Chapter 63: The Setting Sun Over the Battlefield

“Old Wu, you’re incredible!”

None of the trainees had expected Old Wu to actually succeed. Meanwhile, He Zongtai seized the opportunity in midair to catch the battered Wang Yao.

“Hurry up!”

Du Huaishan shouted at the top of his lungs, “Move towards the densest part of the forest!”

Everyone knew that even a half-second’s hesitation would mean the demon would gain several meters on them, so none dared look back. They desperately shot their grappling hooks to escape.

Once they widened the gap, and with the thick forest as cover, the team finally managed to shake off the demon. Chang Suian and Zhou Zhongai even managed to retrieve their military horses left in the woods earlier.

These red-maned Wan horses had been carefully selected by the Yingzhou Army and fed with premium fodder, making them robust and swift, unafraid of panic or flight. At the sound of the whistle, they would come immediately.

In moments like these, they were even more convenient than cars!

…

“It’s been over twenty minutes, Huaishan, Old Wu... why aren’t you back yet?” Yang Anfu clenched his fists and tapped his palm, pacing anxiously in front of the transport truck. Every few steps, he turned to look at the Qingshi Mountain pass.

The other trainees were equally anxious, constantly scanning the horizon.

“Fatty, don’t worry. Huaishan and the others will return safely,” Zhao Xinhong reassured. He had already sent the telegram as Du Huaishan instructed, and the artillery unit had agreed: once they saw the signal, they’d provide fire support.

Just as he finished speaking—

Thud, thud, thud...

The sound of hooves grew closer. Before Yang Anfu and the others could see anyone, a shout echoed from the forest: “Fire the signal flare! Quickly!!”

The patrol soldier, already prepared, raised the signal pistol and fired skyward with a bang!

A dazzling flare streaked upwards, trailing a vivid green smoke—so bright it stood out even against the snowy day.

Moments later, figures burst from the mountain pass—it was Du Huaishan and the team, returning to the rendezvous.

“Huaishan! Old Wu! Tan Hai! Tingyu! Hahaha... you’re finally back!” Yang, the chubby one, felt the burden in his heart finally lift as he saw everyone safe.

“Get in the truck! The artillery unit will calibrate after seeing the signal—so we don’t get caught in the crossfire, everyone get in and go!” Du Huaishan rolled in the snow to shake off the grappling hook’s inertia, waved off Yang’s reunion, and urged the trainees to board.

“Du Huaishan! What signal flare, what artillery unit—what else have you been hiding from me? Cough, cough...” Lai Yanlong, helped off his horse by Wu Ming, glared fiercely at these words.

“Coach Lai, let’s talk inside!” Wu Ming, like hauling a pig, propped Lai Yanlong’s shoulders and carried him into the driver’s cabin.

The injured Wang Yao was also settled inside. The rest of the trainees squeezed into the three transport trucks’ rear compartments—those who couldn’t stand inside lay across the roof, and when that was full, they clung to the sides.

“Go, go, go! Hurry!”

The driver, burning with anxiety, started the engine and floored the gas pedal. The vehicles roared like beasts, desperate to avoid the incoming shells.

Inside the cabin, Lai Yanlong cursed and questioned his comrades.

A trainee replied, “The Vanguard team helped you out, but couldn’t deal with the demon chasing us, and feared getting surrounded again, so—”

“So what, cough, cough…”

“So Du Huaishan suggested sending a telegram using your name, requesting the nearby artillery recruits to follow the original assessment plan: when they see the signal smoke, shell the Qingshi Mountain pass!”

“What?!”

Chang Suian and Zhou Zhongai, riding alongside, exclaimed in unison.

“Du Huaishan! How dare you use my name and fake military orders?! Cough…ugh…” Lai Yanlong stuck his head out the window and shouted, so furious he couldn’t hold back and vomited.

“Reporting, Coach Lai! I had no choice. We couldn’t leave someone behind to cover our retreat. The artillery unit’s shells would go to waste otherwise. Think of it as helping them continue their exam indirectly,” Du Huaishan, hanging outside the truck, scratched his head and answered honestly.

