A short while later, a squad of seven returned and reported the scouted intelligence to Lu Ye, who was waiting there.

It was about as he had expected. The foundation of Thousand Streams City was indeed much stronger than Ding'an's. The Black Scarf Army had already launched three assaults in succession, yet had never managed to achieve a decisive result; on the contrary, their own losses had been considerable.

It was precisely because of this that a Black Scarf squad had gone to Ding'an earlier to gather provisions and pay, only to be wiped out by Lu Ye, which in turn drew over a vanguard army of a thousand—and they too suffered over half casualties.

Exactly because the fighting here was so deadlocked, the Black Scarves had no spare strength to go looking for trouble with Ding'an.

At the moment, the Black Scarf Army was resting and regrouping. From the look of it, they had no intention of letting things go. That was only normal. The Black Scarves had started as mountain bandits and had developed all the way here with the wind at their backs. Wherever they passed, there were many cases of cities surrendering on their own, yet here at Thousand Streams they had lost men and bled for it.

How could the Black Scarf leader possibly retreat like this? So long as he could take Thousand Streams, all the losses up to now would be worth it.

Anyone in the Black Scarf leader's position would not withdraw easily.

To go hunting for the Black Scarves' trouble at this time would undoubtedly be irrational. Though the hundred-plus men he had brought were all cultivators, their numbers were ultimately too few; they would have to move at the right moment to exert their greatest effect. After thinking it over briefly, Lu Ye decided to wait quietly for the right opportunity, trusting that the Black Scarves would not keep him waiting long.

He ordered everyone to stay hidden where they were, then left alone. No one knew where he went; only, a little less than half a day later, he returned again.

The Black Scarves truly did not keep Lu Ye waiting long. Merely two days later, while they were resting, everyone faintly felt an unusual disturbance coming from the direction of Thousand Streams City.

Lu Ye immediately bent down, pressed his ear to the ground, and listened carefully.

A moment later, his brows lifted and he gave a low shout: "Get ready!"

The hundred-plus men, hearing the order, at once adopted a strict battle array.

"Mount up!" Lu Ye gave another command.

They swung onto their horses, movements uniform and tidy, expressions solemn.

"Move out!" Lu Ye glanced over them, then took the lead, riding toward Thousand Streams.

At this very moment, the great Black Scarf army was storming the city. Huge stones wreathed in flames were hurled by catapults, tearing through the sky to smash against the city walls or crash down inside the city.

The thick city walls were pitted all over with craters, and there was much damage within the city as well. The bodies of slain civilians were visible everywhere. Around the walls, it was a scene from purgatory.

A full one hour of stone bombardment was followed by another hour of arrow volleys before the Black Scarves launched a full-scale assault.

Like a tide, the bandit soldiers charged forward with shouts, some bearing crude scaling ladders, some with shields held up in front, their ferocity surging.

Thousand Streams had already weathered several such assaults, and by now naturally handled them with practiced ease.

The fiercest clash between the two sides was along the section of wall at the East Gate. Again and again, Black Scarf soldiers, fearless of death, used the ladders to clamber up the wall, only to be hacked down by the defenders of Thousand Streams.

In the gate tower above the East Gate, Thousand Streams City Lord Xie Li stood there with a grave expression. One soldier after another rushed in to report on the situation at various points, and with just a few words from him, they hurried away again.

That Thousand Streams had managed to hold out under the Black Scarves' onslaught until now was not merely due to the city's deep foundation; it also owed much to Xie Li's central command and coordination.

It could be said that without Xie Li, Thousand Streams City would never have lasted to this point.

Looking at the Black Scarves surging below, he could clearly judge that they could only sustain this one more assault. If they could just hold this wave, the Black Scarves would definitely retreat, and Thousand Streams would then have a chance to breathe.

But whether they could truly hold or not, he actually had no certainty. In a battle like this, there were too many factors affecting the overall situation. Even with his exceptional military skill, he could not completely dictate the course of the war.

He could only do all that human effort allowed, and leave the rest to fate.

Unbidden, the face of a young man surfaced in his mind.

It was a young man he had never met before, who had suddenly come calling two days ago, seeking him out and claiming to have come from Ding'an City, about 30 miles away.

At the time, the two had exchanged only a brief conversation, enough for him to learn a bit of the other party's arrangements.

He knew that at such a time he really shouldn't pin his hopes on External Force, yet he still couldn't help feeling a bit of anticipation. If there truly was a surprise force, it ought to appear around now, shouldn't it?

His gaze shifted, sweeping over the entire battlefield, but to his disappointment, all he saw in his field of view were Black Scarves; there was no sign of any surprise force…

This even made him start to doubt whether that scene two days ago had really happened at all, because after the young man left, he had specifically ordered subordinates to shadow him in secret, only for the man to vanish in the blink of an eye.

The other had appeared in such a mysterious fashion, and then disappeared again like a Spectral Bewitchment.

"What's that over there?" A man dressed like an adviser beside him suddenly cried out in surprise and doubt.

Xie Li followed his gaze in that direction and vaguely saw some small black dots rapidly approaching. His expression shifted; he immediately roused his spirit force to empower his eyes.

His vision became a little clearer.

