The sun rose, set, and night fell...
In the early hours of the second day, the group arrived at Beining City. Everyone except Zhou Henn got two new Demon Blood Horses. They rested for only a quarter hour before setting out again.
This road was clearly far from the Great River Defense Line, yet they encountered scattered members of the Demon Race, all of whom were casually cut down by Zhou Henn.
Lü Biao reminded everyone that it wasn’t normal to encounter the Demon Race here, which meant more of them had come south than expected.
At noon, the group arrived at Northern Garrison Pass.
The party went to the north gate of Northern Garrison Pass. After having their Customs Seal stamped, they took a temporary rest.
Li Qingxian, sitting on a chair, watched as Zhou Henn took out a Communication Talisman Disc, only to put it away before giving him a quiet instruction.
A quarter hour later, as the group led their horses toward the north gate, a squad of Soldier Generals suddenly charged in.
The leader was a black-bearded giant with a face the color of dark copper, wearing a Senior Fifth Grade Elephant Head Copper Breastplate. He was two sizes larger than even the tall Zhou Henn, with extremely broad shoulders and a slightly hunched back. His hair stood on end, making him look just like a giant bear.
The giant held up a Red Copper Order the size of two palms and boomed, "By order of the Grand General of the River Guard Army, Beichen City is in dire need of reinforcements! You are hereby requisitioned to proceed to Beichen City."
Li Qingxian looked at Zhou Henn, but Zhou Henn remained motionless.
Lü Biao quickly cupped his hands. "Greetings, my lord. I am under orders from the Front Army Governor’s Mansion..."
"To deliver a message to Huaimu County?" the giant asked impatiently.
"Yes."
A Seventh-Grade Civil Servant stepped out from beside the giant, cupped his hands toward Lü Biao, and said, "I am Lur Huai’an, Judge of the Celestial Blade Army in Huaimu County. Greetings to you all from the Governor’s Mansion. The General knew a military dispatch was arriving. For security, he asked me to come and verify it, and to transmit the contents in advance using a Communication Talisman Disc."
As Lur Huai’an spoke, he took out a Communication Talisman Disc set and a Celestial Blade Army General Order from his bag.
Lü Biao and the others exchanged glances, then all looked toward Li Qingxian. With a soft sigh, Lü Biao muttered, "When Immortals fight..." and obediently handed over the letter he was carrying.
The tall, sturdy giant said, "Business is concluded. Please follow me and divert to Beichen City."
Lü Biao looked at the Grand General’s Order with an emotional expression. He abruptly puffed out his chest, raised his head, and declared loudly, "I obey the Grand General’s Order!"
"Guarded the river?" the giant asked, sizing up Lü Biao.
"We defend the Great River!" Lü Biao and three of his brothers shouted in unison.
The giant showed a hint of approval and looked toward Zhou Henn. "Madman Zhou, still pretending you don’t know me?"
"Where’s your brother?"
A strange smile appeared on the giant’s lips. "He’s Third Grade now."
Zhou Henn’s expression darkened. He snorted coldly and said nothing.
Li Qingxian smiled and cupped his hands. "I am Li Qingxian. Might I ask for the General’s name?"
"Xiong Zhenghao of the River Guard Army." The giant scrutinized Li Qingxian.
"Hello, Uncle Xiong." Li Qingxian put on the expression of a well-behaved, shy youth.
"Call me Second Uncle Xiong," Xiong Zhenghao said.
Li Qingxian paused for a moment before saying, "Hello, Second Uncle Xiong."
"Can you handle going to Beichen City right now?" Xiong Zhenghao asked, looking at Li Qingxian.
"A piece of cake."
"Not bad. Follow me back to my troops to prepare, then we’ll set off." Xiong Zhenghao led everyone back into Northern Garrison Pass.
On the way, Li Qingxian whispered a few words to Xiong Zhenghao. Xiong Zhenghao’s eyes lit up, and the two of them left, returning half an hour later.
Soon after, a troop of over a thousand light cavalry rode out of Northern Garrison Pass, heading northeast.
On the road, Zhou Henn explained via voice transmission, "Lord Zhou said that Tang Enxuan really has no intention of killing you, or at least he doesn’t dare to right now. But Huaimu County is right on the Great River, which is more dangerous than Beichen City. It’s also dangerous to let you return to the Divine Capital now. So, Lord Zhou decided to have you go to Beichen City and return to the Divine Capital together after the war is over. From what he said, he plans to take you to Prince Yuann’s Mansion to confront Prince Yuann after you’re back in the capital."
"What’s the situation at Beichen City?" Li Qingxian asked.
