Chapter 128: Heavy Obstacles

He wasn't stupid. While battling Wu Shaoyi, he gradually realized that it was likely that despicable official He Chunhua who had manipulated things behind the scenes, inciting Wu Shaoyi and Pei Xinyong to join forces against him.

Wu Shaoyi had an old grudge against him and was easily provoked, so this tactic of sowing discord required little effort.

Lu Yao pointed towards the western mountainside. "Pursue!" he commanded. "Kill without mercy once you catch them, except for that despicable official!"

He sneered. "Leave that despicable official to me."

***

Suddenly, light filled the world.

Sweat streamed down his face. He Lingchuan rubbed his eyes and suddenly noticed the faint light of dawn in the east.

The first ray of morning light that day struck the mountain wall and also shone on him.

He Lingchuan panted, unable to believe that his group of about thirty men, relying on a dozen dilapidated carts, had managed to hold out for another two hours!

No, it wasn't thirty men anymore; only nine were left. The severely wounded could no longer move.

The long blade in his hand was still dripping blood, from both bandits and his own fallen soldiers.

Watching his comrades fall one after another, an earlier incident came to mind: a soldier, while others weren't paying attention, had quietly retreated to the rear, mounted a horse, and tried to escape.

Seeing this, Zhao Qinghe roared in anger and pulled him from his horse.

He Lingchuan rushed over from behind, and without listening to any explanation, he cut off the man's head with one strike of his blade!

In a head-on confrontation, courage prevails.

Without executing deserters, there would be no brave men.

Indeed, as the head rolled, the atmosphere on the battlefield changed. The soldiers looked at He Lingchuan with a gaze filled with awe. Yet, in his heart, there was neither sorrow nor joy; he simply raised his blade and returned to fighting the enemy.

After Lu Yao had finished gathering Wu Shaoyi's former subordinates, he naturally brought them to pursue the imperial soldiers, only to be intercepted by He Lingchuan and his group halfway up the mountain.

This was terrain He Lingchuan had carefully chosen. As long as the cart formation held, no matter how numerous the bandit army was, only the first twenty or thirty men could engage effectively, with the rest being blocked.

Precisely because of this, the bandit army's assault reached an unprecedented intensity.

Since the carts couldn't be moved, the bandits tried to hack them apart.

After all, there was no shortage of strongmen in their ranks.

However, what they didn't know was that the He family's possessions, from their clothing to their daily necessities, were all about understated luxury with substance. This was evident in the carts, which were built with exceptionally sturdy materials. Their frames were made from ancient redwood sourced from Knife Mountain, first soaked in a special solution, then ground and polished through over a dozen processes. Ordinary blades and swords would only chip slightly when striking them, and pulling them back was often difficult as they tended to get stuck.

Furthermore, these cart panels could even withstand wildfires.

After all, they were originally meant to carry the He family's vast fortunes over a thousand or two thousand li; how could they not be sturdy enough for such a journey?

Even if the horses pulling them became lame, the carts themselves would remain undamaged.

Hacking at such carts, the bandits were almost in tears. Moreover, He Lingchuan and his group were no pushovers; they certainly wouldn't allow the bandits to hack away freely and to their heart's content.

So the bandits had no choice but to wield an axe in one hand and a shield in the other. They used their shields to block the hail of spears and arrows shot through the gaps in the carts, only finding brief moments to swing their axes a few times.

Among them, there were also clever individuals. Seeing the imperial soldiers' fierce resistance, they simply swung their axes half-heartedly, just for show, not daring to genuinely hack and chop. Consequently, their efficiency was extremely low.

Lu Yao was annoyed by this sight. After reprimanding a few of his subordinates, he simply grabbed a massive axe and went in himself.

His strength was immense; the speed at which he hacked the carts was much faster than his subordinates. However, swinging an axe made him vulnerable.

In fact, he possessed a protective aura and wasn't afraid at all when fighting Wu Shaoyi. However, facing the imperial soldiers' wild thrusts and stabs with their long spears, he was extremely wary.

