Chapter 564: Chapter 243: Hanqiong’s Great Battle, Realization After the Fact (Part 2)
Xia Hong surveyed the houses inside Hanqiong Station, marveling at the wisdom of the humans in these Ice Abyss camps.
"Whoosh......"
Suddenly, a faint abnormal airflow noise reached his ears.
Xia Hong’s expression changed slightly, and he quickly turned his head toward the direction of the valley entrance.
"Is that...the sound of arrows?"
The wooden building was over seventeen hundred meters from the valley entrance, generally too far away for Xia Hong to hear the sound of ordinary Iron Arrows under normal circumstances. But this particular Iron Arrow clearly had unusual force, causing significant airflow noise, which Xia Hong managed to hear.
"Whoosh...whoosh......whoosh......"
A sequence of rhythmic sounds of Iron Arrows cutting through the air came again, convincing Xia Hong that something was wrong. He immediately leaped down the main building, swiftly heading towards the valley entrance.
"Lord Hong, do you have......"
"There’s an enemy attack, quickly alert everyone!"
Two hidden figures sprang out and pursued him upon seeing Xia Hong’s movement. As they chased, they opened their mouths to inquire, but Xia Hong interrupted them before they could finish.
Upon hearing Xia Hong’s words, the two men exchanged glances, and one of them immediately turned back to enter the main building, while the other continued to follow Xia Hong towards the valley entrance.
In wartime, Hanqiong relocated everyone to the inner space of the valley, while twenty-five hundred Earth-digging Realm warriors stationed and guarded the outer layer.
Whoosh...whoosh...whoosh......
The closer Xia Hong got to the valley entrance, the clearer the sound of Iron Arrows cutting through the air became. When he was still a hundred meters away, he raised his head to look at the valley entrance, his face changed, and he shouted loudly.
"There’s an enemy attack, stay alert!"
Even though it was nighttime, Xia Hong’s eyesight far surpassed others. He could see clearly the guards scattered above and along the Iron Door at the valley entrance, who were falling one by one with each arrow noise.
This was evidently a skilled Cold Resistance Level archer in a hidden spot not far from the valley entrance, systematically targeting the personnel guarding the Iron Door with a Strong Bow.
The places these Iron Arrows struck were extremely precise, either the throat or the center of the forehead, almost always resulting in a one-hit kill. Those who fell were unable to even emit a cry, only the faint sounds of bodies hitting the ground.
The two thousand five hundred Earth-digging Realm warriors stationed outside were positioned somewhat away from the valley entrance, so they could not hear anything.
"Enemy attack, what enemy attack?"
"Who is yelling about an enemy attack!"
"I don’t see anyone, where is the enemy attack coming from?"
"Who’s talking nonsense!"
"You want to die? Don’t speak recklessly. It’s probably Lord Hong."
.........
At this time, quite a few Earth-digging Realm warriors were outside. Upon hearing Xia Hong’s voice, almost everyone doubted him.
Even those near the valley entrance Iron Door felt the same.
But soon enough, someone noticed something was wrong.
"There’s an enemy attack, hide quickly."
"It’s real, someone’s shooting arrows outside, and there are bodies on the ground."
"Enemy attack, enemy attack, there’s an enemy attack, someone hurry and close the door, quick!"
"There’s truly an enemy attack, there’s a huge army outside, Long Mountain is attacking."
......
Woooo......
A bright horn sound completely shattered the silence.
Rumble...rumble......
Suddenly, the earth-shaking noise followed, and the expressions of those who initially doubted outside the valley layer immediately changed.
The Cold Resistance Level warrior who was following Xia Hong also finally had a change in expression.
He rushed up to the Iron Door at the valley entrance, saw the massive Long Mountain army flooding towards the valley, and instantly turned pale. He then shouted frantically into the valley.
"Close the gate quickly, hurry, hurry, hurry!"
Upon hearing this, four hundred Earth-digging Realm warriors charged out, split into two groups, and moved to the left and right sides of the Iron Door, pulling up the iron locks from the ground.
As they pulled strongly into the valley, the two enormous iron doors, over ten meters high and three meters thick on either side, began to close.
"Too late!"
Standing atop the Iron Door, Xia Hong first glanced at the distance of the army outside the valley, then looked at the speed at which the Iron Doors were closing, and immediately shook his head.
His guess proved to be correct.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh......
The two-hundred-meter distance was already within the army’s bow and arrow range.
Waves of straight arrow rain surged through, precisely passing through the yet-unclosed Iron Doors, directly targeting the four hundred Earth-digging Realm warriors who were pulling the chains at the sides.
Thud... thud... thud......
The sound of Iron Arrows killing echoed through the outer valley, causing chaos among the four hundred Earth-digging Realm warriors. Consequently, the speed of closing the Iron Doors became even slower.
"Kill all Hanqiong traitors!"
"Longyou army, follow me to kill the enemy!"
"Brothers, charge!"
"Exterminate Hanqiong rebels to uphold Long Mountain’s glory."
"Charge!"
.........
The first thousand rushing in were all wearing Ten-forged Iron Armor, noticeably not the configuration of Longyou’s army, yet they carried Long Mountain’s prestige and combined with their high morale, their momentum was equally intimidating.
They covered the two-hundred-meter distance in less than six breaths.
And by this time, the Iron Doors were not even halfway closed.
Clang...
Above the Iron Door, Xia Hong drew the Dragon Sparrow Saber and sliced through a small wave of arrow rain, scanning the thousands of Longyou archers behind with a slightly concentrated expression.
"All of them are using thirty-stone power bows. No wonder they can’t hold up inside. The outer layer is definitely defenseless!"
The two thousand five hundred within the valley did not need to be seen by Xia Hong. Just from comparing the force on both sides, it was clear that if they could close both Iron Doors, they could still fight against the Long Mountain army at the entrance.
But now the Iron Doors were breached, the strategic point lost, there was no chance at all.
The two thousand or so Long Mountain army must have snuck over as soon as night fell, most likely with Cold Resistance Level warriors paving the way, eliminating Hanqiong’s sentries along the patrol route, before lying in wait outside.