Chapter 210
Chapter 210
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 210
>Chapter Title: Blood
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A drop of fresh blood splattered into Li Huowang's slightly open mouth, agape from extreme shock. "Salty, fishy, and bitter."
Li Huowang had no time to savor the taste further, as the halberd gleaming with cold light pierced through Jinshan Zhao's body and smashed toward his face.
This attack had been aimed at him from the start; Jinshan Zhao was just collateral.
Li Huowang instinctively switched positions in a flash, shifting his real body two inches to the left.
"Boom~" The halberd stabbed right through Li Huowang's head before slamming heavily into the ground behind him, cracking the earth into pieces.
Unharmed, Li Huowang looked down at Jinshan Zhao on the ground. He watched the smile fade from his face, gradually replaced by confusion.
Jinshan Zhao's mouth opened toward Li Huowang, as if he wanted to say something, but the light in his eyes quickly dimmed.
Staring at Jinshan Zhao's bisected corpse on the ground, Li Huowang felt a suffocating tightness in his chest. This wasn't how things were supposed to go.
Just moments ago, Jinshan Zhao had been full of grand ambitions, and now he was dead—dead without a sound, like some kind of joke.
"Clop clop clop." Unceasing hoofbeats echoed from the distance. Li Huowang looked up that way, the fire in his heart burning ever hotter.
When it reached its peak, he roared at that familiar faceplate, "Peng Longteng!!"
Peng Longteng, leading over a hundred cavalrymen, slowly rode her custom ironclad mount through the pass. After hiding for so long, she had chased them down at the last moment.
Through the slits in her faceplate, her single eye spotted the unscathed Li Huowang. A cold smile crept across her tattoo-covered face.
"You've got some tricks, I'll give you that. I underestimated you before, but not this time. You managed to injure this general, so you've got some skill. As such, I'll grant you a complete corpse. Hya!"
The hundred ironclad riders roared in unison, charging toward the lone Li Huowang with thunderous clamor and earth-shaking momentum.
Just as they reached the halfway point, Peng Longteng suddenly pointed at Li Huowang with her finger. "Loose!"
All the cavalry drew their bows at once, unleashing a rain of arrows straight at him.
Faced with this desperate situation, Li Huowang didn't dodge at all. He kicked off the ground with his right leg, hoisted the Heavenly Book over his head, and charged straight at the oncoming cavalry.
This was open plain—cavalry territory. Running was out of the question. All he could do now was fight to the death!
"Swish~" An arrow shot from a tricky blind spot, stealthily piercing Li Huowang's chest.
But it made no difference. Li Huowang separated his real body from his phantom once more.
He was very close to them now—close enough to see their expressions.
"That's an illusion! The kid's gotta be nearby! Flush him out like we did that black-faced monk!!"
With a clatter, Li Huowang saw the cavalry line scatter instantly, circling around him.
As they galloped, the brigand cavalry kept loosing arrows all around Li Huowang.
They left no spot unchecked, as if determined to fill the area with arrows and force him out.
"Thud." A sharp, barbed awl plunged straight through the palm of Li Huowang's hand.
With a quick twist and yank, accompanied by Li Huowang's hysterical scream, the marrow was ripped from his forearm. Mixed with blood, it splattered onto the Heavenly Book.
The warhorses charging at full gallop suddenly stumbled as if stepping into invisible pits. Their front legs buckled, sending them and their riders crashing to the ground.
The chain reaction caused chaos—horses and men tumbling everywhere, halting the arrow barrage.
Suddenly, Li Huowang felt a shadow loom overhead as Peng Longteng swung her massive halberd down at him.
She wasn't aiming for Li Huowang himself, but the Heavenly Book in his hands!
Li Huowang rolled left clutching the Heavenly Book to dodge, then decisively kicked off with his right foot. Using the armor plates on a fallen warhorse for footing, he thrust his sword at Peng Longteng's faceplate.
He planned to repeat his previous trick.
"Clang!" The metal clash rang out crisply.
But this time, Peng Longteng didn't target Li Huowang's body. With one hand on her halberd, she swept it in a horizontal arc that swept a thousand foes.
A whistling gust arose as she turned everything around her into her attack radius.
Midair, Li Huowang arched his body backward desperately, barely dodging by a hair's breadth.
In the next instant, however, Peng Longteng seemed to sense his position and kicked out with her right foot, slamming into Li Huowang's gut.
Spewing blood, Li Huowang crashed into a roadside mud hut, collapsing the ramshackle structure in a cloud of dust.
As Peng Longteng led her troops to slowly surround the spot, the dust settled to reveal—no Li Huowang inside.
"Earth escape?" The thought had barely formed when battle-hardened Peng Longteng sensed extreme danger. She flipped off her horse in a flash.
The next moment, her warhorse's belly split open without warning.
Once the horse was cleaved in two like Jinshan Zhao before it, Li Huowang's blood-drenched phantom finally emerged belatedly from underground.
Just now, Li Huowang had discovered a new use for his ability: by shifting the phantom downward into the soil, his real body standing outside could turn invisible.
And this might just be the key to defeating Peng Longteng.
As soon as Li Huowang landed heavily sword in hand, the blood-smeared body beneath him sank back into the earth.
Eyeing the now-dismounted Peng Longteng nearby, the invisible Li Huowang crept toward her, sword at the ready.
But just as he drew near, Peng Longteng strode forward and yanked a brigand cavalryman down by hand, mounting his horse in one fluid motion.
A cold laugh emanated from behind Peng Longteng's faceplate. "Kid, don't think a few parlor tricks let you run wild. Those tricks aren't foolproof. A soldier's stratagems are far more useful—like the one called 'feint east, strike west'!"
With that, Peng Longteng wheeled her horse and galloped off with her brigand cavalry into the distance.
Li Huowang froze for a split second before a chill ran through him—they were heading toward Bai Lingmiao and the others!
He whirled to chase after them at once, but on foot, he couldn't match their speed. The horsemen arrived before he did.
Hearing the women's screams from afar, Li Huowang swiftly unfurled the Heavenly Book.
Agonizing pain drilled through him, matched by the distant tumult of men and horses toppling.
Sharp bone spurs burst from his swollen fingers, spinning as they flew toward the same direction.
Next, Li Huowang ripped open his clothes and gripped the edges of a wound. Veins bulging on his face, he let out a furious roar.
A lump of mangled flesh and blood slapped heavily onto the Heavenly Book.
(End of chapter)