Chapter 336 Black Light
Shen Yuexi gripped the reins tightly with both hands, crouched low, and squinted her eyes as she stared ahead. The clatter of Xiaobai's hooves echoed across the road, and the dead trees on the side of the road were left behind in the blink of an eye.
The thousand-mile horse ran as fast as the wind, it was really fast, but the cold wind blowing in her face was really stinging, but she didn't have time to think about that now.
The crossbows couldn't penetrate the Iron Buddha's armor, and she was the most nervous person. While Xiao Zhuo, Mei Dai and others were discussing countermeasures, she secretly rode away from the coalition camp.
Qiu Liming's crossbowmen fired arrows at the oncoming Iron Pagoda, but to no avail. The Iron Pagoda charged into the formation and hacked and slaughtered them at will, blood flowing like a river... The thought of this scene made her panic. Zhao Mu had just suffered a crushing defeat, and morale was low. If the crossbowmen sent to support him were also defeated by the Iron Pagoda, would the border troops surrender directly?
If that happened, it would be the end of everything she and Xiao Zhuo had worked so hard for. After going through so much hardship to get to where they are today, they must not fall in this final battle.
In the distance, she could hear the shouts and neighs of horses, revealing dozens of cavalrymen galloping toward her. Although they too wore Yan army armor, their raised swords betrayed their identities: they were likely small scouts of the enemy army.
Shen Yuexi had no guards around her, but she was not at all panicked. She pulled the reins to the left, and Xiaobai turned a corner, leaving the main road and running into the wilderness.
"Xiaobai, get rid of them."
Xiaobai seemed to understand her words. He neighed in response and ran away like an arrow.
The cavalry couldn't catch up to Xiaobai at all, not to mention her horsemanship, which had reached the pinnacle. Xiaobai's hooves flew, leaving the pursuers in a trail of dust, leaving them in the dust in a moment.
After confirming that there were no more pursuers shouting behind them, Shen Yuexi asked Xiaobai to slow down. Even a Shenjun would tire at full speed. She loved this white horse and didn't want it to be too tired, so she asked Xiaobai to jog up a small hill in front of her so that she could find the location of the border army camp.
However, when Xiaobai reached the top of the mountain, what appeared before her was a tragic scene she had never seen before, which left her stunned.
She had seen thousands of enemy soldiers crushed to bloody pulp by rolling logs at Langya Pass, and she had seen hundreds of corpses piled up on the long slope. She thought she had seen enough, but the scene before her finally understood what it meant to truly have a field littered with corpses.
"Princess An!" A familiar voice came from a distance.
Shen Yuexi looked back and saw a group of more than a hundred Western Rong cavalrymen running towards her, led by Qiang Lin, who was waving at her.
When she got down the hill, Qiang Lin had already led the cavalry to rush over.
"Princess An, we finally caught up with you," Qiang Lin said, reining in his mount. "We've been chasing you all the way... and just now we ran into a small group of enemy troops. This is a battlefield, and their scouts might call in the army to hunt us down. Let's quickly head to the border army camp."
Shen Yuexi was delighted to see Qiang Lin arrive in person. He had saved her from danger so many times before, but this time, she had rushed off on her own in a fit of rage, and it was he who had caught up to escort her. Feeling rather guilty, she asked, "Aren't you over there commanding the troops?"
Qiang Lin accompanied her and said, "Prince An saw you were missing and sent me here to look for you... He said you must have joined the border troops. He also said that if even the gods couldn't stop the Iron Buddha, he wanted you to return to the coalition camp and he would find another way. Are the gods he was talking about the gods of the Great Yan Dynasty? I've never heard him mention them."
Chen Yuexi knew what Xiao Zhuo meant. If even the universal manufacturing machine couldn't stop the Iron Pagoda, then the priority would be to save her life.
She was actually a little nervous. Although the big bear was powerful, it couldn't harm life, not even a pheasant. The other party, the Iron Buddha, was a living person, and the horse was also a living thing. How should she deal with it?
Dissolving their armor was one solution, but the Great Bear's range was limited to five meters. Even if she stood there, the enemy's arrows would have pierced her from afar. Back when she and Xiao Zhuo were surrounded by King Doma, it had already been proven that the Great Bear couldn't completely block the rain of arrows.
The cannon was incredibly powerful and would surely blow up the Iron Pagoda. But even if it was made, without gunpowder, it couldn't be made into a cannonball.
Sandstorms and heavy fog are all controlled by the weather. If you do it wrong, it will give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage...
She had been thinking about countermeasures all the way until Qiang Lin's reminder sounded in her ears.
"Princess An, we have arrived at the border military camp."
Shen Yuexi came back to her senses as the gate to the camp slowly opened before her. She only had to glance at it, and immediately sensed the gloomy and pessimistic atmosphere that permeated the entire camp.
