Chapter 188 How Could He Be So Fierce?

"How could he be so fierce?"

It was Er Guo Tou who exclaimed. Although he wasn't in the military, he understood the strange arts. He was caught completely off guard by this scene and greatly surprised.

Seeing Di Gua Shao fleeing from the Fierce Tiger Pass without even daring to look back, he first received this sister who had just made a great contribution. Looking back, he saw the Floating Corpse Army coming out of the city.

Each soldier and horse was clad in armor from head to toe. Blood splattered beneath the horses' hooves, as if they were treading on a sea of blood. The God-Given King in the center had blood constantly flowing from the gaps in his armor.

It seemed that this blood, with him as the center, connected the entire Floating Corpse Army.

Seeing this group rushing towards the Youyou army, having trampled through a sea of blood, they reached the front. The two five-hundred-man vanguard teams guarding the flanks of the three-way allied forces were instantly swallowed up, disappearing silently as if they hadn't even let out a cry.

Er Guo Tou was also very anxious. He waved out several altar flags to try to stop the advance of this ghostly army, but to no avail. The army continued to press forward.

"What the heck…"

He was shocked by this change. He hurriedly recalled an altar flag to examine it, and saw that its precious light was gone, replaced by a thick, bloody aura.

It seemed that the magic on it had been broken.

Startled, he looked up and saw the front of the Floating Corpse Army clashing with an army also riding tall horses and wearing purple armor. The two sides immediately engaged in a fierce battle.

That was the ten thousand-strong Grain Protection Army, forged in the capital. The two sides didn't exchange words and immediately began fighting.

On both sides, drums and gongs sounded. The White Armor Army and the Iron Barrier Army charged in from the sides, surrounding the Floating Corpse Army in the dark night, engaging in a chaotic battle.

The Grain Protection Army was elite, and the White Armor Army and the Iron Barrier Army each had their own unique skills.

The White Armor Army wore paper armor. When chanting incantations, the paper armor became as strong as iron armor, but not as heavy. It was also easy to replace, giving them a nimble advantage.

The Iron Barrier Army each carried a large shield. The shields were forged using magical methods with wood from the mountains. Once planted on the ground, they would take root and be difficult to move, making them ideal for defensive battles.

Unexpectedly, the three armies, facing the Floating Corpse Army, showed signs of collapse in an instant.

The Floating Corpse Army numbered thirty thousand, but the three allied armies totaled nearly one hundred thousand. The elite troops facing them on this battlefield alone numbered over thirty thousand. In theory, the numbers weren't bad, and the two sides should have been evenly matched.

But the Floating Corpse Army's bloody aura was overwhelming. Facing the bloody aura, the paper armor of the White Armor Army was instantly reverted to its original form, unable to block swords and spears. It was like fighting naked.

The Iron Barrier Army's large shields were also ineffective. Facing the bloody blades of the Floating Corpse Army, they cracked like rotten wood.

If it weren't for the ten thousand elite Grain Protection Army blocking the Floating Corpse Army head-on and slowing their momentum, it seemed that the main force of the three-way allied forces would have been scattered like fallen leaves.

Seeing the Grain Protection Army and the Floating Corpses fighting in the night, bodies falling under the blades and spears, trampled into meat paste, Er Guo Tou's eyes widened, his heart filled with heartache.

He knew how the Grain Protection Army's elite troops were trained, and he had connections among them.

Each death of a Grain Protection Army soldier was a loss that couldn't be easily replaced. How could he not feel pain?

Looking closer, his eyes suddenly widened, and he couldn't help but curse: "Damn it, this…"

He was originally heartbroken by the casualties of the Grain Protection Army, but with this one glance, he saw an even stranger scene. A Grain Protection Army soldier and a Floating Corpse Army soldier simultaneously pierced each other's bodies with their spears, falling from their tall horses.

The Grain Protection Army soldier fell to the ground, unable to support himself. But one of the Floating Corpse Army soldiers, after falling to the ground, had the blood on the ground continuously seeping into his armor.

Before long, he actually got up again as if nothing had happened. Even his mount stood up and charged forward with the other soldiers, stubbornly fighting against the Grain Protection Army.

