I asked you to go hunting, and you ended up wearing a yellow robe?

Qi Shan nodded: "Still being stubborn even when death is imminent."

He sheathed his knife and squatted down.

With his left hand he gripped the female assassin's broken shinbone, and with his right hand he drew the Storm Gun from his waist.

The gun barrel, which had just fired two shots, was now incredibly hot.

Qi Shan pressed the scorching hot barrel of the gun directly onto the wound on the female assassin's calf.

"Sizzle—"

The sound of flesh burning filled the air.

The smell of roasted meat instantly overpowered the smell of blood.

"ah!!!"

The female assassin let out a heart-wrenching scream.

His body arched violently, his hands gripping the floor tiles tightly, his fingernails curling and bleeding.

Meng Da, watching from the side, felt a chill run down his spine and unconsciously took a half step back.

Qi Shan pressed down on the barrel of his gun, his face expressionless: "Three thousand light cavalry, how many are in the vanguard? Who is leading them? How many of your spies are still in the city?"

The female assassin was in so much pain that her eyes rolled back, and her whole body was soaked in cold sweat, but she still gritted her teeth.

Qi Shan moved the gun barrel away.

The female assassin had just breathed a sigh of relief.

Qi Shan pressed the gun barrel against her other intact thigh.

"Sizzle—"

Another scream rang out.

"I don't have much patience."

"You're quite tolerant. Today, I'll show you just how diverse and elaborate the methods of torture used by people from the Central Plains are."

"The Yelü people would rather die than surrender!"

................

"I'd rather die than surrender!!"

After all that fuss, the woman rolled her eyes and opened her mouth wide, but refused to utter a single word.

Qi Shan: "???"

"How can you tolerate that?"

This is something that women in the Central Plains who can't even open a bottle cap can't compare to.

"How about this, let's try another approach."

"You Central Plains dogs! No matter what methods you use, you can never conquer the warriors of the Yelü tribe!"

Qi Shan coughed lightly: "Close the door, remove your armor!"

"Zhongyuan dog! What are you doing! What are you doing! Zhongyuan...."

Qi Shan removed the female assassin's armor, took a feather, and frantically tickled the soles of her feet!

"Central Plains... Central Plains dog! You...you..."

"Haha ...

The female assassin broke down.

The physical torture completely shattered her psychological defenses.

"I'll talk...I'll talk!" she gasped weakly, tears and snot mingling together.

Qi Shan removed the feather: "Speak, wait a beat and keep scratching."

"The vanguard... the vanguard has five hundred men, led by the centurion Yelüda. They... they don't intend to attack the city."

Qi Shan frowned: "Not attacking the city?"

The female assassin answered tremblingly, "The general said that although the walls of Qingyang County are low, a direct assault would result in heavy casualties among our warriors. He has contacted the remnants of the Black Dragon Stronghold inside the city... Tonight at midnight, the Black Dragon Stronghold will open the north gate from the inside."

Upon hearing this, Qi Shan's expression changed drastically.

Tonight at midnight!

There are less than two hours left until midnight!

If the north gate were opened from the inside, and five hundred barbarian cavalry rushed into the county town, Qingyang County would immediately become a living hell.

"Who is the mole in Black Dragon Village? Where is he hiding?" Chen Chong asked urgently.

The female assassin shook her head: "I don't know... I was just a scout, responsible for infiltrating ahead to assassinate the county magistrate and create chaos. Only General Yelü Da knows the details."

Qi Shan laughed: "You're just a scout? You're kidding me. When I searched you just now, you had a Yelü tribe badge on you."

"If I'm not mistaken, your birth name is Yelü Zhao, the second princess of the Yelü tribe, right?"

Yelü Zhao was taken aback: "You...how did you know?"

Qi Shan ignored him and stood up, shouting:

"Meng Da".

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Lock her in a death row cell and assign four men to watch her. If she dies, the four of you will be buried with her."

