Chapter 900: Stone Valley flesh-and-blood mill; dogs biting dogs in a tragic fight

Qifugu was the first to jump down from the stone trough.

The drop from the cliff to the bottom of the valley was more than two zhang. His knees sank into the mud when he landed, and the gravel snapped a binding strap on his lower leg leather armor. He didn't care; he flipped his horizontal saber in his hand and slashed at the nearest iron-armored cavalryman.

That cavalryman was still struggling with his startled warhorse, the reins tangled around his wrist and unable to be pulled out. Qifugu's horizontal saber slashed upward from below, the blade cutting across the horse's belly. Hot blood sprayed his face from the cut, and when the horse screamed and fell to the side, it crushed the cavalryman on its back into the gravel pile.

Qifugu stepped on the neck of the fallen warhorse and jumped over. The horizontal saber drew an arc in the air and slashed at the second cavalryman's neck. The iron armor protected the vital part, but the exposed skin under the neck armor was cut open by the blade, and blood bubbled out from the armor seams.

On the cliffs behind and on both sides, Qifu tribe soldiers poured down like black ants, dense and numerous. Some jumped, some slid, some swung down holding onto withered vines on the cliff walls. Some broke their legs, and some were tripped by gravel and rolled to the bottom of the valley, but more people landed steadily on the gravel road surface, the horizontal sabers in their hands colliding in the darkness, creating a series of intermittent iron clangs.

At the same time, the logs and gravel poured down from the top of the cliffs smashed the Royal Court cavalry at the very front and the very back, making them fall over. A log as thick as a bowl fell straight down from the five-zhang-high cliff top, hitting the spine of a warhorse. The sound of the horse's spine breaking could be heard clearly in the chaos.

Tuoba Lie stabilized his horse in the middle of the formation, his curved saber spinning half a circle in his hand and pointing at the top of the cliff.

"Circle formation! Everyone dismount and form a circle!"

His voice was torn to pieces by various sounds in the chaos, but the old soldiers who had followed him for more than a decade heard it. Twenty-some personal guards were the first to dismount, iron shields were untied from the sides of the saddles and blocked in front of them, and curved sabers poked out from the gaps in the shields, forming an irregular small circle back-to-back.

But more Royal Court cavalrymen didn't have time to dismount, and Qifu tribe people had already rushed to their front.

On the gravel road at the bottom of the valley, the two sides were entangled together.

The iron armor of the Royal Court elites showed terrifying defensive power in close-quarters combat. The horizontal sabers of the Qifu tribe soldiers could only leave white marks on the iron armor surface. When the blades bounced off, they carried a series of harsh metallic screams. Several young herdsmen of the Qifu tribe were shaken by the force of their own blades bouncing off, their web spaces between thumb and forefinger splitting, and they rushed forward with blood all over their hands.

But the crushing number was impossible to ignore.

Three thousand against one thousand, three people surrounding one, six hands greeting the same iron-armored soldier from different angles. If the first slash didn't penetrate, they slashed a second time. If the second slash didn't penetrate, they changed angles to find the armor seams. There was always one slash that could drill in from the connection between the shoulder guard and neck armor or from the soft armor under the armpit that had no protection.

An old Royal Court soldier was pressed onto the gravel by three Qifu tribe soldiers. His iron armor blocked the first two slashes, but the third slash poked in from the gap in the soft leather under his armpit. The blade twisted into the soft flesh between his ribs. The old soldier sprayed a mouthful of blood foam from his throat, his curved saber still swinging outward, beheading one of the Qifu tribe soldiers at the elbow joint before falling down.

Stone Valley turned into a bowl made of stone, filled with rolling blood.

On the high platform covered by bushes at the top of the cliff, Gao Jiong took a sip of mare's milk wine from a coarse pottery bowl, the rim clattering against his lips.

"It's started."

Songqi squatted beside him, charcoal pencil clutched in his hand, silk strip spread on his knees, his gaze passing through the gaps in the branches and leaves of the bushes to look down at the unbearable picture at the bottom of the valley.

"Boss, what should I count?"

Gao Jiong put the bowl down, tore a piece of meat from the cold lamb leg beside him, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed, his cheeks bulging twice.

"Record one for every Royal Court death, and one for every Qifugu death. Write them in two columns, don't mix them up."

Songqi swallowed his saliva, and the charcoal pencil made the first mark on the silk strip.

The fighting at the bottom of the valley had entered the most chaotic stage. People, horses, and corpses rolled into a ball on the gravel. Some were shouting, some were cursing, some were screaming, but more people were stabbing their opponents without a sound, saving even the strength to breathe.

Tuoba Lie stabilized his position in the middle of the circle formation. The iron shields and curved sabers of the twenty-some old soldiers formed a visible iron wall in the night. Qifu tribe soldiers rushed up and were hacked down one by one. Corpses half a foot high piled up on the gravel around the circle formation.

But the circle formation was not big enough; it could only protect Tuoba Lie and those around him. The Royal Court cavalry further away had already been drowned by the Qifu tribe's numbers, falling one after another onto the gravel road surface.

