Chapter 00047: Someone Has to Scout the Path
# Someone Has to Scout the Path
Chapter 47
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 47: Someone Has to Scout the Path
Everyone was shocked.
How could a nameless commander of the Windstorm Army be so ferocious?
What they didn’t know was that over a hundred years ago, the Zhong family's military strategy emphasized speed like the wind and aggression like fire.
They believed in striking first with thunderous force to overwhelm the enemy, making it easier to deal with them afterward.
Nian Songyu's face twisted in pain, but he shouted, "It can attack the body! It's the water, the pool water!"
Just a dip in the pool water, and these vengeful spirits could now physically attack?
He Lingchuan, hearing this, snatched the Soul-Calming Banner from his attendant Bai Shan and leaped to the edge of the pool, plunging the white cloth banner into the water.
The white banner soaked up the blood-red water in an instant, but fortunately, the talismanic symbols on it didn’t fade.
Immediately after, he raised the banner and shook it vigorously, splashing water droplets all over his companions.
No one dodged.
Instead, they looked grateful.
At that moment, the ghostly soldiers charged again on their spectral horses.
Zeng Feixiong wiped his face fiercely, grabbed his saber, and leaped forward with a powerful slash.
"Brothers, charge!"
"Clang!" The sound of metal clashing echoed.
His blade struck the tip of the enemy's spear, and both weapons were knocked aside, neither gaining the upper hand.
But the others were overjoyed.
It worked! They were no longer just sitting ducks, helplessly being stabbed or... impaled.
Even though their opponents were cavalry, they had ten times the numbers.
Ten against one—how could they not win?
Morale soared, and everyone drew their weapons, engaging the enemy head-on.
As long as they could land a hit! They were all elite soldiers; the gap shouldn’t be that big.
Situ Han didn’t forget to flatter He Lingchuan: "Young Master, you’re amazing! One move turned the tide!" But he conveniently ignored the fact that Nian Songyu was the first to discover the pool's strange properties.
In truth, it made sense.
This pool of blood connected the realms of the living and the dead, so it should affect both the living and the spirits.
But... didn’t the vengeful spirits emerge from this very pool? Why couldn’t they harm the living when they first appeared?
He Lingchuan glared at the Windstorm Army commander, who was now freely slaughtering his way through the battlefield.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was exactly the scene the enemy wanted.
They reveled in bloodshed, not in clean, bloodless kills.
In just a few blinks of an eye, the commander had killed two men and assisted in killing another.
Even Zeng Feixiong didn’t dare get close.
He Lingchuan turned to He Chunhua with a bitter smile.
"Father, we don’t have enough men."
Though the battle seemed evenly matched, He Lingchuan had a sinking feeling that victory was far from certain.
One vengeful spirit injured three enemies before being dragged off its horse by several soldiers.
Nian Songyu dipped his blade in the pool water and charged forward, decapitating the spirit.
Finally, the enemy suffered a casualty.
But the Windstorm Army commander noticed.
With a flick of his hand, a cold light shot toward He Chunhua.
This time, the spear was aimed at He Chunhua!
Earlier, when the illusory barrier shattered, the beast-headed staff had spat out a dim, cracked orb.
Sun Fuping then extended his hand to He Chunhua and demanded, "The Token of the Land!"
Without hesitation, He Chunhua handed over the hawk-shaped coin that represented his position as the prefect.
The coin emitted a gentle glow, which immediately caught the commander's attention.
The killing blow followed.
The heroic spirits of Panlong City must have despised the foreign Token of the Land that had appeared on their soil.
At that moment, Sun Fuping was secretly preparing a spell, Nian Songyu was too far away, and Zeng Feixiong and the others were busy fighting the enemy.
He Chunhua was left completely unprotected.
Fortunately, He Lingchuan was standing beside his father.
Seeing the cold light hurtling toward them, he didn’t think twice.
He instinctively swung his blade to intercept.
