Chapter 48: The Drunken Fox Attack

"Damn it!"

Seeing the Drunken Fox soldiers charging down the sandy slope, Dai Longmei knew immediately that the Gold-Digger scouts guarding the flanks had been broken through by the Drunken Fox army.

"Have these fox-eared bastards infiltrated all the way to this territory?"

Long Zhu drew his bow and nocked an arrow, the ethereal qi condensing into a glowing shaft that shot straight toward the charging Drunken Fox soldiers. The arrow instantly pierced the skull of the leading fox soldier, the burning ethereal flame scorching its flesh and blood. However, those Drunken Fox soldiers simply stepped over the sacred fire and continued to charge forward.

"It's not that they wanted to come to this territory," Dai Longmei motioned for Dai Yousheng to divide his hundred-odd retainers into three groups, forming a gander-wing formation on horseback. "I'm afraid their pointy-eared masters sent them here!"

"Gold-Digger brothers, your armor is too light. Fall back to the sand dunes in the rear and help us hold off the outflanking fox soldiers!"

"Liaodong brothers, follow me back and let those fox soldiers enter the killing ground!"

The jade sword flew into Dai Longmei's hand with a whistle. He gently patted the neck of his beloved steed, Zhuifeng. Zhuifeng let out a crisp, spirited neigh as Dai Yousheng and Long Zhu swiftly led the retainers, arrayed in the gander-wing formation, back by a hundred meters. Meanwhile, the Gold-Diggers retreated to the sand dunes behind the retainers to deal with the enemy flanking from the rear.

"Miss Fox, you..."

Dai Longmei turned around, but Fox Girl was nowhere to be seen.

"General Mei~"

That nimble fox had already leaped down from her horse and scurried to the rear lines. "I'm no good at fighting, so I'll leave this to you guys~ Heehee~"

"Heehee your ass, heehee," Lily muttered under her breath.

"Never mind her, Lily."

"We need to deal with these southern barbarians right in front of us."

Hundreds of fox soldiers came roaring down the sandy slope. Unlike the ordinary fox soldiers wearing rattan armor, these Drunken Fox soldiers wore the finest half-body rhinoceros-hide armor of the Drunken Fox tribe. The bronze axes and bows in their hands were gorgeously decorated, clearly marking them as the most elite troops of the Drunken Fox army.

"Kill the jade dogs! Seize the foxes!"

"Those guys riding deer are nothing to be afraid of!"

"Kill them all!"

Yes, you heard that right. The Drunken Fox soldiers called the Tianyu warhorses, which they had never seen south of the snow wastes, "deer." No wonder this group didn't take advantage of the terrain to shoot arrows down from the sandy slope, but instead brandished their bronze axes and rushed straight onto the flat road.

This foolish move delighted Dai Longmei. Watching these Drunken Fox soldiers charge so easily into the slaughterhouse he had prepared, he could hardly keep from grinning.

"Brothers, prepare to clear the field!"

"Understood!"

The hundred-odd retainers let out a resounding battle cry, their warhorses bursting into neighs as they charged directly toward the Drunken Fox soldiers.

"Lily, hold on tight!"

"If I fall off..."

"You'll save me too, right?"

Lily's jade-colored eyes once again entered Dai Longmei's field of vision. A warm sense of reassurance suddenly surged into his heart.

"If you are in danger, I will definitely save you." Dai Longmei's lips curled into a smile. "But Lily, aren't you quite strong~"

"After all, we are the peerless twin blades of ethereal qi, haha!"

Seeing Dai Longmei's smile, Lily couldn't help but laugh out loud as well.

"Let's go!"

"Charge!"

Dai Longmei shouted, taking the lead like a jade-colored comet, crashing directly into the scattered formation of the Drunken Fox soldiers.

Just as Dai Longmei had anticipated, the hundred-odd cavalrymen were like hunting eagles, immediately tearing the Drunken Fox soldiers—who had just rushed onto the flat ground with their formation still in disarray—into complete chaos.