The reason was simple: these imperial soldiers possessed primal energy!

Primal energy specifically countered an opponent's true energy abilities, unless the opponent also possessed primal energy to contend with it.

Lu Yao was annoyed deep down. If the Holy Master were still alive, they would also be able to use primal energy. This toy-like obstacle, these weak imperial soldiers, wouldn't stand a chance against him.

His rage increased, and his attack power rose accordingly.

When the first cart formation was about to be completely destroyed, He Lingchuan quickly ordered, "Withdraw behind the second layer of the formation!"

Yes, he had again mimicked the battle in his dream. Taking advantage of the time Lu Yao spent subduing the remnants of Wu Shaoyi's bandits, he had also set up the second and third layers of cart formations.

They could easily clamber over. But when the bandits broke through the first cart formation, and Lu Yao was the first to push aside the broken carts and charge forward, they were all dumbfounded:

"There's another layer?!"

This happened again and again.

He Lingchuan's command was impressive, and the imperial soldiers all regarded him as their backbone. He personally joined the battle and didn't forget to boost everyone's morale. Moreover, the cart formation indeed greatly alleviated their pressure, which was how they had barely held out until now.

Of course, the soldier's head he personally severed also put an end to anyone else's thoughts of fleeing.

Only by applying both kindness and severity can one truly win people's hearts.

However, by the time dawn broke in the east, this third cart formation was also nearly unsustainable.

Due to insufficient resources, the imperial soldiers had used villagers' ox-carts and horse-carts to build the third formation. These carts were of different grades and qualities, much thinner and more brittle, unlike the He family's robust ones that resisted hacking and tearing.

Some cart compartments were even just covered with a thin layer of wooden planks, so shoddily made that it was obvious. The bandit army could pierce them with a single spear thrust, almost creating a bloody hole in Maotao's arm.

He flinched in fear and said to He Lingchuan, "Young Master, we can't hold on!"

Zeng Feixiong had clearly instructed him and Zhao Qinghe to oversee the battle, yet somehow, the command authority had long since shifted to He Lingchuan.

Driven by Lu Yao, short and agile bandits climbed over like wild monkeys, engaging in close combat with the group.

Bodies lay scattered everywhere on the ground, both bandits' and imperial soldiers'.

As the battle continued, it settled into a rhythm familiar to He Lingchuan.

Across the carts, Lu Yao's bloodshot eyes fixed on him. "You'd better run fast!" he snarled. "Once I catch up, I'll chop off both your and your father's heads and use them as wine flasks!"

He Lingchuan touched his own head, then looked at the red sun on the eastern mountaintop, and sighed. "Mount up, retreat!"

Unlike in his dream, this time he didn't intend to hold out until the last moment.

A dream is a dream; reality is reality.

In dreams, one can be filled with fierce heroism, but in reality, the dead cannot be resurrected.

Finally, the order to retreat! All the imperial soldiers let out a long sigh of relief, almost to the point of tears, and hastily scrambled onto their horses. The sorcerer in the group ran about sixteen meters up the path, squatted down, pressed his hands to the ground, and began chanting incantations.

Under Zhao Qinghe's coordination, all the primal energy from everyone was transferred to him.

The light emanating from the sorcerer suddenly grew intense.

Immediately after, the ground he was pressing began to form a layer of ice, extending downwards.

Yes, even if He Lingchuan wanted to retreat, he still had to create a bit more trouble for his opponents.

"Faster, faster!" He Lingchuan urged repeatedly. "We're by the lake; there's plenty of moisture here. It should be faster!"

Seeing the cart formation about to break, sweat streamed even more freely down his back.

"My true energy is limited; this is as far as it goes..." the sorcerer said, gritting his teeth. His sorcery was for killing, not for paving roads!

"True energy is limited?" He Lingchuan was enlightened by his words. He immediately pulled something from his pocket, stuffed it into the sorcerer's mouth, and asked, "Can this thing be used?"

It was a deep green mystic crystal.

At this crucial moment, it was still Young Master He who had the resources.