Chapter 221 Chasing Death and the North
As the afterglow of the setting sun fell, the atmosphere inside and outside Pingzhou City became increasingly tense.

The Khitan army was getting closer and closer to Pingzhou City. On the top of the city wall, the Zhou army soldiers could vaguely see the smoke and dust raised by the Khitan cavalry in the distance in the setting sun.

In Pingzhou City, soldiers from the Zuowei Army walked through the streets and alleys, hunting down any snake spirits that had escaped the net.

Zong Huaichang's subordinates formed a team and patrolled the streets near the city gate as if nothing had happened. They looked at the cavalry galloping on the street with confusion.

"General Zong, why has he been gone for so long and hasn't come back yet?"

"Yes, it will be time to act in a moment." The leading people whispered to each other.

However, before they could come to any conclusion, Quan Shancai had already brought a group of men to surround these people.

"Hey, what are you going to do?" The leading general looked at Quan Shancai in panic.

Quan Shancai didn't say a word and drew his sword: "Take them all down!"

Outnumbered, Zong Huaichang's spies were captured without even having time to put up any resistance.

At the same time, a large number of Snake Spirit spies captured last time were still imprisoned in Pingzhou Prison.

Another force under Zong Huaichang was ready to rescue these captured accomplices and join in the rebellion, but they were ambushed by Zhao Ji himself and were completely wiped out.

Zhao Ji arrived at the prison door of Yingzi. Yingzi had been severely tortured and was dying.

The cell door opened, and Zhao Ji stepped into the cell where Shadow was.

Shadow opened his eyes with great effort and looked at Zhao Ji tremblingly: "Don't dream about it, I won't speak."

The only intact part of his body was his tongue, which enabled him to speak.

Zhao Ji sneered, "You don't need to say anything. Zong Huaichang has been exposed, Khitan is finished, you are doomed to fail, and the Snake Spirit will soon be wiped out! I will see you off for the last time!"

After he finished speaking, there was a flash of sword light, and Zhao Ji drew his sword and stabbed Yingzi to death.

Shadow's incredulous look froze in the last moment of his life, and his body slowly fell down.

Shen Tao and Xiao Bao quickly ran to Zhao Ji and said, "General, all the Snake Spirit rebels have been eliminated!"

Zhao Ji put the sword back into the sheath and said coldly: "Okay, go to the north gate!"
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Outside the north gate of Pingzhou City, the Khitan cavalry stood silently at a distance of hundreds of feet under the cover of night, like a group of ferocious beasts ready to attack.

The Khitan general Yi Yuanyu, the brother-in-law of Khan Sun Wanrong, was riding on a horse, waiting for a crucial signal. A purple-robed snake messenger followed him.

The sun finally set completely, the sky darkened, and the walls of Pingzhou City were silent, with only a few scattered lights.

The snake spirit messenger reminded: "General Luo, the agreed time has come, it's time to launch an attack and seize Pingzhou!"

Before he finished speaking, a hurried sound of horse hooves came closer and a Khitan scout rode up to Yi Yuanyu, covered in dust.

He dismounted and reported loudly: "General, the Khan has personally led the army and is only a dozen miles away from Pingzhou City. Please do not hesitate and act according to the plan!"

Upon hearing this, Yi Yuanyu's face was filled with ecstasy. He suddenly drew out the long sword from his waist, the blade flashing cold light in the night, and shouted loudly: "Charge! Attack Pingzhou City!"

Following Yi Yuanyu's order, the Khitan army seemed to be freed from their restrained beasts, emitting deafening ghost howls and wolves howling, and rushed towards Pingzhou City like a surging tide.

Zhao Ji and Quan Shancai could see clearly the movements of the Khitans from the city wall.

"There are no decent siege weapons, and the cavalry is charging towards the city wall. It's unbelievable. The snake spirits are causing great harm to people!" Zhao Ji shook his head and sighed.

Quan Shancai was all smiles, and turned around and said, "General Zhao, according to the report from the scouts, the Khitan army's vanguard should be less than 10,000 people. With Yi Yuanyu as the general, I think we can proceed according to the plan!"

