Chapter 52

◎Mars invades the road of ghosts, and the underworld soldiers borrow a passage◎

Snow Wolf Pass.

"Everyone says Xie Yutang knows evil magic and borrowed 100,000 ghost soldiers. Is that true...?"

"Bullshit! We're really unlucky. We're guarding the city gate in the middle of the night, and we can't even get a good night's sleep." A tall, thin soldier yawned and rubbed his hands, which were frozen in the cold wind. "You keep watch for a while, I'm going to relieve myself."

The tall, thin man walked along the city wall, cursing and swearing. The weather was gloomy, and the dark night sky was covered with thick clouds, so dark that even the moon could not be seen. It looked like a heavy rain was about to fall.

"Damn it, this awful weather." The tall, thin man relieved himself under a tree, took a sip, and said, "If it weren't for those damn ghost soldiers, I'd be sleeping soundly in bed right now."

"If there really are ghost soldiers, let me see them."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a dark shadow flashed past in front of him.

"who!"

The tall, thin man jolted awake, his drowsiness mostly gone. He turned around warily and looked around, but saw nothing but dark shadows of trees.

I must be seeing things.

The tall, thin man breathed a sigh of relief. It was all because they had been talking about things like "Mars invades the carriage" and "ghosts borrowing the road" lately, which had made him start to become paranoid.

By the way, shouldn't this area be patrolled by Li Laoliu? Where is he?

The tall, thin man called out a few times, but no one answered.

I guess he's hiding somewhere to slack off again.

The tall, thin man shook his hand, fastened his belt, turned around and walked back, when suddenly a drop of water splashed on his forehead.

It's raining so soon?

Wait... why is this rain hot?

The tall, thin man wiped his forehead; it felt sticky. He looked closely in the moonlight filtering through the clouds, and his pupils constricted.

Blood!

The tall, thin man drew his sword with a whoosh: "W-Who goes there! Show yourself! Stop playing tricks!"

Silence reigned.

The tall, thin man mustered his courage and took a few steps forward, but he tripped over the vines under his feet and fell, pressing his hand into the warm, sticky mud.

A cold sweat instantly broke out all over his body. Any soldier who had been on the battlefield and seen dead bodies would be all too familiar with this sensation. This was...

The tall, thin man swallowed hard and shakily raised his head.

A bolt of lightning struck at that very moment.

A person was hanging down from a tree branch, their upside-down face facing him. The person's eyes were wide open, blood was flowing from their seven orifices, and their face was pale and stiff; they were clearly dead.

But he recognized the face.

It's Li Laoliu.

With a loud bang.

The tall, thin man was so frightened he dropped his sword and scrambled forward, yelling, "Help! Help! There's—"

But the desperate cries were drowned out by the sound of thunder and lightning, and before they could be heard, they could no longer be heard.

The tall, thin man paused in his running and shouting, slowly lowered his head, and saw a blood-stained sword tip piercing through his chest.

With a thud.

His body slammed into the ground, where mud and blood were mixed together.

...

By the time the Northern Rong general guarding Xuelang Pass realized something was wrong, the Dayan army had already broken through most of the outer city and was advancing straight towards the inner city.

The inner city wall was the last line of defense for Snow Wolf Pass. Once the city gates were breached, Snow Wolf Pass would change hands.

The heavy city gates slowly opened, and fully armed Northern Rong cavalry surged out, facing the attacking Yan army head-on.

The two armies clashed, and for a time, the sounds of rain, roars, and the clash of weapons filled the air. Everyone was fierce, and with each swing of a cold blade, it was hard to tell whether what splashed onto their faces was blood or rain.

Someone gasped, "What is that?"

Several bolts of lightning struck down, hitting the warhorse of Dayan squarely, and its tail caught fire in the torrential rain.

Even more shockingly, the fire wasn't red, but rather—

"Ghost fire... Ghost fire!"

An old soldier stared at the few eerie blue flames flickering in the torrential rain, his expression contorted with extreme terror.

