Chapter 69: Fearless Smoke and dust billowed beneath the city gate, making it impossible to see the ground from above.
He Lingchuan continued to move, waving his hand to the others. “Come on, load them up for a second volley!”
With sharp eyes, he had noticed that most of the fire bolts from the first round had been deflected by Nian Songyu. After going berserk, the man really could fight. In He Lingchuan’s opinion, if you’re going to send a Buddha on its way, best send them all the way to the Western Paradise[1].
Anyway, since the first round was already out, they had already completely broken off any favorable relations with State Preceptor Sun. Firing a second or third volley was just a matter of stripping off the last layer of decency. No one objected, and everyone kept their heads down, working quickly to reload.
The second volley was launched smoothly as well.
It was only then that He Lingchuan realized that while the spiked shells made the loudest, most deafening noise, in terms of destructive power, the flaming boulders that the catapults shot out were even more terrifying. While they did not explode on impact, these modified catapults on the city wall had a repeating mechanism[2]. Once fully loaded, they could hurl twenty-four boulders in rapid succession!
If humans were operating them, there would inevitably be errors, but with the black flood dragon, who was in control of Panlong City, helping them, all twenty-four shots landed right where Sun Fuping was standing.
He Lingchuan imagined himself in Sun Fuping’s shoes. If you could not dodge the fourth flaming boulder, you would be squashed flat, or maybe even pulped on the spot.
So, did they manage to interrupt Sun Fuping’s sinister invocation or not?
On the ground, demon apes and sand leopards made of scorched earth and magma kept re-forming, immediately clawing their way forward.
Boulders, spiked shells, and all sorts of other munitions turned the clearing into a wasteland again, piling up heaps of rubble and debris.
Even the black flood dragon craned its head down, eager to see if the two targets were still alive.
* * *
Amidst all the commotion, He Chunhua’s mind was racing.
The Blood Sacrifice Array had already been activated and would take effect at any moment. At the moment, he wondered whether or not there was even any hope for survival for them.
His gaze fell on the cavalry officer of the Gale Army, just slightly over thirty meters away.
The wrathful souls had not withdrawn far. Instead, they stood close by, waiting.
Suddenly, He Chunhua had an idea. He made another gesture to them:
Attack!
He wanted them to attack the Heavenly Lightning Array!
In life, the Gale Army would never have raised their blades against Zhong Shengguang. But now, one of the last remnants of their will was to obey military orders, no matter what!
Thousands of heroic spirits turned as one, rounding up the surrounding wrathful souls and sending them toward the Heavenly Lightning Array.
Soon, nearly a thousand wrathful souls smashed into the array and were instantly reduced to ashes.
There were no more wandering wrathful souls nearby. Now, the war cries of the Gale Army’s officers and men split the sky.
Then, raising their blades, spears, and halberds, they charged at the array head-on!
The thunder of hooves was deafening. The army was like a dragon that had been unleashed.
Facing such a force was like standing on the Guantang Bridge, watching the surging tide on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival.[3]
He Chunhua roared, “Cease resistance! Prepare to dodge if needed!”
And then, the Gale Army crashed headlong into the Heavenly Lightning Array.
This time, the array’s tremors were even more violent than before.
The first three rows of heroic spirits were vaporized before they could even cry out.
Those coming up from behind filled the ranks without a hint of hesitation.
Thunder boomed overhead, but it was plain to see that the number of heroic spirits was decreasing with each wave.
Finally, when the sixth row of heroic spirits crashed into the array, the last trace of green faded from He Chunhua’s mandate token.
The beast head atop the staff finally opened its jaws, dropping the Yuan Coin to the ground, though pounding hooves drowned out the sound.
The Heavenly Lightning Array was broken.
Of course, part of that was thanks to the Heishui City troops abandoning their resistance, their hearts utterly defeated, but even more was due to the Gale Army’s peerless strength.
He Chunhua did not spare a second for anything else. He dashed for the edge of the array.
