Chapter 1315: Pursuit

Tonight, Shizhou Tou was destined for chaos. The commoners hid in their homes, trembling, hearing the mixed sounds of footsteps and hoofbeats outside, often interspersed with the clash of metal, curses, and screams. Wanqiliang chased a retreating soldier, and as he jumped over a low wall, a crossbow bolt shot him down.

In the blink of an eye, two enemies jumped from a large tree by the street, landing directly on his horse's back to engage in close-quarters combat.

"Quick, quick, kill him!" Two more people darted out from the street corner, trying to drag Wanqiliang off the horse.

Kill the pursuers, grab a steed—only then would the chances of a successful escape increase; there were still clear-headed ones among the retreating soldiers.

Unfortunately, they had picked the wrong target.

Wanqiliang struck back with his blade, precisely slicing the windpipe of the enemy behind him.

A spurt of hot blood from the enemy's throat sprayed onto his helmet.

He casually threw his spear, pinning an enemy rushing from afar to the ground—the man only had time to let out a short, sharp scream.

Only after freeing his right hand did he have time to raise his arm to cover his throat, blocking a throat-slitting strike from an enemy in front.

The black armor specially made by Songyang Prefecture had lightweight but sturdy arm guards that could block blades.

He solved three people just by raising his hand, but the fourth had already rushed close, having found a sharp pitchfork from somewhere, and took the opportunity to stab at his ankle bone.

There was no military armor protecting that spot.

Just as it was about to pierce him, a stone the size of an egg flew out from the depths of a dark alley, *thud*, hitting the man on the temple.

The man's vision went black, and he stumbled, his fork tip veering off and grazing Wanqiliang's leg armor.

How could he miss this opportunity? With a flick of his wrist, he finished off the last enemy.

Wanqiliang rode over, first retrieving his spear, then looking toward the dark alley.

Behind some broken baskets, a small figure was cowering.

It was a young boy of twelve or thirteen, with a large head and small body, sallow and thin, his eyes filled with terror as he looked at him.

It was hard to tell that those reed-thin arms had such strength in throwing stones.

A corpse was still hanging on the rump of Wanqiliang's horse—the unlucky one he had just killed hadn't fallen off yet. He reached back, lifted it, and threw it in front of the boy, then spurred his horse away.

The boy shrank back in fear, but as soon as Wanqiliang left, he quickly rummaged through the corpse's pockets, finding two pieces of dry rations, which he swallowed almost without chewing.

Over here, He Lingchuan also casually shot a crossbow bolt, helping Wanqifeng eliminate an enemy, and then went straight to chase other fleeing soldiers.

Everywhere he passed was covered in blood, with no survivors. Another enemy was cut in half at the waist by him, his insides spilling all over the ground, but the man didn't die immediately, wailing so loudly the whole city could hear.

The surrounding commoners covered their ears, not daring to listen anymore.

Other retreating soldiers were terrified out of their wits; seeing the black-armored leader, they hugged their heads and scurried away, more afraid than seeing a fierce ghost.

He slashed three more soldiers along the street and passed a post station, where miscellaneous items were scattered everywhere, but it looked empty.

The mirror, however, let out two cackles, reporting to him: "There's a living person in there!"

Where?

The haystack by the wall, piled very high.

He Lingchuan sneered slightly, casually threw the Floating Life Blade, and walked away without even looking.

*Thud, thud*, the Floating Life Blade pierced through the thick haystack and disappeared.

It wasn't until more than ten breaths later that blood gradually seeped out from under the haystack, spreading more and more.

He Lingchuan moved forward again, when suddenly the sound of wind stirred by his ear, and an arrow shot toward his eyes.

Just as he reached out to grab the arrow, a large man jumped out from behind, grabbing a spiked club and swinging it at the horse's legs from behind.

They might not be able to deal with the black-armored leader, but crippling his horse would be good enough to buy more time to escape.

This man not only had the most strength but also the most courage, which was why he was entrusted with this heavy responsibility.

However, just as he raised his club, he froze, his eyes staring blankly, his face dull.

Not far away, his companion was sweating profusely: "Quick, smash it! What the hell are you staring at!"

Yet, as far as the big man was concerned, the spiked club in his hand suddenly weighed more than a thousand jin, and he couldn't swing it at all. He looked closely and saw several people crouching on the ground, hugging the club tightly.

The ground was all mud, and these people were also very dirty, covered in mud and blood, but their faces were clean and pale, their eyes bulging outward.

They smiled at him, and while smiling, they opened their mouths, their upper teeth clattering against their lower teeth, making a *clack, clack, clack* sound.

Some had yellow teeth, some had white teeth, and one woman had a piece of flesh missing from her cheek; from his angle, he could see her back molars directly.

These faces were all very familiar, but when he saw them last time, they weren't smiling so happily; instead, they were full of terror, crying and wailing—

Yes, these were all people he had killed and eaten with his own hands.

The flesh on that woman's cheek was bitten off by him; at the time, he thought it was tender, but now it looked disgusting.

The big man saw these ghosts, his back cold, his limbs stiff, his mind filled with only four words:

"How is this possible?"

These people had long been dead, eaten by him! Were these ghosts coming to claim his life?

No, that's not right! People weak enough to be eaten by him, what right did they have to come and claim his life after death? He roared, just about to pull himself together, when he felt a chill on his neck—

The woman he had eaten pounced on him, baring her white, ghastly teeth, and bit into his throat.

And to his companions, he looked like a wooden chicken, not even knowing how to dodge when the black-armored leader drew his blade.

The latter sliced off his head with one strike and turned to chase his companions.

*Splat*, fresh blood splashed on the wall. Before the head even hit the ground, the look of terror had already frozen on it.

These people naturally didn't know that the ghosts swirling around the Qianglong Battle Armor weren't decorations; within its range, those with lower cultivation or unsteady minds were easily influenced, confused and intimidated by the guilty deeds they had committed or the fears in their hearts.

This was one of the signature skills of the Profound Lu Ghost King, combined with the karma manifested by the Qianglong Battle Armor, it became this current Terror Array—when the Divine Bone Necklace devoured the Profound Lu Ghost King, the Qianglong Battle Armor had retained a little bit of its characteristics.

He Lingchuan chased two retreating soldiers into an alley; these two unlucky ones couldn't escape seven steps either.

The alley was very narrow; the horse couldn't turn around and could only continue forward.

With fewer people, the vicinity became quiet.

He Lingchuan suddenly frowned, hearing rapid breathing coming from behind the mud wall.

One, two... five in total.

Did they think they were hiding well?

"Three soldiers hiding behind the wall, and two more in the corner," the mirror also reminded him. "Strictly speaking, three retreating soldiers broke into someone's house, hijacked two civilians, and are now covering their mouths."

Retreating soldiers scurrying all over the city didn't necessarily all go north; hiding in commoners' homes was perfectly normal.

He Lingchuan tilted his head to look at the mud wall.

The two retreating soldiers inside were exchanging glances:

Don't move, absolutely don't move; the Grim Reaper is just a wall away from us! One of them was covering the mouth of a civilian woman, a dagger pressed against her neck, threatening her not to make a sound.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1316 =====