and Xiao Mo destroyed every piece of equipment in sight.

Any he didn’t have time to smash, he set ablaze.

After doing all this, Xiao Mo found the Wei Kingdom army’s granaries.

The three thousand Snow-Trampling Dragon Cavalry had brought two hundred Storage Pouches with them.

Xiao Mo ordered them to fill every Storage Pouch with grain.

Storage Magical Artifacts—a type of Spatial Magical Artifact—were expensive to create, so the entire army had very few. Xiao Mo’s detachment had even less.

These two hundred Storage Pouches were all Xiao Mo currently possessed. He had scrounged them up after conquering Mati City and had even specifically requested some from Xiao Shi.

Furthermore, the Storage Pouches were not high-grade. Most could only hold the contents of a small hut, while the very largest had an interior space of three zhang long, three zhang wide, and three zhang high.

Still, something was better than nothing.

They packed as much grain as they possibly could.

The Wei Kingdom’s granaries were scattered in various locations, so burning these few wouldn’t be a major blow. This was especially true given their continuous supply lines.

But at the very least, it would humiliate them, damage their morale, and cause them some trouble.

After quickly filling the Storage Pouches, Xiao Mo ordered his men to set fire to the remaining granaries, then led his three thousand cavalry to fight their way out of the Wei Kingdom’s camp.

"Xiao Mo! You think you can just leave?!"

Guo Xin personally led a large force in pursuit of Xiao Mo.

But Xiao Mo’s three thousand Snow-Trampling Dragon Cavalry were the elite of the elite. Before setting out, they had specially consumed a great deal of Spirit Beast Flesh and Blood to replenish their Blood Qi. Their horses were also well-fed and well-rested, making it difficult for the Wei Kingdom forces to catch them.

Just as Guo Xin could do nothing but watch Xiao Mo and his men ride farther and farther away, Xiao Mo suddenly wheeled around with five hundred cavalrymen and charged back. After a brief, bloody assault, Xiao Mo broke off and galloped away once more!

By the time Guo Xin reached the foot of the city walls, all he found was a tightly sealed gate!

"Xiao Mo, you whelp! I will kill you!"

Guo Xin roared from below the city walls, his voice echoing across the empty fields.

After returning to the city, Xiao Mo took stock of the provisions and the Fierce and Spirit Beast flesh and blood he had brought back.

For the entire city, even with careful rationing, it wasn’t much. At most, it would only help them hold out for another day or two. And after this successful raid, pulling off another one would be much harder.