Chapter 73: The Gale Army Returns Zeng Feixiong muttered, “Young Master, did that god just shout the word ‘freeze’?”
However, he received no response. It was only when Zeng Feixiong turned his head to look at He Lingchuan that he realized that he was nowhere to be found.
He Lingchuan had disappeared.
Zeng Feixiong’s scalp went numb.
We’d just declared war on that god under the young master’s lead, and now that the black flood dragon was on the brink of collapse, what if that god turns around and takes his rage out on us? Of course, he will. He definitely will. I’ve never heard of any god with a good temper. Did the young master abandon us in the middle of the battle? Fortunately, Mao Tao chimed in just in time, “The young master jumped down from the wall. He told me to tell you that if the black flood dragon is about to be frozen solid, open fire!”
Open fire? A jolt shot through Zeng Feixiong. Everything instantly became clear.
Right, if that god possessing Nian Songyu wants to freeze the black flood dragon to prevent its recovery, then we can just blast it apart to help it recover! There’s no time to lose. He spun around and shouted, “Brothers, prepare to fire the artillery! Load the biggest damn shots we’ve got and prepare to fire!”
The Heishui City troops blinked and asked, “Fire on who, exactly?”
“Both the flood dragon and that man!” Zeng Feixiong smacked the back of a soldier’s head. “Unless you want to die, hurry the hell up!”
The men snapped to action.
A fresh set of projectiles suddenly materialized atop the battlements, among which were explosive bolts. One glance at the powder-packed bolts made it clear that what they were going to be doing was not merely for show.
Even the Generous Pot seemed to approve of the idea.
By now, the black flood dragon could barely move. Nian Songyu was locked into his spellcasting, making both of them perfect sitting targets.
Just as they finished prepping two mortars and a ballista, two soldiers suddenly cried out, clutching their chests before toppling from the wall.
Zeng Feixiong jerked his head over the edge and spotted Sun Fuping slowly lowering his staff.
Despite his battered state, the man’s gaze was still as venomous as ever.
Fuck, how could we have forgotten about the state preceptor?! Zeng Feixiong had no intention of crossing him. He ducked back and snapped, “Fire, now!”
Several thunderous blasts echoed through the air. The half-frozen black flood dragon shattered into chunks, the explosive bolts striking directly into the ice and detonating from within.
Nian Songyu was hit as well. However, the spiked shells could not pierce the barrier protecting him, managing only to send him about ten meters back.
The look he shot up at the wall chilled the troops of Heishui City to the bone. His gaze clearly said, “Just you wait.”
That he did not retaliate immediately was due to a sudden sound, the thunder of hooves approaching like a storm from beyond the city gates.
Everyone rushed to the other battlements to have a look at what was making that sound.
What they saw made them gasp.
A vast army surged in, formation tight, banners rippling in the wind. At the center flew a massive banner bearing the word “Zhong.” The Gale Army had returned to the city.
This was their home ground, and inside the illusion, the Gale Army’s speed was more than doubled. The sound of hooves had barely begun before the troops swept into the city like a flood.
There was no war cry, no formal challenge. The leading officers simply pointed their spears forward, and hundreds of cavalry instantly broke into a charge toward Nian Songyu.
Perhaps it was due to the rules governing the illusion realm being looser than those of the real world, but it seemed as though the cavalry were phasing and overlapping on one another.
At first, the onlookers thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. But when they rubbed their eyes and looked again, the hundreds of cavalry units had truly condensed into five.
Each of the five cavalrymen wore heavy armor, their eyes glowing red, and their auras extremely far from human. Both rider and mount had more than doubled in size, and the mounts now resembled armored war elephants more than warhorses.
Their weapons—lances, halberds, spears—gleamed with a dark, metallic light. And their assault? Brutal and direct.
They did not bother with tactics or tricks. Relying purely on their size and strength, they raised their weapons and charged at Nian Songyu with unrelenting force.
Every single one of their strikes sliced through the air with a piercing sound. The onlookers atop the walls felt a chill run down their spines from just the sound alone.