"It's... Mars is invading the chariot of ghosts, and the ghostly army is borrowing a passage!"

Upon hearing this, the Northern Rong soldiers' eyes widened in terror, and their fierce killing intent faltered.

Don't listen to his nonsense!

With a single stroke, Yu Chi Duohan killed an attacking soldier from Dayan. He then raised his horse and solemnly shouted, "These are all tricks by the enemy to demoralize the troops. Don't fall for them!"

"It's true!"

The old soldier was hiding somewhere; his voice could be heard but he could not be seen. Yu Chi Duohan wanted to find him and kill him, but he could not find him no matter what he did.

The voice, trembling with fear yet full of energy, pierced the ears of every soldier like a ghost.

"How can ordinary fire burn in a downpour? Only ghostly fire from hell can spontaneously combust and attract lightning!"

"When the will-o'-the-wisps appear, ghostly soldiers will take their path; those who block their way will die!"

In the pitch-black rainy night, all that could be seen were the soldiers of the Great Yan Army, each clad in a black robe, their faces obscured. They exuded a chilling aura and seemed devoid of any human warmth. One soldier, daring to peek at the Great Yan Army soldiers in front of him by the light of a will-o'-the-wisp, was so frightened that he fell to the ground with a thud.

"A ghost! A ghost!"

The soldier's cloak had been cut in half by swords, revealing a bloodless face covered with hideous black markings mixed with blood. His eyes were dark and his limbs were stiff, making him look like a corpse that had just crawled out of the ground.

"Is this really a ghost army borrowing a passage?!"

Even the bravest soldier is still a human being. How can a human being with flesh and blood fight against a dead man?

One soldier threw down his sword and tried to run back, trembling, but was beheaded by Yuchi Duohan with a single stroke.

Yu Chi Duohan raised the head, which still had its eyes open, high and said, word by word, "Those who retreat will die."

Everyone was stunned by this scene, and for a moment no one dared to retreat.

"Even if they really are ghost soldiers, there are only a thousand of them."

With a single sword thrust, Yu Chi Duohan pierced through the enemy ranks. "Our city has 20,000 defenders, yet we can't kill these few lonely ghosts?"

"Charge them!"

Everyone knows that in this battle, it's either you die or I die.

Not fighting means death, retreating also means death, only by moving forward can we fight our way out.

The Northern Rong army regained its morale, and the cavalry charged forward, killing several people in succession.

"Maintain formation and don't let the chaos disrupt your formation."

In the army of Da Yan, Xie Yutang turned his head to dodge an attack from a cavalryman and thrust his sword at the opponent's weak point.

The cavalryman was no weakling either. He dodged Xie Yutang's attack with his superb horsemanship and then raised his sword to slash at the nearest Da Yan soldier.

A short knife, gleaming coldly in the rainy night, flew away and cleanly severed the horse's forelegs.

The Northern Rong cavalryman tumbled off his horse and was stabbed through by Xie Yutang's sword.

The short knife collided with Xie Yutang's sword, spun around, and returned to the young man on horseback.

Xie Yutang and Su Lu exchanged glances.

The young man had a cold and stern face, and his eyes were clear and bright from the rain. In the brief moment that the two looked at each other, he swung his sword and cut down a Northern Rong cavalryman, and shouted: "Cut off the horse's hooves first."

The crowd was jolted awake and began to slash with their swords.

A young soldier, taking advantage of his agility, rolled under the cavalryman's horse, raised his hand and slashed off the horse's hoof. The horse neighed and fell heavily to the ground. Before he could even open his mouth, a gust of wind suddenly came from behind his ear. A Northern Rong soldier had appeared behind him without him noticing. The knife was too fast and too close, aimed directly at his throat.

It's too late!

The young soldier watched helplessly as the sword tip drew ever closer. Then, with a clang, a longsword deflected the sword, and a familiar, rough, low shout rang out: "You brat, get up now!"

