Stalling on the Edge of Life and Death
The moment Ninth Royal Uncle appeared, the enemies across the river spotted him immediately. He was their main target. As soon as he showed himself, the opposing commander barked an order, and the soldiers armed with thunder-blast grenades all aimed at Ninth Royal Uncle, trying to blow him to pieces.
"Your Highness, be careful!" Ninth Royal Uncle's personal guards were tense and hurried to shield him at the center.
"Go, fetch the fire oil." Ninth Royal Uncle remained calm and collected, not taking the thunder-blast grenades in front of him seriously at all, and gave a decisive order.
The guards instantly understood what Ninth Royal Uncle intended and went to carry out his orders. Before leaving, they assigned another squad to his side: "Protect His Highness well."
"No need to worry." Ninth Royal Uncle had just arrived, but he had already seen everything he needed to. These thunder-blast grenades were powerful, but their lethality was far less than the batch Liam Li hurled at the city gates.
If his guess was correct, the Emperor's men had managed to manufacture thunder-blast grenades. Otherwise, the Emperor wouldn't be so wasteful with them.
"Ninth Uncle." Felix Dongling, under the protection of his guards, hurried over to Ninth Royal Uncle and anxiously asked, "How is Crown Prince?"
When trouble broke out at the villa, his greatest worry was for the Crown Prince—afraid Serena Feng might be affected by the chaos outside and make a mistake.
"He's doing well. With Serena here, you don't need to worry." Ninth Royal Uncle replied coldly, while ordering the soldiers to fall back and hold the enemy off with arrows only. As they retreated, the attackers surged even harder toward the riverbank, a dense black mass with no end in sight.
"Did Father mobilize an entire regiment? He really wants us dead." Felix Dongling wasn't stupid; he knew exactly whose troops these were the moment the attack began.
"What the Emperor wants is my life." The Crown Prince was just collateral damage; the Emperor was ruthless, but hadn't yet considered killing his own son—especially since the Crown Prince wasn't even worth the trouble.
"But Crown Prince and I are both here—doesn't Father care about us?" Felix Dongling felt a chill down his spine. He knew he wasn't favored by the Emperor, but never thought the Emperor would kill him outright.
"You've gotten too close to me." That's why the Emperor planned to kill them all together. If he were the Emperor, he'd do the same—Eastlyn had plenty of princes, and opportunities like this were rare.
Felix Dongling was left speechless, chilled to the bone. But now wasn't the time for discussion. He pointed at the dust-choked battlefield and the enemy forces about to cross the river, urgently saying, "Ninth Uncle, we can't retreat any further. The enemy is about to cross. If we don't act, once they're over, we won't be able to hold them back."
"No rush—wait until they're on the bridge." Ninth Royal Uncle surveyed the entire battlefield, steady as ever amid the chaos, unfazed by the enemy's assault. Felix Dongling couldn't help but feel inferior to such poise.
Felix Dongling was anxious but forced himself to hold back, ordering the soldiers to resist and not let the enemy cross. Only when Ninth Royal Uncle's men brought the fire oil and poured it onto the water did Felix realize Nolan's plan.
Just like those people once set the river ablaze at the Imperial Menagerie, they could do the same now. If the enemy loved their thunder-blast grenades so much, let them see what happens when fire oil and grenades collide...
The fire oil was poured into the river, floating on the surface. The enemy noticed but reacted too slowly. No need for Nolan to order ignition—a thunder-blast grenade exploded nearby. With a boom, the water instantly erupted into blazing flames.
"Ah—!" The soldiers about to cross the pontoon bridge were caught in the blast, tumbling into the water like dumplings, instantly swallowed by the raging fire.
"Help! Help!" Soldiers thrown into the river struggled desperately, only to be devoured by the flames in seconds. Their agonized screams echoed through the sky, the inferno painting the river blood red. The enemy commander immediately ordered a halt to the grenade barrage and had the soldiers retreat to attack from another direction.
This river was long, and if one section was ablaze, the enemy could simply move to another spot and continue the attack. No matter the cost, they were determined to kill Ninth Royal Uncle here—otherwise, it would be their own lives on the line.
"Fire troops, get ready!" The enemy commander shifted the battlefield and ordered an all-out assault.
Ninth Royal Uncle's villa was backed by mountains and bordered by the river; apart from this water and the mountain behind, there was no other road in. To break in, the enemy had no choice but to attack head-on. The commander was confident—with enough men and weapons, even if losses were heavy, taking the villa was only a matter of time.
If they were attacking anywhere else under these conditions, they might win outright. But unfortunately, their target was Ninth Royal Uncle's villa.
As one of Ninth Royal Uncle's secret bases, the villa was well-stocked with weapons—just the fire oil alone filled dozens of carts, each dumped into the river until the surface was covered.
The enemy was wary of the fire oil, but figured that if they could burn off the layer covering the water, Nolan's men would be out of options. The enemy leader immediately ordered, "Fire arrows!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—flaming arrows shot into the river, sparking bursts of fire that lit up the sky. The temperature soared, flames danced wildly in the wind, painting a strangely beautiful scene.
"Ninth Uncle," Felix Dongling called out when he saw this.
The enemy's plan was clear: wear them down, exhaust their weapons and supplies. After all, this was just a small villa—no matter how much stock they had, it wouldn't last forever.
"What's the rush? Let them burn it slowly. Take the stones off the catapults." Ninth Royal Uncle shot Felix Dongling a glare, urging him to stay calm. Internally, though, he calculated whether this delay could buy them two full hours.
"Yes, sir."
The stones were removed and replaced with explosive packs that Ninth Royal Uncle had prepared—these were originally made by Serena Feng for blowing up Skyvault Palace but never used. Nolan had them duplicated and stored in various places.
He always liked to be thoroughly prepared, planning for every contingency. Even a villa like this was well-equipped, with multiple escape routes mapped out in advance. Nolan never made empty promises or fought battles he couldn't win—he always planned for the worst.
The explosive packs were ready, but Ninth Royal Uncle didn't order them launched right away. Felix Dongling watched as the fire on the river dwindled and their advantage faded. He grew anxious, but seeing Nolan so composed, he forced himself not to urge him.
In truth, Felix Dongling was worried because he cared. If he calmed down, he'd realize their side could never truly defeat the enemy; just slowing their advance was already an achievement.
The enemy had at least five thousand men, while the villa had fewer than a thousand. The defenders were just regular guards, not the elite Black Riders who could take on thousands.
With the enemy wielding thunder-blast grenades, the villa's guards stood no chance. Even if they fought with all their might, victory was impossible. And even if they did win, what then? The Emperor knew their location, so there were surely more troops waiting below the mountain. Defeat one wave, and another would come—the enemy could wear them down with sheer attrition.
Of course, if the Crown Prince weren't in surgery, Ninth Royal Uncle would never confront the Emperor's men head-on; he would've ordered a retreat long ago. Now, his goal wasn't to win, but to buy time until Serena Feng finished the operation.
Serena Feng, you have to hurry!