They wondered if they even had a chance at dodging any one of those strikes.
Nian Songyu did not dodge. He raised his blade and met them head-on.
Just then, a voice rang out from beyond the city walls, a voice that was all too familiar. “Chuan’er!”
He Lingchuan was not on the battlements. Still, when Zeng Feixiong heard the voice, he spun around, eyes wide as he said, “It’s Commandery Administrator He!”
Everyone rushed to the parapets and looked down. Sure enough, there stood He Chunhua beneath the gate of the southern second wall!
The southern side of Panlong City had three walls. The battle between Nian Songyu and the black flood dragon was taking place within the innermost ring. Still, He Chunhua had appeared safely within the second wall, separated from the battle by a walled courtyard.
He had ten-odd personal guards standing beside him, waving up at the soldiers on the wall.
Cheers broke out as the troops hastily threw down rope ladders for them to climb up.
As soon as He Chunhua scaled the wall, Zeng Feixiong rushed forward and saluted. “Lord, are you alright? We’ve already caught on to what State Preceptor Sun has been up to!”
“I’m still alive,” He Chunhua replied, scanning the wall with urgency. “Where’s Chuan’er?”
“The young master jumped down into the city. He said he had something to do,” Zeng Feixiong quickly said, pointing toward the city.
He Chunhua let out a long sigh of relief. “Good. As long as he’s alive and unharmed, that’s good.”
“How did you escape? And why are there only so few of you left?” Zeng Feixiong still looked bewildered. “And the Gale Army?”
𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖 “It’s a long story. We’ve yet to regroup with the others who’ve entered the pool.” He Chunhua glanced over the battlefield and frowned. “So Nian Songyu is actually this strong?”
The way Nian Songyu was holding his ground against the enhanced Gale Army far exceeded his expectations. If someone like that existed, why had the royal court not just sent him to Woling Pass to crush the rebels?
“That’s no longer Nian Songyu!” Zeng Feixiong quickly explained. “State Preceptor Sun successfully summoned a god to descend, and it took over Commandant Nian. That’s why he’s fighting with such divine fury. It’s a god versus the black flood dragon now. None of us can intervene.”
Mao Tao added, “That god first tried to possess the young master, but it didn’t work, so it ended up taking Nian Songyu’s body instead!”
He Chunhua’s face changed dramatically. “What?! That actually happened? Where’s Sun Fuping now?”
“Right over there—” Zeng Feixiong pointed toward the ruins below, then blinked. “Wait, he was just there.”
The ruins where Sun Fuping had just been were now empty. He was nowhere to be found.
Below, the battle raged on with blade qi flying in every direction. For the time being, it seemed that Nian Songyu held the upper hand. Still, there was not much those atop the wall could do about it. If any of them were to jump into the fray, they would likely be shredded to bits in an instant.
He Chunhua’s expression flickered—first with hesitation, then resolve. He gritted his teeth and barked, “Come on. We’re going down from the side!”
* * *
About half a stick of incense earlier.
Despite Nian Songyu’s body having already received a massive boost in power, the silent cavalrymen were no easy foes.
Even a god needed a proper vessel, and Nian Songyu’s mortal body was simply not quite up to the task. It was limiting the strength that the god could unleash.
After taking just three of the cavalrymen’s heavy strikes head-on, Nian Songyu was already feeling the strain. His right palm split at the web, and his hand trembled uncontrollably.
This was bad. The fight had not even gone on that long, but he could already feel a long-forgotten fatigue setting in.
And worse still, the black flood dragon had revived yet again.
It had taken longer this time, likely due to the devastating blast from the explosive bolts. Just as it began to stir, tens of thousands of Gale Army soldiers ran straight toward it and suddenly dissolved into streams of red light, each one diving into the flood dragon’s wounds.
Nian Songyu’s expression finally shifted.
Using a wide, ground-splitting slash to drive back his attackers, he leapt to Sun Fuping’s side and asked, “What are you doing here? Why was the sacrificial array set up outside?”