Looking around again, there were no more carriage roofs. The view had opened up quite a bit, but unfortunately the thick fog made it impossible to see very far.
He noticed that inside a nearby carriage, the escort had already drawn his sword to cut the ropes, released the horses, and then hidden together with the driver under the tilted carriage. Clearly they hoped to use the iron cage as a shield, or perhaps they had seen the situation on this side and realised the carriage body could not withstand the massive impact falling from the sky.
The two men were stunned for a moment, then immediately started crawling out. Suddenly there was a deafening crash. Amid the dust and smoke, blood sprayed out.
When Yu Qing looked again, the two men had vanished, crushed beneath the carriage, which had now settled flat on the ground just like his own.
The unstoppable assault continued to rain down from above. The surrounding screams and horrific scenes made even Yu Qing feel a chill run down his spine.
He reached out from the iron cage again, feeling for the lock above. Channeling his inner energy to probe it, he tried to use subtle force to mimic a key and open the lock. He discovered that this was a high-grade thousand-mechanism lock, specially designed to resist cultivators. Without knowing the precise shape of the key, it was impossible to open.
Whoosh! He suddenly pushed aside the people on his left and right, drew his sword, and struck the iron cage with a clang. As expected, it did not break. The cage was indeed made of fine steel, and not ordinary fine steel either. It had clearly been reinforced against destruction, and instead his sword edge gained a notch.
One of the examinees shouted, “Brother Shiheng, try prying it with the sword.”
Idiot! Yu Qing cursed inwardly, sheathed his sword, and ignored him.
Earlier when Ah Shiheng was injured, he had felt some guilt. Now he realised that Ah Shiheng’s luck was truly great. He had turned a small calamity into a great escape, while Yu Qing had become the unlucky one facing death. If he had known it would turn out like this, he would never have come to take his place on the journey to the capital, even if beaten to death.
Although he knew some demonic creatures intended harm against the examinees, he still could not understand what kind of deep grudge could produce such an overwhelming assault.
He did not want to die trapped in this cage, yet from the current situation, hiding inside the prison wagon actually seemed the safest option.
The stone chips that had run down his neck into his clothes made his whole body itch. He had just patted the dust off himself and shaken the stone fragments out of his clothing when boom! Another violent tremor struck overhead. He was hit again.
Everyone was dazed, swaying unsteadily. Yu Qing was shaken senseless once more, ears ringing, eyes blurred, head spinning, covered in dust and dirt again.
The giant eagles kept dropping stones in wave after wave.
Yet no matter how fiercely the aerial bombardment continued, some carriages were simply lucky and avoided every hit. There were still more than a dozen such wagons. The examinees inside them spent every moment worrying when they would be smashed next. That kind of torment was far worse than the resigned acceptance Yu Qing and the others had already reached.
More than a thousand guards and cavalry, over a hundred personnel from the Sinan Office, and fifty master archers had been rendered completely helpless by this single aerial assault.
Frustrating, yet there was nothing they could do.
The screams around them gradually grew fewer. Either the victims had been crushed to death, or they had temporarily fled into the forest and found places to hide.
Jin Huahai was furious and wanted to order the Sinan Office personnel to scour the mountains and kill without mercy. But Jiang Yinian stopped him, worried that this might be the enemy’s plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain. In close combat, the Sinan Office still possessed the strongest force in the entire convoy.
Now the “bait” in their hands had become the very weakness that made them hesitate to act rashly.
Jin Huahai secretly felt fortunate. It was a good thing they had not forced their way through Seven-Li Gorge. Otherwise those demonic creatures would not even need to show themselves and fight head-on. With this one tactic alone, the hollowed-out cliff walls could have been collapsed over a vast area.
Not only was there the stone-dropping air raid, but also large-scale cliff collapses. The consequences were terrifying just to imagine.
Clang… clang clang…
Suddenly a series of overlapping strange sounds came from the forest. Jiang Yinian quickly turned his head to listen.
Jin Huahai recognised the sound of bowstrings and asked, “Your people have spotted the targets?”
His doubt came from the fact that with such thick fog everywhere, visibility was extremely limited. How could they shoot without seeing the target?
Jiang Yinian gave a cold snort, his expression stern, murder flashing in his eyes. He did not reply.
In the mountains, the fire was gradually growing stronger.
Hearing the endless screams from the areas under aerial attack, and judging that the escort troops were too busy saving themselves, several black-clothed figures emerged from their hiding spots and rushed to beat out the flames, hoping to prevent a raging mountain fire disaster.
This was simply the natural instinct of the demonic cultivators in the mountains.
However, the moment their figures appeared flickering in the firelight, vengeful spirits shot out from deep within the fog.
Sharp arrows arrived first, followed only afterwards by the whoosh whoosh of breaking air. The speed of the shots showed just how formidable the master archers’ powerful bows truly were.
Facing such terrifying marksmanship, anyone lacking in perception or reaction speed had no chance of dodging.
Thud thud sounds rang out continuously. The arrows pierced through several black-clothed figures in an instant. Not a single arrow remained lodged in their bodies. All of them passed straight through, embedding themselves in the ground or in tree trunks.
