Where Immortals Once Walked

The south gate force had also suffered nearly a hundred casualties.

The brutality of the fighting caught everyone by surprise.

Didn’t they say that both the Andong troops and Heishui’s army are mediocre and that this battle is basically just two weaklings flailing at each other?

Then why does it look like such a bloody struggle, with flesh flying and both sides fighting like their lives depend on it?

Still, the miscellaneous allied forces had suffered very little. Only one man from the State of Baling’s group had been wounded, and that was because he had grown careless and been struck by a stray arrow. As for those from the Heavenly Palace and the Jianyang Sect, they remained completely intact.

Anyone sent to the Panlong Desert in search of treasure was bound to be among the elite of the elite. And since they were only fighting on Heishui City’s behalf this time, none of them intended to risk their lives unnecessarily. If they could play it safe, they would.

At that moment, a cannon boomed from the flank, and more than three hundred enemy soldiers charged out!

Liao Shan had been uneasy and had committed his three hundred reserves as well.

The pressure on the south gate force immediately surged.

Looking at the three battlefields involving Heishui City’s troops, not a single one had gained the upper hand.

Liao Shan had already seen through He Chunhua’s scheme. Since the Heishui City army has come pouring out in force, they need not return.

Zhang Lianhai’s attendant squeezed his way over and rasped, “My lord, the Baling people are preparing to run!”

“How do you know?” Zhang Lianhai controlled his lamp spirit and knocked aside a stray arrow. Weapons on a battlefield had no eyes, so even he had to be exceedingly cautious. The moment the battle turned against them, they would have to withdraw as quickly as possible.

“They’ve been moving north the whole time!” The attendant jerked his chin toward the north. “Look, they’re almost at the edge of the battlefield!”

Their objective was the Panlong Ruins in the desert. Why should they risk their lives helping Heishui City? If the ones from Baling were already leaving, why should they stay here and play the fool?

Zhang Lianhai immediately said, “We move north too!”

Heading north might give them an opportunity to break away from the battlefield.

The group from the Heavenly Palace had only just begun shifting when several bursts of fireworks suddenly lit up the eastern sky.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Red, blue, yellow, and green light lit up the sky.

They were genuine fireworks, the sort Heishui City residents commissioned from craftsmen for weddings and funerals. They made the night sky look oddly festive and dazzling as they exploded.

However, the key here was that the place where they were bursting was right at the foot of Mount Hulu! Right at the State of Andong’s logistics camp!

The Andong army was stunned, and its formation immediately fell into chaos.

Our camp has been raided?

The commander at the front instantly dispatched several hundred troops back to reinforce it. However, He Chunhua’s officers were no slouches either. Seeing this, they shouted at the top of their lungs, “The Andong camp has fallen! Attack! Advance!”

Countless soldiers roared along with them.

Heishui City’s troops had been outnumbered and pushed steadily backward. But then, this sudden reversal came. The more exhilarated the Heishui City soldiers became, the more shocked the Andong troops were. Morale surged on one side and collapsed on the other, and even the origin energy supporting them began to show a clear difference.

Just as the tide began to turn, Heishui City’s east gate opened again.

Another force thundered out, armored and armed, men and horses alike brimming with fighting spirit as they charged straight toward the enemy.

A great banner bearing the character “贺 (He)” flew high above them. He Chunhua had personally entered the battle!

With their commander fighting alongside them, the Heishui City troops grew even more invigorated and pushed the battle line eastward in a single surge.

No one noticed that the “贺 (He)” banner snapping in the wind looked somewhat old.

He Chunhua had ordered it dug out of Heishui City’s armory. The last time it had seen use was almost ten years ago.

* * *

He Lingchuan and the others emerged from the secret passage, slipped beyond the Andong encirclement, and made their way through the darkness toward Mount Hulu.

Fortunately, he knew the surrounding terrain like the back of his hand. He could probably have found his way with his eyes closed. That was the only reason he could lead the others through one detour after another until they quietly reached the enemy’s rear camp.

At that time, the Andong camp was still brightly lit, with people constantly coming and going.

He Lingchuan and the others concealed themselves in the wilderness.

And there they stayed for six straight hours.

