Under the Shaman Witch's sorcery, the Hu cavalry, whose morale had already crumbled and whose ranks were riddled with wounded, suddenly charged again!
Blood and fire! Life and death! A battle for survival between different races erupted once more atop Da Qing Village's earthen rampart!
Unlike before, the Shaman Witch's arrival had driven the Hu people's morale and fighting strength to their peak, while Da Qing Village's defenders had sunk to their lowest.
Under the blood-red setting sun, the Hu charged again and again, nearly breaking through the defenses. Only Wang Yin, Wu Ming, and the other martial artists fought desperately enough to hold them back.
By the time the stars shone brilliantly and the Hu finally withdrew, fatigue was plain on Wu Ming and Wang Yin's faces, and their armor was battered and scarred.
"Phew..."
With help from two members of the Village Militia, Wang Yin finally managed to pull off his iron armor, which was plastered with blood and flesh and nearly stuck to his body. He gave Wu Ming a bitter smile. "Young Master Wuming, I've spent a tremendous amount of True Qi today. I'm afraid I'll need a night to recover before I can return to the battlefield. I'll leave this place in your hands..."
"Don't worry. I don't want the Hu invading and leaving me without a grave to bury me in, either!"
Wang Yin had fought bravely on the front lines that day, charging even harder than Wu Ming and taking on more enemies than anyone else. Everyone had seen it, so Wu Ming replied with a smile.
"Excellent... Once the Hu withdraw, I'll have to get to know you properly and call you a friend!"
Wang Yin was quite friendly toward Wu Ming. It was hard to say whether Huang Ying had anything to do with it.
As Wang Yin left, Qin Hu came over. "You did your share today, too. Get some rest while you can! Don't keep your lovely lady waiting..."
As he spoke, he wore a knowing smile that any man would understand. Clearly, he had gotten the wrong idea.
In truth, Wu Ming had seemed valiant, but unlike Wang Yin, he had secretly held back a third of his strength.
When Qin Hu offered to take the night watch, Wu Ming's thoughts stirred. His face, however, showed gratitude. "Thank you!"
He said nothing more and went straight down from the rampart.
Only... Qin Hu didn't notice the cold look that flashed across Wu Ming's face as he descended.
"Our task is simply to survive... So we can choose to side with Da Qing Village, and naturally, we can choose to side with the Hu, too!"
On the darkened upper floor of a tower, Wu Ming stood beside Huang Ying, looking down at the seemingly peaceful village, and spoke without warning.
"You... Are you saying Qin Hu wants to..." Huang Ying covered her red lips. She had suspected as much, but hearing it outright was still hard to believe. "Isn't he afraid...?"
"Everyone thinks they're special... Perhaps he believes that if he proves himself useful, the Hu will treat him with respect!"
A mocking smile tugged at Wu Ming's lips. "The Hu are strong, and Da Qing Village is weak. If not for a stroke of luck, the village might have fallen today. We'd never have held out for seven days. And now the enemy has a Shaman Witch helping them... Qin Hu worships strength and obeys the strong. In this situation, what do you think he'll choose?"
"You know he plans to hand over the village. Why not capture him...?"
Huang Ying stopped halfway through, a bitter smile appearing on her face.
After all, she and Wu Ming were outsiders, just like Qin Hu. Even if they exposed his plot, the villagers would only grow more suspicious of them.
Besides, even if they removed the threat within, neither of them had any confidence that Da Qing Village could hold out until the seventh day.
"Then... we'll have to take a risk!"
Wu Ming suddenly cocked his head and listened. A commotion stirred faintly at the rampart, and the rhythmic thud of hooves sounded from outside. He turned to Huang Ying. "It's started. We'll follow the plan!"
"I understand!"
Huang Ying gave Wu Ming a conflicted look, then vanished into the darkness.
"Lord Qin, what... what are you doing?"
As Qin Hu suddenly attacked and hacked down the two men beside him like chopping melons and vegetables, the Village Militia around them stared in shock.
"What am I doing? Heh... Surrendering, of course!"
Qin Hu licked the blood from his blade, his expression wild and vicious.
He abruptly lunged forward, his blade flashing. As a third-level Body Refinement Realm expert, he was like a fierce tiger among sheep against ordinary members of the Village Militia. In an instant, he slaughtered everyone guarding the gate.
"Murder!"
"An outsider's killing people!"
Screams and the clang of gongs rang out. Qin Hu sneered. "Heh... Wu Ming, Huang Ying, you pair of wretches can fend for yourselves!"
He pulled the gate mechanism, slowly opening the doors.
Outside, the Hu had been waiting, ready to charge. Several riders burst in like the wind.
The Hu were a people born to the saddle. Only with a rider and a horse together could they unleash their full strength. For the past few days, they had been forced to abandon their greatest advantage and fight at a disadvantage, bottling up their fury. Now they thundered in on horseback, sharp and unstoppable, killing anyone who stood in their way!
"Honored sirs, I am..."
Qin Hu watched this scene, his expression quickly changing as he smiled and approached.
But in an instant, his face changed.
The Hu didn't stop when they saw him. They spurred their horses faster, grinned savagely, and charged straight at him.
"Ah..."
A flash of a blade. Horse and rider struck as one, the charge lending such force to the blow that it was almost as powerful as an expert in the True Qi Realm.
Qin Hu barely managed to raise his steel saber to block.
Clang!
The impact rang out. His arm shook violently, his palm split, and his saber flew away. A massive wound opened across his chest. He fell to the ground, blood bubbling from his lips, his eyes still showing a hint of struggle. It was clear he was seeing his final moments.
