Chapter 277: Retribution

Tao Ze feinted with his halberd and pulled the reins to leave. He Lingchuan raised his wrist and fired a sleeve arrow at him.

Tao Ze heard the wind whistling behind his head and turned his head to raise his halberd to knock it away. But immediately after, his eyes were filled with cold light—

The Floating Life Blade came spinning over.

Tao Ze ducked his head and barely managed to dodge it.

He Lingchuan had thrown the blade almost as soon as he fired the sleeve arrow.

One of the two was bound to hit.

Sure enough, the treasure blade made an abrupt turn in mid-air, circling back from the trickiest angle. Tao Ze was terrified, already unable to dodge, and barely managed to bend his waist and suck in his breath, only to feel a sharp pain in his belly—

The Floating Life Blade swept across his belly, cutting a finger-deep gash! This was even with armor blocking it.

His organs were damaged, and his intestines were about to spill out.

Tao Ze screamed in pain.

He Lingchuan had already run to the Tenglong Spear, reached out and pulled it from the tree trunk, turned around, and stabbed at Tao Ze.

At this moment, Tao Ze was so terrified by the pain that he barely managed to parry Shan Youjun's long blade; how could he have any strength left to protect himself? He Lingchuan stabbed with his spear, and it happened to pierce into his wide-open mouth.

The bright spear tip pierced out from the back of his skull.

He Lingchuan simply hoisted the corpse on the spear tip and roared while riding: "Those who block me die!"

In less than two exchanges, their leader had been killed, and the Xunzhou men in front were almost scared out of their wits; how could they dare to block the road again? They threw themselves to the side of the road for their lives, fearing that if they were slow, they would become souls under the spear.

Shan Youjun was quick-handed, grabbed the fallen Red Tiger Halberd, and followed closely behind He Lingchuan.

The two ran for over ten zhang, and He Lingchuan flicked the spear tip, and Tao Ze's corpse fell to the ground with a 'thud'.

When the Xunzhou soldiers rushed to collect their leader's body, they only saw the dust raised by the two riders as they went far away.

Just a few dozen breaths later, the main force of the Xunzhou cavalry returned.

The continuous whistle sounds just now meant the situation was urgent and the target was exceptionally tricky, so Hong Chenglue had also personally turned back.

Seeing Tao Ze's corpse and the cruelty of that spear strike, he fell silent, and only then asked what had happened.

Tao Ze's men hurriedly reported the process.

"Among the scouts trailing us, there was the person who injured General Baili?" Hong Chenglue frowned. "According to the intelligence from Xinhuang, this person is He Chunhua's son."

In other words, He Chunhua sent his own son to Bai Lu Town to scout for military intelligence? The Xun general Xu Yingxian had a brotherhood with Tao Ze and a deep relationship, so he immediately came to request with red eyes: "General Hong, give me twenty men, and I will definitely smash this brat to ashes!"

"He is riding a Bo Beast; you can't catch up," Hong Chenglue said calmly. "Do you still remember what our mission is?"

Xu Yingxian opened his mouth to refute, but was pulled by the sleeve by Wu Qing on the side, and the words he was about to say were swallowed back.

"Remember." It was behind-enemy-lines assassination and grain raiding.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Hong Chenglue tilted his head. "Time is tight."

The Xunzhou cavalry collectively headed east, advancing rapidly.

Another half an hour later, the rearguard cavalry ran up to report that there were no more enemies trailing them from behind.

Had those two given up?

Hong Chenglue's expression became even more solemn, and he ordered the cavalry to accelerate again.

It was his own arrogance that had allowed these two Xiazhou scouts to escape. The second surprise attack was originally a good move, but now it seemed to be in jeopardy.

He didn't know if he could still seize this time difference.

He Lingchuan and Shan Youjun rode for hundreds of zhang, and seeing no pursuers behind them, they stopped.

"They are quite anxious; they didn't even pursue." He Lingchuan looked at the trembling feather arrow on Shan Youjun's back. "I'll pull the arrow out for you."

"Thank you, Proprietor."

He Lingchuan cut the arrow shaft with his blade and then helped him remove his outer armor. This action affected his injury, causing Shan Youjun to wince in pain, so He Lingchuan poured out a little white fine powder for him: "Eat it."

This was Shituo powder, which could be used externally or internally; its hemostatic effect was average, but a few breaths after Shan Youjun swallowed it, his shoulder stopped hurting.

He Lingchuan pressed a few times near the wound, first blocking the meridians, and only then took a small knife to dig out the arrowhead for him.

Shan Youjun saw that his movements were exceptionally skilled and felt a slight emotion in his heart. In the past, when he was a private soldier in the Li family, he could see clearly that although Old Master Li was a figure, his children and grandchildren were becoming less and less capable; they had read no shortage of books and learned no shortage of principles, but they were just useless. Looking at General Manager He, the eldest son was fierce and brave, and the youngest son was intelligent; both had their strengths, and it was only right that his family could rise and grow.

When they were ambushed earlier, the Medicine Ape Ling Guang had *whooshed* and hidden in the Proprietor's arms; now it climbed out holding a water bag, helping Shan Youjun pour water to clean the wound, and then applied medicine and bandaged it.

With this pill master taking over, He Lingchuan could free up his energy to guard the surroundings.

It was already dark, the evening wind was rising, and the grass and leaves were rustling, as if there were ambushes everywhere.

He Lingchuan plucked a few newly grown tender leaves and wiped the blood-stained spear tip hard. As for the Floating Life Blade, it only needed the blade tip to be pointed downward, and it would be as clean as new in a while.

