Chapter 306: Great Flood

Emotions, stemming from his original self or, more accurately, a resonance within the same bloodline, were usually suppressed but would surge forth when he was caught off guard.

Hong Chenglüe suppressed the surging qi and blood in his chest and the wildly circulating true energy within his body. He casually cut down several people, then glanced at He Chunhua.

The "dog official's" figure was completely obscured by the dense crowd; he couldn't see him clearly.

In fact, he didn't need to look; he was confident in the power of his strike, certain he had severed at least half of the "dog official's" neck.

He was all too familiar with the sensation of a sharp blade severing a throat and bone.

Just then, a whooshing sound came from above.

The enormous golden-armored bronze figure moved again, swinging a fast, fierce punch towards his head.

Hong Chenglüe barely dodged the attack with a roll on the ground. As he scrambled up, his eyes met He Lingchuan's; he saw blood at He Lingchuan's mouth and a chilling look in his eyes.

The golden-armored bronze figure's head had already been lopped off by him, so why could it still move?

At that moment, the golden-armored bronze figure surprisingly picked up its head from the ground, reattached it to its neck, and continued to pursue Hong Chenglüe.

What others didn't know was that this contraption had four control centers: the main one in its heart, and three sub-centers in its head and knees. The golden-armored bronze figure resembled a human, so opponents typically attacked its head and heart as they would a person. However, this was futile. Cast from an alloy, it could still move as long as all four centers weren't completely destroyed, albeit perhaps less agilely.

Meanwhile, a rock wolf emerged from somewhere, circling around to specifically target Hong Chenglüe's lower body from behind.

Its movements were extremely agile; if it missed an attack, it would retreat and then strike again when an opportunity arose.

Hong Chenglüe swung his blade twice but only managed to sever a few strands of wolf fur.

The wolf and the bronze figure, one agile and the other ponderous, surprisingly cooperated tacitly. Coupled with the surrounding Raven soldiers' encirclement, Hong Chenglüe was temporarily trapped in a desperate battle.

Fortunately, at this moment, nearly a hundred Xunzhou cavalrymen also charged up behind him, greatly alleviating his pressure.

Hong Chenglüe took the opportunity to survey the battlefield. "Hmm, it's time," he thought.

Observing everything around him was a commander's instinct. Even while locked in fierce combat with He Lingchuan, he could still monitor the entire situation on the field.

He immediately picked up his spear, leaped onto his horse, and rode west without looking back, as the Xunzhou cavalrymen struggled to clear a path for him.

Because he wasn't under Nian Zanli's command, his unit's elemental energy hadn't been stripped away, and its members were all elites, their combat power was very strong. They actually managed to forcefully carve out a bloody path.

Hong Chenglüe simultaneously pulled out a horn and blew it, producing a wailing sound.

The sound was like a night owl's shriek amplified tenfold—shrill and piercing enough to be heard even by the most bloodthirsty soldiers.

The Xunzhou army, which had already fled west, ran even faster upon hearing the horn blast.

Zhao Pan, who had been pursuing them, also noticed that the enemy's disciplinary squad wasn't killing the fleeing soldiers at all; instead, they were running even faster than them...

"To the west!"

"What's going on?"

After Hong Chenglüe finished blowing the horn, he unleashed a thunderous roar: "General Nian, release the water, now!"

Using his true energy, his voice spread far, resonating throughout the entire battlefield.

Wu Shaoyi, who had just reached He Chunhua's side, suddenly looked up towards the riverbank behind the main camp and felt a shiver down his spine.

The terrain there was two *zhang* higher than the main camp where everyone was.

From behind the rocks, a dozen figures emerged unnoticed, standing silently. At their head was Nian Zanli, the Governor of Xunzhou, who had not appeared throughout the entire battle!

He wore the common leather armor of a Raven soldier and could blend into the ranks simply by lowering his head.

Clearly, taking advantage of the recent chaos, he had secretly slipped here with his personal guards.

Hearing Hong Chenglüe's shout, he looked down at the riverbank, a clear look of hesitation on his face.

Seven or eight Xunzhou army boats had yet to land, and numerous soldiers were still running west on the open ground along the sloping bank.

Combined, there were at least two thousand three or four hundred people in the river and on the bank.

These were all his soldiers, whom he saw daily and had even greeted many of them.

Even though he had always been decisive, he felt a pang of reluctance at this moment.

Hong Chenglüe sensed Nian Zanli's hesitation and shouted again: "Lord Nian, time waits for no one! It's success or failure!"

The word "failure" startled Nian Zanli.

Indeed, they had already charged onto the south bank; there was no retreat.

If this do-or-die battle failed, Nian Zanli would lose everything, even his capital!

He no longer hesitated and silently recited an incantation.

With even Hong Chenglüe fleeing, Wu Shaoyi's heart pounded with fear, and he had already sent men to rush towards Nian Zanli. Meanwhile, He Lingchuan, seeing Hong Chenglüe flee while blowing the horn, immediately ordered: "Pursue! Everyone pursue Hong Chenglüe!"

No matter what treacherous scheme this scoundrel was planning, following him closely was the right thing to do.

Shan Youjun immediately led the Xiazhou forces to pursue Hong Chenglüe.

Hong Chenglüe ran towards higher ground as arrows rained down behind him, striking down several scouts.

Fu Xin was galloping diagonally behind him. Seeing this, his eyes darted around, and he thought of seizing the opportunity for revenge.

Unexpectedly, Hong Chenglüe seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He suddenly pointed at him and ordered: "Fu Xin, take your men and stay to cover our retreat."

Fu Xin was startled, then furious, unable to believe that this scoundrel had preemptively retaliated against him. However, it was a military order and could not be disobeyed. He could only slow his horse and stay behind with his men to cover the retreat.