Atop the camp's watchtower, soldiers clutched their rifles, staring listlessly into the distance, seemingly distracted. The camp's flags sagged like sickly soldiers, occasionally lifted by the wind, adding to their lifeless appearance. Peering inside through the open camp gates, many soldiers wore worried expressions, even walking with their heads bowed. Perhaps it was only because of strict military discipline that this frontier army remained intact.
Wei Liang led several generals to greet them and bowed, saying, "Princess An, I didn't expect you to come here."
Shen Yuexi was worried about Qiu Liming and the five thousand crossbowmen, so she quickly asked, "Has General Qiu arrived? Has the enemy's Iron Pagoda attacked?"
Wei Liang saw her anxious expression and quickly said, "Don't worry, Princess An. The enemy Iron Buddha did not go into battle today. General Qiu arrived with his crossbowmen and is currently conferring with the general in the tent."
"It's okay, it's okay. Take me to see them." Shen Yuexi breathed a sigh of relief and jumped off the horse.
She followed Wei Liang to the central army tent, where Zhao Mu's resounding voice rang out: "No, no, this absolutely won't work."
Wei Liang opened the curtain for Shen Yuexi, poked his head in and shouted, "General, Princess An is here."
Zhao Mu, Qi Shengjue and Qiu Liming in the tent turned their heads almost at the same time to look at her, all with expressions of surprise.
Shen Yuexi hurried into the tent and greeted Zhao Mu and Qi Shengjue. Then, she said to Qiu Liming, "Our crossbows are ineffective against the enemy's Iron Pagoda. Don't engage them."
Seeing her take the risk to come and tell him the news, Qiu Liming was grateful and said, "Don't worry, Madam. The general has just tried it with us, and the crossbow arrows are indeed unable to penetrate the Iron Buddha's armor. We are currently discussing other countermeasures."
Shen Yuexi thought about it and realized that she had been too impatient and underestimated Zhao Mu's intelligence. How could a general be so reckless as to lead a battle against the Iron Buddha without even testing the repeating crossbow?
But since I'm here, I might as well help Zhao Mu deal with Tiefutu.
Zhao Mu laughed heartily. "Princess An, after General Qiu arrived to support us, we tried out the captured armor. This armor is incredibly strong; a crossbow arrow only left a small dent."
Shen Yuexi wanted to know how the Iron Pagoda fought, so she asked, "General, what exactly does the Iron Pagoda fight like?"
Zhao Mu smacked his lips and said, "I've been fighting for most of my life, but this is the first time I've encountered such armored cavalry. They're truly imposing, charging towards us like a dark cloud. We fired arrows at them, but they didn't react at all. When they got close, I formed a spear formation to intercept them, but it was unstoppable."
Wei Liang nodded frequently beside him. Seeing Zhao Mu turn around to get some water, he took over the conversation:
"They were heavily armored, so they didn't carry shields. Instead, they held long spears under their ribs, allowing them to stab or chop. Princess An might not be aware that these spears, driven by the momentum of their horses, thrust forward... many of our soldiers were sent flying backwards, unable to stop even their shields."
Shen Yuexi noticed that while Zhao Mu, Wei Liang, and the others praised the Iron Buddha, they showed no fear. It seemed that at least the border troops were maintaining their morale. This was good; the border troops still had the strength to fight.
"So that's how it is," she turned to Qi Shengjue, "Do we have any countermeasures now?"
Qi Shengjue said, "I just proposed laying a large number of tripwires in front of the battle. This way, if the enemy's Iron Pagoda attacks, they will be tripped up. The general said no."
Zhao Mu put down his teacup and said, "This plan won't work. The enemy attaches great importance to their Iron Pagoda, and they will have a small group of light cavalry scouts ahead. Even a tripwire will be useless."
"In that case, digging a pit might not work." Qiu Liming said.
Everyone continued to discuss countermeasures. Shen Yuexi stood there in a daze. Her eyes fell on Qiang Lin's sword and her heart moved.
Can the weapons forged by Big Bear penetrate the armor of Iron Pagoda?
She interrupted the discussion and said to Qiang Lin, "Use your sword to try to cut the Iron Buddha's armor."
Zhao Mu slapped his thigh and said happily, "Oh right, the sword of King Qianglin was made by Princess An. He cut the shackles on Zhao's hands with one blow. Come on, let's go out and take a look."
Everyone reached the open space outside the tent, and Zhao Mu had the Iron Pagoda armor set up. Qiang Lin drew his sword and slashed at the armor's chest. With a clang, the blade embedded itself in the armor's chest. Pulling it out, he examined it, finding only a scratch, not a complete slash through the armor.
Zhao Mu clapped his hands and said, "The sword is good, but it's a pity that it can't penetrate the armor and hurt the people inside."
Wei Liang stepped forward and said, "General, Princess An once gave me a spear. The spear's piercing power is much stronger than a sword. Let me try it."
The soldier brought a spear, and Wei Liang picked it up. But he was worried that he didn't have enough strength, so he moved away for a distance, then took a few steps, and thrust the spear with all his strength, which pierced into the Iron Pagoda's armor.
