Although Song Tongyi's words were bizarre, the group had indeed encountered such a strange and unnatural incident that they couldn't help but believe him. After all, the deserted house and woman that had vanished overnight defied any conventional explanation.

What puzzled Song Joong-ki was the sudden keen interest that the general flag bearer of the Ming Dynasty army had developed in Korean folklore mythology, relentlessly questioning him along the way.

He was particularly inquisitive about the obscene shrine private worship and those obscure rural deities, asking about them in painstaking detail, repeatedly and tirelessly.

After leaving She Mountain, the journey was uneventful.

The group's goal was modest to begin with, and with Wang Sheng and others scouting ahead, they occasionally caught distant glimpses of the Ming dynasty's army, adorned with various family crest banners, without any real danger.

Until...

Phosphorescent lights scattered and drifted among the vast hills, and the bright moon hung high in the night sky. Looking from Li Yan's feet, as far as the eye could see, there was an endless expanse of corpses.

Most of them were pierced by spears and arrows, their blood flowing down the wooden shafts and soaking the dry, brown earth. The crows perched on the bodies refused to leave even at the sight of people, but a swing of Deng Tianxiong's long saber startled them into flight, scattering black feathers across the ground.

The brutality of the cold weapon war was like a blunt knife breaking bones, a crude reminder of the horror that made it difficult to look directly at the carnage.

"Is there a chance?" Li Yan asked Wang Sheng.

Young Wang Sheng shook his head in dejection.

"Song, are you fucking playing us?" Deng Tianxiong asked angrily.

According to Song Tongyi, the rolling hills before them had only two major paths for army encampments, which could not accommodate more than a few dozen men. They should have been able to cross these hills without difficulty by avoiding the main roads.

However, the reality was that the Japanese invasion forces stationed throughout the hills seemed like a tightly drawn net. Just from Wang Sheng's reconnaissance, there were at least hundreds of Japanese invaders nearby, and judging by the distant glimmers that Li Yan observed, there could be several thousand!

"I don't know why this is happening either; it's not normal for so many people to be stationed here," Song Tongyi admitted, panicked.

"Unless..." Li Yan interjected, "The Great Ming's army arrived faster than we anticipated."

The group was taken aback by this suggestion.

"You mean the two armies are in a standoff?" Song Tongyi asked.

Li Yan squinted his eyes toward the expanse of land strewn with corpses that had become a ghostly domain.

"I think if we cross these hills, we'll see the Great Ming's encampment."

Despite the unexpected turn of events, Li Yan's few words managed to stir the spirits of the group.

"But how are we going to get across?"

Song Tongyi's voice was dry, merely glancing at the bodies turned into porcupines by arrows made his scalp tingle.

Li Yan patted his shoulder.

"We need to cross the hills, not directly confront the Japanese invaders. If we move quickly, it's not that dangerous. Provided we have horses."

Song Tongyi did not dwell on the truth or falsehood in Li Yan's words, but instinctively asked,

"Where are the horses?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

...

Around the campfire, the Japanese invaders laughed loudly, polishing their hanging armors, their expressions relaxed.

Not far from the tents, about thirty glossy brown warhorses were tethered.

"General Li's Banner, are you serious?"

At that moment, Diao the Blind, who was immobilized on a soldier's back, also looked shocked.

"Remember what I taught you. My life is in your hands now."

The men glanced at the elliptical, well-defined objects in their hands, swallowed hard, and nodded solemnly.

"Murder, horse robbery, armor looting."

Li Yan enunciated each word.

...

"It's really boring. Just thinking about it, you know the enemy won't attack from behind."

"It's more comfortable to throw dice around the fire than to patrol."

"Hey, Saito, you lost, haha."

"What..."

Muttering, the man pulled out a copper coin from his belt. It bore the inscription of Longtong Baoqing.

Indeed, it was a copper coin of the Great Ming Empire; the Japanese invaders lacked the technology to mint their own coins.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye and suddenly shouted, "Hey, who's that?"

"Hey, are you trying to weasel out of your debt, man of the Saito family?"

