He Chunhua held his State Token high. "I am He Chunhua, Governor of Qiansong Commandery in Jinzhou, on my way to take up the post of Governor-General of Xiazhou! We need your aid here to repel the enemy. If you refuse, I will have no choice but to order this grove of dawn redwoods felled to bar their advance!"
The mountain spirit flew into a rage. "How dare you!"
Dawn redwoods grew slowly. The five trees these mortals had chopped down earlier were all over a century old, and one had even reached more than two hundred years—it was a junior member of its kind that the spirit had watched grow up.
"Why wouldn't I dare?" He Chunhua replied without expression. "If you harm me, you will forfeit your divine office as a mountain spirit!"
The mountain spirit fell silent.
In truth, this post granted by the state was very leisurely. Mortal authorities rarely troubled it for anything, whereas the origin power brought by the divine seat was immensely beneficial to its cultivation.
That it had grown fifty to sixty feet taller than its peers was largely thanks to this origin power.
Having tasted the sweetness of origin power, it refused to lose it.
"Very well, but my power can sustain this for two double-hours at most. At most!" the mountain spirit said in a drawn-out voice. "You had better move quickly."
"My thanks!" He Chunhua bowed to it, then turned and ordered the convoy forward.
Ahead lay a long downhill slope. With the sun blocked behind the mountain, this side of the slope was steeped in deep shadow.
A thick, milky mist drifted out from the forest, swiftly blanketing the road behind the marching troops.
Along the way, the giant crocodiles pulled off another impressive feat. When they encountered a lagoon, they made no detour; instead, they ambled right down across the sandy bar, crawling from the water onto the sand, then sliding from the sand back into the water, swimming forward once more.
The smallest crocodile here was over ten feet long. Even strolling across the beach, they looked like mobile fortresses, oozing raw majesty.
The men raised their thumbs in admiration, offering endless praise.
A lagoon was a body of water formed when a shallow bay was sealed off at the mouth by silt and sand. When an ordinary boat was blocked by a lagoon, it had no choice but to take a wide detour in search of another route, completely incapable of traversing the sand directly in a straight line like the giant crocodiles.
In this way, their journey was shortened by at least ten li.
The brothers on the other boats, however, were left with no option but to take the long way around.
The crocodile swam smoothly, so He Lingchuan closed his eyes to rest his mind and seize the chance to recover his energy—there might well be another brutal battle to fight later.
Just past the lagoon, lush trees crowded both banks, their canopies nearly blotting out the water's surface.
A flying spiderweb slapped across Lian Deng's face and stuck to his nose, making him sneeze violently.
Just as he opened his mouth to take a deep breath, a swallow skimmed across the water from out of nowhere and darted right into his mouth!
"Ptui! Ptui, ptui, ptui!" Lian Deng spat repeatedly until he hacked the bird out.
He liked eating meat, but he certainly didn't like meat sprouting legs, jumping directly into his mouth, and leaving feathers stuck between his teeth!
The spat-out swallow rolled twice on the crocodile's back, but instead of taking flight, it shrank down beneath the humans. Space on the crocodile's back was limited, and with so many passengers, everyone had to squeeze tightly together.
Then two white birds flew toward each other in a frantic panic and collided midair.
With a wet smack, both tumbled into the water.
Wu Shaoyi frowned. "Something's wrong."
This was a haven for birds, with countless flocks constantly shuttling over the riverways. Yet now, spooked by something unknown, they had all suddenly retreated into the dense forest.
A few even landed directly on the crocodile's back, cowering in the shadows under the humans.
Compared to mortals, they seemed far more terrified of something else.
"The sky!" He Lingchuan's mind stirred, recalling the strange scene when the Auxiliary Army had entered Xianling Village yesterday evening. Birds returning to their nests should have filled the trees with chirping and chattering, yet everything around them had been deathly still back then, as if every bird were terrified of something.
Just like now.
Prompted by his reminder, everyone looked up. Sure enough, a bandit soon pointed into the distance. "To the west, beside the peak!"
They turned their heads and indeed spotted a solitary silhouette flashing through the sky like lightning.
"A kestrel!" Wu Shaoyi's expression shifted. "Not good. It's an avian monster raised by Lu Yao! It will report back to its master. Lu Yao is very likely tracking our movements."
Xianling Lake was rich in prey, and many birds of prey passed through. But only a demon beast with cultivation could terrify the surrounding birds to this degree.
This was the instinctual reaction to encountering a formidable natural predator.
Lian Deng drew a bow and arrow, taking aim at the kestrel, but after a few breaths, he sighed. "No good. It's out of range."
In the meantime, the kestrel flew higher and higher until the onlookers had to strain their eyes to catch a glimpse of it.
A raptor possessed far sharper eyesight than a human. It had clearly noticed someone raising a bow below and climbed higher to avoid the danger.
At this moment, He Lingchuan found himself thinking of Hu Min from the Panlong illusion.
That lad could pierce a willow leaf at a hundred paces; would he have been able to shoot down this flying falcon?
He Lingchuan's original self had hunted before and knew that falcons and harriers were agile, sharp-witted predators. Some could fly faster than arrows, to say nothing of evading a shot.
Especially one like this with cultivation.
If he possessed superb archery himself, taking out this kestrel would be tantamount to blinding one of Lu Yao's eyes. He Lingchuan told himself that long-range training needed to be put on his agenda as soon as possible.
Speaking of which, he suddenly recalled the nameless archer and those two arrows that had trailed him like shadows when he had first entered the Panlong illusion.
He Lingchuan subconsciously touched his throat. Had that archer been here, shooting down this kestrel would have been child's play, wouldn't it?
