Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 1118 Whatever it's waiting for, it's not good for us.

My grandfather said that back then, the Immovable Army and the Iron Wall Army possessed war beasts formed from the baleful aura of their battle formations, capable of devouring the sky and the earth. Once these war beasts appeared, all armies would flee in terror.

He always thought it was just a legend.

It's a story our ancestors made up to glorify themselves.

Now he knows it's not true.

The monster horde at the bottom of the valley completely collapsed.

The surviving wolves tucked their tails between their legs and fled up the hillside, even the alpha wolf mingling with the scattered pack.

The demonic ape on the back of the Iron-Spine Bull was terrified by the beast's imposing presence and rolled off its back, scrambling up the hillside on all fours.

One of the demonic apes climbed too fast and was pushed off the rock by its companion. Before it could get up, it was trampled into a pulp by the rampaging demonic beasts that surged from behind.

The army of three thousand men pressed down from the hillside to the valley floor, carving a wide, bloody path through the horde of monsters.

The blood-soaked path was lined with the corpses of monsters—some still twitching, others motionless.

Zhang Yuan reined in his horse and raised his right hand.

The army formation behind them stopped simultaneously, going from extreme motion to extreme stillness in just half a breath.

Three thousand men stood at the bottom of the valley, their armor and weapons covered in blood, their faces smeared with blood, yet not one of them was breathing erratically.

The white frost battle flag fluttered above their heads.

Tuoba Shan dismounted from the ox and quickly walked to Yan He.

He was splattered with wolf blood, and blood was still dripping from his leather armor. He held a short spear in his hand, the tip of which was also dripping blood.

He stopped two steps away from Yan He, clasped his hands together, and bowed.

His movements were meticulous, exactly the same as what Zhang Yuan had taught him three months ago at the Baishuangzhai training ground.

“Nephew Tuoba Shan, on the orders of Senior Zhang Yuan, has led three thousand soldiers of the Bai Shuang clan to our aid. Uncle, we have arrived.”

Yan He looked at him.

Looking at the leather armor with four battle patterns engraved on his nephew.

The chest area of ​​the leather armor was inlaid with a breastplate made from the skull of a black-maned beast, which was engraved with power-gathering and wind-controlling patterns.

He had seen this before.

I saw it on the commander of the Stone Fortress Guard Battalion decades ago. At that time, only Stone Fortress in the entire Qingsong Realm could forge a breastplate engraved with double battle patterns.

His nephew is wearing one right now.

He looked at the short spear in his nephew's hand, which was still dripping blood.

The spearhead was made from the claw tip of a demon-patterned leopard, and the spear shaft was engraved with armor-piercing patterns, the patterns being of uniform depth and with smooth transitions.

He had only seen this kind of spear in the armories of the five generals' mansions before, and only the elite battalions were qualified to be issued it.

Looking at the three thousand soldiers behind his nephew, their armor gleaming and their ranks impeccably arrayed.

Three thousand men stood in a pool of blood, their formation perfectly intact, each knowing exactly where they were supposed to stand.

The archers gripped their sandalwood bows, the heavy infantry carried heavy weapons, and the spearmen's spears stood upright like a forest.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but his throat felt like it was blocked by something.

He guarded Liuyun Village for forty years and had seen all kinds of storms.

Liuyun Village was besieged by monsters seven times, Shilei Fortress came to its aid three times, and the Gale Camp's light cavalry came to its aid four times.

He thought those were reinforcements.

He looked at his nephew in front of him.

He had seen this nephew three months ago. At that time, Tuoba Shan had brought a batch of animal hides to Liuyun Village. He was wearing a tattered leather armor and holding a worn-out bone spear.

Now standing in front of him is another person.

Yan He raised his hand and patted Tuoba Shan on the shoulder, saying only, "Okay."

Just one word.

But when he said that word, his voice was hoarse, and a glint of tears welled up in the corner of his eye.

He quickly turned his face away, concealing it with the motion of wiping his knife. The remaining soldiers poured out from the bottom of the valley.

They surrounded the warriors of the White Frost Clan.

These remaining soldiers fought for a day and a night, until they were on their last breath.

Now they see reinforcements.

Someone was patting the soldiers' armor and touching the battle patterns engraved on the breastplate, not caring that their hands were covered in blood.

Some people were touching the sandalwood bows engraved with battle patterns, turning the bow arms over and over to examine them, muttering, "What is this made of?"

Someone squatted down and picked up an armor-piercing arrow, turning it over and over to examine it. He looked at the armor-piercing patterns engraved on the arrowhead, then at the worn-out bone arrow in his hand, his lips trembling.

An old hunter with a missing arm walked up to Tuoba Tie, leaning on a cane.

His severed arm was bitten off by a wolf yesterday; it was wrapped in a tattered cloth, which was already soaked in blood.

He looked up at the still-glowing heavy axe in Tuoba Tie's hand.

The two battle patterns carved on the axe blade continued to flow on their own after being stained with wolf blood, bouncing off the splattered blood droplets one by one.

He stared for a long time, then said something. His voice was so soft that Tuoba Tie almost didn't hear it.

"If you had come half a day earlier, it would have been better."

Tuoba Tie lowered his head.

He's not a talkative person usually, and now he doesn't know what to say at all.

His grip on the axe handle tightened and loosened repeatedly.

He looked at the old hunter's empty sleeve and at the corpses covered with rags on the ground.

He wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing, just stood there and let the old hunter look at his axe.

Yan He led Tuoba Shan to the center of the valley.

A makeshift command tent was temporarily erected there.

A few charred tent frames supported a tattered animal hide.

Several people were already sitting in the shed, and everyone looked very unwell.

Han Zheng, the deputy commander of the Gale Battalion, sat on a rock.

His left arm was wrapped in bandages, and blood was still seeping through them. The bandages had just been changed that morning, and now they were stained red.

In front of him lay a curved knife with two nicks on the blade.

His face was covered in mud, a tuft of his hair was singed, and his lips were chapped and peeling.

When he opened his mouth, his voice was hoarse, like a broken gong.

"My light cavalry charged three times. Three times. They couldn't break through."

"The monsters have sealed off the valley entrance too tightly, and their numbers are still increasing. I've looked from the sky, and the hillsides on all sides are covered with monsters; there's no end in sight."

"Half of my riders and 60% of my horses were lost. The horses that could run were used to drag the wounded."

Meng Yuan, the military commander of Shilei Fort, sat opposite him.

Meng Yuan's physique was like a stone block, broad and sturdy, with dozens of dents in his heavy armor, all caused by the impact of the monsters.

His voice was deep and muffled, each word sounding as if it had rolled around in his chest before being uttered.

"The reinforcements from Shilei Fort were intercepted halfway. General Shi Yan, who was leading the troops, stayed behind to cover their retreat, and there has been no news of them since."

"I have less than half of my heavy infantry left, and most of their shields and heavy armor are damaged. My three hundred men are already at their limit in holding the right flank; if we continue fighting, we won't even be able to hold it."

Yan He frowned: "Where is the Wolf King?"

Han Zheng shook his head, a bitter look flashing across his face: "It hasn't appeared yet."

"There must be a high-level monster orchestrating this hunt. The Wolf King is probably waiting for something—for us to all die, or for more monsters to gather and completely seal off the encirclement."

"Whatever it's waiting for, it's not good for us." (End of Chapter)