Chapter 253: Are You Afraid?

Ever since the high wall was breached and the two sides clashed at close quarters, our side had been relying on the veteran squads. The new recruits were purely following along to pick up scraps, of little real use. If the enemy realized this and piled men on, breaking the veteran squads at any cost, then our side would lose everything.

Moreover, ever since close combat began, the enemy's archers had not appeared. He had kept driving the main force in pursuit precisely for this reason. As long as both sides remained in contact, as long as the situation was kept chaotic and muddled, the enemy archers would have no chance to shoot. But if the enemy gathered their archers, even just twenty-odd, they would cripple his squads completely.

"... Archers, to the front..." Such shouts came from within the ranks of Cloud Mountain Temple. Zhao Jin's body jolted. Truly, what one fears most is what comes.

The brief halt, far from providing rest, instead let hunger, exhaustion, and soreness surge up. Even Zhao Jin's body felt somewhat unable to bear it. He had been climbing up and down, issuing orders, and had to charge and kill at the front, not to mention the steel armor on his body. Zhao Jin swayed slightly, but he quickly steadied himself.

No one was paying much attention to the surrounding bonfires anymore. Many had already gone out, but so many had been lit and so large they were that by the lingering embers one could still see many things clearly.

"Brother..." The first word out of Zhao Jin's mouth was cut off by violent coughing. Chen Sheng beside him looked over with concern. Zhao Jin took a deep breath and said hoarsely, "Pass the order down: continue charging and killing, scatter the enemy completely, or else there is still great peril."

"Are you alright?" Chen Sheng asked in a muffled voice.

"Never mind me, pass the order quickly!" Zhao Jin's tone hardened. He raised his eyes toward the sky. It was still the pitch black of night. When would dawn come?

"Form ranks! Veteran squads to the front, new recruit squads in support! Form ranks forward! Kill the enemy, kill the enemy!" Chen Sheng also shouted with a hoarse voice. The scene quieted briefly. Someone, no one knew who, took up the shout: Kill the enemy, kill the enemy!

The long spears used to prop up their bodies were leveled forward. The weary men of Zhao Camp all roused themselves, instinctively aligning left, right, front, and back, about to step forward.

The moment they took a step forward, the monk soldier ranks that had just gathered over there shuddered in unison, looking on the verge of collapse, even though the distance between the two sides was a full hundred-plus paces.

"... Don't panic... quickly bring the archers to the front..."

Zhao Jin's heart clenched tight again. They had to speed up, or there would be great trouble. Suddenly, the light brightened a little. Zhao Jin thought it was his imagination, then realized someone was lighting the surrounding bonfires. What was going on? Cloud Mountain Temple's side, routed and chaotic as they were, could still go and light fires?

He was not the only one puzzled. Even on Cloud Mountain Temple's side, some people looked over in astonishment. The rapid, dense sound of hoofbeats suddenly rang out. Zhao Jin's face beneath his helmet turned instantly pale. The enemy cavalry had finally moved. Had catastrophe come?

Leading the veteran squads to charge out, repelling the enemy, pursuing the enemy, always maintaining contact — it was all to prevent the enemy's archers and cavalry from playing their role. The chaotic melee in the open ground east of the compound just now had indeed achieved that effect. The archers were scattered, the cavalry unable to act.

But to maintain formation, speed could not be raised. The enemy's unrestrained, wild gallop had ultimately opened the distance. Once friend and foe separated, the enemy's archers and cavalry would come into play!

What to do now? There was only one way: charge in and tangle with the enemy in slaughter once more!

"Hear my command! Follow me..." Zhao Jin shouted hoarsely, his tone extremely strange. But before he could finish, he noticed something wrong.

The cavalry charged from the left, but their target was not Zhao Camp. It was the monk soldier ranks that had just been gathered in front of them. Zhao Jin was dumbstruck. Everyone was dumbstruck. Including Cloud Mountain Temple's side...

When they first saw the cavalry charging over, the faces of those on the outer edge of Cloud Mountain Temple's side showed surprise and delight. In open-field battle, no one could withstand a cavalry charge. This night of attack, defense, and slaughter was about to yield a result. But immediately they sensed something wrong, because the cavalry was charging toward their own side!

Those on the outside stood stunned for a moment, then immediately dodged to either side. The outer ranks evaded, while those inside still did not know what was happening. And the cavalry's speed only grew faster and faster as they charged straight into the ranks.

The ranks that had just been gathered were already loose in formation, every man still in shock. Charged by cavalry, they were utterly shattered and scattered.

Some men could not dodge in time and were struck squarely by horses, their entire bodies sent flying backward. The riders on horseback had all drawn their weapons and were slashing and killing freely among the crowd.

With the power of the horse behind the man, no great motion was needed. One simply pointed the blade forward, laid it against the neck of a foot soldier fleeing for his life below, and the horse's speed and strength were enough to be fatal.

"I **** the ancestors of the Kong family, one day I'll..." Ru Ning roared amidst the crowd. In this situation now, everything was lost. He raged madly, brandishing his weapon as he charged the nearest rider. But as his long blade chopped down, the other spurred his horse aside to evade. Before the second swing could come, another rider had already come up behind him and slashed down fiercely with a blade. Ru Ning's whole body shuddered. Clutching his neck, he toppled to the ground.

