Chapter 1918: Surrounding the Point to Attack the Reinforcement

But the opponents were incredibly fast; soon after the warning whistle sounded, Qu Ruhai felt the ground tremble.

Then, a troop charged out of the darkness ahead, like a rolling black cloud. They were uniformly black-armored cavalry. Their hoofbeats were like thunder—so fast!

Noting their menacing advance, Qu Ruhai waved his hand, and the vanguard raised their spears and shields, preparing for close combat. The Luodian army was merely fatigued, but they hadn't lost their combat prowess.

However, the enemy quickly decelerated, coming to a complete halt when they were a hundred zhang apart. In a mere dozen breaths, they transitioned from full speed to complete stillness, their formation unbroken, poised and ready.

As a seasoned commander himself, Qu Ruhai, observing their momentum, demeanor, and rhythm, knew this was an elite force. The warriors of the Kasha tribe, though brave and fearless in battle, lacked this steadfast calm, unperturbed even by a looming collapse. Other than the warriors of the Sky God, he had never before seen such an aura in any other army.

From the enemy ranks, a single figure slowly advanced. The black horse he rode was taller and more robust than an ordinary steed, sleek and glistening, with hardly a single stray color on its entire body, except for a ring of pure white around its ankles. It twitched its ears, and only then did others notice that its left ear was missing half.

Qu Ruhai was somewhat surprised upon seeing it: “Half-Ear?”

This was not a mere beast, but a genuine *bo*. It closely resembled the Black *Bo* King said to live in the Northern Demon Wilds, which preferred to feed on flesh and blood and was capable of tearing tigers and leopards apart. Its most striking feature was the loss of half its ear in the battle where it killed the Azure Bear King.

The rider on its back wore black battle armor with subtle patterns and a dragon-head mask, almost blending seamlessly with the night.

“Qu Ruhai.” His voice, low, authoritative, and seemingly echoing, resonated directly in everyone's minds. “I have been waiting for you for a long time.”

Even though Qu Ruhai was seeing him for the first time, he immediately recognized him: “The Great Emperor of Nine Serenities?” He paused: “Or is it He Xiao?”

“Surrender, and you and your men will live,” the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities said, ignoring Qu Ruhai's question. “Otherwise, this will be the carefully chosen burial ground for you all.”

This was both a threat and a warning: this impending skirmish was a meticulously planned ambush designed to eliminate reinforcements. The rapid assault on Luodian and the siege of the capital were meant to lure Qu Ruhai back to defend his king and country, and to eliminate Luodian's most elite forces.

Of course, any ambush must aim for a clear outcome: victory. Otherwise, all the preparations would be a joke.

Qu Ruhai burst into laughter: “With just this handful of men, are you here to fight or to offer yourselves up for slaughter?” He saw at a glance that although the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities had made a grand entrance, his army numbered no more than two thousand. How could this compare to the thirty-five thousand Luodian troops behind him? While the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities' black-armored army was indeed renowned, weren't the Luodian warriors he had led on the southern campaign equally fierce?

Qu Ruhai raised his arm and shouted, pointing towards the capital in the north: “Men of Luodian, smash through these enemies, crush them underfoot, and I will lead you home!”

Just hearing this, He Lingchuan mused that this fellow, despite his rough exterior, was cunning on the inside. The Luodian army had been campaigning south for several months, enduring very tough battles, and many were deeply homesick. Having finally embarked on their return journey, with only a few steps left, enemies blocked their path ahead—what could they do? Of course, they had to fight through! Defeat these obstacles, they reasoned, and they would naturally be able to go home.

Qu Ruhai's simple two sentences had a miraculous effect. The Luodian soldiers, who had fought fierce battles and endured long forced marches, immediately regained their spirits upon hearing the words “go home.” Qu Ruhai knew clearly in his heart that this was the pivotal battle for Luodian. If he won, he could reverse all the unfavorable situations for the Luodian Kingdom; if he lost, Luodian's elites would be annihilated, morale would collapse, and what would they have left to resist the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities?

The Luodian army had encountered an interception, but it was now the Luodian army that initiated the attack.

Qu Ruhai also glanced at the sky. There were several bird demons in the army who often circled high above, scouting and keeping watch. Usually there were four or five, but now he only saw three. Had they gone off somewhere to hunt or rest again? Flying high in the sky, far from the army, they were usually quite lax. Sometimes they would forage for food or quietly find a large tree for a quick nap. It was a form of paid idleness, and they wouldn't return to the army unless there was a special circumstance. Qu Ruhai was naturally displeased, but that was their nature, and he couldn't force them.

Now, with a formidable enemy before them, Qu Ruhai, noticing their absence again, suddenly had a thought: Had those two bird demons been attacked? If so, there must be something happening on the ground!

His gaze naturally shifted to two nearby hills, both to the east of the Luodian army, one distant and one close, shaped like brush rests for calligrapher's brushes. Qu Ruhai let out a whistle to get the attention of the bird demons in the sky, then pointed east, signaling for them to go investigate.

No sooner had his whistle faded than a loud, horn-like bellow came on the wind from the east, as if in response to him. Something seemed to be arriving in the sky, a dense mass of it. The sentries yelled: “Arrow barrage from the east! Arrow barrage from the east!”

The tiny specks in the air grew larger as they approached, revealing themselves to be volleys of arrows! Indeed, there was an ambush.

The Luodian soldiers immediately turned their shields eastward, overlapping them to form a shield wall. They heard thudding sounds like a dense rain of beads, as most of the arrows struck the shields. Though there were considerable gaps between the shields, some soldiers were inevitably injured, but the defense largely held.

Then came the second and third waves of arrows. Like a fierce storm, the arrows rained down so heavily that the army dared not lower their shields. Suddenly, screams erupted from the shield wall. Qu Ruhai turned his head and saw that the shield formations on both sides had suddenly collapsed, as if a dozen or so objects were continuously attacking the soldiers hidden behind the shields. They were incredibly fast and could even curve.

Were they living creatures? Qu Ruhai caught sight of a pale shadow. A quick-witted crossbowman, seizing a gap, fired two arrows, pinning one of the objects to the ground: It was a large boomerang made of bone. Though its movement was restricted by the arrowheads, it continued to struggle and twitch, trying to return to its master. A magic artifact?

Most of the other Luodian soldiers also noticed that the ground trembled even more intensely than before, because, under the cover of three waves of arrows, another ambush force had charged out from behind the hills. The Great Emperor of Nine Serenities dividing his forces was to be expected. If Qu Ruhai had limited troops, he too would have divided his forces to attack the enemy's flanks, attempting to disrupt their formation.

The problem was, this ambush force was unusual. Leading the charge were over a dozen moving mountains of flesh, massive, ferocious, and shaking the very earth as they ran. They were the ones emitting the horn-like bellows: woolly mammoths. Covered in a thick layer of shaggy fur, these creatures were even larger than regular plains elephants. Their pair of colossal tusks curved outwards, and the more ancient ones, like the leading mammoth, had grown a second pair of tusks, like short, exceptionally sharp daggers.

As they ran, they formed a wide, moving wall, kicking up clouds of dust. Seeing this towering wall rapidly advancing towards them, any creature would instinctively cower. Even the Luodian army's battle-hardened warhorses were now retreating relentlessly, and no amount of scolding or pulling from their riders was effective.

Closer, ever closer!