Chapter 41: The Enemy Arrives (Fourteenth Alliance Leader, Fourth Update)

By the Hour of the Snake, the army had already assembled, and the rites on Lord City God Lu's side had also begun.

The three sacrificial animals for the great altar had been coated with the spices Wang Liang provided, and their fragrance was already rising.

These spices required no fire at all; they could be rubbed directly onto the sacrificial meat.

With Wang Liang and the others' level of cultivation, one could almost see a faint yellow vapor drifting up from the offerings and floating toward Demon Ridge and Bright Sun Hill.

The ghost soldiers staring at that pale mist all wore looks of intoxicated longing. Had their commander not kept them in check, they might have lunged at once.

Wang Liang was curious about this as well. He had already noticed that the ghost soldiers in this world were somewhat different from those in his own estate; even the path they followed diverged in subtle details.

Though he could not tell which was better, there was benefit in learning from many schools. Wang Liang was willing to observe more of what was unlike his own, so that his vision would not be confined within a single narrow range.

At that moment, a mass of dark clouds suddenly drifted across the sky, and the feeling was just like the day Wang Liang had fought his way out from Bright Sun Hill: though it was noon, the heavens turned black as midnight.

Such an omen naturally drew the attention of everyone present.

Lord City God Lu said with certainty, "The dark canopy has descended. The ghost soldiers are moving. Magistrate Wu, be prepared on your side."

The magistrate of Sun Valley County immediately replied, "Rest assured, City God. Leave this to me."

"Sun Valley County, heed my command. Summon wind and rain. Harmonize sun and brightness. Command: direct sunlight."

At that order, Wang Liang clearly felt the earth's vital force answering the magistrate of Sun Valley County.

This was a power of regulating wind and rain, and in truth it was precisely one expression of the divine authority of this world.

Every county magistrate might not need to know how to govern, but he had to learn how to harmonize wind and rain, ensuring favorable weather and abundant harvests under his rule.

At present, the magistrate of Sun Valley County did not greatly alter the recent weather; he merely made the noon sun blaze a little stronger.

This was an adjustment within reasonable bounds, one that did not consume much earth energy.

But for the ghost soldiers who had charged out from Demon Ridge and Bright Sun Hill, the situation was very different.

Within the demon ridge, they could sustain a dark canopy for as long as they liked, even keeping Bright Sun Hill in perpetual night if they wished.

Now that they had rushed out of the ridge, they were no longer under the control of the demon tiger, and it was no longer so easy for them to use dark clouds to block the sunlight.

If this had been an ordinary day, they might have retreated there and then. But the scent of the sacrifice outside seemed to hook their very hearts and guts, dragging them onward.

All the ghost soldiers had lost their reason. They now had only one goal: charge out and seize the incense and offerings from the rite.

This ghost army numbered around five thousand. Most of them appeared as skeletons, while a smaller number still had rotting flesh clinging to their bones. Driven by the ghostly wind, they moved with surprising speed, and when they ran, they even made a rattling, clacking sound.

The moment they burst beyond the limits of Demon Ridge, the "army" of Sun Valley County detected the enemy's presence at once.

General Hua and General Yu both mounted their horses and began the prebattle rally.

Their mounts were clearly different, and their respective statuses could be seen the moment they rode out.

General Hua's position was obviously more humble. He rode an ordinary warhorse, not even a particularly tall one, and held a longsword as he stood before the county militia, stirring their morale.

He did not speak much; the same few lines came out again and again.

"Think of what lies behind you. That is your home."

"Take one enemy head, earn one tael of silver. Take ten enemy heads, and you will be promoted one rank!"

It was easy to tell that when their militia went to war, this was about the extent of it.

General Yu's side was rather different. His mount was a seahorse taller than a man, its whole body wrapped in bubbles at a glance, clearly a creature possessing magical power.

General Yu held a twin-pronged trident and sat astride the seahorse, speaking in a loud voice to say something or other.

In any case, his language sounded peculiar, like bubbles being blown up from underwater.

It was clearly a tongue unique to the aquatic clans. If Wang Liang wished to hear it, he could of course rely on the system's power to understand it.

But at the moment he cared more about the enemy appearing in the distance. Wang Liang had already noticed that among the enemy ranks there was one figure that looked different at a glance.

It was one in the very center of the ghost soldiers, and among them, he seemed to have the fullest body of flesh and blood of all.

One might even say he had too much flesh and blood, looking as though a man and a horse had been pieced together and then assembled in the wrong order.

Beneath his human head were a pair of arms raised high and impossible to lower. One hand held a longsword, the other a command pennant.

Both of those things were also visible on General Hua, as though the longsword Hua was brandishing now were of the same kind.

Below the arms, however, the situation was different. There, astonishingly, was the head of a horse, and beneath that, a pair of forelegs held aloft by the mount. It was plain that these forelegs would never touch the ground.

Below that was the horse body fused together with the ghost soldier's own body. Because the horse's forelegs had been shifted upward, the front part of the horse had become a man's thighs.

And these thighs were still covered in heavy armor. It was obvious that this figure cared nothing for movement speed.

The moment this strange ghost soldier charged out, the others seemed as if they had been stirred into frenzy. All at once they grew excited, and even the sunlight breaking through the clouds did not seem to matter much to them.

Seeing this, Wang Liang said over the team channel, "Everyone pay attention. That's our target, Assistant Commander Yin Xun. Whether we can take down the other bosses afterward depends on this one."

"Relax. He's nothing but a watchdog. Now that we've drawn him out, don't even think about letting him go back."

"Exactly. No need to be afraid. We've already worked out the method."

The players all said there was no problem.

After all, the fellow before them already had his health bar visible. Though they were not inside a dungeon instance now, it made no difference.

Looking at the players' excited expressions, Wang Liang nodded firmly.

He had once been a general himself, and he knew very well the benefits of raising soldiers' morale.

What stood before him now was more than a simple boost of morale; it was a full surge of excitement in everyone present.

They were certain to win this battle.

With that thought, Wang Liang summoned his bronze warhorse, seized the Blade of Severed Life, and leaped into the saddle.

He did not rush to act. Instead, he checked his own attributes.

After breakfast that morning, Wang Liang had thought of something: his spirit had increased, and he still had eleven free attribute points. If he added them all to Spirit, he would just be able to equip the magic treasure Radiant Light Ruler.

Perhaps this was an opportunity.