Chapter 1407: Princess, Be Careful!

Chapter 1407: Chapter 1083: Princess, Be Careful!

Three hours later, the setting sun leaned westward.

Their opponents, just as Shang Ruyi had anticipated, launched a large-scale attack on them again.

As the army of tens of thousands raced toward them, the heavy steps made the whole world seem to shake. Standing on top of the valley, Shang Ruyi’s face was somber; the fiery sunset reflected in her eyes seemed to ignite flames. She gritted her teeth and spoke sternly, “Pass the order, defend to the death!”

Actually, without waiting for her order, Jiang Kesong and Gao Feng had already taken their positions with their troops.

The enemy’s troops spread over the grassland like a surging flood; in no time, they advanced to the mouth of Hu Yang Valley, and Hu Yang Valley was the sole outlet for this flooding torrent. Watching them surge forward, the soldiers guarding the valley’s entrance used sharpened wooden fences to form a dense barricade covering dozens of yards, hiding behind this wooden barricade to draw their bows. As the enemy’s troops knocked down the first row of barricades, amid the sound of breaking wood and soldiers’ roars, a piercing shriek suddenly echoed.

Looking up, they saw dense arrows falling from the sky.

At that moment, someone shouted loudly, “Shield formation!”

As soon as the words fell, the soldiers attacking at the front suddenly retreated two steps in unison. Immediately, the troops behind them swiftly moved forward, raising their large shields. Some even stepped on the backs of the soldiers who crouched on the ground, stacking the shields to form a huge shield formation!

Arrows flew like shooting stars, all hitting the shields with a ding ding ding sound and falling to the ground.

And because Hu Yang Valley was narrow, the arrows could fly far but not wide, all concentrated on those shields, making the first wave of arrow rain entirely ineffective!

Seeing this, Shang Ruyi’s brow immediately furrowed.

Yet those below did not cheer for dodging the first wave, but prepared for the second, as the battlefield was ever-changing. As those massive shields kept pushing forward, overturning row after row of wooden barricades, the soldiers hiding behind them also began to slowly retreat. But their retreat was not chaotic; under Gao Feng’s command, half retreated while the other half continued to draw bows, shooting another wave of arrows into the sky.

In an instant, countless dense chilling lights filled half the sky over Hu Yang Valley, illuminated by the fiery sunset like a rain of fire falling down. This time, the stacked shields could not deflect all the arrows; a series of screams followed, and the soldiers attacking behind the shields fell one after another.

Gao Feng immediately ordered, “First team retreat! Second team, forward!”

The archers who had just shot the wave of arrows immediately retreated, and as they withdrew, the archers who had already fallen back advanced again. With fully drawn bows, their arrows were charged with power, and they released another volley into the sky.

The shrill call pierced the ears of Shang Ruyi standing in the valley, causing her eardrums to ache.

Immediately after, below, endless screams erupted.

But this kind of fighting was not enough to make the soldiers who had entered the valley retreat. On the contrary, people were constantly hit by arrows and fell, corpses piling up in the valley, soon forming a bloody road laid directly over the wooden barricades. Seeing the unobstructed path ahead, the soldiers at the back charged forward recklessly, forcing their way into Hu Yang Valley in no time, overturning all the barricades.

At this point, Gao Feng dared not stay any longer and immediately shouted, “Quick, retreat!”

His soldiers did not dare to delay, hurriedly rushing to the other side of the valley. But the enemy would not let them escape, urgently pursuing like a wolf smelling blood, vowing to catch the prey fleeing in panic ahead.

Seeing this, Lu Xiao couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath.

Only now did she realize that what Shang Ruyi told her before was correct; retreating wisely was crucial. In such a chaotic withdrawal, it was almost suicidal.

But now—

She turned her head towards Shang Ruyi in confusion, about to ask something. Before she could speak, she saw Shang Ruyi raise her hand lightly and wave it: “Take action!”

As soon as the words fell, soldiers who had been ambushing for a long time on both sides of the valley stood up from behind the rocks. Among them, a team of archers had already drawn their bows, now releasing arrows at the enemy rushing below.

A flurry of whizzing sounds ensued, chilling light pouring down like rain from above, soldiers caught off guard below as if crushed by an invisible giant hand. A cluster of soldiers was pressed to the ground, unable to rise again. Seeing this, the others hurriedly shouted, “Shields!”

Immediately, soldiers from the shield formation at the front that had just advanced scrambled back, raising their shields above their heads.

The troops in the valley formed a centipede clad in armor, blocking arrows and falling stones from above.

Upon seeing this scene, even Lu Xiao, who had felt detached from it all, broke out in a sweat. She turned to look at Shang Ruyi, whose face was heavy and whose eyes were reflected with the flashing blades and flying blood below, yet her gaze was exceptionally serene, pondering something unknown. Lu Xiao urgently spoke: “Haven’t you reserved some rolling logs? Why not drop them quickly?”

“…”

Shang Ruyi glanced at her and said nothing.

Wo Xue hesitated for a moment and said, “We don’t have many rolling logs left. If we drop them now, and the enemy tries to ascend the mountain path later, we won’t have anything left to defend against them.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiao said no more, only raised her hand to wipe the cold sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.

Her every movement seemed charming and graceful, yet in this trembling situation, a rare trace of embarrassment and unease showed through, while beside her, Shang Ruyi slowly furrowed her eyebrows deeper, the gloom in her eyes darkening further.

The battle had reached a point of exhaustion; she understood clearly that it wasn’t just that the archers’ arrows were running out, but the surrounding trees had also been completely cut down. Wo Xue’s words weren’t wrong; if they dropped the rolling logs now, and the enemies later climb up the mountain paths, she’d be in danger.

However, now she’s worried about more than just these reasons.

Her gaze intensely fixed on below: “Something’s wrong…”

Lu Xiao heard her murmuring and immediately turned to her: “What’s wrong?”

Shang Ruyi replied, “I haven’t seen the leading female general today.”

Upon mentioning it, Lu Xiao realized that the other side had mobilized almost all their troops today, clearly having laid out an overall plan before the battle, so every step was executed with extreme stability. Yet she indeed hadn’t seen the awe-inspiring female general from before, among thousands of troops.

Lu Xiao said, “Did she run?”

Shang Ruyi shook her head immediately.

And just as she was about to say something, suddenly, Wo Xue beside her seemed to sense something, and swiftly moved to shield her: “Princess, be careful!”