HCB Chapter 1392 Where did all these barbarians come from?
Chapter 1392 Where did all these barbarians come from?
The night was as dark as ink, and the wind on the grassland carried a biting chill, cutting like a knife against one's face.
Lin Zhen reined in his horse, and the five hundred daredevils behind him also stopped. The warhorses pawed restlessly and snorted hot breaths.
All eyes were drawn to the horizon, where an endless expanse of fire was rapidly spreading, like a red-hot iron, threatening to burn a hole in the dark grassland.
Those were the pursuers of the Northern Desert King. The torches lit by 30,000 iron cavalry formed an angry fire dragon, sweeping towards them with a frenzied attitude that disregarded any cost.
“Your Highness…” A captain responsible for covering the rear spurred his horse to Lin Zhen’s side. His voice trembled in the night wind, not because of the cold, but because of the most primal fear rising from the bottom of his heart.
"There are too many enemies, a dark mass, you can't see the end of them!"
The five hundred daredevils behind him, though silent, also displayed tension and unease on their faces, which flickered in the firelight.
They were the elite, the most fearless warriors of the Great Qian Dynasty. But being elite doesn't mean being inhuman. Facing an enemy sixty times their size, facing a steel torrent that pressed down like a natural disaster, it would be a lie to say they weren't afraid.
Lin Zhen showed no sign of tension as he calmly watched the approaching fire dragon, a hint of cruelty in his deep eyes.
He raised his whip and pointed it into the distance to a narrow valley that looked particularly eerie in the night.
The valley is flanked by steep cliffs, with only a narrow, rugged path in the middle, barely wide enough for three or five riders to walk side by side, like the gaping maw of a giant beast ready to devour its prey.
"Pass on my orders." Lin Zhen's voice was exceptionally clear and frantic in the silent night. "All troops, turn around. Target: Yama Gorge."
When Lin Zhen gave this order, everyone present, including the captain, was dumbfounded.
Yama's Gorge?
That place was a notorious death trap for soldiers who spent years on the frontier; going in was tantamount to courting death!
"Your Highness, you mustn't!" The school commander suddenly jumped off his horse. "Yanwang Gorge is narrow and easy to enter but difficult to exit. Once we go in, we will be completely trapped inside by the enemy!"
"Your Highness, please reconsider!"
"Your Highness, please reconsider!"
The five hundred daredevils behind him also knelt down in unison.
They are not afraid of death.
But they didn't want to die a pathetic death in a desolate place.
Lin Zhen looked at his loyal subordinates kneeling before him.
"I know what you're thinking," he said calmly. "You think I'm leading you to your deaths."
The captain lowered his head, not daring to speak, but his tightly clenched fists betrayed his inner thoughts.
Lin Zhen smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"Raise your head and look at me."
Upon hearing this, the captain raised his head with difficulty.
He met Lin Zhen's eyes, which seemed to see right through his soul.
"I ask you, are you afraid of death?"
"I'm not afraid!" the captain answered loudly without hesitation.
"Very good." Lin Zhen nodded in satisfaction. "Then, would you like to take several thousand, or even tens of thousands of barbarians from the northern desert with you before you die?"
"Yes!" This time, the answer came not only from the captain, but also from the five hundred daredevils behind him, who roared in unison!
The wavering caused by fear in their eyes was replaced by a frenzied fighting spirit at this moment!
Yes.
It's all death anyway.
Being able to drag tens of thousands of barbarians from the northern deserts down with them—this deal is undeniably worthwhile!
"That's good." Lin Zhen looked at the group of soldiers in front of him, whose fighting spirit had been rekindled by his few words, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
He turned around and remounted the magnificent white steed.
Then, he gave an order to everyone.
"Listen up, all of you, we're not here to escape for our lives today."
Lin Zhen's voice echoed endlessly in the night wind.
"It's to choose the best burial site for those 30,000 iron cavalry from the northern desert!"
Having said that, he spurred his horse and charged ahead towards the Yama Gorge, which in the night resembled the jaws of a giant beast.
"kill!!"
The five hundred men behind him, whose bloodlust had been completely ignited by his words, also let out a deafening roar.
Following closely behind him, they rushed headlong into that road of no return without hesitation.
……
"General! Look!"
It is less than ten miles away from Yanwang Gorge.
Under the command of the Northern Desert King, the highest-ranking commander in charge of this pursuit operation, a one-eyed general named Bo'erchu, was riding a magnificent black warhorse.
One of his lieutenants suddenly pointed to the distant flames that were frantically fleeing towards the Yama Gorge and shouted excitedly.
"Those rats of the Great Qian Dynasty seem to have been driven to desperation by us, and they're actually trying to crawl into the Gorge of Hell!"
"Yanwang Gorge?" Upon hearing this, Bo'ershu was taken aback at first, then a violent smile appeared on his face.
He raised his hand, signaling the 30,000 cavalry behind him to slow down.
"Pass down the order, tell the brothers not to rush." His voice was like that of a hungry wolf about to pounce on its prey. "Once they're all inside, we'll seal the entrance to the canyon shut."
"Then, this general will make them truly understand what it means to have nowhere to go but nowhere to hide!"
"Hahahaha!"
His words drew a burst of unrestrained laughter from all the generals of the northern desert.
In their view, the game of chasing was over.
What awaits those people of the Great Qian Dynasty is the bloodiest massacre.
Yanwang Gorge truly lives up to its name.
The canyon is flanked by sheer cliffs hundreds of feet high, like two sharp swords piercing the sky. At its narrowest point, it can only accommodate three horses abreast. The cliffs are covered with jagged rocks, barren of any vegetation, and perpetually shrouded in a chilling wind. Even the midday sun cannot penetrate the bone-chilling cold.
Local herders say that this place is the abode of evil spirits on the grassland, and once a living person enters, they will never come out again.
Lin Zhen led five hundred cavalrymen and plunged headlong into this land of death.
The horses' hooves clattered on the rough, gravelly road, the sound echoing clearly and eerily in the empty canyon.
"Your Highness, are we...are we really going to keep going in?" Zhang Meng, the captain following behind Lin Zhen, felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the cliffs on both sides getting closer and closer, as if they would close in at any moment and crush them into mincemeat.