Chapter 358: Ambushing the Campsite
Thick smoke filled the air.
Around 10,000 soldiers surrounded the tiny city made from earth. They had already tried to invade for 3 days but to no avail.
"Mu has instructed that the first person who can successfully scale and infiltrate the walls will be promoted to a commoner, followed by a promotion to a chief. As a chief, you will receive 100 slaves as a reward!"
A cavalry unit galloped about, spreading the news to the army.
It was not worth it for the chiefs to risk their lives invading the city. However, to the commoners and slaves, it was a chance for them to change their lives. With that, they were encouraged once more as they attempted another attack.
"Fire!"
On the walls, a sharp voice was heard as arrows flew towards the invading soldiers.
"Chi! Chi!"
Blood spewed everywhere and the commoners without armour fell to the ground. Some of them were even trampled to death by their own fellow soldiers!
During the construction of the earth wall, Fang Yuan had included the design of a fort to ensure that from whichever direction the enemy attacked from, they would be in the line of fire. Coupled with the fact that these invaders had almost no defences, it was just a simple massacre.
"Don’t be afraid! Let’s charge!"
Of course, this realm was different from what Fang Yuan had imagined it to be.
A few exclamations were heard as 10 strong warriors stood together, waving the wooden shield in their hands. They were exceptionally nimble and avoided the arrows. In no time, they arrived at the foot of the wall and started their ascent.
"Burn them!"
These were the elite warriors of Hule Division. As soon as they scaled the walls, they raised their knives and sliced haphazardly. Normal soldiers could not even come close to them.
Wei shouted a command as the soldiers trained in Greek fire rushed forward and shot out flames from their tubes.
No matter how skilled the warriors were, against fire, they still turned into a burning inferno and were pushed down the city walls as they cried in pain.
"Ah... Shamans, quickly bless us!"
Beneath them, a daring shaman risked himself and chanted a few curses. With that, he summoned a stream of water.
"Splash!"
Unfortunately for them, the Greek fire floated on the water and continued to rage on mercilessly with no signs of weakening.
A few other warriors attempted to use witchcraft to infiltrate the walls. However, they were quickly spotted by the soldiers of Tong and Fang Yuan and were killed.
After the last few burning men fell from the city walls, the motivated soldiers of Hule Division started to feel discouraged and retreated.
"D*mn it!"
Seeing this, Mu exclaimed. "Capture those who ran the fastest. Regardless if he is a chief or a commoner, kill him!"
"Leader Mu... Please spare me!"
"Leader Mu... No!"
After a few cries, over 10 heads fell to the ground and the remaining soldiers shuddered in fear.
Mu nodded his head, he then instructed the nearby soldiers to clean up the mess and return to their camps to rest.
"D*mn it... when did Xia Country have such a heavenly fire and such soldiers?"
After 3 days, over 2,000 soldiers died. If not for the reinforcements, the Hule Division would be in an even more dire state.
Not just that, many of the chiefs were no longer willing to fight for the war and wanted to leave to pillage other divisions.
"How would these stupid people know? If we do not wipe out the last army of Xia Country in the North, if we abruptly enter like that, we will be ambushed on both sides!"
Mu gazed at the blood-stained ground and appeared depressed.
At this stage, it was already impossible for him to retreat his forces.
There was no room for a coward to lead on the plains! If he were to retreat, someone might overthrow him on his way back!
"Get Hei here!"
After a long while, he finally called for a man in black robes.
"Greetings, my noble Leader Mu!"
The man in black let our a weird laughter.
"Do you know how to deal with that liquid fire?" Mu enquired.
"Naturally... The reason for the shamans’ failure was because they had used the wrong method and there were too few of them..."
The voice of the man in black sounded a little dry. "Therefore, in order to deal with the group of fire-sprayers, we need to send all the shamans we have... However, both you and I are aware that they also have their highly skilled people. If our group of shamans go too close, they would be ambushed as well!"
Mu bit his lips.
He was aware that the general, Yuan, was the one who killed Wu Zhiqi!
Such a person was surely a powerful and highly-skilled warrior. If he were to make his way into the group of shamans, the result would be too painful to imagine.
"What else can we do?"
Mu raised his eyebrows.
"My noble Leader Mu, if you are willing to wait for a little longer, my reinforcements will be here in no time!"
The man in black bowed and reported.
"I’ll have to wait a little longer?"
Mu clenched his teeth as though he was about to laugh.
He knew what the demons were preparing. Rather than getting help from afar, he should just attack Yang City directly!
After all, only Hule Division was involved in the fighting up in the North.
Furthermore, if the two parties were to result in casualties, some other parties would get to benefit.
...
"It’s been three days. That’s about it!"
On the walls made of earth, Fang Yuan stood with Tong and was filled with emotions.
"The enemy has attempted to invade for 3 days straight and have tired themselves out. Together with the high casualty rate, I’m sure their morale will be extremely low by now...."
Most of the soldiers were simple-minded and brute and had no thoughts about getting organised. Therefore, they were not comparable to the soldiers of Xia Country.
Previously, they were weak and only got the upper hand from executing an ambush.
As soon as everything was prepared, their weaknesses were showing.
"Pass the order to prepare for a counter-attack!"
