Chapter 367: 340 Choices

"Clang, clang, clang—"

Ten horses charged and clashed, ten weapons struck against each other, the sound of metal ringing out incessantly; the scene was truly a sight to behold.

This was the squad of Qu Huan and Qin Yongcheng, along with five soldiers, engaged in a group battle. Honestly, the situation was not looking very favorable.

In terms of strength, both Qu Huan and Qin Yongcheng were standouts among the Knights-Errant, and having successfully cultivated their Qi, they could be considered to have entered the inner sanctum among Loose Practitioners. Feng Ling, whom Qin Yongcheng had brought along, was no weakling either; their average strength was not bad. If it had been five one-on-one duels, they should have won early on, or at least won three out of five. However, in this team battle—and a mounted one at that—the five of them had actually fallen into a disadvantage.

Single combat versus squad combat, and foot combat versus mounted combat, were never the same thing to begin with.

After another round of fighting, seeing that the situation was dire, the five of them temporarily withdrew.

Qin Yongcheng spoke first: "This can't go on."

Qu Huan nodded in agreement. It wasn't just a matter of not being able to win; he could feel the gazes from behind him, like needles pricking his back.

One had to know that in order to team up with Qin Yongcheng, he had brought along Feng Ling from the Jing'an Division instead of choosing his own people; he had done this under immense pressure. To put it bluntly, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a "traitor."

The place where they were fighting was not far from the valley, and the classmates behind them could see the battle in the valley directly; whether it went well or poorly was all in everyone's eyes. If he succeeded, that would be one thing, but if he failed, one could easily imagine what those people would say.

Qu Huan was not a person who went his own way; on the contrary, he cared deeply about his reputation, and the mere thought of it made him feel humiliated.

So he asked hurriedly: "Do you have any good ideas?"

Qin Yongcheng said: "A good idea... I really don't have one. But I thought of a loophole: they said to charge through, they didn't say we had to defeat those people to pass. I see that the horses on the other side aren't as good as ours. In a moment, when we engage in a round of combat, don't turn the horses; feint a strike and charge through, then just run away from the other side."

Qu Huan pursed his lips; he was not happy about this. But... passing the test was more important. The two weaker subordinates nodded repeatedly, indicating that as long as they could pass, it was fine.

Qin Yongcheng said: "Then the escape route must be planned well. Don't run in a mess and crash into each other; it would be unsightly if we were delayed and caught up to. Let's do this: Brother Qu and I will head toward the two fork roads respectively..."

Once the discussion was finished, the five of them formed a rough formation and charged forward, each brandishing their weapons.

This time, the opponents came to meet them, and after a few exchanges, a gap indeed appeared. Qu Huan let out a whistle, and the five of them charged forward according to the predetermined route.

Believe it or not, this charge went quite smoothly. Clearly, charging through was one of the answers designed for this assessment. The squad of soldiers was not surprised, but they didn't act as if nothing had happened either; they still dutifully chased after them.

The fine horses the students had brought themselves were indeed excellent. Although they had been traveling for several days, their stamina was still sufficient, while the warhorses of those soldiers had also been fighting all day and were very tired. The distance between the two sides gradually widened.

Qu Huan and the others dared not slack off and kept their heads down as they ran. After running for quite a while, the pursuers were finally nowhere to be seen. Qin Yongcheng said: "Let's... let's just leave it at this. Let's take a rest; we should be almost at the next checkpoint."

The group stopped their horses and, sure enough, saw a mountain pass in the distance. According to their experience along the way, this was undoubtedly another checkpoint. One checkpoint after another, giving no one a chance to rest.

One wondered what kind of tricks were inside this time.

Qu Huan also said: "Let's dismount and rest for a moment to recharge our energy."

The group nodded. At this point, with only a few checkpoints left before the end, there was no need to break up this temporary squad. Qu Huan intended to act as the Captain and lead everyone to pass the checkpoints, and Qin Yongcheng did not contend with him.

The five of them dismounted and took out their dry rations. Just as they were about to eat, they saw a great cloud of dust rising in the distance.

Qu Huan's subordinate, Zhang Feng, was startled and said: "Damn—has an army of thousands arrived?"

While he exclaimed in shock, the group hurriedly mounted their horses, preparing to retreat.

Just as they were thinking this, they saw a squad of five people coming toward them.

Five people was not many; it was exactly one squad. Qin Yongcheng saw the military robes on them at a glance and said: "Are those the examinees who passed earlier?"

Feng Ling said: "It looks like those from the New Sharp Battalion..."

Before the words had even faded, those people had already run close, and seeing them, they shouted loudly: "Run, run!"

Qu Huan's heart tightened. He immediately turned his horse and asked, turning his head: "What's going on?"

Someone shouted: "Puppets, an army of puppets!"

Before he had even finished speaking, Qu Huan had already seen them.

In the distance, dust was rolling, and a vast, dark mass of puppets was approaching. Looking closely, there were big ones and small ones; some looked like humans, some like beasts, and some looked like nothing at all, as angular as wood and stone, ugly to an outrageous degree.

A rough glance suggested there were even hundreds of them!

Calling it an army was no exaggeration at all!

"Damn it, run!"

Five against five hundred—only a fool wouldn't run. No, even a fool would know to run in such a situation; the only ones who wouldn't run were vegetables.

The five of them, plus the five from the New Sharp Battalion who had come over, ten people in total, galloped wildly. Qu Huan asked angrily: "What is going on with you? How did you provoke so many puppets?"

The others were young people from the New Sharp Battalion, and because their situation was wretched, their tempers were naturally not good. They said indignantly: "What the hell does that have to do with us? We just entered the valley; we didn't provoke them at all, and they all lunged at us for our lives. I'm warning you, they are different from those rotten woods and stubborn stones from before; they are under command!"

