Chapter 00095: Prefect Sun’s Special Contribution
# Prefect Sun’s Special Contribution
Chapter 95
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 95: Prefect Sun’s Special Contribution
He Lingchuan secretly regretted it.
He had never practiced archery before, yet this arrow had miraculously hit its mark! He had already crossed the second line of the carriage formation and was hiding behind a wagon when he fired those arrows.
In truth, he was only about ten paces away from Meng Shan—though, of course, that was measured by Meng Shan’s stride.
For the next shot, he aimed for the knee, the same spot Xiao Tongling had struck earlier.
Unfortunately, this time his aim was off.
The arrow struck the thick armor, not even piercing the metal plates.
He fired another arrow.
Still, it didn’t even scratch the surface.
But Meng Shan was successfully enraged.
More importantly, he remembered his primary duty was to break through the formation! Xiao Tongling was hard to kill, so he decided to focus on completing his mission first.
Taking advantage of Xiao Tongling being pushed back, he turned and charged toward the second line of the carriage formation!
Mud and water splashed everywhere.
He Lingchuan could even feel the wagon he was lying on trembling. “Move aside!” the squad leader nearby urgently ordered.
Everyone scattered like birds and beasts.
With a sharp crack, the wagon toppled, and the boxes fell.
Meng Shan roared, lifting the wagon high above his head and hurling it into the river! In that instant, a surge of green light erupted from his body.
“Holy crap!” He Lingchuan cursed under his breath and bolted.
But even as he ran, he didn’t forget to fire one last arrow from his remaining stock.
He chose a particularly vicious moment—right when Meng Shan was throwing the wagon, his hands fully occupied.
The other soldiers of the Gale Army had the same idea.
Arrows rained down like a storm.
Meng Shan immediately ducked his head.
His face was already red and his neck thick, so when he retracted his head, it looked like a turtle retreating into its shell.
Most of the arrows struck his heavy armor, but two found their mark—one in his neck and the other in his eye socket.
Yet Meng Shan didn’t fall.
With a leap, he followed up with a ground-shaking shield slam.
Another wave of Gale Army soldiers fell. “Stop jumping already,” He Lingchuan thought nervously.
This guy wasn’t a frog, so why was he so bouncy? A few more jumps, and the trap would be useless!
Fortunately, it seemed this move wasn’t something he could use at will.
Meng Shan switched to striding forward, preparing for a charge.
Being hit by him would be disastrous—He Lingchuan was living proof of that.
But just as he took three steps, a metallic *clang* rang out from the ground.
Meng Shan felt a sharp pain in his leg, so intense he couldn’t stand.
He collapsed with a roar, and the ground shook as if it couldn’t bear his weight.
“We got him! We got him!” The soldiers cheered, and He Lingchuan let out a long sigh of relief. “Thank you, Prefect Sun.”
Meng Shan looked down and saw his calf firmly clamped in a massive bear trap.
He couldn’t wrap his head around it—how could something like this appear on a battlefield? In truth, these were Prefect Sun’s stockpiled traps, each over three feet in diameter.
There were four in total, originally meant for capturing bears that could weigh over 1,200 pounds.
Those beasts were thick-skinned and immensely strong, so the traps were the largest and most powerful available.
The Gale Army had buried them two zhang behind the second line of the carriage formation, covering them with mud, leaves, and a marker only they could recognize.
In the pitch-dark environment, who wouldn’t fall for it? This was He Lingchuan’s underhanded trick.
No matter how strong Meng Shan was, he was still human.
The trap snapped his leg bone instantly.
With nearly 200 pounds of armor, he couldn’t stand.
He rolled on the ground, howling in agony.
He Lingchuan finally felt a sense of vindication.
“Seal the gap!” the squad leader ordered the soldiers to move the wagons and plug the breach in the defense.
During this time, sporadic enemies charged forward, but they were swiftly dealt with.
It was clear Meng Shan held high prestige in the Balin Army.
His fall and agonized cries immediately shattered their morale.
The Gale Army’s opponents suddenly weakened.
With the added boost from the Imperial Edict, they were already stronger than their individual foes.
Now, the gap widened further, and killing became even easier.
The battle line slowly shifted back, even threatening to push past the first carriage formation.
If they could seal this gap, all of Balin Army’s earlier efforts would be for naught.
Just then, an archer on the riverbank suddenly pointed and shouted, “Enemy reinforcements! Enemy reinforcements are here!” As soon as the words left his mouth, the sound of attacking horns echoed from the Balin Army’s rear.
Xiao Tongling stabbed an opponent with his spear before asking, “How many are there?” “Eight hundred—no, at least a thousand!” The enemy’s reinforcements had arrived first.
Xiao Tongling’s expression darkened as he waved for the soldiers in the rear to emerge from cover and clear the enemies within the first carriage formation.
The wagons here were nearly destroyed and needed to be repositioned.
Working under enemy fire was no easy task.
He Lingchuan, injured, stayed behind the second carriage formation and asked another wounded soldier, “Why aren’t we releasing the Heart-Bewitching Insects to help?” The Heart-Bewitching Insects were the Three Corpses Insects, as everyone called them.
“Huh? What are you talking about?” The wounded soldier gave him a sidelong glance. “What’s that? Never heard of it.” Huh? Did the Gale Army not know about the Three Corpses Insects? He Lingchuan couldn’t explain, so he just chuckled awkwardly. “Never mind, never mind. I must’ve remembered wrong.” But he couldn’t help wondering—had Commander Zhong and General Hong kept the Three Corpses Insects as a secret weapon, unknown even to their own troops?
In the end, they had to rely on themselves.
Just as the Gale Army finished setting up their defenses, the enemy tide surged forward.
...
Half an hour later.
The riverside slope was stained with blood, hardly an inch of mud left untouched.
The three lines of carriage formations were destroyed, with only the last one still standing.
He Lingchuan and the others had retreated behind the third line of defense.
This was the Gale Army’s final line, their lifeline, so the fighting was exceptionally fierce.
The archers on the riverbank had been wiped out by the enemy, who now held the high ground.
Arrows rained down from above, causing significant disruption to the Gale Army.
This isolated, hopeless situation was the most despairing.
A man with cracked lips and a numb expression muttered, “Where are our reinforcements? Where are they?” The enemy’s reinforcements had arrived, but theirs were nowhere to be seen.
Xiao Tongling was also heavily injured, with a gash on his face that had peeled back the flesh.
It was from a stray arrow shot from the riverbank, nearly costing him an eye. “They’ll come,” he said coldly. “Hold your blade. Ask one more question, and…” He didn’t finish, because a broken spear shot out from behind a wagon and pierced the man’s chest—he would never get to ask again.
Hu Min fired an arrow in return, avenging the man.
He was too close to the wagon, so He Lingchuan helped him up and moved him a few steps away, leaning him against a rock.
Hu Min nodded at him. “Thank you. I’ll remember you.” He Lingchuan smiled back, though he knew that wasn’t possible.
(End of Chapter)