He felt an inexplicable confidence in that thought.
The men around him cursed in frustration.
He Lingchuan glanced sideways. "How does that Lu fellow get along so well with monsters?" First the Crocodile God, now a falcon demon. By contrast, Wu Shaoyi had only a little sable.
No wonder the speckled chicks in the coop he had touched in Xianling Village had been shivering uncontrollably—they had caught wind of their natural predator.
It seemed monsters could play a prominent role on the battlefield; used properly, they made excellent surprise forces. He Lingchuan rather wanted to get one for himself.
In the blink of an eye, the kestrel vanished beyond the horizon.
"Looks like it's in a hurry too."
Wu Shaoyi's face was grim. "It's heading west as well. It's either delivering a message to Pei Xinyong or sending word to Desheng Town. We're in trouble."
Their original plan had been to raid the camp at Desheng Town, seize some mounts, and chase down Pei Xinyong and the convoy. But if the garrison in Desheng Town was put on alert by the kestrel, mounting an attack would become exceedingly difficult.
In any case, their opponents there likely numbered more than five hundred now.
The men looked at one another, unable to devise a good solution on the spot.
Just then, the Crocodile God spoke up: "Are you going to Desheng Town to kill people, or to steal horses?"
"Both... but getting horses is our primary goal." He Lingchuan patted its broad back. "Do you have an idea?"
"Not far ahead lies an abandoned town. There might be horses there, though only a few," the Crocodile God said. "Two days ago, my young saw horses wandering around there and ate one. The rest were spooked and bolted into the woods."
He Lingchuan and Wu Shaoyi spoke almost in unison: "That's enough."
"Horses are creatures of habit. Even if they run off, they usually return later," Wu Shaoyi mused. "Change of plans: Eldest Young Master He, you take the horses and ride ahead to catch up with your family. I will lead my men on the crocodiles and continue on to Desheng Town."
He Lingchuan was momentarily startled, but quickly understood: Wu Shaoyi intended to pin down Lu Yao's rebels in Desheng Town to prevent them from marching east to reinforce their leader. Using two hundred men to stall five to seven hundred would take immense pressure off the eastern front.
"Thank you!"
A surprise raid was one strategy, while a delaying action was another. Wu Shaoyi was a veteran of a hundred battles; this would be no trouble for him. He added, "Even if Lu Yao discovers our tracks, we still hold the advantage, so long as the next step goes smoothly."
The abandoned town mentioned by the Crocodile God soon came into view, only a thousand feet from the shore.
He Lingchuan pressed a small paper packet into Wu Shaoyi's hand. "Inside this is a Dragon-Tiger Golden Pill. Take it, and you'll be bursting with vigor for half an hour, fiercer than in your prime. But once the effect wears off, you'll collapse into total exhaustion for at least three days, and down below, that thing between your legs will be useless for two months. Considering your current condition, do not swallow it unless it is an absolute emergency."
Wu Shaoyi gave him a deep look. "Thank you. May you succeed on your mission, Young Master He."
He summoned the purple sable with a wave of his hand and said to Lian Deng, "You're a local. Guide Young Master He. Take my sable along as well; it should dispel Pei Xinyong's suspicions."
Lian Deng acknowledged the order, and the purple sable leaped onto his shoulder as he disembarked alongside He Lingchuan.
The giant crocodiles turned and swam back out into the open water.
The beach slope here was gentle, leading to the abandoned town less than a thousand feet away.
Judging by its size, the town had once housed over a hundred families, but it was now utterly deserted, weeds sprouting from the rooftops. On the doorpost of one dwelling, He Lingchuan noticed a faint mark that looked like... a flood watermark?
In some forgotten year, Xianling Lake must have flooded and ruined the town.
Faced with disaster, the mortals had been forced to abandon it.
He Lingchuan and Lian Deng made their way through the town toward the forest. After only a few paces in, they heard snorting and the rustle of hooves.
The Crocodile God had been right after all—there were horses here!
He Lingchuan grabbed two handfuls of tender grass from the ground, retrieved a wineskin from his storage ring, splashed a bit of liquor over the grass, and called out to the shadowy silhouettes among the trees, "Come here, sweethearts. Come to daddy!"
This was fruit wine, carrying little harshness and plenty of fragrance. Even Lian Deng swallowed hard at the scent, to say nothing of the horses in the woods.
They had originally been domesticated by humans, and lured by the aroma, they trotted out. Seeing no malice from the two men, they stretched their necks to reach for the grass in He Lingchuan's hands.
Compared to the mounts of the Auxiliary Army, these horses lacked glossy coats and long legs, but He Lingchuan had no room to be picky.
He divided the grass between the two tallest and sturdiest horses, then asked Lian Deng, "Can you ride bareback?"
These horses had likely escaped during the flood; leave aside saddles, they didn't even have bridles on.
Lian Deng grinned broadly. "Piece of cake!"
He Lingchuan did not dare feed them any more wine, fearing they might get weak in the knees. Instead, he fed them two apples, murmuring soft words of encouragement until the horses grew thoroughly docile.
Everything went surprisingly smoothly.
Behind the town, the villagers had long since carved out a mountain path, though it was now overgrown with vines and weeds. The two led the horses across the rugged, stony trail before swinging onto their backs.
***
Pei Xinyong and Lu Yao rode side by side, flanked by their respective subordinates.
They had rendezvoused at Langming Cave and turned off onto the fork to pursue the government forces.
There were many diverging trails along the West Mountain Road, but how had they been so certain the troops had fled this way? The answer was simple: the wheel ruts in the sandy soil were deep and unbroken, showing that several wagons laden with heavy loads had passed through not long ago.
Chapter 141