Countless black shadows swooped down from the night sky onto the Western Liang army. The retreating cavalry instantly fell into disarray, their dropped torches going out as soon as they hit the ground. Screams, curses, sobs, howls... the army dissolved into a boiling mess.
Dituo'er's eye twitched. To his horror, he saw the dead riders on the ground blanketed in black shadows. Packed tightly together, the creatures beat their wings and greedily gnawed at flesh and blood, hissing with delight.
"Bloodthirsty Poison Bats!"
Dituo'er's scalp prickled. These creatures, said to inhabit only places of terrible evil and calamity, had actually appeared here.
The palm-sized bats were black all over. Beating their thin, broad wing membranes, they clung to the riders' armor and straps, sinking their fine, sharp teeth into exposed skin. Blood gushed out instantly, and more and more bats caught its scent and hurled themselves at the wounded riders...
"Retreat... retreat!"
Dituo'er shouted urgently and led several hundred personal guards away. Unable to tell north from south in the darkness, they simply scrambled for any way out.
Within moments, the several thousand Western Liang cavalrymen scattered like monkeys from a fallen tree, breaking ranks and fleeing.
The terrifying Bloodthirsty Poison Bats wheeled through the air in pursuit. Running for their lives, the riders scattered like wolves and boars, taking any path they could find. Some lost their footing and plunged into mountain ravines, some fell into traps filled with sharp stakes, and others lost their way in the woods and died from venomous insect bites...
That night became a nightmare many Western Liang riders could never shake. Even years later, they would often jolt upright in terror from their midnight dreams.
"What kind of godforsaken place is this?"
Dituo'er led his surviving men several miles, abandoning helmets and armor