Hu!
A Tibetan commander watched Shule intently as he awaited further orders from the city.
An army of Tibetan soldiers, mages, warriors, and war slaves were hidden in the corners of the mountain ridges. They lived in simple tents, and they used glowing stones as light sources.
âTonightâs sky looks particularly dark,â the Tibetan commander murmured.
Neither the moon nor the stars could be seen. Even Shuleâs outline could be barely seen thanks to the specks of light within the city.
The Tibetan commander dared not to even blink, fearing that he might miss the signal amidst the darkness.
Ah choo!
He suddenly felt a tickle in his nose and sneezed, and that caused him to close his eyes for a brief moment. By the time he turned his attention back to Shule, he was shocked to see that the city had turned completely dark.
Initially, he thought that he was just seeing things. He waited for a while, but the city didnât reappear for him.
ââŠâ After seconds of daze, he shoved the soldier beside him. âOi, do you see light there?â
The drowsy soldier jolted in astonishment and hurriedly looked in the direction his commander was pointing at. However, he saw no light whatsoever.
âSir, I donât see anything,â he nervously replied.
ââŠâ
Is the sky too dark?
Unsure, the Tibetan commander ordered, âCall a mage over.â
âYes sir!â
The soldier nodded before heading off, but his face crumbled the moment he turned his head away. Mages were known for having a bad temper.
Iâm going to get scolded.
It took a while before the soldier returned with a mage.
âWhatâs going on?â the mage asked.
âOur eyes seem to be failing us,â the Tibetan commander respectfully explained, âso I was hoping that you could help us see whatâs going on over at ShuleâŠâ
âYou called me here over such triviality? What are your eyes for?!â the mage scoffed with widened eyes.
The Tibetan commander and the soldier nodded with polite smiles, not daring to express their dissatisfaction.
After the mage was finally done venting his emotions, he cast Eagle Eye on himself before looking toward Shule. He was quiet for seconds before exclaiming, âSomething is wrong! I canât see anything at all!â
He thought that these brutes were stirring trouble over nothing, but from the looks of it now, something was indeed very wrong here!
Shoosh!
There was suddenly a whizzing sound, as if something was shooting across the night sky.
Weng!
Without any hesitation, the mage put up a barrier before stepping aside. At the same time, he murmured a chant to buff himself with Arrow Avoidance.
Shk!
Thanks to his swift reflexes and spells, the mage was able to dodge the deadly arrow.
However, the soldiers around him werenât as lucky. As they were standing too close to one another, they ended up getting impaled by the same arrow.
Pah!
Seeing the soldiers collapse to the ground, the mage cast Voice Amplification and roared, âENEMY ATTACK!â
Tibetan soldiers trailed out of their tents with confused faces, as they attempted to make sense of the situation. The more experienced commanders began roaring at the soldiers to grab their weapons and don their armor.
But it was too late.
A furious wind brewed amidst the ridges, raising sand and sediments. The Tibetan soldiers ran around like headless flies amidst the furious winds. freÄwÄbηovel.cà«Šm
Amidst the deafening wind, the sounds of horse hooves became conspicuous. Then, an army of terrifying cavalrymen suddenly charged into their ranks and tore their camp apart.
âBrothers, old rules!â
Anyone who dared stand in Shu Yichaoâs path was sliced apart by his terrifying modao like watermelons, and their blood splattered like fruit juice.
âMassacre everything!â
âGHOSTS!â
Some of the Tibetan soldiers finally got a proper look of Shu Yichao and the ghost horsemen, and that scared them out of their wits. Before they could recover from their shock, a sea of skeletons suddenly washed over them.
âSomething is wrong!â
âSomething is very wrong here!!!â
Some of the mages tried casting Illuminate, but to their shock, the lights they produced were quickly extinguished by a black fog. They didnât realize that this anomaly applied not just to lights but sounds too.
No matter how loud the cacophony here was, it would swiftly dissipate a distance away.
Unknowingly, the Tibetan army had fallen into the prison that the grim reaper had carefully constructed for them.
âThe black fog! Itâs that phenomenon!â
Some of the mages recognized the black fog, but they couldnât understand why it would suddenly spread from Kucha to Shule.
That being said, they would have never guessed it was because Shu Yichao discovered an abandoned mine nearby. He immediately leaped at the opportunity to claim the mine, and that enveloped the surrounding area in Eternal Blight.
The skeleton army exploited the cover of the Eternal Blight to encircle the Tibetan army and take them down. The assault was so abrupt that the Tibetan army didnât even have time to put up a resistance.
The soldiers were lynched to death before they could even get into formation.
The warriors fared a little better. Some of them were strong enough to wield broadswords, and they could easily crush ten skeleton soldiers with each strike.
But so what?
They were up against an endless army of undead! There were only so many skeleton soldiers they could kill before collapsing in exhaustion.
As for the mages and the war slaves, they had the means to defeat skeleton soldiers too.
The mages could clear a huge area of skeletons with their AOE spells, and the mindless war slaves boasted indomitable might and knew not of exhaustion. Skeleton soldiers that went after them were either blasted into bits or rammed flying, their bones scattering in all directions.
HoweverâŠ
Shu Yichao was watching over the battlefield.
Wherever the Tibetans were standing their ground, he would charge there with his ghost horsemen and crush them into bits. The mages and the war slaves, given that they were fighting by themselves, had no means to withstand the ghost horsemenâs charge.
Just like that, the Tibetan troops lying in ambush outside the city, whom Asudo had high hopes for, were swiftly eradicated. Not only so, but it also further expanded Shu Yichaoâs army.
âŠ
On Shuleâs city wallsâŠ
ââŠâ Asudo frowned. He ordered the mage, âSend the signal again.â
The mage did as he was told and fired the signal again, but there was still no response.
ââŠâ Cold sweat dripped from Asudoâs forehead.
This is impossible! The troops I stationed outside the city will not turn a blind eye to my order.
âWindwhisperer!â Asudo pointed at the dark night sky. âOver there! Can you hear anything?!â
The windwhisperer gulped down a potion and pricked up his ears.
Asudo waited nervously for his verdict.
ââŠâ A mere second later, the windwhispererâs face darkened. He exclaimed in shock, âAn army! I hear a huge army!!!â
âHas the Tang army arrived? Did they ambush the troops we planted at the ridge?â
Asudo was shocked.
That would explain why the troops lying in ambush failed to respond, but that should be impossible! Even if the Tang army ambushed their troops, there should have been at least some signs of that.
Do the Tang army not use torches when traveling at night?
Also, the troops he had planted at the ridge didnât bring torches either; they were relying on dim glowing stones for light. He couldnât imagine how the Tang army could have found them.
And even if the Tang army somehow discovered and encircled them, surely their troops would have sent a signal requesting reinforcement.
So whyâŠ
Asudo felt like his mind was ringing. Slowly, he pursed his lips.
Thereâs no point wondering about how it happened now. The key is what we should do now.
Unfortunately, the situation was worse than he had expected.
âYes!â the windwhisperer cried in absolute terror, âThey are coming! They are right there!â
It was only now that Asudo realized that the earth was shaking.