Free Web NovelChapter 84: Chapter 84: One Man Holds the Pass
Seeing this, Fan Jinhua charged forward to meet the vanguard, cutting them down...
With him were several young Postnatal Martial Artists, clearly individuals similar to Tan An and Yu Xiaoping—the sons and nephews of last night’s assassins. They too were fighting for their lives.
Fan Jinhua roared again and again, "We can’t let a single pursuer onto the mountain path! If it gets destroyed, we’re all finished!"
The mountain path was treacherous. If it was destroyed before everyone had crossed, there would be no escape.
Those still on the path would plummet to their deaths in the abyss below.
They had to hold the entrance to the path until all two thousand people had made it across.
But it was too difficult!
The number of enemies swelled, their charges growing more terrifying. The vice general and other experts were also rushing over at a frenzied pace.
A young man in green robes, covered in blood, trembled as he asked, "Uncle Fan, we can’t hold them back much longer! What do we do?"
"Even if we can’t, we must! Save as many as we can."
Fan Jinhua gritted his teeth and glanced back. Some people had already made it safely across the mountain path.
On the other side, the enemy charged, and charged, and charged...
Fan Jinhua and his men could only fight as they retreated, and they had already been pushed back to the very entrance of the mountain path.
There was no more room to retreat.
Desperately holding back the pursuers, Fan Jinhua coughed up blood repeatedly. Even for an expert at the Transformation Realm, his body was now covered in wounds.
Suddenly... WHIRRRR!
From the troops in the rear, some soldiers began leaping high into the air, loosing sharp arrows at Fan Jinhua and his men. Although the jagged rocks on either side of the pass blocked most of them, some arrows still broke through.
They flew fiercely toward Fan Jinhua and the others.
THWACK! Fan Jinhua was caught off guard and struck by an arrow. He staggered back two steps before forcing himself to a halt, his face pale.
The young men couldn’t help but cry out, "Uncle Fan..."
Just as they were about to rush forward, Fan Jinhua struck them with his palm, sending them onto the mountain path. He then viciously yanked the arrow from his shoulder and roared at them, "You all go, too."
With that, he turned back to frantically block the pursuers, his eyes filled with the resolve to die.
He would hold this ground until every last person had crossed the mountain path.
The young men charged forward again, shouting, "Uncle Fan, you can’t!"
Fan Jinhua continued his frenzied slaughter and defense, yelling back, "There’s no ’can’t’! You must be wondering why all your fathers and elders died, while I alone survived, right?"
The young men’s expressions froze. They had indeed been puzzled.
"I only survived because I met a benefactor. He saved me, and he saved all of you..." frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"You’ll meet him soon. Remember his name. His name is Lu Chao, too."
Paving the way for Lu Chao before his death, Fan Jinhua’s body once again pulsed with the roar of a tiger. He began to burn the power of his Heavenly Destiny Tiger Roar Bone, and the phantom of a colossal tiger seemed to appear behind him.
Fan Jinhua threw himself into the enemy horde...
As the young men stared in a daze, the pursuing soldiers shrieked, "Fan Jinhua’s head is mine!"
Countless blades slashed mercilessly at Fan Jinhua!
WHIRRRRRRR...
Suddenly, streaks of light from arrows rained down from above. The CLANG CLANG CLANG of metal on metal rang out by Fan Jinhua’s ears. The countless blades were knocked aside by the descending arrows, causing Fan Jinhua, who had closed his eyes to await death, to snap them open.
The next moment, a straight, black-clad figure landed with a crash.
Seeing this person’s back, Fan Jinhua couldn’t help but exclaim in shock, "Lu... Lu Chao."
The newcomer was none other than Lu Chao!
Without turning his head, he said, "Master Fan, it is not your time to die."
His voice was calm and powerful. Several more figures dropped down from the cliffs at the entrance to the pass—it was Cheng Yunsu, Cheng Chuming, and the others.
They had, of course, broken away from the twenty-thousand-strong army and, under Lu Chao’s lead, taken a detour. They had circled around to the cliffs above the mountain pass entrance, then leaped down after Lu Chao.
At that moment, Lu Chao shouted again, "Uncle Leng, carry Master Fan! All of you, retreat into the mountain path."
As he spoke, Lu Chao, spear in hand, faced the flurry of blades alone.
He blocked the pursuers, then looked at Cheng Yunsu. "Xiao Su’er, you retreat with Master Fan and the others. I’ll be right behind you."
Lu Chao’s voice seemed to possess a magical quality...
Uncle Leng and the others, in particular, had witnessed him take an enemy general’s head from amidst a twenty-thousand-strong army. At his word, they immediately sprang into action.
They had already developed an instinctual trust in Lu Chao.
Uncle Leng gave Fan Jinhua no chance to object, hoisting him onto his shoulder and darting into the mountain path.
Wu Caicai, Tan An, and Yu Xiaoping followed at once. Cheng Yunsu gave Lu Chao a deep look, then pulled Cheng Chuming along as she too retreated.
In the blink of an eye, only Lu Chao remained at the entrance to the pass.
He blocked with his spear held horizontally and faced the oncoming pursuers. "Kill!"
「On the mountain path...」
While being carried away by Uncle Leng, Fan Jinhua coughed up blood repeatedly but still managed to say to Cheng Yunsu, "Young Madam Lu, Lu Chao, he..."
Cheng Yunsu’s face was taut as she interrupted, "He’ll be fine. He’ll absolutely be fine."
After speaking, she couldn’t help but stop and turn back, her gaze fixed anxiously on Lu Chao’s back.
’I know full well that my husband is the Emperor Star Lu Chao and won’t have any trouble, but I’m still so worried.’
As she stopped, the young men from before also halted.
Wu Caicai, Tan An, and the others all stopped as well. Then, they all watched as Lu Chao held back the charge all by himself.
He stood in the middle of the pass entrance, one man holding the line against an army.
No matter how the pursuers charged, they were cut down by his spear. No matter how many arrows rained down, they were all blocked.
He was calm and unhurried, as if he were born for the battlefield.
"Keep moving! I’m about to destroy the path."
It was as if Lu Chao had eyes in the back of his head; sensing that the group behind him had stopped, he immediately called out.
Cheng Yunsu gritted her teeth and quickly turned. "Let’s go!"
As Lu Chao’s wife, she had to lead by example and lighten his burden.
The moment she moved, the others immediately followed. At last, everyone had crossed the narrow, treacherous mountain path. When they looked back at Lu Chao, he had already reached the entrance.
He suddenly smashed his spear down hard onto the path... RUMBLE.
The mountain path instantly collapsed, a long section of it crumbling and falling away, causing Cheng Yunsu and the others to freeze in shock.
’Lu Chao hasn’t crossed yet, why did he destroy the path?’
Just then, Lu Chao spoke with a smile...
"That vice general is coming. The path had to be destroyed. Now, all of you, go..."
"Don’t worry, I’ll find you."
As his voice faded, Lu Chao leaped into the air toward the cliff beside the pass entrance. He plunged his spear into the rock face, kicked off the shaft, and launched himself rapidly upward.
When he came to a stop, he was already halfway up the cliff.
Next, he drew the sword from his waist, stabbed it into the cliff face, and with another push, leaped to the top of the precipice.
From behind him... WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH.
It was a volley of arrows, but they could no longer reach him.
Just then, the vice general finally arrived at the pass entrance. He glared at Fan Jinhua on the other side of the collapsed path, then looked up at Lu Chao, who had just reached the top of the cliff. His voice was laced with ice. "I don’t care who you are. I’m going to tear you limb from limb."
With that, the vice general also leaped into the air, charging up the cliff.
