Lieutenant Lin was so stunned by the slash that he couldn't come to his senses for a long while. With a thud, he knelt on one knee on the ground.
"If you still refuse to admit defeat, it won't just be your back that gets slashed."
Lieutenant Lin heard the cold and emotionless voice of Chang Ying coming from behind. There was an inhuman ferocity in the voice, which made one's scalp tingle.
Lieutenant Lin never expected that he would be unable to even fight back against this young lad. When did the Yuan Kingdom become so powerful?
"I admit defeat," Lieutenant Lin said. As soon as the words left his mouth, there was a buzz among the soldiers of the Dan Kingdom. The crown prince sitting on his tall horse and several other generals looked extremely embarrassed.
In contrast, the soldiers of the Yuan Kingdom immediately cheered and erupted into thunderous applause and praise. "Well done! You're simply amazing!" "Great fight!"
At this moment, Helan Yanting, who was watching the battle on the city wall, seemed to relax his cold eyebrows a bit. General Shi beside him stared in disbelief, unable to hide his shock.
"I never thought there would be such a powerful young man in our army. He really has opened this general's eyes!"
"With such skills and speed, even if this general were to fight him, it would probably be quite difficult..."
This time, everyone looked at Chang Ying with admiration and approval in their eyes, without the previous disdain and belittlement. Apparently, Chang Ying had won a lot of fans with his own strength.
Amid the cheers, Chang Ying calmly wiped the little bloodstains off his dagger. Then he turned around, looked up in the direction of Helan Yanting, and hooked his lips into a smile.
Although he didn't say anything, his eyes seemed to be saying: Look, Military Advisor, I've won! I haven't let down your choice and trust!
The moment their eyes met, Helan Yanting's mind suddenly "clanged".
Fragmented images flashed through his mind, and he faintly heard some words: My lord, Chang Ying's life was given by you, and from now on, I'm willing to follow you to the death!
Helan Yanting's expression became rather complicated, and his body swayed. Seeing this, Yan Qi quickly said, "My lord, are you okay?"
Just as Helan Yanting came to his senses, out of the corner of his eye, he saw an unexpected situation below the city wall. Dongfang Qi, who was sitting on his horse, had somehow drawn his bow and aimed it at Chang Ying's back in an instant.
"A mere low - ranking soldier dares to be so arrogant in front of this crown prince. Since that's the case, this crown prince will make sure you die a horrible death!"
Dongfang Qi's sudden move shocked everyone present. However, the arrow was already on the bowstring, and it was about to be released in an instant. Everyone couldn't help but gasp.
"Be careful!"
The soldiers of the Yuan Kingdom couldn't help shouting to remind Chang Ying to dodge. However, the flying arrow was incredibly fast, and it seemed about to pierce through Chang Ying's back.
Just then, Helan Yanting frowned deeply. He waved his sleeve, and a hidden dart flew out of his sleeve. It seemed to have eyes and rushed straight towards the crown prince's flying arrow. The two iron arrowheads met in mid - air, making a sharp clanging sound.
Everyone stared wide - eyed and clearly saw that the arrow shot by the crown prince had been deflected by Helan Yanting's hidden dart and finally landed on the ground.
Helan Yanting squinted his eyes and looked coldly at Dongfang Qi. Chang Ying looked up at him. After a brief eye contact, Chang Ying immediately turned around and quickly threw the dagger he had just wiped clean. The dagger flew towards Dongfang Qi's chest like a bolt of lightning.
"I never thought that the great crown prince of the Dan Kingdom would resort to such a despicable sneak attack. Since that's the case, I won't be polite!"
Dongfang Qi was startled by the suddenly flying dagger and almost fell off his horse. "Come on, protect this crown prince quickly!"
People on both sides immediately stepped forward to block the dagger. However, before Dongfang Qi could breathe a sigh of relief, another hidden dart flew out of Helan Yanting's sleeve on the city gate towards Dongfang Qi.
Caught off guard, Dongfang Qi stared wide - eyed. His first reaction was to grab a soldier beside him to block the hidden dart for him. However, the hidden dart seemed to have eyes and suddenly changed its direction slightly. With a "puff", it pierced into Dongfang Qi's shoulder.
"Ah!"
Dongfang Qi let out a shrill scream. His face turned pale as he covered his injured shoulder and shouted angrily, "Are you all useless? Immediately send out the troops and capture Stone City for this crown prince!"
After saying that, Dongfang Qi turned to look at Helan Yanting standing on the city gate. Since Helan Yanting was wearing a mask, Dongfang Qi didn't recognize his true identity. He just roared angrily, "Once this crown prince captures the city tower, I will hang your heads on the city gate!"
Just as Dongfang Qi finished speaking, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. His face was as pale as paper, his lips were black, and he began to lose his senses.
Seeing that the crown prince was in trouble, several people beside him immediately carried him to the rear camp. The military doctor took a look at Dongfang Qi's injured shoulder and said with a solemn expression, "The hidden dart is poisoned!"
Since Dongfang Qi had launched a sneak attack first, which violated the rules of the one - on - one confrontation, although the people of the Dan Kingdom were very angry about Helan Yanting's hidden dart, they had to swallow this bitter pill like dumb people.
When Dongfang Qi ordered the troops to attack, the soldiers were about to rush forward to fight, but General Li on this side stopped them. "Immediately withdraw the troops back to the camp!"
...
Chang Ying's performance this time had severely frustrated the morale of the Dan Kingdom's soldiers. For a while, the soldiers of the Yuan Kingdom regarded Chang Ying as their idol.
Chang Ying returned to Helan Yanting and the others. His expression and words were still humble, and he didn't try to claim credit. "Military Advisor, Chang Ying has lived up to your mission!"
Helan Yanting looked at Chang Ying with deep eyes and nodded slightly.
"You did a great job."
General Shi stepped forward and patted Chang Ying on the shoulder. "Young man, you've really been hiding your strength. Why didn't you tell us earlier that you had such great kung fu? I really didn't expect that there would be such a talent in our Yuan Kingdom's military camp!"
Chang Ying lowered his eyes without changing his expression. "General, you're overpraising me. Chang Ying has just done what he should do."
"General Shi, didn't you just remove a lieutenant? I think he's a good candidate. How about promoting him to fill the vacancy of the lieutenant general?"
Helan Yanting calmly put forward his suggestion. General Shi was stunned for a moment. He turned to look at Helan Yanting, thought for a while, and then nodded with a big smile. "Good! Very good! Our army really needs a brave general like Lieutenant Chang Ying to lead the troops. We will surely be invincible!"
"Thank you for your appreciation, Military Advisor. In that case, Chang Ying will not decline your kind offer."
Chang Ying rarely focused his eyes on others. Except when he lowered his eyes, most of his gaze was on Helan Yanting. There were many elusive emotions hidden in his eyes.
Yan Qi had always been beside Helan Yanting, so he naturally noticed something strange about Chang Ying. When they returned to the camp, he couldn't help asking Helan Yanting, "My lord, who exactly is Chang Ying? Why does this subordinate feel that this person knows you and has a special relationship with you?"
"However, this subordinate has been by your side for many years and seems to have never seen this person before. Or did I make a mistake?"
Helan Yanting glanced at Yan Qi. "You also think this person is a bit strange?"
Yan Qi nodded. "Yes. The way he looks at you is very complicated, but I can't really tell what kind of emotions are revealed in his eyes..."