Tie Muzhen was still holding on ten steps away from the circle formation. His horse had already fallen. He stood on top of three corpses, his curved saber hacking out a splash of blood in his hand. His left arm was hit by a saber and could only swing the saber with one hand.

"My lord! Move the circle formation toward me!" Tie Muzhen's voice came from ten steps away, his voice shredded by the clashing of weapons and screams, but Tuoba Lie heard it.

Tuoba Lie swung his curved saber toward Tie Muzhen's direction and roared at the personal guards beside him: "Left flank, pull back two steps, push the whole formation toward that side!"

The circle formation moved toward Tie Muzhen's direction. The iron shields dragged forward on the gravel, stepping on soft corpses that still had warmth. Every step could be heard with the muffled sound of ribs breaking or intestines being squeezed out.

When Tie Muzhen retreated into the circle formation, his left arm was already hanging at his side and couldn't move. Blood flowed from his sleeve, watering the gravel under his feet into a dark red color. His face was covered in other people's blood and his own sweat, dried and then covered by new blood.

"My lord, we can't keep fighting like this, we have to break out." Tie Muzhen changed his curved saber to his right hand, using the back of the blade to support his left arm, barely fixing it. The air in his throat was no longer enough, every word squeezed out from between his teeth.

Tuoba Lie shook the blood off his curved saber onto the ground, his gaze sweeping toward the direction of the valley entrance. That side was blocked tightly by giant stones, and debris was still falling from the gaps between the stones.

"The valley entrance is blocked. Those logs are at least a thousand jin; we can't move them."

"Rush toward the valley tail." Tie Muzhen pointed his curved saber toward the valley tail, took two heavy breaths before continuing, "The side blocked by stones is lower, we can climb over it. I've watched the rear, the lowest place is less than a person's height."

Tuoba Lie looked in that direction. In the darkness, he could vaguely see the outline of the stone wall at the valley tail, forty or fifty steps away.

"Can we hold until we get there?"

Tie Muzhen tucked his left arm into his belt to fix it, grinned, and revealed a row of teeth stained red with blood: "My lord, you go first, I will cover the rear."

"Cut the crap, what are you covering the rear with that arm." Tuoba Lie grabbed Tie Muzhen's collar and pushed him one step into the middle of the circle formation, shouting at the personal guards on the outer circle, "Brothers, listen! Push the circle formation over, toward the valley tail, shields in front, sabers poking out from the gaps, whoever falls behind, lean on the person in front!"

The circle formation began to move. Iron shields pushed in front, curved sabers poked out from the gaps. Every step was taken on corpses and gravel. The ground was so slippery that they couldn't stand steady. A personal guard slipped on the chest of a corpse, his shield tilted for a moment, and two horizontal sabers were greeted from the gap. He groaned, used his knees to push his body back, and the shield returned to its position.

"Hold on! Don't let go!" An old soldier roared.

Qifu tribe people rushed up wave after wave like waves, were blocked back, and rushed up again. If they couldn't block, they circled from both sides to the back of the circle formation and stabbed inside. The circle formation became smaller and smaller, and there were fewer and fewer people inside.

When Amu Ri jumped down from the stone trough in the middle of the eastern cliff, his ankle sprained, and he staggered twice before standing steady. He held a horizontal saber in each hand and rushed into the pile of people in the chaotic battle.

He hacked down two Royal Court soldiers, but the third slash hit an iron shield. When the horizontal saber bounced off the shield surface, the curved saber extended from behind the shield stabbed into his right shoulder. The tip of the blade pierced through, and a bulge with blood appeared on the back of his leather armor.

Amu Ri groaned but didn't retreat. The horizontal saber in his left hand backhanded toward the ankle of that shield soldier. The blade cut the tendon above the ankle, and when the shield soldier's body tilted to the side, it revealed the gap behind him.

Amu Ri didn't even pull out the curved saber on his right shoulder, just carried a section of the blade and squeezed into the gap of the circle formation. A young Qifu tribe herdsman behind him followed him and rushed in, shouting words that were unclear.

The second arrow flew out of the darkness and hit his lower back. The arrowhead drilled in from the seam of the leather armor and stuck into the position near his kidney. His body bent, his knees knocked against the ground, and he stood up again, supporting himself.

"Rush over! Don't let them run!" His voice squeezed out from the depths of his throat, turbid with blood foam and gravel dust mixed together.

Gao Jiong tore another piece of lamb meat on the high platform and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing and glancing at the silk strip in Songqi's hand.

"How many have you recorded?"

Songqi's charcoal pencil scratched on the silk strip, his fingers trembling slightly because he was clutching it too tightly. The two rows of crooked vertical lines on the silk strip were almost full.

"The Royal Court side has fallen about two hundred, Qifugu's side..." His charcoal pencil paused on the silk strip, his Adam's apple rolled, and he finished the rest of the words. "Qifugu's side has fallen more, it must be over four hundred."

Gao Jiong chewed the meat and swallowed it, took a sip of wine, the rim of the bowl clattering against his lower lip.

