Chapter 00263: A Clash of Enemies
# A Clash of Enemies
Chapter 263
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 263: A Clash of Enemies
Jiao Tai and the others rushed behind He Chunhua, desperately trying to block the rain of arrows coming from behind.
One arrow shot straight toward the horse's hindquarters, but He Lingchuan raised his hand and deflected it.
Unfortunately, Mao Tao was not so lucky; his mount was hit in the hind leg and fell over with a mournful cry.
In an instant, Mao Tao fell behind.
When He Lingchuan turned back, he saw Mao Tao scrambling to his feet, shouting, "Don’t worry about me!" before darting into a nearby low house.
There was a row of low residential buildings, and in just a few leaps, he vanished behind a wall.
The target of the Xunzhou cavalry was the supply convoy, and they had no interest in dealing with such small fry; the main force continued to advance with a thunderous momentum.
Arrows rained down from behind, impossible to block.
He Chunhua simply threw a crystal round token backward.
The token glimmered with the green light bestowed by the national order and instantly transformed into an ice wall as soon as it was thrown, standing between the two horses.
The wall was a finger thick and over ten feet tall, blocking He Lingchuan and the others securely.
Then came the dull thuds of dozens of arrows hitting the ice wall.
The Xunzhou cavalry shouted loudly and brandished their long spears, charging forward.
The ice wall was originally not thick, and after being pierced with dozens of holes, it shattered with a crash when the horses collided with it.
However, during that brief moment, He Chunhua and the others had already dashed back to their camp.
Inside the camp, everyone was in a state of panic.
After ending a long day's toil, they had eaten and drunk, with half the men lying down and falling asleep.
Suddenly awakened, they rubbed their eyes to hear someone outside shouting in a panic, "Lord Mozhe is dead! Lord Mozhe has been blown to death!"
Mozhe Jingxuan was the supreme leader of this supply convoy, and upon hearing of his death, the group was left leaderless.
At that moment, there was a second explosion from the tavern to the east.
Some commanders of the supply convoy were still half-asleep, struggling to find their bearings, while others stumbled to rally their troops for vigilance, but their efforts were in vain.
Then, the Xunzhou cavalry surged in.
The guards outside the camp saw the billowing smoke and dust and blew the alarm immediately.
Those watching the flames from within the camp finally realized that the situation was dire, and they all shouted and fled.
The Xunzhou cavalry roared, their killing intent palpable, and a force of two or three hundred men seemed to have the momentum of a thousand.
The soldiers patrolling outside the supply camp also became intimidated, clutching their long pikes and wanting to retreat.
He Chunhua led the charge into the camp, his voice booming like spring thunder, "I am He Chunhua, the governor of Xiazhou! Who dares to run? Who dares to flee!" He shouted three times with genuine power, shaking the entire place, his voice even drowning out the sound of explosions from the east.
As soon as the title "Governor of Xiazhou" rang out, the steps of the fleeing soldiers slowed.
Although He Chunhua had just been appointed, he had indeed accomplished several significant feats, particularly the string of three victories in hunting down the Xunzhou army, which had made his name well-known in southern Xiazhou.
Most of the soldiers in the supply convoy came from the south, and upon hearing that thunderous title, they first froze in shock, then felt a mix of doubt and joy: Is the Boss here? How could that be?
If the Governor of Xiazhou is personally overseeing things, then the dead Lord Mozhe is nothing to worry about; it’s just a matter of dispatches from the state capital.
He Lingchuan no longer shared a horse with his father; he jumped down and seized another horse.
He heard someone nearby shouting, "Lord Mozhe is dead! The enemies are coming!" Unable to resist his curiosity, he followed the sound, only to see that the person was crouching behind a tent, wide-eyed and alarmingly shouting at the battlefield, without a hint of panic.
He Lingchuan sneered and galloped after him.
This person was not blind; realizing the situation was dire, he turned to flee.
His movements were quite slippery, deliberately choosing a route with many obstacles, anticipating that He Lingchuan's horse would struggle to catch up.
Just as he dashed past a storage facility, a massive, shaggy shadow suddenly appeared before him.
He Lingchuan charged forward, spotting the rock wolf, Lu Xin, who pounced out from behind the storage, silently opening its huge jaws and grabbing this man, tossing him about wildly.
Everyone knows the speed and strength of a wolf’s shake, and this rock wolf was no weaker.
Even from several yards away, He Lingchuan could hear the crisp "pop" sounds, like setting off firecrackers, which were actually the unlucky fellow's vertebrae being dislocated in the wolf's jaws.
Fortunately, He Lingchuan caught up right after to end that person's suffering.
With a single stroke, he severed the head and held it aloft while shouting, "This is the fate of traitors!"
The head he held was not one of the Xiazhou soldiers, but with blood everywhere, who could tell? He shouted a few times and saw the effect; many fleeing soldiers turned to face the enemy as he approached.
Meanwhile, the execution squad regained their composure and began to fulfill their duties.
When they had cut down five or six fleeing soldiers to scare the rest, the momentum of the supply convoy started to turn.
Another instigator causing chaos was quickly pursued by Dan Youjun.
The Xunzhou people had clear divisions of labor; some blew up the tavern, attempting to take out the higher-ranking officials of the supply convoy in one fell swoop, some disguised as merchants hid in eateries to stab at generals who came out to eat, while the rest lay in ambush in the countryside, using the tavern's explosions as a signal to launch a surprise attack on the supply camp!
There were even specialized troublemakers stirring up chaos; they had picked two with especially loud voices, demonstrating how intricate their plans were.
