Chapter 13: The Onslaught of the Shadow Army

“Nearly killed the Demon Tiger?”

“Yes. If he hadn’t been woken while drunk and powerless, and if his weapon hadn’t slipped from his hand, it would have been the Demon Tiger who died. After that, there were no more recruits for that ghostly troop—apparently because the Demon Tiger looked down on them,” Wang Yi explained.

This piqued Wang Liang's curiosity about the Demon Tiger’s subordinates. He asked, “And what else?”

“Then there are those lesser demons you saw earlier. After the Demon Tiger became a spirit, he carelessly enlightened them. There are about three thousand, and their main tasks are patrolling the mountain and killing humans. People call them the Patrol Squad.”

Wang Yi quickly recounted all he knew.

“The Patrol Squad has two leaders, both demons subdued by the Demon Tiger: one is a wild boar calling itself the Mountain Whale, the other a black bear known as Old Black. Both were lords of Jingyang Ridge before the Demon Tiger defeated and enlightened them. Their strength is in no way inferior to that of the infantry commander, and they make up half of the Four Heavenly Kings.

“The last corps is the detachment that stormed Jingyang Ridge four years ago. None of them made it out alive. Some say they’ve been seen at night on the ridge, but no one has ever truly encountered them. There's even a rumor that the third great corps is a fabrication, a rumor spread by the Demon Tiger.

“But no one knows if that’s true.

“This so-called Shadow Army numbers around five thousand, and its commander is also one of the Four Heavenly Kings: the former Deputy Commander, Yin Xun.”

Having finished his introduction of the situation on Jingyang Ridge, Wang Yi looked to Wang Liang, waiting for his verdict.

But Wang Liang frowned in thought, then asked, “And?”

“What do you mean, ‘and’?”

“The other of the Four Heavenly Kings. Everyone knows there are five among the Four Heavenly Kings, right?” Wang Liang replied smugly, proud for once not to be outdone in common knowledge.

Wang Liang didn’t realize his words left Wang Yi utterly baffled. What kind of nonsense was it to say the Four Heavenly Kings numbered five? He racked his brains but couldn’t remember where this “common knowledge” came from, nor could he figure out who the fifth king was supposed to be.

Fortunately, at that moment, they spotted the companion who had fled earlier.

The one who had stolen the signal gong now lay collapsed by the roadside, and the gong they sought was nowhere to be seen.

Wang Liang dismounted and walked over, turning the man over and finally shaking his head.

“He’s dead.”

“What now? Are we going to die here?” Upon hearing Wang Liang’s words, Wang Yi sat down on the ground and wailed, his cries startling the nearby birds into flight.

“It’s not that bad. If it’s just the two of us, we can force our way out. On horseback, we’ll break through Jingyang Ridge before sunset,” Wang Liang said.

“No, we can’t get out. You don’t understand. The signal gong not only made us appear like corpse-driven dead men, it also guides the way. Without it, we’ll never find our way out,” Wang Yi sobbed harder, nearly rolling on the ground in despair.

As he wept, Wang Liang seemed to notice something amiss. He lifted his head to the sky.

“Something’s wrong. Why is the sun moving so fast?”

At this, Wang Yi stopped crying altogether, clutching Wang Liang’s sleeve. “That’s the Demon Tiger swallowing the sky. Five years ago, during the campaign against him, he used this very power to turn day into night and slaughtered all the soldiers. The Demon Tiger is coming—the Demon Tiger is coming!”

“Shut up.” Wang Liang’s nerves were frayed by Wang Yi’s panic. After barking out the order, he took up his Soul-Cleaving Blade and cautiously scanned his surroundings.

As the sky darkened, the world around him began to shift. The once-clear path now stretched endlessly ahead. The encircling woods grew black, cold winds howled through the trees, and here and there bleached bones glimmered on the ground.

He could not tell if this was a true illusion or if the demon-infested mountains had always looked like this.

“Mount up and stay close. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee your safety,” Wang Liang commanded, accepting the temporary quest that had just appeared.

[Would you like to accept the temporary quest: Blood Road of Demon Ridge?]

[Quest Requirement: Escort the merchant Wang Yi out of Jingyang Ridge alive. Reward: One random green-grade magical artifact.]

Though the reward was only of green quality, Wang Liang knew magical artifacts were valuable. Without hesitation, he mounted his horse, blade in hand.

“Stay close!” he shouted, spurring his horse into a charge down the path.

The corpulent merchant Wang Yi’s horse lagged noticeably behind. Wang Liang, unsure how best to protect him, slowed his pace, urging his horse forward in hopes of escaping the mountain road as quickly as possible.

But soon Wang Liang sensed something wrong. From the surrounding woods came the sound of rustling movement—white skeletons, some still draped with rotting flesh, staggered from the trees.

The skeletons wore tattered red tunics, clutching spears or short blades—clearly no regular troops. Some had scraps of flesh clinging to their faces, a few with eyeballs dangling from their sockets.

When they appeared, Wang Liang and Wang Yi barely reacted, but the horses shied in fright.

Wang Liang calmed the horses, cursing inwardly that these were not warhorses. To Wang Yi he called, “Hold the reins steady! Charge through! We’ll be fine.”

As he spoke, he swung the Soul-Cleaving Blade. Unlike in infantry combat, Wang Liang’s skills as a cavalryman were lacking; at best, he was a foot soldier on horseback, nothing like the peerless riders of the Three Kingdoms era who could charge unopposed through enemy ranks.

He focused on one side, knowing he could not strike both left and right. He urged Wang Yi to hurry, hoping to break through before the skeletons could encircle them.

By now, Wang Liang believed Wang Yi’s intelligence: with so many skeletons, an army of five thousand was entirely plausible.

He knew his own strength; even if five thousand stood still for him to cut down, it would take a very long time. So he had to seize this chance, while the skeletons were lurching forward, to carve a path out.

Now, the only thing that mattered was getting as far as possible.

But at that moment, Wang Yi panicked, crying out, “Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!” He lost control of his horse, which veered straight toward the nearest skeleton.

Seeing this, Wang Liang could only leap from his horse, land in front of Wang Yi, and swing down his blade, cleaving through the skeletons that blocked their way.