Chapter 705 - Enemy Attack in the Desert (1/2)
Chapter 705- Enemy Attack in the Desert
A soldier rode his horse as he rushed to report to Northern Liang City. The others continued to patrol the northernmost border in the extremely harsh environment where spiritual Qi was thin. The sun turned redder, and the color of the sky dimmed even more.
They patrolled for a while when the cavalry captain suddenly heard a strange rustle. He immediately brandished his long spear and pointed it at his surroundings. “Enemy attack. Everyone, prepare yourselves.”
As soon as his voice fell, his winged horse mount, which could survive tenaciously even in the desert, neighed miserably and loudly. Then its two front hooves kicked violently, as if it was going crazy.
The captain immediately pulled the reins, trying to stabilize his body. He looked at the other cavalry around him, who were also facing the same situation.
“Everyone, steady! Steady!” The captain shouted loudly.
However, steadying the horses didn’t make much difference, because these horses actually bent their front legs and knelt down.
The people on the horses immediately jumped down, still in shock, but they saw shadowy monsters with human faces and tall limbs scuttling out from the sandy soil under the horses.
They opened their mouths and revealed fangs. They held the horses’ necks with both hands and first tore a bite with their mouth, then put strength into their four limbs to twist off these horses’ necks. Horse blood flowed all over the ground.
The monsters made excited sounds and immediately used their mouths to suck the blood that was flowing from the wounds. The cavalry captain watched this scene with stunned eyes and even felt disgusted.
They had never seen this kind of thing before, but they’d been traveling at the junction of the human and demon realms all year round, so they had encountered countless things that they had never seen before. The cavalry captain took the lead in brandishing his spear and shouted, “Kill them!”
Soon, gales started blowing in the northern border.
Hundreds of evil spirits climbed out from the ground. They quickly ate several lifeless corpses that had been lying on the ground. They looted the corpses, scratched with their claws, and tore the corpses directly with their mouths, as if they had been starving for hundreds of years.
The final scene reflected in the cavalry captain’s eyes was the ugly monster reaching its claws out to him.
Another hour later, a young man in heavy armor with a red tasseled spear rushed towards the same location with a group of people behind him.
“The help signal came from here just now.” The little general in a snow-white armor circled around the area twice. “How come I don’t see anyone?”
“Deputy General.” A young man in a white robe pointed to a thick yellow sand dune. “Over there — you can vaguely see a glint of light. Is it from the tip of a spear?”
Deputy General Yan’s expression changed slightly. He immediately jumped off his horse and sent a palm strike towards the sand dune. The thick layers of yellow sand were lifted one after another.
In this instant, practically the entire team gasped.
“Deputy General Yan, it’s inadvisable to stay here for a long time. You’d better go back first.” The white-robed person frowned and took in the ghastly scene all at once. “King Zhen is still waiting for your return.”
Yan Shuang’s eyes were bloodshot. He turned back to glare at the white-robed military advisor. “The border guards have died so inexplicably. We haven’t even found the culprits yet, neither have we avenged these troops, but we’re going back after just taking a look here? Han Su, I am the general guarding the city. I’m not Yan Huaizhen’s bed warmer!”
Han Su, however, replied lightly, “Deputy General Yan, right now the West Phoenix Monarch Feng Jingyu has come to Northern Liang City with the young master of the northern border’s original guard family, Ling Chigu. But do you really believe that they’re here to pledge their loyalty? Ling Chigu’s loyalty is a given, but the West Phoenix Monarch seems to be here for revenge. You should know how King Zhen treated you. Right now, he finally managed to take over the general’s power after much difficulty. Don’t tell me that you want to see him ultimately surrender the power of the general that he went through such great pains to obtain?”
Yan Shuang clenched his fists tightly. The corpses of the soldiers who died mysterious deaths were reflected in his eyes.
“Deputy General, King Zhen needs you. No matter how much you admired or served Ling Chigu in the past, right now, you only have one Lord, and that is King Zhen — Yan Huaizhen,” Han Su’s voice was neither slow nor fast, but it made people unable to refute him.
“Then did these soldiers die in vain?” Yan Shuang asked with difficulty as he trembled with anger.
“How could they have died in vain?” Hai Su said, “Even if Deputy General doesn’t investigate this matter, this subordinate will certainly investigate. After all, their deaths are too terrifying. If I don’t get to the bottom of this soon, I’m afraid that this will cause endless disasters. General Yan can rest assured that although this humble one isn’t talented, this one still understands the severity of the situation.”
Yan Shuang gritted his teeth. “You must not let them die in vain.”
Han Su nodded.
Yan Shuang turned and told the others, “Stay and bury the bones of these soldiers on the spot. If they have a life tablet on them, take it with you. After erecting a gravestone for them, take the life tablet back to their families.”
“Yes!”
After instructing them, Yan Shuang urged the horse to gallop towards Northern Liang City. After he left, the soldiers were about to bury the bodies, but Han Su stopped them.
Han Su said, “This place is battered by an endless onslaught of sand and wind. There is no need to trouble you all to take action. Just wait for the wind to blow the sand away. In less than an hour, these bones will never be seen again.”
The soldiers were very troubled. One of them said, “But it’s the Deputy General’s order. We can’t really disobey.”
Han Su had a somewhat cold nature. His eyes looked a little indifferent. “Instead of wasting time on this, it’s better to look for clues in the surroundings before the heavy sandstorm comes, or else all the traces will be buried in a while.”
Although many of these soldiers used to be part of Ling Chigu’s troops, even more of them were recruited by King Zhen after Ling Chigu’s death. Yan Huaizhen wanted to make a comeback and started amassing troops again.
Therefore, although these soldiers respected Ling Chigu, they had more faith in King Zhen. As the most important advisor under King Zhen, Han Su naturally had a higher status in the eyes of these soldiers. Thus, everyone who originally planned to bury the bones of the dead cavalry immediately stopped and decided to search for clues in the surroundings.