Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 1126 Hunting in Canglang Plains: How many hunting teams came in total?

Zhang Yuan didn't need to say a word; he only needed to raise his hand or give a look, and the commanders of each battalion would know how to fight.

Yan Qing held the foremost position in the fierce frontal battle.

A rhinoceros with iron skin broke through a row of pits and charged toward him.

The rhinoceros is not fast, but every step it takes makes the ground vibrate.

Its head was lowered, and its two horns pointed at Yan Qing like two spears.

Yan Qing did not back down.

He dodged to the side.

"Thorn-"

As the rhinoceros charged past him, he slashed it in the left side of its ribs.

The focused pattern lit up on the blade as it sliced ​​through the rhinoceros's relatively thin flank skin.

The rhinoceros, in pain, suddenly turned and tried to gore him with its horn.

Yan Qing had anticipated its turn.

He crouched down and rolled to the underside of the rhinoceros's belly, then thrust the knife in with the tip pointing upwards.

The blade pierced the rhinoceros's belly.

The rhinoceros let out a muffled roar like thunder, its four legs buckled, and it collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Yan Qing crawled out from under the rhinoceros, covered in blood and dirt.

He was breathing heavily, but his eyes were bright.

An old soldier next to him gave him a thumbs up: "Qingzi, well done!"

Yan Qing grinned.

The battle raged from dawn until afternoon.

After the last Gale Leopard was pinned to the ground, the entire valley fell silent.

The ground around the camp was covered with the corpses of monsters, layer upon layer.

The ground was covered in blood.

Blood of various colors—purple-black, dark red, gray-green—mixed together, forming puddles of all sizes on the ground, reaching above ankle level when stepped on.

The soldiers stood amidst the corpses, covered in blood, but standing ramrod straight.

No one cheered.

No one spoke.

They just stood there, breathing heavily.

On the evening of the fifteenth day, Han Zheng's scout brought back a message.

The outer band of demonic energy began to shrink.

The contraction is slow, but the direction is clear.

They are converging on the hinterland of Jiuling Mountain.

The purplish-black halo narrowed every day, squeezing the monster horde towards the valley.

This means that the outer perimeter lockdown has been completed.

The monster horde no longer needs to use magic energy belts to block people outside.

Now they're going to pull the net in.

Zhang Yuan stood on the highest boulder in the camp.

The morning light shone through from behind the mountain ridge, illuminating his profile.

The mountain wind made his robes flutter loudly.

He gazed at the ever-narrowing purplish-black halo on the distant horizon, and at the countless figures of magical beasts faintly surging in the light.

In recent days, the camp has transformed from a temporary encampment into a fully functional war fortress.

The left battalion, right battalion, central battalion, and logistics team worked together seamlessly.

New recruits are honed into veterans, and veterans are forged into elites.

The equipment not only didn't decrease, but actually doubled.

Meanwhile, the monster horde's offensive grew increasingly fierce, resulting in greater and greater losses.

Zhang Yuan said something softly.

The sound was very low and dissipated with a gust of wind.

"Wolf King, you've finally lost your patience."

Behind him, Yan Qing stood in the queue, holding a bone knife.

His gaze was steady.

His hands were no longer trembling. He was no longer the boy who couldn't even hold a knife steadily, just half a month ago.

The beacon fires burned all night on the fifth day.

At daybreak, Han Zheng's scouts ran back from the north with a message.

This is not good news.

The reinforcements from the five garrison generals' mansions have arrived.

The five factions—Shilei Fortress, Jifeng Camp, Liuyun Village, Fufeng Camp, and Luoxingtai—gathered 30,000 elite troops, led by General Shiyan of Shilei Fortress, and rushed to the outskirts of Jiuling Mountain under the cover of night.

They had planned to tear open the demonic energy belt from the north, but the Wolf King was already waiting there.

The demonic energy belt cracked open, reinforcements rushed in, and then the opening closed.

Thirty thousand troops were trapped in a swamp outside the North Valley Pass, unable to advance or retreat.

Encircle and attack reinforcements.

The Wolf King had planned this step from the very beginning.

Zhang Yuan stood by the training ground, holding the battle report that had just been delivered.

The battle report was transmitted by Shi Yan using a secret method; the handwriting was crooked, and it was interrupted halfway through writing.

The message contained only a few lines, the gist of which was that the reinforcements could temporarily stabilize the situation, but the number of monsters was too large, making a breakout impossible for the time being.

The general's mansion is organizing a second batch of reinforcements, to help them hold out for another five days.

The drill ground fell silent for a moment.

Yan He stood next to Zhang Yuan, holding a copy of the secret message in his hand, and read it three times before putting it down.

“Thirty thousand reinforcements are surrounded at the entrance of the North Valley,” he said in a low voice. “We are trapped at the bottom of the valley. There are hordes of monsters on both sides, and neither side can save the other.”

He paused, then didn't continue.

Everyone knew the Wolf King's intentions.

Trap both the reinforcements and those being reinforced, then devour them one by one.

Several more plumes of smoke rose in the distance.

It wasn't the direction of reinforcements, but a place much farther away.

Yan He looked up and counted: four on the east, three on the south, and two on the southwest.

His finger froze in mid-air, his face even more somber than before.

“It’s a distress signal from other hunting teams,” he said, putting his hand down. “The Wolf King has started to target them.”

Several people in the tent looked at Zhang Yuan at the same time.

Zhang Yuan did not speak immediately.

He looked down at the map of light and shadow in front of him.

On the map, there are only a few isolated points of light representing our own forces in the heart of the Jiuling Mountains.

The outer band of demonic energy formed a purplish-black wall, separating them from the reinforcements.

Further away, to the east, south, and southwest, scattered points of light appeared—those were other hunting teams.

Some of the lights were already very dim and could go out at any moment.

"Yan He," Zhang Yuan looked up, "how many hunting teams came to the Canglang Plains hunt?"

Yan He counted on his fingers: "Three teams from Liuyun Village, two from Jifeng Camp, three from Shilei Fortress, two from the Baishuang Clan, plus the hunting teams from Fufeng and Luoxing families and teams from several small clans, totaling no less than fifteen teams."

"The numbers vary, ranging from several thousand to several hundred. We have gathered the remnants of Liuyun Village and Shilei Fortress, plus the three thousand men I brought, making a total of less than twelve thousand people."

"Other hunting teams are scattered throughout the Canglang Plain, divided and surrounded by magical beasts, fighting on their own."

"Are you in contact?"

"The secret communication is intermittent. The hunting team from Liuyun Village in the east can still receive the signal. They say they have temporarily held the ridge, but they are running out of arrows."

"The light cavalry of the Swift Wind Camp in the south are trapped in a canyon. More than half of their horses have been lost, and they are holding on by relying on the terrain."

"To the southwest is a hunting team from the Fufeng Camp. They are small in number, but the leader is an experienced veteran of the Fufeng Camp. They have taken refuge in an abandoned mine, which the magical beasts cannot penetrate for the time being."

After Yan He finished speaking, he looked at Zhang Yuan, waiting for his decision.

Zhang Yuan looked down at the map.

East.

south.

Southwest.

Three directions, three trapped hunting teams.

The monster horde is tightening its encirclement; if we don't rescue them, they won't last two days. (End of Chapter)