"Cavalry?" Xie Li frowned. He could tell that a cavalry squad had suddenly appeared over there. He couldn't clearly see the one in the lead, but the figure was roughly similar to that young man he'd met two days ago.

However, this cavalry squad was small in number, only a little over a hundred riders.

Xie Li looked past that cavalry squad, but saw nothing behind them.

Could this be the surprise force that young man mentioned? A mere hundred or so people, even if every single one of them had cultivation, what could they do on a battlefield like this?

At most they'd charge through the battle array a few times, and once their spirit force was exhausted they would just be waiting to be slaughtered.

"My lord, are those people from the Black Scarf?" that adviser asked.

Xie Li shook his head. He wasn't sure where this cavalry squad had come from, but judging from their posture, they were clearly heading straight for the rear of the Black Scarf Army.

As he watched, the Black Scarf Army clearly also noticed the cavalry squad's presence. A unit of five hundred men immediately moved out to intercept them, and the distance between the two sides quickly shrank.

Xie Li stared without blinking. He knew he would soon be able to determine the cavalry's stance. Friend or foe would be clear as soon as he saw what happened when the two sides met.

Ten breaths later, the two units collided, and Xie Li's expression couldn't help but change.

Because the two units instantly fell into a bloody melee. The cavalry squad that had rushed over from afar was like a long arrow, smashing through the Black Scarf unit of five hundred, ripping them apart and continuing to charge forward without even looking back.

In just that one pass, over a hundred of the five hundred were killed, and they hadn't even been able to stop the cavalry squad for a single instant. Wherever the cavalry passed, the Black Scarf soldiers toppled like stalks of grain.

The adviser exclaimed, "Where did these people come from? They're using few to strike many, yet they're unstoppable. The one in the lead definitely has no ordinary cultivation, and at least half the squad must have cultivation as well."

"Ding'an!" Xie Li's eyes shone. He finally confirmed it: what had happened two days ago was real. That elusive young man had come, and he'd brought a cavalry squad. The only pity was that there were far too few of them.

"People from Ding'an?" The adviser came to a sudden realization at his words. "I heard earlier that the Black Scarf went to harass Ding'an, but got beaten badly instead. Looks like Ding'an also understands the principle that if the lips die, the teeth grow cold. This should just be the vanguard army; the main force of Ding'an is probably rushing over as we speak." Thinking of this, the adviser's spirits lifted. If Ding'an's main army could attack the Black Scarf from the rear while Thousand Streams attacked from the front, there really might be hope of crushing the Black Scarf Army in one stroke.

As he spoke, the adviser was startled again. "What are they trying to do?"

Nothing else—because in his field of view, the cavalry squad that had originally been in a straight line suddenly changed formation. The hundred-plus riders transformed into a wedge shape, pointing straight at the belly of the Black Scarf main army and driving in.

The adviser could hardly bear to watch. Even though the cavalry squad had just demonstrated tremendous mobility and destructive power, they still shouldn't be acting so recklessly.

Their best tactic should have been to hunt along the edges of the Black Scarf Army, not to stab straight into its belly. The risk was too great. Once their momentum was checked, they would be surrounded by enemies on all sides, and in that kind of encirclement no one could survive—unless they could maintain overwhelming offensive pressure the entire time.

Xie Li also couldn't figure out what this cavalry squad was trying to do. In his view, this approach was pure suicide.

Ten miles outside Thousand Streams, Lu Ye rode in the very front, shouting an order: "Stay tight!"

In the entire cavalry squad, everyone except him wore tense faces, restless and uneasy. They all had cultivation, but before this, none of them had ever done something so insane. What Xie Li and the adviser could see, they, being in the middle of it, understood even more clearly: if anyone fell behind, that would be a dead end. So every single person was on full alert.

The only thing giving them the slightest sense of safety right now was the interwoven qi linked by the array disc. Under the array disc's effect, they could clearly feel that their spirit force consumption was extremely low. This undoubtedly meant their endurance was several times greater than usual.

The true collision erupted in that instant. Everyone followed closely on Lu Ye's heels, charging forward without a care. Miserable screams rose and fell incessantly in their ears, and the stench of blood was overwhelmingly thick.

Then everyone was astonished to discover something: from the very start, the cavalry squad's speed had not decreased in the slightest. No matter how many enemies blocked the way ahead, the hundred-plus riders were like an invincible arrowhead; everyone who touched them died or was maimed on the spot.

They advanced all the way, cutting through the waves, leaving corpses strewn across the ground in their wake.

In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the cavalry squad had already charged into the belly of the Black Scarf main army, yet their offensive still showed no sign of slowing, as if the ones blocking them were not the infamous Black Scarf Army, but a bunch of random riffraff.

Are we really this strong? One after another, the cavalry who had followed Lu Ye this far couldn't help but have this strange thought flash through their minds. They knew that with the help of that miraculous array disc, they could unleash power far beyond their own cultivation, but none of them had expected their charge in a battle like this to be so smooth.

So… we really are this strong!

A mere Black Scarf—nothing but a clown jumping around!

Their thoughts shifted, their wills gradually firmed. Their earlier unease completely disappeared. The cavalry squad fully let loose, and in an instant, the Black Scarf's casualties skyrocketed.