"Three for one, the ratio is about that."

"Boss, this ratio is a loss for us." Songqi squeezed the charcoal pencil in his palm, his voice very low.

"Who said they are our people?" Gao Jiong put the wine bowl down, the bottom of the bowl making a short, astringent sound on the flat stone. His gaze passed through the gaps in the bushes and landed on the circle formation pushing toward the valley tail at the bottom of the valley.

Songqi opened his mouth and closed it again.

"Keep recording." Gao Jiong put the bowl down steadily, leaning against the stone behind him. "Record both sides clearly, not a single number can be wrong. Zhuguo wants to see it when we go back."

The chaotic battle at the bottom of the valley continued. Tuoba Lie's curved saber split the head of a Qifu tribe soldier blocking the front of the circle formation. Bone fragments and brain matter splashed all over his face. He wiped it messily with his sleeve and continued to slash forward, his gaze passing through the gaps in the chaotic battle to see the outline of the stone wall at the valley tail. Thirty steps left.

"Hold on! Thirty steps and we're out!" His voice exploded in the chaotic battle, and the personal guards who could still stand around him pushed their shields forward one step.

"My lord! The left side can't hold!" A personal guard's voice came from the left flank of the circle formation, his voice hoarse as if filled with gravel. He only shouted half of it before being cut off by a muffled sound. A horizontal saber poked in from the gap in the shield and hit his thigh root. Blood flowed along the blade, splashing a small patch of black on the gravel on the ground.

Tie Muzhen stepped forward with his left foot, his right hand clutching the hilt and slashing fiercely toward the gap in the shield. The back of the blade hit the spine of that horizontal saber, knocking it away, and at the same time, he kicked the chest of the Qifu tribe soldier who reached in from the gap. The man groaned and fell backward, the back of his head hitting the knee of another corpse.

"Fill the gap on the left! Quick!" Tie Muzhen's voice squeezed out from his throat with heavy breathing. He looked back at the few people still standing inside the circle formation. "Who else can move?"

A personal guard with a drooping left arm squeezed over from behind the shield on the right flank of the circle formation, holding an iron shield half the size of others in his right hand, and topped it into the gap on the left flank. The shield surface made a harsh sound when it engaged with the shield next to it.

"I can still hold." The personal guard supported the shield steadily, his shoulder pressed tightly against the back of the shield, his left arm hanging at his side motionless, the bone under the sleeve already not in the position it should be.

Tie Muzhen didn't look at him much, his gaze returning to the black human shadows surging toward the circle formation in front. His lips moved as if wanting to say something, finally squeezing out two words from between his teeth: "Hold on."

"My lord, the right side is missing a shield." A voice came from behind, its breath intermittent.

"I know." Tie Muzhen changed his horizontal saber to his left hand, picked up an iron shield with a crack in it from the ground with his right hand, and buckled it onto his forearm. The broken edge of the shield pressed into his muscles, but he bit his back molars and didn't make a sound. "Block the gap on the right with your body, extend your saber outward, stab the face of whoever dares to drill in."

"Understood."

When Qifugu killed from the side with more than a hundred old brothers who had been with him from the beginning, these people were fiercer and more fearless than the herdsmen recruited later. They rushed toward Tuoba Lie's circle formation, which had only a dozen shields left, and crashed into the shield wall regardless of anything.

When Qifugu's horizontal saber slashed onto an iron shield, it made a strange crisp sound. He didn't have time to look down, and the second slash had already been slashed out. ===== CHAPTER 901 =====

A personal guard with his left arm dangling limp squeezed over from behind the shields on the right flank of the circular formation, using his right hand to grip an iron shield half the size of the others and pushing it into the gap on the left flank; the shield face emitted a harsh, grating sound as it locked against the adjacent shield.

"I can still hold it." The personal guard braced the shield firmly, pressed his shoulder tight against the back of the shield, and left his left arm hanging motionless at his side; the bone beneath his sleeve was no longer where it should have been.

Tie Muzhen did not look at him much, his gaze turning back to the dense mass of figures surging toward the circular formation. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he only squeezed two words through his teeth: "Hold on."

"My Lord, there is a shield missing on the right." A voice came from behind, breathless and intermittent.

"I know." Tie Muzhen switched his horizontal blade to his left hand, picked up a cracked iron shield from the ground with his right, and buckled it onto his forearm. The broken edge of the shield dug into his muscle, but he bit his molars and made no sound. "Use your bodies to plug the gaps on the right. Keep your blades pointed outward. Stab the face of anyone who dares to crawl in."

"Understood."

When Qifugu attacked from the flank, he brought with him over a hundred old brothers who had been with him from the very beginning. These men were more ferocious and less afraid of death than the later-recruited herdsmen. They threw themselves at Tuoba Lie's circular formation, which had only a dozen shields left, recklessly slamming their bodies against the shield wall.

When Qifugu's horizontal blade struck an iron shield, it emitted a strange, crisp sound. He had no time to look down before his second strike was already unleashed.