The man leading the attack on Chen Village this time was Wu Tong's older male cousin, E Bei. Wu Tong had helped him tremendously in the past and deserved much of the credit for E Bei gaining command of a puppet unit in the Wumeng Tribe. So when Wu Tong asked him for help this time, he readily agreed.
In his eyes, Chen Village was nothing more than a tiny mountain village. Wiping it out should have been as easy as blowing away dust.
Three days ago, he had arrived at Chen Village with seven or eight trusted followers and over thirty mechanical puppets, only to find that he couldn't break through the village's defensive talisman array at all.
He intensified the attack afterward, but unexpectedly, the villagers of Chen Village suddenly brought out a strange kind of ranged hidden weapon. It was incredibly fast and powerful. Not only had he failed to breach Chen Village's defenses, but four or five of his mechanical puppets had been damaged instead.
Each of those mechanical puppets possessed at least the strength of a Sixth-Duan Martial Artist. He simply couldn't bear such a tremendous loss.
His attack on Chen Village was a matter of private grievances, and he had not received the Wumeng Tribe's support.
Now he was riding a tiger and couldn't dismount. Only by taking Chen Village and seizing those strange hidden weapons did he have a sliver of a chance to atone for his offense through meritorious service.
"Kill! Attack! I refuse to believe their spirit stones are endless!"
Several nearby lower-tier tribes had long coveted Chen Village's sudden wealth. Now that a middle-tier tribe like the Wumeng Tribe had taken the lead, they naturally flocked over like ducks, each sending warriors in hopes of getting a share of the spoils.
"Fight for Chen Village!! Kill!!!"
One of Chen Village's side gates suddenly opened, and over twenty of its martial artists charged out first on demonic beast mounts. More than a hundred fully armed warriors followed behind them.
The Chen Village martial artists riding the demonic beasts were ferocious beyond compare. Relying on the speed of their charge, they sent the tribesmen from outside flying, cutting through them as though no one stood in their way.
The warriors behind the cavalry were no weaker. All equipped with sharp, enhanced weapons, they swept forward, inflicting enormous casualties on the enemy.
E Bei immediately dispatched the puppet tribe to surround and kill them, hoping to stop the cavalry unit.
This was not the first time Chen Village's cavalry had charged out, but the village had seven or eight entrances and exits. He had no way of predicting which one they would charge out of, so he had been forced to spread his mechanical puppets among them.
By now, E Bei hated this cavalry unit to the bone. Every time it charged out, it killed or wounded hundreds of people, yet every time, it slipped away from him.
"Good! You actually dared to come out again. I'll take your lives!!"
He urged on the wolf-shaped demonic beast beneath him and personally led his trusted followers to intercept and kill Chen Village's cavalry.
Chen Hongjie was leading the cavalry. He took them in a wide circle outside, scattering the attacking forces to make it easier for the Chen Village warriors behind them to attack and kill the enemy. Then he prepared to turn back toward the village.
Just then, the nearby mechanical puppets gradually closed in, while E Bei and his followers blocked the route back.
He had fought E Bei before and knew that E Bei was a Ninth-Duan Martial Artist, while his seven or eight subordinates were all Seventh- or Eighth-Duan Martial Artists. There was no chance of winning a head-on confrontation with them.
In the face of danger, he gritted his teeth and took out four or five talisman papers.
"Everyone, break through with me!"
Taking the lead, he decided not to return through the gate they had come out of, but to lead the cavalry back through another side gate of Chen Village.
Although four or five mechanical puppets were closing in from that direction as well, and the route was longer, it was clearly much safer than facing E Bei and his men head-on.
"Kill!!"
These demonic beast mounts from Chen Village had all undergone battle formation training, so they worked together in perfect coordination.
Just as the Chen Village cavalry was about to clash with the mechanical puppets, Chen Hongjie flung all the talisman papers in his hand.
Boom!! Boom! Boom!
The talisman papers ignited and exploded as soon as they touched anything, blasting the mechanical puppets off their feet.
Chen Hongjie seized the opportunity and led the cavalry through the mechanical puppets' blockade.
His heart ached in secret. During this war, he had used up most of the talisman papers Chen Mu had given him. If Chen Mu didn't return soon, he would have none left to use.
He continued charging for some distance, only to notice that something was wrong.
"Not good!!"
He realized that although he was moving forward, the scenery around him kept repeating. No matter how he ran, he remained in the same place.
"Hahahaha!! Don't think Chen Village is the only one with talisman arrays! To kill you, I actually had to use up an entire set of Soul-Bewildering Array Flags. You can be proud of that!!"
E Bei's voice came from behind him, brimming with killing intent.
"Defensive formation!! Everyone, back to back!"
Chen Hongjie issued the order without losing his composure, then calmly examined his surroundings.
He had heard of the Soul-Bewildering Array. Given a little time, it wasn't hard to break, but he knew E Bei wouldn't give him that time. He was already prepared for a bitter fight.
"To be honest, I rather admire you. A tiny lower-tier tribe like yours actually managed to hold off my mechanical puppets for so long.
"Now, I'll give you a chance. As long as you're willing to lead your entire tribe in surrender, I can promise to spare you and even let your entire tribe move to our Wumeng Tribe and become a subordinate tribe."
Feeling victory was in his grasp, E Bei began to speak at length.
"No! Cousin, they killed my..."
Wu Tong had stayed close beside E Bei the whole time. Hearing him say this, he immediately voiced his dissatisfaction.
"Don't worry! I know what I'm doing."
The battle with Chen Village had reached a point where lives were at stake, and E Bei could no longer concern himself with his relationship with Wu Tong.
During this war, he could tell that Chen Hongjie possessed exceptional command skills, and Chen Village's mysterious talisman master was extraordinary as well. If he could bring them under his command, it would surely be a great achievement when he returned to the tribe, and might even offset the losses he had caused it this time.
"Cut the nonsense!! If you want to kill us, come and try!! I'm just afraid you can't bear the losses!!"
Those words struck E Bei right in his weak spot. He had suffered enormous losses in his attack on Chen Village, and if he lost any more, even if he wasn't executed upon returning to the tribe, his fate would be little better.
But he had fought his way up step by step through piles of corpses. How could he be so easily threatened? He immediately gritted his teeth.
"Fine! Since you won't drink the toast, you'll have to drink the forfeit. Don't blame me!"
By now, he had gathered all twenty-odd mechanical puppets around the Soul-Bewildering Array.
"Kill everyone except the one in the lead!!"
Of the twenty-odd mechanical puppets, two possessed the strength of Ninth-Duan Martial Artists. With his own subordinates and the experts from the nearby small tribes as well, he was confident that none of these people from Chen Village could escape.
But after he gave the order, only his subordinates and the small tribes' experts moved. The mechanical puppets stood completely still, as though they hadn't heard him.
He had never encountered anything like this before, and his mind went blank.