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Chapter 200: Guerilla Warfare, Deep Behind Enemy Lines

Long Heng was currently staring at the moon because he was having difficulty sleeping. He’d promised Bai Xiangxiu that he’d be back within half a year, but he’d faced a big crisis in his first skirmish. He’d been brainstorming plans to counter the chained horses formation, but it really was quite difficult. He prayed that Bai Xiangxiu wouldn’t worry, because he wasn’t really in any danger despite the grimness of the situation. Food was not an issue since he had the underground tunnels that supplied food. All he needed to do now was find a way to defeat the chained horses formation. However, it was a daunting task. He couldn’t come up with anything useful even after a few days of research.

But for some reason, he had a feeling that Bai Xiangxiu was nearby, and that she was getting closer to him by the minute. “Xiu’er…” He began to smile while stroking the fragrance pouch she’d previously given to him. The handiwork wasn’t the best, but he liked it all the same. He kept it by his side at all times.

With just ten miles separating them, Bai Xiangxiu was now beginning to see the outline of Tranquil City. The enemy territory was right in front of Tranquil City. The enemy nation had actually conquered the city before, but it had been claimed back by Long Heng. It was when he’d decided to go on the offense that he’d encountered the chained horses formation.

Bai Xiangxiu and the others were camping for the night. Song Jiaoyue had decided on infiltrating the enemy camp to gather intelligence about the chained horses formation.

“I will go too.” I want to see for myself if it’s the same thing as the linked horses formation that I so often see in television shows. Song Jiaoyue had no choice but to bring her along. Yu Kuang naturally tagged along as well. Among the three, two of them had exemplary qinggong skills. They took turns carrying Bai Xiangxiu towards the outskirts of the enemy camp. There were some close calls, but they made it there safely in the end.

Song Jiaoyue said, “We cannot proceed any further. There’s likely a shroud of poison mist in there.”

“Don’t worry. I have an antidote. It provides immunity to almost every commonly known poison.” Yu Kuang poured out three pills from a bottle. He then escorted Bai Xiangxiu into the poison mist, leaving Song Jiaoyue to scout ahead. If the enemy were to be alerted of their presence, the two at the back would have more time to escape. There was no need to worry about Song Jiaoyue, as common foot soldiers would never be able to block his escape. However, their movements were highly unconventional. They were trying to make their way to the horse stables instead of the main camps.

The stable was guarded by a surprising number of soldiers. Since he was too far away to identify anything, Song Jiaoyue decided to sneak in, knocking two guards out by tapping their acupoints. Song Jiaoyue signalled for the other two to come over when the coast was clear and they entered the armory together. There was a possibility that they might be able to come up with a plan if they took a closer look at the armor and weaponry.

Bai Xiangxiu and Yu Kuang immediately noticed the horse armor when they entered the armory. It was made entirely of metal and seemed very heavy. A metal chain with reverse spikes hung between each suit of armor. No wonder the formation was so powerful.

When the horses were armored and lined up in formation, anyone in its path would either die from the collision or be trampled to death. What a gruesome method of killing. Bai Xiangxiu thought hard while frowning. She realized that it was very similar to the linked horses formation, especially since the calves of the horses were not protected by armor. This was likely its Achilles heel. Upon that realization, a smirk began to form on her face. She was determined to help Long Heng defeat the linked horses formation.

While she was still caught up in her thoughts, she suddenly heard a commotion outside the stable. One of the men said, “Lord Strategist! What are you doing here so late in the night?”