"Much safer than Huaimu County. Two lords are taking turns defending the city, so the Demon Race can’t break through. With us joining, the Demon Race will surely retreat after failing to conquer it for so long," Zhou Henn said.
Li Qingxian said, "Then I can rest easy. I’m not actually that afraid of the Demon Race. I’m more worried about running into Deceit or something..."
Up ahead, Xiong Zhenghao shouted, "Everyone, keep your eyes peeled! There are a ton of demons around lately, so the road won’t be peaceful. Even if we make it to Beichen City, we might not be able to get in. Be prepared to turn back with nothing to show for it."
Zhou Henn said, "The Demon Race is besieging Beichen City on three sides, leaving one open. We can get in easily."
"The Demon Race’s military tactics are getting more and more human..." Xiong Zhenghao sighed.
The group spurred their horses, riding hard for two full days and nights. After scattering seven groups of demons, they finally saw a small county town in the distance, bathed in the twilight glow of the setting sun on the evening of May 22nd.
The group was south of the county town. From there, they could only see the interconnected camps of the Demon Race to the east and west, tens of thousands strong, desperately attacking the city.
The south side was silent, without a single demon in sight.
As the cavalry troop drew closer, five to six thousand Demon Soldiers from both the eastern and western sides broke off and charged toward them.
"Prepare to charge! To hell with them! We defend the Great River!" Xiong Zhenghao suddenly let out a howl, and his cavalrymen, as if possessed, roared in unison.
"We defend the Great River!"
The cavalrymen drew their bows and nocked their arrows.
Li Qingxian touched his Qiankun Bracelet.
Ever since his experience in the Deceit Village, where he felt a crisis even more intense than death, he had been constantly creating Thunder Talismans. In the past few days, he had accumulated over a thousand.
Adding the various Spirit Talismans that came with the Qiankun Bracelet, the total number of Spirit Talismans he had on hand exceeded five thousand.
The two charging groups of Demon Soldiers merged. The south gate of Beichen City opened, and a five-hundred-man infantry unit charged out.
Li Qingxian looked into the distance and saw that the leader was, to his surprise, an old friend.
Songg Baige, son of Songg Yunjing, had been the Runner-Up Scholar in the palace examination five years ago. Just half a year ago, when they were mourning together, he was only a Junior Eighth Grade official. Now, he was wearing a Green Bottom Mandarin Duck Embroidery patch, having been promoted to Junior Seventh Grade.
The Songg Baige of the past was a typical scholar, dressed in a blue gown with a fair, clean face. Now, his whole body was filthy, his face covered in a light layer of dust.
They looked at each other from afar and simply gave a slight nod.
The Demon Soldiers ignored their rear and just charged forward. At their head were two Tiger Demons, each over thirty feet long, looking like two massive, striped elephants.
Demonic blood surged around the Tiger Demons’ bodies, coalescing into a clearly visible, flowing bloody light.
Xiong Zhenghao was highly experienced. With just one glance, he said, "Two Fifth-Grade Tiger Demons. You take one, I’ll take the other. Let’s finish them off quickly, scatter their troops, and then enter the city."
Zhou Henn nodded.
As the two sides drew near, the cavalrymen fired two volleys of arrows, then switched to long lances, preparing to charge.
Before the charge began, two figures leaped from their horses, transforming into two gales of wind that kicked up sand and stones. In the blink of an eye, they each rushed in front of a Tiger Demon.
The two Fifth-Grade Tiger Demons roared in unison. Their bodies swelled by a full size, and black veins as thick as a man’s arm bulged from their skin, twisting and intertwining like armor beneath their hides.
They extended their claws, which were sharp, pointed, and glinted with a bright, cold light.
Zhou Henn crouched low and stomped his left foot on the ground. With a huge BOOM, the ground caved in and cracked like a spider web as dust flew everywhere.
Zhou Henn’s body flashed, and he suddenly vanished, reappearing as if teleported to the Tiger Demon’s side. He gripped his curved saber with both hands, a white Saber Qi erupting from it to a length of ten feet.
PFFT!
The Fifth-Grade Tiger Demon had only managed to move half a step when the blade flashed. Its head fell to the ground, and foul blood sprayed everywhere.
The Demon Soldiers were terrified. ’A great Fifth-Grade Tiger Demon, killed in a single blow?’
On the other side, Xiong Zhenghao was wildly hacking at the giant tiger with a huge, red-patterned black iron axe. Each swing unleashed a ten-foot-long, blood-colored blade of energy. In the blink of an eye, he had chopped over a dozen times. A sky full of blood-red light blades flew out; some landed on the Tiger Demon, while others shot into the ranks of the Demon Soldiers, traveling for hundreds of feet before dissipating.