His urgency was all the signal the others needed; they moved as one, even trampling each other in their haste.
They had only managed to get about seven meters out when screams of agony erupted behind them.
He Chunhua glanced back, and what he saw made his skin crawl. A pillar of blood-red light shot up from the Blood Sacrifice Array, and this light was far more intense than before.
He had over a hundred men under his command. When the array broke, not everyone escaped at the same pace; as the red light burst forth, dozens had failed to get clear and suddenly collapsed to the ground, as if their strength had been sucked away.
No one else dared rush back to help them, because their skin began to shrivel and cave in at an alarming speed. Within three breaths, they were nothing but skin and bones, fingernails falling off, hair turning white and withering like old straw.
He Chunhua watched in horror as one of his trusted followers reached toward him from inside the array. The man’s face, always pinched and fox-like, was now sunken to the skull, his eyes bulging grotesquely.
He Chunhua wanted to pull him out, but at the very edge of the array, he faltered. The man’s eyes popped right out of their sockets, rolling to the ground.
Situ Han moved faster. Seeing his comrade collapse at the edge, he used the back of his blade to drag him out. But below the waist, the man was already ruined, writhing on the ground in agony.
When the red light finally faded, all that remained inside the array were dozens of skeletons, still clothed, with hair fluttering in the wind.
Somehow, a ball of white light had appeared in the center of the array. Before anyone could get a good look, it shot straight for the pool!
Strangely enough, though the pool was open to both wrathful souls and living men, this ball of light could not enter, getting bounced back.
The white light seemed incredulous, ramming into the well again and again, failing each time.
When the Blood Sacrifice Array had first activated, the Gale Army had kept their distance, as if knowing the danger. Only after the red light dissipated and the Heavenly Lightning Array was gone did they gather around the scene.
The ball of white light clearly caught their attention. As it bounced off the well, several Gale Army officers exchanged a look, then one cast out a net.
The white light dodged swiftly, but the net grew several times larger midair, snaring it in one go.
The Gale Army tightened the net, then stabbed at the trapped light with blades, spears, and halberds, each blow landing solidly.
Their weapons were not physical, but after a few strikes, they began to break apart, even the arms holding them fading away bit by bit. Nearby soldiers chopped off their leaders’ arms at the shoulder, halting their soul bodies’ disintegration.
Such wounds were nothing to heroic spirits; given time, they would recover.
The Gale Army cavalry officer who had first confronted He Chunhua hurled his weapon like a javelin, striking the white light dead center.
The others quickly followed suit.
Seeing this, Situ Han threw his own changdao, but it passed right through, doing nothing to the white light.
He Chunhua muttered, “Mundane weapons won’t work.”
As the Gale Army readied a second assault, the ball of light suddenly flared with dazzling brilliance.
The radiance was so intense that not just humans, but even heroic spirits, had to avert their eyes.
Fortunately, it lasted only a moment. When everyone looked again, the white light had vanished.
The Gale Army officers stood motionless for a few breaths, as if receiving some message or reaching a decision. Then, leading their troops, they surged into the pool.
With no physical bodies, they did not have to squeeze or crowd. The tide of souls that had poured out so grandly now swept back just as quickly.
In barely a dozen heartbeats, not a single heroic spirit remained before the temple.
Those left standing at the array’s edge were left gasping for breath, unable to speak for a long time.
1. This is also known as Sukhavati, the Land of Bliss, or Western Pure Land. This is the pure land of the Buddha Amitabha in Mahayana Buddhism. ☜
2. These are now commonly seen in guns, but it should basically have just been a ramp off to the side of the catapult’s lever arm that reloads the bucket. ☜
3. The author is comparing the situation to how one might feel standing on the real-world Guantang Bridge, which can be found above Qiantang River in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, while watching the Qiantang tidal bore, which typically reaches its most impressive scale on the 18th day of the 8th lunar month, but popular lore often extends this period to the mid-autumn period (around the 15th/16th/18th lunar days), when the moon is full and the tidal forces strongest. ☜