Chapter 102: Dragon Fin Mountain Showdown (II)

Shan Ji's expression was solemn, and her tone was heavy; it was clear that they also harbored some fear of these monsters.

"Buried Corpse?" Li Bucai asked, "Have you encountered them before?"

Shan Ji shook her head and said, "Although we have never been attacked, our ancestors were scattered precisely because they met Buried Corpses, so our clan now numbers only a few hundred and it is hard to find people from other clans."

The undead, though they possess bodies that cannot be pierced by swords or spears and can resist water and fire, are frail, weak, and their numbers are the rarest among all races, leaving them at an absolute disadvantage on this continent. Yue Ji's mother, on her deathbed, entrusted the Scepter to Li Bucai—partly because her mind was clouded and she regarded Li Bucai as a deity, and partly to protect her people by placing them under a friendly race; otherwise their extinction was inevitable.

"Do you know where their weakness lies?" the few Buried Corpses that Li Bucai had previously knocked to the ground got up, flexed their tentacles, and seemed unharmed.

Shan Ji still shook her head, and in a low voice said, "For our people, they… they… have no weakness…"

Li Bucai exclaimed, "No weakness?"

Shan Ji hesitated for a moment, then nodded, unwilling to meet his gaze.

Indeed, Buried Corpses, being called that, must be linked to corpses; the air reeked with the stench of rotting flesh, which produces corpse poison, and the undead fear corpse poison above all.

Li Bucai glanced at the sixty maidens behind him, facing over a hundred Buried Corpses ahead, all restless on their horses. The enemy had a wind‑mastering Priest who was also a lord; the gust they just sent carried the corpses' fluid, a corpse poison likely far stronger than that of the Goblin Necromancy Priest. If it blew onto the maidens, it could claim their lives quickly. Using a flock of lambs to fill the tiger's mouth would be a futile sacrifice, not a direct fight.

Li Bucai thought of this, raised his Scepter toward Wu Zhuoyue at mid‑mountain, and swung it backward a few times. Wu Zhuoyue received the order, commanding all archers to turn right, shifting from a horizontal line to a vertical column, and moving along the hillside toward the White Horse Beach garrison.

Tan Jiang had already arranged his formation: a square Buried Corpse Formation, each corpse spaced two meters apart. The soldiers of the first and second rows interleaved, and every four corpses formed a 'ling' shape to resist cavalry charges. Anyone who broke into the center of a ling would be tightly entangled by more than two corpses, unable to break through the two rows, halting forward momentum.

At this moment, seeing the archers on the hillside move toward Li Bucai's rear, they thought he intended to gather everyone for a showdown and were worrying how to break the encirclement. Yet he voluntarily concentrated them, leaving them vulnerable. So they stood there, waiting for Li Bucai to assemble the troops, first conjuring a wind wall that pushed forward to the front row of Buried Corpses; this both slowed the enemy cavalry and allowed immediate attacks.

When the wind wall rose, the sixty cavalry grew restless; they knew the wind carried corpse poison. The tornado ahead could be dispelled by Li Bucai, but this wind curtain could not be broken no matter what.

Li Bucai, while watching the Buried Corpses' movements, sensed the maidens' fearful expressions and handed the Scepter to Shan Ji.

Shan Ji was startled, not understanding his intention.

Li Bucai pointed to the distant Bai Ma Du and said, "Little Valley has already been destroyed by Goblins; we only have this large stronghold left. Without it, finding a foothold in the future will be difficult…"

Shan Ji gritted her teeth and said, "We… we are willing to follow the lord and drive them out of here."

Li Bucai did not mean that; he said it only to keep their morale up. Shaking his head, he said, "No, give me your Spear, take this Scepter, lead your people ten li back and find a place to hide." Shan Ji's Spear was also forged of refined copper; though not as fine as the original Ruyi Spear, it was far more useful than the Scepter.

"With the lord present, I think… we can handle it," Shan Ji said, fearing he would blame them for cowardice.

Li Bucai said, "Do you still remember those Luru beasts by the Shalanjiang?"

"The lord is saying…"

Li Bucai laid out his plan step by step, and Shan Ji nodded in understanding.

Li Bucai turned and shouted to Tan Jiang, "Since you want a decisive battle, how can it be in such a cramped place? To avoid future accusations that I took advantage of you, I will now retreat ten li, give you the open ground behind me, and then settle the score with you."

Tan Jiang thought: this place is indeed narrow; to the west looms the Dragon Fin Mountain at a 45‑degree angle, with only a gentle slope of a little over a hundred meters in the middle, while the east is the swift White Horse River. Li Bucai's current position is at a bend of the river, with the ground behind him gradually opening up—terrain favorable to him and unfavorable to me. He therefore agreed to retreat ten li.

Li Bucai gave the retreat order, and the sixty cavalry surged backward like a tide. This was no ten‑li retreat for a battle; it was a flight. Tan Jiang roared with laughter, ordered the Buried Corpse Formation to advance slowly, and before they moved far, the female cavalry had vanished without a trace. Meanwhile, the archers descending from the mountain appeared two li from Li Bucai, joining him in the retreat, showing no sign of ambush.

By the time they retreated back to the wooden bridge, Tan Jiang realized that the seven figures of his elite troops had disappeared; they were his most elite war commanders.

"Li, I warn you, return my men now; I can spare your miserable life, otherwise I'll lose my temper!"

Li Bucai replied sternly, "I was about to warn you as well. You raided my Territory tonight; I let you come this far. If you dare step forward another half‑step, you will regret it." He then raised his war spear high, while a hundred archers behind formed a square formation, drawing their bows.

"Let's see who will regret," Tan Jiang, confident in his elite Buried Corpses, who were immune to arrows, waved his hand and ordered the first two rows of Buried Corpses to advance.

At this moment, among the hundred Buried Corpses, ten formed each row, creating a square formation; the front twenty received the order and thrust their tentacles forward.

Li Bucai, seeing them enter range, pointed his spear forward on the wooden bridge; the hundred archers released simultaneously, sending a hundred feathered arrows streaking across the sky like black clouds, arcing into the two rows of Buried Corpses. Yet the corpses waved their tentacles, brushing every arrow off; none of the hundred arrows struck a single corpse.

"Hahaha…" Tan Jiang, seated steadily on his horse behind, let out a sharp, triumphant laugh.

The two rows of Buried Corpses brushed away the arrows while moving forward; the archers could do nothing as they drew near the creek.

The creek was shallow, its trench barely over a yard wide and just over a meter deep, its surface piled with branches. When Li Bucai first reclaimed the farmland, the marshy ground was overrun with trees that had to be felled. After gathering the timber, he dumped all the crowns into the creek. Later, after receiving Rui Tong's report during the day, he smeared the branches with copious buffalo fat. This was the final defensive line of the Bai Ma Du Stronghold, concentrating every usable force to block the enemy here. He had not expected the Tan family brothers to incorporate such a troublesome monster unit.