Thousands of scorpion snakes had flung across the battlefield, sweeping their deadly venom at the ghost soldiers, who one by one dropped into ashes.
Ban Yue controlled the scorpion snakes, while Pei Su protected her.
Another fifty arrows flew out from the mountains, painting the dark skies in their past images. Those arrows pierced the abdomen of several ghost soldiers, precise to the point of insanity. A drop of blood laid on the battlefield, crestfallen in sorrow.
Pei Ming jumped out from the ox-cart, instantly plummeting a hundred of ghost soldiers to their deaths.
Little Apple rode past the scenarios, bringing Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan all across the battlefield. The donkey ran until his legs gave out, with his eyes keenly set on the midnight's horizon.
"To your left!" Shen Qingqiu called.
He swung his sword, sending a gust of spiritual energy, instantly cutting the attacking ghost soldiers to their ashes. Wei Wuxian gave him a thumbs up, and laughed, "Great back-up, Shen-xiong!"
Shen Qingqiu was inwardly crying. Whatever it takes to end this war as fast as possible...
"I am also here!" Luo Binghe cheekily added, having recovered from his injuries. He swung his Zhengyang sword, breaking through a collage of ghost soldiers.
All of a sudden, they seemed to see a spur of white strike through the skies—
"What was that?" Lan Zhan was exasperated to see such a thing.
Wei Wuxian thought to himself, "Who in the world wears white?" A humble Crown Prince came into his mind. "No way." He laughed, "It can't possibly be him."
In the skies, Xie Lian met another ghost soldier head on.
They clashed high up in the air, at least over sixty feet from the ground. As a Martial God, Xie Lian was able to stay up-float in the skies. Surprisingly enough, his opponent was also able to. This ghost soldier must have been an amazing cultivator before dying...
Xie Lian threw his palms at the flying ghost soldier, trying to catch the opponent off guard.
Instead, the ghost soldier dodged every single attack. This ghost soldier avoided everything, as if he was a fish swimming in the sea of silver butterflies. He dealt a few blows to Xie Lian, who confidently wiped off the dirt from his white robes.
"DIE!!!" The ghost soldier roared. Unexplainable rage was written across his face, with fire dancing in his blackened pupils.
He took out his sword, then swung exasperatedly.
Xie Lian leaped backwards, with his chestnut brown hair thrashing in the winds. He was merely a Martial God, and could not control conditions of the weather; unlike other gods; who he will not name.
"It's time." Xie Lian hurriedly played out a few hand-seals; they were incantation gestures. His slender fingers switched back and forth in the moonlight, with the light of the silver butterflies illuminating his figure. His eyes closed.
He could feel everything; the earth and lands.
The heavy breathing of the living, and the shallow breathing of the deceased. Xie Lian could also feel a deep rumble, hidden in the depths of the ground.
Then, the battlefield began to shake. A crack split open. Both ghost soldiers and Qinghe Nie disciples scurrie backwards, afraid to engage in battle when such a crisis was occurring. Xie Lian opened his eyes, which reflected what was buried underneath the ground.
A giant sword.
He had Hua Cheng sculpt one for him. If his lover could sculpt Crown Prince statues, then the same could go for swords, yes?
Xie Lian manipulated the giant sword into his hands, which was at least twice the size of himself. Without mercy, he looked at the flying ghost soldier, who seemed to shrink at the huge presence. Xie Lian batted his eyes, then took on a stance in midair.
In one hand was a flower, and the other was his sword.
To fight for the flower, and to bring beauty for the sword. His white sleeves swept through the winds, then the giant sword crashed the flying ghost soldier into the ground.
The sound of lightning seemed to plunder.
That ghost soldier fell into ashes. Beside his ashes, Xie Lian gently landed on the ground. Who knows when he'd grabbed a flower out of where he grabbed it from, but the Crown Prince set the flower next to the ashes. If they were off the battlefield, perhaps, he might have been able to make acquaintances with that ghost soldier. Too bad.
He turned his head to look back at the remaining ghost soldiers.
Xie Lian pointed his giant sculpted sword at the ghost soldiers. He gave them a smile, which didn't feel like a smile. Then, he gave chase.
In the distance, Shen Qingqiu watched everything. He shuddered, "A God is still a God."
"I knew that Xie-xiong had talent for the sword," Wei Wuxian followed after his act of being a pitiful chipmunk, "But I didn't know it was to this far of an extent."
They watched as Xie Lian's sword fell onto thousands of ghost soldiers, whose bodies were reaped. Their screams echoed throughout the horizon, as if to plummet every children's dreams into a bloody nightmare. Nightmare indeed...
Lan Zhan and Luo Binghe patted one another on the shoulder, as if to encourage the other, "Don't worry. We must fight hard too."
"Speaking of which," Wei Wuxian was puzzled. "Where's Hua Chengzhu?"
In fact, Hua Cheng just stood lazily in the middle of the battlefield. The Qinghe Nie disciples knew that he was on their side. However, his presence of being a Ghost King made the ghost soldiers shrink in terror. They didn't dare to attack this ghost, who was on a higher level than them.
Hua Cheng yawned, then checked his nails, wondering how he should spend time with his lover later the night.
"Yeah..." Luo Binghe gawked. "The Ghost King has it easy."
Another fifty arrows flew from the mountain, killing another fifty ghost soldiers to their ashes. At the peak of the mountain, Jin Ling couldn't help but weep as he shot his fourth arrow of the night. It really is an honour to fight alongside with a Martial God!
Feng Xin pretended like he couldn't hear the teenage boy's worshipping.
