Chapter 50: Someone Must Always Scout Ahead

Everyone was stunned.

How could an unnamed, faceless officer of the Gale Army be so ferocious?

What they did not know was that, for over a hundred years, the Zhong Family’s direct troops emphasized striking as swiftly as the wind and invading as fiercely as fire. They would seize the initiative with overwhelming force to unsettle the enemy; only then could they kill at leisure.

Nian Songyu’s face twisted in pain, yet he shouted, “It can attack physical bodies! It’s the water, the water from the pool!”

Just a dip of pool water, and now these wrathful souls could physically attack people?

Hearing this, He Lingchuan snatched the Soul-Stilling Banner from attendant White Mountain, bounded to the pool’s edge in two steps, and plunged the white banner directly into the water.

The white banner instantly soaked up the blood-tinged water, but fortunately, the talismanic runes on it did not wash away.

He immediately lifted the banner and shook it vigorously at his companions.

Droplets of water splattered across everyone’s faces.

No one dodged. Instead, they looked at him with gratitude.

At that moment, the cavalrymen charged at them again on horseback.

Zeng Feixiong wiped his face roughly, grabbed his saber, and leaped forward with a slash. “Brothers, attack!”

Clang!

Steel clashed against steel.

His saber struck the enemy’s spear tip, but both weapons bounced away. Neither of them gained the upper hand.

Yet, the others were all overjoyed.

It worked! At last, they were no longer just sitting ducks waiting to get stabbed and skewered.

True, their foes were cavalry, but they had ten times the numbers. With it being ten against one, they could prevail.

Morale soared. Everyone drew their weapons and plunged into the fight.

As long as they could make contact, they had a chance. They were all elite soldiers, so the gap between them and the cavalry should not be insurmountable.

Situ Han did not forget to flatter He Lingchuan, “Young Master He, brilliant move! One trick and you’ve turned the tables!” However, he made no mention of Nian Songyu being the first to spot the pool’s peculiarity.

To be fair, it made sense. This pool of blood water bridged the worlds of the living and the dead, so it should affect both physical bodies and soul bodies. However, the wrathful souls had originally burst out of this very pool, so why had they not been able to harm their physical bodies at first?

He Lingchuan eyed the cavalry officer, who was killing with reckless abandon, and could not shake the feeling that this was exactly the scene the enemy wanted.

They preferred flesh and blood flying, not killing without a trace.

In just a few blinks, the officer had already taken out two men and assisted in killing a third. Even Zeng Feixiong dared not get close for the moment.

He gave a wry smile to He Chunhua: “Father, we’re shorthanded.”

On the surface, the fight seemed evenly matched, but He Lingchuan felt their chances of victory were slim.

One wrathful soul managed to wound three men before being dragged from his horse by several soldiers working together. Nian Songyu dipped his blade in the water and rushed up to cleave off its head.

The enemy finally took casualties.

However, the Gale Army’s cavalry officer noticed this immediately. He raised his hand, and a flash of cold light shot out.

This time, the thrown spear was aimed directly at He Chunhua!

When the illusory barrier was shattered earlier, the beast-headed staff had spat out a dim, cracked sphere. At that moment, Sun Fuping reached out to He Chunhua. “Mandate token!”

He Chunhua immediately handed over the Yuan Coin representing his post as Commandery Administrator.

The Yuan Coin’s gentle glow drew the cavalry officer’s attention at once, and then the killing blow was upon them.

The heroic spirits of Panlong City surely loathed the appearance of a foreign mandate token on this land.

At that moment, Sun Fuping was covertly gathering his magic, Nian Songyu was far off, and Zeng Feixiong and the others were locked in combat with the cavalry, leaving He Chunhua completely exposed.

Fortunately, He Lingchuan was standing right beside his father. When he saw the flash of cold light streaking toward them, he did not hesitate and instinctively swung his blade to intercept it.

With a deafening clang, his well-tempered blade snapped cleanly in two, and he was sent flying by the force transmitted by the spear.

