Chapter 317: with translation of chapter title

Between Great Chen and the False Song, that enormous light curtain stretching north-south, as if connecting heaven and earth.

Like a silent giant python, it split the originally intact Zhongyuan land in two.

Near the light curtain, the heavenly and earthly vital energy is in disorder, and birds and beasts have vanished.

This barrier is not an entirely impassable physical entity, yet it is filled with the unknown and danger.

Ordinary soldiers and civilians who try to approach will feel a strong palpitation and repulsion, as if trapped in an invisible mire, unable to advance even an inch.

The Ministry of Works of Great Chen is still painstakingly researching its nature and methods for safe passage.

However, since the Iron Crow Army can, at great cost, replicate this 'mirror Zhongyuan,' they naturally master some obscure, esoteric ways to temporarily open small 'passages.'

Such passages, however, are extremely unstable, last only briefly, and seem to require a considerable cost, making large-scale use impossible.

Thus, in daily life, aside from the small elite scouts each side sends out, who rely on special methods to briefly infiltrate or monitor the enemy from afar, there is hardly any activity of large forces.

The atmosphere remains constantly tense as a drawn bowstring.

That day, in the afternoon.

East of the light curtain, near Longzhou border, which is under Great Chen's control, at a known location where space is relatively weak.

A squad of fifty Chen dynasty border patrol soldiers was proceeding along a small path half-covered by weeds, carrying out a routine patrol mission.

The leader was a squad commander with a dark complexion and sharp demeanor, surnamed Wang.

He had one hand on the hilt of his waist sword, his gaze sharp as he swept over the area ahead where the light curtain distorted the scenery.

On the other side of the light curtain, the mountains and rivers could be faintly seen, almost identical to here, yet upon closer look many subtle differences could be detected—the growth of vegetation, the traces of roads—all betraying an indefinable sense of 'deliberateness.'

It was as if a meticulously copied scroll that had lost its spirit.

'All, perk up!' Squad Commander Wang barked low, reminding his brothers, 'Those guys across have been active lately; I hear they've gotten hold of some nefarious gadgets—stay alert!'

The soldiers silently nodded, gripped their weapons tighter, and their formation unconsciously became more compact.

They were all veterans who had survived the bloody battle of Jinzhou, harboring deep-seated vigilance and hatred toward the False Song and its Iron Crow Army behind it.

Just as the unit was about to go around a low hill.

Suddenly, an anomaly arose!

The light curtain not far ahead suddenly rippled like water, sending out ominous waves!

Immediately after, a gap about a zhang wide, twisted and unstable, suddenly appeared!

A False Song patrol of about fifty likewise surged out from that gap!

The two sides suddenly encountered each other, the distance less than fifty steps.

The air seemed to solidify instantly.

Both units halted simultaneously, all soldiers almost instinctively assuming combat stances.

Swords drawn, bows strung.

The tense standoff atmosphere spread like a tangible substance, pressing so hard one could barely breathe.

Squad Commander Wang's pupils narrowed slightly as he fixed his gaze on the opposing unit, whose equipment and armor were quite similar to theirs, but whose banners and demeanor were utterly different.

He saw on the face of the opposing unit's officer a fleeting discomfort and pallor from passing through the light curtain, which instantly turned into ferocity and… a hint of indescribable fervor.

'Great Chen Longzhou border patrol here! You have trespassed!' Squad Commander Wang took a deep breath, issuing the warning as per custom, his voice like a great bell, hoping to intimidate the enemy.

However, the response he got was a hoarse, hate-filled howl from the opposing officer:

'Kill all these False Chen scoundrels!'

The False Song patrol, without hesitation, like an enraged beast, launched the first charge!

'Defend!' Squad Commander Wang, both startled and angry, barked the order.

He never expected the enemy could open a passage here briefly, let alone act so boldly!

This is certainly no accidental encounter; it is more like a premeditated provocation and probe!

In the blink of an eye, the vanguards of both sides slammed together!

The clash of metal and iron, roars, and screams instantly shattered the border's silence.

Blade light flashed, blood spattered.

The Chen dynasty border troops, well-trained, though ambushed, kept their formation intact, forming three-man teams to cover each other, desperately resisting the False Song soldiers' frenzied assault.

Squad Commander Wang chopped down a False Song soldier who rushed at him with one stroke, feeling the viscous resistance of the blade entering flesh, yet his heart grew ever heavier.

Wrong!

These False Song soldiers' condition is not right!

Their eyes showed abnormal red streaks, their attacks lacked any pattern, utterly a fight to the death, as if they felt no pain or fear.

This is absolutely not the behavior of a normal army!

'Watch their arrows!' a sharp-eyed veteran suddenly shouted hoarsely.

Squad Commander Wang jerked his head up, only to see seven or eight archers in the rear of the False Song unit already nocking their bows.

And that volley of arrows, in the dim light, faintly emitted a strange… bluish hue!

A chill instantly rose up Squad Commander Wang's spine.

He recalled the rumors circulating in the army about the False Song developing nefarious weaponry.

'Raise shields!' he bellowed hoarsely.

Yet it was already a step too late.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several arrows left the string, carrying a faint sound like ice crystals shattering as they tore through the air, shooting toward the Chen formation.

Most of the arrows were blocked by shields raised in time.