The bodies of the black-clothed men trembled violently. Some fell, while others were not killed on the spot.
They were all demonic cultivators who had taken human form. The positions of their vital organs were not necessarily the same as a human’s. Different kinds of demons had different fatal points after transforming into human shape. If the vital spots were not hit, they would naturally survive the injury.
Upon realising they had been shot, the survivors, in panic, tried to flee. Yet some had barely leaped up before falling back down. Others had not even escaped a few steps before their bodies trembled and they teetered on the verge of collapse.
Thud thud sounds continued, blood spurting from their bodies. Holes appeared in their heads, and several more bloody punctures opened across their torsos.
They were hit by additional arrows in several places. Eventually the fatal spots were struck after all.
One after another the black-clothed figures crashed to the ground. The arrows that killed them came from more than one direction. They had been caught in a crossfire.
They were not the only ones. Many others who had rushed out to fight the fire also fell. Until their deaths, most never fully understood how they had been shot.
They had underestimated the ability of master archers. Fog could indeed rob a master archer of the ability to clearly spot and track targets, but once firelight appeared, even through the mist they could see hazy glowing patches. When figures moved in front of the flames, the archers could distinguish them amid the dim light and shadow.
Finding shooting targets under complex conditions was the foundation of archery. It was something master archers trained in for years and a skill they had to master, such as shooting at night by faint moonlight.
Jiang Yinian naturally understood this, which was why he had immediately ordered fire arrows to be shot. Lighting the mountain was one of his purposes from the start.
The demonic cultivators lurking in the darkness were startled by the scene. No one dared emerge to fight the fire anymore. They could only watch helplessly as the blaze in the mountains grew larger.
Some urgently withdrew to report back.
When Hei Yunxiao received the news, he said urgently, “Quick, inform all the hidden brothers everywhere not to go and fight the fire!”
“Yes!” The messenger left swiftly.
But not long after, he returned with terrible news. While delivering the warnings to each group, he also learned of casualties from various places. More than ninety brothers had already been shot dead.
The black-and-white couple stared with wide eyes, hearts aching. They had deployed nearly three hundred people, yet before they could even engage in frontal combat, more than ninety had been silently killed. Nearly a third of their planned assault force had been cut down without a sound?
Terrifying! They had always heard how dreadful master archers were. Today they truly experienced it firsthand.
Hei Yunxiao looked up at the sky. He could vaguely see the formation of giant eagles completing another round of bombing before withdrawing once more.
His position was on higher ground, where the treetops were not fully swallowed by fog, allowing him a clear view of the sky.
“Ten rounds already. The prepared stones should be almost used up. It’s time for Old Rat Granny to make her move.” Hei Yunxiao withdrew his gaze from the sky and looked at his wife Bai Lan. “Tell her not to let her ‘army’ spare the trees. She must force all the master archers out. Best if she can take advantage of their distraction and eliminate these master archers first. Their close-combat ability is limited.”
He was already afraid of the power of surprise attacks from master archers. With these people watching, he could not feel at ease about his wife’s safety.
Bai Lan nodded and left. Her husband was responsible for coordination and command here. Now she had to lead the brothers into battle herself.
“Be careful,” Hei Yunxiao suddenly called after her.
Bai Lan turned back, gave a charming smile, then leaped away…
The rumbling crashes seemed to have stopped.
After listening carefully for a while, Jin Huahai and Jiang Yinian exchanged a glance. The latter said, “It’s unlikely they would stop after just one wave of stones. The real ground assault should be about to begin. Your Sinan Office people need to prepare for direct confrontation.”
“Mm.” Jin Huahai nodded in agreement, called someone over, and ordered them to inform the surviving personnel to get ready.
At the same time, Jiang Yinian sent orders for the surviving escort troops to gather and prepare to fight.
Fu Zuoxuan, the escort envoy still hiding under a tree, was covered in blood and dirt. He had been too terrified for a long time to speak.
The pause in the noise seemed unusually long. The examinees trapped in the cages also noticed the abnormality. Compared with previous pauses, this one was indeed much longer.
“Could the attack be over?” someone tentatively asked.
“It seems like it’s finished.”
Joyful voices gradually grew noisy and mixed.
Yu Qing glanced at the group of dust-covered, chattering fellows and made no comment. He had already realised that only the first phase of the attack had ended. The true ground assault was coming. After all, the heads of this group of examinees were still firmly attached to their necks.
In other words, the real move to take their heads was about to begin.
This time, Yu Qing truly could not sit still and wait for death. He shook the iron bars, but they would not open. He could only look for a key.
His gaze fixed on the body of the crushed Sinan Office escort guard. He locked onto the faint outline of a key bulging at the man’s waistband.
He was not sure if he had seen correctly. The fog had grown much thicker. He could no longer clearly see the iron cages holding the others nearby. He had to look very carefully, even using the Observation Character Technique to confirm. He dared not be the slightest bit careless, because this might be his only chance to get the key. If he missed it, he would likely remain trapped in the cage like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
As long as he could get out of this cage, he would no longer be afraid. To others, this sea of fog might be a hindrance, but to him it was like water to a fish, the perfect cover. If he wanted to escape, hardly anyone would be able to stop him.