After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 95: Chapter 96: Sunx Prefect’s Special Contribution

Hee Lingchuan was secretly kicking himself. ’I’ve never even practiced with a crossbow; that shot had been a one-in-a-million fluke!’

He had already climbed over the second line of the cart formation and had fired these arrows from behind a wagon. In truth, he was only a dozen or so steps away from Meng Shan.

Of course, that was measured by Meng Shan’s stride.

For his next arrow, he aimed for the man’s knee—the same spot Commander Xiao had hit earlier.

Unfortunately, his aim was off this time. The Crossbow Arrow struck the man’s Heavy Armor but failed to even pierce a single plate.

He simply fired another shot.

Ugh, it still hadn’t even left a scratch.

But he succeeded in provoking Meng Shan.

More importantly, Meng Shan remembered that his primary duty was to break the formation! Commander Xiao was hard to kill, so he might as well complete his mission first.

So, while Commander Xiao was knocked back, he spun around and charged toward the second line of the cart formation!

Mud and water flew from the ground. Hee Lingchuan could even feel the wagon he was hiding behind tremble.

”Get clear!” a nearby squad leader hastily ordered.

The men scattered in every direction.

With a sharp crack, the wagon toppled over, its crate falling off.

Meng Shan let out a furious roar, hoisting the wagon high above his head and throwing it into the river!

In that instant, the green light enveloping his body flared violently.

”Holy shit!” Seeing this, Hee Lingchuan took off running for his life, but even as he fled, he didn’t forget to fire off his last arrow over his shoulder.

He even chose a particularly vicious moment to strike: just as Meng Shan was throwing the wagon, when both of his hands were occupied.

The other Great Wind Army soldiers had the same idea, and arrows rained down.

Meng Shan immediately ducked his head.

He was already red-faced and thick-necked, so when he retracted his head, he looked just like a turtle pulling into its shell. Most of the arrows struck his Heavy Armor.

But two arrows still found their mark: one hit his neck, and the other struck his eye socket.

Yet Meng Shan didn’t fall. He leaped, then immediately followed up with a ground-shattering shield slam.

Another wave of Great Wind Army soldiers fell.

’Stop jumping already,’ Hee Lingchuan thought, his heart pounding. ’The guy isn’t a toad, so why is he hopping around so much?’

A few more jumps and he’ll be past the trap!

Fortunately, it seemed he couldn’t use that move at will. Meng Shan switched to striding forward, preparing to Barge.

Getting hit by him wouldn’t end well—Hee Lingchuan was living proof.

But he had only taken three steps when a sharp metallic sound suddenly came from the ground. SNAP!

Meng Shan felt his leg tighten, followed by a heart-piercing pain. He couldn’t even keep his balance and pitched forward.

As he landed with a roar of pain, the ground itself shook as if unable to bear his weight.

”He’s caught! He’s caught!” The men cheered, overjoyed. Hee Lingchuan let out a long sigh of relief.

”Thank you, Sunx Prefect.”

Meng Shan looked down and saw a huge Beast Trap clamped firmly around his lower leg.

He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why something like this would appear on a battlefield!

In reality, these were from the Sunx Prefect’s personal stores. There were four of them in total, each over three feet in diameter, originally meant for catching bears. Those creatures could grow to over 1,300 pounds, with thick hides, tough flesh, and Infinite Strength, so the traps used to deal with them were the largest size, with incredible clamping force.

The Great Wind Army had deliberately buried them in the mud about twenty feet behind the second cart line, sprinkling some dirt and leaves on top and marking the spot with a grass marker only they could understand. In this pitch-dark environment, who wouldn’t fall for it?

This was Hee Lingchuan’s dirty trick.

No matter how powerful Meng Shan was, he was still human. The moment the trap snapped shut, his leg bone broke on the spot.

And wearing Heavy Armor that weighed almost two hundred pounds, he couldn’t get back up. All he could do was roll on the ground, his howls shaking the heavens.

Seeing this, Hee Lingchuan finally felt a sense of vindictive satisfaction.

”Fill the gap!” The squad leader directed his men to move the wagons back into place and close the breach in the defensive line. During this time, a few scattered enemies charged through but were dealt with.

Apparently, Meng Shan held a high reputation within the Baling Army. The moment he fell and began to wail, the morale of a large portion of their forces collapsed.

The Great Wind Army’s opponents suddenly became much weaker.

They were already stronger than their individual opponents thanks to the buff from the Society Command, and now the gap had widened even further. Killing became much easier.

The battle line slowly began to push back, almost reaching the first cart formation.

As long as they could plug this gap, all of the Baling Army’s previous efforts would be for nothing.

Just then, an archer on the riverbank suddenly pointed and yelled, ”Enemy reinforcements! The enemy reinforcements are here!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the horn for an attack sounded from behind the Baling Army.

Commander Xiao stabbed an opponent to death with his spear before shouting upward, ”How many are coming?”

”Eight hundred! No, at least a thousand!”

The enemy’s reinforcements had arrived first. Commander Xiao’s expression was grim. He waved for the soldiers in the rear to climb out of their cover and clear out the enemies within the first cart formation.

The wagons here were nearly smashed to pieces and needed to be repositioned.

Working while under enemy fire was an incredibly difficult task.

Hee Lingchuan was wounded, so he stayed behind the second cart line and asked another injured soldier, ”Why don’t they release the Mind-Bending Insects to help us?”

The Mind-Bending Insect was just another name for the Three Corpses Insect; that’s what everyone called it.

”Huh? What’d you say?” The wounded soldier gave him a sideways glance. ”What’s that? Never heard of it.”

’Uh, so these Great Wind Army soldiers don’t know about the Three Corpses Insects either?’

Hee Lingchuan had no way to explain, so he could only give a dry laugh. ”It’s nothing, nothing. I must have misremembered.” But inwardly he was muttering, ’Could it be that Commander Zhong and the Red General are treating the Three Corpses Insects as a secret weapon, not even telling their own men?’

So, in the end, they still had to rely on themselves.

The Great Wind Army had just finished setting up their defenses when the tide of enemies surged forward.

...

「Less than an hour later.」

The riverside slope was stained with blood; almost not an inch of ground was spared.

Of the three-tiered cart formation, the first two lines were completely destroyed. Only the last one was still holding firm.

Hee Lingchuan and everyone else had retreated behind the third defensive line. This was the Great Wind Army’s final defense, their very lifeline, so the fighting on both sides was exceptionally fierce.

The archers on the riverbank had also been wiped out by the enemy. Now, that was their high ground.

The arrows raining down from above caused a great deal of trouble for the Great Wind Army.

A helpless situation like this was enough to drive anyone to despair.

One man, his lips cracked and his face numb, muttered, ”Reinforcements? Where are our reinforcements?”

The enemy’s reinforcements had arrived. Why hadn’t ours shown up yet?

Commander Xiao was also covered in wounds. A gash under his eye had peeled the skin and flesh back. It was from a stray arrow shot from above the riverbed, and it had nearly taken his eye.

”They will come,” he said coldly. ”Hold your saber. If you ask again...”

He didn’t get to finish, because a broken spear shot out from behind a wagon and pierced the man right in the heart—

The man would never get the chance to ask again.

Hu Min raised his bow and shot an arrow back over the wagon, avenging the man.

He was too close to the wagon. Hee Lingchuan lifted him up from the ground, moved him a few steps away, and propped him against a rock.

Hu Min nodded at him. ”Thanks. I’ll remember you.”

Hee Lingchuan returned the smile, but knew that was impossible.