The blade tore through the air, emitting a piercing shriek!
However, just as the blade was about to touch Li Ru's neck, a chilling buzzing sound suddenly rang out from the crevices in the rocks on both sides of the cliff.
That wasn't a horn, nor a war drum, but the sound of thousands upon thousands of bowstrings vibrating at the same instant.
The next moment, the sky darkened.
Countless crossbow bolts, gleaming with a cold metallic light, rained down from the towering cliffs on both sides like a swarm of locusts that blotted out the sky, accompanied by deathly screams.
"Puff puff puff...!"
The dull thud of a sharp blade piercing through leather armor and tearing flesh instantly drowned out all other noise, becoming the sole dominant melody in the world.
The simple leather armor worn by the Wuhuan warriors was as fragile as paper in the face of the arrows shooting down from above.
The arrows easily pierced the bodies of the Wuhuan soldiers, raising plumes of hot blood mist. The warhorses neighed in agony as they were riddled with arrows and fell to the ground with a thud.
The once crowded and chaotic open area at the valley entrance was instantly transformed into a bloodbath, with people and horses falling over, screams filling the air, and blood staining the white snow like spilled ink, the heavy stench of blood rising into the sky.
Wuguruna's hateful slash was completely interrupted by this sudden and devastating disaster. A thick crossbow bolt, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, pierced through his right shoulder blade with a "thud"!
The immense impact violently threw him off his horse, sending him crashing heavily into the cold, filthy, blood-soaked snow.
"Ugh..."
The excruciating pain made his vision go black, but he forced himself to lift his head, his bloodshot eyes searching desperately for that figure through the rain of blood and the tumbling, dead bodies of the soldiers.
In the chaotic killing field, Li Ru's figure was like a ghost.
Seemingly anticipating this rain of death from the sky, Li Ru had already ducked low to the ground just before the arrows rained down, pressing himself against the corpse of his old horse, which had been riddled with bullets in an instant.
He lay prone among pools of blood and corpses, his pale face splattered with blood, but his deep, pool-like eyes remained unusually calm as they rapidly scanned the carnage he had personally led him to, finally settling on the struggling figure of Wugu Luna on the snow not far away.
The time has come.
Li Ru suddenly leaped out from behind the horse carcass, his movements as swift as a snow leopard. In just a few steps, he rushed to Wugu Lu's side, then ignored the other's venomous gaze that seemed to want to devour him alive, and grabbed Wugu Lu's left arm.
Then, with all his might, he roared, "Chief, run! Head towards the valley path; there are no ambushes there. Batu, quickly protect the chief and retreat!"
Li Ru's roar was filled with "anxiety" and "loyalty," like the last cry for help from a drowning person.
In the chaos, several close guards who were lucky enough to escape the first volley of arrows, including Batu whose arm was grazed by a stray arrow, heard the shout that "pointed out the way to survival" and instinctively rushed towards Wugu Lu.
"Protect the leader!"
"Go through the valley! Quickly!"
They hurriedly dragged the heavily injured Wugulu along, stumbling and staggering towards the narrow, snow-covered entrance to the valley on the side of the valley.
Wugu Lu was being dragged along, the excruciating pain from his wounds making him delirious. He forcefully turned his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Li Ru, who was following closely beside him and remained "loyal." His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but the pain and confusion choked him up, preventing him from uttering a single word.
On the cliff, Tan Shihuai, draped in a dark cloak, stood quietly beneath the fluttering golden eagle banner.
His face was gaunt, and his eyes were as deep as an ancient well, looking down at the hellish landscape at the mouth of the valley below.
When he saw the chaotic remnants of the Wuhuan army, under Li Ru's "guidance," surging towards the narrow river valley, a hint of a smile finally flickered in his usually calm eyes.
Tan Shihuai slowly raised his right hand and made an extremely simple gesture to the messenger standing solemnly beside him—spread his five fingers and then clenched his fist!
The messenger understood and swung his command flag down fiercely!
The Xianbei heavy infantry, who had been lying in ambush on the high ground on both sides of the valley for a long time and were as silent as rocks, suddenly had a bloodthirsty glint in their eyes.
They suddenly ripped aside the heavy shields covering their front, disguised with snow and dry branches, revealing rows of giant crossbow bolts, each as thick as a child's arm and with heavy iron tips, already poised to fire!
This was a ballista specially made by the Han army, but somehow it fell into the hands of the Xianbei people.
"put!"
The ferocious roar of the Xianbei officer exploded!
"Boom! Boom!"
A series of deafening and terrifying sounds, even more muffled than the previous crossbow string sounds, rang out!
Dozens of terrifying giant crossbows tore through the air, accompanied by a dull, thunderous death whistle, descending from above and slamming into the crowded, desperately-thinking remnant of the Wuhuan army in the narrow valley!
"boom!"
"Snap!"
The thick crossbow bolts easily pierced through the fleeing knight and his horse, the enormous kinetic energy tearing the man apart and snapping the warhorse in half!
Limbs and severed arms, mixed with internal organs and shattered weapons and armor, were scattered like withered leaves swept up by a gale in the narrow river valley. A single arrow could often plow a bloody, flesh-covered path of death filled with remains!
Batu only had time to slam Wugulu into the icy stream before a powerful crossbow bolt, which grazed his scalp, tore his two bodyguards into a cloud of blood mist. Hot chunks of flesh rained down on him and Wugulu.
"It's over...it's all over..."
Batu lay in the cold blood, his eyes unfocused, muttering to himself, completely broken down.
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