Volume 1, Chapter 28: Five Hundred Defeats Five Thousand!

The wind grew fiercer, and the snow fell heavier.

The roar of five thousand armored cavalry charging caused the entire Hufeng Pass to tremble.

Zhang Muyang’s eardrums throbbed; he could not distinguish between the pounding of his heart and the thunder of hooves. He squinted, seeing a field of eerie green points of light emerging upon the distant snowy plain. They were not wolves, but the wolf-eye emblems on the helmets of the Blood Wolf Cavalry, emitting a cold, phosphorescent glow like thousands of eyes opened by hounds of hell.

"They are here," Su Ying said, her voice chilling.

Clatter, clatter, clatter!

The vibrations from the ground grew increasingly violent, like an invisible war drum beating relentlessly against the chests of every soldier in the Border-Pacifying Army.

Five hundred against five thousand! This was not a battle; it was a slaughter.

The new recruits gritted their teeth so hard they cracked. Some shook uncontrollably; others simply wet their pants, their urine freezing into icy shards in the bitter cold.

"Ready!" Zhang Muyang commanded in a low voice, his Hanling Blade sliding three inches from its scabbard.

He finally saw them clearly: the front-row cavalry wore helmets painted with hideous wolf totems. They bit down on their reins, the veins in their necks bulging like knotted dragons, emitting inhuman, rattling groans—they looked like a pack of demons crawled up from the abyss.

"Awooooo—"

The wolf howls tore through the wind and snow, echoing one after another as if every starving wolf on the plains had been awakened.

Helian Jue raised his Yan saber high and roared, "The Wolf King grants his blessing! Flatten Hufeng Pass!"

"The Wolf King grants his blessing! Flatten Hufeng Pass!"

Five thousand men bellowed in unison, the sound so powerful it shook the accumulated snow from the cliff tops.

As the first warhorse stepped onto the ice, Zhang Muyang’s muscles locked tight.

Now!

"Splash!"

Man and horse vanished beneath the ice, sending up a spray of water ten feet high. The cavalrymen behind could not stop; one after another, they plunged into the icy abyss, sinking like dumplings into a pot, leaving behind only bubbles.

Screams, wolf howls, and the sound of cracking ice merged into a discordant chorus that sliced through the silence of the snowy night like a dull blade.

The soldiers of the Border-Pacifying Army stared with wide eyes. They had expected a bloody, visceral struggle, but instead, they watched the infamous Blood Wolf Cavalry fall into the ice pits one after another, struggling and shrieking in the freezing river before falling silent.

Some soldiers clenched their fists, wanting to cheer, but were stifled by their squad leaders.

The silence lasted only three breaths.

"Help!"

"The ice is broken! Retreat—"

The screams exploded!

The front-row cavalry fought to rein in their horses, but those behind continued to charge, pushing others into the pits. Soon, the river surface was clogged with a dense mass of human heads and horse carcasses.

"Stop! Damn you all, stop!"

Helian Jue roared until his voice cracked.

After a full ten minutes of chaos, the panicked crowd finally ground to a halt. Helian Jue stepped onto the ice and walked to the edge of a pit. In the flickering torchlight, he saw hundreds of bodies of men and horses; some had already sunk beneath the ice, while others were still struggling feebly.

Dried branches were scattered along the edges of the ice—this was no natural collapse. It was a trap!

He jerked his head up, looking toward the pass of Hufeng.

It was pitch black, resembling a fierce tiger with its maw wide open, hiding its depth.

"The enemy had an ambush set! Grand Commander, we must retreat!" a centurion’s voice trembled.

"Retreat?"

Helian Jue suddenly erupted in fury. He swung his saber, severing the man's head. "Five thousand Blood Wolf Cavalry, and we can’t flatten a pathetic mountain pass? Lay down planks! Fill it in!"

Soon, the cavalry laid boards over the ice pits. The remaining four thousand-plus riders crossed the boards, formed tight ranks, and charged toward Hufeng Pass again.

Covering the five-hundred-meter distance, the cavalry reached the foot of the pass. Some fired arrows, while others threw grappling hooks to scale the low walls, their wolf howls once again filling the night sky.

This was the moment they had waited for!

On the wall, Wu Kexiong swung his arm down and roared, "Release the boulders!"

"Rumble—"

On both sides of the mountain, boulders previously loosened by crowbars finally broke free. The stones, as large as millstones, tumbled down with snow, striking the cavalry like thunderbolts from the heavens. Horses had their brains crushed, and men were ground into pulp.

Immediately after, hundreds of oil-soaked fire arrows streaked through the night, igniting the sesame oil hidden beneath the snow.

Boom!

Tongues of fire erupted ten feet high, spreading rapidly along the trails of oil, instantly creating a sea of flame.