“You dare talk back to me… cough, cough, ugh…”

“Coach Lai, calm down! Anger harms the body. We did it to save you!” Tan Hai’s words echoed like a triple cannon shot—showing concern for Lai Yanlong’s injuries, uniting their purpose, and even dragging Old Lai into complicity.

Just then, two muffled explosions sounded from afar. The sky was ripped by flying shells, which struck near the Qingshi Mountain pass. In less than a millisecond, thunderous blasts erupted!

The earth was torn asunder, flames soared high. The violent explosions and flying debris instantly shredded a demon, scattering flesh and blood, while the pass was swiftly swallowed by dust.

The trainees were dumbstruck—the firepower far surpassed any mortar they had seen before.

Two kilometers away, on a hillside, a round-faced instructor in a woolen military coat observed the pass with binoculars, nodding and calling out, “Team Five did well. Team Two’s first shot was a bit off. Five’s howitzer angle needs to go up three degrees, Two’s infantry gun needs to shift five degrees north. Fire again!”

Before him, more than two hundred soldiers clustered around a dozen howitzers, infantry guns, and heavy machine guns.

Following the instructor’s orders, Teams Five and Two hurriedly adjusted their gun angles, while the other gunners copied their settings.

“Ready—fire!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

At the instructor’s command, over a dozen cannons fired simultaneously. Seconds later, the explosions echoed, clearly audible even from three or four kilometers away.

The entire Qingshi Mountain erupted in a blaze, dust and tree trunks rolled together, snow and dirt billowed, forming a raging earth-dragon.

“Reload! Ready—fire!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

…

Du Huaishan and the others looked back at the ruined Qingshi Mountain pass, now nothing but debris.

Occasionally, small stones from the blast would hit their faces, carried by shockwaves, but none flinched. The satisfaction of vengeance was written on their faces.

It seemed this was the last, and only, thing they could do for their fallen comrades.

“Ugh…”

“Senior!”

Inside the left transport truck’s driver cabin, Wang Yao retched, spewing a mouthful of blood across the windshield.

He Zongtai anxiously supported his back. “Senior, hold on! We’re almost at the Martial Hall…”

Beside him, the young patrol soldier who had called out to Wang Yao earlier had reddened eyes, watching Wang Yao emerge from the demon transformation.

“Senior, don’t let go of the demon’s power, you won’t survive if you do!”

Wang Yao shook his head, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. “It’s useless. My internal organs are already shattered…”

He had only just broken through the first threshold, and his awakened skill was mediocre. After enduring the attack of a disaster-level demon above twenty-seven, he was already spent.

The young patrol soldier couldn’t hold back anymore, tears streaming down his face.

He Zongtai’s eyes burned hot—those words hit him deeply.

If Wang Yao hadn’t struck for him at the last moment, he would never have made it out of Qingshi Mountain alive.

In other words, Wang Yao traded his life for his.

“No… Senior, hang on, once we reach the Martial Hall, there’ll be a way…sob…”

“Don’t cry. Didn’t I bring every one of you back, without losing a single man? That’s enough. Cough… You’re the elite of the Martial Hall, better than this rotten log of mine. Yingzhou’s future is yours. For me, kill more demons…demon spirits…”

At the moment of death, Wang Yao rallied for a final burst, grabbed his military knife, and thrust it into He Zongtai’s hand.

Then, with hope, he died.

Around them, whether clinging to the vehicles or squeezed inside, every trainee bowed their heads in silence. Across the barren plains, except for the roar of engines and the thundering hooves of military horses, only the young patrol soldier and He Zongtai, gripping Wang Yao’s blood-stained knife, sobbed quietly.

At the side of the truck, Xu Yuan nearly slipped off, but Du Huaishan quickly steadied her.

She nodded in thanks, then noticed a crimson flash in his heterochromatic eyes.

Both looked up.

Without anyone knowing, the snow had stopped.

On the horizon, Qingshi Mountain was ablaze, the sun setting in the west. The snowy plains seemed stained with blood, and the cold wind blew as the transport trucks dragged long shadows into the distance, carrying with them a sense of sorrow—a battlefield’s tragic beauty beneath the dying sun.