Chapter 219

Encountered an unforeseen disaster?

"Do we still have to withdraw?" none.

Feng San heard the words and showed a look of contempt, "What nonsense are you spouting? The situation in Niu Village—surely this general knows it? There are just over a hundred people, more than two-thirds are elderly, weak, women, and children. Do you really think the five-thousand Zhenhuang Army will fall into their hands? Ridiculous!"

"General, when two sides clash, it's not always the case that the side with more people will surely win," a Deputy General explained worriedly. "Moreover, although you, General, understand the situation here, the soldiers of the Zhenhuang Army do not. If the villagers had already set traps or some kind of ambush in the village, it could very well cause our people to suffer a setback!"

Another Deputy General also advised, "From the start, the Village Chief brought a few villagers to wait at the village entrance, and I felt they were acting arrogantly, as if they weren't afraid of us. Thinking back to what just happened, the more I think about it, the more I believe they are luring our soldiers into the village. General… forgive my bluntness, you may have fallen into a trap!"

After they finished speaking, they and several other Deputy Generals said in unison, "Please, General, order a retreat and notify the soldiers to withdraw quickly!"

Feng San flew into a rage, dismissed the Deputy Generals' analysis with contempt, and even thought these people were looking down on him, deliberately fabricating lies to scare him, and angrily said, "If you keep spouting nonsense, you'll be dealt with under military law!"

In the cold wind, the smell of blood grew stronger.

A strong sense of unease made several Deputy Generals feel like they had a thorn in their backs.

"Feng San, if the five-thousand Zhenhuang Army suffers losses here, we cannot answer to the Supreme General! If you want to apply military law, then do so! I, your subordinate, am sorry!"

A Deputy General finished speaking, took the horn from his waist, and blew it hard.

The deep, resonant retreat horn pierced the howling cold wind, echoing over Niu Village.

Feng San flew into a rage, drew his sword and pointed it at him, shouting, "You dare defy this general's orders? You're asking for death! Do you really think this general wouldn't dare kill you?"

Just then.

The Deputy General he had just sent out to scout the village situation returned.

As if struck by great terror, his face filled with fear as he shouted, "Dead… all dead! Nothing but corpses! Run!"

Feng San and the others froze.

Watching that Deputy General ride his horse madly past them at high speed, not looking back, he charged toward the distance.

"This…" Feng San was dumbfounded.

"Chase after him!" the remaining Deputy Generals decisively followed.

Feng San looked toward the village with uncertainty, and could only hurriedly follow the Deputy Generals away.

The Deputy General fleeing on horseback, panicked and heedless of the path, had his horse's hooves step into a pit, throwing both man and horse to the ground.

Only then could Feng San and the other Deputy Generals catch up, after great effort subduing him, and from his mouth learn what he had seen upon entering the village.

He said, corpses of the Zhenhuang Army lay everywhere in the village.

The further one went in, the more corpses there were, to the point of blood flowing like a river.

He also saw the surviving Zhenhuang Army fighting against countless black silhouettes.

The wind and snow were too fierce; he could not make out the shapes of the black silhouettes.

He could only see that the Zhenhuang Army had no power to resist, their lives mercilessly reaped by those who moved like ghostly shadows.

That terrifying one-sided crush shattered his courage; he dared not approach further, turned and fled.

In short, the five-thousand Zhenhuang Army was surely annihilated.

Hearing these horrifying circumstances, Feng San's whole body began to tremble, his face turning deathly pale.

Several other Deputy Generals, though they had seen battle before, were also filled with terror.

"Don't just stand there, run! Hurry back to Zhenhuang Pass!" a Deputy General shouted.

The few of them, as if waking from a dream, hastily continued to flee on horseback.

Feng San came to his senses, yet hesitated.

He recalled the military order he had issued…

Originally full of confidence, certain he could lead the troops to capture the Xuan Guo camp in the Xuanhuang Shanmai, but… before even entering the mountains, his five-thousand Zhenhuang Army was completely wiped out.

If he returned, according to the stipulations of that military order, wouldn't he have a leg cut off by the Supreme General?

Thinking of this, Feng San felt his leg already beginning to ache.

Ahead, the silhouettes of several Deputy Generals were about to disappear in the wind and snow.

Behind, a strong smell of blood came surging like a wave.

Feng San's heart pounded with fear and cold sweat covered him; turning his head, he couldn't tell if he truly saw it or if it was a hallucination born of terror—it seemed that in the vast wind and snow, countless murderous, sinister black silhouettes had already poured out of the village.

"Ghost… ghost!"

