Chapter 74
Chapter 74
The flames Fengwu shot out could scorch Souls. Watching that warhorse’s hooves burn from the inside made a terrifying possibility click into place… Zhao Zixun and that horse weren’t pure soul bodies!
Both man and horse had already died, yet their Souls had been sealed inside their corpses. Over the years, they had become… Walking Corpse-one man, one horse.
No wonder the flames only burned from within instead of instantly racing across the whole body.
The warhorse’s right front hoof buckled, and it was about to stumble down into the Small Stream. Zhao Zixun drove a vicious kick into the horse’s belly. The horse let out a shrill neigh, braced with its hind legs, and with a sudden burst of strength actually managed to jump the Small Stream.
But the fire was scorching too fast. When the right front hoof hit the ground, it couldn’t hold steady.
Zhao Zixun yanked out his saber and, without the slightest hesitation, chopped off the warhorse’s right front hoof.
Decisive. Ruthless. Exactly what a qualified officer should be.
I didn’t hesitate either. I raised the Longbow again and drew it to the limit.
This time, my aim was Zhao Zixun’s glabella.
If Fengwu could erupt like it had just now, then I wanted to see what would happen when the flames shot into the Coffin Nail in his brow and destroyed it.
But before I could loose the arrow, someone above screamed, “Xiao Jiu-up here! Run!”
As she spoke, Li Qingying’s Long Whip snapped down, looping under my arms and yanking me up hard.
She moved too fast-there wasn’t even time for me to react.
By the time my feet touched down and I was standing by the roadside, I looked back down and froze.
In the direction of the woods, a vast swath of Blood Mist had gathered among the trees at some point, surging toward us from far to near with unstoppable momentum.
Earlier, I’d been halfway up the slope with a cramped view, and the Blood Mist still hadn’t seeped out from the depths of the forest. I hadn’t been able to see it at all.
But Li Qingying had!
In the few seconds it took her to haul me up, the Blood Mist had already spilled out between the trunks. In the blink of an eye it reached the edge of the Small Stream, continuously pouring down into it.
Could the Blood Mist not cross the Small Stream?
The next second proved I was wrong. The Blood Mist kept piling up inside the Small Stream. Before long, the entire channel seemed layered full of it, and then it began to overflow onto our side.
Zhao Zixun sat on his warhorse without moving an inch.
He was like a commanding general, and the Blood Mist were soldiers under his banner.
All it would take was a single order, and the Blood Mist would launch a full assault on us!
“Run!”
Li Qingying grabbed me and dragged me toward the car, trying to get us out of here.
I didn’t move.
There was no getting away.
The Blood Mist was too fast-it was already climbing the slope!
And what flashed through my mind wasn’t my own safety. It was the thought that if the Blood Mist kept spreading like this without end, the people living around here-maybe even all of Wufu Town-would be unable to escape this Calamity.
Just then, the Red Banner Child suddenly flew over and planted himself in front of Li Qingying and me.
He clasped his hands together at his chest as though gripping something, swinging them again and again while muttering a spell: “Ghost Soldiers, Ghost Soldiers, thunder decree in attendance; ghostly bow and sword arts, Heaven’s Origin snaps the halberd; where each blade arrives, it crushes courage and seals the heart; urgently, as the law commands-seize and restrain!”
As the Red Banner Child’s incantation left his lips, the Blood Mist that had been surging up the slope actually stopped dead.
In the next moment, the Blood Mist slowly turned into armored soldiers holding weapons. In perfect unison, they lifted their heads and looked toward the Red Banner Child’s right hand.
But the Red Banner Child’s right hand was… empty.
My heart lurched. This was bad!
That Blood Mist had been formed from the resentment of soldiers who died on the Ancient Battlefield. And the Red Banner Child himself was condensed from that very resentment-he only needed to hold the Red Banner to command these Ghost Soldiers!
Without the Red Banner, the incantation alone was not enough to command these Ghost Soldiers.
Sure enough, a moment later, the Ghost Soldiers slowly rose to their feet. Their hollow, dark eye sockets stared at us, and they looked ready to pounce at any second.
Right then, Zhao Zixun suddenly squeezed the horse’s flanks and gave a sharp shout. “Yah!”
The warhorse actually charged toward us, despite its limping right front leg.
As soon as Zhao Zixun moved, the Ghost Soldiers seemed to receive some kind of command and began charging up the slope as well.
The Red Banner Child was on the verge of tears. “The Red Banner is gone! I don’t have the Red Banner, I can’t command them!”
Li Qingying shouted, “Xiao Jiu, take the car and go! I’ll hold them off!”
As she spoke, she rushed forward, brandishing her Long Whip.
My scalp went numb. Two hands are no match for four, let alone an uncountable number of Ghost Soldiers. Li Qingying was essentially charging to her death.
I had no choice but to draw my Longbow again and aim at Zhao Zixun.
With a *whoosh*, another bolt of flame streaked through the Ghost Soldiers ahead, flying straight for the space between Zhao Zixun’s eyebrows.
But Zhao Zixun had already seen what I could do. The moment the flame shot out, he ducked low and reached out to grab the nearest Ghost Soldier, hurling the spirit toward the fire.
The flame pierced the Ghost Soldier, and fire instantly flared up high. In a flash, that Ghost Soldier was incinerated into nothingness.
Zhao Zixun took the opportunity to dodge the trajectory of the flame and continued his straight charge toward me.
A Longbow is a long-range weapon. With Zhao Zixun and his warhorse practically on top of me, drawing the bow again would put me at a disadvantage.
What should I do?!
In that lightning-fast moment, I suddenly remembered the Shield I had dug up from the Small Stream. Without hesitation, I propped it up and shouted toward the front, “Sister Qingying, fall back!”
Li Qingying’s whip cracked loudly. The Long Whip, conditioned with Deep Sea Whale Oil, seemed much more powerful than before; for a moment, she was surrounded by a cloud of blood-colored mist.
Given her current situation, it was difficult for her to retreat on her own.
I could only grip the Shield tightly with both hands and walk toward Li Qingying, facing Zhao Zixun and the Ghost Soldiers head-on.
The reason I abandoned the Longbow for the Shield wasn’t a desperate move born of being cornered. Rather, the moment I thought of this Shield, I realized something.
This Ancient Battlefield had existed for who knows how many years. Why had it never expanded beyond the forest until tonight?
Was it because of Zhao Zixun’s appearance?
No, it wasn’t.
It was because of this Shield in my hands.
The Red Banner Child had said that although he knew the Pawn Ticket was in the Small Stream, he didn’t dare dig for it himself because he was terrified of the killing intent emanating from the stream.
That was Zhao Zixun’s killing intent!
The Pawn Ticket and the Blood Letter didn’t possess such properties. The Shield-and the Blood Rune upon it-was the source of that killing intent!
Therefore, what the Red Banner Child feared was this Shield.
And the reason the Blood Mist had been trapped in this forest all this time was also because of this Shield.
Back then, why did Zhao Zixun’s confidant choose this Shield to protect the Pawn Ticket? It was likely an order from Zhao Zixun himself before he had fully transformed into a corpse and lost his mind.
It was clear that the Zhao Zixun of that time did not want to see innocent lives slaughtered.
This was a massive gamble. If I won, we would escape unscathed.
If I lost… all of Wufu Town would be buried with us!