Free Web NovelNanling Prince Longxiang, relying on the three thousand Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers under his command when he was demoted, managed to reclaim the two prefectures of Gua and Sha, which had fallen to the Huihe Tribe, in just over a year. This alone demonstrated his exceptional talent as a commander.
For the Shaman King to force Dragon Xiang into a desperate situation, aside from the advantage of superior military strength and Dragon Xiang's absolute refusal to abandon Yumen Pass, he also relied to some extent on a talent not much inferior to Dragon Xiang's.
In a battle between two armies, the clash between generals is like a game between two excellent chess players; often, one can guess the general direction of the opponent's moves, but there is always some degree of deviation. It's similar to how Dragon Xiang could anticipate the general marching route of the Shaman King's army, but there was a deviation in timing.
Therefore, shortly after the Long Xiang Army set off, they encountered a sudden appearance of enemy forces.
Over two hundred Huihe bow cavalrymen drew their longbows to their limits, and amidst the buzzing sound from the bowstrings, arrows ignited by Spiritual Energy flew forth.
Dense arrows whistled as they soared into the sky, weaving into a scorching, dazzling array of light points that illuminated the dark firmament. Then, carried by the strong wind, they rained down a scorching shower of iron upon the Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers who were advancing under the cover of night.
The Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers had been on high alert since they broke camp and set out. When the Huihe bow cavalrymen's first volley of arrows ignited the sky, they reacted in an extremely short time.
“Form up!”
“Form up!”
“......” freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Shouts of identical content echoed almost simultaneously throughout the Long Xiang Army.
Accompanying the shouts, footsteps and the clinking of armor arose. The Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers, in groups of five, formed a plum blossom shape, crouching down together. Then, the person in the center quickly raised their large personal round shield.
A faint azure stream of light flashed across /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the round shield.
The next moment, a scorching wave of heat surged forward.
The sharp sound of arrowheads scraping metal, the dull thud of round shields being struck, screams, the mournful cries of warhorses... all sounds overlapped and intertwined, tearing at the eardrums.
It was not the first time the Long Xiang Army had clashed with the Shaman King's army. The well-trained Armored Soldiers had contingency plans for almost all of the Shaman King's attack methods. After one volley, there were only scattered casualties, with no more than a handful of incapacitated individuals and warhorses.
However, not a single Longxiang Army Armored Soldier showed any expression of relief or joy for having survived the volley.
Both they and the Shaman King's army knew that the true purpose of this volley was not to kill the enemy. freewebnøvel.com
Although the Long Xiang Army had experienced night attacks by bow cavalry in the past, if those bow cavalry were truly aiming to kill, they would not have used Spiritual Energy to ignite their arrows during the volley.
By using ignited arrows flying through the night, they could not only cause greater damage but also significantly delay the Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers from determining their exact position.
And there was only one scenario where ignited arrows would be used at night: for illumination.
From the perspective of modern warfare, these ignited arrows were essentially signal flares guiding troop movements.
As the arrow rain fell, wisps of persistent flames rose around the Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers, swaying back and forth like bright lamps, illuminating the path of slaughter for those “monsters.”
In fact, the strongest army within the Shaman King's forces was not the highly mobile bow cavalry, nor the heavily armed heavy infantry, but rather that group of “monsters” who, influenced by the Shaman King's power, could no longer be called human.
Those “monsters,” fearless of death and ignorant of pain, could only unleash their power to the fullest in close-quarters combat.
And an equal number of Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers were usually at a disadvantage when facing those “monsters.”
“Torrential Rain!”
“Torrential Rain!”
“......”
The uniform command echoed once again among the Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers.
Accompanying the shouts, the Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers, with extreme speed, either kicked up sand from the ground or cast Spells, extinguishing the flickering flames around them as much as possible.
Compared to those “monsters” who were frenzied, mentally impaired, and only knew how to kill, fighting in the dark was more advantageous for them. This was also one of the reasons why the Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers' armor was mostly black.
“Thump—thump—thump—!”
Just as the Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers were extinguishing the fires, heavy footsteps resounded.
The earth trembled, like muffled drumbeats.
In the distance, figures, robust and burly to the point of being somewhat grotesque, appeared on a line of sand dunes.
Under the influence of the Shaman King's power, these “warriors,” who originally possessed the totem powers of their respective tribes, experienced varying degrees of physical distortion.
When abundant blood qi boiled within their bodies, their physiques and muscles swelled to terrifying proportions. Bursting purplish-blue veins pulsed beneath their skin, and hair from various animals appeared on their bodies.
Blood coursed through their bodies, bringing thousands of times the pain, yet also unimaginable strength. Ordinary injuries could not stop their advance.
