Chapter 622: Nether Energy Ambush

Woo—!

The mournful blast of a cattle horn, dragging an ominous long note, squeezed in from the northern valley mouth of Wild Fox Ridge.

Immediately after came the rumbling of horse hooves, like muffled thunder.

At first it was still somewhat chaotic.

Soon it coalesced into a grating, earth‑shaking torrent that made one's teeth ache.

They're here.

On Eagle Watch Rock.

Chen Wen stood in the lee, his cloak motionless behind him.

In the view of the long‑range scope, the vanguard of the Northern Yuan cavalry surged into the valley like a filthy black river.

Their attire was not greatly different from that of ordinary steppe cavalry.

Hide robes, felt hats, curved sabers, bows and arrows.

But upon close inspection, an abnormality could be seen.

The horses' eyes glowed an abnormal pale red, and the white vapor from their nostrils was unusually thick.

On some cavalrymen's bare wrists or necks, faintly visible beneath the skin were twisted, bluish‑black veins that bulged slightly.

Moreover, a stench mingling blood, sweat, and a peculiar sweet‑sour odor was carried by the wind, faintly drifting up the high cliff.

Chen Wen's face was expressionless.

He merely raised the tube of his scope slightly, scanning the ridges on both sides of the valley.

Behind the deadwood and snow‑covered rubble.

A deathly silence.

As if the life that had lain hidden here for days had completely merged with the rock.

The Northern Yuan vanguard moved at extreme speed.

They seemed quite familiar with this passage and were not overly vigilant.

Perhaps the recent string of 'victories' had addled their minds.

Or perhaps they firmly believed the Chen dynasty's border garrisons could no longer mount any meaningful resistance beyond the pass.

The leading force of about a thousand horsemen passed through the first third of the valley without hindrance.

Deeper and deeper they went.

Gradually approaching the middle section of the valley, which was also the narrowest part, with the steepest slopes on either side.

Chen Wen's gaze fell upon a nondescript brown boulder on the southern side of the valley's midsection.

There.

Here lay one of the command nodes for this ambush.

And the trigger mechanism for the first batch of 'special gifts'.

……

In the narrow fissure beneath the brown boulder in the valley's midsection,

Li Lao Gun half‑knelt on the icy stone, his ear pressed against the wall.

The horse hooves and howls from outside, conducted and amplified by the rock wall, became exceptionally clear, even allowing a rough estimate of numbers and distance.

His face was smeared with thick black ash and mud, and he wore a camouflage cloak studded with dry grass and dead leaves.

Only his eyes shone, bright and frightening in the dim light.

He slowly raised his right hand.

He clenched his fist.

In the shadows behind him, three soldiers likewise camouflaged down to their teeth held their breath.

In their hands each gripped a rough wooden handle attached to a rope that ran deep into the crevice.

Li Lao Gun closed his eyes.

He silently counted the rhythm of the hooves.

Estimating the distance between the vanguard and the main force.

Now!

He snapped his eyes open.

He brought his raised right fist down hard!

'Pull!'

A low growl rose from his throat.

The three soldiers' arm muscles bulged as they exerted all their strength, yanking the wooden handles backward!

Hum——!

It was not a loud explosion.

but a low, dull throb, like the earth's intestines writhing, emanating from inside the mountains on either side of the valley.

Then,

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the valley's midsection, over a stretch about a li long, the ground suddenly heaved upward and then exploded!

It was not a conventional pit.

From the exploding soil and rock shot countless streams of eerie blue, gelatin‑like fire!

These flames had no heat; even the snow they touched did not melt.

But they were extremely adhesive.

Once it splashes onto a person or horse, it is like a maggot in the bone, burning fiercely, emitting a sizzling sound, and giving off an even stronger fishy-sweet stench!

「Dark Fire Glue Thunder! 」

Heavenly Works Academy utilizes the low-activity Yuneng residue after purification, mixes special oils and phosphorus powder, and manufactures a surface-killing weapon.

Its power is not as concentrated as that of high-level Yuneng weapons.

But it covers a wide area, and its effect in creating chaos is excellent.

Especially against the 「Inlaid Crystal Cavalry」 and their mounts, which rely on Yuneng activity and already have Yuneng residue in their bodies, it has additional damage and interference effects.

In an instant.

In the middle of the canyon, people and horses are overturned!

Warhorses stained with the Dark Blue Sticky Fire let out agonized neighs, madly bucking, throwing their riders off.

When cavalrymen fall to the ground, the flames on their bodies do not go out; instead, they blaze fiercer with their struggle, and their screams are heart-rending.

Originally neat charging formations are instantly thrown into disorder.

The cavalry in front instinctively rein in their horses, while those behind continue forward due to inertia.

Crowding, trampling.

And the real strike has only just begun.

「Release! 」

Almost at the same moment the Dark Fire Glue Thunder explodes.

From the mountain ridges on both sides comes a long-suppressed roar.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—!

First are dense volleys of crossbow arrows like a swarm of locusts.

Specially made triangular armor-piercing arrowheads, driven by the strong push of mechanical crossbows, carry a deathly whistle, descending from above to cover the crowded cavalry in the canyon.

The sounds of arrows piercing flesh, armor plates shattering, and dying cries instantly overwhelm the sizzle of burning flames.

But this is only the appetizer.

「Strike the rod! Release! 」

Thick logs, sharpened at the front and bound with iron, are released from the steep slope by ropes and winches.

