In addition to Li Du and other personal guards who followed the army, Li Yan also had five personal followers at home. They were originally giants in the underworld, and each of them was highly skilled in martial arts, especially in combined attack techniques. Later, they were subdued by Li Yan and became his followers.
These five people followed Li Yan and hid their names. They all took Li Yan's surname and called themselves Li Da, Li Er, Li San... and other common names.
Under Li Yan's guidance, their martial arts skills improved by leaps and bounds, and they were all promoted to the ranks of the top masters in the martial arts world. When the five of them joined forces, even a strong man in the state of transformation would find it difficult to kill or defeat them.
When Li Yan was standing on the top of the tree before, he recognized Li Si at a glance, so he didn't need to ask the rest of the questions, and he knew that something big had really happened at home.
With Li Yan's murderous spirit, he didn't care whether those more than ten people were real soldiers of the imperial dynasty or enemy spies in disguise, he just killed them.
After hearing Li Si's few words, Li Yan's heart went cold, but he never showed his joy on his face. Unexpectedly, today Kong Principal rebelled, and Li Da and Li San had already died. Li Yan felt sad and anxious on his face.
Although he was anxious, how could he just ignore it and let Li Si die here
Without giving Li Si any chance to waste time, he knocked Li Si unconscious and quickly went to the woods to put Li Si down. After carefully checking Li Si's injuries, Li Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Si had more than twenty wounds on his body, but the most serious ones were the arrow wounds on his shoulder blade and lower back, with two feather arrows stuck in them.
Before this, Li Si had never dared to pull out these two arrows. They were military-made armor-piercing arrows. Not only were the arrows heavy, but anyone who was hit by them would have their armor pierced through and reach their internal organs.
Because Li Si was an excellent martial artist, he was able to use his internal energy to dissipate most of the force when he was shot by the arrow, so he was not killed instantly.
Moreover, there is a circle of barbs on the tip of the armor-piercing arrow. If you pull it out forcefully, it will bring out a large piece of flesh and blood, causing the wound to expand several times. The person may bleed to death without needing medical treatment.
Li Yan made Li Si lie face down on the ground, then tore off the clothes and soft armor on his back. Although the soft armor could not withstand heavy arrows, it was difficult to cut it open with ordinary swords. However, Li Yan only used his fingernails to cut it open for the most part.
He first sealed several acupoints around the arrow wound on Li Si's shoulder blade, then held the bottom of the arrow shaft with his right hand and poured his powerful internal energy into it.
When the internal force traveled along the arrow shaft to the arrow tip, it generated an outward tension, slowly stretching the muscles around the arrow tip, which created some space around the arrow tip. Fortunately, Li Si was already unconscious, otherwise the pain would be unbearable.
Li Yan's internal strength had reached the point where he could do whatever he wanted, but he was afraid of hurting Li Si, so although he looked relaxed, beads of sweat gradually appeared on his forehead. He kept pouring internal strength into his right hand, and at the same time, he pulled out the feather arrow little by little...
After more than half a cup of tea, Li Yan simply treated Li Si's injuries and confirmed that his life was not in danger for the time being. Then he tied him to the fork of a big tree to prevent him from becoming food for wild beasts.
Then he tied his sword tightly in his hand and lightly pressed one of Li Si's major acupoints. The moment he woke up, Li Yan had quickly disappeared into the darkness.
Li Yan could only do so much. If Li Si was really unlucky and the one coming was a wild beast that was good at climbing trees, and he had not recovered enough to lift the knife, then Li Yan would be helpless.
However, as long as Li Si can wait until dawn, Li Du's army will arrive.
At noon on the second day, outside the south gate of Qingshan Pass, a figure came approaching at lightning speed from afar.
The area dozens of miles south of Qingshan Pass is flat. This was ordered to be opened up by Li Yan in order to avoid a sneak attack and hiding from the Meng people. But now it has become a life-and-death barrier for Li Yan himself, exposing him in broad daylight without any cover.
He didn't know the situation in the city, so if he was allowed to approach quietly at night, he would be confident of success.
However, it had been more than two days since Li Si and his men broke out. Every bit of time would lead to more accidents. So, although Li Yan knew that a forced attack would immediately expose him, he had no other choice.
Sure enough, when Li Yan was just three miles away from the city, he was discovered by the soldiers on the city wall. When he got closer, he was shot at by a barrage of crossbow arrows.
This kind of crossbow is not powered by human power but is mechanically controlled. It requires four soldiers to operate one crossbow, and the range can reach two miles. It is definitely a deadly weapon, but its accuracy is not satisfactory. However, the number can make up for this shortcoming.
Li Yan's body was like a swimming dragon, and he shouted loudly, "I am Li Yan, who am I guarding the city for now?" He moved forward among the arrows, occasionally slapping out with his palm to knock away the crossbow arrows that the people didn't have time to dodge, while he kept moving closer.
Li Yan's shout really stopped the crossbows on the city wall. Then, a shout was heard from the tower, "Shoot them quickly! As long as we hold out until midnight, fame and fortune will be within our grasp!"
Li Yan's heart trembled when he heard this, he was particularly familiar with that voice - Principal Kong.
The last glimmer of hope was shattered. This Qingshan Pass had been controlled by Principal Kong. He missed his wife and children so much that it was pointless to say more. His eyes were bloodshot and his pain became more severe.
