A modao flowed fluidly in Shu Yichao’s grasp, reflecting a ferocious glint with each cut. (T/N: Modao is a three-meters long sword)
Any Karluk soldier entering the wide range of his modao merely saw a flash of white light before they were split into two.
“Release the arrows!”
The enemy soldiers tried to shoot him down from the walls, but…
Shoosh shoosh shoosh!
…before they could fire their arrows, a huge barrage of arrows resembling a swarm of destructive locusts rained down on them, plunging their ranks into chaos.
The White-haired Ghost Horsemen had made their move.
They were equipped with exquisite bows and sharp arrows, and all of them were familiar with horseback archery. Just a round of combined firing from them was enough to clear off 70% of the Karluk soldiers on the walls.
Some believed that archers were elites in an army, as it required not only dexterity but great strength as well. Otherwise, even pulling the bowstring would have proven to be a challenge. However, the Tang soldiers stationed in Anxi during its prime thought that was a joke.
Shouldn’t archery be a basic skill? In Great Tang, what kind of soldier are you if you can’t even shoot an arrow properly?
“They have cavalrymen!”
“The enemy has cavalrymen!”
Black silhouettes rushed into the mine, trampling down anyone who stood in their way.
Some of the smarter Karluk soldiers began hiding in their sentry towers, which wouldn’t have been a bad idea since the White-haired Ghost Horsemen would have struggled to chase them in as they couldn’t move without their horses… but that was only if Shu Yichao wasn’t here.
Shoosh!
Shu Yichao leaped into the sky and swung his modao, producing a loud screech.
Bam!
A sentry tower was sliced into two!
Everyone inside had their upper bodies separated from their lower bodies. Wooden smithereens, stone fragments, dust, blood, and flesh flew into the sky.
A fiery inferno began to spread, and the illumination it provided allowed the Karluk soldiers to finally see the true appearance of the White-haired Ghost Knights—white skeletons wearing heavy armor, with soulfire blazing in their eyes.
“Ghosts!” the soldiers screeched as they fled in all directions.
Normal soldiers feared the White-haired Ghost Horsemen, but it didn’t mean that all of them were cowards.
“Skeletons?! Where did these monsters pop out from?” An enemy commander stared at the rampaging White-haired Ghost Horsemen in shock. He turned to his soldiers and shouted, “Don’t panic! Bring the mage over to bombard these skeletons with magic scrolls and enchanted weapons!
“Also…”
The commander also took notice of Shu Yichao, who was slaughtering the Karluk soldiers like a whirlwind.
“Bring a ballista here to target their hero. We’ll shoot him down with enchanted arrows!”
It didn’t take long for the Karluk soldiers to drag over a ballista and load it with an enchanted arrow radiating a blue hue.
“Fire!” the commander ordered.
Bam!
A cold light flashed from the ballista, surging at Shu Yichao like a streak of lightning.
Whoosh!
In response, Shu Yichao brought down his modao in a brilliant white arc, clashing directly with the enchanted arrow. A deafening explosion shook the mine.
Many were jolted unconscious by that shockwave that was almost tangible.
“You must be joking?!” the enemy commander exclaimed in disbelief, “It’s one thing for him to deflect normal ballista arrows, but he’s able to do the same with enchanted ballista arrows too?! This is impossible!”
But it was not over yet. He watched in horror as Shu Yichao raised his modao with a single hand and aimed it at him like a javelin.
“Dodge!”
Goosebumps rose all over the enemy commander’s body, but it was too late. The modao surged toward him at an unbelievable speed as if divine judgment.
Psh!
The commander, his soldiers, and the ballista were impaled.
Shu Yichao then raised his hand, and the modao returned to his grasp.
“Brothers, march on!” Shu Yichao roared.
“Lord Mages!”
The Karluk soldiers tearfully dragged their mages out.
“Save us!”
“You’re our only hope!”
Little did they know that they were doing something absurdly foolish.
“Hm?”
Miazova, who was eyeing the mine from a vantage point, noticed the mages and soldiers squeezed together. There was no way he would let this golden opportunity slip past his fingers.
“Mana Rebound!”
