Chapter 124: Elf Tree

Second watch; the third watch will be delivered shortly.

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Li Bucai burst out of the encirclement, charging straight toward the central formation, shouting, "All troops, charge!" As Li Bucai rushed into the enemy formation, the Goblins were thrown into immediate chaos. (Hand‑drawn by www. shouda8. com, first release)

The others, seeing Li Bucai break out of the encirclement smoothly, were greatly encouraged; the cavalry led the charge straight at the central formation, striking its two wings, breaking in from the flank of the Goblin formation to link up with Li Bucai; the infantry attacked from the front.

The Goblins quickly merged three units into one, the formations on both sides rushed to the center to reinforce; Li Bucai led the cavalry in back‑and‑forth clashes within the Goblin ranks, and no Goblin could stand against him, scattering their formation into disarray. When the Goblin Chieftain arrived, the Goblin army was already showing signs of defeat, and Li Bucai, having located its direction, entangled it.

After about a dozen rounds of fighting, the Goblin soldiers tried to kill the infantry, but the infantry were all undead, unable to be slain; when they tried to kill the cavalry, the cavalry's combat power far surpassed theirs, the enemy could not hold them. Some Goblins began to retreat backward; the Goblin Chieftain issued orders repeatedly, but could not stop the retreat. Reluctantly, he ordered a full withdrawal. Hearing the command, the Goblins dropped their weapons and fled desperately toward the depths of Lotus Flower Valley. Li Bucai led a covering charge, pursuing them for five li beneath He Rui Peak; by then the Goblins with good stamina had already escaped up the peak.

Li Bucai's mount had exceptional stamina; only the Young Marshal's unicorn could keep up. The two rode at the front, leaving the cavalry behind by nearly a mile. At that moment, a brightly lit mountain rose majestically ahead; they halted and gazed up at the peak.

He Rui Peak is a towering solitary mountain, not connected to any range, a cylindrical cliff over five hundred meters high, majestic and towering, piercing the clouds. A wide road has been cut into the cliff face, winding up to the summit. Along that road the vegetation remains intact; on the outer side a long row of trees has been planted. The trees are oddly shaped, seven or eight meters tall and thick, resembling a reinforced sunflower; all the flower heads face the ground, emitting bright light like street lamps, illuminating the entire He Rui Peak.

"Wow, how beautiful!" Young Marshal couldn't help exclaiming, delighted: "These must be the Elf Tribe's luminous trees. This trip was truly worthwhile; once we capture this mountain, I'll definitely dig up a few and plant them in my Kun Ning Palace."

Li Bucai exclaimed in surprise, "You mean, these are the Elf Tribe's trees?"

"Yes, Tree Elf; only Tree Elves can cultivate this kind of naturally luminous tree."

Along the mountain road of He Rui Peak, there is a tree roughly every five meters from the foot to the summit, easily numbering several hundred to a thousand. No matter how skillful the Goblins' thievery, they could never steal so many luminous trees from the Tree Elves. Could there be a close connection between the Goblins and the Tree Elves?

Before Li Bucai could ask, the Goblin unit fled into the mountain. Then a Goblin emitted a signaling flash; from the edge of the mountain road, starting at the foot and up to the summit, countless Goblins suddenly emerged, numbering over ten thousand.

The sudden change caused the Young Marshal's mount to lift its front hooves involuntarily; the Young Marshal struggled to steady the horse and exclaimed, "How can there be so many Goblins?"

"Could it be that all the nearby Goblins have been gathered here?" Li Bucai said. At that moment, the Head Wolf beneath his saddle let out a long howl; where its voice fell, He Rui Peak resonated with a huge echo. From the sound, it seemed that this group of Goblins also had at least a thousand Qingwolf Beasts.

The Head Wolf remarked oddly, "They have enlarged the wolf pack; originally we didn't have so many brothers, how could so many pups appear in such a short time?"

Li Bucai said, "There is a Life Spring above." It seems these Goblins are also linked to the Life Spring.

"There are too many Goblins; we should retreat and hold that pass. If they break through, we'll only have these few men and horses…" Young Marshal said.

Li Bucai shook his head, "No, set up camp here; they'll be too afraid to break out."

Young Marshal suddenly retorted, "When I say advance, you say retreat; now I say retreat, and you plan to camp here. I have already issued a military order to you, so I won't break it, and you need not be so petty."

Li Bucai smiled faintly, "In this battle, how many Goblins do you think we have killed in total?"

Young Marshal glanced away and replied irritably, "No more than two thousand."

"Since so many Goblins remain on the mountain, and they know we have fewer than a thousand men, why don't they reorganize now and finish us off?"

Young Marshal pondered, "You mean… their elite have been wiped out by us, now they're severely weakened, and those left on the mountain are a group of under‑powered Goblins?"

Li Bucai nodded, "If nothing unexpected occurs, that's likely the case. They have over a thousand Qingwolf Beasts, yet only a few hundred wolf riders were deployed in this battle, indicating even those Qingwolf Beasts are just small wolves. Right, my companion?" Li Bucai patted the wolf's head.

"You're right; most of them are juvenile wolves. If adult Qingwolf Beasts had joined the Goblins now, they'd be our enemies and wouldn't echo back to me."

Young Marshal, seeing some sense in his words, fell silent. As he had suggested, setting up camp here would make it convenient to observe the Goblins' movements.

At that moment the cavalry arrived; Li Bucai halted everyone, ordered a rest on the spot, and sent a cavalryman to summon the villagers at the pass.

The soldiers had fought through the night and were now exhausted. Once everyone gathered, they first formed battle formations, left a few on guard, and then rested on the spot; should Goblins attack, there would be no delay for arranging formations—they could rise and meet them.

After this battle, the Goblins suffered heavy losses of men and horses and tightly guarded the road to the summit, no longer launching reckless attacks.

When dawn broke, the villagers arrived and began constructing a camp behind the battle lines. Since Li Bucai had previously stockpiled a large amount of timber and brought plenty on this expedition, and villagers kept ferrying supplies over the past two days, the materials were ample, so the camp was completed in half a day.

……

At noon, Li Bucai was on the arrow tower, closely observing the defenses of He Rui Peak. The Goblin guards were stringent; although few elite troops, their numbers exceeded ours by more than tenfold. Charging up to seize the Life Spring was almost impossible.

"Lord…"

Li Bucai heard the voice, turned, and saw Yue Ji.

"Yue Ji has wrongly blamed the Lord, and has come to beg forgiveness, requesting the Lord's punishment." Yue Ji's face was heavy, her head bowed deeply, standing in a reverent posture, not daring to straighten.

Li Bucai was a bit startled, puzzled, "Wrongly blamed me? You mean…"

"Lord ordered a withdrawal last night; Yue Ji mistakenly thought the Lord was cowardly. Now she realizes it was the Lord's clever plan, so…" Yue Ji thought that Li Bucai saw the Goblins' strength, and since he is not truly an undead, the presence or absence of a Life Spring mattered little to him; naturally he would fight when he could win, flee when he could not. After chasing them all day, she finally understood that it was a lure to draw the enemy in, aiming to break the Goblin formation.