"Undead?"

This left him speechless, and his scalp tingled slightly: "Then how do we fight?"

The Grain Protection Army itself was already an elite force built with gold. Even exchanging one for one with the enemy was painful enough, but unexpectedly, the enemy could be resurrected after death. This was even more unbearable.

"Blood Floating Corpses, extremely ferocious and vile, extremely evil and poisonous, breaking all laws, defiling all treasures."

At this moment, Hu Ma's voice sounded beside him: "This army was created with water from the Blood Stained Pool in the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs." (Eight Views of the Yellow Springs - a hellish place).

"Blood Stained Pool?"

Er Guo Tou also felt horrified: "Isn't that something from the underworld?"

"This is the path the Li family has set for us."

Hu Ma also looked down at the battlefield. In the distance, he saw that only the Grain Protection Army and a few Shou Sui (New Year's Eve) officers could hold their ground. The generals were also anxiously running around, while the military advisor Tie Zui Zi (Iron Mouth) stepped forward.

While shouting for the Grain Protection Army to slowly retreat, he began casting spells. Suddenly, the ground rumbled, and an iron coffin burst out of the ground. A ferocious creature jumped out of it.

It was General Yin.

Hu Ma had realized that the Floating Corpse Army was probably more evil than he had thought after talking to the old woman of the Li family, so he first went to see him and temporarily lent General Yin to the Grain Protection Army to deal with the situation. Then, he returned here to see Er Guo Tou.

General Yin appeared, and a rolling yin wind swept across the ground. Tens of thousands of yin soldiers, clad in armor and holding spears, charged towards the Blood Floating Corpses, helping the Grain Protection Army to stop their decline.

He then exhaled a mouthful of stagnant air and said, "No one knows what the Li family did to the Blood Stained Pool, or how they brought this thing to the human world."

"But don't mention these soldiers, even if we accidentally encounter this thing, we will suffer a great loss!"

"Brother, you often travel to the underworld. Do you know anything about this one of the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs?"

The old woman of the Li family seemed easy to talk to and guaranteed the outcome of this bet, but she didn't reveal a single key point.

How to break this Floating Corpse Army, how to deal with the Blood Stained Pool on the Floating Corpse Army, all needed to be figured out by the side trying to break the spell.

"I don't know."

Er Guo Tou saw that the Grain Protection Army had reinforcements and was slightly relieved. Hearing this, he shook his head and said, "We rarely go so deep into the underworld. Entering the City of the Wrongfully Dead with you before was the deepest I've ever been. At most, I only circle around Ghost Gate Pass."

"Although crossing the bridge leads to transcendence, the methods are different, and the things we come into contact with are also different. Reincarnators will get closer and closer to the Tai Sui (Grand Commander Jupiter), while the Ghost Walker's bridge leads to the Youyou Nether Palace. The Meng family is close to their ancestors…"

"Only the Punishment Soul lineage, or rather only the people of the Li family, will get closer and closer to this Blood Stained Pool and know its wonders."

"Moreover, they not only get close, but they also block others, afraid that others will see, afraid that others will know. Of course, all ten surnames are like this…"

"…except for the Hu family!"

"…"

"This is probably the confidence of the ten surnames."

Hu Ma sighed softly: "The Li family's chances of winning this bet lie in their understanding of the Blood Stained Pool far exceeding anyone else. This is their trump card."

"But first, we must resolve the crisis of this three-army alliance. As for the others, we'll talk about it when the people we're waiting for arrive!"

As he spoke, he didn't shift his attention. He saw that with the help of General Yin, the Grain Protection Army was clearly much lighter, but the Blood Floating Corpses were also fighting more and more bravely, still fighting back and forth.

The Blood Floating Corpses could defile all spells and had a body full of ferocity. It was already a comfort that General Yin could play a role.

The only pity was that his own killing was too light. General Yin only had less than sixty thousand yin soldiers, far from a million, and far from being invincible.

The correct way to use General Yin was to ignore yin and yang. When the yin soldiers passed through, living people within a hundred miles, or even a thousand miles, would have to follow General Yin in their dreams, killing enemies to win. Of course, what happened to them after the war didn't matter.

