Demon Emperor

Chapter 14 Tiger Roar
The battle began in an instant, without any warning.

Suddenly, the rolling wheat fields on the opposite bank of the river split open in countless gaps, and ghost soldiers poured out like swarms of locusts.

"shoot!"

In front of the village, behind the stone bridge.

The officers and soldiers issued orders one after another.

Two hundred bows hummed simultaneously.

Arrows shot out with a gust of wind, including many rockets, while cotton fibers drew streaks of fire in the air.

Then, flames suddenly shot up in the wheat field, illuminating hundreds of hideous ghost faces.

The Imperial Guards' expressions changed drastically, not just because they had seen a ghost.

Even more because.

The evil spirit, carrying a burning rattan shield and engulfed in flames, charged across the stone bridge.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Hahaha……"

The evil spirits came carrying flames and thick smoke.

A chilling, fearless laugh echoed in the air.

This scene had a strong visual impact.

The densely packed, masked ghost soldiers, their leather armor emitting blue smoke and their bodies ablaze with flames, charged in, defying the arrows.

The flames burned on them, but they seemed to feel nothing at all.

Arrows pierced their flesh, but as long as they didn't hit any vital organs, they charged forward as if they were immortal.

In a short while, the two sides clashed.

The ghostly soldiers, their bodies engulfed in flames, charged directly into the Imperial Guards.

The possessed vengeful spirit used itself to set others on fire, wielding its sword with utter disregard for its own injuries, until it was hacked into a pile of minced meat.

These ghost soldiers were not just one or two, but came wave after wave.

"Abandon the bridge and retreat inside the walls!"

Yuchi Chongwu was prepared. Seeing that the first line of defense could not be held, he immediately retreated to the second line of defense that had been set up.

A large number of soldiers retreated and withdrew behind shields and walls.

The second round of fighting began.

Ruan Hu entrusted the matters of marching and arranging troops to Yuchi Chongwu and did not interfere in them at all.

At this moment, Ruan Hu stood on high ground, his gaze fixed on the distant farmland.

He was looking for the person who controlled these ghost soldiers.

"That person must not be far away, otherwise he wouldn't be able to control the situation, let alone command these ghost soldiers!"

And at this moment.

Ruan Hu was searching for the other party, and the other party was also searching for Ruan Hu.

After a long and fierce battle, the sky began to lighten slightly.

Ruan Hu's powerful archery skills gave him eyes like an eagle's, and he quickly spotted something from his vantage point.

"found it."

At this moment, the other side also discovered Ruan Hu's location.

"there!"

The shaman shook the bell in his hand, and the clear sound immediately carried far away, accompanied by a certain rhythm.

Without saying a word, Ruan Hu immediately gave the order.

"Capture that sorcerer!"

"Capture them alive if you can, otherwise just behead them."

The gates of the manor opened, and the horses and cavalry that had been hidden in the threshing ground rushed out and charged directly toward the man's location.

Unexpectedly, the other side had also prepared a surprise force, which was aimed at Ruan Hu's location.

With a long howl, a group of ghostly soldiers attacked Shiqiaozhuang from the south.

These ghostly soldiers, like monkeys, climbed down from the walls and rooftops, wielding round knives favored by the mountain barbarians.

They viewed walls as ladders and stepped on roof ridges and beams as if they were on flat ground.

They quickly attacked Ruan Hu's location, and the surrounding guards were unable to withstand them.

This alarmed many officers and soldiers in the village, especially Yuchi Chongwu, who was engaged in direct combat.

"His Majesty!"

"Escort, escort!"

"Go back quickly to save the emperor!"

It seemed that the two sides were about to face off and behead each other.

Ruan Hu first drew his bow and shot an arrow, hitting a man in the face. Then he drew his bow with both hands and fired several arrows, all of which hit their targets.

One by one, the people around him fell, and a ghostly soldier rushed in front of him, leaping up and brandishing a curved blade. Ruan Hu immediately activated [Soul Calling], and he found that his throat felt different than before, and the sound he made had a strange fluctuation.

