eurekapd Chapter 481 Iron Thorn Ridge, the Medicine Man Annihilates the Twin Blade Camp!
Chapter 481 Iron Thorn Ridge, the Medicine Man Annihilates the Twin Blade Camp!
Ironthorn Ridge Pass.
The night was as dark as ink, and the miasma was as fine as gauze.
Ye Xiaoying reined in his horse and stopped a hundred feet outside the ridge pass, his brows furrowed.
Before them, three thousand elite soldiers of the Twin Blades Battalion stood silently, with only the soft rustling of their armor plates and suppressed breathing audible.
A faint, sweet, fishy smell filled the air, like the stench of rotting ripe fruit, yet with a subtle, almost imperceptible pungent odor.
"General, this smell..." Lieutenant General He Qingshan whispered, "Could it be a poisonous fog planted by the Wen family?"
Ye Xiaoying nodded. Although he was not skilled in poisons, the Wen family's expertise in poisons was already well-known throughout the world—the hazy woodland ahead was definitely not as simple as it looked!
"Send a team of scouts, their faces covered with wet cloths, their mouths filled with realgar, to explore the way!" he said in a deep voice.
A team of ten scouts stepped forward, covering their mouths and noses with wet cloths and stuffing a piece of realgar into their mouths, before cautiously entering the miasma zone.
At first, nothing seemed amiss, but after walking about thirty paces, the scout at the front suddenly stopped and covered his throat with his hand.
He opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound; he just turned back to look at the main camp in terror.
Then, to everyone's horrified gaze, his skin began to melt.
That's right, it's melting!
Like a candle heated up, from the inside out, the skin and flesh turned into dark brown pus, which flowed down the gaps in the armor.
In just a few breaths, a living man turned into a decaying corpse.
The nine scouts behind him also fell one after another, dying in the same manner.
“Wen Yanzhao…” Ye Xiaoying gritted his teeth and spat out three words.
Although he had never seen such a deadly poison, he had heard that the Wen family of Lingnan possessed a strange poison that could corrode bones and flesh, and those afflicted would be beyond saving.
"Retreat! The entire army retreats!" he shouted sternly.
More than 3,000 soldiers of the Double-Blade Battalion quickly retreated, stopping only fifty feet away from the edge of the miasma, still shaken.
Ye Xiaoying's face turned ashen.
He had anticipated that Ironthorn Ridge would be well-prepared, but he hadn't expected Wen Yanzhao's methods to be so vicious. This kind of poisonous miasma would kill even a 30,000-strong army, let alone 3,000 people, if there was no way to break it.
Just as I was pondering this, a pair of eerie green eyes suddenly lit up in the dense forest behind me.
Those eyes were lifeless, filled only with pure resentment and deathly stillness, floating like will-o'-the-wisps in the darkness.
"Be on guard!" Ye Xiaoying drew his sword.
The Twin Blade Battalion instantly formed a battle formation, their blades pointing outwards, their eyes fixed on the darkness.
Then they heard the sound of a flute.
Deep, eerie, as if it came from the deepest hell...
Each syllable carries a tooth-grinding friction that drills into the ear and penetrates to the very marrow.
As the flute music played, the owner of those pairs of eerie green eyes slowly emerged from the shadows.
Medicine person.
They were dressed in dark, tight-fitting clothes, their faces were pale, and their eyes were empty.
Their movements were slightly stiff, yet incredibly fast. Though only about thirty people, they exuded a suffocating sense of oppression.
"Brothers, be careful!" Ye Xiaoying shouted. "These things... are not easy to deal with!"
Before he could finish speaking, the squad leader, a sergeant with two swords, suddenly screamed in agony.
Before he could even see the attacker's movements, his right arm, which was holding a knife, was severed at the shoulder!
Amidst the splattering of blood, the drugged man had already darted behind him, his five fingers like hooks, reaching for his back.
"clang!"
Ye Xiaoying arrived just in time and used his twin blades to block the medicine man's claws.
Amidst the clanging of metal, his heart sank—this medicine man's strength was no less than that of a martial artist at the Free Realm!
Moreover, his claws carried a highly toxic stench; if it weren't for his internal energy protecting him, he would probably have already been infected by the poison.
"Die!" Ye Xiaoying roared, slashing with his twin blades.
The blade flashed like a bolt of lightning, slashing into the chest of the man who was being treated.
The blade penetrated three inches into the flesh, but could not go any further. The drug-using man neither dodged nor avoided, letting the blade cut into his chest, while at the same time his other claw went straight for Ye Xiaoying's face.
Trade injury for life!
Ye Xiaoying retreated hastily, narrowly avoiding the attack.
He looked down at the two swords in his hands. The blades were covered with a dark brown viscous liquid that was corroding the steel blades, making a soft "sizzling" sound.
This drug user... is not only incredibly strong and immune to pain, but even his blood is highly poisonous!
"Form a double-sword circle! Do not engage in single combat!" Ye Xiaoying roared.
But it's too late.