"Boss, it's you?"

The young soldier's eyes lit up. He was a soldier under Yue Hongcai. After the armor-wearing incident yesterday, Yue Hongcai's soldiers also joined the assault team, while Yue Hongcai's armor was burned and he could only stay on the mountain to make straw figures.

Yue Hongcai naturally refused and tried to sneak into the assault team as soon as it got dark, but Su Lu caught him red-handed. He thought the other party was taking him back and was about to argue when the young man threw him a suit of armor: "General Xie said that if you insist on fighting, put this on first."

Yue Hongcai stood there dumbfounded, clutching the armor. The young man's figure had already disappeared into the distance, leaving only a faint sentence: "I borrowed it from you. Remember to return it after you're done fighting."

Yue Hongcai looked at the female general in silver robes and soft armor on horseback, dodged a few enemy soldiers to the side, and slashed their necks with a backhand stroke.

He had served under many generals, but this time, it seemed truly different.

"General, the enemy has a large number of defenders, while we only have four thousand men. If this stalemate continues, the situation may not be optimistic."

A sergeant brushed aside the enemy soldiers and spoke to Xie Yutang in a low voice.

They had the advantage of a surprise attack and stormed all the way to the inner city. However, Yuchi Duohan was no ordinary soldier. He used forceful methods to suppress the wave of fear of battle. Now, the Northern Rong army, with its numerical advantage, was gradually turning the tide.

Xie Yutang wiped the rain and blood off his face, his gaze piercing through the long, rainy night as he looked towards the mountains: "Wait a little longer."

There's something on the mountain!

Someone shouted.

Everyone was startled and looked up at the hilltop, where they saw a dark mass of people moving about in the woods.

A bolt of lightning struck.

The mountain was densely packed with soldiers, all clad in black robes and armor, wielding long spears and swords, forming an impenetrable encirclement of Snow Wolf Pass.

Suddenly, war drums sounded in unison, and military flags fluttered in the mountains, the sound continuing in succession.

Yu Chi Duohan was also surprised and uncertain. This military flag was a signal passed by the flag bearer. Judging from the number of flag bearers, there were indeed 100,000 people.

"impossible!"

"The enemy force numbers only a few thousand; there is absolutely no way they could besiege the city!"

"General Yuchi."

Xie Yutang sat on his horse, holding his sword in a reverse grip. His voice, delivered through internal force, seemed to resonate clearly in everyone's ears: "If we're talking about living people, your forces may indeed have a slight advantage. But if we include the dead, then it's not necessarily the case."

As the words were spoken, another thunderclap struck, and several more ghostly flames rose in the mountains and forests. Accompanied by the dust and smoke of the march, the "soldiers" seemed to have gotten much closer to the city!

The two lightning strikes occurred in mere breaths, a speed far beyond what human soldiers could achieve on foot.

Could it really be...?

As everyone was filled with surprise and doubt, an indescribable sound of wind suddenly came from all around.

The sound of the wind was extremely eerie, chilling and terrifying amidst the torrential rain, as if a cold wind were passing by.

"A chilling wind, ghostly sounds, and netherfire emerge—this is precisely the chaos of Yin and Yang, with ghostly soldiers aiding in the battle!"

Those who heard this all turned pale.

Most of the deaths on the battlefield were violent, and the soldiers had seen many tragic deaths. They were already more superstitious than ordinary people. Now, with one strange occurrence after another, their already fragile mental defenses were on the verge of collapse, and the army was just one blow away from demoralization.

The sound of the eerie wind grew increasingly urgent, forcefully piercing through the torrential rain. Accompanied by thunder and the sound of horses' hooves, it made one momentarily believe that they were no longer in the human world, but in the underworld, a land of the dead.

Lightning flashed, ghostly fires flickered in the mountains, dust billowed as the army marched on, and the approaching ghostly troops grew ever closer...