Fang Yuan waved his hands.
"Yes!"
Tong bowed respectfully and went down the wall.
If it was 3 days ago, they would be crazy to use their almost 3,000-men strong army to attack Hule Division’s 10,000-soldier strong army.
There were no highly skilled people among the enemy. However, even a dream master in the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would find it troublesome if trapped among the shamans.
However, the situation was different now.
The enemy was now fatigued and most of their highly skilled warriors were killed. They had a chance to counter-attack.
’Who would’ve thought... this lord is very well-versed in the art of war!’
Tong thought to himself as he felt more respect for Fang Yuan.
It was nightfall.
Dark clouds covered the moon and the stars twinkled dimly.
A layer of fog appeared across the battlefield, engulfing it.
A part of the wall was being destroyed and rows of soldiers silently walked out.
In front of them was Fang Yuan, Tong, Wei and a group of highly-skilled warriors who were adept at riding horses.
"We must succeed in tonight’s ambush! Kill!"
Fang Yuan shouted and rushed forward.
At the opposing end, in the camp of Hule Division.
Hule Division was clueless as to how to properly pitch their tents in formation. They treated it like a normal plain and casually pitched their tents. After 3 days of intense fighting, they could finally rest. They were tired to the extent that nothing would be able to wake them up.
"Kill!"
Fang Yuan shouted and ran into their territory. From his horse, he fired a few arrows, killing a few commoners.
Within minutes, the soldiers rushed into the tents. They started to kill anyone that they saw and burnt down any tent they came across. After a few moments, hundreds of soldiers arrived at the scene as well and everything was out of control.
"Is the enemy ambushing us at night?"
Mu sat up from his bed and quickly rushed out of his tent. He could see flames everywhere and chaos in the campsite. "Chiefs, hurry up and appease the commoners. The shaman group, go forth and stop the chaos!"
The enemy only had a thousand soldiers and therefore, only a hundred would be capable of creating this ambush! It was impossible for them to create such a huge commotion. The only other explanation was that their commoners were contributing to the chaos as well.
There was no other choice but to use brute force to keep the commoners under control.
"Capture and kill Leader Mu! Destroy Hule Division!"
Amidst a few shouts, 10 soldiers on horse spotted the golden tent and made their way towards it.
"Protect Leader Mu!"
A few shamans went ahead and chanted a few curses.
"Die!"
Flames appeared in Fang Yuan’s eyes. The fire-type sword essence gathered in his eyes, giving his eyebrows a brilliant red hue. Two streaks of flame shot out from his eyes.
"Chi!"
The flames flickered and burned, nullifying the witchcraft spells.
"Haha... die!"
He whipped his horse, making it gallop forward. Soon after, he arrived at the golden tent as well. Fang Yuan was the epitome of a highly-skilled martial artist. With the illusionary shadow of a sword in his hands, Fang Yuan waved them and the heads of the two shamen flew up high into the sky.
"Let’s go!"
Mu was in a shock and could only think about leaving.
"It’s Yuan!"
The man in black was even more stunned and his voice changed. "You have disrupted my plans. You deserve to die!"
"You have demonic energy around you?"
Fang Yuan was stunned for a moment. Shortly after, he pulled his bow, aimed at the retreating Mu and fired an arrow.
"Whoosh!"
The arrow had a little flame on its tip. It pierced through two other guards before finally piercing through Mu’s back.
"I..."
Mu had a face of disbelief, "I am the leader of the plains. How can I die here?"
Fang Yuan had already done something to the arrow as a fiery force started to burn Mu’s insides. No one could save him and in a few moments, he fell to the ground, dead.
"Leader Mu is dead! Leader Mu is dead!"
The last resisting force of Hule Division was astonished at this scene and broke down, fleeing as fast as they could.
"Don’t you run!"
Fang Yuan identified the man in black and gave chase, running out of the campsite.
"Hmph!"
With the wave of his hands, a hurricane appeared. The illusionary shadow of a sword appeared in the hurricane and flew towards the man in black robes.
The man in black fell to the ground and groaned in pain. Just as it was about to use its demonic spells to escape, it noticed a small green sword floating in mid-air. The sword had a shockingly powerful sword essence and the man in black no longer dared to move.
"Previously, it is a war among humans and therefore, I had my reservations. As for you... Hehe..."
Fang Yuan stripped the black robe off, revealing a shivering weasel.
"A dream master from the Hidden Dragon Guards? Why is your cultivation so low?"
It was obvious that this weasel had not yet attained the Illusionary Divine stage.
"I am only a small demon. Please spare my life!"
The weasel started to beg.
It was only a dream master in the Dream-building stage and was barely qualified to dream-traverse. If he were to die, his own body would be severely injured and the backlash he would experience would be much worse compared to a dream master in the Illusionary Divine stage. It was a life and death situation.
"What a pity... I know that you have been a sacrificial pawn all along. What value will you even have?"
Fang Yuan sighed. The green Modest Wind Sword seemed to understand its master’s intention. With a strike, the weasel disintegrated into dust. At that moment, a True Spirit appeared and was being chased out of the realm.
"This True Spirit..."
He gazed towards the horizon. ’It seems like something about this was mentioned in Sage Changli’s inheritance...’