Thirty medicine-wielding men charged into the Double-Blade Camp like tigers among sheep.
The massacre has begun.
A soldier from the Double-Blade Battalion swung his blade at the man's neck, but the blade was only halfway in when the man grabbed the blade with his other hand and twisted it off. The next moment, the man's hand pierced through the soldier's chest.
On the other side, three dual-wielding soldiers worked in perfect coordination, simultaneously attacking a medicine man.
The blade blocked all three paths, but the drugged man neither dodged nor avoided it, enduring two blows head-on. He then grabbed the third person's wrist, twisted and pulled, tearing off the entire arm from the root.
The screams, the cracking of bones, and the sound of blades piercing flesh mingled together.
The Double-Blade Battalion is the elite of the Northern Li, and every single one of them is a veteran of countless battles!
But when faced with these monsters who are fearless of death and tireless in the face of pain, their combat skills, courage, and teamwork all become a joke.
The drug-using human has no special moves, only the most primal and effective killing instinct.
Grab, tear, pluck, smash!
Every swift attack would take the life of a soldier from the Double-Blade Battalion!
Even more terrifying is that even if their hands and feet are cut off and their hearts are pierced, the drug user can still move.
Unless their heads are severed or their torsos are completely shattered, they are immortal killing machines!
Ye Xiaoying's eyes widened in fury. His twin blades flashed, decapitating three of the medicine-using men. But there were simply too many of these monsters, and...
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw dozens more bodies made of medicine emerging from the miasma at the ridge pass.
Wen Yanzhao, who knows how many of these terrifying killing machines are hidden in the mountains!
"Retreat! Retreat north!"
Ye Xiaoying gave the order in a hoarse voice.
But their retreat route had been cut off. Sometime later, drugged people appeared behind them. Although there were only a dozen or so, they blocked the way to the north!
The Double-Blade Battalion was surrounded.
Three thousand against less than a hundred, yet it was a one-sided massacre.
Ye Xiaoying was covered in blood, and his left arm had been slashed open by the drug-wielding man with a deep wound that exposed the bone, from which blood gushed.
He gritted his teeth, sealed the acupoints, and tore a strip of cloth from his cloak to wrap around the wound, finally stopping the continuous flow of blood from his arm.
Are you going to die here?
He looked towards Qian Dong City, his eyes filled with resentment!
……
On a high cliff in Tieji Ridge, Wen Hujiu and Wen Yanzhao stood side by side, overlooking the battlefield below.
Wen Hujiu's face turned pale, and his fingers trembled slightly.
Although he came from a family of poison masters and had seen many bizarre ways of dying, the scene before him still sent chills down his spine.
Those drug-using people... they're monsters!
There was no reason, no fear, only slaughter!
The fierce soldiers of the Northern Double Blade Battalion were like lambs to the slaughter before them.
"Zhao'er..." His voice was hoarse, "This...this is the medicine man?"
Wen Yanzhao remained calm, holding the bone flute to his lips and lightly pressing the flute holes with his fingertips, controlling the medicine-using people to surround and kill him.
"Does Uncle think this is cruel?"
Wen Hujiu remained silent for a long time before slowly nodding: "Yes. These medicinal figures...were they living people when they were alive?"
"Yes!" Wen Yanzhao said calmly, "There are prisoners of war, death row inmates, and people who deserve to die. But once they have been made into medicine people, they are just weapons."
He paused, looking at the warm wine pot: "Uncle, the battlefield is a matter of life and death. If the Northern Li army breaks through Qian Dong City, what will become of the defending soldiers and civilians inside?"
What about my aunt, uncle, the Marquis of Zhenxi, and their entire family of over a hundred...?
Wenhu Jiu was speechless.
He knew his nephew was right: in chaotic times, being merciful to the enemy is being cruel to oneself.
But looking down at the torn-up soldiers of the Double-Blade Battalion, he still found it hard to bear the sight.
Wen Yanzhao seemed to see through his thoughts and said softly, "Uncle, I promised Grandpa I wouldn't kill innocent people indiscriminately. Those used by these drug-using people all had their own reasons for dying. As for the Northern Li Army..."
He glanced at Ye Xiaoying, who was struggling against the onslaught of the drug-using men, a complex look flashing in his eyes.
"Ye Xiaoying is a tough guy. If we can capture him alive, it might be useful."
Wenhujiu smiled wryly: "Do you think he'll back down?"
“No.” Wen Yanzhao shook his head. “But at least… we can let him die with some dignity.”
He raised the bone flute, and the sound of the flute suddenly became more intense.
Below, the attack by the drug-using people suddenly intensified.
Ye Xiaoying's twin swords were broken, and he used the broken blades to support his body. All his personal guards around him were dead. He looked at the medicine-wielding men who were closing in and grinned!
"Wen Yanzhao... excellent methods! Come on! I, Ye Xiaoying, will die for Dali, and for Xiao Ruofeng!"
He took a deep breath, mustered his last bit of inner strength, and prepared for one last desperate attempt!
……