"Clang!" A deafening sound rang out as his refined blade shattered into two pieces.
The force of the spear sent He Lingchuan flying.
He felt as if a sledgehammer had struck his chest, and he couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood before—
He flew over a dozen feet and plummeted into the pool.
Logically, the pool water was only ankle-deep, but when he fell in, it was as if he had plunged into a deep abyss.
With a "plop," he disappeared without a trace!
But his interception had worked.
The commander’s spear was deflected, grazing past He Chunhua’s armpit.
A difference of an inch or two meant the difference between life and death.
He Chunhua was horrified.
He rushed to the edge of the pool, shouting, "Chuan'er!"
No matter how hard he looked, the pool remained shallow, its surface rippling endlessly.
Nian Songyu arrived, worried that He Chunhua might jump in after his son.
But the prefect quickly turned around and shoved the Token of the Land into Sun Fuping’s hands.
"Is Chuan'er alive?"
"We’ll know soon enough," Sun Fuping replied.
He glanced around and pointed at the nearest bandit.
"You, come here!"
"Me?" The bandit obediently walked over.
Sun Fuping led him to the edge of the pool, took out a candle, and reached out to grab something from the bandit’s shoulder.
To everyone’s astonishment, he pulled out a pale blue flame and pressed it onto the candle’s wick.
The candle lit up, its flame a pale blue.
The bandit was momentarily stunned.
"What’s this?"
"This is your life flame. As long as you live, the flame burns. If you die, the candle goes out," Sun Fuping explained with a nod.
"Go on."
With that, he gave the bandit a forceful push.
The strength was astonishing for a man in his sixties.
The bandit didn’t even have time to react before he was sent tumbling into the pool, following in He Lingchuan’s footsteps.
"Hey!" Situ Han turned just in time to see this and, after dodging a spear thrust from a Windstorm soldier, rushed back.
"What are you doing?!"
They were willing to fight for the officials, but they didn’t want to be sent to their deaths!
"Shh!" Sun Fuping waved his hand, and a force pushed Situ Han back two steps.
He kept his eyes fixed on the candle flame.
"Someone has to scout the path."
He Lingchuan’s sudden plunge into the pool had forced him to send someone else to test the waters.
Meanwhile, He Chunhua’s men swarmed forward, desperately trying to hold off the Windstorm Army commander.
Ten breaths passed.
Twenty breaths passed.
The blue flame continued to burn.
"He’s alive," Sun Fuping confirmed, and He Chunhua let out a long sigh of relief.
If the bandit was still alive, it meant there was air beneath the pool’s surface.
Therefore, He Lingchuan was likely alive as well.
"There’s even better news," Sun Fuping said with a smile.
"No more vengeful spirits are emerging."
He Chunhua then remembered that after the initial group of Windstorm soldiers, no new spirits had appeared from the pool.
Which meant—
Sun Fuping exchanged a glance with Nian Songyu, who understood immediately.
With a flip, Nian Songyu leaped into the pool.
He, too, disappeared.
"This is the only way to obtain the Grand Compass," Sun Fuping said, his mood lifting despite the mounting casualties.
He placed He Chunhua’s hawk-shaped coin into the beast’s mouth on his staff, and the creature clamped down on it.
"Fall back! Fall back to the formation and defend!" Sun Fuping struck the ground with his staff three times.
"I need you all to work together and boost morale!"
The entire group immediately retreated toward the protective formation on the ground.
In that short time, their forces had already suffered twenty percent casualties, while the Windstorm Army had only lost four soldiers.
These things fought with a ferocity that was inhuman—well, they weren’t human to begin with—and once they realized they were gravely injured, they would drag as many enemies down with them as possible.
One cavalryman, after being knocked down and having both arms severed and its chest pierced, was thought to be finished.
But with its last breath, it leaped up, bared its teeth, and bit through a bandit’s throat!
(End of Chapter)