Dragon Canon

[1]

Several riders came into Wei Yuan’s view. They were all clad in red armor. One of them was holding up a banner bearing the name “Fu”.

Hsu Yi stood beside Wei Yuan and asked, “Are those King Fu’s men? Is the kid participating in the hunt as well? Why are his men here instead of doing their real jobs?”

Wei Yuan stroked his chin but did not answer. How was he supposed to know why King Fu’s men were wandering over here for no reason?

From a distance, Wei Yuan noticed that the scenery around those riders looked slightly distorted as if they were shrouded by vapor. It made their figures appear shadowy and indistinct.

They were just a few lowly soldiers, so Wei Yuan paid them no mind and said, “Ignore them.”

The riders had also spotted Wei Yuan’s camp. Most of them halted where they were while one galloped off at full speed. Moments later, he returned with over a hundred infantrymen. Judging by their uniforms, they also served King Fu. At first look, it seemed they were summoning reinforcements to bolster their courage.

Behind a hill at the far end of the flat terrain, thousands of Liao tribesmen were lying in ambush. Their leader carefully peered out from behind his cover—his eyes the only part of him that was visible—and observed Wei Yuan’s camp. This place had neither forests nor waters, was far from the treasure troves, and had few Liao camps nearby—meaning there was no merit to be earned from the autumn hunt whatsoever, and no reason for this camp to exist at all. He could not make sense of it.

Watching as the hundred or so of King Fu’s men circled around Wei Yuan’s position from a distance and continued northward, the Liao leader breathed a sigh of relief and began to consider his next move.

It was a pity that the equipment they had scavenged from a certain military commissioner was a bit scarce, and a large number of his tribesmen still lacked proper gear. He would have to give some thought to how his ill-prepared men could cross over. At this point, they were just one final step away from escaping the hunting grounds; the real battle would be breaking through the garrison of 2,000 human defenders. That was why it would be ideal if they could safely navigate through this strange human camp.

The Liao leader was still thinking when suddenly, the earth shook violently. Then, hundreds of iron cavalry charged out of their defensive positions and rushed straight toward King Fu’s men!

This sudden turn of events left the Liao leader momentarily stunned. His mind actually went blank for a moment as he struggled to come up with a response.

In the camp, Hsu Yi asked in confusion, “Why are we attacking them?”

Wei Yuan replied with a straight face, “I think they’re provoking us.”

“Are they? How so?”

“They keep staring at me.”

Hsu Yi knew it was a joke, of course. Realizing that Wei Yuan didn’t want to talk about it, she didn’t press the matter further, and thank goodness for that. Wei Yuan really didn’t want to explain that the reason he took action was because the thought of King Fu had suddenly filled him with an inexplicable loathing. Getting annoyed over a seven-year-old? That was a loss of face he could never admit to.

Hundreds of iron cavalry charged after King Fu’s men like a storm and wiped them out in the blink of an eye. Cui Yu, who was leading the charge, suddenly turned around and shouted, “They’re all Liao tribesmen! They used a Dao spell to alter their appearance!”

Upon hearing this, Wei Yuan immediately sucked in a sharp breath. What cunning bastards! If it weren’t for his inexplicable loathing for a certain child, they would have slipped past him from right under his nose!

The fact that even he hadn’t noticed anything amiss proved just how masterful the Liao tribesmen’s appearance-altering Dao spell was. Although it was partially because Wei Yuan hadn’t cared to scan a couple lowly soldiers with his mystic ability, the fact that they had managed to deceive him meant that their skills were nothing to scoff at.

Wei Yuan immediately realized that this group was merely the Liao’s advance party; the main force was likely still behind them. As for King Fu’s men, the fact that they had been replaced most likely meant that they had encountered a grim end.

Wei Yuan immediately recalled his iron cavalry and ordered, “Prepare for battle! Readiness Level One[2]!”

Wei Yuan left 100 men in the center of the camp as a reserve force while everyone else took up positions. All the riders retrieved the oil-paper-wrapped ammunition from their backpacks, laid it out on the battlefield, and ran their Dao energy over each piece. The ammunition immediately took on a greasy sheen, becoming slippery to touch and easy to load. Once the ammunition was in place, they drew their two-chi-long straight sabers and clicked them into place on their steel barrel guns.

The Liao leader, seeing hundreds of iron cavalry charging out from the camp, gritted his teeth with a dark expression and said, “The human race is truly shameless—I can’t believe they’ve actually stationed a cavalry unit here! No one will survive unless we wipe them out! All units form up! Archers and crossbowmen to the front! We’re launching a full-scale assault!”

The terrain to the north was flat. There was no chance they could make even 100 li while being hunted by hundreds of heavy cavalrymen. Rather than being gradually slaughtered while fleeing, it was better to fight a decisive battle here!

Heavy cavalrymen were just as fearsome on foot, but the Liao leader knew he had no other choice but to fight!

Hsu Yi’s jaws hit the floor as Liao tribesmen began crawling out from nearly every hill and plain. What shocked her most wasn’t the sheer number of Liao enemies, but the fact that they were clad in Western Jin armor and wielding Western Jin weapons.

