CHAPTER 1590 ABANDON TIGER WHISKER PASS
At this point, Tucker ordered the army to retreat to the Wild Hill Pass, which was just two miles away from the Tiger Whisker Pass.
Wild Hill Pass was actually once very significant in the Ethereal Region. However, since it had been uninhabited for a long time, the city walls were destroyed by heavy rains. Since then, it had been completely abandoned, and the human army established a new stronghold, which was now the Tiger Whisker Pass.
Therefore, the place was now covered in heaps of rubble. But it turned out that it could still be used for a strategic purpose. If the spiritual race's army really wanted to set foot on the Ethereal Region, they would easily be spotted from the monitoring range of the Wild Hill Pass, because the Royer Road one mile away from there was the only way in. This was the main reason why Rocky and others decided to proceed here.
Moreover, there was almost no way that the spiritual race would expect that Tucker would lead the human army that abandoned the Tiger Whisker Pass to the Wild Hill Pass. After all, they shouldn't be familiar with its existence since it had been abandoned for so long.
Overall, it was indeed a wise decision to settle down in the Wild Hill Pass. The enemy had no information about it, and it was just very near to the Tiger Whisker Pass. This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.
Deep into the night, the human army moved into the darkness and arrived at the Wild Hill Pass in no time. They also rearranged their defense line before the sun rose.
Upon settling down, they noticed that the pass was in a complete mess. All of the city walls had collapsed, so they had no choice but to give up on the idea of resisting the enemy army from within the city walls.
"Basil, what should we do next? Our location is useful, but I'm afraid that we will be at a disadvantage if we are to engage them here," Tucker asked as he relied on Rocky's opinion.
"Well, first of all, we have to be fully prepared for the moment that they chase us here. Once they appears, we have to try our best to distract their army and lure them into the traps that we have set up inside the pass. This is the only way that we can diminish their forces little by little before we go for a fatal blow," Rocky said as it seemed that he had already come up with some plans.
"But that is very ideal. First, the spiritual race will definitely be on guard against us once they find out that we have left the Tiger Whisker Pass. Furthermore, if they have already occupied the Tiger Whisker Pass, they may not feel obliged to chase after us because they have already achieved their goal," Tucker replied in an anxious tone.
"No. If they somehow stayed inside, it would mean that they are not only planning of conquering the Tiger Whisker Pass or entering the Ethereal Region. They must have other plans…" Rocky said with furrowed brows. From the beginning, Rocky already guessed that something fishy was going on the moment the spiritual race's army used the Bear Pass and the Celestial Gate Position as baits. In the end, they even dispatched a large number of soldiers to raid the Tiger Whisker Pass.
Therefore, he was wary and prepared just in case they were taken by surprise.
"What would be their purpose?" Tucker asked with a confused expression as he could not figure out what Rocky was trying to say. After all, the spiritual race had gone all out to attack the Tiger Whisker Pass. If what Rocky said was true, then the reason was quite unpredictable.
"I actually don't know either. But soon enough, we will know the answer." Rocky was certain that after the spiritual race occupied the Tiger Whisker Pass, they would eventually unveil their plans.
Meanwhile, just when the Heaven Army was about to attack the Tiger Whisker Pass, they realized that the troops stationed there had already retreated. Hence, they were able to occupy the city effortlessly.
However, just as Rocky expected, Phelps, their grand commander, didn't order his soldiers to search for Tucker and his troops. Instead, he ordered the main force to stay in the Tiger Whisker Pass and only sent a troop of five thousand people to advance towards a border city of the Ethereal Region—the Summer River City. This group of five thousand was personally led by Phelps.
As Rocky predicted, if the spiritual race's army wanted to go to Summer River City, they would have to take the Royer Road. Consequently, they would be exposed to the surveillance of the human army, which was hiding at the Wild Hill Pass.
Soon enough, Rocky and the others spotted that a troop of five thousand people was heading for the Summer River City.
"They sent a troop of only five thousand... Are they supposed to be the spearheads?" At this moment, Tucker and Rocky, who were in the military tent of the Wild Hill Pass, were discussing the recent development in the movements of the spiritual race's army.
"Hmm. I don't think so. There are at least ten thousand guards in the Summer River City. Even the members of the spiritual race should know that it is risky to send a group of five thousand to attack the city," Rocky remarked as he shook his head.
"Then, what is their purpose for going there? It seems that your prediction is spot on. The spiritual race's army still has other plans." At this point, Tucker had to agree with Rocky's speculation earlier.
"Yes, I am certain that they are planning something else. However, if we want to know what exactly it is, we can only let them pass through the Royer Road," Rocky said with a slight frown.
"That also sounds too risky for us. What should we do then?" Tucker became a little worried because there were a lot of uncertainties. If the army of the spiritual race really wanted to invade the Ethereal Region, then countless innocent people would surely suffer.
"Well, we should minimize the risk as long as we can. How about this? Let me lead the Changing Army to tail them. After I decide on the most appropriate plan, we shall take action," Rocky suggested after thinking for a moment. The Changing Army was one of the most versatile troops in the human army. It could attack and defend at the same time and easily adapt to changing battle conditions. Hence, if the spiritual race's army only wanted to cause some panic, then Rocky was confident that the Changing Army could stop them.
"Okay. Go ahead and do what you think is best." Tucker nodded and supported Rocky's idea in a heartbeat.
Without wasting any time, Rocky cupped his hands to Tucker and gathered the Changing Army. They were to pass through the Royer Road and be on the tail of Phelps's army.
About six hours later, the Changing Army, which was currently led by Rocky, was able to discover the location of the army of the spiritual race. Of course, they maintained a safe distance and followed them discreetly.
Then, when the spiritual race's troops were just about three miles away from Summer River City, Phelps immediately ordered the army to stay where they were and release a Carrier Beast.
Seeing their unusual actions, Rocky felt somewhat strange. So, he asked the Changing Army to stop in its tracks, and he decided to get closer to the troop of the spiritual race by himself. Soon enough, he was just five hundred meters away from their target.
As Rocky got close enough, he immediately unleashed his spiritual sense to monitor all the sounds within the area of five hundred meters.
Not long after, he finally heard a conversation.
"Sir, do you really believe what they said before? Then, what is it?"
"I don't know too. But it is the order of the commander in chief, so there should be a reason. We'll just have to wait and see."
"But if it is a trap, our troop is in grave danger! Please consider that possibility too."
"Humph! Since when have you become so timid? Besides, we have scared off the human army that was supposed to be stationed in the Tiger Whisker Pass. They are gone now. Are you really afraid that they might have set up an ambush for us? You overthink too much!"
"But it's always wise to play things safely. I'm just asking you to reconsider it..."
"We won't take too long! As soon as we get in touch with them and receive whatever they prepared, we will head back to the Tiger Whisker Pass. You don't have to worry."
From the conversation that Rocky head, he could not help but be astonished. He concluded that the leader of the five thousand soldiers of the spiritual race was a grand commander. Moreover, their troop's purpose was to receive a gift for their commander in chief, who was nobody but Alyssa. Hearing all of this, Rocky felt that something was odd.
The other party that the troop of the spiritual race was waiting was probably consisted of humans. It meant that there was actually a group of humans who wanted to betray their kind and get on the good side of the spiritual race.
At this point, Rocky grew pretty intrigued to know the other party involved, so he continued to wait.
Then, about two hours later, an ornate beast carriage slowly drove over and caught the attention of Phelps and the rest of the soldiers of the spiritual race.