Chapter 1368

The second winged-armor warrior also swooped down, both hands raising a horse-slaying saber, intending to attack Chang Fanqi from behind. However, Chang Fanqi's soldiers had already formed ranks, sealing the enemy's advance with a three-layer shield formation. The three layers of shields were like a bronze wall and iron barrier; the winged-armor warrior's horse-slaying saber fiercely struck the shield formation, producing a deafening roar. Although his martial prowess far surpassed any individual soldier, he could not break through the encircling shield formation. Over a hundred soldiers shared the burden, dissipating the force transmitted from the blade, and then narrow gaps appeared between the shields, through which dozens of spears flew out and stabbed. This forced the winged-armor warrior to retreat.

Chang Fanqi waved his spear, employing wide, sweeping moves that forced the double-spear-wielding winged-armor warrior to keep retreating. Seeing an opening, he thrust his spear straight, striking the opponent's chest with a 'da' sound. Although this spear shook the enemy back several steps, its tip still could not pierce the outer armor.

The winged-armor warrior staggered, then pivoted on his right foot, his left wing snapping open like lightning; his right hand triggered a mechanism, and the metal wings suddenly disintegrated, hundreds to thousands of metal feathers shooting like arrows toward Chang Fanqi.

Chang Fanqi swept his spear in a circle, then flipped his body upside down, taking cover within the shield formation; his soldiers' shield formation blocked the frenzied barrage of metal feathers with layer upon layer of shields.

The winged-armor warrior wielding a horse-slaying saber behind him also seized the moment to launch a sniper attack from the rear.

The soldiers used the shield formation to encircle Chang Fanqi completely, the shields overlapping like fish scales. Blades and spears protruded from the gaps between the shields, and then the entire formation began to rotate and move, pressing toward the two winged-armor warriors.

Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, the two winged-armor warriors exchanged a glance, turned, and fled down the mountain. The bat swarm that had just been scattered reassembled and gathered together.

Seeing they intended to escape using the bat swarm, Chang Fanqi shouted loudly, 'Brothers, lend me your strength!'

The shield formation overlapped to form a forty-five-degree slope; Chang Fanqi turned and ran up the incline. At the moment he reached the top of the shield formation, all the soldiers forming the shield exerted force together, launching Chang Fanqi into the air like a cannonball, his body instantly soaring over ten zhang.

At this moment, the two winged-armor warriors had been lifted again by the bat swarm and were flying mid-air. They had thought they had escaped danger, just letting out a breath of relief, when they saw Chang Fanqi descend like a heavenly soldier, man and spear as one, gathering his full strength into a single thrust that pierced straight toward the warrior holding the horse-slaying saber.

In his haste, the warrior could only raise his horse-slaying saber to meet the attack; his strength was still inferior to Chang Fanqi's, and the spear shook his weapon aside. The spear tip flickered before his face with countless cold, icy blade lights, then with a 'pu' sound it pierced accurately into his eye socket, the spearhead driving deep into his skull, and the warrior let out a anguished cry. His wings, not yet fully opened, fluttered at a narrow angle before he toppled headfirst to the ground.

Because of the mountain's slope, Chang Fanqi was now over twenty zhang above the ground; falling from that height would surely kill or cripple him. After his soldiers helped launch him into the air, they immediately shifted the shield formation, using the three-layer shield array as a buffer.

Chang Fanqi's body landed on the first layer of the shield formation; the men coordinated seamlessly to begin dissipating the force through the three-layer shield array. The impact of his landing was essentially neutralized, and Chang Fanqi touched down unharmed.

Earlier, a soldier had stepped forward to surround the fallen winged-armor warrior, lifted his visor, and discovered that his neck had broken upon impact, resulting in his death.

By now the flood had risen to the mountainside midway up the slope, and a group of soldiers looked at Chang Fanqi and asked, 'General, what should we do?'

Chang Fanqi raised his head; the winged-armor warrior who had managed to escape was already soaring higher on the backs of the bats. He planted his spear firmly into the ground and whispered, 'My lord, fortune favors the virtuous; Master Zhuge's predictions are divine—they will surely be unharmed!' However, these men could not leave Bull Head Mountain until the flood receded; fortunately they had brought some dry rations, and if necessary they still had their mounts, so enduring a few days would pose no problem.

Su Yuchi watched helplessly as the painstakingly convened four-way talks teetered on the brink of collapse; he too felt helpless. The Xichuan side had from the outset adopted an aloof, 'not my concern' attitude, while the Xingzhou side merely sought to exploit the opportunity to demand grain and fodder. Although Hu Xiaotian was the most sincere party, faced with both sides' aggressive pressure he finally could not restrain himself and struck out, breaking Guo Shaoxiong's finger—now there was no chance whatsoever for the two sides to reach any agreement.

Hu Xiaotian clasped his hands toward Su Yuchi and said, 'General Su, no matter what others think, I agree to your proposal on my side.'

Su Yuchi nodded; given how things had escalated, this was all that could be done. Had he known earlier, he would have simply reached an agreement with Hu Xiaotian—there was no need to involve the other two parties, for the Xingzhou side were nothing but bandits, their thievish nature unchangeable, and without profit they would never give up quietly.

