Seeing the enemy open the city gates and welcome them with such warmth was both amusing and comical to those outside.
These people of the Golden Ox Kingdom would never imagine that Zhou Yan would soon turn his butcher's knife upon them.
Zhou Yan smiled back at the enemy's smiles.
"Hahaha! Welcome, welcome, please come in." The Golden Ox Kingdom soldiers were still enthusiastically happy.
"Hahaha!!!" Zhou Yan found these people too amusing; were they rushing to their deaths?
Thus, Zhou Yan and his group happily walked in, laughing. Once they reached an open space, Zhou Yan unsheathed his weapon and plunged it into the soldiers with whom he had just been conversing.
"You, you, you... are... the enemy....."
At this moment, they finally realized these were not their own people at all, but enemies! How could they have welcomed them so warmly?
They treated Zhou Yan and his men with sincerity, only to be met with ruthless betrayal in return.
This was sincerity for betrayal!
Did they learn their lesson?
"Kill!"
Zhou Yan charged at the enemy. They were armed, and the consequences for the unarmed soldiers were predictable.
Thousands of soldiers rushed in, quickly heading towards the other city gates. They then opened the gates, welcoming the soldiers from outside.
Witnessing this scene, those outside already knew the fate of this city.
On the other side, Chen Qingzhi had not thought of such a method as Zhou Yan's. However, he also dispatched a thousand men, using the excuse that the enemy lord had sent them for reinforcements, and successfully tricked the guards into opening the gates.
The two of them, thus, managed to deceive their way through two city gates and successfully stormed in, annihilating the city's defenders with overwhelming force.
This again led outsiders to marvel that Chen Qingzhi, having been summoned by Zhou Yan, possessed similar cunning.
[Congratulations on capturing one city of the Golden Ox Kingdom, gaining 1 point, and an additional two thousand summons.]
[Congratulations on capturing one city of the Golden Ox Kingdom, gaining 1 point, and an additional two thousand summons.]
With the appearance of these two messages, Zhou Yan and Chen Qingzhi continued their journey toward the next city, the one located in the center.
Upon arrival, tens of thousands of soldiers surrounded the city, unleashing a barrage of arrows that pinned the enemy down, preventing them from even showing their heads. Subsequently, Zhou Yan flew to the city wall, opened the gates, and once again led his soldiers to capture the city.
In just a few hours, Zhou Yan had recaptured three enemy cities, leaving many speechless.
They felt they were simply watching Zhou Yan's performance.
While other students were developing their territories in a conventional manner, Zhou Yan had already wiped out one nation and three cities. He then dispatched his troops again, splitting them into two groups, heading towards two more enemy cities.
Many wondered if Zhou Yan intended to conquer two nations within a single day.
This was impossible, as the roads in the Golden Ox Kingdom were difficult to traverse. Zhou Yan and his men had to rest outdoors for a night.
Due to their strong physique, they did not need to set up tents. They rested in small groups, back to back, or leaning against trees.
They did not require much rest and woke early. After eating, they mounted their steeds and set off towards the enemy city once more.
The roads in the Golden Ox Kingdom were indeed arduous, requiring much time spent traveling. Fortunately, Zhou Yan had not chosen to attack this nation earlier; otherwise, he would not have been able to conquer a nation in just over ten hours.
"Lord, we've discovered an enemy mine with guards," a soldier reported urgently.
"Oh! A mine!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan's eyes darted around, and he conceived a new plan, saying, "This is excellent."
"Let's go and eliminate them, but only kill the soldiers. Leave the miners for now; let them continue mining," Zhou Yan instructed.
Those who heard this were speechless, cursing Zhou Yan for being too insidious. Wasn't this essentially stealing their ore for free? What a schemer.
There were few guards at the mine, and they were quickly dispatched by Zhou Yan's soldiers. Zhou Yan then stationed his men to occupy the area and ordered the miners to continue their work.
Subsequently, Zhou Yan interrogated the miners, asking where the ore was being transported. Upon receiving the information, he had his soldiers disguise themselves as the enemy, pushing the mined ore towards the enemy city.
Those observing from the outside began to discuss again. They truly didn't know what to say; wasn't this a single strategy that worked everywhere?
But there was nothing they could do. The enemy was unaware that the three border cities had already fallen into Zhou Yan's hands, as Zhou Yan had taken no measures to leak the information. Consequently, the people of the Golden Ox Kingdom had no idea that the enemy was already advancing towards them.
A hundred or so people, pushing the ore, headed into the city. The guards at the gate showed no suspicion, not even bothering to check, and simply let them pass.
Following this, the group of over a hundred quickly attacked the unarmed enemies, and then the main army charged in.
"Zhou Yan's speed is too astonishing. It seems this Golden Ox Kingdom won't last much longer."
"A day has already passed inside, yet besides Zhou Yan, none of the other lords have made a move. They will likely wait at least three to five more days before acting."
"Without weapons, fighting with bare hands is impossible."
"The Golden Ox Kingdom is destined to fall today; no one can save it."
[Congratulations on capturing one city of the Golden Ox Kingdom, gaining 1 point, and an additional two thousand summons.]
After Zhou Yan recaptured this city, he did not kill the blacksmiths summoned by the enemy but seized all the equipment they had forged.
He even assigned guards to ensure they continued forging equipment, killing those who resisted. Indeed, a few loyal blacksmiths were summarily executed by Zhou Yan.
Although they knew they wouldn't truly die, the fear instilled in them led them to comply.
Using the enemy's own forged equipment against them would likely infuriate the students of the Golden Ox Kingdom if they knew.
Their own soldiers hadn't even used the equipment yet, and it had already been taken by the enemy to be used against them.
Anyone witnessing this would undoubtedly feel immense frustration.
Leaving a portion of his forces behind, Zhou Yan continued towards the next city.
The enemy now had only six cities remaining.
[Congratulations on capturing one city of the Golden Ox Kingdom, gaining 1 point, and an additional two thousand summons.]
Now only five remained.
The Golden Ox Kingdom had lost half its territory, and Zhou Yan was heading towards the enemy's capital. If they could conquer the capital, eliminating the remaining cities would be significantly easier.