Chapter 197: Ghost Needle Shi Lin

The group understood, and Commandant Sun asked again, "When do we strike?" "What's the rush? He holds a large army and is certain we will ambush Weicheng, so he will wait for us to come to him like a farmer waiting for a rabbit by a stump." This man pressed against the parapet, "We might as well let him wait a while longer; this season is perfect for sleeping in the wilderness."

The officers all laughed. In the deep autumn of the Panlong Wasteland, the temperature drops to three or four degrees below zero at night; if a person stands guard in the wilderness all night, the wind and sand can grind away half the skin on their face. If their opponent traveled directly here from the Baling Kingdom, they could get a good taste of the cold ruthlessness of the Panlong Wasteland tonight.

It was not until two hours later that the rested and recharged Great Wind Army received the order to prepare for departure.

"Commandant Sun, Commandant Liu, take five thousand men to Weicheng, fly my banners, and be as conspicuous as possible." The leader finally gave the order, "If you encounter a strong enemy, there is no need to get bogged down in a fight; just retreat to Puxigou and hold your ground."

"He firmly believes in the speed of war and has committed over ten thousand men, hoping to catch us off guard. Such bold recklessness—once it fails, he will have neither reinforcements nor supplies. This is his fatal weakness; the harder you poke at it, the better. By the way, whoever has the time, shoot down that giant eagle to remove the enemy's eyes and ears, so it will be easier for our subsequent actions."

Both men's eyes lit up: "Yes!"

"Captain Xiao, bring the Baling military uniforms you prepared. The original plan remains unchanged; we will steal into Weicheng."

A quarter of an hour later, the gates of Puxigou swung wide, and the Great Wind Army, in red armor and on furious horses, surged out.

Several large banners in the army fluttered in the wind, each bearing only one eye-catching, crimson character: RED!

Walking into the Ghost Needle Shi Lin, the air suddenly became humid.

Autumn in the Panlong Wasteland is extremely dry; a single spark can burn a large swath of land bare. However, the Ghost Needle Shi Lin is full of holes and caves, high cliffs and low valleys. The high cliffs block the scorching sun, while the low valleys accumulate rainwater; thus, even though the rivers have long since diverted, the stone forest remains much more humid than other parts of the wasteland.

By autumn, more than half of the dense vegetation is still lush and green.

On the shaded sides at the base of some rock walls, ponds and streams have even formed, with drum shrimp and small fish hiding furtively beneath the stone crevices.

The plants also release warm, moist vapor. As soon as He He Lingchuan walked in, he saw cart tracks on the wet mud.

This wouldn't do.

"Is the road ahead this muddy everywhere?" The valley they had entered had far too much moisture; it would be too easy for the Baling people to track the marks on the ground.

To avoid the strong enemy and buy time, General General Nanke decisively ordered the entire army to turn toward the Ghost Needle Shi Lin. He knew very well that this place had roads leading in all directions—some parts were extremely wide, while others were extremely narrow—and since it had never been artificially leveled, it was unrealistic for the entire force to squeeze onto a single path.

Therefore, he divided the entire army into four groups, each with a different number of men, and each leading a portion of the merchants and supply carts forward.

The four groups chose different routes, which could also confuse the enemy and minimize losses to the greatest extent.

Fortunately, the Ghost Needle Shi Lin is a necessary passage for merchants, so each team could be assigned a guide familiar with the area.

In the group where He He Lingchuan was, the luck of the squad leader, Liu Tong, was absolutely abysmal. Out of sixteen squads, two had to draw lots for the rearguard; everyone else cheered after drawing, but only Liu Tong looked like a corpse after grabbing his lot and taking a look.

Needless to say, their nine-man squad had to stay behind to cover the retreat.

Menban was so angry he glared and cursed: "Did you dare to draw lots without washing your hands after squatting in the latrine?"

Liu Tong had no retort and rushed to the front to negotiate, finally managing to bring back a guide.

This guide was also mournful and unwilling, not even wanting to speak. It was unknown how he was usually disliked in the caravan to be thrown into the rearguard team. How was this any different from being sent to die? He He Lingchuan patted him on the shoulder: "Guide us well, and you will definitely survive."

The guide sighed: "I beg you all, I have an eighty-year-old mother and a two-year-old child at home to support."

"Then your family only has four or five people." Menban pointed at the skinny man and said, "His family has over a dozen, and they all rely on him alone."

"Alright, stop messing around." Liu Tong said with a straight face, "This place is good; let's set up a few traps."

Relying on just the ten of them to slow down the Baling army, every clever trick had to be employed.

The group had walked more than ten zhang and entered a bamboo forest. Bamboo is still quite rare on the Panlong Wasteland; although this place was full of moisture, the bamboo was far from as thick and sturdy as in the southern regions, being instead thin and long, like whips.

Having been a hunter, setting snares and making traps was Liu Tong's specialty. He He Lingchuan had also learned many skills from her during his previous dream-entry missions to eliminate demons, so he was able to help.

Working together, the group quickly set up five or six traps. The simplest type involved sharpening bamboo into spikes, bending them, and placing a tripwire near the ground. Once an enemy triggered the wire, they would be struck by the bamboo snapping forward.

With the bamboo tipped with spikes, the feeling would be excruciating.

After setting the traps, the group carefully retreated more than ten zhang and hid their figures behind solid rocks.

After the first wave of enemies fell for it, they would observe the movements of the Baling people and then plan the next deterrent.

