Chapter 127: The Siege 2

At this moment, Xiao Hongyu had already gathered the soldiers within the city. It was unclear what methods he had employed, but the soldiers had surrendered to him unconditionally. In truth, faced with the behemoth hovering above, surrender was inevitable. Furthermore, everyone knew that the divine masters had come to save them, so they were naturally willing to submit.

Wang Keyue hoped to resolve the situation peacefully without resorting to weapons of mass destruction. She knew Xiao Hongyu still possessed a hand grenade, and for some reason, she felt it was best not to use such things.

Her current goal was to assassinate the leader of the Hu barbarians. She purchased a reconnaissance drone and deployed five small detectors, remotely guiding them toward the barbarians' main base in the rear.

"Give me the invisibility cloak. I will go deal with Alka, and you can give me instructions from here," Xiao Hongyu said, placing the earpiece paired with the drone into his right ear.

"Understood. Please, be careful!" Xiao Hongyu, a former soldier, was the most reliable person to carry out this mission.

"Wear this!" Wang Keyue handed a box to Xiao Hongyu. "I modified it specially for you. Try it!"

Xiao Hongyu’s brow arched with delight. He took the familiar wooden box and opened it to find the pocket crossbow he had gifted to Yue’er long ago. However, this one was clearly different—it was broader, with sharper, more aggressive lines, and its pitch-black exterior shimmered with a faint cyan light.

"Thank you, Yue’er. I... love it!" Xiao Hongyu strapped the crossbow to his right wrist; it fit perfectly. He caressed the weapon, his eyes filled with tenderness.

Xiao Hongyu cloaked his presence and moved forward unimpeded. The sweet, soft voice of Wang Keyue echoed in his ear from time to time, making the corners of his mouth lift. He had never felt such pleasure while carrying out a mission to kill.

He poured the prepared anesthetic powder into the campfires. As the fires burned, an odorless, colorless mist permeated the entire camp. Stealthily slipping into the command tent, Xiao Hongyu aimed his crossbow at the figure on the bed.

"Brother Xiao, don't move! There’s a situation!" Wang Keyue’s voice came through, urgent. "Back away, stand behind the rack to the side. Don't move—someone is coming."

Xiao Hongyu obeyed without hesitation, putting away his crossbow and retreating behind a clothing rack. Just as he settled, the tent flap was lifted. A man roughly two meters tall, with a stature like a black bear, strode in and hurled a wine goblet at the figure on the bed, cursing loudly.

The person on the bed was struck, but instead of showing anger, he scrambled off the bed in a panic, prostrating himself and kowtowing repeatedly.

"Brother Xiao, we almost fell for a ruse. This large man is the real Alka; the one on the bed is just a slave from the tribe he found who shares his build. This Alka is quite the strategist," Wang Keyue remarked.

Xiao Hongyu broke into a cold sweat upon hearing this. He remained silent, standing perfectly still. A quarter of an hour later, Alka ordered his body double to continue sleeping while he moved to a smaller tent nearby.

"It seems this Alka values his life," Xiao Hongyu thought. He followed Alka out and slipped into the small tent, only to find four other leaders waiting inside.

Xiao Hongyu was amused to see that two of them were Alka’s eldest and second sons, another was the tribe’s great warrior, and the last was, surprisingly, the Imperial Uncle of the Great Qin Dynasty. This was quite interesting.

Listening to their conspiracy, Xiao Hongyu finally understood why the Qiang-Hu tribe had met no resistance along their path—it was all orchestrated by the Imperial Uncle. It seemed the uncle was aiming for the throne. He wondered how the man would feel, having conspired with tigers for so long, only to realize he was merely paving the way for someone else.

Xiao Hongyu added the anesthetic powder to a nearby oil lamp. Within moments, all five men in the tent collapsed, losing consciousness.

Seeing that the masterminds had been neutralized, a great weight was lifted from Wang Keyue’s heart, though she remained vigilant. Checking the wind speed and direction, she signaled for Xiao Hongyu to leave immediately.

Xiao Hongyu hesitated, wondering about the bodies, but Wang Keyue laughed, "Don't worry about the aftermath; I have my ways." She then turned her attention to the thirty eagle-shaped drones she had prepared, loading them with powerful anesthetic purchased from the system store and flying them toward the Qiang-Hu camp. Unless the barbarians stayed inside their tents, a single breath of the mist would be enough to keep them asleep for a day.

With Xiao Hongyu safely returned, Wang Keyue implemented her plan without hesitation.

That night, Alka had gathered his key officers and his secret ally, the Imperial Uncle—who was also his brother-in-law. Alka remained cautious of this man, who harbored deep ambitions for the throne. Little did he know, while they were conspiring, his youngest son collapsed onto the carpet. Alka felt a sudden sense of dread, but before he could cry out, his vision blurred, his head swam, and he plunged into darkness.

Meanwhile, the fifty-thousand-strong army had finished assembling for their second assault on the Qin capital. Earlier that morning, they had been terrified by the behemoth in the sky, but their leaders had dismissed it as a trick. With their spirits restored, they were determined to breach the city that night.

A chilly breeze brought the scent of food, which left the soldiers feeling dazed. Suddenly, a large group of them collapsed.

"Report! General Xiao! The Qiang-Hu soldiers are two miles from the city wall," a soldier announced.

"Keep observing!" Xiao Hongyu and Wang Keyue watched through the drones. The eagle-shaped craft, aided by the moonlight and wind, had blanketed the barbarians with anesthetic powder.

"Report! General Xiao, the Qiang-Hu soldiers are collapsing in droves. More than half are already unconscious!" the messenger said, his voice filled with excitement and joy.

"It seems this method works quite well," Wang Keyue said, confident in her concoction.