Ling Xiao smiled and said, "Of course, to buy time for our reinforcements, and see if we can shoot a few more of their leaders."
Gongsun Dingjun had no choice but to agree, reminding him, "Be careful, the enemy might have sharpshooters too!"
Under the cover of a shield guard, Lü Ma'er rode his horse to a hundred and fifty paces outside the city, looking exceptionally arrogant.
"I am the supreme commander of the current rebel army, Lü Ma'er! Have the three responsible officials come out to speak!"
"Lü Ma'er? Isn't that the bandit leader who has been active in the Bai Niushan area recently? If the garrison in Luzhou hadn't just been replaced, we would have definitely gone to Bai Niushan to suppress him!" Gongsun Dingjun looked puzzled.
Could a bandit actually be the commander of an army of tens of thousands of rebels?
The defenders on the city wall looked at him with disdain.
Ling Xiao, holding the Setting Sun Bow, leaned out of the city wall and laughed, "I am Marquis An Guo, Ling Xiao. Speak quickly if you have something to say, and get to the point!"
"You are Ling Xiao?"
Lü Ma'er's eyes immediately lit up, and the personal guards around him burst into laughter.
"Ling Xiao! Last night, our rebel army came from afar to test your defenses. If you don't surrender today, I will lead an army of two hundred and eighty thousand and take Luzhou City in one day!"
"Two hundred and eighty thousand?" The defenders on the city wall looked at each other in disbelief, their eyes fixed on the dark mass in the distance.
Ling Xiao threw his head back and laughed wildly.
"Lü Ma'er, do you know what two hundred and eighty thousand troops mean? Tell me, how much grain do they need for a day's rations? How many people are needed for logistics? How much money do they burn in a day? A probing attack? Look at the mountains of corpses piled outside the city. Is that a probing attack? Those lives are truly worthless!"
Lü Ma'er was caught off guard by Ling Xiao's sudden questions and stammered, "Military secrets! How could I possibly reveal them to you!"
But Lü Ma'er's personal guards were already looking dejected.
"You're just bluffing. You only have thirty to fifty thousand men, but you claim to have hundreds of thousands!" Ling Xiao sneered, holding the bow in his left hand and a Dragon Fang Arrow in his right.
Lü Ma'er, enraged, quickly changed the subject. "If I say two hundred and eighty thousand, then it's two hundred and eighty thousand! If you don't surrender, I'll take Luzhou today! I've heard that the women around you, Ling Xiao, are all exceptionally beautiful. While Luzhou is still under your control, offer me three of them, and then send the 'Jinling Painted Immortal' from your city to entertain me. If I'm pleased, I might even take you under my wing and reward you handsomely!"
With that, Lü Ma'er and his personal guards burst into hearty laughter, utterly pleased with themselves.
"Bandits are always bandits, always dreaming!" Zhu Zi Fang said with disdain, not even showing anger.
"Marquis An Guo, don't waste your breath on this bandit. He's just trying to provoke us..."
Gongsun Dingjun was about to advise Ling Xiao when he saw Ling Xiao already nocking an arrow and pointing it directly at Lü Ma'er.
"Lü Ma'er, I will send you to meet your brocade-robed commander with just one arrow!"
Lü Ma'er's expression changed as he saw Ling Xiao's arrow aimed at him.
"You, a bookworm, think you can shoot me dead? Go find your father, Ling Anguo, in the underworld and practice first!"
"You refuse a toast and insist on a punishment! I will send men to take Luzhou and have you slowly cut into a thousand pieces, and then capture and ravage your women one by one!!"
Lü Ma'er's words were sharp, but he remained cautious.
The shield guards raised their shields, covering Lü Ma'er's retreat.
Just then, an arrow streaked through the air!
"Great Leader, be careful!" A shield guard rushed forward with his shield to block it, just in case.
"Whoosh!"
"Clang~"
After the sound of the arrow breaking through the air, there was a dull thud as the shield was pierced!
The personal guards heard Lü Ma'er cry out in pain. They turned back in shock and saw a chill run down their spines!
The Dragon Fang Arrow, after piercing the wooden shield, directly struck Lü Ma'er, who was on horseback, and pinned him to the ground!
The defenders on the city wall and the rebel army outside the city fell into a brief silence.
A few breaths later, the defenders on the city wall erupted in thunderous cheers: "Long live Marquis An Guo!"
Lü Ma'er's body was then unceremoniously carried away by his personal guards and returned to the rebel camp.