It felt as if a giant hammer had slammed into his chest. He could not help but cough up a mouthful of blood, and then—

He soared a full three meters through the air and crashed straight into the pool.

By all rights, the water was only a thin layer, barely covering one’s ankles, but as he plunged in, it was as if he had fallen into a deep abyss. There was a heavy splash, and he vanished without a trace!

However, his interception had worked. The cavalry officer’s spear was knocked off course, skimming past He Chunhua’s armpit instead.

A difference of just several centimeters, yet it was the line between life and death.

Startled, He Chunhua rushed to the poolside. “Chuan’er!”

No matter how he peered in, the water remained shallow, its surface only roiling restlessly.

Nian Songyu ran over, worried that He Chunhua might leap in after his son, but the commandery administrator immediately turned away, hurriedly shoving the mandate token into Sun Fuping’s hands.

“Is Chuan’er still alive?”

“We’ll know in just a moment.” Sun Fuping looked around, then pointed to the nearest sand bandit. “You! Come here.”

“Me?” The man did as he was told, approaching warily.

Sun Fuping led him to the poolside, produced a candle, and reached out to grab something from the man’s shoulder. To everyone’s astonishment, he drew forth a pale blue life fire and pressed it onto the candle’s wick.

The candle flared to life, its flame a faint blue.

The sand bandit stared in shock. “What—?”

“This is your life fire. While the fire burns, you live; when it goes out, you’re dead,” Sun Fuping explained, nodding. “Go on.” With that, he suddenly shoved the man hard.

Despite his age, the old man’s strength was astonishing. The sand bandit did not even have time to react before he was knocked into the pool, following in He Lingchuan’s footsteps.

“Hey!” Situ Han happened to look back just in time to witness this. Dodging a thrust from one of the Gale Army’s cavalrymen, he rushed over. “What are you doing?!”

They were willing to risk their lives for the authorities, but that did not mean that they were going to let themselves be sent to their deaths like this!

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“Hush!” Sun Fuping waved him off, forcing Situ Han back a couple of steps with a surge of force, his eyes never leaving the candle. “Someone must always scout ahead.”

He Lingchuan’s plunge had been too sudden. He needed a second test.

At that moment, He Chunhua’s men surged forward, desperately trying to tie down the cavalry officer.

Ten breaths passed.

Then, twenty breaths passed.

The blue life fire continued to burn.

“He’s still alive.” As soon as Sun Fuping confirmed it, He Chunhua finally breathed a sigh of relief. If that sand bandit was still alive, it meant there was air beneath the water, so chances were that He Lingchuan had survived as well.

“And there’s even better news,” Sun Fuping added with a smile. “No more wrathful souls are emerging.”

It was only then that He Chunhua remembered that ever since this cavalry had appeared, no new wrathful souls had come out of the pool.

In other words...

Sun Fuping gave Nian Songyu a meaningful glance. The latter understood instantly and, with a flip, dove into the pool.

He, too, vanished without a trace.

“This is the only way to seize the Generous Pot,” Sun Fuping said with considerable satisfaction, even as their casualties mounted. He stuffed He Chunhua’s Yuan Coin into the mouth of his staff’s beast head, and the beast then bit down on the coin at once.

“Fall back to the formation, quickly! Form up and hold the enemy!” Sun Fuping struck the ground three times with his staff. “I need all of you to work together and keep your morale high!”

At his command, the entire unit gathered toward the talisman array on the ground.

In this short span of time, they had already lost nearly a fifth of their numbers, while the opposing Gale Army had only lost four members.

These things fought with an inhuman ferocity—well, they truly were no longer human—whenever they were mortally wounded, they would try to take as many enemies with them as possible. If they could kill one more, they would; drag down two, all the better. One cavalryman, after being toppled and having both hands cut off and his chest mangled, was assumed to be finished. Yet just before death, he sprang up, bared his ghastly white teeth, and bit straight through a sand bandit’s throat!