Chapter 242: Strike

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An army of the dead and the grotesque stands against him.

It is a revolting parade of rotting flesh and twisted bones. The howling of the dead could bring terror to even the stoutest of hearts, and the pungent smell would take care of the rest.

Feng Zhi just laughs.

The Young Master of the Eternal Flame Clan uses fire to propel himself to the skies and rains devastation from above. Vast swathes of land are swallowed by flames. Hundreds of dead burn by the second.

“Ugly beasts! Abominations!” Feng Zhi shouts at the top of his lungs. “If there is any sense of self left in you, walk into my flames! Burn and be purified!”

The monsters do not show any signs of having heard him. The ugly creatures converge on top of each other, their flesh and bones melding and mixing like clay. From hundreds rises a single massive creature. It walks on five legs and roars with five mouths. It has two whip-like tails, each as long as a hundred men standing side by side. Its flesh is constantly moving, swirling like the surface of turbulent water.

“Is this supposed to intimidate me?!” Feng Zhi shouts. “All you have done is make yourself a bigger target!”

Golden flames cloak Feng Zhi’s body.

“Fight. Struggle. Surrender. It matters not to me,” Feng Zhi says as he aims at the beast. “Creations like you were born to burn. This is the only solace I can give you.”

The ensuing explosion can be felt from a mile away. Many of the soldiers watching from a distance have to avert their eyes when the horizon lights up. Others fall over due to the strength of the shockwave.

“The Young Master seems to be enjoying himself,” Fan Bingbing says, using a spyglass to observe the battle. “I suppose it is not surprising. He must have been waiting for an opportunity like this.”

“Damn him!” Huang Shing grumbles while making a fist. His eyeball is as close to his spyglass as humanly possible. Worryingly so, even.

“You are not enjoying yourself,” Fan Bingbing points out. “I thought you’d welcome the violence.”

“Don’t make me sound like someone who likes violence for the sake of it,” Huang Shing says. “I’m not Brother Hong.”

Fan Bingbing stares at him.

“Don’t think it either!”

“Amazing,” Fan Bingbing says, turning her attention back to the battle. “Brother Huang has discovered the secrets of thought discernment.”

She says it so tonelessly that, for a second, Huang Shing is convinced she means it. When he realizes she doesn’t, he snorts.

“I enjoy fighting. It makes things clear because there is no need for complex thoughts in battle. It’s simple. Pure,” Huang Shing says, as the massive explosions caused by Feng Zhi’s battle with the giant creature spread across the land. “I enjoyed fighting Murong Bang’s soldiers. I don’t enjoy fighting dead monsters.”

“We are not the ones fighting,” Fan Bingbing reminds him.

“That’s even worse!” Huang Shing chews on his nail angrily as he watches Feng Zhi fight.

Going by most reports, the first few battles against General He Bin’s forces have gone well. The gap in numbers is simply too great for his army to overcome. The general cannot hope to project enough power on both borders simultaneously.

Maybe that’s why the monsters of the Death Fashioning Scripture have begun appearing in greater numbers.

During the first few battles, appearances by the creatures of the Death Fashioning Scripture were rare. They only appeared when General He Bin’s men were nearly defeated, a last resort. However, that has begun to change, and this incident is the latest example of it. The soldiers that were going to fight them never got the chance to. The whole enemy army exploded into a horde of monsters before they could engage.

Faced with those numbers, Feng Zhi took to the field while the rest fell back. There is no sense in risking the soldiers being infected when he can deal with the horde on his own.

Even so…

“That damn Feng Zhi is making merits out there!” Huang Shing says. “This’ll make General Nie Dan’s soldiers value the Eternal Flame Clan more, and it will boost Feng Zhi’s status when we return home.”

“Ho, that was surprisingly well-thought-out for you.”

It says a lot about how angry Huang Shing is that he doesn’t look away from the battle to glare at Fan Bingbing.

“He’s even propelling himself in the air despite being under the curse of the Earth,” Huang Shing notes darkly. To be able to fly while under such strain requires tremendous power. That Feng Zhi can do that and fight such a powerful foe denotes immense skill. “I thought I was getting close to bridging that gap, but that bastard has even gone up another level!”

Fan Bingbing glances at him. “I thought you lost your reason for surpassing the Young Master.”

“That is that, and this is this. I still want to punch Feng Zhi in his smug face,” Huang Shing says. He glances back at all the soldiers looking at Feng Zhi’s battle with awe. It makes him frown, but not for the reasons one would assume. “I really don’t get it, though.”

“It is unreasonable of you to want to fight the Young Master, yes.”

“Not that,” Huang Shing says. He gestures at the army, not that most of them seem to notice. “Why all this? I don’t like him, but Feng Zhi is worth more than most of the soldiers here combined, and General Nie Dan is worth like a million Feng Zhis. Why do we even need armies?”

“You are overstepping your bounds, brat,” Colonel Peng says as he approaches them. The old soldier has left the southern border for the first time in years. “There is not a single person out there who likes to be told he’s useless. You’re lucky no one is paying attention.”

Another explosion goes off in the distance, making it obvious what is commanding nearly everyone’s attention right now.

“Sorry,” Huang Shing says, bowing his head. “I was not thinking.”

“A common condition among youths, I understand,” Colonel Peng says, making Huang Shing blush in embarrassment. “Still, you ask a good question. Why bring such numbers with us if we are all functionally irrelevant next to the Three Heavenly Generals? You are not the only one who has thought that. General Nie Dan could have won all the battles we have gone through on his own. Even now, he could easily kill this creature in the blink of an eye.”

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“But he doesn’t,” Fan Bingbing says.

Colonel Peng nods.

“He doesn’t,” he says. “Even that monster Murong Bang, fierce as he is, has not left his army behind and marched right into the Storm Dragon Palace. He could, but he doesn’t. In battles of this scale, the strongest must act with caution. For the same reason, your Heaven Realm cultivator is not aiding your Young Master.”

When Colonel Peng mentions him, Huang Shing looks in Senior Brother Mud’s direction. The elder disciple is staying further back with all the high-ranking army officers.

“We do not know what surprises General He Bin has in store,” Colonel Peng continues, crossing his arms. “Similarly, he does not know the depth of our strength. This slow advance allows us to bait him into action. If he leaves the safety of the Storm Dragon Palace, the two generals will kill him immediately. If he doesn’t, we’ll have dealt with most of his forces long before fighting him. Either way, we minimize our risks. Understand?”

“We thank Colonel Peng for his wisdom,” Fan Bingbing says.

In the distance, one last explosion wipes out the monster. Feng Zhi is victorious at last.

The army renews their march.

~~~

Liu Jin has been promoted.

Before the campaign began, Murong Bang made him Three-Hundred Man Commander. Some would have been grateful for it, but Liu Jin has no interest in a military career, least of all in Murong Bang’s army.