Hu Ma had never used this method to this day, only collecting a little here and a little there, barely using it.

To some extent, the path Hu Ma had chosen, the principles he believed in, had destined him to be unable to use yin weapons and evil objects like General Yin well.

"I… I'll do it…"

Just as he was thinking, the old abacus ran out panting, carrying a chicken cage on his shoulder. He was so tired that he almost collapsed. He put down the chicken cage, grabbed a big rooster from inside.

Then, he kowtowed to the rooster: "Grandpa, I'm counting on you…"

The rooster was stolen from the Grain Protection Army's logistics camp. It had been locked up for two days and was already蔫 (withered). It stared blankly, without reacting.

The old abacus didn't hesitate and kowtowed twice more. The rooster seemed to sense something. It looked up at the dark sky, suddenly straightened its chest, and let out an extremely loud cry from its neck.

The rooster's crowing actually suppressed the dark yin wind in the night, and the sky and earth seemed to clear up slightly.

However, there was still a line of blood on the eastern horizon, pressing against the edge of the sky, and the sun was not visible. The yin wind that had just dispersed seemed to be gathering again.

Hu Ma understood what the old abacus was doing. Seeing that the rooster had begun to crow for the second time, he gathered his soul light and revealed his three heads and six arms. One head clicked and turned, looking to the east. He held the Zhen Sui (Suppressing Evil) Golden Mace and smashed it down fiercely.

Bang!

It was as if he had broken an egg.

The edge of the sky in the east, which was suppressed by the line of blood, suddenly burst open. A yolk-like sun emerged, and the dark night had thinned a lot.

"General, it's dawn!"

At the same time, in that battlefield, the Blood Floating Corpses were overwhelming the three armies, already killing until blood flowed like a river. But at this moment, they heard the rooster's crowing, and facing the dawn, the Blood Floating Corpses' offensive slowed down. They slowly retracted their momentum and retreated back to the Fierce Tiger Pass.

On the opposite side, General Yin also sensed the sudden rise of yang energy between heaven and earth. He jumped back into the coffin, and the coffin lid sealed itself. Hu Ma also raised his hand and took back the General's Token from the military advisor Tie Zui Zi. The Grain Protection Army had also suffered many casualties and didn't dare to pursue, but quickly reorganized and treated the wounded.

"How did you know this method?"

Hu Ma looked at the old abacus and saw that the old abacus had just climbed up from the ground, patted the dirt on his knees, and pointed: "This time it wasn't me, it was her."

Hu Ma was surprised and saw that the old abacus was pointing at Wu He.

"Brother Hu, the Li family's Blood Floating Corpses only fight at night, because at night, they can invite the Blood Stained Pool water to bless them. They are extremely ferocious and poisonous, destroying people's lives and blessings."

"Whether they deserve to die or not, encountering them is equally difficult to survive."

Wu He had been staying since helping the Divine Hand Zhao family deliver the letter. At this moment, she was holding a basin with a towel on it. Seeing that Hu Ma was finished, she came forward and handed him the towel dipped in water:

"But once it dawns, the blood on their bodies will recede, and they will no longer be protected by the Blood Stained Pool."

Hu Ma knew that the Divine Hand Zhao family wanted to use her to send him a message. Hearing this, he frowned slightly: "In the daytime, does this Floating Corpse Army become ordinary people?"

"No."

Wu He shook her head, her voice slightly lowered: "The Zhao family's young master said that he can't reveal the Li family's secrets, but you'll know as soon as you see it."

"See?"

Hu Ma felt a little surprised and kept the thought in his mind. After waiting for a while, he saw a non-beef-eating disciple carrying a wooden frame to his side. Seeing the armor on the person, he was a member of the Floating Corpse Army.

The Grain Protection Army had the help of the non-beef-eating talents. Although they couldn't resist the Blood Floating Corpses, as long as they had the idea, it wouldn't be difficult to secretly capture one or two of them on the side of the battlefield. This was what Hu Ma had ordered them when he sent the General's Token.

Letting them put the person down, Hu Ma reached out and tore open the Floating Corpse soldier's iron armor. He glanced at it, and his expression changed slightly.