Warhorses reared in terror, throwing their riders into the blaze. The burning soldiers wailed, rolling frantically on the snow. The fire stained half the sky red, even turning the falling snowflakes to the color of blood.

How could this be?

Helian Jue’s eyes were bloodshot. He had fought the Great Liang armies countless times, but he had never seen tactics like this—ice pits, rolling stones, fire attacks—each link in a chain that allowed no room to breathe.

Zhang Muyang had been watching him the entire time. He drew his bow to full moon, and an armor-piercing arrow whistled through the wind, aimed straight at his face.

"Grand Commander, watch out!" A personal guard threw himself forward, shielding him with his body.

"Thwack!"

The arrow pierced the guard's chest and struck Helian Jue’s helmet, shattering the wolf-eye emblem.

Helian Jue shivered, his heart filled with dread for the first time as he met those icy eyes.

Impossible!

How could the Great Liang possess such a man?!

"Retreat! Retreat!" Helian Jue gritted his teeth, his voice filled with bitter resentment. "Withdraw!"

The surviving Blood Wolf Cavalry, as if granted a reprieve, wheeled their horses around, but they were trapped in the narrow passage by the wall of fire and debris, bunched together in a panicked mass.

The Border-Pacifying Army’s arrows fell like rain, each one claiming a life.

Finally, Helian Jue and his remaining men escaped, vanishing into the vast night.

"Squad Leader!" Zhang Muyang turned to Chen Xiucheng and shouted, "Let’s charge down! Seize their horses! Kill the remnants!"

"We only have five hundred men..."

"Their morale is shattered; ours is at its peak!"

Zhang Muyang pointed at the remnants struggling in the fire, shouting, "If we miss this chance, we’ll never have another!"

Before the words had faded, Su Ying had already darted down the slope like an arrow released from a string.

She wove through the sea of fire, her Yan saber swinging with precision to decapitate the enemy. Three years of blood-soaked hatred finally found an outlet. Her eyes shone with a terrifying intensity in the firelight, like a vengeful she-wolf.

"Kill!"

Zhang Muyang no longer hesitated. He led Lin Xiaobei, Gousheng, and the others down. "Squad Leader! Go and overturn the planks on the ice pits! Don’t let them return!"

Without horses, they charged down, trampling over the corpses in the snow.

Su Ying’s blade was as fast as lightning, every strike finding the neck of an enemy. Zhang Muyang’s Hanling Blade carried the force of a thousand pounds; wherever the blade passed, men and horses were shattered alike.

The wounded Blood Wolf Cavalry soldiers who tried to struggle were hacked to death by the young men from Zhang Village who followed.

Chen Xiucheng stomped his foot in frustration, gritted his teeth, and yelled, "Follow me! Overturn the planks!"

Dozens of soldiers rushed to the edge of the ice pits.

Tian Chong had just grabbed a plank when he locked eyes with a pair of bloodshot eyes—under the ice, a Northern Yan cavalryman was still alive!

The rider’s face was covered in ice shards, his lips purple, his hands clawing at the ice, struggling to climb out.

"Mother of..." Tian Chong recoiled in fear.

"What are you standing there for!"

Chen Xiucheng stepped forward and brought his blade down on the rider’s head, the river water instantly swallowing the desperate face.

On the city wall, Wu Kexiong felt his blood boil. He drew his long saber and roared, "All forces, attack! Kill—!"

Five hundred soldiers of the Border-Pacifying Army poured out from all sides, pouncing on the remnants struggling in the fire. The sounds of slaughter, screaming, and clashing steel intertwined, creating a scene of absolute carnage.

When the last fire arrow flickered out, Hufeng Pass finally returned to silence.

The surviving soldiers leaned on their blades in the snow, gasping for air, their faces caked in blood and ice, yet none cared. They looked at each other, unable to believe they had truly survived.

They won?

They had actually won?

Five hundred men had repelled five thousand Blood Wolf Cavalry!

Zhang Muyang wiped the blood from his face and saw Su Ying, who was repeatedly hacking at a corpse. The body was already a mangled mess of flesh, and blood splattered her face and body.

"Stop." Zhang Muyang walked over and grabbed her hand.

"He was a thousand-man commander under Helian Jue. Three years ago, he hung my sister’s head from his saddle..."

Su Ying’s blade tip rested on the mangled remains, and she suddenly smiled.

Her laughter was colder than the winds of the Northern Frontier.

Su Ying hacked off the man’s head with one final, savage blow. "He said that would ward off evil spirits!"

Zhang Muyang silently gripped her cold hand and said slowly, "I promise you, I will kill the Wolf King and Helian Jue."

The Hanling Blade suddenly trembled violently, and the twenty-one blood-red veins on the blade ignited simultaneously.

[Ding!]

[Blood-drinking progress: 21/50]

[Next stage unlocked: Blood Rage Slash]