Thud, thud!
A mass of hooves pounded over him, crushing him into a pulp.
"Kill!"
"Kill all the Han dogs!"
The Hu horsemen roared in excitement and scattered, slaughtering the villagers one after another like tigers among sheep.
Da Qing Village was transformed into a living hell.
Near the ancestral hall where the old, weak, women, and children had taken shelter, people woke from their sleep and erupted into chaos. Wang Yin, looking disheveled, ran out as well. "What's going on? How did the Hu get in?"
In the midst of the chaos, who could answer him? He could only pull out his snake spear and hurl it, skewering a Hu cavalryman.
"Brother Wang!"
Wu Ming arrived, wearing leather armor. "The Hu attacked at night and broke through the gate. It's my fault! Our only chance now is to kill their leader!"
"I'm going, too!"
Wang Yin was the first to volunteer.
Through Huang Ying's inquiries, Wu Ming had long known that Wang Yin was cold on the outside but warmhearted, with a stubbornly straightforward streak. Now the fate of the entire village rested on him, and he was all the more determined to help.
"Yin'er!"
Wang Yin immediately drew out his snake spear. He didn't even spare a glance for Wang Qiao, who was stumbling out behind him, and followed Wu Ming.
"Mm! Excellent... With the thousand people outside and all the living souls in this village, my Dharma Drum will surely be tempered to perfection!"
The Shaman Witch, wearing the Antler Mask, rode into the village on a fine steed despite the dangers of battle. A ten-man squad anxiously followed close beside him, but they did not join the slaughter.
The Shaman Witch raised the blood-red Dharma Drum in his hands and rocked and beat it without pause, muttering incantations.
In the firelight, the drum's crimson surface looked fresh and wet as blood. Strange symbols writhed as if alive, giving off an eerie feeling.
"Damn it, the evil witch is performing sorcery!"
Wang Yin saw this, and his eyes reddened. "The Shaman Witch's Dharma Drum is framed with white bones and covered with human skin, then dyed in blood. It can gather the power of Vengeful Spirits..."
In ancient times, people cared deeply about what happened after death. The Shaman Witch's practice of killing you and then denying you peace in the afterlife was even more hateful than digging up someone's Ancestral Grave.
Even Wu Ming felt a chill crawl over his scalp at the sight.
"Charge with me!"
Wang Yin called out, drew a short spear from his back, and hurled it. In an instant, he skewered a Hu cavalryman right through.
"Protect the Shaman!"
The Hu cavalry roared and charged, their riders rushing forward without hesitation.
"Kill!"
Wang Yin poured his strength into his snake spear, bending its long shaft into a strange curve, then whipped it fiercely.
Thump!
A Hu cavalryman and his horse fell together, only to be hacked apart by the Village Militia charging behind them.
"Loose!"
The two sides clashed, fighting with terrible ferocity.
At the sight, a hint of disdain appeared beneath the Shaman Witch's mask. He suddenly pulled a bone whistle from his robes, puffed out his cheeks, and blew.
Whistle, whistle!
The shrill sound seemed like invisible arrows. One member of the Village Militia clutched his throat and toppled stiffly to the ground, his face turning completely black.
The Shaman Witch blew again and again, and a man fell with every note. His Ferocious Might soared as the Hu gathered around him, gradually forcing Wang Yin and the others into a hopeless disadvantage.
"Don't stand in front of the Shaman Witch! His whistle is poisoned!"
Wu Ming had quietly kept his head down from the start, avoiding becoming the first target. After observing for a moment, he shouted at once.
"Exactly! Don't let him point the mouthpiece at you!"
Wang Yin darted back and forth, killing two more Hu cavalrymen, and shouted as well.
The Village Militia scattered and drew their bows to meet the enemy, but the Shaman Witch remained unhurried, killing with his whistle.
Roar!
Suddenly, the light around them grew brighter and brighter as terrible red-and-yellow tongues of flame spread everywhere.
"Fire!"
"Fire!"
The dazzling flames lit up the sky, and all of Da Qing Village trembled in the sea of fire.
"What's going on?" Wang Yin cried in alarm. "Did the Hu set the fire?"
But the Shaman Witch opposite him looked anxious, too. He shouted loudly, seeming to summon and reorganize his troops.
The spreading flames were splitting the Hu cavalry apart, and some might even be struck by friendly fire.
Da Qing Village was enclosed on all sides by earthen ramparts, leaving little space inside. Houses stood close together, and worse, the outermost buildings were mostly made of wood and thatch, with scarcely a brick in sight. Once they caught fire, the situation became dire.
One mistake, and the villagers of Da Qing Village and the Hu would perish together.
"Neigh!"
The Shaman Witch turned his horse around and rode off with the last of his personal guards, a Tulu Warrior. It was clear he meant to flee.
But how could Wu Ming let him get away? He immediately pulled out the fine ox-horn bow on his back, nocked an arrow, drew, and loosed.
Whoosh!
The wolf-fang arrow shot straight for the Shaman Witch, only to be blocked by his horse. It struck the horse in the neck, sending blood gushing everywhere.
Shoot the horse before the rider. The Shaman Witch's mount collapsed, and he tumbled awkwardly across the ground.
"Ha! Prepare to die!"
The Hu reinforcements were cut off by the fire. Though Wang Yin was anxious, how could he pass up this heaven-sent chance to capture and kill the enemy chief? With a shout, he thrust his snake spear out like a serpent darting from its hole, knocked the last Tulu Warrior off his horse, and charged at the Shaman Witch.
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