During that time, they had to avoid patrols, could not wander around, could not make a sound, could not casually relieve themselves, and absolutely could not fart upwind.

He Lingchuan quietly observed the two groups beside him.

The Rongshan disciples led by Qiu Hu sat as still as stones. Aside from occasionally flexing their limbs or shifting position when He Lingchuan ordered them to, they made no unnecessary movements.

As for the elite Yuan soldiers, they had more of those little habits.

One soldier even failed to secure his spear properly and nearly let it roll downhill and clatter against the rocks.

In Qiu Hu and the others’ eyes, however, He Lingchuan seemed even more at ease than they were. The ground in the mountains was damp and crawling with snakes and insects, yet Young Master He looked as comfortable as if he were sitting in his own bedroom.

And every time he led the group to a new hiding place, the move was precise and safe.

This “Young Master He” had patience and composure in abundance.

Just as everyone was beginning to yawn from waiting, war drums thundered from the east, and the Andong camp suddenly burst into activity.

Heishui City’s counterattack had finally begun.

He Lingchuan waited as one group of Andong troops after another left the camp.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The last contingent numbered more than a thousand.

Only 340 men remained behind.

Qiu Hu asked, “Do we go?”

Harassing an enemy logistics camp did not necessarily require an overwhelming numerical advantage.

He Lingchuan had just returned from scouting the front side of the mountain, carefully avoiding the sentries along the way.

The Andong forces had made the right choice in establishing their camp at Mount Hulu. From halfway up the mountain, one could look out over the fighting at Heishui City’s east and south gates.

That also made it convenient for He Lingchuan to observe the battlefield now.

“No hurry. From what I can see, the Heavenly Palace and the Jianyang Sect reinforcements are fighting pretty well. The camp guards can’t suppress them.”

He Chunhua had assigned him the task of launching a surprise attack on the Andong rear camp.

As for where his force hid and exactly when it struck, those decisions were left entirely to He Lingchuan.

As if proving his judgment correct, not long afterward, the three hundred Andong troops guarding the camp were transferred out as well.

Now, fewer than fifty men remained in the vast camp.

To He Lingchuan and the others, it looked exactly like a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

Only then did He Lingchuan wave his hand. “Attack!”

He loved nothing more than using superior numbers to bully a smaller force!

First, several spear-bearing sentries had their throats pierced by arrows.

Then all seventy men leaped down from the hillside.

They came roaring down like tigers descending a mountain, deliberately making enough noise for seventy men to sound like two hundred.

The defenders rushed to intercept them.

He Lingchuan and Qiu Hu charged at the very front, blades rising and falling. In the blink of an eye, four or five enemies went down.

Qiu Hu even seized one Andong soldier by the collar and hurled him more than six meters away.

The man slammed into a tree with a heavy thud.

Then Qiu Hu reached out, caught an arrow that had been fired at him, and drove it straight into the chest of another Andong soldier rushing forward.

The unfortunate man toppled headfirst and skidded across the ground. By the time his feet struck the earth again, he was already dead.

Even the Heishui City soldiers felt a chill watching him.

He Lingchuan killed more cleanly and efficiently than Qiu Hu, but nowhere near as brutally.

Once Qiu Hu started fighting, he was like a tiger wearing human skin. No one dared stand in his way.

With several such sharp blades leading the charge, the Andong interception force was immediately carved apart.

The rest of the attackers brought out the oil they had prepared in advance and splashed it over important tents, wagons, and stores.

Then they tossed in fire.

Before long, flames were roaring throughout the camp.

Only then did He Lingchuan fire several fireworks into the sky, filling the darkness with brilliant bursts of light.

Someone even dug out several large bronze gongs and began hammering away at them.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound carried a great distance through the night.

* * *

Once the rear camp was breached, the panicking Andong troops suddenly discovered that they had been enveloped from the east, south, and west.

Enemies seemed to be everywhere.

Battle cries shook the night from every direction.

This army had never been forged through a hundred battles. Once thrown into chaos, it could not maintain cohesion. He Chunhua seized the moment and ordered the Heishui City army to make several hard lateral cuts through the enemy formation, tearing the Andong battle lines apart.

In an instant, the battle crossed its turning point.