The retainers drew their bows and fired on the move, their armor-piercing arrowheads striking like awls to shatter the leg bones of the Drunken Fox soldiers, precisely stripping these fierce foes of their combat capability in an instant. The thundering Liaodong warhorses neighed as they trampled the scattered fox soldiers underfoot. The previously orderly Drunken Fox battle line was swiftly fractured by the charging retainer cavalry.

"Kill!"

Dai Longmei brandished his jade sword, slashing wildly. The ethereal-infused blade cut through the air like a dragon soaring through clouds, driving deep into the flesh and bone of the Drunken Fox soldiers. Flesh and blood flew through the air, accompanied by the slow-burning ethereal flames.

Beneath him, Zhuifeng snorted heavily, its hooves acting like heavy mallets, trampling any Drunken Fox marauder that dared to block its path.

"Kill!"

Fresh blood splattered across Dai Longmei's angular, weather-beaten face. Within his jade-colored eyes, there was only the blade in his hand and the enemy he sought to cut down. The wind whistled past his ears, and the speed at which he wielded his sword grew increasingly fierce. More and more fox soldiers fell beneath his blade.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

Lily could clearly feel the ethereal qi surging around his body. If his killing intent hadn't been focused entirely on the fox soldiers, she feared even her own fur would have caught fire. She was no warrior, and this was only her second time experiencing a battle. Yet this heroic warrior shouting as he slew his enemies evoked a unique sensation deep within her heart. She felt joy for this shining jewel on the battlefield, yet a trace of sorrow for the blood staining it.

Complex emotions welled up in Lily's heart, but she knew very well:

"I have to help him!"

An ethereal qi projectile flew out like a swift arrow, striking a fox soldier who was attempting to shoot an arrow at the two of them.

"A ghost! It's the power of ghosts and gods!"

Watching the Drunken Fox soldier drop his bow and flee in panic, Lily happily wagged her tail.

"Watch out!"

"Die!"

A Drunken Fox soldier wielding a massive bronze axe leaped out from the side, his tall body vaulting into the air. He raised his bronze axe high, bringing it down toward Lily's head.

"Zhuifeng, forward!"

"Hold on tight!"

Dai Longmei swung his sword to the side, the solid body of the jade sword directly blocking the Drunken Fox soldier's ferocious strike. However, the momentum of the leaping Drunken Fox soldier slammed Dai Longmei right off his horse.

"Ugh!"

Lily was knocked off Dai Longmei's back, tumbling into the sandy ground.

"Lily!"

"Catch that fox, quickly!"

"That jade soldier is off his deer! Surround him!"

A gang of Drunken Fox soldiers swarmed in, brandishing their bronze axes.

"You bastards! Want to catch your grandpa?"

Dai Longmei drew power from his dantian. The ethereal qi clinging to his jade sword steamed outward like an angry dragon exhaling jade-colored flames.

"You're still far from ready!"

"Attack!"

The fox soldiers rushed forward, waving their bronze axes.

"Hah!"

Dai Longmei raised his sword and brought it down, a clean slash felling one fox soldier right in front of him. With another swift kick, he sent a shrieking fox soldier tumbling backward. The bronze axes in the enemies' hands slashed and chopped repeatedly, yet they could not harm Dai Longmei in the least. That solid jade sword acted like an iron shield, deflecting the fox soldiers' strikes time and time again.

The clanging sound of clashing weapons was relentless, interspersed with the shrieks of fox soldiers falling to their deaths. Dai Longmei charged left and right, spinning like a high-speed bloody top, harvesting any fox soldier that stood in his way.

"Lily!"

He rushed swiftly to Lily's side just as the sharp sound of an ethereal projectile bursting rang out. The very last fox soldier fell with a scream, and a sky-blue ethereal flame slowly began to scorch the corpse.

"Didn't you say it yourself!"

Lily leaped onto Dai Longmei's shoulder, twitching her fluffy fox tail.

"We are the peerless twin blades!"

"How could these fox thieves possibly do anything to us?"

"Hmph!"

"Hum!"