He had asked the non-beef-eaters to capture a Floating Corpse soldier alive to see what the Blood Floating Corpses soaked in the Blood Stained Pool were all about. Naturally, he wanted to capture a living person, but unexpectedly, this iron armor…

But after taking another look, Hu Ma suddenly realized that it wasn't that the non-beef-eating disciple hadn't done his job well.

The person under the iron armor had pale skin, dull eyes, and even a bit of a rotten smell. On his arms, chest, and other places, several traces of thread stitching could even be seen.

The stitches were large, like the stitches used to sew wounds on cattle and horses.

This was not only a dead person, but it should also be someone who had been dead for a long time.

He suddenly understood Zhao Sanyi's reminder and turned to Wu He: "What else did he tell you to tell me?"

"That's all!"

Wu He was afraid of missing a word, thought carefully, and said, "Just to remind you that at night, no one is a match for the Blood Floating Corpses."

Hearing this, Hu Ma understood, his eyes deep. He looked at Fierce Tiger Pass and said in a low voice, "So, the Grain Protection Army last night was actually fighting a group of dead people?"

Er Guo Tou was slightly shocked in his heart: "What do you mean?"

Hu Ma lowered his head and glanced at the Floating Corpse soldier wearing black armor at his feet, and said in a low voice: "It's not that the Floating Corpse Army is immortal, but because, the other soldiers of the Floating Corpse Army, except for the God-Given King, are probably already dead, only their souls are sealed inside their bodies."

"Because they are dead, they are not afraid of being injured, and because they are dead, they cannot see the sun."

"To break this Fierce Tiger Pass, we can only strike during the day."

He suddenly became thoughtful and said in a low voice, "Fierce Tiger Pass was originally the God-Given King's one hundred thousand troops and countless laborers, but last night, they were either scared away or entangled by Di Gua Shao's Fierce Tiger Knocks on the Gate, turning it into an empty pass."

Er Guo Tou was immediately excited when he heard this: "If that's the case, if we immediately reorganize our troops and attack directly, will it count as winning this battle?"

Hu Ma nodded slowly and said, "Fighting with magic, the one with high magic wins, and the one who speculates can also count as winning."

"No matter what method, as long as we can kill the God-Given King and destroy this Floating Corpse Army, the Impermanence Li family will bow their heads to us from now on and follow our orders."

Er Guo Tou was immediately anxious when he heard this: "Zhao, then what are we waiting for?"

Hu Ma didn't stop them from sending messages to the Grain Protection Army, but frowned, realizing that it probably wouldn't be so simple.

Sure enough, the three-way allied forces heard the message from the Little Ghost Messenger and knew that Fierce Tiger Pass looked fierce, but in reality, the pass was empty. Moreover, the nightmarish Floating Corpse Army would be like killing chickens in the daytime, so they immediately reorganized their troops and prepared to attack the pass.

But unexpectedly, just as they were reorganizing their troops, they saw banners gathering from behind Fierce Tiger Pass. The empty city walls were also filled with soldiers in the morning.

Moreover, various strange people and strangers wearing brocade robes appeared on the pass, observing the movements of the various armies outside from afar.

"The talents of the Punishment Soul lineage have arrived."

Hu Ma sighed softly, not only looking at the soldiers and horses on Fierce Tiger Pass, but also the non-beef-eating disciples who were investigating and relaying intelligence, knowing the movements of this Qu Prefecture like the back of his hand.

"The Impermanence Li gave a promise, but they also placed their hopes on this fighting technique, so how could they not know the weaknesses of the Floating Corpse Army?"

"Private soldiers, magical talents, I'm afraid that twenty years of accumulation has been mobilized."

"It's just that, these various hall officials attached to the Li family, and the wandering gods of the city gods are fine, but how is it that the various families, private armies, and even Jianghu (Martial World) vagrants in this Qu Prefecture have also rushed to this Fierce Tiger Pass with a single order?"

"…"

A sense of absurdity and astonishment arose in his heart. This God-Given King was fierce and cruel, and his reputation should have been very bad, but on the contrary, in this vast Qu Prefecture, he seemed to have a sense of responding to every call.

Did the Li family help him do all this?