He was rarely reticent, and his expression was very calm, but Shan Youjun could feel the suppression and anger beneath this calmness.

"Proprietor," he said hoarsely, "you have already avenged Mao Tao on the spot." Settling accounts on the spot was truly rare.

Most people never have the chance to avenge the grudges they form on the battlefield in their entire lives.

He Lingchuan frowned and nodded.

The archer who shot Mao Tao and the enemy general who led the ambush had both died under his hands.

But the anger and sadness in his heart had not eased much.

Mao Tao was an old man who had followed him since the Panlong Dream; it hadn't been long, but he could be called loyal and devoted.

After dying in this battle, there would be no other subordinate who would call him "Young Master" with a smile all day long.

Ling Guang helped Shan Youjun handle the wound with nimble hands and feet, and the latter carefully put his outer armor back on and asked He Lingchuan: "Should we continue to track?"

"Continue." He Lingchuan had already calmed down. "Our mission is not yet complete."

The two turned their horses around and headed toward the Xunzhou cavalry once again.

Approaching the location of the previous battle, both became highly vigilant, fearing they would repeat the same mistakes. However, although there were still traces of battle everywhere here, and bloodstains on the ground and grass, the corpses were all gone.

There were traces of dragging on the ground.

He Lingchuan followed the traces and found a cave not far away, where the corpses were actually piled up. Some pungent medicine water had been splashed at the cave entrance to prevent carrion-eating creatures from approaching.

"They didn't even have time to bury the remains of their own people," Shan Youjun muttered. "They are very hurried."

"They might turn back, but not now." He Lingchuan got back on the Qingbo horse. "Let's go."

It was already dark, and it was not easy to find the trail of the vanguard in the mountains and forests. Fortunately, He Lingchuan had been a demon-catching patrol guard for so long and had learned many tracking skills, so even without Mao Tao now, it was just that the tracking speed was a bit slower.

Half an hour later, he realized something was wrong.

Judging from the traces, the Xunzhou men had turned.

They had turned east.

What was going on?

Could it be that the other side was setting up a feint? But Shan Youjun had also patrolled the vicinity and didn't feel anything unusual.

East?

Why east?

The two looked at each other, and even Shan Youjun, who had been a cavalryman for many years, was confused, finally saying: "Could it be that they want to raid Xinhuang Town?"

"But..." But Baili Qing, Dong Rui, and those many wounded soldiers were all recuperating there; would Hong Chenglue just ignore them? He Lingchuan thought of this, suddenly shivered, and blurted out: "You're right!"

This Hong fellow had such a vicious mind! If it came to the will to win and the means to win, he was truly on par with He Chunhua.

But the problem was, he had already sent Jiao Tai to Xinhuang to report; knowing He Chunhua as he did, it would be strange if he didn't send troops to wipe out the enemy! He didn't know where He Chunhua's army had reached now.

"Don't follow them!" he said decisively. "Return to the main road; it's best if we can intercept Father's team!"

They followed the Xunzhou men east, while He Chunhua led the army west; this was both sides rushing toward each other, except Hong Chenglue had chosen another long way, so the two sides wouldn't meet.

What He Lingchuan should do most now was to take the official road and the shortcut to pass this news to He Chunhua, who was coming west, in time!

The two whipped their horses and sped away.

Traveling at night in an unfamiliar mountain forest was not an easy task; even local mountain people could easily get lost.

At this time, He Lingchuan had to thank his increasingly powerful spiritual sense, which could keep the scenery he passed in his mind. Otherwise, if he turned around a few more times here, he would miss the military opportunity.

About half an hour later, they finally ran out of the mountains and galloped on the official road.

Speed is the essence of war; the Xiazhou army would definitely choose the fastest, nearest, and best road.

He Lingchuan's judgment was correct.

An hour later, the sound of horse hooves in the mountain pass opposite was like thunder; looking closely, dust was flying, and a large group of people had arrived.

Running at the very front was He Chunhua, as well as Jiao Tai who was leading the way.

When the two sides met, He Chunhua was not happy but worried to see his son: "Chuan'er, why are you here? What happened?"

Shan Youjun thought to himself that it was not a family that didn't enter the same house.

"Hong Chenglue set bait in the mine pit to lure us here; he himself took the remaining Xunzhou cavalry to Xinhuang."

This heavy bombshell was thrown out, and the generals were shocked; He Chunhua's eyebrows were almost tied into a knot: "Are you sure?"

"They took a detour, and the traces they finally left behind were heading east, and the march was hurried; they didn't even have time to bury the dead."

"Feinting east to attack west, so that's it." He Chunhua was also a smart man and understood in the blink of an eye. Xinhuang's defenses were empty, and most of the elite had been taken out by him, but the grain and grass were still in the camp! If Hong Chenglue came to pull the firewood from under the cauldron, his grain transport north this time would be a complete, thorough failure!

Thinking of this, a layer of cold sweat seeped out on his back.

However, he was being watched by so many eyes, so he had to be calm at this moment! He Chunhua bit his tongue hard, forcibly steadied himself with the pain and the taste of blood, and suddenly asked about the intelligence in the mine pit. When he learned that there were only the old, weak, sick, and disabled and less than a hundred garrison troops in the mine pit, he decisively let Zeng Feixiong split off a team of four hundred men: "Take the mine pit, take Baili Qing, dead or alive!"

Zeng Feixiong took the order and was about to turn around when He Lingchuan took off the ring on his hand and gave it to him: "Borrow it from you for a while. There are a few jars of high-potency gunpowder inside; I remember you know how to handle this."

"I do." Zeng Feixiong took the ring, looking puzzled. "What is it for?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 278 =====