The mournful drumbeats and the howling wind tormented the nerves; the drumbeats grew increasingly intense, and the eerie wind howled like the wailing of ghosts. Another bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the city wall, where a figure in white robes with flowing hair stood, seemingly out of nowhere.

"A ghost!"

The soldiers could no longer bear it and turned to run wildly into the city.

"Stop! All of you, stop!"

Yu Chi Duohan was furious, but it was all to no avail.

Protected by his confidants, he retreated back into the city and immediately ordered, "Close the city gates! Close the city gates immediately!"

"this……"

The deputy hesitated, "There are still so many soldiers who haven't come in yet."

"It's too late! If we don't close the city gates soon, the Da Yan army will storm the city!"

"Close the city gates!"

The heavy gates slowly closed from the inside, and the soldiers who had not yet entered the city were locked outside and slaughtered by the Da Yan army.

"Throw stones, barrels, and arrows! We absolutely cannot let them get up here!"

The soldiers of Dayan who were climbing the city wall were knocked down by stones and wooden barrels, and the dense barrage of arrows prevented them from charging any further.

"Go!" Xie Yutang didn't back down an inch. "We must finish this quickly."

"I'll go."

Su Lu said.

Xie Yutang met his gaze for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Come back safely."

Su Lu nodded, spurred his horse, and charged toward the city gate.

Arrows immediately rained down, but Xuan Jian blocked them all.

"Bring me a gun."

Yu Chi Duohan took the spear handed to him by his subordinate, channeled his inner strength into his arm, and threw it forcefully at the throat of the man below the city.

Xie Yutang tightened the reins instantly: "Youzhi!"

The young man galloping on horseback flicked his wrist, deflecting the oncoming rain of arrows. His waist bent backward at an incredible angle, and the spear grazed his nose before disappearing into the ground behind him.

At the same time, Su Lu pushed off with his toes and leaped up the city wall. With a few quick climbing steps, he reached the top of the city tower. The nearest archer had no time to react before his throat was slit.

He was cold and aloof, like a god of death from hell. The Northern Rong soldiers surrounded him, but none of them dared to step forward.

"You traitor!"

Yu Chi Duohan's eyes were bloodshot as he slowly drew the sword from his waist, his eyes filled with a ruthless determination to fight to the death. "You bastard who's Xie Yutang's dog, I spit on you."

Su Lu didn't even raise an eyebrow.

Yu Chi Duohan was completely enraged by his appearance and drew his sword to stab him. However, even A Shan, a horse archery talent who appeared only once in a hundred years in the Northern Rong, was no match for Su Lu, let alone him, who was even worse than A Shan.

After only a few moves, Yuchi Duohan was struck by several swords and was exhausted. He was only able to stay upright because of his sword.

"That bitch Xie Yutang, I don't know what tricks she used, to be able to have our arrogant Marquis Minyi completely under her thumb."

Yu Chi Duohan coughed up a mouthful of blood and laughed, "I wonder how intoxicating Princess Ning'an's taste is. Why don't I try it too? Maybe—"

The scissors had already pierced his heart.

Yu Chi Duohan was shocked; he hadn't expected that he would be killed like this.

The boy's eyes were devoid of any emotion, and his entire body was cold and devoid of warmth. "It's fine to scold me, but you are not worthy to mention her."

The boy leaned in and whispered in his ear, "You got a share of the gunpowder from Meishan Villa, didn't you?"

Yu Chi Duohan's pupils dilated violently, and she used the last of her strength to say, "You... how could you—"

Su Lu, however, had no patience. He drew his sword and watched expressionlessly as the other person fell straight to the ground with a splash, and rain mixed with blood began to fall.

Even though this young man had single-handedly stormed the enemy camp, the Northern Rong soldiers who surrounded him didn't dare to utter a sound.

Blood still dripped from the tip of the sword. The boy looked up, and droplets of water fell from his long, dark eyelashes.

“Your commander is dead. Now that you have surrendered, I can promise you that I will spare your lives.”