The mages surrounded by the soldiers were about to cast their spells when they felt their mana going into disarray. It felt like someone was mashing their insides with a knife.
“GAHHHH!”
With wails of agony, they collapsed one after another with blood foam at the corners of their lips.
“Lord Mages!” The soldiers were stunned. “What’s wrong?!”
Before the panicked soldiers could decide their next move, Shu Yichao had already arrived at the scene with a savage smile.
“It’s time for you to go!”
Another massacre ensued.
Meanwhile, in one of the mine shafts…
“Second Uncle, wake up! Wake up!”
A middle-aged man, who had whip marks all over his body, struggled to open his tired eyes. Amidst the darkness, he saw two young faces.
“Hehe…” The middle-aged man let out a chuckle to conceal his weakness. “I’m fine. You two don’t have to worry. Your uncle is tougher than you think. They can’t hope to take my life with their whips… Cough cough!”
The middle-aged man coughed violently.
“Second Uncle, I hear movements outside,” one of the young men said in unease. “It sounds like a battle has broken out. Is there a conflict between the Tibetans and the Karluks?”
The Karluks were the Tibetans’ vassals, but that didn’t mean all was good between them. Furthermore, both nations were essentially an alliance of multiple tribes, so their leaders had limited control over their respective warlords.
Conflicts did happen now and then, so it wasn’t surprising to see skirmishes between them.
“Oh?”
The middle-aged man belatedly realized that most of the slaves in the mine shaft had woken up and were looking at one another with fear and unease.
Pricking up his ears, he could indeed hear sounds of fighting outside.
“Let’s go.” The middle-aged man climbed to his feet. “Let’s secretly take a look.”
If the barbarians outside had really begun fighting among themselves, this could be a good opportunity for them to escape. So, they began crawling through an environment that was worse than a livestock pen.
They passed by a few slaves, who were curled around the shafts, and finally arrived at the entrance of the mine. They secretly stuck their heads out and…
The middle-aged man immediately narrowed his eyes.
Amidst the blazing flame, he saw a massive Tang flag fluttering in the night sky.
Beneath the flag, heavy cavalrymen wearing metal armor were trampling the Karluks who had been callously abusing them. No matter how the Karluks screamed, fled, or struggled, the heavy cavalrymen showed no mercy whatsoever.
Their sharp lances impaled the Karluks one after another.
Their powerful arrows shot the Karluks down to the floor.
“Hah… Hah… Hah…”
In contrast to his nephews’ terror, the middle-aged man began making weird noises.
Alarmed, the two young men rushed over and asked, “What’s wrong, Second Uncle?”
Just then, they heard flustered footsteps heading toward the mine. They looked over and saw one of the mine’s supervisors.
This mine supervisor was a cruel fellow who would beat up the slaves at a whim before feeding them to the wolves. He was still standing imposingly before them just hours ago, but now…
Bam!
Shu Yichao caught up to the mine supervisor and, with a flash of cold light, he lopped off the latter’s leg.
“AHHH!”
The mine supervisor collapsed to the ground with a pained scream, but he knew that this was not the time to grief over his lost leg. He pleaded for mercy with tears and snot flowing down his face.
“Please spare me! Please spare me!!! I’ll give you all my wealth—”
Psh!
Shu Yichao decapitated him before glancing at the three heads popping out from the mine entrance.
“…” The middle-aged man and his two nephews were flustered.
This is terrible. The bloodthirsty demon has noticed us!
“Hmm?” Shu Yichao leaped off his horse with an intrigued look on his face. “Green dots?”
The two young men jolted in fright. Their sudden movement inadvertently pushed the middle-aged man out of the mine, and the middle-aged man staggered a bit before finding his balance.
As a result, the middle-aged man ended up coming face to face with Shu Yichao.
“Hah… Hah…”
The middle-aged man let out a series of weird noises. Looking at Shu Yichao, he pointed at the Tang flag fluttering in the night sky, but he struggled to utter anything coherent. Even so, there was a glimmer of light in his eyes.
“G-Great Tang h-has…”
“Yes,” Shu Yichao gave an affirmative answer to his incomplete question, “Great Tang has returned!”
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