Chapter 323 Crushing Defeat

Chapter 323: Rout

Cheng Ge's pupils abruptly constricted, his heartbeat nearly stopping in that instant, every cell in his body screaming in frenzy.

He watched the arrow close in on Cui Ji's back.

Pure bodily instinct drove him to snatch up the Kaiyuan Bow at his side, his other hand simultaneously plucking a white-feathered arrow.

Nocking the arrow and drawing the bow, the entire motion was so fast it tore through the air, his wrist straining to the breaking point.

The Kaiyuan Bow's string was drawn nearly to a full circle, as if it might snap at any moment.

His gaze pierced through the smoke of battle, locking onto that streaking black line of death.

Everything around him seemed to vanish—only that arrow existed in his world.

"Whum!" His fingers released, the bowstring snapping back violently with a tremendous twang.

The white-feathered arrow shot forth like lightning freed from all restraints, tearing through the thick air with a piercing shriek as it left the string.

Before the resonance of the bowstring had even faded, that white-feathered arrow had already transformed into a streak of light rending the night apart!

At a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye, it arrived despite being loosed later, flying straight at the armor-piercing arrow headed for Cui Ji's back.

"Clang—!!!" A razor-sharp metallic clash exploded midair, sparks bursting at the point where the two streaks of light collided.

The arrowhead Cheng Ge had loosed slammed into the rear edge of the three-bladed arrowhead of Urkhan's armor-piercing bolt.

The massive impact knocked the black arrow sharply off course, its trajectory, originally aimed at Cui Ji's back, instantly altered.

With a "whoosh," it grazed Cui Ji's black-armored shoulder and buried itself deep in the chest of a nearby Northern Di soldier.

Atop the city wall, following that sharp clash of arrows, there was a silence so brief it felt suffocating.

In the center of the battlefield, the soldiers ready to die for their lord felt their hearts nearly leap out of their chests.

A wild surge of morale swept through them, as tangible as a physical force, radiating outward in all directions.

The sneer on Urkhan's face and the smugness in his eyes hadn't even fully formed before they froze solid.

Time seemed to warp, twist, and freeze under an invisible hand.

His arm still held the pose from releasing the bowstring, the sparks of the collision still reflected deep in his pupils.

"Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!" The drums seemed infinitely louder in that moment, hammering against his eardrums.

They rattled his scalp numb, savagely intertwining with the suddenly out-of-control heartbeat in his chest.

Impossible... The thought struck like an ice pick, viciously stabbing through his consciousness.

His mind was blank—no anger, no calculation, even basic thought had ground to a halt.

Only that eerie, endlessly replaying image remained—his arrow intercepted by a flash of white light, sparks flying.

Cold sweat instantly soaked his forehead and temples, sliding down under his heavy war robes, leaving a sticky, chilling sensation.

His fingers unconsciously loosened their grip on the war bow, a fine, uncontrollable tremor running through his fingertips.

Impossible... The thought crawled out from the very marrow of his bones like a ghost.

His prized archery—how could it have missed!

An emotion he hadn't felt in a long time poured over him like ice water.

It seeped through the shell of fury and indignation, and fear faintly rose.

His gaze, carrying a hint of panic he hadn't noticed himself, snapped toward the city wall.

The drums still pounded madly, each beat hammering against his crumbling pride.

Cheng Ge's palms were slightly clammy, the clamor in his heart just carried off by those two loosed arrows.

A deeper, more searing rage surged up, scorching every inch of his chest.

Expressionless, he used the cold tip of the Kaiyuan Bow to lift the veil of his Veiled Hat.

The gauze lifted, revealing eyes seething with killing intent.

Without pause, he reached again, drawing two armor-piercing arrows from his quiver.

Nocking, drawing, releasing—the motions fluid and lethal, carrying a calm so suppressed it was almost unnatural.

With a hint of judgment, the bowstring was drawn to its limit, groaning as if it might snap at any moment.

Cheng Ge's narrowed eyes were sharp as a hawk's, lips pressed tight, chin slightly raised, his gaze crossing the chaotic northern battlefield and piercing the howling north wind.

"Whum!!!" The bowstring thrummed, two piercing shrieks tearing through the sky!

The two arrows shot forth like dragons freed from their bonds, carrying earth-splitting force, striking two separate targets!

Before the shock on Urkhan's face had even faded, a glint of cold light filled his vision.

His pupils shrank to pinpoints. Before terror could even surface, a "crack" of skull-shattering impact reached his ears!

The armor-piercing arrow pierced through his forehead and out the back of his skull, coldly lodged across his head.

Blood instantly blurred his features, his eyes wide in disbelief.

His body stiffened atop the horse for a moment, then crashed heavily to the ground, never seeing his enemy's face in death.

In the same instant, Wuliji's iron hammer was already nearly touching Cui Ji's face!

But a piercing pain shot through his chest—with a "puff," a white-feathered arrow drilled precisely into the gap in his armor!

The immense force sent him reeling, his sure-kill hammer swing falling disastrously short.

He looked down and saw the white fletching still quivering violently, crimson blood rapidly spreading from the wound.

Beidi Army: "!!!"

With their commander dead and the Deputy General gravely wounded, the Beidi army's morale collapsed in an instant.

Shouts of alarm and fear spread like the plague, formations thrown into chaos as soldiers scrambled to flee.

Wuliji's gaze was dark and brooding as he raised his hand and, with a "crack," snapped the arrow shaft sticking out of his chest.

The pain sharpened his mind further but only stoked his savagery. He desperately parried Cui Ji's pursuing spear thrust and roared, "Retreat!!"

Zhao Cheng, who had been waiting in ambush, seized the moment and ordered his troops to charge. The long-suppressed Cui Family Army surged forth like a breached dam, roaring as they pursued the routed soldiers.

Arrows rained down, blades flashed, and the Northern Di soldiers fell in droves, fleeing in panic, all trace of their siege arrogance gone.

Wuliji galloped hard, shielded by his personal guards fighting desperately.

Wind and sand swept in with a thick stench of blood; his face still smeared with the Cui Family Army's not-yet-dried blood.

The sounds of battle faded behind him, and as if possessed, he wrenched the reins and whipped his head around!

His gaze cut through the still-burning flames and drifting smoke, gazing up at the lofty city tower.

That silhouette seared itself into his sight, branding itself into his soul.

Time seemed to freeze in that instant, the blood in his chest surging harder, tearing at him with pain.

His guards urged him anxiously, and Wuliji shot one final, heavy glance at that figure.

He gripped the reins and the broken arrow shaft, jaw clenched, and rasped the order from his throat: "Go!"

He spurred his horse hard, never looking back, and with the remnants of his routed troops, galloped off into the wind-swept, sand-shrouded distance.

On the city tower, Cheng Ge slowly lowered his bow-arm.

The wind stirred the light veil of his Veiled Hat, also dispersing some of the lingering killing intent.