Just as the shout came from the city wall, a man flashed out from the arrow stack. He looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a white face and no beard, and a pair of eagle eyes flashing with a cold luster. The person he least wanted to see and was most afraid of seeing actually came here alone.
The chaos in the city has not yet subsided, and the so-called defense of the city is a lie. As long as Li Yan's direct subordinates in the city are not eliminated, he will not be able to immediately send troops to the south and form an internal and external alliance.
Kong Xiao could not believe that despite his years of operation and his efforts to place his trusted soldiers in many important positions, he still underestimated Li Yan's prestige. In addition to him, Li Yan also left less than 400 defenders in the city. After two days, there were still more than 100 people resisting in the city's camp. There were more heavy weapons in the camp. In two days, they suffered a thousand casualties and were unable to break in.
He was extremely anxious, but he didn't dare to leave the city, as that would leave his back to others. Besides, these soldiers could ask for help from the north, and he didn't know how long he could block the news to the north.
Long after Kong Xiao finished speaking, dozens of powerful crossbows were shot out, and most of the soldiers around the crossbows actually hesitated.
Although these soldiers had the intention of defecting, Li Yan's prestige was too great, and now he came alone like a horse without a sky. They had already become panicked, and for a moment they dared not work together to operate the city and shoot crossbows.
"Are you going to die?" There was murderous intent in Kong Xiao's eyes, and the long sword at his waist was already unsheathed. Then several screams were heard from the city wall.
"You have already surrendered to the Meng Kingdom. Now that the killer has entered the city, he will not spare you." Prisoner Kong roared.
Under his coercion and intimidation, arrows and crossbows rained down on the outside of the city again. These powerful crossbows were extremely difficult to make, so it was difficult to stockpile them. They would only be used recklessly when the Meng army attacked.
It would require a lot of money to build it afterwards, but today it was shot out all at once.
Li Yan's body movements had been used to the extreme. As he approached, he no longer had the ease he had before. The long sword in his hand was either poking or flicking, but his forward speed was still amazing.
He didn't say a word to Principal Kong in the city or anyone else. He had said everything he needed to say. Those faces, whether strange or familiar, were already enemies.
Just a moment later, the more than one mile road was covered with a thick layer of crossbow arrows, either diagonally or vertically, and Li Yan had already arrived at the city gate.
All the rebels on the city wall were so frightened that their hands and feet were cold. They all knew that their marshal was the bravest among the three armies, but today they truly saw what it meant to be invincible. This was simply not a human being.
The most feared person here is Prisoner Kong. The sword in his hand keeps shaking and his face becomes paler, but his eyes reveal a desperate look.
Li Yan fought his way to the foot of the city. The powerful crossbows on the city wall were no longer a threat to him. What he had to be careful about were things like rolling logs, boulders, and hot oil.
Li Yan raised his head and looked upwards. His arms were a little sore. This short mile seemed easy for him, but those were powerful crossbows that could penetrate the Stone Cave Mountain. His internal strength was also consumed quite a lot. But at this moment, he was still fearless.
Li Yan suddenly let out a long roar, the sound of which shook the whole area and pierced through the clouds and split the silk. Then he tried to use his lightness skills to climb up the wall.
But at this moment, a cold voice came from above, "Marshal Li, Lord Li, why are you so eager to enter the city? Come and see what this is."
Li Yan stopped abruptly when he heard that. He looked up with a cold face and saw half of a figure exposed from the raft. It was none other than Prisoner Kong, and he was holding something in his hand, hanging down from it.
The tower of Qingshanai was several dozen feet high, and the thing in Kong Xiao's hand was very small. An ordinary person would not be able to see it clearly from such a distance, but Li Yan used all his eyesight to see it clearly.
He was about to throw his rising body away, but suddenly he was hit hard and immediately became motionless, like a clay sculpture or a wooden statue.
It was a jade ring, a small emerald jade ring with patterns that he was very familiar with. It was the one his wife wore around her neck.
Li Yan just felt depressed. When he was about to ask, Principal Kong above seemed to have seen his expression clearly and finally breathed a sigh of relief. This God of Death was not a human being at all. If he really tried his best to come up, I am afraid that no one here could stop him.
Although Li Yan could not kill everyone here when he entered the city, he would definitely be the target of death.
"My lord, your mansion is impregnable and your mistress is a heroine, but she was ultimately unable to withstand my rocket attack. What a pity, what a pity, in such a huge Marshal's Mansion, I only found this jade ring.
I saw that its style was something that only a very noble person could own, so I kept it. I wonder which noble person in the mansion owns this item
Well, is it the mistress, or the two young masters and young ladies?"
Hearing the cold words from above, Li Yan's mind flashed through the scorched earth Marshal's Mansion, the beautiful woman as beautiful as jade, and the most precious gift given to him by God in this life, a pair of beautiful children.
Pictures that he didn't want to see flashed quickly before his eyes.
Li Yan felt stuffy in his heart, a sweetness in his throat, a dizziness in his head, and then a mouthful of blood spurted out.
Then his mountain-like body shook a few times, and the sword in his hand fell weakly. His eyes were full of despair. For a moment, he didn't know where he was, and even leaned his body against the city wall.
Principal Kong, who was on the high wall, was overjoyed when he saw this. He turned around quickly and said, "Quick, quick, throw all the rolling logs and boulders down to me, and the hot oil in the big pot, quick, quick..."