Off to the side, Ru Nan's eyes nearly split with fury. He was about to charge forward when trusted followers beside him seized him and, heedless of all else, dragged him away to one side. By now, hardly anyone noticed him anymore.

One leading chief had vanished, another lay dead. The monk soldiers' ranks grew even more chaotic. The cavalry's sudden charge pierced them through completely; the slaughter scattered them utterly. This time they truly exploded apart. The entire force disintegrated in pandemonium, fleeing in rout in all directions. Some even ran toward the direction of Zhao Camp's formation.

The cavalry did not stop. They wheeled in circles, hunting down the fleeing soldiers. The riders' pursuit was faster, more efficient. One by one, monk soldiers died under blade and axe, or were trampled to death by horses. Only those who ran toward Zhao Jin's side could be said to have escaped with their lives, because the cavalry did not wheel this way, as if deliberately avoiding this area.

Zhao Jin was dumbstruck by this sudden reversal. He only came to his senses when routed soldiers came running over. Those routed soldiers had utterly lost their will to fight. They threw away their weapons midway and veered far away long before reaching this side, terrified of being wiped out by the god of death here.

"Big Brother, should we retreat first?" Ji Xiang asked hoarsely. This scene baffled everyone, but everyone knew that only by returning to the He family compound could they save themselves.

"We can't retreat. The cavalry moves fast. I fear that halfway back, they would catch up to us!" Zhao Jin said through gritted teeth.

"What do we do?"

"Form ranks and array! Pass my command: form ranks and array! Veteran squads form up, new recruit squads form up..." Zhao Jin forced these words out through a constricted throat. Every word he spoke sent a raw, searing pain through his throat.

The order was passed down. They had only walked a few steps forward just now, so reforming ranks was simple: dress ranks, align, each man stand firm. The new and veteran soldiers of Zhao Camp remained very silent, but this silence was not the calm of confidence — it was agitation, the agitation of watching the cavalry charge and slaughter across from them, not knowing what their own fate would be.

Cloud Mountain Temple's monk soldiers were utterly routed. Many ran off aimlessly. Even more died under the riders' blades. The cavalry, in truth, had not expended much effort. A few back-and-forth sweeps, a period of pursuit, and the results were immense. Many on Zhao Jin's side recalled that, aside from a show of force and a setback while encircling the camp at the start, and some harassment when the attack and defense began, this cavalry unit had been silent all night. They had conserved their strength; their horses were at full vigor!

The screams of the monk soldiers gradually thinned out. The cavalry riders who had been pursuing in all directions began to turn back, gathering at the spot the Cloud Mountain Temple monk soldiers had just occupied.

"... Dawn is about to break..." someone murmured, no one knew who.

Only then did everyone notice that the ink-black night at the horizon had paled, a faint glimmer of light already visible. The bonfires suddenly lit earlier had kept many from noticing the sky.

The cavalry riders slowly assembled. They spurred their horses into formation, forming ranks at a distance of a hundred-plus paces from Zhao Camp — a great horizontal line of over thirty riders per row, staring grimly at Zhao Camp.

The morning light was at the eastern horizon. The cavalry was to the east of Zhao Camp. They stood between Zhao Camp and the morning light.

Daybreak meant the battle's end, yet at this moment not a single man in Zhao Camp dared to relax. The backlit cavalry riders looked somewhat dark from a distance. As long as these riders were here, this night would not end.

The cavalry was very quiet. Only the occasional snort from a horse. The riders on horseback silently drew their weapons and stared coldly at the young men of Zhao Camp across from them. Zhao Camp was already exhausted, and on such open, coverless flat ground, one cavalry charge would scatter them completely. After this night of fierce battle, in the end it was the Kong family cavalry that would reap the spoils. They were just waiting for their leader to give the order.

Zhao Camp was also very quiet. Many of the household troops' faces had turned pale. They had just witnessed the cavalry's might. So many monk soldiers had been easily shattered and flattened by the cavalry charge. Was it their turn now?

In the midst of this silence, a hoarse voice rang out: "Are you afraid?"

It was Zhao Jin's voice. Only Chen Sheng could hear this sentence clearly. Chen Sheng paused, then immediately bellowed: "Are you afraid?!"

"Are you afraid?!" Instinctively, the comrades repeated this question in a unified shout.

Zhao Camp fell quiet for a moment. Before nightfall, they had learned a great enemy was coming. They had held the compound in defense. The enemy came first with cavalry, then with monk soldiers, far outnumbering Zhao Camp, and even breached the high wall. Yet in the end, they had been driven back step by step by Zhao Camp. Having reached this point, what was there left to fear?

"Not afraid!" a voice shouted. Zhao Jin heard it clearly — it was Lu Da. After shouting that line, Lu Da bellowed again: "Following you, Master, I fear nothing at all!"

"Not afraid!" another voice followed, shouting. This voice was somewhat familiar, but Zhao Jin soon had no time to distinguish it, because more and more voices shouted out. Every man was yelling: "Not afraid!"

"If you're not afraid, then heed my command! Stand firm! Raise your long spears!" Zhao Jin's words were once again roared out in repetition.