Chapter 1314: Bursting

Zhao Guangzhi screamed, "No, no, I beg you..." Not far down the street, dust billowed as a massive crowd of men and horses surged forward.

Over five hundred Zhao soldiers had finally arrived, while the rest were still at the city gate, holding back Yang Meng and the garrison.

The streets here were generally narrow; a thousand people packed in had the same effect.

Yet, seeing the scene before them, the Zhao soldiers were stunned. Why, why was there a giant elephant on the main street? How was the formidable General Zhao pinned to the wall in the shape of a cross?

And what was that dark, monstrous thing on the elephant's head?

"Release General Zhao!" Two deputy generals forced themselves to stay calm, their voices sharp but their hearts trembling. "Otherwise, we will..."

Before the words "tear you to pieces" could leave their lips, the sound of rapid hoofbeats echoed, and a squad of black-armored elite soldiers appeared around the corner.

The giant elephant suddenly let out a long, whistle-like cry and charged toward the Zhao soldiers with all four hooves pounding.

Relying solely on its massive weight, it made the ground shake and dust fly across dozens of zhang of road.

The squad of black cavalry followed closely behind, roaring in unison.

This main street was less than two zhang wide; as the giant elephant charged, its bulky body seemed to fill half the space.

If the Zhao soldiers met it head-on, some would surely be trampled underfoot and crushed into pulp in an instant.

The Zhao soldiers felt their scalps tingle with terror.

Facing such a rampaging behemoth, the instinct was to avoid its edge; no one wanted to be the unlucky one. A shout went up from the front ranks, and they turned to scramble toward the back.

The formation fell into immediate chaos.

A deputy general squeezed into the crowd and roared, "What are you hiding for? Attack!"

Before he could finish, the giant elephant charged toward him.

He immediately shut his mouth and turned to squeeze back the other way.

In the blink of an eye, the giant elephant corpse puppet caught up to the crowd and began its trampling, *squelch, squelch*.

One step, one kill; one step, one kill; one step, one kill—it was incredibly fast.

He Lingchuan stood atop the elephant's head, seemingly savoring the joy of the elephant trampling things into a pulp.

Some Zhao soldiers raised their weapons to resist, but the corpse puppet felt no pain; it continued as if nothing had happened, even with four or five spears stuck in its body.

The sight filled the enemy with despair.

As for the black-armored man on the elephant's head, ghosts swirled and darted around him, making it seem difficult for the Zhao soldiers to even aim at him.

"Baa-hahahaha, exhilarating! Too exhilarating!" Under the gleeful command of the Soul-Capturing Mirror, the giant elephant lunged twice to catch up to the deputy general, using its tusks to pierce him from back to front, sending blood spraying everywhere.

The man only managed half a scream before he stopped breathing.

The giant elephant didn't stop; it carried the deputy general on its tusks and lowered its head to charge forward.

Utilizing the favorable terrain, the giant elephant corpse puppet single-handedly chased four or five hundred Zhao soldiers in a frantic retreat toward the city gate. The black-armored knights behind could only eat its dust, having no chance to show their skills.

The commotion at the rear of the Zhao army was soon felt by both sides fighting for the city gate.

The troops blocking the gate were filled with doubt and fear. Yang Meng seized the opportunity, cut down a squad leader with two strikes, and led his men to push forward a few more steps.

Soon, shouts echoed throughout the city: "Zhao Guangzhi is dead!"

"Zhao Guangzhi has been beheaded!"

"Zhao Guangzhi's army has been scattered; their end is near!"

The waves of sound grew, some even coming from inside the city. The Zhao leaders at the gate shouted, "Focus on the enemy! They are spouting nonsense!"

"The General is perfectly fine!"

If Zhao Guangzhi could be finished off so easily, how could he have led them to conquer city after city? Thus, even though the troops at the gate were suspicious, they were not overly panicked.

Until—

Until hundreds of comrades fled in a panic from the city, like a flock of sheep chased by a tiger.

And then they realized, it wasn't a tiger, but an armored giant elephant armed to its tusks! And there seemed to be some black-armored knights as well.

The giant elephant's tusks carried a man as a decoration; even as it swayed with the elephant's steps, the troops at the gate recognized that face—eyes wide with shock, expression twisted in death.

Deputy General Hu! Zhao Guangzhi's trusted Deputy General Hu! Fresh blood dripped down the ivory, leaving a trail along the way.

If Deputy General Hu, who went to reinforce the General, was dead, then what about General Zhao?

This was not far from the streets, and some had heard the General's earth-shattering scream earlier, causing their hearts to sink.

The voice of the black-armored leader pierced through all the chaos, reaching straight into their hearts: "Zhao Guangzhi is dead. Who's next?"

The Zhao soldiers were momentarily struck dumb.

At a time like this, no one would dare shout that the General wasn't dead, especially when the General was pinned to the wall by him...

Another deputy general who had just managed to escape the street saw this and shouted, "Don't panic! There are few of them! Let's kill this bastard and avenge General Zhao..."

Who said an army couldn't have two masters? With General Zhao dead, this force might soon decide on a new leader to lead everyone to turn the tide and slaughter the whole city.

These black-armored cavalry and the giant elephant looked fierce, but there were too few of them. The terrain at the city gate was open; if they organized another battle, they might just turn the tables.

In his haste, he had thought it all through.

But before the last word "vengeance" could leave his mouth, something shot out from the crack in the gate, *whoosh*, and pierced his heart.

The man's eyes went blank.

As he fell to the ground, a crunching sound came from his chest.

Before he could even take command, he was gone.

Inside and outside the city gate, the air suddenly froze.

The black-armored leader tilted his head and gave the order: "Kill!"

This low roar sounded like a thunderclap in mid-air.

The giant elephant let out a long cry and strode toward the city gate.

The black-armored cavalry followed closely, kicking their horses' bellies, their spears leveled.

There weren't many of them, but the Zhao soldiers at the gate had already lost their nerve. Seeing this formation, no one dared to face them.

Even General Zhao Guangzhi couldn't stop them, so what was the point of fighting? They let out a shout and turned to run toward the city gate, no one wanting to be left behind to be stabbed.

Yang Meng roared, "Hold them! Hold them!"

The Zhao soldiers rushed out frantically, pushing and shoving each other, until the pressure fell entirely on Yang Meng.

Before, it was Yang Meng who wanted to enter the city and the Zhao soldiers who blocked him; now the situation was reversed—the Zhao soldiers wanted to escape the city, and Yang Meng and his men were holding them back! In an instant, countless incidents of pushing and trampling occurred.

He Lingchuan couldn't be bothered to count how many people the giant elephant had trampled to death; in any case, three had already been scooped up by its trunk and thrown who knows where.

Dozens more black-armored cavalry arrived from the rear to hunt down the retreating troops.

The resistance at the city gate was too great; Yang Meng and his men couldn't hold on and were forced to retreat step by step.

Trees die when moved, but people live; some retreating soldiers saw the gate was too crowded and couldn't get through, so they remembered there was a Beimen in Liuping.

They could get out there too; why struggle here? "The Beimen! There's still a Beimen!"

With a *whoosh*, hundreds of people scattered in all directions.

The black-armored cavalry immediately split into several squads, one staying to control the scene, while the others hunted down the retreating soldiers fleeing toward the Beimen.

Hearing the hoofbeats behind them, the Zhao soldiers scattered like birds and beasts, specifically choosing winding alleys.

Usually, people couldn't run faster than horses; the black-armored knights pursued on horseback, and wherever they passed, weapons clashed and screams echoed incessantly.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1315 =====