Feng San let out a roar, whipped his horse's rear with a lash, and in utter panic chased after the Deputy Generals' retreating backs.

Returning to Zhenhuang Pass would mean losing a leg, but if those black silhouettes caught up, it would mean death!

Who needs to weigh which is more important?

Soon, the silhouettes of Feng San and the others fleeing on horseback vanished into the wind and snow, and the deep hoofprints left in the snow were quickly covered by fresh snowfall.

Ning Jinli's tall figure appeared at the village entrance, calmly watching the direction they fled.

"Fairy, the Zhenhuang Army that entered the village has been completely slaughtered." A Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army soldier came to her side to report, "Only Feng San and his few Deputy Generals remain, and the drone continues to track them."

Ning Jinli nodded, "Sync the tracking information to the camp, so they can also prepare for the assault on Zhenhuang Pass."

"Yes, Fairy!"

In the recent battle, the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army brought by Ning Jinli won a complete victory, and incidentally gauged the approximate combat strength of the Wasteland Nation's Zhenhuang Army.

It can be described in four words as "not able to withstand a single blow."

Considering that the road through the Xuanhuang Shanmai that could connect east and west is still unfinished, but with multiple routes provided by the Old Village Chief, several thousand Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army troops remaining at the camp can now be deployed.

Moreover, Zhenhuang Pass, built relying on the terrain, is relatively concealed; even the Old Village Chief of Niu Village doesn't know how to get there, and the pass is surrounded by many traps—if one is unfamiliar with the routes, even the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army would suffer a setback.

Now it's fine—by using a drone to track Feng San and his few Deputy Generals, we can find the optimal attack route.

With the speed of thunder before one can cover their ears, we will march straight on Zhenhuang Pass.

This is far more convenient than having the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army's scouts use drones to scout the route themselves.

Thus Feng San and his companions had no idea that their escape was entirely because Ning Jinli had deliberately let them go.

Moreover, the Wasteland Nation Border Army stationed at Zhenhuang Pass also had no idea that great calamity was imminent.

"Report, General! General Feng is back!" a soldier hurried into the Zhenhuang General's tent.

The Zhenhuang General was both shocked and delighted, "In less than half a day, General Feng has already taken Xuan Guo's secret camp? Good! Excellent! I will richly reward you!"

The soldier's face fell, "No, General..."

The Zhenhuang General was so excited he failed to notice the soldier's reaction, and he hurried out of the tent on his own, eager to see Feng San.

But as soon as he stepped out of the tent, he saw Feng San and several deputy generals approaching with grim faces.

They looked disheveled, and their armor was nowhere to be seen.

"General..." Feng San fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowing heavily, "I was careless... the five thousand Zhenhuang troops you assigned to me... all... all lost, I... deserve death!"

The deputy generals also all knelt down, saying they had come to accept punishment.

The Zhenhuang General stared for a moment, his cheek twitching, "You're not deceiving me, are you? Five thousand Zhenhuang troops! How could they all be gone?"

Feng San wept bitterly, "I dare not deceive the General!"

The Zhenhuang General's vision went dark, and he nearly collapsed.

"Feng San!" he grabbed Feng San's collar and lifted him up, shouting angrily, "Didn't you tell me the camp had at most two thousand people? I gave you five thousand troops for a surprise attack, and you managed to wipe out the entire force?!"

Feng San trembled all over from fear of the General's angry expression, unable to speak.

Instead, a few deputy generals explained, saying General Feng had not yet led his troops to attack Xuan Guo's camp; he had only gone to Niu Village.

Moreover, no one knows what happened to those five thousand Zhenhuang troops; they all died there.

"What?!"

The Zhenhuang General's pupils contracted violently; this situation was simply absurd, a thousand times more outrageous than he had imagined, and he could hardly believe it.

"How many people could a broken village have?!"

"We had five thousand troops! Five thousand! They were wiped out in the village!"

"You... you really aren't spouting nonsense, are you?!"

Faced with the General's stern questioning, Feng San was terrified to the point of nearly fainting.

It was only after a few deputy generals gave a detailed account of what they knew that the General accepted the fact.

The Zhenhuang General threw Feng San to the ground, kicked him repeatedly to vent his anger, then panted and asked, "You didn't even figure out who the enemy was?"

The deputy generals shook their heads.

The Zhenhuang General's face turned ashen, "Men! Drag these idiots away and behead them all! Hang their heads on the city gate!"

"General, spare our lives!"

The deputy generals hurriedly begged for mercy, while simultaneously pushing all the blame onto Feng San.

What they said was, in fact, true.

If it weren't for Feng San's unauthorized trip to Niu Village and his clueless command, the Zhenhuang Army would not have suffered such heavy losses.