Someone grumbled discontentedly, and then someone poked him, followed by a clanging of weapons.

The men's faces turned grave.

A shadow grew longer as a figure approached from a distance, its features indistinct.

"Is it that sort of thing again?"

A Japanese invader asked, trembling.

"It's the third time. Should we report back to the General?"

On the battlefield strewn with corpses, monstrous creatures would occasionally emerge. Saito had encountered one, a monstrous corpse, rotten yet immensely strong, which had killed at least a dozen soldiers before the General himself took it down.

There were also monsters that gnawed on corpses and the midnight wails of a woman's voice; Saito was chilled to the bone just by hearing about it.

"Hey, Saito, go take a look."

"Are you joking, you bastard?"

A sliver of moonlight fell on the man's face, and the expressions of a few Japanese invaders relaxed.

"What is it."

Saito approached with a spear in hand, its sharp tip wavering in front of the man's chest.

"Hey, where are you from?"

A soldier behind him saw the man's muscular arm bend backward, revealing a flash of cold light, and his eyes widened in alarm.

The Ring Dragon Sword danced through the air like a wisp of refined steel, its tip perilously grazing Saito's throat. Despite holding a long spear that could easily pierce the man's chest with a mere thrust, and boasting a greater reach than any sword, Saito was still too slow to react. Clutching at his throat, his expression contorted in agony, he fell to the ground.

"Enemy attack!"

The soldier's roar thundered through the camp as torches flared to life in succession. Many of the Japanese invaders, who had been sleeping in their clothes, seized their short swords and long spears, leaping to their feet.

As some spread open their quivers and drew their bows, it was only when they aimed their arrows at the man that they realized his sword was already upon them.

He moved as if in a realm devoid of others, his steps as agile as a specter. With each swing of his long sword, blood was sure to spray.

"Whoosh!"

Yet an arrow still managed to whiz past Li Yan's scalp. At least seven or eight crossbows were trained on him, but beneath the Ring Dragon Sword, four or five souls had already been claimed.

The long sword pierced the throat of a warrior who had not had time to don his armor. Li Yan turned and fled, dodging flying arrows with a few leaps, disappearing into the distance.

"Is he a monster? How can he be so fast?"

"It's just one man!"

"Chase him!"

It was unclear who shouted with all their might, but the warriors mounted their horses, hastily donned their armor, and spurred their steeds in hot pursuit.

Some, quick on their feet and closer to where Li Yan had erupted into action, were already on horseback chasing after him as the thought of retreat flickered in his mind.

Others, still groggy from sleep, had not even reached their horses.

The troop of several dozen was quickly strung out.

An inconspicuous object, taking advantage of the night, drifted leisurely into the crowd.

"Boom!"

The explosion sent shards flying, tearing through the bodies of the Japanese invaders. The startled horses neighed wildly, their hooves pounding the earth.

With a pull of the pin and a tug of the string, another was thrown.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

The blasts echoed, audible for miles around, and while the crowd was still dumbstruck by such a lightweight yet deadly weapon, Deng Tianxiong knew that speed was of the essence in warfare.

"Kill! Loot armor! Mount up!"

...

A billowing cloud of dust rose like a sudden earthen dragon, as the Japanese invaders on horseback drew their bows, the bowstrings taut.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

The man running ahead moved at an impossibly fast pace, yet the horses were gaining on him. Arrows viciously tore through the air, slicing grass and kicking up stones and dust.

"Thud!"

An arrow seemed to strike the man's neck, and he fell backward, rolling down the slope!

More than twenty riders crossed the downslope, frowning and looking around, only to find the terrain on both sides quite high. Just as they were about to turn their horses, several round, flaming objects flew towards them!

The earth shattered, and smoke filled the air.

After a violent tremor and a landslide, Li Yan sprung to his feet, a steel arrow clenched between his teeth, his forehead drenched in sweat.

Spitting out the arrow, he shouted towards Wang Sheng, who was rushing towards him.

"Strip the armor, break through!"

**********

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