Chapter 319: Rushing out of the Encirclement
Chapter 319: Rushing out of the Encirclement
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT, Rock
A cavalry saber appeared out of nowhere, carrying with it a radiance that looked like the splendor of a meteor shower as it rushed towards Wei ChengPing! A few of the guards immediately lost their composure as they raised their swords to block the incoming blow! With a few 'ka ka ka' sounds, the swords of the guards all shattered, falling to the ground while the guards themselves were thrown out bleeding from all orifices! They probably wouldn't survive the next hour. However, while it seemed like the guards had achieved their purpose of knocking the threat off course, the saber miraculously managed to bury itself in the belly of Wei ChengPing's warhorse! The poor warhorse was sliced in two, while the cavalry saber seemed to still have excess strength, flying for another twenty to thirty feet before stabbing into the ground!
Wei ChengPing was only a hair's breadth from suffering the same fate as his warhorse!
Lying in a disheveled heap on the ground, Wei ChengPing truly felt how scary it was to be right in front of the doors of death! In that instant, he felt as though his brain had gone blank, incapable of forming any thoughts! The moment he recovered his senses, he felt a warmth on his lower body, only to realize that he had lost control and soiled himself in his fear!
Another guard approached on his horse, grabbing onto Wei ChengPing and continuing to flee without pause.
The moment Ling Tian saw this, he hollered out, "The Northern Wei is defeated! The Crown Prince of Northern Wei is dead!" His voice echoed across the whole battlefield!
The scattered remains of the Sky Bearing soldiers immediately caught on, imitating Ling Tian and hollering at the top of their voices as well!
Having lost their commander, the Northern Wei soldiers that were surrounding the remnants of the Sky Bearing forces were already overly suspicious, and upon seeing some of their own allies begin to retreat while hearing Ling Tian's shout, they immediately took it to be true and broke out into chaos!
Ling Tian let out a ragged breath as he pointed to the South, saying, "Ling Jian and Ling Chi, take point; we'll kill our way out! Feng Mo and Wang Han's army should have almost caught up with us." The moment he finished, a loud metallic clang was heard as the guandao in his hand dropped onto the ground and his body begun to sway! Ling Feng was taken aback and immediately rushed forward to support him. Where his hands came into contact with Ling Tian's body, they were immediately dyed red; Ling Tian's clothes had long become bloodsoaked!
While he might be talented beyond ordinary mortals, gifted with great intelligence and superior martial arts, Ling Tian was still a human at the end of the day! It wouldn't be surprising for him to feel fatigue, as there was a limit to one's strength. On the other hand, Ling Jian and the others who were behind Ling Tian all the time were still filled with energy because all the strong enemies had practically been eradicated by Ling Tian himself, leaving the rest with nothing to do!
Rushing through a thousand miles, trampling on platoon after platoon along the way without even stopping. Then rushing straight into the 400,000 strong troops and killing round after round, followed by finally fighting the three Shui Family experts. Ling Tian might be an ironman at that age, but even a person made out of iron would have long overused their strength at this point!
Along this road, over three thousand people from the Northern Wei, Sky Bearing, Western Han and random people had fallen to his blade! After today's battle, Ling Tian's name as a slaughter god would permeate all under heaven!
Grabbing the fallen guandao, Ling Jian shouted, "Ling Feng, Ling Yun, and Ling Thirteen, protect the young noble. Ling Nineteen and gang, continue guarding the Grand Marshall! Ling Chi, follow me, we'll kill our way out for them!"
The duo Ling Jian and Ling Chi shouted out before spurring their horses forward! This moment was when the Northern Wei soldiers were the most lost and chaotic, and they wouldn't be able to put up any effective forms of obstruction to them. Furthermore, given the capabilities of Ling Jian and Ling Chi, how could the normal foot soldiers stop them? Cleaving a way out would probably be as easy as pie for them, and they immediately took the chance to rush out of the encirclement!
The sun was already setting, and darkness had begun to encroach on the land. A cool breeze blew across the battlefield, giving everyone present a feeling as though what had just happened was a distant memory!
Seeing Ling Tian's matchless performance, Wei ChengPing and Qian ShuiHuan were already in a panicked state. They were only set on escaping, and so focused were they that they only belatedly realized that Ling Tian not only didn't pursue them, but actually took the chance to escape from the encirclement! The duo could only look at each other in dismay, especially so for Qian ShuiHuan, who also felt utterly shamed and humiliated! As a successor from Water of Heavenly Wind, he was already frightened into running like a defeated dog by the so-called number one silkpant of the world! If this matter was revealed, then where would the Shui Family place their face and reputation? However, recalling his tyrannical massacre as well as that intense killing intent he exuded from his presence, he found himself lacking in confidence to pursue the matter! As for Wei ChengPing, nothing more needed to be said. He was already trembling at the thought of Ling Tian!