“The Crown Prince, King Fu, King Wei... the military commissioner of Yunxiang—oh wait, we’re the ones who discarded those uniforms... but seriously? Six factions have already been wiped out from this hunt?” Hsu Yi simply couldn’t believe it.

Cui Yu added, “All states have the tradition of autumn hunts, and it’s not uncommon to use foreigners as prey. But I’ve never even heard of a case like the Western Jin’s, where the prey joined into an army and routed the hunters instead.”

“Who knows what the King of Jin is up to behind the scenes?” Hsu Yi shrugged.

Wei Yuan frowned a little and ordered Hsu Yi, “Tell them to go around us from the side. We won’t attack.”

When Hsu Yi shouted the message, a deafening burst of laughter erupted from the side. Then, the speaker cursed, “Shameless, oath-breaking humans! Not even a child would believe such a ludicrous promise!”

Inside the main hall of the field camp, the King of Jin finally allowed a faint smile to spread across his face. “Wei Yuan’s military strategy is still a bit crude,” he remarked. “The Liao aren’t actually as stupid as pigs—how could they possibly be fooled by such blunt words?”

Since the King of Jin was smiling, the others naturally had to chuckle in response as well. However, some of them were scoffing inwardly and thinking: As if that barbarian even knows how to employ military strategy!

Wei Yuan was feeling rather helpless himself. He was being completely honest here—why couldn’t they feel his sincerity?

At the moment, Wei Yuan could not manifest the Great Realm, could not use Outlawed by Heaven and Earth, could not empower himself with fortune, could not even operate his HFSLs. Naturally, Life is a Flash was completely out of the question. Wei Yuan felt weaker than he had ever been in his life, so he meant every word when he said he did not want to fight this battle.

However, the Liao forces were already charging toward him!

As the Liao tribesmen formed ranks and became a military formation, they actually created a army aura that soared to the heavens!

In the main hall of the field camp, King Fu was watching with his mouth agape. The others managed to keep a blank expression, but they were internally just as stunned as he was. Even an equivalent number of mounted cavalry from the great times of the Northern Liao probably couldn’t have put on a more impressive army aura than this, whereas most of these foreigners were originally just ordinary herders. How in the hell had they acquired such power?

......

At the northwestern edge of the hunting grounds, the Liao tribesmen in the army camp had donned their armor and mounted their warhorses. In fact, every man had two horses to spare. Just then, the Liao youngster’s expression shifted as he looked toward the east. He then said, “The army aura has risen, meaning that Chiliarch Meng Da has launched his attack. It is time for us to return home!”

“We will follow the Great Khan to the death!”

An elderly Liao man said, “Since we couldn’t force out the Energy-Drawing Poison Pill in time, we will hold off the pursuing forces here for the Great Khan. Remember to avenge us when you return to this place one day, Great Khan!”

The youth pounded his chest with his fist, nodded solemnly, and spurred his horse out of the camp. He went north.

Dozens of riders galloped like lightning toward the north as well, with only a dozen or so remaining behind. Suddenly, one of them cried out, “I don’t want to die! I want to return to the north too!”

He ignored those attempting to stop him and spurred his horse northward. However, he had just galloped several li when he crossed the boundary of the hunting grounds and suddenly tumbled headfirst from his horse.

The elderly Liao man said, “See that? Running away means certain death. Better to die here in glorious battle—at least we’ll get to kill to our heart’s content!”

The Liao tribesmen drew their sabers toward the sky and let out lusty war cries.

Wei Yuan cursed inwardly when he saw hundreds of Liao tribesmen approaching with high-quality crossbows. It was bad enough that his allies were defeated by the Liao, but they had given up their equipment as well.

The large Liao force advanced slowly, firing their crossbows as they moved forward. Anyone who tried to raise their head even slightly from cover would instantly be met by several crossbow bolts. The Liao’s skill with the bow was certainly legendary.

However, the trenches dug into the defensive positions were more than half a person deep. Just crouching against the wall was enough to shield them from ranged attacks completely. Once the Liao force had closed within dozens of zhang, the foot soldiers, clad in armor of various colors, surged past the archers and crossbowmen and charged toward the defensive line.

The riders on the front line immediately sprang to their feet, raised their guns, and fired in unison. Amid a deafening roar, a cloud of gunpowder smoke billowed before the line, and a wave of charging Liao tribesmen dropped dead just like that.

The riders then reloaded their guns with fluid, seamless movements and fired again. Another roar rang out, and another wave of Liao tribesmen fell.

The Liao tribesmen were mostly in the Body-tempering stage, while Wei Yuan’s riders were all in the Dao Foundation stage. Their movements were clean, quick and precise, and they fired their guns as soon as they saw a target, hands and eyes moving in perfect unison. Thus, they were able to fire three consecutive shots and mow down waves of enemy frontliners like wheat.

1. Meaning that one’s sincerity went unappreciated. ☜

2. People’s Liberation Army’s Combat Readiness Levels - Wikipedia ☜