The rebels had lost another temporary commander, and their morale plummeted!
Yan Jun and others, wearing veils and hidden on a distant high slope, watched the entire event with wide eyes filled with horror.
"The Pope is indeed wise..." the white-haired woman quickly knelt and admitted her mistake.
"The archer was actually Ling Xiao..." Yan Jun murmured, recalling her own guess from before.
Could this person really be the Heavenly General himself?
Now that Lü Ma'er was confirmed dead at Ling Xiao's hands, Yan Jun could not stand idly by.
Another one gone!
In the military tent, Yan Jun wept inconsolably, while the other leaders from Bai Niushan were filled with lingering fear.
Fortunately, they hadn't followed their Great Leader to their deaths, or they might have been shot dead themselves...
"Pope, this Dragon Fang Arrow is exactly the same as the one that shot the Great Leader!" a leader said, handing the arrow to her.
"Ling Xiao!!" Yan Jun held the Dragon Fang Arrow, her delicate body trembling violently. She cried tearfully, "General Lü was originally the man I had chosen as my husband, and he died an untimely death. I will go all out to avenge the Great Leader and General Lü!"
A general from the Rejuvenation Cult seized the opportunity to advise, "The army is now leaderless, and Bai Niushan cannot fight alone. I request the Pope to appoint a new interim Great Leader!"
Yan Jun, wiping away tears, looked at the leaders of Bai Niushan expectantly, "What do you gentlemen think?"
"We will obey the Pope! We don't have the ability to be Great Leader..." Several leaders stated their positions one after another.
Yan Jun then choked out, "Then General Duan Hong will temporarily serve as Great Leader and continue to lead the troops to attack the city, capture Ling Xiao, and avenge the two Great Leaders!"
The leaders of Bai Niushan demurred, feeling helpless.
The one who had spoken earlier was Duan Hong!
But the situation was beyond their control. They had no choice, especially since Duan Hong was indeed capable of leading troops into battle, whereas before, they were merely bandits and outlaws, with only Lü Ma'er knowing how to fight.
After the Bai Niushan group left, Yan Jun finally stopped crying and sneered, "We suffered a small loss, but we achieved our goal. Now we can prepare with peace of mind and focus our efforts on attacking the city!"
"I heard that Lü Ma'er was shot dead by Marquis An Guo after publicly humiliating Miss Zhuo San. He shot through a shield from a hundred and fifty paces away!"
Hearing Qin Xin's vivid narration, Jian Qin Wan and the other two in the courtyard looked at her with admiration.
Zhuo Xun was so happy she almost fainted, "Heavens..."
"Tsk, tsk, Xiao Yun, wipe your drool quickly," Zhuo Xiong, standing beside her, couldn't help but tease.
Only Zhuo Zi Fang smiled without a word, but his heart was churning like a stormy sea.
He understood what it meant to draw the Setting Sun Bow, having had contact with the former Marquis Ding Guo!
Now Zhuo Zi Fang knew why Ling Xiao could snap chair arms!
Thinking of "The Heavenly General's Divine Manifestation," Zhuo Zi Fang's heart pounded, but he then thought, "Alas, I hope everything goes smoothly and there's no need for the Heavenly General's divine manifestation!"
While "The Heavenly General's Divine Manifestation" could indeed boost national morale, every appearance of the Heavenly General signified a desperate effort to turn the tide, meaning the situation was dire!
More troops from various regions arrived to join the rebel alliance. Coupled with men selected from the common soldiers, their total numbers had returned to sixty thousand.
Because the new Great Leader, Duan Hong, was integrating the troops, and their numbers were less than ten times that of the Luzhou defenders, the rebels could only partially surround Luzhou City today, blocking all major transportation routes. They were not in a hurry to attack.
The citizens within the city rejoiced in the previous night's victory, but a group of people was spreading propaganda everywhere: "The enemy has two hundred and eighty thousand men. Stubborn resistance will inevitably lead to defeat! Defeat means a massacre! The governor should not be stubborn and disregard the safety of hundreds of thousands of citizens. He should negotiate with the enemy, even if it means surrendering, as long as the enemy promises not to harm innocent civilians! Our proposal is for the good of the people!"
"Are there really two hundred and eighty thousand?" The citizens looked at each other, and many showed signs of panic.
Li Xiuyun, who was patrolling the streets, happened to be present. He frowned and stared at the group of people in the distance.
"Are they from the Ouyang family?"