Chapter 97: Meng Shan That wagon-stacking had turned their defensive line into a crude little fortress. So, who could have guessed that Meng Shan would simply barbarically grab the topmost cart and hurl it aside? Of course, his chestplate had been hammered by a dozen spear thrusts from the Gale Army in the process, but none had pierced his heavy armor. The next instant, he had wrenched the wagon in front of him out of the way and charged through the breach. It was raw, overwhelming brute force. He Lingchuan had not seen the display. At that time, he had been raising his crossbow to fire. Unfortunately, however, he had been standing squarely in Meng Shan’s path and was the first to take the “sky-piercing rocket” hit. What had launched him earlier was actually the other party’s shield. Most shields were half a meter to a meter in height. However, Meng Shan’s shield, built for his sheer size, was about a meter and a half. It weighed more than seventy-five kilograms, and it was made of ebony wood reinforced with high-grade brass, its face painted with a fierce Baxia[1]. This shield was not just for defense. In Meng Shan’s hands, the shield was a siege weapon. With a giant axe in one hand and that massive shield in the other, he carved a bloody path through the melee, and no one wanted to meet him head-on. With this juggernaut opening the way, the Baling troops quickly poured through the gap in the wagons. “Think carefully before you shoot at Meng Shan,” a voice said from just several meters away, before He Lingchuan could act. “At least, don’t do it from here.” The speaker had a deep slash to the thigh, perilously close to the femoral artery. Thankfully, however, his family jewels were intact. A’Luo had already patched him up, so he could not move much. Right now, he was tucked behind a wagon, loosing arrows upward at the riverbank. It was a crafty spot. The boards hid him completely from above, and through the narrow gap between two planks, he could fire freely. His aim was far better than He Lingchuan’s—two arrows out of three hit, each one dropping an enemy with a scream. It took a great deal of pressure off the fighting on the riverbed. Men like him might not shine in brute-force combat, but their survival instincts were razor-sharp. On the battlefield, surviving meant you kept everything. He Lingchuan’s eyes gleamed. “Alright, load me two more bolts.” The man had a one-handed crossbow at his feet. Without hesitation, he slotted in the bolts and tossed it over. “What’s your name?” “He Lingchuan.” He slung one crossbow over his back, kept the other in his hand, and forced himself upright. “Time to use our trump card.” If it were not for the medicine, he doubted he could move at all; whatever it was, it was damned good stuff. When he woke from this dream, he needed to find some. “I’m Hu Min.” The man gave him a nod. “If you go down, we’ll follow.” He Lingchuan rolled his eyes and limped toward the second wagon line. “Throw the money, what are you waiting for?” It was time. The second barricade’s defenders, which consisted of several dozen men, were lying atop the wagons, loosing arrows. At his shout, a few squads exchanged glances, then grabbed what lay piled behind them and heaved it forward. Gold coins, silver ingots, pearls, agate spheres—an entire fortune rattled and bounced across the mud. The clatter was glorious. And the scene reminded He Lingchuan of an old game that he had played long ago. There was a certain skill in that game. What was it called again? Ah, right, Money Rain.[2] Wait, who the hell just tossed the gold chamber pot? The Baling soldiers, thinking at first they were under some kind of hidden-weapon attack, blinked at the shower of glitter. They saw nothing but gold and silver flashing before their eyes. Wealth moves the heart. If there were gold right there on the ground before you, what would your immediate reaction be? Of course, you bend down to pick it up. The ones who had just forced their way through the barricade instinctively stooped to grab the coins. They chose to simply let somebody else hold the sky up first while they gathered the gold on the ground. These soldiers had come to the Panlong Wasteland to risk their necks mostly because they had committed crimes, were serving their terms, or simply lacked money. Unlike the locals, they could go home eventually, so this kind of loot was invaluable. As soon as the Baling troops broke formation to snatch treasure, the Gale Army did not hesitate. Blades flashed, cutting them down where they crouched. As for Meng Shan, everyone steered well clear. A monster like that was not something grunts wanted to tangle with. They would leave him for the officers to deal with. So, apart from flattening unlucky saps like He Lingchuan, Meng Shan had not actually taken out many people yet. However, he had caught Officer Xiao’s eye. The cavalry officer slid his blade into its sheath, swapped it for his spear, and bellowed, “Hold fast! Their fate’s fading! Make it count!” At the reminder, men looked closer and saw it was true. The green glow around the Baling troops had dimmed, far less bright than before. Morale had already been weaker on their side; this gap made it worse. What happened? Why did their morale drop so suddenly? When He Lingchuan studied Meng Shan again, he understood. The big man’s green light had flared brighter. He had used his mandate token to redistribute the army’s fate, taking a greater share for himself. The more he took, the less the others had. It made sense. Meng Shan’s job was to smash through the barricade and punch a hole in the Gale Army’s line. The stronger he was, the better his odds of pulling it off. Moreover, he had already done it once. At this moment, his sights were set on the second line of wagons. But before he could charge, Officer Xiao stepped in, spear whirling to lock him down. Meng Shan kept his throat and eyes well-guarded and came at him with a flurry of chopping blows. Even from a distance, He Lingchuan could hear the whistle of the air being split. Against such raw power, Officer Xiao clearly had no intention of meeting him head-on. He sidestepped and redirected off the force, and his spearpoint flashed like cold lightning, stabbing more than ten times in rapid succession. The martial technique was dazzling. Even staring without blinking, He Lingchuan’s eyes could not keep up, the strikes blurring into afterimages. Most terrifying of all, each thrust landed on the same spot: the back of Meng Shan’s knee joint. Heavily-armored or not, joints were always thinner. Meng Shan staggered with a grunt of pain, then suddenly raised his heavy shield and slammed it into the ground. Boom! The impact sent tremors outward, thirty meters in all directions, like an earthquake. Fighters on both sides were knocked sprawling, and even the debris on the ground leapt into the air. The shockwave caught Officer Xiao full on, causing him to stumble back three large steps before being able to regain his footing. Meng Shan seized the opening, and three axe blows rang out. Dang, dang, dang! Officer Xiao managed to catch them on his spear, but the force still drove him back six meters. For all his massive size and heavy armor, Meng Shan moved with startling speed. The axe in his hands gleamed with a strange, dark light. He Lingchuan guessed it was enchanted for swiftness or lightness. He was a strong man with a strong weapon. The pairing was simply lethal. Meng Shan moved to press the attack, but a bolt hissed toward his eye. The giant man lifted his axe, and the blade of his axe blocked the bolt with a ringing clink. 1. This is a mythical Chinese creature often depicted as a giant tortoise or turtle-like creature, with a dragon’s head and a sturdy, heavily armored shell. This is part of the nine sons of the dragon set of mythological creatures. ☜ 2. I have no idea what game this is supposed to refer to. The original name in the raws was 金钱雨. ☜