Chapter 763: Caught Up!

After the black-armored man had been drenched in blood, the woman seemed to cast another spell. The others quickly gathered a huge quantity of snow and buried him beneath it, and the woman began chanting again.

In the end, the snow turned to ice and sealed the black-armored man inside once more. Only this time, the red within the ice was startlingly vivid.

"Using ice as insulation? Afraid he'll spoil?"

Xue San muttered inwardly.

Precisely because the convoy had no choice but to drag such an enormous block of ice with it, its speed could never be very high. Worse, its losses had already become severe.

Once the sealing was finished, the convoy wasted no time and continued west, leaving quite a few wounded behind.

"They're fleeing. But to flee this desperately, paying this kind of price..." Xue San rolled his neck and rose from the snow. "Combined with those military crossbows from before, does that mean... someone to the west is coming to receive them?"

He could not wait any longer.

It was time to act.

...

The stars above the snowfields were exceptionally clear.

Perhaps that was why the Savages had developed such deep faith in the Stars. In this brutally cold environment, gazing upward at the night sky might be one of the few comforts most Savages could find nowhere else in their lives.

And beneath that beautiful starry sky... a dwarf was directing his men into an ambush.

Dai Li did not quite understand.

The ambush point seemed much too far away.

But these men had long since grown accustomed to Third Master's authority. No one dared question him.

Xue San gave them a special warning:

"Remember. There's an expert frozen inside the block of ice on that convoy's sled. If the ice breaks after we move and that bastard comes charging out, don't stand there trying to fight him head-on. Form up immediately and retreat. That thing is like the pills they sell in red-tent brothels. Fierce for a little while, then it goes limp. All right. Get into position. Wait for my signal."

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

Xue San once again crept forward alone.

Once night fell, the convoy had no choice but to stop.

The snow wolves could barely run anymore.

The horses were exhausted.

They had to stop and recover, or they would genuinely be reduced to dragging the sled with manpower.

And the problem was... the people were exhausted too.

Long before Xue San found them, this convoy had already traveled an enormous distance for an extended period. After that, it had endured assault after assault. The endurance of both men and animals had reached its limit.

The surviving members spread out around the perimeter to stand guard.

Those inside clustered around the sled.

There simply were not enough people left to build a proper layered defense.

And both sides knew perfectly well that another assassination attempt would inevitably come tonight.

After creeping close enough, Xue San did not dare push any farther.

He buried himself in the snow and completely restrained his presence.

He waited quietly for roughly two hours.

Then... the familiar buzzing vibration reached his ears again.

A smile appeared on Xue San's face beneath the snow.

His palm rested on the hide drum at his waist.

The messages passing around him seemed to be related to reconnaissance.

Clearly, the repeated attacks had not only caused terrible losses to the convoy.

The attacking side had suffered heavily too.

They had also lost many Guides of Stars.

Throughout this long pursuit... both sides had already bled far too much.

More importantly... the attackers were deeply wary of the existence inside the ice.

Their exchanges were simple.

Mostly observation.

Deployment.

The messages themselves were short.

Xue San frowned slightly.

What?

You brothers aren't planning to attack?

That won't do.

You might not be ready... but I am.

Xue San began beating the drum.

The signaling system was actually quite simple.

The opening rhythm indicated rank.

What followed conveyed the order or situation.

Xue San did not know what titles they used among themselves.

But during the previous attack, he had memorized the signal representing the highest-ranking person issuing orders.

Very soon... as Xue San's drumbeat spread outward... what the others heard was a fresh command:

"By order of the Grand Elder... attack!"

For a moment, the hidden attackers were stunned.

There were barely any of them here.

Tonight had been meant for observation.

Why were they suddenly attacking?

"By order of the Grand Elder... attack!"

"By order of the Grand Elder... attack!"

The command kept urging them forward.

At last, someone rose from concealment.

Saber in hand... he shouted and charged downhill.

Others followed.

The convoy was immediately alerted and prepared its defenses.

But only a dozen or so attackers came rushing down in scattered fashion.

Military crossbows fired from the convoy.

More than half dropped almost immediately.

The survivors began retreating.

An attack that looked almost like a farce... began abruptly... and ended just as abruptly.

But the chain reaction it triggered was another matter.

From the opposite side, a small mounted group suddenly charged toward the convoy.

They had clearly been drawn out by what they thought was an attack already underway.

They rushed in and loosed arrows from horseback.

Their momentum was quickly broken, forcing them to circle away.

Before long, several dozen cavalry appeared from yet another direction and charged as well.

One move set the entire board in motion.

That was exactly what happened here.

And sometimes... a miracle really did appear out of nowhere.