But two arrows, cunningly slipping through gaps, fiercely pierced the shoulder blade of one Chen soldier who couldn't dodge fully and the thigh of another!

'Ugh—!'

The arrow‑struck soldier let out a shrill, miserable scream.

That scream came not only from the pain of the arrow piercing flesh.

Only to see the faintly blue‑tinged arrowhead, upon contacting flesh, suddenly flare with a bright blue light as if it were alive.

A visible pallid blue chill spread like a spider's web from the wound.

Skin and muscle rapidly lost color, turning bluish‑purple and stiff, even coated with a thin layer of white frost.

Worse still, the soldier shot in the shoulder blade had his pained expression freeze instantly, his eyes turning vacant and confused, as if his very soul had been struck, and he toppled straight backward.

"Ergou!"

"Old Liu!"

Nearby comrades, shocked and angry, wanted to rush forward to help, but the eerie blue light and chill forced them to keep their distance.

"Don't touch that arrow! It's poisonous! Or… it's sorcery!" Captain Wang's eyes nearly burst as he shouted to stop them.

He could see clearly that this was far more than an ordinary arrow wound.

Just as the Chen dynasty soldiers fell into brief confusion from this sudden uncanny attack.

*Pfft! Pfft! *

In the False Song ranks, the two archers who had fired the blue‑tinged arrows saw their hardwood bows snap in half without warning.

The sharp crack of the breaking bowstring sounded like a death knell.

Immediately afterward, the remaining blue‑tinged arrows in their quivers burst forth with unstable light.

*Boom! Boom! *

Two muffled thuds, not violent but heart‑pounding.

The two archers screamed as they were flung back by the exploding blue‑black energy; when they hit the ground, their bow‑holding arms were a bloody mess, charred black—clearly ruined.

The other blue‑tinged arrows they carried also detonated one after another; though each blast was weak, they caused a commotion and extra casualties behind the small False Song formation.

This sudden turn of events caused the False Song soldiers' frenzied assault to falter.

Captain Wang seized the fleeting opportunity and roared:

"Brothers! Their devilish tricks aren't worth a damn—they'll blow themselves up! Follow me and kill them!"

The remaining Chen soldiers burst with astonishing courage, taking advantage of the enemy's disorder to launch a fierce counterattack that drove the False Song patrol back step by step.

The False Song officer leading the unit saw the yin‑energy arrows backfire, his own morale shaken, and the light‑curtain passage behind him begin to violently fluctuate, showing signs of instability; knowing they could not linger, he angrily waved his hand.

"Retreat! Pull back now!"

The False Song troops, as if pardoned, helped the wounded and scrambled in disarray toward the soon‑to‑close gap in the light curtain, abandoning even their comrades' corpses, crawling and tumbling away into the distorted light beyond.

Almost as soon as they had all passed through, the gap in the light curtain flashed and snapped shut, restoring its original state as if nothing had happened.

The battle began abruptly and ended just as suddenly.

Along the frontier lay only a dozen or so False Song corpses, blotched with blood, and a nauseating stench mingling the reek of blood with a cold, icy odor.

Captain Wang gave no order to pursue.

Beyond the curtain lay the enemy's home ground, the situation unknown; rashly charging in would be tantamount to suicide.

He hurried to the side of the soldier who had been shot in the shoulder blade and lay unable to rise.

There lay the young soldier nicknamed Ergou, his face ashen‑gray, lips purple, body icy and stiff, his breath so faint it was barely perceptible.

The blue‑tinged arrow remained lodged in his scapula, exhaling a wisp of chill.

The other soldier, shot in the thigh, was somewhat better off but had lost all feeling in the leg, suffering severe frostbite.

"Quick! Carefully pull the arrow out! Carry him and the arrow back at once! Rush him to the main camp and find the best medic!" Captain Wang hoarsely commanded, his heart feeling as if a boulder weighed upon it.

He crouched and examined closely the arrowhead that had been gingerly removed.

It felt ice‑cold to the bone, as if grasping a piece of ancient ice.

The arrowhead was neither iron nor copper, gleaming with an ominous metallic sheen; its surface bore fine, twisted engravings through which a dark blue light seemed to drift slowly.

Merely holding it made Captain Wang feel a surge of agitation, a faint noise buzzing in his mind.

He dared not keep hold of it long, quickly wrapping it in thick cloth.

Rising to his feet, he stared toward the light curtain, his face grim and terrifying.

"Damned False Song… and those neither‑human‑nor‑ghost Iron Crow Army…"

"They can actually bore through the light curtain on the spot and conjure up such devilish devices…"

He glanced back at his fallen and wounded brothers, especially Ergou's miserable state, and a fury mingled with chill welled up from within.

This was no ordinary border skirmish.

The enemy had mastered some means of briefly piercing the light curtain and deployed unconventional weapons imbued with uncanny power.

Though unstable and prone to backfire, the instantaneous damage and eerie effect they produced were horrifying.

This must be reported immediately, at once!

Not only must the frontier high command be informed, but it must also be sent via special channels to Bianjing with all speed, to reach the emperor's ears!

"Clear the battlefield, take our brothers and these devilish arrows, we're heading back!" Captain Wang issued a low order, his voice thick with restrained anger and gravity.

He knew that from now on, this light curtain would likely never be calm again.

The clouds of war were descending, in a stranger, more cruel fashion, silently creeping in.