"Flower-Drum Wizard, what's wrong with these wolves?" shouted a Barbarian who looked like a leader.
He was tall and covered in tattoos. Though they were nowhere near as extravagant as the Fire Spirit Wizard's, they were not to be underestimated. Most striking was the stiff leather cap on his head, shaped like a helmet and crowned with long bull horns. At a glance, it looked as though the horns grew from his skull.
But they did not. The Tribal Stockade Barbarians raised many cattle and revered the bull's strength, so only warriors or commanders were entitled to wear horned caps.
The man before them wore a cap with exceptionally long horns. He was the commander of this vanguard.
The Flower-Drum Wizard's heart was pounding too. He had no idea what had just happened. After a moment's thought, he looked up at the sky and said, "It's getting late. We're too close to Ten-Thousand-Ghost Shoal. I think we'd best move farther away!"
At the mention of Ten-Thousand-Ghost Shoal, fear showed on every face.
Decades ago, Old Wu, Marquis Wu Zhuang, had personally led an army to Ten-Thousand-Ghost Shoal and caught up with the Tribal Barbarian Army as it prepared to return to the mountains after a campaign of plunder.
The Tribal Barbarian Army still numbered over a hundred thousand then, but after three months on campaign, every soldier was laden with loot. They had no heart for battle; they wanted only to return home and enjoy their spoils.
That was when Marquis Wu Zhuang attacked with seven thousand troops under his command. The Tribal Stockade Barbarians broke almost on contact. When soldiers lost the will to fight, no matter how many gathered together, they were nothing more than a flock of sheep or a herd of pigs. Slaughter was all that