Qu Huan was stunned. It wasn't as if they hadn't encountered Talismans Puppets before; some were powerful, some were agile, and some had special functions, but basically, they were all stupid things that only knew how to patrol and attack along a predetermined route. If you didn't enter their attack range or pass through their line of sight, it was fine. They were just like those broken pieces of wood in their own Training Camp.

The most agile Talisman Puppet he had ever seen was one of the few puppets Instructor Tang had brought out to help them practice martial arts; it could understand simple commands and execute relatively complex operations, but to say it had tactical flexibility like a human and could set up ambushes and encirclements was a fantasy.

At this moment, Qin Yongcheng reminded: "Look at the formation!"

Qu Huan looked back, and upon closer inspection, he was shocked.

The hundreds of puppets behind them were moving with quite a bit of method. The front row was very neat; there was a huge puppet at regular intervals, like a rolling city wall. Small puppets followed underneath. The large and small puppets moved at the same speed with neat intervals; there was absolutely no such accident as a large one stepping on a small one.

"Isn't this the Art of War for horse and foot coordination?"

Qu Huan felt it was incredible; this was too strong. Even a human army that could be this methodical would be considered elite troops.

"Puppet Charm! There must be a powerful Puppet Charm commanding them!"

Qu Huan realized it.

Qin Yongcheng said: "That's what I think too. To be able to command so many puppets at once, it must be extremely powerful among the Puppet Charms."

Qu Huan gritted his teeth and said: "Even if you're going to release a Puppet Charm, it should be within reason. The Puppet Charm we encountered before had three puppets and already required a group battle; what kind of thing is this?"

Qin Yongcheng said: "How large a Phantom can develop depends entirely on how the Instructor restricts it. Otherwise, if it is allowed to wantonly develop its strength, one Phantom could destroy a city. It must be that the Instructor here thinks that since we've reached the end, we should have something different, right?"

Qu Huan said angrily: "That's simply absurd! Who is the Instructor for this zone? Do they not know the gravity of the situation?"

Feng Ling, who had been leaning over his saddle and galloping, said at this moment: "It should be Instructor Tang."

The others all fell silent together.

At this time, the few from the New Sharp Battalion in front could not help but curse loudly; there was no need to ask who they were cursing—it was Instructor Tang. Even Qin Yongcheng, who respected Tang Zhao so much, felt that there was no need to rush to defend the Instructor at this time; it was better to escape first.

Seeing the army behind them in hot pursuit, and after several rounds of wild galloping, the horses' speed had gradually decreased; this was not a long-term solution. Qin Yongcheng said: "As for the current plan, there are only two options."

Qu Huan understood, and after a moment of contemplation, he decided: "Let's lead them back to that mountain pass from just now. There are many people there, several dozen of them, and the terrain is treacherous. If everyone gathers, perhaps we can fight and hold our ground."

The group nodded. Although it was a bit unkind to lead the puppets over there, the direction this puppet army was moving was already toward that mountain pass, which was the only way to the finish line; everyone would definitely not be able to avoid it. Rather than waiting for others to be blocked and trapped on the plain, becoming prey for the puppets, it was better to have a decisive battle at the mountain pass in advance.

Qin Yongcheng said, "There are only sixty or seventy people over there; is that enough?"

Qu Huan raised his head slightly and said, "Use a strategy to see if we can trap them inside the valley. Have one group defend, while the other searches for that Puppet Charm to annihilate it. To capture the bandits, first capture their king; as long as we find the Puppet Charm, this group of puppets will collapse without a fight."

Qin Yongcheng lowered his head slightly and said, "A good strategy. Since that is the case, I will leave the execution of this strategy to you."

Qu Huan's hair stood on end, and he said, "Hey, don't be a fool!"

Qin Yongcheng said earnestly, "There are too many of them; one valley might not be enough to hold them back. I will lure a few away first..."

Before Qu Huan could speak, one of the young men from the New Sharp Battalion in front turned his head and shouted, "Comrade, don't go! There is no terrain to defend on the open plain, and puppets are not human; they won't spare you."

Qin Yongcheng laughed and said, "Someone has to do it, right? It will be easier for me to escape alone. Actually, I have a secret weapon..."

Qu Huan shouted, "Do you think we believe that?"

Qin Yongcheng said, "I really do. I think—Instructor Tang should be watching us from somewhere, right? He still thinks quite highly of me; if it were only me, he wouldn't just watch me die, would he? At worst, I'll just be eliminated. Perhaps if he sees me performing well, he might even let me pass?"

Qu Huan calmed down slightly and said, "Aren't you still gambling? How can you guarantee he will save you?"

Qin Yongcheng said, "Everyone is gambling, aren't they? I feel like I can win this hand. You go and gamble on the big one." After saying this, he turned his horse's head and rode back toward the puppets.

Qu Huan did not stop him, and he could not go back with him either. That would just be the same situation as now.

His own subordinate wanted to follow him, but he couldn't let him throw his life away, so he immediately said, "A Qi, your pace is the fastest; stop riding the horse and use your light-body technique to run back. Go to that valley and send a message to everyone, telling them to get ready."

A Qi nodded, jumped off his horse, and vanished like a wisp of smoke; his light-body technique was indeed faster than a galloping horse, though it was far more exhausting.

Qu Huan led the horses forward, but when he turned his head, he discovered that one more person was missing from the team; it was Feng Ling, who had turned his horse around to follow Qin Yongcheng.

He had no grand words when he left, just followed on horseback without the slightest hesitation.

Qu Huan opened his mouth to call out, then suddenly smiled and said, "Alright, everyone go and do what you are supposed to do!"