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Farewell!' Since this torrential rain fell from the sky, Hu Xiaotian also sensed something amiss; events indeed proved Zhuge Guanqi's words correct—observing heavenly signs to judge yin and yang is merely one of his talents. If his assessment of the Xunyong River were accurate, far worse might occur. Although he had sent Xia Zhangming and Chang Fanqi to lead two hundred soldiers to defend the dikes, even that manpower might prove insufficient, especially now that the downpour severely obstructed visibility.

Huo Shengnan rushed in from outside the tent; she would not have done so unless an emergency had arisen. She ran to Hu Xiaotian, her face anxious, and exclaimed, 'Disaster! The main levee of the Xunyong River has been blown up! The flood will soon inundate this place.'

Apart from Hu Xiaotian and Zhuge Guanqi, nobody would believe Huo Shengnan, and Hu Xiaotian had no time to explain to them. He asked Huo Shengnan, 'Have the citizens of Heisha City been evacuated?'

Huo Shengnan replied, 'Xia Zhangming has already gone.'

Hu Xiaotian turned to Su Yuchi and said, 'General Su, quickly have your people evacuate the citizens of Heisha City; any delay will be too late.' Heisha City had previously been cleared out once for this four-way talk, so few native residents remained, and most of those were troops under Su Yuchi's command.

Su Yuchi said, 'But how do you know...'

Hu Xiaotian did not explain to him, already striding out of the tent.

The Xingzhou forces had already begun to withdraw, but they were heading north. Hu Xiaotian originally thought this Xunyong River breach was connected to Xingzhou, otherwise why would Guo Shaoxiong and the others rush to leave? Yet judging from their troops' movements, they seemed utterly unaware of the dike breach; otherwise they would not be deliberately seeking death.

Zhuge Guanqi watched the Xingzhou troops recede into the distance, then lowered his voice to Hu Xiaotian and said, 'My lord, what should we do?' If we do not warn the Xingzhou side, those men marching toward the flood will surely be walking to their own doom.

Hu Xiaotian furrowed his brows and said, 'Let the brothers notify everyone—whether they believe it or not is up to them.'

Huo Shengnan issued the order, and the eight hundred young men they had brought shouted in unison, 'The Xunyong River has breached! Head south! Head south!'

The eight hundred voices roared, shaking the heavens; despite the wind and rain interfering, the sound carried far enough that everyone attending the talks at Qingcao Garden heard it. Even the Xingzhou troops who had already packed up and marched north were no exception; Guo Shaoxiong remained anguished, gritting his teeth and declaring, 'Villain, I swear I will not be a man unless I avenge this… ay yoy… what are they called?'

Xie Jian said, 'They say the Xunyong River has breached.'

Guo Shaoxiong, drawing in breaths of cold air, said, 'It's merely their trick; although the Xunyong River's riverbed is relatively high, the water surface is still far from the dam, so in the short term there will be no… danger of a breach… certainly… certainly it is their scheme…'

Xie Jian's expression, however, grew increasingly grave; he lowered his voice and said, 'Young master, caution brings safety for ten thousand years—we had best be prudent.'

Guo Shaoxiong coldly replied, 'You clearly know they intend to join forces to harm us, yet now you want to travel with them—what is the point?'

Xie Jian gave a wry smile and said, 'My lord, I too am concerned for your safety.'

Guo Shaoxiong said, 'Never mind; if you want to go along, go yourself—I will continue north as quickly as… ouch… return to Xingzhou.'

Hu Xiaotian led the crowd, braving wind and rain as they sprinted straight south; they had to reach Tuolong Mountain before the flood submerged the area. Having left Qingcao Garden less than five li behind, they saw a force blocking their path. Hu Xiaotian stared intently and realized it was the troops of Xichuan's Yang Daoyuan. He felt quite surprised, for in his mind Yang Daoyuan had always been a smiling, fawning follower of Li Tianheng, merely tagging along to get by—yet he never expected the man to dare take the initiative to oppose him.

Zhuge Guanqi saw the opposing force of over a thousand men arrayed in a square formation; he slightly furrowed his brows, indicating the enemy had clearly prepared. At that moment, the enemy's camp underwent a change: two sharp angles protruded from the left and right flanks of the square, and as these angles extended outward to both sides, the formation shifted into a diamond shape.

Zhuge Guanqi whispered to Hu Xiaotian, 'This is the Seven Slaughter Formation! It has seven variations, with attack speed ranging from slow to rapid; infantry are positioned around the perimeter, archers in the inner layer, and cavalry at the core.'

Hu Xiaotian gazed at the slowly approaching massive formation ahead and said in a deep voice, 'Yang Daoyuan truly makes me look at him anew—he actually dares to take the initiative to provoke battle.'

Zhuge Guanqi suddenly let out a surprised 'yi,' his expression showing considerable astonishment. In the meantime, the enemy's formation had changed again, differing from the Seven Slaughter Formation he knew: the frontline soldiers had evolved into three triangular arrays, each soldier holding a spear twelve chi long raised high; upon closer inspection, the spears' construction differed as well—the tip bore a three-chi long blade, capable of both thrusting and slashing.

Zhuge Guanqi said, 'Martial formation united! These people are all no ordinary soldiers!' The so-called martial formation united means integrating military tactics and martial arts formations, taking strengths and compensating for weaknesses to create a hybrid formation. To drive such a large formation, the members composing it must understand martial arts, and often they are those who have painstakingly trained for years to attain a certain level of accomplishment. (To be continued~^~)