Chapter 00182: Dual Sided Battle
# Dual-Sided Battle
Chapter 182
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 182: Dual-Sided Battle
The horse was galloping at full speed when it was suddenly yanked hard, causing its head to tilt to one side.
It was not a renowned steed, merely an ordinary draft horse, unaccustomed even to carrying a person, and now it lost its balance, letting out a long whinny before sliding off.
To put it another way, it was forcibly yanked into a slide.
The passenger's position on the horse suddenly dropped, skimming the ground as it was flung away.
The shadow's target suddenly missed, yet it remained airborne, its momentum unyielding, extending a snake-like, slender object, directly pursuing He Chunhua.
Once struck, it was likely that the victim would meet a grim fate.
It turned out that the mastermind aimed to kill both targets, arranging lethal moves for Ke Jihai and He Chunhua respectively.
However, the He couple rolled into the jungle using the force of their fall, and the snake-like object was only a foot away from He Chunhua's face, with the distance behind them growing ever larger.
Madam Ying let out a sharp scream.
During the fall, although He Chunhua held her tightly, it was difficult to protect her completely while tumbling, and a branch pierced into her calf, going in and out, creating a hole.
The shadow touched the ground and bounced, light as if it had no weight, spinning around to hunt He Chunhua, completely disregarding the others.
It paused for just a moment, allowing everyone to see its true form.
"This is... a werewolf? A leopard-man?" He Lingchuan was taken aback, never expecting the classic werewolf image from another world’s films to be replicated here.
Well, at least most of it was similar.
Its head resembled that of a wolf, but its snout was short, its face large, with four prominent fangs that left a deep impression; its body was human-like, slender and elongated, but its knee joints bent backward, resembling a leopard's hind legs.
The strangest part was that its tail grew directly from the back of its head, the length equal to its body, but completely different from a normal wolf's bushy tail.
It was long and whip-like, with the tip gleaming sharply.
The snake-like object that had just ambushed He Chunhua was this very tail.
When standing, it could strike with its claws like a human, and when crouching, it could run as swiftly as a tiger or leopard.
Now, with its two front paws gripping the ground, its body arched through the air, recalibrating its direction, and charged forward once more!
Its speed was like an arrow released from a bow, nearly impossible to track with the naked eye.
However, as soon as He Lingchuan saw it leap out from behind the solid rock, he drew out a broken knife and threw it like a flying dagger.
In the face of life and death, it was the moment to test the fruits of his hard work.
For the past half month, he had been diligently practicing throwing knives, never slacking off for a single day.
Even while on a boat on Hongchuan, the mast served as the best target.
He persisted in throwing thousands of times each day; even a fool would make progress, let alone He Lingchuan.
He had also estimated the angle, aiming at the direction where the monster would land.
In that instant, he focused his mind, clearing all other thoughts from his head, and wholeheartedly threw the knife.
Indeed, it was impressive; the broken knife followed the trajectory he had predetermined, without a single error.
This was perhaps the most perfect throw he had made in over half a month, with strength, trajectory, and angle all flawless.
He Lingchuan held his breath, watching the broken knife gleam coldly as it shot toward the monster, and then—
It missed.
It veered...!
The monster had suddenly changed direction, rendering his prediction and plan completely void.
He Lingchuan couldn't hold back his breath, feeling frustrated enough to spit blood.
All that effort over half a month!
Fortunately, in that critical moment, the broken knife's miraculous auto-navigation ability kicked in again, making a sharp turn in mid-air.
Though the distance was short and the angle slight, it just so happened to embed itself in the monster's shoulder joint!
It used that arm as a pivot to spin, and an unexpected surge of pain exploded in its joint, causing the monster to let out a roar, unable to maintain its balance, and it crashed to the ground, nearly colliding with He Yue's horse.
He Yue pulled the horse to a stop, flustered as he began to form hand seals and chant.
His cultivation was mediocre, but he knew some spells and usually didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his elder brother.
However, with the He family in a life-and-death crisis, he had to contribute whatever strength he could, refusing to shy away from battle.
"Father, Yuanli!" He Lingchuan urged, spurring his horse, racing past the common youth to the edge of the forest.
As the horse stumbled, he leaped off, the knife energy like a rainbow, aimed at the monster's face!
The tides had turned; now it was his turn to strike from above.
After falling off the horse, He Chunhua rolled to his feet, not bothering to check on his wife, brandishing a Qiankun coin towards He Lingchuan, urgently shouting, "I hereby use Yuanli to empower He Lingchuan!"
In the dim light, the azure kite on the copper coin seemed to move slightly.
He was a court official, a local dignitary overseeing the military and politics of Xiangzhou, enjoying high prestige in the military.
Although the army was not present at the moment, the gathering of people's hearts and the backing of the nation's fortune provided Yuanli!
He Lingchuan felt a surge of light within him.
He already held a position in the military, and with He Chunhua's temporary empowerment, the Yuanli he possessed suddenly became abundant.
At that moment, a thunderous roar echoed not far away!
It was the violent ape.
Then the common youth's surprised voice came through, "It's General Ke! General Ke is still alive!"
It turned out that Ke Jihai had just heard He Lingchuan's shout of "Enemy attack" from the carriage behind, and his heart jolted.
He then witnessed the massive rock crashing down.
The enemy's attack would not cease halfway, so Ke Jihai had no time to think and leaped out of the carriage window, heading toward the side near the cliff.