Using the acceleration of falling gravity, like a giant's siege hammer, they smash fiercely into the crowd below!

Each impact is accompanied by a spine-tingling sound of breaking bones and tendons, clearing a small bloody patch in the relatively narrow valley floor.

「Fire oil pots! Throw! 」

Ceramic pots arc through the air, smashing into the crowd or ground and shattering.

The fire oil inside splatters out.

Immediately, fire arrows fall.

Boom!

Orange-red regular flames rise up.

They intertwine with the Dark Blue Sticky Fire.

Scorching heat and yin cold.

Two utterly different flames together devour the lives in the valley.

「Hedgehog bullets! Ready—throw! 」

This is the killer weapon of Li Laogun's unit.

Fist-sized iron balls studded with spikes are hurled with all might by soldiers using specially made slingshots.

The iron balls fall into the enemy ranks but do not explode immediately.

Instead, they lie quietly on the ground or become lodged among corpses.

Until a panicked warhorse or cavalryman accidentally touches them, or, from archers ambushed on the mountainside, a specific resonant arrow strikes their top activation device.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Not a violent explosion.

But what explodes is not shrapnel, but countless steel needles as fine as cow hair, coated with a mixture of neurotoxin and a trace of Yuneng Pollution.

The steel needles have an extremely wide coverage area; though their penetration may not be strong, they can pierce leather garments and even light leather armor.

Those poisoned do not necessarily die immediately.

But limb paralysis, confused consciousness, and hallucinations make it more terrifying on the battlefield than outright death.

Especially for the 「Inlaid Crystal Cavalry」, whose bodies are already unstable due to internal Yuneng, this stimulation by the mixed toxin sometimes triggers worse consequences.

Indeed.

The valley floor begins to show even more bizarre sights.

A few Northern Yuan Cavalry members who have been struck by many needles suddenly emit inhuman howls.

Their eyes are completely filled with blood-red.

They slash wildly with their blades, friend or foe indistinguishable.

They even lunge at nearby comrades, biting and tearing with their teeth.

Chaos spreads like a plague.

The main force of the Northern Yuan Army happens to have most of its troops enter the ambush zone at this moment.

The sudden three-dimensional strike from above and both sides leaves this arrogant army utterly dazed.

The Commander's hoarse shouts are drowned out by the explosions, flames, and screams.

The formation becomes disconnected front to rear.

The vanguard at the front wants to retreat, the middle army at the back wants to charge forward, and those squeezed in the middle become living targets.

And the two exits to the north and south of the canyon…

North exit.

Shi Dun-led Iron Anvil Battalion, like a true anvil, hammered firmly into the canyon mouth.

Heavy shields stacked layer upon layer, spears jutting out like a forest.

The few Northern Yuan cavalry who saw the situation turn bad and tried to retreat the same way were mercilessly slammed back, crushed before the formation.

South exit.

The gate of Guard North Pass remained tightly closed.

But on the pass walls, the ferocious firing ports of the ballistae have opened.

Further out, beneath the seemingly open snowy plain before the pass, the buried Horse-Rejecting Thunder lay waiting.

The retreat route is cut off.

…

On Eagle-Viewing Cliff.

Chen Wen slowly lowered the far-seeing scope.

The scene in the canyon could be seen clearly without aid.

Black smoke mixed with various flames rose.

Even at this distance, the miserable cries were carried by the wind in fits and starts.

In the air, that sweetish stench mixed with a burnt odor and bloodiness, becoming more pungent.

He could clearly feel it.

In the canyon below, those lives corrupted by yin energy were disappearing in large swaths.

With each disappearance, the murky, aggression-filled 'momentum' gathered above the Northern Yuan army weakened a bit.

And conversely,

In the direction of Guard North Pass, the momentum that had grown slightly listless from days of passive defense was quietly rising, becoming solid and sharp.

That is the manifestation of confidence and fighting spirit recondensing.

His internal System Interface, the growth bar already near overflowing.

Under the stimulation of this devastating ambush he had planned and was about to personally inject decisive reinforcements into.

It was advancing forward at an unprecedented speed.

A faint but real 'feeling', like an undercurrent beneath the ice, began to brew and stir deep in his consciousness.

That is a sign of an imminent breakthrough past a certain threshold.

Chen Wen lightly inhaled a mouthful of cold, murky air.

His gaze sharp as a hawk, he swept over the still-struggling but doomed Northern Yuan central army in the canyon.

Then, he went past them.

He looked further north, to the core of the Northern Yuan's main camp.

There.

That abnormal 'eye-catching' energy point marked by Zhao Lao Nian's Scent Dust Plate.

It seemed… to fluctuate more violently.

Like an angered beehive.

"Reaction fast enough."

Chen Wen muttered to himself.

"Then..."

"Next, it's our turn to 'counterattack'."

He turned around.

He looked at the order-bearing guards waiting behind him.

His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable force.

"Order Shi Dun."

"Lock the canyon mouth, not retreat a step."

"Order Li Lao Gun, Wang Balian."

"Maintain pressure, consume the enemy's manpower, especially those 'Embedded Crystal' units."

"Order inside the pass."

"Ballista Battalion, calibrate targets, cover the middle and rear sections of the canyon."

"Heavy Infantry Battalion, Cavalry Battalion, assemble and standby inside the pass."

"Prepare…"

He paused, then turned his gaze again to the canyon where the killing shook the heavens.

"Harvest."