"Yes, sir!" Meng Da waved his hand, and two constables stepped forward and dragged Yelü Zhao into the death row.

Chen Chong was sweating profusely with anxiety: "County Magistrate Qi, what should we do? The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. We have no idea who the inside accomplice is. Once the north gate falls, the whole city is doomed!"

Qi Shan stared at the two corpses on the ground and remained silent for a moment.

"Who the mole is is not important." Qi Shan turned around and his gaze fell on the map on the wall.

"They're trying to coordinate an attack from within, so let's trap them like turtles in a jar."

Chen Chong was stunned: "How do we catch it?"

Qi Shan pointed to the North Gate: "Send the order down, half of the garrison at the North Gate withdraw and replace them with our men. Empty all the sandbags from the gate's archway."

Chen Chong was shocked: "Empty the sandbags? Wouldn't that just be letting the barbarians in for nothing?"

Qi Shan turned his head, a cold smile curving his lips: "Aren't you worried about not having a place to test the power of those gunpowder canisters that Su Yue prepared? The barbican at the North Gate is the best testing ground."

Chen Chong was startled.

He recalled the earthenware jars he had seen during the day, filled with iron filings and broken porcelain shards.

They let five hundred barbarian cavalrymen into the barbican, and then...

Chen Chong shivered.

This method is even more ruthless than that of the Hu people.

"And another thing," Qi Shan said, looking at Meng Da, "have the blacksmiths in town made a few new guns?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, we rushed as fast as we could and managed to draw three more."

"Including this one, there are eight in total." Qi Shan drew his long sword, wiped the blood off his clothes, and sheathed it.

"Choose seven constables with the best marksmanship. Tonight, I will make sure that none of these five hundred barbarian cavalrymen leave Qingyang County."

The night wind blew in through the broken window frame, causing the candlelight on the table to flicker.

Qi Shan strode out of the back hall.

[Rapid-fire weapon! Fast reload! Reasonable! Very reasonable!]

child time.

North Gate of Qingyang County.

The night wind whipped up sand and dust, which rustled against the city walls.

Liu, the granary accountant, huddled in the shadows, his right hand missing his little finger, tightly gripping a short knife.

Behind him followed a dozen or so remnants of the Black Dragon Stronghold, each holding their breath.

Beneath the city gate, four county soldiers were dozing against the battlements.

Manager Liu made a hand gesture.

Four dark figures approached, covered the mouth, slit the throat, and dragged away.

The movements were swift and efficient.

"Push open the door," Manager Liu said in a low voice.

The heavy iron city gate emitted a dull groan as it slowly cracked open.

Outside the door, it was a dark mass of people.

Five hundred light cavalrymen of the Yelü tribe stood silently in the night.

Horses with hooves wrapped in cloth, people with gags in their mouths.

Commander Yelüda sat upright on his tall horse, holding a spiked club about half a man's length in his hand.

He stared at the slowly opening city gate, grinning to reveal his gleaming white teeth.

The Han people are indeed sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

"Enter the city." Yelü Da waved his hand. "Be quiet. First, take over the county government office. Kill all the men, spare the women."

Five hundred Hu cavalrymen filed in. Their hooves clattered dully on the bluestone slabs.

Steward Liu stepped forward, bowing and smiling obsequiously: "General Xiao, I have already opened the door, and the sandbags are as you instructed..."

Yelüda ignored him and scanned her surroundings.

This is the barbican.

Surrounded by high walls on all sides, one could only truly enter Qingyang County by passing through the inner city gate at the front.

Not right.

It's too quiet.

Yelüda sniffed.

Besides the smell of blood, there was also a pungent odor in the air.

sulfur?

"Why is the inner city gate closed?" Yelüda suddenly turned his head and stared at Steward Liu.

Manager Liu was taken aback: "This...it's usually locked at night, I'll go knock on the door right away..."

"Call me your mother!" Yelüda kicked Steward Liu to the ground and roared, "Ambush! Retreat!"