The sound of a bronze axe tearing through the air rang in Dai Longmei's ears. He spun around rapidly, his hand supporting the flat of the blade as he blocked this thunderous strike.

"Brat! Hand over that fox!"

The ethereal-qi-infused jade sword and the bronze axe collided, producing a ringing sound of steel against steel. However, unlike their encounter in Jinchuan, the ethereal flames now burning on the jade sword could no longer scorch the enemy's weapon, proving that the ethereal qi of the Jade Realm was still waning.

Yet Dai Longmei had no time to ponder this. He quickly let out a sharp whistle.

"What are you whistling for? Jade..."

"Crack!"

Before the Drunken Fox soldier could react, a horse's hoof slammed down onto his body like a heavy mallet. Accompanied by the snapping of his spine, the Drunken Fox soldier collapsed limply onto the ground.

"Zhuifeng! Haha!"

The little steed proudly widened its bell-like eyes and snorted heavily. Lily laughed out loud at Zhuifeng's endearingly heroic demeanor.

"Good boy! Let's go!"

Dai Longmei vaulted back onto his horse, continuing his charge toward the right flank of the Drunken Fox army.

By this time, the tide of the battle had essentially turned. Dai Yousheng and Long Zhu led their retainers in a furious charge. Under the devastating assault of the retainer cavalry's close-range arrow volleys and devastating horse charges, the five hundred Drunken Fox vanguard soldiers quickly crumbled.

These elite Drunken Fox troops, who had lived their entire lives in the tropical lands south of the snow wastes, were witnessing the terrifying might of the "deer-riders" for the first time. They had no choice but to throw away their armor and helmets, scrambling over the sand dunes to flee the battlefield.

"Do not pursue!"

Dai Yousheng pulled a sixty-pound horn bow to its limit, shooting an arrow straight through the chest of a fox soldier a hundred meters away who was trying to blow a horn for reinforcements.

"Don't let our horses go up that slope!"

"If they want to come, draw them down to the flat ground and fight them there!"

"Son of a bitch!"

Long Zhu cleaved a fleeing fox soldier in two with a single sword stroke, then rode his horse over the military banner dropped by the Drunken Fox soldiers, trampling it into the dirt.

"These star-people send trash like this to fight us?"

"Who do they think they're looking down on?"

All around the battlefield, the thick rhinoceros-hide armor of the retainers was stained red with blood. Next to the iron-shod hooves of the warhorses lay the bodies of fox soldiers who had been hacked, shot, and trampled to death.

"Brother Yousheng, this isn't enough to fight. There are only a few hundred of them."

An older retainer rode forward, his waist already weighed down by a dozen pairs of severed fox fur ears.

"Saner Six, you crafty bastard~ Knowing that heads would rot on the way back, you switched to cutting off ears for military merits instead."

Dai Yousheng laughed heartily. "Remember to rub some salt on them when we get back, or they'll stink."

Dai Yousheng spat toward a headless fox corpse nearby. "Longyou is already in grave danger. Once we return from the Western Wastelands, there'll still be plenty of fighting left to do. These ears are going to have to keep for a while."

Saner Six scratched his head and tucked the furry ears further into his belt.

"Everyone learn from Uncle Liu, don't cut off heads, cut off ears—much easier to carry."

Dai Longmei rode back to join Dai Yousheng and the others. "How is Miss Lily? Is she alright?"

Looking at Lily, who was also covered in blood, Dai Yousheng asked with concern.

"I'm fine! After all, we are..."

"Ahem, ahem!"

Dai Longmei quickly coughed twice. "Don't say that in front of everyone..."

"Oh, oh..."

Just as Dai Yousheng was wondering what the two of them were whispering about, a piercing signal arrow shrieked from the rear lines.

"Not good! These fox soldiers have reinforcements!"

"What are you waiting for~ Hurry to the rear sand dunes and reinforce the Gold-Digger brothers!"

Just as the retainers were preparing to move, a Gold-Digger rode toward them at a gallop.

"Deputy Commander Dai, everyone!"

"Our president has rushed over to rendezvous with you!"