From behind suddenly came clopping sounds of a horse. It was the Western Han Commander-in-Chief, Han TieXuan, and he immediately shouted with a voice laced with anger, "Why did you retreat? Isn't this the same as to allow the tiger back into its own den? I demand a reason!" Facing Wei ChengPing as well as the mysterious Shui QianHuan, Han TieXuan would never have dared to speak this way under normal circumstances, but being the mortal enemy of Ling Xiao, he of course hoped that he would perish today. Having seen his allies suddenly retreat, allowing Ling Xiao to successfully escape, this would be akin to putting Western Han in imminent danger in the future. How could Han TieXuan not be furious? Furthermore, his superior had given him a mission that he had to complete, and even under such successful circumstances, if he were to report his failure, what sort of punishment would he get? Thus, he couldn't endure any longer, but spoke in such an interrogatory tone!
Shui QianHuan calmed himself down and replied, "Why the rush, General Han? I admit that we retreated hastily out of fear just now, but you've also seen for yourself that the enemy was indeed too strong. If we had maintained on the scene, our combined forces would have disintegrated sooner or later! Thus, the two of us decided to retreat and wait for the circumstances to change. For this, I beg for forgiveness! While it might look like Ling Xiao has managed to escape with his son, we still have many blockades back at Sky Bearing, and they will still be cut off from reinforcements. Without additional reinforcements, they're just sitting ducks, and I believe even if I were to give Long Xiang the guts of a hundred men, he still wouldn't allow Ling Xiao back into Sky Bearing! Our army will now give chase, while we nurture our strength and bide our time. Right now is the best chance to take the heads of both father and son, what better reward is there?"
Knowing Shui QianHuan's identity, for him to give a proper explanation, as well as an apology was a rare occurrence. If not for the fact he was afraid that their allied armies would collapse due to the lack of trust, he wouldn't have spoken in such a tone.
However, this made Han TieXuan even more indignant, and he coldly snorted as he jeered, "It was already impossible for Ling Xiao to escape in the first place, so why do we have to add on so many superfluous moves? Isn't it because someone is just afraid of death and doesn't dare to stake their lives on this battle? Haiz, my poor Western Han soldiers of courage!" Due to the fact that he was commanding his army from the far end, he didn't witness Ling Tian's legendary feat, and thus only heard that Ling Xiao had received some reinforcements, but had surprisingly broken through the encirclement of Northern Wei. Words couldn't express the frustration he felt in his heart!
Shui QianHuan's face changed, "What's the meaning behind such words, General Han? Did you think that the Crown Prince of Wei formed an alliance of 500,000 troops with you just for a game? I naturally have my own affairs with the Crown Prince, so General Han does not need to talk so much!"
Han TieXuan was apoplectic with rage, and he couldn't bring himself to speak any further, turning around to give the order for his troops to follow the tail of Ling Xiao. No matter using fair or foul methods, he had to ensure that Ling Xiao left his life behind today!
Watching the Western Han army move across the plains like a wave, a cold gleam flashed across Shui QianHuan's eyes. He ordered, "All troops to move out and pursue Ling Xiao! Exterminate them before they reach the Nine Swallow City."
The Northern Wei only briefly reorganized themselves before setting off in a rush and pursuing the escapees in full force! However, their morale between then and now was like the heaven and earth. Before, they were assured of victory in their hands, their morale high like a rainbow, but now one could only find a depressed atmosphere through the whole army!
The Ling Army that managed to escape with Ling Tian and company didn't even total 10,000 in the end! And the number was slowly dwindling as more and more heavily wounded soldiers fell off their horses midway in the journey, a terrible sight to behold!
However, now was not the time to be soft-hearted, for if they were to stop to rescue every single fallen soldier, then if the enemy forces were to catch up, not only would the wounded not survive, but the safety of the entire army would be compromised!
While escaping, Ling Tian's XianTian realm constitution had already recovered his body somewhat. His XianTian realm strength was about having a ceaselessly working body, able to keep working continuously. While his body received substantial wear and tear and was close to exhaustion, it only took a few moments of rest to recover. The advantage of a XianTian physique was the fact that so long as the user didn't fully exhaust themselves, they would recover in a short time. However, when things reached an extreme, they could only move in an opposite direction. If Ling Tian had fully pushed himself, he would have taken longer than most people to recover.
The Nine Swallow City could now be seen in the distance! During the journey there, Ling Tian had long been informed of the battlefield situation from Ling Xiao and Ling Nineteen as well as the soldiers present. His hatred for Long Xiang ran deep in his bones, and he made up his mind to give that b*st*rd the 'time of his life' the moment he got back!
From afar, a large clamor was heard. The Western Han and Northern Wei coalition had once again caught up to them!
Ling Nineteen guided his horse beside Ling Tian, and pointed at to their distance, saying, "Young noble, after this mountain, we'll reach the Soul Extinguishing Pass, and I believe the Sky Bearing army will definitely have put a massive force there to obstruct us! They will undoubtedly hinder us, and once a bloodbath starts, we'll have no way out!"
As Ling Nineteen was speaking, while his voice was calm, his expression spoke otherwise. From the time he had enlisted in the army three years ago, he never had any chance to fight alongside with his brothers in the Ling Family Courtyard, let alone his young noble! In today's battle, even though they were placed in dire circumstances, having brushed with the reaper a few times, they didn't feel even a hint of fear. Instead, all of them felt their blood boiling with excitement, that they finally had a chance to battle alongside their young noble! The four enlisted guards even had the feeling that, were they to fall in today's battle, it would all be worth it! A warrior knows not when he will die, but if it was for a purpose, then his death would be worth it!