William and Taotie

William and Thorva's arrival signaled the official beginning of The Great Wall's Plot. Xiao Hen understood this very clearly.

The Shadowless Imperial Army had mobilized in full. The reason was none other than William's arrival, which had brought a wave of panic. The Shadowless Imperial Army's purpose was only incidentally to hold back the Khitan people and other peoples beyond the frontier; their primary mission was to stop the Taotie from invading the Central Plains.

Yet these two foreigners had brought back one of a Taotie's claws.

"How did you get this claw?" Marshal Shao asked coldly.

As an ordinary soldier, Xiao Hen stood among the guards in the hall, watching the Plot unfold with cold eyes. His gaze was drawn to the figure in the center.

She was a woman as proud as a peacock. With a frosty expression, she spoke in English to William and Thorva. "The Marshal asks how you killed this Taotie!"

William and Thorva looked utterly bedraggled. William calmly replied, "I killed it myself. Alone!"

"Marshal, he says he killed this Taotie by himself!" Lin Mei said, her expression turning cold as she looked back.

Marshal Shao clearly did not believe him, and neither did the others. They had fought the Taotie before and knew how terrifying those vicious beasts were. In their eyes, someone like William, without sophisticated equipment, could not possibly have killed a Taotie alone.

Only Advisor Wang spoke up. "Ask him how he killed that Taotie!"

Lin Mei was a very studious girl. She had grown up in the Shadowless Imperial Army and had always been valued by Marshal Shao. After capturing Ballard, who had stolen Black Powder, she had learned European languages from him. As a result, Lin Mei's English was no worse than Xiao Hen's.

Marshal Shao, however, wore a grave expression. He said to Advisor Wang in a low voice, "Advisor Wang, the Taotie have emerged far earlier than we expected!"

"Yes," Advisor Wang answered gravely.

Lin Mei turned around and said, "Marshal, he claims to be a merchant and says he easily killed a Taotie. In my opinion, no matter how they try to argue, these two should be executed first to prevent future trouble."

Xiao Hen could not help baring his teeth. This woman really was fierce. Watching her in a movie was one feeling; experiencing her in person was another entirely.

"He severed a Taotie's claw by himself? What do you think?" Marshal Shao asked.

"Impossible!" General Chen and General Wu beside him both shook their heads with scornful smiles.

Lin Mei turned to look at the two men and shouted, "Guards!"

Someone came forward and tore open the burlap garments William and Thorva wore, exposing the armor beneath.

Lin Mei drew her sword and pointed it at William. "Hmph, merchants? You still dare lie. You are soldiers!"

"I'll kill you right now!"

"General Lin!" Just before Lin Mei's sword came down, Marshal Shao stopped her. "Spare their lives for now. Take them away and keep them under strict guard!"

"Yes!" The soldiers on both sides responded, then dragged the two men away.

"Yes, Marshal!" Lin Mei sheathed her sword. Though there was a trace of reluctance on her face, she still had to obey Marshal Shao's orders.

Advisor Wang also interjected, "These two have unknown origins. Keeping them alive for a few more days will help us uncover the truth. There is no need to kill them in such haste!"

"Advisor Wang is right." Marshal Shao nodded.

General Chen and General Wu, however, looked unwilling. Like Lin Mei, they believed that barbarians like these should simply be killed. Why keep them around to waste food?

However, no one could disobey Marshal Shao's words. This was a military order.

"Report!!!"

At that moment, a messenger's shout suddenly came from outside.

Everyone was startled and hurriedly looked up. Xiao Hen was among them, and inwardly thought, It's finally here. The Taotie.

"Reporting to the Marshal! Smoke is rising from every beacon tower! A powerful enemy is attacking!"

Marshal Shao rose to his full height and said coldly, "The entire army, stand ready. To the walls!"

"Yes!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

The war drums spread across The Great Wall. It was not just one location; along the distant walls, troops stood densely packed, while the drums carried in every direction and echoed through the heavens.

Leaving aside where William was taken, Xiao Hen knew where he would go: the prison. Yet because Peng Yong could not find the keys, he would be brought to the wall and held under the Bear Army's watch. The so-called Bear Army were shield-bearing spearmen, and in the end, Peng Yong alone would be left to guard him. That was how the Plot had played out, but now Xiao Hen had to face a real war against the Taotie.