Meanwhile, riding his horse, Mu Qing killed every single ghost soldier in his sight. His sword swept across the battlefield, tainted in blood.
Yushi Huang took care of Little Apple, who became tired from exercising his legs.
Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen fought alongside one another, backs facing backs. A purple whip; Zidian; swung outwards and slashed ghost soldiers into ashes. Lan Xichen's sword let out a sharp glimmer, piercing more ghost soldiers into one kebab.
As the fight continued, the amount of ghost soldiers diminished.
Soon enough, there were only hundreds left. Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan, Shen Qingqiu, Luo Binghe, Xie Lian, and Hua Cheng grouped up together once again. They looked at each other, and tried to spot any wounds. After checking that nobody was hurt, they laughed.
"We all survived, huh." Shen Qingqiu fanned himself.
"Naturally, Shizun!" Luo Binghe piped up, like the dog he was—loyal and serving.
"This..." everyone turned their attention to the Martial God. "Xie-xiong... don't you think that your sword is just bullying the enemies?"
Xie Lian propped up his giant sword, then grinned, "All for the battle."
"Don't question Gege." Hua Cheng solemnly stated, with his one eye seeming to glare at the remainder of the three couples.
His sleeve was pulled, as Xie Lian coaxed the Ghost King.
Out of nowhere, a ghost soldier jumped at them. Instead, Suibian pierced through his brain. Wei Wuxian was relentless, as he made sure that the sword stabbed straight through.
However, that ghost soldier did not turn into ashes. He began to melt, but stayed long enough just to cackle out a few words, "THE FOUR GREAT CLANS WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO BEAT GHOST NATION! WE ARE GHOSTS, AND WILL FOREVER HAUNT YOU UNTIL THE LIGHT OF DAWN!"
The ghost soldier's smile was hideous. "You might think that you have the upper hand, but actually, we've long prepared another fleet of soldiers! They're on their way to assist us for back-up!"
Xie Lian's brows furrowed. He needed to check if that information was true.
Wei Wuxian blinked, then brought the ghost soldier to ashes.
He turned to look at the Crown Prince, "Don't worry, Xie-xiong. I'm sure that that ghost was just lying. You can tell that he had malicious intent-"
Xie Lian had already connected a private communication array with the Civil Goddess. "Ling Wen? I've just received notice that there's a possibility of the enemy's back-up. Is this true?"
He waited for some time. Ling Wen responded fast.
"It's true, Your Highness. There's a number of at least another 30,000 ghost soldiers coming your way to Qinghe Nie."
Hearing the number, Xie Lian's face went pale.
"However, you needn't worry, Your Highness the Crown Prince." Ling Wen added. "I have long foreseen this, and have already sent two Upper Court Gods to deal with the back-up. I can promise that the back-up will be entirely demolished."
Xie Lian was confused. Ling Wen has already taken action?
He turned to look at the remainder three couples, and said, "Ling Wen said that we don't need to worry. Apparently, someone else will be taking care of the back-up for us."
*****
In order to navigate from Ghost Nation to Qinghe Nie, the back-up ghost soldiers needed to cross an ocean of water. Thus, they travelled by ships.
The wooden ships croaked in the black murky water.
Currents and currents continued to slam against the ships, as if trying to sink them. However, ghost soldiers were onboard them. The ocean couldn't sink those that were already dead. "The ocean sure is violent tonight," a ghost soldier commented. "If I'd known this'd happen, I would've signed up for the frontline troops instead of back-up."
Another ghost soldier punched him. "Shut up!"
The waters seemed to become more harsh. The frigid coldness seeped into the ships, as if plummeting the entire wood into winter.
In the far distance, a mountain stood deformed.
Moving aside bushes, a man frowned. His black obsidian hair was swept in the ocean's breeze, and a cold expression was etched across his face. This man's robes were black and gold, a match of astoundingly dark yet light colours. He Xuan's skin was pale, similar to the moonlight's glare.
His eyes thinned, "The waters can sense uninvited strangers."
He Xuan closed his eyes. He could hear the wailing of the water, which cried in pain, wishing to gobble up all of the 30,000 ghost soldiers above the surface. His mind grimaced from the sharp cries. He wanted those voices to silent themselves, and to never resurface again.
All of a sudden, a laugh fell next to his ear, "Need my help?"
There was another man. Instead of being as eerie and cold as the first, this man was bright and cheery. He was dressed in cheap rags, not bothering to dress up properly. However, his long hair was brushed up, revealing the handsome face hidden beneath. This man had one lame leg. He could barely stand properly, but it didn't seem to affect him.
Shi Qingxuan took out his fan, which had the word "Wind" sewn brilliantly on the surface.
The Lord Wind Master sighed, "The Civil Goddess asked me to help you. I never thought that out of everyone, I'd be chosen."
He Xuan just huffed coldly. "Shut up, and do your job already." He tried to ignore the pent up frustration from their past history, and focused on the battle.
Shi Qingxuan shrugged.
With a wave of his fan, a strong gust of wind arose. At first, the ghost soldiers didn't sense anything wrong. But the winds only grew stronger and stronger. The winds seemed to bite at their sails, as if trying to tear down their ship.
A tornado ripped out from the ocean, combined with the cold waters of the abyss. That one tornado did not let go of any ghost soldier.
That night, all 30,000 back-up ghost soldiers were drowned into ashes.
Author's Little Theatre:
CoolCool-Aid: Remember a long time ago when I asked everyone 《How many chapters will there be in this novel?》Welp, we're actually getting close to the end of the journey ^-^
Why don't you guys guess again? How many chapters will there be in this novel?