The most extraordinary thing was that the Xunzhou people chose to strike in the town rather than in the rugged wilderness, which caught He Chunhua and his son completely off guard.
It should be known that due to the disturbances from the Xunzhou army, wealthy households in northern and central Xiazhou had gathered men to form local defense teams.
The Xunzhou army could have encountered substantial resistance here.
However, tonight, the county magistrate was hosting Lord Mozhe in the tavern, and local magnates had undoubtedly accompanied him, resulting in their being caught en masse.
Several officers, of course, recognized He Chunhua and immediately swarmed to him, some appearing disheveled, clearly just having crawled out of bed.
He Chunhua did not scold them; instead, he loudly commanded, "Form up to meet the enemy! Spread the word that the enemy has only a hundred riders!"
With the Governor of Xiazhou present, the mood among the troops stabilized.
They cursed while gathering their forces.
The issuing officer shouted again and again, "To meet the enemy, to meet the enemy! The enemy has only a hundred riders!"
The Xunzhou cavalry charged into the camp, indeed generating a wave of chaos.
They hacked at anyone in sight and set fire to tents and supply carts, as if they were unstoppable.
The Xiazhou soldiers were momentarily baffled, fleeing or hiding.
Seeing this, He Lingchuan pursed his lips and whistled a few notes: two long and three short.
Then he turned his horse’s head and charged toward the nearest enemy general.
This was his way of summoning his subordinates, and upon hearing the whistle, the rock wolf and Dan Youjun dropped what they were doing and quickly caught up.
Not far away, Jiao Tai had been protecting He Chunhua, but as the Governor's personal guards increased in number, he too heard the whistle and turned with his men.
The approaching Xunzhou general was exceptionally fierce, his body radiating vital energy; with two blows, he could send a soldier flying.
Another frail Xiazhou soldier was battling against him when the general launched a side strike, stabbing him in the abdomen with his spear.
The spear had a hook, and when he pulled back, he yanked out the man's intestines.
They referred to this as flying a kite.
The small soldier fell to the ground, rolling and moaning in pain, and the nearby Xiazhou soldiers dared not approach.
The Xunzhou general laughed heartily, breaking free from his guards, and charged forward, as if in a place free of opposition.
As he was in high spirits, he suddenly felt a gust of wind behind him; it was He Lingchuan slicing in from the side, attacking without a word.
The Floating Life Blade displayed no strange phenomena; it looked like an ordinary long sword, and He Lingchuan himself wore common soldier’s armor.
The Xunzhou general showed a look of derision, flicking his spear defensively.
A length of weapon was an advantage; did he really think he could match a long spear with a short blade? How naive!
He employed his spear with finesse, first executing a flashy thrust aimed at He Lingchuan's throat.
If the latter tried to block, the spear's tip would drop first and stab into his belly.
He was attempting to fly another kite.
At that moment, an arrow suddenly shot in from the side.
It was Mao Tao hiding behind the burning storage, seizing the opportunity to send an arrow toward the general, aiming directly for his eyes.
The general barely had time to react, tilting his head to evade, causing his spear to shift just a couple of inches, and he couldn't execute his flashy trick that he had planned underneath.
Just two inches.
His grip was already sufficiently steady, and the rearward tilt of his upper body didn't impede the spear tip from snapping upward, still darting like a viper to jab at He Lingchuan's chin.
This youth unexpectedly made a sweeping cut from below with both hands gripping his knife.
It was a novice's error.
Such a move was painstaking and unproductive; if the spear made contact, it would only push aside the spear shaft; yet if the move failed to establish control, he would be left with a hole punctured in his jaw, offering little alterability to counteract the adversary's follow-up.
However, He Lingchuan’s movement was as swift as lightning, day after day of practicing his "Waveslicer" technique finally yielding results.
Confidence, momentum, and strength—all were indispensable.
He had to deliver a strike that was both entirely precise and energetically charged.
The Xunzhou general's subordinates saw them barely slide past each other; the snow-white radiance from their clash nearly blinded them.
When the weapons clashed, that long knife, which had remained understated until now, finally erupted with a potent killing intent, akin to a fierce tiger lurking silently, now leaping into action.
The two rushed toward each other, and the reaction time was short—the so-called moments slipping by quickly, and in that instant, the general felt his hand lighten, followed by several things flying into the air—
An arm;
A handful of furious blood;
And half a spear sailing away, its break exceptionally clean.
The general cried out in pain, blood gushing from the severed arm.
The opponent appeared unscathed, and with a swift turn, He Lingchuan charged back.
His subordinates were alarmed, "Lord Baili is injured!"
"Protect Lord Baili!"
Dozens swarmed forward to shield the injured "Lord Baili".
The latter, with one arm severed, had blood streaming from his right shoulder and felt intense pain, nearly collapsing, had it not been for his guards rushing up just in time.
He nearly fell prey to Lu Xin's ambush—this creature would jump to bite at the throat.
He was both frightened and furious, and amidst the sharp pain, he did not forget to spew vitriol at He Lingchuan.
He had underestimated his opponent; this single person with a knife seemed too ordinary, just like the roughly ten small soldiers he had previously killed.
Unexpectedly, it was a wolf hiding among the sheep.
That knife... that knife was oddly sharp, cutting through the cold iron spear he had relied on for many years with ease, just from one exchange of blows!
How could one wield such a divine weapon like that and be an ordinary person? Why was he still wearing soldier's leather armor, mingling with lowly troops?
Lord Baili felt akin to picking peaches from a tree, only to grasp and find they were not peaches; raising his head, he saw the furious face of a lion right before him…
Figures of importance are prone to take pride in their status; what audacity this fellow had!
(End of Chapter)