Xiao Hen gripped his spear tightly and looked toward the endless mountain range beyond The Great Wall. One distant mountain had been blasted open by a meteorite strike. That breach led toward The Great Wall like a passage to hell—terrifying and sinister.

"Taotie! Let's see just how formidable you are!"

For a moment, the scene fell silent. The entire army quieted at the Taotie's arrival. Xiao Hen focused his mind and looked into the distance. Far away, in that hellish region, he could see the enormous green Skyfall Meteorite lodged in Gouwu Mountain. Is that the crystal I need to obtain?

"No. That is merely the Skyfall Meteorite. What you need is the crystalline body at the meteorite's core," the Shuttle said.

"Got it," Xiao Hen said in a deep voice. Then his attention was seized by the terrifying monsters descending from beneath the jagged, fang-like mountains. Th-These are the Taotie?

"Entire army, prepare for ranged attacks!" Marshal Shao shouted coldly.

"Yes!" the entire army answered.

The war drums sounded, and the orders transmitted through them were swiftly carried out. Along the entire length of The Great Wall, every position had prepared for battle.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

Xiao Hen could feel The Great Wall itself beginning to tremble. The war machines had started moving, and giant trebuchets rolled into action.

Massive round stones larger than millstones were coated in flaming oil, ignited, and launched through the air. They smashed into the Taotie army, crushing countless Taotie beneath the trebuchets' assault.

On the distant walls, General Chen, General Wu, and the others drew their bows and fired. Arrow after arrow struck down Taotie beasts.

"Aim for the eye beneath their armpits! That is the Taotie's fatal weakness!"

"Aim for the eye beneath their armpits!"

Amid the shouted cries across the battlefield, all the archers and crossbowmen aimed at the Taotie's underarm eyes.

Taotie beasts came in three ranks. Ordinary Taotie had an eye beneath each armpit, which was their fatal weak point. A higher rank served as guards to the King of Taotie and possessed powerful defenses, making them extremely difficult to kill. The highest rank was the Taotie Beast King. Its fighting prowess was one thing, but its reproductive ability was truly horrifying. Given enough food, it could reproduce without limit until it flooded the entire human world.

The Taotie Beast King was the true Lord of Greed.

"Kill!"

Arrows flew one after another, and Taotie fell one after another, yet the attacking Taotie did not seem to lessen at all.

"Are there really this many Taotie?" Xiao Hen muttered.

"Brother Xiao Hen, the Taotie are endless!" A young soldier beside him gripped his spear tightly. "Our Shadowless Army can only withstand these terrifying beasts by relying on The Great Wall!"

The Great Wall?

Xiao Hen recalled the Plot from the movie. These were all feint attacks. The Taotie had already learned tactics. They had dug tunnels beneath The Great Wall, intending to bypass it and attack Bianliang Capital, eight hundred li away, directly.

"Flying-rope attack!"

Marshal Shao's commanding shout carried from afar.

Xiao Hen pressed his lips together. The Plot portrayed in the movie had been cruel, but when he watched it back then, he had merely been an audience member. He knew it was just a movie Plot, false and acted out. But what lay before him was different. This was a real war, a war concerning a race's destruction and survival.

Descending along the flying ropes were the living lives of the Crane Army women, one after another. Even Lin Mei was no exception. She personally gripped a spear, leaped down, and slaughtered Taotie.

"Maybe I should do something..."

Xiao Hen murmured to himself.

The Taotie surged in like waves, endlessly pouring forward, each wave larger than the last. They had already begun climbing upward, scaling The Great Wall's enormous defenses step by step.

"Pass down the order: close combat!" Marshal Shao's voice remained calm.

"Drums, relay the order! Close combat!" the messenger shouted. The war drums sounded again, this time at a far more urgent rhythm. This was the order for close combat.

Xiao Hen's expression was grave, and his scalp tingled. This was not fear, but the thrill of excitement under extreme tension. Leaning over the edge of The Great Wall, he glanced down. The wall was covered layer upon layer with Taotie, each one vicious, bloodthirsty, strange, and cruel.

"Finally, finally, is it my turn to act?" Xiao Hen revealed a savage grin. "Let me see just how powerful you Taotie really are. Are you more terrifying than zombies? More badass than giant bat monsters?"

That's enough for now. I need to hurry and write the next chapter while I'm still feeling it. As for recommendation votes, just give them if you feel like it. I believe in you all!

Keep writing! I can do it!