Even if run through by a longsword, they would simply pull it out indifferently, toss it aside, and then tear apart the enemy's body.
As these “monsters” revealed themselves and gradually approached, the Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers also completed their fire-extinguishing work, swung onto their horses, and gripped their long spears.
Scattered, dying embers emitted faint glows, outlining their figures in the night.
Their figures, covered in dark iron armor, stood tall on their warhorses, like a group of dark specters.
As if sensing the battle intent in their masters' hearts, the warhorses snorted heavily, emitting restless snorts, until a horn sounded and war drums pounded.
The Long Xiang Army cavalry slowly lowered their long spears, pointing the sharp spearheads forward, then tugged on their reins and charged forward, without looking sideways, meeting the renewed arrow rain.
“Roar—!”
A high-pitched roar emanated from Dragon Xiang, who led the charge, echoing through the sky.
A golden-blue radiance emerged from beneath his armor, gradually coalescing into a phantom image of a fish-bodied, dragon-headed creature.
Then the phantom image dispersed, the illusory light fleeting, scattering upon the bodies of the Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers. The timidity and fear that had appeared in their hearts were swept away.
Just as those monsters had the Shaman King's blessings, the Long Xiang Army naturally had the Nanling Commander's blessings.
Five hundred paces, three hundred paces, one hundred paces...
A distance of over five hundred paces vanished in an instant, and the Long Xiang Army cavalry arrived before the monsters.
In a flash, cold steel met.
The foremost ranks of the monsters suddenly shook under the charge of the Long Xiang Army cavalry, their formation thrown into disarray. With a roar, sturdy, robust bodies were pierced and then flung into the sky...
————
Gazing at the Longxiang Army Armored Soldiers and the Shaman King's army already locked in fierce combat in the distance, a peculiar premonitory thought flashed through Lu Yibei's mind.
“He is watching you.”
Does “He” refer to the Shaman King? Lu Yibei frowned deeply, shifting her gaze to look in the direction indicated by the premonitory thought.
Her premonitory thoughts usually only reacted to people or things in her immediate vicinity; the further the distance, the weaker the possibility of triggering a premonitory thought.
And in a situation like this, where she hadn't even seen the person yet but had already predicted their actions, it could only mean that “His” gaze had brought about some kind of influence and had already reached her side.
Lu Yibei gazed at the sand dunes even more distant than the chaotic battlefield. For a moment, it was as if she had an illusion: a pair of blood-red, profound eyes appeared before her, completing a gaze.
The next moment, the core of the Demoness Seed Strange Tales within her body began to stir restlessly, as if affected by some power.
It craved blood...
Clearly, the Shaman King's power was affecting her.
The moment those eyes appeared before her, Lu Yibei unhesitatingly closed her eyes, clenched her fists, pushed the Spiritual Energy within her body to its limit, temporarily suppressing the restlessness of the Demoness Seed Strange Tales core. Then, with a raised hand, she pressed it onto Shen Baiwei's head, who was about to turn around.
“Don't look!” Lu Yibei said softly into Shen Baiwei's ear, “Hurry up and go. Our mission is to escort their tokens and family letters. Even if they all die in battle, it has nothing to do with us.”
“But...” Shen Baiwei opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something.
“Look at Li Tieniu and Zhu Sanming, have they looked back?” Lu Yibei interrupted.
Hearing this, Shen Baiwei looked at the two youths ahead, her brows gradually knitting together.
Li Tieniu and Zhu Sanming, carrying two large iron chests on their backs, rode their warhorses forward without a word, as if completely unconcerned about the fate of their comrades, only focused on pressing ahead.
In a war, everyone had their own mission. Their mission was to safely escort these two iron chests into Yumen City Pass.
“See? You can't possibly be worse than two children, can you? They both know what to do and when to do it.”
“Besides, if you looked, could you guarantee you wouldn't turn back to help them?”
Shen Baiwei, “...”
Seeing her bite her lip and fall completely silent, Lu Yibei breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and gently nudged the horse's flank with her legs.
As the warhorse moved forward again, Lu Yibei grabbed Shen Baiwei's hand, manipulated it into a middle finger gesture, and, with her back to the direction from which the Shaman King's gaze was suspected to come, raised Shen Baiwei's arm.
What are you looking at, you pervert?! Are you a peeping tom?!
This was what Lu Yibei had really wanted to do, like, super wanted to do.
But...
Anyway, Shen Baiwei had already been influenced, so she probably wouldn't mind one more experience of “flipping off the Shaman King,” right? Lu Yibei thought very seriously.
