Alisha stared flatly at the first elder of the Duanmu Clan as anger roared in her stomach like a tornado. The shouts from her guards and the enemy army clashed together around her, making her ears buzz. Even though she disliked war, she was a cultivator and her fighting spirit awoke. She cast aside her doubts and made the unavoidable decision. There was no turning back now.
“Xing Duanmu, listen carefully,” She said, “Since you want to fight, let’s fight. For every one of my people you kill, I will kill ten of yours. If you dare touch those prisoners, I swear, I will wipe out your whole clan!”
The first elder laughed, "Don't be foolish. My conditions for surrender will no longer apply if you fight back. Do you think you can win against my army? Don't make a decision you will regret. When we break through these walls, and we will, it will be too late for you to beg for mercy. It will be too late for your people."
Alisha did not dignify him with a response. Instead, she turned her horse around and raised a fist towards the walls. Her guards followed the command immediately and let loose a volley of arrows at the arrogant bandit elder.
He was alert and managed to dodge although his horse wasn’t as lucky. It was felled and he was forced to retreat unceremoniously on foot, with a continuous rain of arrows following his steps.
Alisha rode back through the gates which shut behind her. By the time she got back onto the western wall, the first elder had made it back to his army, out of range of the arrows.
The front rows of bandits stood over four hundred strides from the walls. An experienced archer without cultivation could shoot a lethal arrow around two hundred paces.
"Head guards, your turn!" Alisha said.
"Yes, my lord!"
Twenty head guards stepped to the front, carrying much thicker bows. As one, they notched heavy arrows and pulled back the strings.
"Fire!"
A volley of broad-headed arrows shot out.
They soared through the air, easily passed the range of the ordinary guards, and slammed into the bandits.
Screams of agony rang out over the grassland.
"Fire!"
Another volley of death was delivered and the bandit army erupted in chaos. Those at the front shoved those behind them, trying to escape. The wounded cried out for help. A few intrepid bandits raised their own bows and fired back but their arrows landed harmlessly short.
"Retreat!"
"Back up!"
The army pulled back to a safe distance in a disorganized mess. Gray and the prisoners were pushed together into a tight ball by the fleeing bandits all around them. Many that spoke out in support of Jade Hill Town managed to escape punishment in the turmoil.
After the situation eventually calmed down, new orders rang out.
“Go! To the north!”
“Head north!”
The mass of men, beasts, and material turned and crawled towards the north, staying a safe distance from the walls. The defenders followed these movements and after a while, both sides once again faced each other in front of the north gate.
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The army went into proper formation this time, with the vanguard two hundred warriors wide and five rows deep. They stood at a distance of around five hundred paces, safely out of range. Next, the bandits brought their carts up behind the front lines and started loading their supplies. These included piles of shields, bundles of arrows, bows of all shapes and sizes, as well as shovels and pickaxes. There were even buckets, wheelbarrows, and planks of precious wood.
Alisha watched them patiently until the bandits were almost done unloading. With all that material strewn all over the ground, now was the perfect time for another strike.
"Captains, show them the might of Jade Hill Town!" She ordered.
"Yes, my lord!"
Harsh, who was beside her, brought out a heavy bow that was even taller than him. The other five captains also brought out similarly fearsome bows.
Harsh Patel, Hari Patel, Hana Patel, Zheng Bai, Yan Wu, and Tanvi Kapoor... six experts at the upper stage of the Spiritual Strengthening Realm, six captains of Jade Hill Town, stood together and faced the enemy in the distance.
"Ready?"
All six notched arrows and drew their bows.
"Fire!"
Six arrows shot out like lightning. They disappeared into the sky, covered the vast distance in several breaths, and plunged down amidst the bandit vanguard.
“Arrows!”
“Aauughh!”
Pained shrieks erupted. Their formation collapsed as the confused bandits retreated, even without a command to do so. Most of them were untrained, common farmers and miners pulled from their normal professions. They were cultivators but they were not soldiers.
"Cloud burst arrows! Fire!" Alisha commanded.
The next volley shot out and soared past the front rows of bandits.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Six sharp bursts went off in quick succession. Clouds of dust bloomed among the carts, draft animals, and piles of precious supplies. Spiritual energy surged and knocked away anyone that was nearby, leaving broken bits of wood and material scattered all over.
Bang!
Bang!
More cloud burst arrows rained down. More bursts followed.
Their range was well past five hundred paces, almost six hundred paces. This was the power of a spiritual weapon that contained a tiny fragment of jade. Each arrow used sky-attribute spiritual energy within the gem to increase its effective range. Upon impact, the jade shattered and produced an explosion of air and spiritual energy that could devastate a small area.
The bandit army was thoroughly spooked. Everyone started to run north in complete disorder. They overturned carts and trampled on horses and oxen. Many tripped and were crushed in the rush.
"Stop, that's enough." Alisha said after seeing this.
The arrows were too expensive and had to be conserved. Besides the requirement of jade, they had to be crafted by skilled weaponsmiths. Firing these arrows was equivalent to throwing away piles of money. It was impossible to rely on them all the time even if they were powerful.
Her people didn't worry about the matters of cost and let out a spirited cheer.
"Jade Hill Town!"
"Jade Hill Town!"
They were elated by the opening phases of the war. The bandits had been beaten back over and over again without any chance to fight back. She didn't join in but she quietly thanked the captains for their efforts.
---
Tang Duanmu watched helplessly as his people were turned into pincushions. The Jade Hill Lord's arrows were too fearsome. He had read archived texts about cloud burst arrows, spiritual weapons used to kill true cultivators. They were deadly to even upper-stage experts whose agility and speed allowed them to dodge ordinary arrows with ease.
He stood by as the other elders of the council wrangled the army back into shape. He wanted to help but he couldn’t. He was in the rear, recovering from his injuries and in charge of the prisoners. His task was also important and he couldn’t leave his post.
The army made camp at a safe distance of a thousand strides from the walls and properly unloaded their supplies there. Afterward, teams of miners started digging two sets of trenches towards the town. The trenches traveled in a zig-zag pattern. Shields were arrayed towards the south side as protection against wayward arrows. Once there was enough dug-up earth, the shields weren't needed anymore for that section and moved up to the front.
The structure and nature of the siege gradually took shape. It wasn't a suicidal charge against walls in the open field. Using these two trench systems, the clan would be able to approach the walls while being protected from arrow fire. From there, they would be able to fire back and come up with other, more effective ways of breaking through the walls of Jade Hill Town.
"Twelfth Elder!" A clan officer approached.
Tang nodded to him in acknowledgment.
"First Elder has given new orders, you are to bring the slaves to the mine and begin work there."
"Understood." Tang said and turned to his subordinates, "You heard him, gather up the prisoners, let's go!"
"Yes, elder!"