On the ruins of Ghost Gate Path, muddy floodwater formed patches of mire in the low-lying ground.
The pungent stench of blood and the sulfurous smell of gunpowder mingled in the damp, earthy air.
The banner of the Heaven Dou Eastern Army finally stood at the highest point of this fearsome passage, snapping in the wind.
After taking the place, the Heaven Dou Eastern Army and the members of Heavenly River Dustless and the Holy Dragon Brigade chose to remain and clear the waterways.
This tributary of the Raging Waves River had changed course completely. Without proper channeling, it would not only flood more areas and obstruct the army's advance, but might also surge backward during the approaching rainy season, turning against their own camps and supply lines.
The Heaven Dou Eastern Army also needed time to wait for ammunition supplies.
Thus, Huo Yuhao and Li Kongming were in no hurry to attack Hanging Skull Pass.
The defenses of Hanging Skull Pass were built neither on the valley floor nor at the summit, but midway up the cliffs, toward their upper reaches.
A zigzagging plank road, so narrow that only a few people could walk abreast, wound upward against the sheer cliff like a twisting giant python. It was the only route to the pass.
Below the plank road lay a bottomless ravine; above it loomed jagged rocks and cold cliff faces.
Any army attempting to climb the plank road would be exposed to devastating crossfire from above and both sides.
They had flooded Dragon Throat Gorge and smashed through Ghost Gate Path, but neither tactic would work against Hanging Skull Pass.
Hanging Skull Pass stood too high for floodwater to reach.
As for battering it down as they had the walls of Ghost Gate Path, the natural mountain supporting