Everyone was delighted when they saw this. A soldier went forward to examine it carefully and came back to report: "General, the spear did penetrate the armor, but the lining of the armor was not broken."
All the generals present knew that if the armor's lining was intact, it meant no one had been harmed. If it were placed on the battlefield, the enemy could continue to fight back. The joy they had just shown disappeared.
Shen Yuexi also felt a headache. She hadn't expected the Iron Pagoda's armor to be so strong that even the weapons forged by Big Bear couldn't completely penetrate it. What should she do?
Just as she was brooding, she heard a scornful laugh nearby. She looked up and saw several soldiers escorting a man past. The man was tall and muscular, with disheveled hair, tied up with ropes, and glared at them with a mocking expression.
Qi Shengjue waved to the soldiers, "Quickly take this prisoner away." Shen Yuexi quickly stopped them, "Wait a minute, who is this person?"
"Iron Pagoda soldiers," Wei Liang said, "during the battle, one Iron Pagoda soldier was injured in his horse's hoof and fell to the ground. His armor was heavy and he couldn't get up, so we captured him."
Shen Yuexi said: "Wait a minute, I have something to ask him."
She came up to the man and asked, "What were you laughing at?"
The man said, "I'm laughing at your audacity to try to pierce our armor. Do you know the origin of this armor?"
Shen Yuexi became interested and asked the man, "What's the origin of this armor?"
"This armor is called Black Light Armor," the man said. "It's definitely not the casually crafted armor you imagine. Forty blacksmiths worked on it simultaneously, each crafting only one armor plate. It takes two months to complete a single set, repeatedly quenching and forging it. Our master has summoned four thousand skilled blacksmiths, working day and night..."
Qi Shengjue interrupted in disbelief, "It only takes two months to make one set. Wouldn't it take a hundred months to make five thousand sets of Black Light Armor?"
The man glanced at Qi Shengjue and said, "Yes, it took eight years and three months."
Shen Yuexi was secretly shocked.
When she and Mei Dai went to view the Black Light Armor, Mei Dai claimed that these people were Pei Jingyun's private army. Five thousand sets of Black Light Armor had taken eight years to create. This meant Pei Jingyun had already formed the Iron Pagoda Army eight years ago. No wonder they were so invincible. This Pei Jingyun was truly a formidable opponent.
"Since your master spent eight years crafting this armor," she asked, "what was her purpose in building the Iron Pagoda?"
The man shook his head and said, "I have no comment to make. But don't even think about piercing this armor with your weapons. The chief forger who forged this armor is a descendant of Master Xu, who forged the Yanque Sword. He once told the master that of all weapons in the world, only the Yanque Sword can cut through this armor. I advise you to give up this idea and surrender as soon as possible."
Qiang Lin walked over and without saying a word, raised his hand and slapped the man twice, making him shut up.
Shen Yuexi didn't speak to stop him. Firstly, Li Wan had died at the hands of Pei Jingyun, and Qiang Lin couldn't contain his hatred after hearing the news about Pei Jingyun. It would be better to let him vent his anger so he wouldn't lose his mind again like he did at Bai Xiushan. Secondly, the man had boasted so much about the Black Light Armor, and Qiang Lin's actions would also boost his own morale.
As for why Pei Jingyun established the Iron Buddha Army, she could guess even without the man's explanation: it was probably to help Prince Xiao Ming of Qi attack Emperor Yongde. However, Emperor Yongde's subsequent actions destroyed himself, and he never had time to use this army.
The soldiers took the man away, and everyone returned to the tent to continue discussing countermeasures until the sun set.
Shen Yuexi came to her tent, drank two sips of water, and fell on the bed, looking at the tent roof that was constantly vibrating in the wind and thinking hard.
Even the weapons forged by Big Bear cannot penetrate the Black Light Armor. What should we do?
What if they used fire? No matter how tough the Black Light Armor was, once the flames started, the person inside would definitely not be able to withstand it. In that case, the alcohol incendiary bombs she had created back in Tsuburaya would come in handy.
Zhao Mu loves to drink, so there's definitely enough alcohol being refined in the barracks. The only problem is that it can't be thrown like an incendiary bomb, and the enemy isn't stupid enough to just run into the fire. If we could design a small incendiary bomb that the soldiers could hold and throw... that's a good idea, and it should work.
After discussing for a whole day, her brain was tired and she gradually felt sleepy.
Just as she was dozing off, she suddenly heard shouts and the neighing of horses outside the tent, a chaotic scene. Startled, Shen Yuexi sat up and immediately saw the blazing fire illuminating the tent red, with countless dark shadows running around in the tent.
She had just woken up from her dream and didn't know what had happened. Just as she was about to get out of bed, Qiang Lin's voice rang out hurriedly outside.
"Princess An, get up quickly! The Iron Buddha has invaded the camp and is charging into it!"
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