Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 1128 He saw a flag

The gray-maned wolf lay on the gravel, licking its paws.

There was still blood on its claws from yesterday's biting.

The ironbacked lizard lay motionless in the distance, its bony plates gleaming dimly in the morning light.

In the distance, several iron-spineed bulls were pawing the ground, their horns kicking up large swaths of mud that tumbled and rolled to both sides.

The purple-eyed demonic ape rode on the back of an ox, sharpening its claws with a stone.

The sound of sharpening claws was very soft, a soft rustling sound, but everyone on the cliff could hear it clearly.

The sound was like grinding bones.

Yan Ping glanced back.

Deep within the cliff, the wounded soldiers huddled together, pressing their wounds with rags.

Someone had their eyes closed; it was unclear whether they were asleep or unconscious.

Someone stared at the sky with their eyes open, their lips cracked and peeling.

The water had run out yesterday, so they put their helmets in the cracks in the rocks to collect dew, but the dew in Canglang Plain was pitifully scarce; they couldn't even collect half a bowl in one night.

He turned back and looked at the demonic beasts below the cliff, knowing full well what was going on.

The next wave of attacks will be unstoppable.

Even if you manage to prevent it, it's just like living one more incense stick's time.

But he still gripped the broken spear tightly.

The Yan family members will die at the mouth.

"Uncle Yan!"

Yan Ping turned around.

A young hunter with a missing arm pointed his chin into the distance.

His name is Yan Xiaoshi. He just turned sixteen this year and is the youngest in Yan Ping's team.

Yesterday evening, the wolf bit off his left arm from the elbow.

He grabbed the severed arm with his right hand and yanked it out of the wolf's mouth. Then, he picked up the blood-stained stone next to the severed arm and continued to smash it.

He is now sitting on the ground against the cliff, his severed arm wrapped in a tattered cloth that has turned completely red.

He pointed with his chin to the bottom of the cliff, his expression strange.

It's not fear.

It's confusion.

Yan Ping followed his gaze and saw a commotion behind the pack of demon wolves.

It wasn't a commotion before the charge.

It was the kind of commotion that felt like you'd been stabbed in the back by something.

The wolves in the rear turned around, their howls rising and falling, but the howls were not right.

It wasn't a howl of attack, but a howl of fear.

"Woo-woo-woo-woo-"

The sound was sharp and short, like someone was being choked.

The ironback lizard was also restless.

Its tail slapped the ground, making a "thud, thud, thud" sound, scattering pebbles everywhere.

The demonic apes on the back of the Iron-Spine Bull stopped sharpening their claws and all turned their heads to look in the same direction.

Then, a muffled rumble of thunder rose from the bottom of the cliff.

"Boom."

"Boom."

"Boom."

That wasn't thunder.

Those were the footsteps of a marching army.

Yan Ping had heard that kind of sound before.

He had been hunting for forty years, and he had heard the footsteps of the reinforcements from Stone Fortress on their march, and the hoofbeats of the light cavalry of the Gale Battalion charging forward.

But none of those sounds were as deep as this one.

The sound was like the earth itself trembling.

Each step is in the same rhythm, neither hurried nor slow, like a mountain walking.

"Thump. Thump. Thump."

Yan Ping's hands began to tremble.

It's not fear.

Something was blocking his throat, preventing him from speaking.

Then he saw a flag.

The White Frost Battle Banner pierced through the purplish-black demonic energy.

The flag unfurled in the wind, displaying the snow-covered mountain peak.

Behind the flag, countless figures emerged from the mist.

First came the spear tips, densely packed with spear tips gleaming coldly in the morning mist, like a moving steel forest.

Then came the armor, the dark red leather armor gleaming in the dim light, the battle patterns on the breastplate faintly glowing.

Then came the war beasts, the horns of the Iron-Spine Bull emerging from the mist, its head adorned with a bone helmet inlaid with the fangs of a demon-patterned leopard.