Before that, Ruan Hu had thought a lot about what he should say when activating this ability to achieve the best effect.

However, when the moment came, Ruan Hu instinctively let out a terrifying tiger roar.

"Roar!"

This was far more shocking than the braying of the donkey.

Like a whirlwind sweeping across the seven heavens, an invisible wave of energy emanated from Ruan Hu's location.

The soul-summoning spell, combined with Ruan Hu's tiger roar, seemed to have undergone some kind of qualitative change.

The vengeful ghost wielding the curved sword was instantly blasted away.

Meanwhile, the ghostly soldiers that rushed towards them fell to the ground in droves.

In full view.

In the vast area, only Ruan Hu remained standing.

This scene was truly breathtaking.

Ruan Hu slowly drew his sword from his waist, and at this moment, people from all around him continued to arrive.

At that moment, the cavalrymen in the distance rushed towards the shaman, who also saw what was happening on Ruan Hu's side.

"what?"

The shaman exclaimed in surprise, even forgetting to flee.

Seeing a large number of cavalry charging towards them, cutting down the ghost soldiers one by one, and rushing straight towards them, the shaman immediately started shaking the bell violently.

"Jingle Bell……"

A cavalryman swung his spear and struck him, causing the shaman to instantly roll on the ground, disoriented.

The cavalryman spurred his horse around and bent down to grab it again with all his might.

The shaman was then lifted onto a horse like a chick and headed towards Shiqiao Village.

The morning light is faint.

Ruan Hu looked at the Yin soldiers lying on the ground. They were all lifeless and dead; not a single one was alive.

Or rather, the moment they were possessed by the vengeful ghost last night, these people had already become living corpses.

From the very beginning, this sorcery used the deaths of these farmers as a price to summon a group of ghostly soldiers and generals who could be used as elite troops.

just.

When the sunlight shone on these ghostly soldiers, something strange happened.

The ghostly soldiers, who looked sinister and terrifying in their armor, all turned back into ordinary farmers.

He never wore any armor, and the weapons he carried were nothing more than ordinary clubs and hoes.

At this, everyone gasped in surprise.

"How could this be?"

"Illusion?"

Looking at their own fallen comrades, their bodies bore only simple wounds, or even no wounds at all, yet they were already dead.

Ruan Hu also found it bizarre: "There are no wounds on his body, how did he die?"

Yuchi Chongwu seemed to have some knowledge of the ways of ghosts and gods: "Your Majesty does not know, this is how witchcraft works. Even if it is just a trick to pretend to be a god or ghost, if the person being tricked is not strong-willed and actually believes it, then it will become real."

"It is still my fault for not training the troops well. If everyone is united and their hearts are as firm as iron, these demons and monsters will be scattered in the face of a strong army. How could they possibly pose any threat?"

Seeing this, Ruan Hu vaguely understood some of the characteristics of this witchcraft.

The swords and spears in the hands of those ghostly soldiers were clearly fake, merely a smokescreen.

But once the blade is inserted into a person's body, you believe you have been stabbed, and you are truly dead.

Ruan Hu approached the shaman who was being held down. His long-horned demon mask had been removed, revealing a dark-skinned middle-aged man.

As soon as Ruan Hu opened his mouth, his voice was like the roar of a tiger.

"Say!"

The shock made the shaman seem as if his soul and body had been separated into two.

"Who sent you?"

He felt that he could not control his body, and was so terrified that he dared not lie, and his eyes were somewhat glazed over.

He was sweating profusely and shivering as he spoke.

"I am Ma Zhui!"

"Yes Yes Yes……"

"It was Lord Ma who ordered me to come and summon the ghost soldiers to surround and kill His Majesty!"

Ruan Hu was still wondering which prince it was when the people around him suddenly changed their expressions.

"The three-eyed Horse King?"

Ruan Hu then realized that this Lord Ma was not a real prince, but a famous deity.

(End of this chapter)