Zhao Ji nodded upon hearing this, stretched out his hand and said: "General, you are right. Please come in!" After that, the two of them each led their soldiers and went to the tower on the city wall together.

Yi Yuanyu took the lead and led the Khitan army towards Pingzhou City. Their shouts were a signal.

As the Khitan army approached the north gate, it slowly opened and the drawbridge over the moat slowly lowered.

Yi Yuanyu saw this scene on his horse and was overjoyed again: "Charge, kill your way into Pingzhou City!"

Seeing that the city gate was wide open, the Khitan army rushed in even more.

However, the situation suddenly changed when the Khitan army rushed into the outer city and entered the inner city.

The inner door of the city wall was not open. It was a trap!
Yi Yuanyu quickly reined in his horse and looked up at the tower of the city wall. He immediately turned back and shouted, "Retreat quickly! There's an ambush!"

However, the subsequent Khitan troops were only intent on rushing into the city gate and could not stop for a while, thus blocking Yi Yuanyu and the vanguard troops in the city.

At this moment, rows of torches suddenly lit up on the city wall, illuminating the entire city as if it were daytime.

Quan Shancai's voice resounded through the sky: "Yi Yuanyu, your death has come! Shoot!"

With an order, the archers on the city shot thousands of arrows at once, and the arrows poured down like raindrops, shooting at the Khitan army under the city.

The Khitan troops in the city wall immediately became lambs to be slaughtered, without any strength to resist.

Those soldiers who were rushing in the front were almost instantly covered by dense arrows and fell to the ground. Their screams and horses' neighings intertwined and echoed in the city.

Yi Yuanyu waved his long sword and tried his best to deflect the arrows in an attempt to escape, but to little avail. He was soon shot to death and fell off his horse.

The surviving Khitan soldiers were terrified upon seeing this and turned around to flee outside the city, colliding with their companions who poured in later. The chaos was filled with blood and confusion.

At this time, the gate of the inner city finally opened slowly, and Zhao Ji personally led the cavalry to pursue the enemy to the north, not giving them any chance to breathe.

The death of Yi Yuanyu left the Khitan vanguard troops of nearly 10,000 leaders leaderless.

Seeing that the road into the city was blocked and the vanguard troops were in disarray, they were at a loss for a moment and did not know what was going on.

However, the deafening sound of horse hooves was heard from both the east and west directions. The Zhou army under the command of Zuowei went out of the city from the east and west gates and suddenly cut into the Khitan army's formation from the flank.

Being attacked from three sides, the Khitan army was suddenly in a desperate situation. In addition, their leading general had passed away and the army's morale was low. They could no longer organize an effective resistance and could only flee in all directions, their army in disarray.

Although Zhao had annihilated the main force of the Khitan army, he would never miss the opportunity to strike hard at the enemy, and immediately ordered his troops: "Chase! Chase!"

Under his command, the troops swept in like a storm, deliberately driving the remaining defeated Khitan troops to the north.

Then, Zhao Ji quickly made a deployment: "Xiao Bao, you lead a battalion of elite troops to continue the pursuit; the rest of the soldiers, follow me to the east."

So under the cover of darkness, the Zhou army split into two groups and headed north.

At this time, Khitan Khan Sun Wanrong was personally leading a large army as a backup, approaching the city of Jinzhou several miles away, but suddenly heard the tragic news that the vanguard troops had been defeated.

"What, Yi Yuanyu was ambushed by Zhou army and died?" Sun Wanrong almost dropped his jaw in shock.

Sun Wanrong immediately wanted to ask the snake spirit for an explanation. He looked around and shouted, "Where is General Xiao? Where is Xiao Jing? Where is he?"

"Khan, General Xiao seemed to have said before that he had received a message and that the people with the Snake Spirit had left." The guard beside Sun Wanrong replied.

Sun Wanrong couldn't help but sighed to the sky: "The snake spirit misled me, Xiao Qingfang misled me!"

(End of this chapter)