A dozen or so people, of course, couldn't defeat hundreds or thousands. Fu Xin seized an opportunity and escaped, wounded, via another route.

Meanwhile, He Lingchuan looked down at He Chunhua. Although many soldiers surrounded them, no one dared to intervene. Just as he was about to pry his father's hand from his neck to check the injury, he suddenly frowned.

He suddenly realized there was no blood between He Chunhua's fingers.

He had personally witnessed the power of Hong Chenglüe's strike; his father's neck had been severed at least halfway, so there should have been a gush of blood.

However, there was none.

He didn't see a single drop of blood.

Instead, a personal guard not far away clutched his neck, collapsing with a thud, spitting red foam from his mouth, as blood spurted from his neck.

But this was a battlefield where swords and arrows flew indiscriminately, and people were getting injured every minute. Moreover, everyone's attention was on He Chunhua. Even if someone noticed this unlucky soldier fall, they would just assume he was ambushed by Xunzhou soldiers and wouldn't think much of it.

A point of white light suddenly emerged from the Han River, soaring into the air as if on wings, and landed in Nian Zanli's hand.

It looked like a bottle.

Then, Nian Zanli turned the bottle mouth downwards and made a motion of pouring water forward.

Two flying arrows shot towards him one after another but were both knocked away by his personal guards.

Immediately after, a surging torrent of water poured out of the bottle's mouth!

Nian Zanli's position was already higher than the Raven soldiers. As he inverted the Verdant Bottle, which had absorbed nearly half an hour's worth of river water, the water surged out, jostling to be first.

If this bottle could absorb water and turn the Han River into a slow stream, then when it poured water, it could turn high ground into a riverbed!

The surging river water roared forth with the might of ten thousand galloping horses, pouring down the high ground. Nian Zanli's hands, holding the bottle, trembled slightly, and he himself took two steps back, as if he was about to lose his grip.

Wu Shaoyi roared hoarsely: "Retreat, retreat to the west!"

Actually, he didn't need to remind them. Who among the living doesn't value their life? Seeing a sudden flood on land, the Raven army shouted and ran west with all their might, wishing their parents had given them two more legs.

Seeing the flood from the bottle approaching with earth-shaking force, the rock wolf bolted away with its tail between its legs, running much faster than the humans.

Even He Chunhua's personal guards fled. Their lord was dead; of course, they had to fight for their own lives. As for He Chunhua's strange state, in such a short time and with people pressing in, how many could see clearly?

He Lingchuan made a hand seal, and the golden-armored bronze figure shrank back to doll size, leaping into his pocket. He then scooped up He Chunhua, jumped onto the Azure Spotted Horse, and rode away.

No one noticed that He Chunhua's eyelids twitched twice.

The reason people still had enough energy to escape was that the main Raven camp's battle formation had bought them valuable time.

But this magical formation, which even cannons couldn't disperse, was now swaying precariously under the impact of the surging floodwaters. The light green aura representing the formation trembled like a candle flame in the wind.

When the first wave of the flood truly arrived, the battle formation could no longer hold and dissolved like a soap bubble.

There was no longer any barrier between the great water and the fleeing humans; it swept towards them with a cruel grin.

He Lingchuan watched as the towering muddy waves mercilessly swallowed the desperate humans ahead, and then, it was his turn!

The crest of the wave was three *zhang* high and crashed down directly on him.

At this moment, the Azure Spotted Beast was still fourteen or fifteen *zhang* away from the safety of the high rocks.

A distance normally covered in two strides now seemed impossibly far.

What to do? They couldn't get across.

He Chunhua had just regained consciousness when he sat up in fright. "Ah...?" he gasped.

How did he fall into the river as soon as he opened his eyes?

He Lingchuan had already suspected he wasn't dead. Seeing this, he immediately said, "Father, hold on tight!"

This father indeed had a life-saving trick hidden up his sleeve.

He Lingchuan slipped something into his waistband.

"Hold on tight?"

Although He Chunhua's back had stiffened from the fright of the oncoming flood, he unconsciously didn't understand the meaning of that sentence.

The next second, He Lingchuan grabbed his shoulders and threw him towards the protruding high rocks, like throwing a sandbag.

He was incredibly strong and used all his true energy. He Chunhua soared through the air, and turning back, he saw a giant wave crash down, swallowing his eldest son, man and horse, leaving no trace.

"Chuan'er!" He Chunhua's heart was gripped with immense grief.

That was his son, whom he had watched grow up, a child he had spent thousands of days and nights with!

Just as he was about to land, still two *zhang* away, a sharp cry suddenly came from above. A strange bird swooped down from mid-air, its hooked claws gripping him firmly.

Dong Rui!

This fellow had vanished after suffering a setback at He Lingchuan's hands last time. It turned out he had been waiting for an opportunity to get revenge.

His method of dealing with He Chunhua was also simple: just throw him back into the flood.

So the strange bird spun in mid-air to drop He Chunhua. But He Chunhua was not foolish; he grabbed one of the bird's claws with one hand and, with the other, snatched his sword sheath to hit the bird's neck.

If he hit it in the right spot, the strange bird might fly back to land.

How could Dong Rui let him have his way? He recited a short incantation, about to cast a spell on him.

However, at this very moment, in front of He Chunhua and beneath the strange bird's claws, a figure suddenly appeared out of thin air.

As soon as this person appeared, he began to fall. Fortunately, he was quick-witted; he quickly grabbed He Chunhua's legs, and then, further, grabbed the strange bird's other claw.

His clothes and armor were dripping with water, his face was smeared with mud, and there were twigs in his hair.

But that face was one He Chunhua recognized perfectly:

"Chuan'er!"

He was overjoyed.

The strange bird suddenly dipped, Dong Rui pitched forward, and the incantation he had prepared dissipated.