Feng San knew he could not argue, so he remained silent.

The Zhenhuang General suppressed his anger, "In that case... you few, go receive fifty military strokes each! Feng San, be executed publicly!"

"Thank you, General, for your mercy!" the deputy generals exclaimed, relieved, and quickly withdrew.

"General..." Feng San, seeing he was about to be executed, mustered courage out of survival instinct, crawled to his feet, and begged desperately.

"I have pledged a military oath and am willing to accept punishment... Please, General, consider that I did not intend this; it was merely a momentary mistake that led to error, and spare my dog's life!"

"I am loyal to the General; otherwise I would not have willingly returned to accept punishment. Moreover..."

"Moreover, General, you still need me to guide you to find the Xuan Guo border troops' camp in the mountains!"

"General... I am still useful; please spare my life for now!"

The Zhenhuang General's anger flared up, yet what he said was not without reason.

Most importantly, keeping him alive is indeed still useful.

"Alright... alright! Then I'll spare your dog's life for now!" the Zhenhuang General gritted his back teeth, drew his long blade, and slashed at Feng San's right leg.

Swish—

The blade flashed.

Feng San's right leg was severed from his body.

A spine-chilling scream rang out immediately.

"Take him to be bandaged." the Zhenhuang General coldly ordered, wiped the blood from his blade, and turned back to the tent.

The screaming, wailing Feng San was quickly dragged away, leaving his leg and a pool of glaring blood on the ground.

In the blink of an eye, night was approaching.

A deputy general who had received the military strokes was carried into the General's tent.

The Zhenhuang General frowned, "Why aren't you resting? Why come to my presence? Do you think I'm not angry enough?"

"General..." the deputy general lay on the ground, weak and breathless, "I've thought it over, and the whole affair from start to finish seems extremely suspicious; I suspect... the ones who killed our five thousand Zhenhuang troops in Niu Village this morning might be Xuan Guo's Zhenxuan Army."

The Zhenhuang General coldly replied, "On what basis?"

The deputy general, thinking as he spoke, said, "In this Xuanhuang mountain range, aside from us, there is only the Zhenxuan Army; I really can't think of any other possibility."

"Nonsense!" the Zhenhuang General's face darkened, "When did the Zhenxuan Army become so strong? If they were that capable, they could easily set an ambush in a village and wipe out five thousand of our troops; they would have long since crossed the Xuanhuang Mountains and come to kill me!"

The deputy general said, "Then General, who do you think killed our soldiers in Niu Village?"

The Zhenhuang General was at a loss for words.

Regarding this situation, he had likewise pondered it all afternoon.

But he had no clue.

Yet even if he couldn't understand it, he refused to believe it was the Zhenxuan Army across the mountains that did it.

"General," the deputy general added, "regardless of who it is, we must be on guard; I suggest strengthening patrols around Zhenhuang Pass, since we now have only twenty-five thousand troops left, and it would be best to transfer some more from other border passes just in case."

The Zhenhuang General's face showed displeasure, "When you fled back, were you being followed?"

The Deputy General looked back carefully, shook his head, and said, "We are not being followed."

"What's there to be afraid of?" the Zhenhuang Army General said in a deep voice, "Since we aren't being followed, the enemy has absolutely no chance of finding an accurate route to bypass the traps around Zhenhuang Pass; even if they come, they're just walking into their own deaths! Furthermore, how am I supposed to explain to the other frontier commanders why I'm borrowing troops? Tell them that our five thousand Zhenhuang Army all died in a little village? Do you want me to become a laughingstock?"

The Deputy General broke out in a cold sweat, "I, the subordinate, certainly had no such intention; I, the subordinate, merely..."

"Enough, stop talking!" the Zhenhuang Army General said impatiently, "Not only can you not go borrow troops, you must not let this disgrace spread! All of you, keep your mouths shut for me! In Zhenhuang Pass, if anyone discusses this matter, they will be executed on the spot!"

The Deputy General sighed silently, reluctantly replied, "Yes... General."

After night fell, everything inside Zhenhuang Pass remained as usual.

The Zhenhuang Army General ate some delicious food previously looted from Niu Village, and covered himself with a warm large cotton blanket also looted from Niu Village, comfortably drifting into sleep.

Along the outer city wall, the guarding Zhenhuang Army soldiers made a perfunctory patrol, then in small groups hid at the corners, huddling around a fire to block the wind and stay warm.

In the deep night, the howling cold wind from all directions, sounding like ghosts wailing and wolves howling, perfectly masked the sound of a Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army swiftly approaching over the snow.