With his words, the war saber in his hand seemed to possess a life of its own, constantly slashing towards people’s eyes. With a flash of cold light, someone’s eyes were blinded.
In just a few breaths’ time, at least ten people had suffered severe injuries.
Everyone was terrified!
Xiao Zheng was too terrifying, almost like a god or demon.
The leader of the Vine Armor Army, witnessing this scene, felt a chill in his heart and, without thinking, desperately dodged backward—he didn’t want to go blind.
Long Qie and others were invigorated and surged forward, each unleashing fierce attacks.
Ten Killings, wielding a long saber, was like the Grim Reaper walking in the dark night, each swing claiming a life. Long Qie on the other hand, dealt massive blows, specifically targeting the unprotected throats of the Vine Armor Soldiers; with each swing of his axe, the enemy’s bones broke and tendons snapped, resulting in great gushes of blood leading to death.
They had been chased so miserably before!
Everyone felt a surge of anger.
Under Xiao Zheng’s leadership, Long Qie and the others regained their morale. Each of them became frenzied and unleashed great slaughter!
Suddenly, these several hundred Vine Armor Soldiers were put to a retreat by merely a dozen men!
Actually, if speaking of true combat strength, Xiao Zheng and his men were no match for this group of Vine Armor Soldiers. If the enemy had united and encircled them slowly, they could have killed them all.
But with Xiao Zheng there, the equation changed.
His martial skills were amazing!
Wielding the war saber with agile movements, he moved through the masses as if strolling leisurely through a garden. Every strike resulted in another blinded soldier, bringing extreme panic to the Vine Armor Army!
Moreover, those Vine Armor Soldiers who had been blinded were terrified. Under such fear, some rolled on the ground, crying in agony,
while others swung their swords aimlessly, or ran around screaming, causing tremendous chaos among the Vine Armor Soldiers!
Morale collapsed, and the army was in disarray. The leader, evidently lacking talent, shivered in fear as he saw Xiao Zheng and his men slaughtering in all directions, without any strategy to counter them. Thus, within moments, Xiao Zheng and Long Qie had broken through the encirclement!
Just like a sharp dagger, fiercely piercing through the obstacles ahead.
Xiao Zheng looked around.
Currently, crossing the river was obviously not feasible, entering Gourd Mouth was too dangerous, so the only option was to retreat to either side.
Before coming here, Xiao Zheng had carefully studied the map of the area and knew that above Gourd Mouth was a small valley where they could temporarily take refuge.
Xiao Zheng roared, "Follow me."
They sprinted northward along the river. Seeing this, the Vine Armor Soldiers looked at each other, all wearing expressions of fear, and dared not pursue.
Watching helplessly, Xiao Zheng and his men got farther and farther away.
"Just one man turned the tide—what kind of monster is this man?" the leader of the Vine Armor Army couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
"Alright, they’re only a few men, all injured; they shouldn’t be able to get far. We’ll retreat first and report this situation to the Sect Leader,"
the leader of the Vine Armor Soldiers ordered.
Then he led the Vine Armor Soldiers back to Gourd Valley.
Upon receiving the news of what had occurred, Hozon frowned deeply and said coldly, "Quite the Xiao Zheng! As expected of the Heavenly Net Evil God, his reputation is well-deserved."
But he soon smiled—a smile as cold as a blade’s edge, "However, no matter how powerful a person is, he could still be a tiger fallen to the plains caught by dogs!"
"Sect Leader, what should we do next?"
asked the leader of the Vine Armor Soldiers.
Hozon decisively responded, "Let’s go! There’s no time to delay; we’ll attack them now. They certainly haven’t had time to recover yet; this is the best opportunity."
At that moment, the leader of the Vine Armor Soldiers immediately reassembled three hundred of his men at Gourd Mouth and then, under Hozon’s command, they fiercely pursued Xiao Zheng, marching toward the place where he had retreated.
This time, the leader of the Vine Armor Soldiers was full of confidence. He knew that Hozon was a true master. With Hozon leading them, no matter how formidable and demonic Xiao Zheng was, he would ultimately be captured!
Xiao Zheng, along with Long Qie and others, had arrived at the small valley just half an hour later.
Upon entering, Xiao Zheng looked around at his people and couldn’t help but sigh.
Pain was evident in his eyes.
Nearly fifty members of Sky Net had come here, and now fewer than thirty remained, all of them wounded!
The mighty Sky Net, when had they ever suffered such a crushing defeat?
Xiao Zheng felt a surge of murderous intent toward Hozon, stronger than he had ever felt before!
"Mr. Xiao, I’m sorry, this time it’s all because of me..." Long Qie was filled with self-blame, especially when he thought of the brothers who had sacrificed their lives, it was as if his heart was being cut by a knife.
However, before he could finish his words, Xiao Zheng interrupted him.
Patted Long Qie on the shoulder, Xiao Zheng said, "We’ll talk about these matters later. I imagine that Hozon, cunning as a fox, will definitely attack again soon. We need to be prepared."
Upon hearing this, everyone’s expression changed.
Indeed, this was the greatest crisis they were facing now!
Without a ferry, the vast river was impassable for anyone except Xiao Zheng. Finding a place to hide, in this area, which was Hozon’s main base, could they really evade capture?
A tough battle was definitely ahead!
If they couldn’t win, they would all die.
"Mr. Xiao, you go first. We’ll hold them off here for a while. Then, you can bring the main force of Sky Net to avenge us!"
At that moment, Ten Killings said with a resolute look in his eyes.
In their hearts, Xiao Zheng was the true leader, holding a higher position even than Long Qie. They were willing to sacrifice everything to ensure Xiao Zheng’s safety!
"Heh, fleeing from battle is something I’ve never done," Xiao Zheng said with a light laugh, and seeing that the others were about to speak, he waved his hand to stop them, saying, "No need to say more. I have my own ways of dealing with what comes next. Just do as I instruct."
Xiao Zheng’s tone was calm but carried an air of indisputability.
"We will follow Mr. Xiao’s orders.
Everyone exchanged glances, resigned to obey.
Xiao Zheng nodded and said, "Good. Though you are injured, you are all brave men of Sky Net, and you should be able to withstand these wounds. Now, move quickly. We need to make some strong bows in the shortest time possible."
The men were puzzled.
What use would they be?
Even with bows and arrows, the armor of the Vine Armor Soldiers was too tough to penetrate! Moreover, they had the Zhuge Crossbow, a Divine Artifact, which was undoubtedly much more powerful than any bow they could make themselves.
"You’ll know their use when the time comes,"
Xiao Zheng said with a light smile.
Even though Hozon’s army was about to attack, he remained composed and unruffled, showing no signs of tension.
[Brothers, please reward and vote. I’m working hard in writing today!]