Hu Yanmeng’s eyes held no trace of pity as she drew her bow and loosed an arrow. The eight maidens and twelve men of the Hu Yan tribe likewise drew their longbows and nocked arrows, ready to fire. In their eyes, those shouting and making a fuss were nothing more than prey...
These were all first-rate marksmen, requiring no time for aiming; they simply drew and shot, taking down one target with each arrow. In a matter of mere breaths, nearly a hundred people lay dead on the ground, every single one struck precisely in the neck—a fatal shot.
Meanwhile, Chi Yixiu and his comrades engaged in a slaughter akin to wolves among sheep. The soldiers who died by their hands numbered over three hundred. The entire drill ground was saturated with a thick, coppery stench of blood; everywhere lay broken bodies, tattered flesh, freshly spilled viscera, and brains spilled from split-open skulls...
If this place was a den of ruffians a quarter of an hour ago, it had now transformed into an Asura's Purgatory...
Lin Xiaoyi, who had followed Ye Jingyu, had already stumbled to the side, retching uncontrollably. Though he had witnessed the tragedy at the Ye family, the imperial army soldiers at that time only killed with blades and swords; there was nothing comparable to these warriors of the Chi Yi tribe, whose battle-axes left no victim intact with a single swing...
The death of hundreds of men brought silence to the entire drill ground. The remaining hundred or so people were now surrounded by Ye Jingyu and his contingent, their faces sickly pale. Although they outnumbered the Chi Yi warriors, their bodies trembled ceaselessly...
These men were the elite disciples of various major sects. While most had not reached the Xiantian realm, the majority were at the Warrior (Wushi) level—a rank equivalent to second-tier fighters—with some even at the Martial Master (Wushi) realm. Combined, several hundred of them should not have feared eighty Chi Yi warriors...
However, Ye Jingyu’s command was too sudden, and the Chi Yi warriors struck with such blinding speed and absolute ruthlessness that they eliminated nearly a hundred men before the others could react...
When they finally recovered their senses, they realized their weapons were not on them; they were defenseless against axe-wielding Chi Yi warriors, a situation that was tantamount to courting death...
Furthermore, the lethal accuracy of the Hu Yan tribe's archers, each shot finding its mark, shattered their psychological defenses...
And the fact that every swing of the Chi Yi warriors' axes left no whole bodies behind—this terrifyingly brutal display shook most of them to the core...
Moreover, though these men had united to challenge Ye Jingyu, they were not truly unified. This contrasted sharply with Ye Jingyu’s side, where, upon his command, they acted immediately without hesitation or question...
This convergence of multiple factors was the root cause of their defeat...
This was the difference between a battlefield and a duel; individual fighting strength was but one element determining victory or defeat...
Ye Jingyu stood coldly in the center, clutching his jagged, obsidian-black broken saber. He failed to notice the iron blade was constantly absorbing the pervasive scent of blood hanging in the air—the essence of immense fear exuded by those dying...
As for Xiao Taotao, at some unknown moment, she had silently manifested her demonic beast form, devouring the scattered souls in a manner invisible to ordinary eyes...
Gazing upon Ye Jingyu, utterly drenched in gore, and surveying the towering, imposing Chi Yi warriors surrounding them, the remaining hundred-plus men were filled with dread...
This massive commotion naturally alerted those in the nearby tents. But as soon as they rushed out, they were summarily executed by Hu Yanqi and his archers...
As for the women, they remained confined within the tents, perhaps too terrified of the outside world to emerge...
Seeing so few remaining in the entire drill ground, Ye Jingyu’s brow furrowed deeply. An army of ten thousand—was this all that remained?
"Where are the others?" Ye Jingyu’s icy gaze fell upon the soldier at the very front...
"They... are not... in the camp..." The soldier stammered out a reply under the pressure of Ye Jingyu’s cold stare...
"Not here? Where did they go?" Ye Jingyu pressed. Did the entire garrison refuse to submit to his command?
"I... I don't know..." Faced with Ye Jingyu’s solemn intensity, the man felt as if he had been plunged into an ice cellar, utterly unable to articulate anything...
"You don't know?" A murderous intent flared in Ye Jingyu's eyes...
Hu Yanqi, standing behind him, understood the signal. He flicked his longbow, sending another feathered shaft flying, which pierced directly through the man's left eye, cleanly boring through his skull...
His body slowly slumped to the ground...
"Who else doesn't know?" Ye Jingyu asked coldly...
The remaining hundred-plus men stood rooted to the spot, terrified, daring not utter another word...
"Since you all know, then you tell me where they went..." Ye Jingyu swept his gaze across the crowd and addressed another man...
"They were all given leave by the several generals, and those generals took their personal guards out for entertainment... Only a few of us brothers were left to guard the camp..." Under the threat of death, the man quickly divulged the information Ye Jingyu sought...
It turned out that this Iron Army was composed entirely of martial artists—some who had defected to the court during the rebellion, and others who had surrendered later, effectively merging the disciples of nearly every sect in the Shu Yun Kingdom, making the force incredibly disparate...
Their officers were also martial artists. Besides General Ye Jingyu, there were three Deputy Generals, all from the martial world. Today, fully aware Ye Jingyu was coming, they had brazenly left the camp with their subordinates, summarily granting leave to the common soldiers and allowing those remaining to amuse themselves wantonly within the barracks...
Wasn't this deliberately creating trouble for him?
A cold smile touched Ye Jingyu’s lips...
"Then who is the highest-ranking officer here? Call him out for me..." Ye Jingyu spoke again...
But upon hearing this, the faces of the assembled men turned ashen white...
"What? Do you expect me to do it myself?" Ye Jingyu sneered...
"General, the highest-ranking officer here is Second Lieutenant Zhang..." Seeing Ye Jingyu on the verge of another murderous outburst, the man quickly spoke up to prevent further slaughter...
"Then bring him out for me..." Ye Jingyu’s impatience was showing...
"He... he is... over there..." The man pointed toward a tent not far away...
Ye Jingyu looked up and saw a man still clad in white robes lying in a pool of blood. A black feathered arrow was lodged deeply in his throat.