Hu Ma didn't quite believe it, but looking at the movement on Fierce Tiger Pass, he understood in his heart that the Grain Protection Army, Iron Barrier Army, and White Armor Army's three-army alliance was indeed impressive, but it would be extremely difficult to take Fierce Tiger Pass during the day.

And if it was night, and the Blood Floating Corpses came again, how could the three-way allied forces resist for an entire night?

On the side of the three-way allied forces, seeing that they had rested for a while, they were about to take advantage of the daytime to attack the city, but unexpectedly, the enemy's reinforcements came so quickly, almost like ghosts and gods. In the morning, they looked even stronger and more powerful than before.

Several vanguard officers tested the waters and immediately saw the various talents in Fierce Tiger Pass.

After a series of encounters, apart from Zhao Zhu's pottery jar army, which took a small advantage when fighting with others, the others couldn't gain the upper hand in fighting techniques at all.

As time passed, and it was about to be dusk again, an invisible pressure climbed onto the heads of the various generals of the three-way allied forces again.

"I didn't expect the Li family to take action so early."

Just as everyone was anxiously watching the sun sliding uncontrollably to the west, a woman dressed as a farmer, with a red silk scarf wrapped around her head, led several companions to this place.

It was Miss Red Wine: "But fortunately, Tie Guan Yin (Iron Guanyin) pointed us in the direction in the Old Yin Mountain. We haven't been idle these days, and we can finally help."

Seeing her coming, Hu Ma breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Senior Tie Guan Yin, did you expect this?"

"She didn't know who she would meet, but when we met, she reminded us that crossing the bridge is a good thing, but after crossing the bridge, it's better to focus on the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs instead of just staring at the Tai Sui."

Miss Red Wine had long agreed to meet Hu Ma in Qu Prefecture, but the battle was set in Fierce Tiger Pass in the middle, so it was delayed by a day or two. Now that they finally met, each felt a little happy in their hearts.

However, she and Hu Ma were very familiar, so there was no need to be polite.

After just saying hello, she had already entered the state and glanced at the direction of Fierce Tiger Pass, then made half a step to the side, towards a man in a black robe behind her, and said: "How is it?"

Hu Ma had also seen the man, he was the An Prefecture reincarnator, code-named Shao Dao Zi (Burning Blade).

He first glanced at the corpse of the Floating Corpse soldier on the ground, then narrowed his eyes and looked at Fierce Tiger Pass, sniffing his nose, and smiled, "It's an acquaintance."

"I saw that so-called God-Given King when I was chosen by the Impermanence Li family and borrowed me to help them kill people in my dream."

"We are all in the same profession, since he can carry it, then of course I can too."

"…"

Hu Ma, Er Guo Tou, and others, hearing these words, all knew that Miss Red Wine had long had an idea in mind, and were overjoyed. They hurriedly invited her to sit down, and brought the tea that Wu He had burned in the mountains to her.

"Attacking Fierce Tiger Pass during the day is a stupid method. I don't know how much energy we will have to waste with the Li family's troops, so let's go straight to Huanglong (the capital)."

Miss Red Wine drank the tea and then slowly opened her mouth: "After all, that's not a person, but an object soaked in the Blood Stained Pool. If he loses his power, he is nothing."

"And if you want to seize this power, you must find an executioner who has been invited to kill for the Blood Stained Pool before. It's a coincidence, our brother Shao Dao Zi has worked in the Blood Stained Pool before."

"So…"

She smiled and turned to look at Hu Ma: "Brother Lao Bai Gan (Old White Liquor), are you interested in going to the underworld together to see what's at the end of the bridge?"

Hearing her deliberately emphasizing the three words "Lao Bai Gan", Hu Ma's heart settled slightly and smiled: "Okay!"

The old abacus on the side heard this, but was both surprised and happy. What he was happy about was that there was a clue, and what he was surprised about was the situation. He looked to the west and saw that the sky was dark. He panicked and said: "If you all go down, then what about the things here?"

"Let them deal with it."

Miss Red Wine heard this, but just smiled, her eyes deep, falling on Hu Ma's face, and said: "Did you really think that only a few of us came?"

(End of chapter)