One of his attendants, without a second thought, followed suit and jumped out as well.
This side was suspended in mid-air, almost free from enemy attacks.
Using the carriage as cover, he nestled against the cliff, able to hide in the enemy's blind spot, regardless of whether they shot arrows, hurled stones, or set fire; he remained calm and unperturbed.
Having been in the military for many years, he had encountered attacks no less than seven times, developing a keen instinct for avoiding danger, with his body reacting faster than his mind.
Unexpectedly, he still underestimated his opponent.
The attacker was a frenzied giant beast that wasted no time and dismantled the carriage.
If he had delayed even a moment in jumping out, he would have ended up like the attendant who failed to leap out in time, crushed into a pulp without a sound.
Fortunately, the horse lantern had already gone out, and the light was dim; he and another attendant crouched at the cliff's edge, and the giant ape surprisingly did not notice them.
When the giant ape threw the carriage aside, exposing its chest, Ke Jihai leaped up, summoning a spear in his hand, and with a whoosh, aimed it at the giant ape's chest!
He no longer concealed himself as he jumped, his entire body radiating orange light, channeling all his Yuanli for a furious strike!
He was the most trusted general of the current monarch, a general of great expectations from the people for quelling rebellions, and the commander of over a hundred thousand elite troops, possessing pure and powerful Yuanli, far beyond what He Chunhua could compare to.
Moreover, with his own formidable combat strength, combined with the boost from Yuanli, this spear shot through the air even before making a sound, piercing into the giant ape's chest!
One man, one spear, actually knocked the massive ape back two zhang, nearly causing it to stumble and fall.
His attendant wasted no time, pulling out a signaling arrow and tossing it into the air.
The specially made arrowhead soared skyward with a sharp whistle, exploding into a shower of sparks.
Ke Jihai could not lead a large army into the capital, so he only brought a dozen elite followers with him.
Tonight, at the Zhu family's night banquet, Ke Jihai had gone up the mountain, leaving them at the foot of the mountain's post station to wait.
This signaling arrow shot into the sky, its sound loud as a ghostly howl, meant to notify Ke Jihai's subordinates:
The general is under attack, come quickly for rescue!
The giant ape clutched its chest, forcefully yanking out the spear, while its other hand, as large as a grinding stone, reached for Ke Jihai.
If it truly caught him, it could easily crush him to a pulp.
Ke Jihai did not evade; the glowing spear tip turned, stabbing toward the giant ape's palm.
This spear was designed for mounted combat, measuring a length of one zhang, perfectly suited for dealing with such a tall and long-armed monster, though it tested the wielder's skill, requiring proficiency even off horseback.
Having learned its lesson, the giant ape did not want its palm to become skewered, so it jumped back, breaking a tree trunk thick enough for a person to embrace, and swung it toward Ke Jihai.
Every move was surprisingly methodical, not merely brute force.
Not far away, the common youth and two horsemen watched in astonishment.
Ke Jihai was not particularly tall, appearing even shorter in front of the giant ape.
Yet as he fought the giant ape, he grew increasingly courageous, forcing the opponent to retreat step by step after several exchanges.
Among these exchanges were several hard clashes of spear against tree trunk, and he surprisingly gained the upper hand!
The giant ape's roars had the effect of a lion's roar, causing even the three standing at a distance to feel dizzy and nauseous, yet Ke Jihai, facing the giant ape directly, did not even blink, as if he had not heard.
But the onlookers understood that this was likely due to the power of Yuanli.
A commanding general like Ke Jihai, with his thick Yuanli, not only enhanced his own martial skills and agility but also exerted a powerful suppressive effect on the enemy's divine abilities and demonic arts.
The specific strengths, weaknesses, and thresholds of increase and decrease were determined by the laws of heaven, but in short, if the enemy lacked Yuanli protection, or if their Yuanli was weaker than Ke Jihai's, they would undoubtedly suffer great losses.
This was also the fundamental reason why the human nation could suppress the demon race, thriving and multiplying.
The giant ape's roar usually could intimidate enemies, but ultimately it was driven by demonic power, a natural divine ability, and thus was also suppressed by Ke Jihai's Yuanli.
The full effect that reached his ears might not even leave two parts remaining.
With that, how could it intimidate a fierce general who had roamed the battlefield for over a decade?
Unbeknownst to others, Ke Jihai himself was puzzled.
The spear that had stabbed toward the giant ape's chest was a full-powered strike; even a large elephant would have been pierced through.
How could this giant ape pull out the spearhead and still continue to fight?
The hardness of its skeletal armor was indeed astonishing, not just fearsome in appearance; could it be the latest military equipment from the northern demon nation?
No, it seemed like it had grown from its own body.
Moreover, Ke Jihai was certain that after the spearhead pierced the skeletal armor, it only penetrated the giant ape's chest by a finger's depth.
For a creature of such massive size, it did not have the effect of a heart-piercing strike.
This demon's body was unexpectedly tough, even a Yuanli-infused spear strike could not take it down?
Ke Jihai's eyes flashed as he shot out three iron barbs, all embedding into the giant ape's body, one in its front leg and two in its back.
The iron barbs themselves were ordinary, but infused with Yuanli, they further suppressed the giant ape's demonic power.
At this moment, even the giant ape's size visibly shrank to the naked eye.
(End of Chapter)