Three thousand people, arranged in a triangular formation, emerged from the demonic energy. Their steps were so synchronized that they resembled a single person walking.

Three thousand pairs of leather boots stepped on the gravel at the same time, crushing the gravel into powder and making a rustling sound.

The ground was trembling, and even the holes eroded by the wind on the cliff face were shedding dust.

Yan Ping nearly dropped the broken spear in his hand.

He knew that the Bai Shuang clan had also participated in the hunt.

But in his mind, the White Frost Remnant Clan could only be ranked last among the five major clans.

Their weapons were crude, their armor thin, and their battle formation loose.

The hunting party would fight if they could win, and run if they couldn't, just like the hunters of Liuyun Village.

The army before us is not a remnant of the White Frost Clan.

It wasn't the Bai Shuang clan member he knew.

The triangular formation pressed down from the hillside.

The speed wasn't fast, but every step made the ground vibrate.

Tuoba Tie was at the very front.

A steelback lizard rushed out from the side, opening its mouth wide to bite him.

Tuoba Tie did not slow down.

With a sweep of the heavy axe from bottom to top, the energy-gathering patterns on the axe blade exploded into a visible shockwave.

"Snap—!"

With a single axe stroke, the ironback lizard was split in two, bones and skull intact.

Black blood sprayed all over him, hissing and emitting white smoke as it splattered on the gravel.

He didn't wipe it; he had already swung the axe at the second target.

Two hundred people pressed down on them simultaneously.

The front-line troops surged forward head-on, their shields slamming into the dire wolves with dull thuds.

The middle row of spears pierced through the gap.

"laugh--"

"laugh--"

"laugh--"

The sound of the spearhead piercing flesh was short and powerful.

The crossbowmen in the back row shot arrows close to the backs of the infantrymen in the front row.

The arrow grazed the ears of the front-row infantrymen and landed precisely in the monster's eye socket.

No one gave any orders.

No one looked back.

That kind of teamwork isn't something you learn through practice; it's something you develop through battle.

Yan Ping saw the archer battalion firing a volley during their charge.

Three hundred bows were drawn to their full strength at the same time, and the battle patterns on the bow arms shone brightly.

Amu stood at the forefront of the archer camp, his sandalwood bow drawn to its fullest extent, aiming at the largest Ironback Bull 150 paces away.

"stretch--!"

The first arrow was released.

The arrow traced a straight path through the air, without falling or veering, like a white lightning bolt.

The arrow pierced the Ironback Bull's eye socket and emerged from the back of its head.

The bull crashed to the ground.

The purple-eyed demonic ape on the bull's back was flung away, tumbled twice in mid-air, and crashed heavily onto the gravel ground.

The archer battalion did not stop.

Within five breaths, three waves of arrows rained down.

The first wave of nails to the front row.

"Puff, puff, puff—"

The sound of arrows piercing flesh was as dense as raindrops hitting mud.

The second wave of blocking retreat routes.

The arrows landed at the rear of the monster pack, pinning the retreating wolves to the ground.

The third wave penetrated the central army.

The arrows landed precisely where the monster horde was most concentrated, each arrow taking a life.

The rain of arrows seemed to have eyes.

Each wave struck the vital points of the monster formation.

The pack of wolves was pinned down by the rain of arrows and couldn't lift their heads.

The ironback lizard's bony plates were covered with arrows, making it look like it had suddenly grown a layer of white mane.

Several lizards were shot in the eyes and rolled around in pain, lashing their tails and making their companions scream.

Yan Ping had been a hunter all his life, and the best archer he had ever seen was the hunting instructor of Liuyun Village, who could shoot three arrows in twelve breaths, hitting the target with every arrow, and was known as a master archer.

Each of these archers was faster than the sharpshooter he had ever seen.

Then he saw the Iron-Spined Bull charge out of the formation. (End of Chapter)