Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 1121 The Next Cut, You Do It Yourself

The soldier with the shield was knocked back half a step, but he quickly regained his balance, roared, and pushed his shield forward, shoving the python away.

The middle row of spears pierced through the gap.

"laugh--"

"laugh--"

"laugh--"

The sound of the spear tip piercing the python's vital spot was short and muffled.

A python was pinned to the ground by a spear, its body twisting violently, its tail slapping loudly on the ground and kicking up a pile of pebbles.

The soldier holding the spear gritted his teeth and pressed the spear shaft down hard to prevent it from breaking free.

Another spearman nearby added another spear, piercing its head.

The python's body twitched a few times, then it became still.

Archers in the back row follow up with arrows at close range.

"stretch--"

The sound of the arrow leaving the bowstring was short and powerful.

An iron-backed arrow shot out from three zhang away, striking the mouth of a python that was about to raise its head and flick its tongue.

The arrowhead pierced through the back of its neck and embedded itself in the soil behind it.

The python's body suddenly stiffened, then slumped down limply.

Yan Qing stood in the middle of the line, holding the newly sharpened, rolled-up knife.

His hands were shaking.

He saw a purple-eyed python slithering out of the bushes on his left, its triangular head slightly raised, its purple pupils locking onto his direction.

He could see the snake's tongue moving in and out of the air, as if it were tasting his scent.

He should draw his sword.

But his legs felt like they were made of lead, and he couldn't move.

The python suddenly sprang forward, its mouth wide open, its two venomous fangs gleaming coldly.

"Boy, bow your head!"

A loud shout came from the side.

Yan Qing instinctively ducked down.

A heavy axe swept over his head, its blade whistling through the air, and struck the python squarely on its vital spot.

The purplish-black snake blood sprayed all over Yan Qing's face.

Warm.

It smells fishy and foul.

Tuoba Tie sheathed his heavy axe, glanced at him, and without scolding him, simply said, "You can cut yourself next."

Yan Qing wiped the snake blood from his face; his hands were still trembling.

But he gripped the knife tightly.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, all two hundred purple-eyed pythons were killed.

The hillside was covered with python corpses, and purplish-black snake blood flowed everywhere, forming small streams on the gravelly ground.

The logistics team immediately surrounded them and began to handle the situation.

Several experienced hunters squatted on the ground, their skinning knives flashing as they peeled off the python skins piece by piece, piling them to one side.

The python's fangs were pulled out and put into a leather bag. The python's tendons were carefully extracted and hung on wooden sticks to dry.

Even the python meat wasn't wasted.

Several women set up a large pot by the camp, threw the cut python meat into boiling water to blanch it, then cut it into strips and roasted it over a fire.

The grease dripped into the fire, sizzling and releasing a rich aroma of meat.

That evening, every soldier enjoyed a hot meal of python meat.

Yan Qing sat by the campfire, holding a skewer of roasted python meat, but had little appetite.

The scene from earlier that day was still replaying in his mind.

He did nothing when the python lashed out at him.

He would have been dead if it weren't for Tuoba Tie's axe blow.

Ayan sat down next to him without saying a word, just munching on her meat.

After a while, Ayan said, "There's still a battle to fight tomorrow."

Yan Qing nodded.

"If another python charges at you tomorrow, will you cut it down?"

Yan Qing remained silent for a long time before saying, "Cut."

Ayan smiled and said nothing more.

At dawn the next day, the second wave of Warcraft attacks arrived.

This time, a group of ironback lizards came.

There were approximately three hundred of them, and they were much larger than the Purple-eyed Python.

Each lizard is about ten feet long, with short, thick limbs and sharp, hook-like claws.

Its back was covered with bone plates as hard as iron, which gleamed with a dark luster in the morning light, like a layer of iron armor.

They surged in from the scree slopes of the western valley. The bony plates scraped against the pebbles with a harsh, grinding sound.

"Creak, creak, creak—"

The sound was extremely unpleasant, like someone scraping rocks with a piece of iron. It traveled from the valley entrance to the camp, making people's scalps tingle.

The lizards moved slowly, but with each step they took, the ground trembled slightly.

Their tails trailed behind them, carving deep furrows in the gravel.

Zhang Yuan dispatched the right battalion to meet the enemy.

Meng Yuan led the heavy infantry of Shilei Fortress, forming a shield formation in front of the gravel beach.

The shield has been newly reinforced and is engraved with energy-gathering patterns.

Meng Yuan stood at the very front of the shield formation, holding the iron shield engraved with double battle patterns in his hand. His legs were spread apart, his center of gravity was low, and he was like a nail driven into the ground.

His gaze was fixed on the ironbacked lizard charging at the very front.

That lizard was larger than the others, and had the thickest bony plates on its back, making it look like a leader.

"Hold on—" Meng Yuan's voice came from behind the shield formation, "Wait until they crash in before you attack!"

The ironback lizard's charge drew ever closer.

Thirty zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

The lead lizard suddenly accelerated, its limbs pushing off the ground with all its might, and slammed into us with its full weight.

"boom--!"

A dull, loud bang.

The lizard's head slammed into Meng Yuan's iron shield, and the moment the bone plates collided with the shield, the energy-gathering patterns lit up sharply.

A recoil force sent the lizard's head flying back.

The lizard was jolted back two steps, shook its head, and left a shallow white mark on its bony plate.

The shield formation remained completely still.

The lizards behind kept crashing into us.

"Boom, boom, boom—"

The impacts were so dense they sounded like thunder.

The lizard's bony plates clanged against each other, but the shield array didn't budge an inch.

Unable to break through the shield, the lizard began to furiously lash out at the shield with its tail.

The bony tail slammed into the iron shield with tremendous force—

"Thump! Thump! Thump!—"

Each sound was like a hammer striking an anvil.

The soldiers holding shields were shaken so badly that their arms went numb and their teeth were grinding, but none of them let go.

Meng Yuan's face turned pale from the shock, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

But he did not order a retreat.

He stared intently at the tail of the lead lizard, counting in his mind.

a bit.

Two times.

Three times.

The lizard's tail swishing is rhythmic; after a dozen or so swishes, its strength noticeably weakens, and its movements slow down.

Right now.

"open--!"

The shield array split open in the middle.

The crossbowmen filed out from the gap, rushed to the lizard, and pushed the crossbow bolts into the lizard's wide-open mouth.

The first crossbow bolt pierced the mouth of the lead lizard.

The arrow pierced its soft palate, exiting from the back of its head, bringing with it a clump of brain matter and bone fragments.

The lizard's body tensed suddenly, its four claws scratched the ground a few times, and then it collapsed with a thud.

More crossbowmen rushed forward.

"laugh--"

"laugh--"

"laugh--"

The sounds of crossbow bolts piercing flesh echoed throughout the room.

One after another, lizards were shot through the skull, their massive bodies collapsing to the ground, their limbs twitching a few times before going still.

Most of the three hundred ironback lizards died, and the rest turned tail and ran, their bony plates scraping against the gravel beach with an even more ear-piercing sound.

But there's no escaping it.

Han Zheng's light cavalry intercepted them from the flank. (End of Chapter)