Crack!
A flash of cold light, and a tree toppled.
Wild branches were shaved into twisted wooden spikes and driven into the mud.
Soldiers walked among the corpses, blades in hand as they chopped off the heads of dead Mountain Ghosts. Like sunflower seed extraction, they smashed them down with a backhand and impaled them upon the wooden spikes, sending the stench of blood soaring into the sky.
The crimson faded from the heads, revealing pus-yellow pupils. Viscous black blood stained the snow, and the Mountain Ghosts' skin resembled dry tree bark. Impaled upon the spikes, they looked like wooden stakes.
Looking out, some wooden spikes were strung with many heads, while others held only a few. They formed a dense, unbroken field that made one's scalp tingle.
"I killed this Mountain Ghost! My name is carved on the arrowhead!"
"Bullshit! My arrow is in the corpse too. I obviously killed it, Teacher!"
"Sir!"
The two disputing students raised their hands together.
The Wolf Smoke Martial Master strode over, kicked the Mountain Ghost onto its back, and examined the wounds on its body. "This arrow struck the limbs, not a fatal wound. This arrow struck the torso, also not fatal. Judging by the wounds and angles, the limbs were hit first, exposing an opening when it was pulled off balance, then the torso was struck? Whose were these two arrows, and who finally beheaded it with a single slash?"
"Teacher, this arrow is mine! There's a mark on the shaft, and I was the one who beheaded it with one slash!"
"Sir, he stole my kill! I wounded its leg first. It couldn't run fast, which gave him an opening to take advantage of!"
The Wolf Smoke Martial Master remained unmoved and recorded the matter in his register.
"In that