Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 307 - 307 0244 Could End up Dead Here_2

Chapter 307: Chapter 0244: Could End up Dead Here_2 Chapter 307: Chapter 0244: Could End up Dead Here_2 From Tongmen West Pass to Tongguan Guard Station, one has to pass through a small town. After the small town, the route extending almost a hundred miles to the guard station has no villages, and even if there was, it would be scarcely populated. The Chi Di people have historically broken through Tongmen West Pass several times, so locals who dare to settle here must be prepared to risk their lives at any time.

After leaving the small town, Qi Tian dismounted from Hu Niu’s back, then patted a Soaring Cloud Talisman onto his body. With a slight weightlessness and a soft tap of his toes to the ground, he rose into the air and flew to a height of almost a hundred meters. At such a height, unless one was paying meticulous attention, one would generally not notice him at all, or even if they did, it was highly likely they would mistake him for a large bird.

Qi Tian, with the power of the Soaring Cloud Talisman, followed far behind Xu Honglei’s group. From his bird’s eye view, Xu Honglei’s group looked like three tiny dots, moving swiftly across the terrain.

The three of them didn’t encounter any issues until they were less than fifty miles out of the small town. As their military horses were galloping forward, they suddenly stopped as if they had collided with a wall. Their heads shattered one after another with a string of thuds, and their necks broke. They whinnied in distress before crashing onto the ground.

The reconnoitre riders, who had never encountered such a situation, were thrown forward due to momentum. Even though the horses had absorbed some of the impact, they found themselves unable to escape from a bloody catastrophe.

Xu Honglei reacted quickly, grabbing a reconnoitre rider with one hand while patting his horse’s neck with the other. He then hopped off his horse, holding the rider.

By the time the military horses hit the ground, Xu Honglei had successfully landed with the reconnoitre rider. Wang Peng, who also had a swift reaction, was standing steadily on the ground. He held up his spirit sword, scanning his surroundings alertly and declared, “Whoever dares to use such despicable tactics should show themselves and fight me, Lord Peng, honourably.”

No one answered Wang Peng’s challenge. After Xu Honglei and Wang Peng waited for a while, Xu Honglei said, “Since you refuse to show yourself, we shall part ways. Please remember, it’s not that we are scared, but we don’t want our plans to be delayed. If you’re smart, you’d leave as quickly as possible and not hinder us. If you dare to resort to such despicable means again, do not blame us for our actions.”

The two waited for barely a minute before concluding that there would be no response. Xu Honglei and Wang Peng exchanged glances, then proceeded forward, with Wang Peng leading the way. Xu Honglei was protecting the stunned reconnoitre rider, matching Wang Peng’s steady pace. The rider had been prepared for various forms of danger, even death, but never for a situation like this.

Soon, Wang Peng reached the spot where the military horses had broken their necks. Stretching out his hand, he indeed felt an invisible wall in their path, a technique only cultivators were capable of.

Both Xu Honglei and Wang Peng were dispirited. On the off chance that they were mistaken, they had hoped that the Chi Di cultivator’s deep involvement in the war was just a speculation. But now, the existence of this wall was firm evidence, making them realize that the Chi Di cultivators had indeed been actively participating in the southern invasion, rather than being mere spectators as in the past.

Wang Peng swung his sword at the invisible wall, but, unexpectedly, the moment his Spirit Sword swung forward, the unseen wall obstructed their path and suddenly disappeared. Wang Peng’s powerful strike fell onto thin air, leaving him unbalanced and his breath unstable.

Before he could regain his stability, a Soul Banner embroidered with a dark horse flew from not too far ahead. It passed through with such speed that, in a blink of an eye, it was not too far from Xu Honglei and Wang Peng. Instantly, black smoke surrounded the Soul Banner, from which emerged a barrage of horse shrieks. Suddenly from the black smoke, dark horses emerged one after the other, stepping on thin air while their eyes glowed eerily with ghostly fire.

Each group of these steeds was no weaker than the Qi Cultivation 7th Level, and there were so many of them. In just a short time, the number of ghost horses had surpassed three hundred.

But that wasn’t all. Soon after, two even more chilling neighs emanated from the black smoke. Then, two ghost horses with eerie flames under their hooves burst out. They stood side by side, floating in mid-air, coldly watching Xu Honglei and Wang Peng.

Both Xu Honglei and Wang Peng, the two Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators, looked solemnly at the sudden appearance of so many ghost horses. They had no time to protect the reconnoitre anymore. Among these ghost horses were two at the Foundation Establishment Stage. They were not confident about fighting them. On the one hand, they lacked a crushing advantage in strength. On the other hand, their tactics couldn’t restrain the ghost horses. On the contrary, they were likely to be subdued by them.

Xu Honglei and Wang Peng stood back to back. All they could do now was trust each other and leave their backs to each other. They were bound to be stuck in a tough fight. Whether they could survive or not was a matter of fate.

Suddenly, the two Foundation Establishment Stage ghost horses neighed. The Qi Cultivation Period ghost horses, as if commanded, swarmed and charged at Xu Honglei and Wang Peng. They completely ignored the reconnoitre.

In no time at all, Xu Honglei and Wang Peng found themselves entrenched in a fierce battle. They had been chosen for this mission because they thought it would be easy and profitable. If they had known that the outcome would be like this, no matter how tempting Qi Tian’s spirit stones were, they would have turned tail even if the reward was increased a hundredfold.

Qi Tian was now watching the situation from above. Holding the high ground, he could see many things clearly. The Soul Banner, which could release the ghost horses, was not unowned. In reality, someone was controlling it. That person was hiding about fifty meters away from the road, remotely controlling the Soul Banner.

Apart from that, Qi Tian also saw many bodies wearing the uniform of the border guards. There was no flesh left on these bodies. It seemed like they had been devoured by the ghost horses, used as sustenance.

Qi Tian narrowed his eyes and looked around, but he could not tell whether there was only one cultivator controlling the Soul Banner on the ground, or other cultivators had maxed out their stealth abilities, easily evading his observation. He saw nothing else of interest after a while.

Qi Tian gave a cold huff and stopped searching. In the short time he had been observing, Xu Honglei and Wang Peng had already taken significant hits. If he kept waiting around, Xu Honglei and Wang Peng might die on the spot.

Qi Tian changed direction and rushed towards the cultivator who was controlling the Soul Banner. From the air, he swept down on his target like a hawk swooping on a chick.

At first, the cultivator controlling the Soul Banner did not notice Qi Tian. But when Qi Tian was about to reach him, he finally saw Qi Tian descending from above. What surprised Qi Tian was that this person did not panic at all. Instead, he watched Qi Tian and revealed a triumphant smile.

Qi Tian sensed danger and quickly tried to dodge. But as it was his first time using the Soaring Cloud Talisman, his movements weren’t nimble enough. Combined with the sudden situation, his evasion was a bit late…