Chapter 135: The Elf Conflict (Four)

"Lord, the people inside refuse to heed counsel and still insist on holding out for reinforcements."

Li Bucai has finished setting up the obstacles at the cave entrance, and Rui Tong emerges from Wangyueku to report to Li Bucai.

"It seems they still don't trust us." At this moment, the Dark Night Elves at Fengding Lukou are being pressed hard by Goblins; for a time they can only parry but have no strength to strike back, and they cannot spare anyone to report the battle situation to the people inside. Li Bucai says, "We must not let them be annihilated; otherwise our own days will be hard. Come, let's go help them first."

Li Bucai first glanced down; Young Marshal and others were among the Goblins, but only some juvenile Goblins, and they handled it fairly smoothly. Arriving at the gate tower, he intended to greet them, but one of them realized they were not comrades, raised a hand and shot an arrow. Li Bucai caught it with his other hand and tossed it back. As that person tried to dodge, the arrow whizzed past his side, and a Goblin's wail came from behind, causing him to startle.

A Dark Night Elf beside him said, "No need to worry about them; just focus on defending."

That person was one of the ones whose weapons had been taken by Li Bucai in the dark passage.

At this time, a few Goblins, under cover of adult Goblins, had already climbed onto the gate tower and tangled with the Dark Night Elves, instantly creating a breach. The Dark Night Elves in the middle of the tower had to reinforce that side, forming another gap in the center, causing disorder, and the Goblins seized the chance to climb up.

"Block the breach and strike them down!" Li Bucai shouted, leapt onto the gate tower. Four maidens, paired two by two, also leapt up. As weapons rose, rows of Goblins were flung off the tower, and several agile helpers appeared. The situation turned sharply; the assault wave was repelled, retreating beyond the Crossbow range, and they reorganized their forces, preparing for the next attack.

The Dark Night Elves on the gate tower resumed loading arrows.

They did not thank Li Bucai for his assistance; instead, their commander coldly said to Li Bucai, "This is our own war; we do not need outsiders to intervene." He made a beckoning gesture, indicating that the gate tower had been taken by them and asking Li Bucai to leave.

"Audacious, our Lord kindly helps you drive back the enemy, and you..."

Li Bucai reached out and stopped Wu Zhuoyue's words, shrugged, and said, "No other intention, just to inform you that the people inside are about to be wiped out. Whether you wish to preserve strength and retreat safely from here, or hold firm and wait for the reinforcements from below that may never arrive, the choice is yours." Li Bucai bowed, led the four followers down the stairs, and halfway turned and said, "I think, can you hold this gate? In another half hour, the people inside will likely be gone." He then walked away without looking back.

On the gate tower, the two commanders exchanged a glance. Dark Night Elves are renowned for absolute obedience to superiors; since the order was to hold this place even to the death, whether the people in Wangyueku are annihilated is their concern. They came here without intending to leave alive. Both gave Li Bucai a cold stare, snorted, ignored his words, and continued preparing for the Goblins' next assault.

Outside Wangyueku, Li Bucai and his group watched the situation inside the cave while keeping an eye on Young Marshal's side.

Wu Zhuoyue said, "They are ungrateful; since that's the case, let's go down to support Young Marshal and leave here first."

"There are too many Goblins below; if it's just the ten of us trying to get out safely, it may not be easy. Let's wait and see first."

"Should we send a signal to Yue Ji now, so they can come to support us?"

When Li Bucai left, he had already set things up: as long as a fire is lit here, they will see the flames or smoke and send troops to aid. Meanwhile, at the narrow valley pass, Yue Ji had already dispatched scouts, constantly monitoring the situation here.

"For now it's still safe; let's wait a bit longer," Li Bucai said, still feeling that the number of Tree Elves was off, as if something was about to happen.

At this moment, Goblins launched another assault on the gate tower, having divided their forces into two waves: the larger wave continued attacking the tower, while a small detachment of over three hundred formed to encircle Young Marshal and the others.

Yin Ji hurriedly reported to Li Bucai, "Young Marshal's side is in a tight spot; should we go down to help them?"

Li Bucai, hearing the report, went to the cliff edge and glanced; although surrounded, as long as they are not exhausted, the five of them can hold out for a while.

"No rush; letting them suffer a bit isn't necessarily a bad thing," he said. Seeing someone emerge from Wangyueku, Rui Tong went back to patrol Wangyueku again.

"Lord, inside there are fewer than five hundred left, still fighting to the death and refusing to withdraw. The Tree Elf side has also lost no fewer than a thousand."

Li Bucai nodded and turned his gaze toward the gate tower.

At this point, the original 200 defenders, after several Goblin attacks, had lost nearly half, some being single points of failure, yet they still clung to the defense, using their very flesh and blood to fight to the death to hold the line.

Li Bucai let out a long sigh and thought to himself: all the troops under his command are girls; although these girls are no less capable than male soldiers, one thing is inevitably unchangeable—their courage. For humans, overall girls are naturally more timid than boys, a fact that can never change; even if some surpass boys, they are exceptions. Yet these Dark Night Elves, though all female, show no fear of this brutal war. If one possessed such an army and employed it properly, it would be hard to be eliminated from the ranks of the Kings of Nations.

"Lord, over there is a white light... it's... it's the Tree Elves!" At dawn, Wu Zhuoyue pointed to a force emerging from the distant valley, like a surge of snow-white tide, pouring out of the gorge and forming three long lines, moving to encircle the Dark Night Elves attacking the gate of Shanjiao Zhai.

From their formation, it matched exactly the Goblins' previous arrangement: roughly over 5,000 people, each 2,000 forming a long line, three long lines in total, and in the blink of an eye they surged to the foot of the mountain, less than three li from the Dark Night Elves.

The Dark Night Elves had already spotted them, immediately halted their attack, splitting their forces into two routes: one to watch the Goblins on the mountain; the other forming a square formation facing the Tree Elves' long lines.

Wu Zhuoyue said, "Bad, the Tree Elves intend to surround them, and Goblins remain on the mountain, ready to break out at any moment. They are attacked from both sides; if they are defeated, we will also find it hard to break through. Lord, perhaps we should charge out now; if we wait longer, we may end up perishing here."

Li Bucai scanned the situation everywhere and said, "We cannot abandon the Dark Night Elves; otherwise they will be annihilated. Wait a moment longer. Rui Tong, prepare the Torch!"

This is the perfect moment to win over the Dark Night Elves.