Chapter 370 - 205: Night Battle

Chapter 370: Chapter 205: Night Battle

Zheng Xiu scratched his head and chuckled. "Looks like we’re on the same page."

"We are husband and wife, after all."

"I understand now." Zheng Xiu’s expression was calm and full of relief. "A true man has things he must do, and things he must not."

He slung the long saber over his back, the Luohe Brush hung from his left hip, and a heavy bag of Blood Sand hung from his right.

"And I," Xie Luohe said, slinging the Longbow over her back once more. She undid her matronly bun, tying her hair back into a long ponytail, looking as valiant and heroic as the day they first met. She smiled. "will do what Xie Luohe does. That is all."

...

WHOOOOOOO—

The dead of night.

It was a dark and windy night.

WHOOSH—

Amidst the howling wind, the piercing blast of a war horn echoed from outside the town.

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP—

The thunder of iron-shod hooves rolled through the darkness, a stirring drumbeat of war. The War Camels bred by the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions were not only adept at long-distance travel, but also excelled in mounted combat. Though their frames seemed bulky, they moved with greater agility than ordinary camels. The sheer density of the thundering hooves clearly distinguished them from the sound of horses.

In the darkness, Xie Luohe was as swift as a swallow. Her Qinggong was superb, allowing her to scale the cliff face and reach the mountain peak with ease.

Gazing into the distance, she saw a sea of firelight. The flames reflected off gleaming Iron Armor, making it look like a boundless ocean of forged steel, dense and stretching to the horizon.

Back on the ground, the warriors of the Sun Tribe had already been roused by the horn’s call.

Ri Di’s body was covered in war tattoos. From his chest to his back were exactly forty-nine Scorching Suns—not one more, not one less.

"It’s Arturo!"

Ri Di gritted his teeth. "I’d heard rumors that the Shache Kingdom has been instigating wars among the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions, winning over various tribes. Their king wants to unite all Thirty-Six Kingdoms and become a second Daqian!"

"If it weren’t for the powerful Dayue Clan of Persia holding them in check, the king of Shache might have already succeeded!"

"And Arturo... he’s called the greatest warrior in the Western Regions!"

Ri Di spoke quickly to Zheng Xiu on the street, all while directing the women and children of the Tribe to retreat into the valley.

"Quick! To the archery range! It’s safe there!"

Although they had long resided in Richan Town, the terrain of Richan Valley was perilous—easy to defend and difficult to assault. In times of crisis, retreating to the valley was their only hope of survival.

After a flurry of chaos, the several hundred members of the Tribe living in Richan Town had all retreated into Richan Valley.

Zheng Xiu had someone settle Xiaomo and Xiaohe, the two creatures he had raised for nearly ten years. He had wanted Little Feng Miao to take shelter with them, but the cat, as if possessed, dug its claws into his clothes and refused to let go. Zheng Xiu had no choice but to tuck Little Feng Miao inside his robes, its furry little head peeking out from his collar.

The remaining several hundred people were outsiders from other kingdoms who had settled in Richan Town. They heard the thundering hooves and blaring horns but didn’t understand the cause, stumbling onto the main street in a panic.

Arturo led his army, charging straight into the town and cutting down anyone in their path.

"Hahaha! Kill them! Leave no one alive!"

RUMBLE—

Arturo led his army of several hundred, leaving no survivors where their iron-shod hooves trampled.

The sudden attack completely shattered the prosperity and peace of Richan Town. No one had expected that after obtaining the secret of the Green River, Arturo would launch a surprise assault that very night, leading his army straight into the town.

As he passed Mohe Pavilion, Arturo sneered, his eyes falling on the Painted Boat from which he had been forced to retreat in humiliation. He raised his War Crossbow, fired a bolt, and shot down the sign that had hung there for ten years.

The sign broke in the middle, splitting into two pieces.

The characters on the sign seemed to writhe for a moment. The left half now read "Dragon Gate," and the right half, "Inn."

Arturo, however, seemed not to notice the sign’s strange transformation. After shooting it down, he spurred his War Camel onward, riding to the entrance of Richan Valley.

Plank walkways had been built along the cliffs of Richan Valley, and a host of skilled archers lay in ambush upon them.

From a distance, Richan Town was already a sea of flames, its buildings ruined and ablaze.

Ri Di stared in fury at the devastation in Richan Town. He could smell the stench of blood on the wind and hear the death-screams of the merchants. Suppressing his rage, Ri Di shouted, "Arturo! You already have the secret of the Green River! Why are you still attacking my Tribe’s territory?!"

Arturo roared with laughter. "Soon, this Richan Valley, the Great Desert beyond, and everything east of it will belong to my Shache Kingdom! My king has no desire for Richan Valley to divide our lands! This fertile oasis will be shared by our king and the king of the Northern Barbarians!"

"Fire!"

That brief exchange was all Ri Di needed. He knew Arturo’s attack was long-planned and this would not end peacefully. From his perch high above, he waved his hand. A volley of arrows rained down on Arturo’s army of several hundred men.

FWWIP! FWWIP! FWWIP! FWWIP!

The Sun Tribe’s Archery was taught to them by Xie Luohe herself. Though they couldn’t match her personal prowess, their volley of arrows was incredibly precise, with every shaft aimed at the War Camels beneath the invaders.

As the saying goes: to fell the rider, first fell his mount. Arturo needed his War Camels to cross the Great Desert. If they could kill the beasts, even if it didn’t defeat his army outright, it would force them to retreat.

"Shields!"

But Arturo’s knowledge of the Sun Tribe ran deeper than Ri Di imagined. The moment Ri Di had shouted "Fire," Arturo’s own voice boomed like a drum. His soldiers instantly drew strange weapons that resembled Iron Fans.

SHI-NKK!

With a single, fluid motion, the soldiers snapped the fan-like weapons open. Layers of metal leaves rotated and unfolded, transforming into round shields in the blink of an eye.

The neat *SHI-NKK!*—hundreds of identical sounds merging into one—was like a crack of lightning echoing through the valley.

The soldiers raised their shields, ducking low. They angled the shields toward the sky, protecting both themselves and the War Camels they rode.