That second wave of cavalry met surprisingly little resistance and actually smashed straight into the convoy.

Then... they began killing.

Now things became interesting.

The attacking side, which had originally been just as confused as everyone else, saw the breach and began emerging from other hiding places as well.

In a chaotic rush... they resumed the assault.

Their efficiency was terrible.

The whole thing had begun without preparation.

Casualties were heavy.

But the convoy had made one momentary mistake... and the breach widened.

Soon both sides were locked together in bloody melee.

Xue San poked his head out of the snow again.

He put away the hide drum.

He had not expected this either.

The only explanation was that both sides had reached the very end of their strength.

And the convoy... was even weaker than he had estimated.

But at that moment... the woman once again leapt onto the block of ice resting on the sled.

The instant she landed there, the attackers' momentum visibly wilted.

Clearly... they had remembered the terror of being dominated by the black-armored man inside the ice.

Still, they were not frightened enough to collapse immediately.

At the very least... the black-armored man would need to stand up again first.

The convoy's defenders were waiting for the same thing.

For a time... everyone began fighting rather absentmindedly.

In several places, the two sides even pulled apart almost by mutual understanding.

All eyes waited for the result on the sled.

The woman seemed hesitant.

But the stalemate gave her no room to keep waiting.

At last... she drew a deep breath, pressed her palm against the ice, and began chanting again.

Crack...

Crack...

Fractures began spreading through the block.

The attackers started disengaging on a large scale.

Some were already preparing to retreat.

BANG!

The ice exploded.

Xue San remembered the last time the block shattered.

The force had been terrifying.

The woman had been hurled away directly.

This time... she stepped down calmly.

The black-armored man broke free of the ice.

Awake once more.

Saber in hand... he stood.

Scarlet light glowed in his eyes as his gaze swept across the battlefield.

At last, the attackers broke first.

They began fleeing.

The convoy still did not pursue.

Xue San remained hidden, quietly watching everything ahead.

Then... the black-armored man suddenly turned his face toward the exact place where Xue San was concealed.

His gaze landed there.

He had discovered him!

The black-armored man raised his saber.

For an assassin, Xue San suddenly had the distinct sensation of being stared down by some savage beast.

Fuck.

Careless!

The black-armored man began walking toward him.

But perhaps cursing himself in reverse really had worked.

After only a few steps, the man's saber drooped.

His body pitched forward.

And he fell face-first into the snow.

"Hoo..."

The convoy's remaining members clearly had no idea what the black-armored man had intended.

They immediately surrounded him instead, preparing to pile snow over his body and freeze him again.

Xue San released a long breath as well.

But he still waited.

Only when the woman began casting the sealing spell again, and Xue San confirmed there was no hidden trap, did he pull out his signal flare and raise it.

Whoosh!

A sharp whistle tore through the night.

At once, the well-equipped operatives of Marquis Pingxi Residence, personally trained by Xue San, began sprinting forward.

They moved in teams of three.

Every man carried bow or crossbow.

If this force were placed in the jianghu, it could wipe out an ordinary sect without difficulty.

They were killers in the truest sense.

Perhaps their personal strength was not as great as yours.

Perhaps their cultivation realm was lower.

But they knew how to kill better than you did.

And they understood cooperation.

The people who had repeatedly attacked the convoy before might have looked numerous... but in truth, they were a complete mess.

Third Master drew a deep breath.

Both hands pressed downward.

Time to go harvest heads.

As far as he was concerned... the ending was already decided.

But then... the thunder of hooves suddenly came from the outer perimeter.

Fast.

Dense.

Immediately afterward, cavalry appeared from the west.

One rough glance was enough to place their strength above a thousand.

Perhaps more.

The convoy instantly erupted in cheers.

Clearly... this was what they had been exhausting themselves and committing every military taboo to reach.

The force sent to receive them... had arrived!

Xue San's mouth fell open.

At that moment, he felt exactly like the villain in some movie.

Just when he had been utterly certain everything was in his grasp... reality rushed up and slapped him viciously across the face.

The convoy burst into cheers.

Quite a few people even began crying.

At least in their own minds... they had finally been saved.

Now Xue San found himself in an awkward position.

He could flee immediately.

He had not yet entered the main battle zone.

With the terrain helping him, there was an excellent chance he could escape alive.

But that would also mean abandoning nearly all the men he had brought with him.

Third Master could not bear to do that.

And then... from another direction... another mass of hoofbeats sounded.

This one carried a clean, orderly rhythm.

Along with it came the cold clatter and scrape of armor.

A man riding a Pixiu came to the front of the formation.

He turned toward the swordsman riding beside him and smiled.

"Aiyo. We made it."

[End of Chapter 763]