Yes, the traps couldn't injure many people, but they could greatly deter the opponent and slow their marching speed.

Besides that, things like ghost-wall illusions or blinding techniques were quite useful against civilians, but they had no effect against enemy troops who also had the support of primordial power.

As long as their primordial power wasn't too weak, they could see through it at a glance.

Then, the group held their breath and waited.

Excellent hunters must also have immense patience. Last night, while tracking the bear demon, they had lain by the pond for three hours.

So, they stared at the bamboo forest before them and waited for a full two quarters of an hour.

The skinny man couldn't help but mutter: "Why haven't they come yet?"

"Isn't it good that they haven't come?" Liu Tong told him to be quiet, "Shh!"

Another half hour passed.

The sky grew dark and the wind picked up, rustling the bamboo forest and sending countless leaves falling.

But other than that, there was nothing here.

He He Lingchuan only saw a large toad hopping across the path as if no one were there, jumping right over the tripwire of the trap.

They couldn't even catch a toad.

"It's been nearly an hour, with only two quarters left." The skinny man slapped a mosquito on his face, "It's a flat fifteen-mile stretch; can't the Baling people reach here yet?"

"Don't wait anymore, let's move forward." Liu Tong said decisively, "While we can still see the cart tracks."

They did not know that the Baling army had actually arrived at the Ghost Needle Shi Lin long ago.

The army was pressing in, but they simply would not go inside.

Torches had already been lit in the rear to light the way, but the vanguard soon passed down an order: "Extinguish the torches, not a single one left!"

The leading general had a scar on his face; he was none other than Hua Hua Mucuo, the Baling commander who had occupied Weicheng. He stared at the iconic outer stone screen of the Ghost Needle Shi Lin for a long while before asking those around him: "General Nanke's army has all gone in, are you sure?"

"The eagles in the sky saw it clearly; General Nanke himself did indeed go in, and his army split into several routes. But the mist and tree shadows in the stone forest are too thick, so the eagles couldn't see anymore."

"As long as they went in, it's fine." A strange smile appeared on Hua Hua Mucuo's face, "Turn four thousand men from the rear wing to guard the northern exit of the Ghost Needle Shi Lin. Remember, no one is allowed to light a fire, not even a tiny spark; and no one is allowed to step one foot into the Ghost Needle Shi Lin! For every Panlong soldier that comes out, kill them!"

His subordinates took the order and left.

Hua Hua Mucuo looked at the Ghost Needle Shi Lin in the twilight and said slowly: "General Nanke, oh General Nanke, I hope you come out alive, so I can gouge out your eyes and peel your skin to console my brother's spirit in heaven!"

He He Lingchuan and the others followed the direction the main force had taken, while not forgetting to erase the tracks left by the carts.

But the far rear remained quiet; no one had caught up.

The sun had already set, and the Ghost Needle Shi Lin was shrouded in darkness. The Baling army had no scruples; logically, they should have lit torches to pursue them.

However, it was pitch black behind them, with only the sound of the wind wailing.

Could it be that they didn't pursue?

Or perhaps, there just happened to be no pursuers on this route, and Liu Tong and the others were just lucky? Menban muttered: "Praying to the Goddess of the Heavens before we left was truly useful!"

Liu Tiao glanced at him: "You haven't done that before?"

Menban laughed dryly: "Well, not really, sometimes I was too busy..."

A "Shh" from the side interrupted their conversation.

However, it was He He Lingchuan who spoke, not Liu Tong. He said in a low, urgent voice: "There is movement ahead!"

Another gust of wind blew, and Liu Tiao, the skinny man, and the others heard it too; they heard human voices.

It was far away, but it sounded like—screams? The group looked at each other and quietly crept over.

To sneak silently through the jungle, the most important thing is "slowness," especially since everyone was leading a horse, and the horses couldn't make too much noise either. After walking more than ten zhang, there was firelight flickering ahead, with horses neighing and men shouting, and the team members also noticed fine white silk beginning to appear on the plants around them.

This is... a web?

The guide grabbed Liu Tong's arm and waved his hands repeatedly, meaning they couldn't go.

The team members ignored him.

As the rearguard squad, they at least had to figure out what was happening.

They hid downwind, pushed aside the dense branches and leaves, and saw a slope leading to a rock wall directly ahead, with sixteen or seventeen men and seven or eight horses on the slope.

These men were waving torches, stabbing their swords and blades only at the ground.

They seemed to be surrounded by a black tide that moved, hissed, and was furry...

In the scorching firelight, He He Lingchuan saw clearly what was surrounding them and felt his hair stand on end.

Spiders!

A tide of dense spiders, each larger than a cat, was frantically attacking these few guards. The sound of thousands of spider legs scraping against the ground sounded exactly like a tide hitting the shore.

Dozens of spiders were slashed to death every moment, but their companions immediately filled the gaps, throwing themselves forward to bite. Some were "sprayer" warriors; after preparing for a long time, they would turn their abdomens toward the humans and spray a dense, thick web.

This kind of web had astonishing stickiness; even with the help of primordial power, it was difficult to cut through with blades for a time. Several guards were covered in webs, and before they could clear them, they were soon wrapped up more and more.

There were also some spiders that were huge, almost the size of jackals; after spraying, they would pull on the webs and move forward, trying to drag them down the slope.

They were actually not afraid of the torches, nor did they care about the primordial power on the soldiers, throwing themselves forward wave after wave.

(End of chapter)