Stranger Danger

Chapter 456: Leopard Commander

Chu Hao was followed by an old woman, an old dwarf, and Chu Qingge.

Complex, indecipherable throughs flitted across Chu Hao’s eyes as he stared at the pile of bloody mess in front of him. He appeared in front of an unconscious cavalryman and tapped on several bodily points. Once the man was awake, he asked, “I am Chu Hao, the shadow guard leader who serves the Harmony King. What happened?”

The cavalryman was seriously injured. He replied weakly, “It… It’s Ye Qing… He… pretended to be one of us and…”

He fainted before he could finish his sentence, but everyone understood his meaning anyway.

“Ye Qing disguised himself as a member of the Hengshan Army and tried to escape through the northern gate? He’s an audacious one, isn’t he?” The old dwarf stood next to Chu Hao and stroked his beard. He was short and fat, and his hair and beard were completely white.

“He created a diversion and lured the main bulk of his enemies away. Then, he struck their headquarters while they’re undermanned. The Qing Emperor Junior truly deserves his fame!” the old woman commented.

The old woman had spotty, yellowish hair, a wrinkly face, and a crooked back. However, her dark, anomalous aura made it clear that she was no one to be trifled with.

“Whose side are you on, old hag? How can you praise our enemy and undermine our own?” The old dwarf seemed quite displeased with the old woman’s comment.

“I’m just speaking the truth,” Granny Ghost replied. “Ye Qing played Fei Chuan and us like a fiddle. Am I supposed to underestimate him and treat him lightly?”

“Joy—Ye Qing is definitely not someone we can afford to underestimate. You mustn’t be careless, Grandpa Wasp,” Chu Qingge chimed in, though it was clear that her focus wasn’t on their argument. She was furrowing her brows and thinking about something.

The old dwarf harrumphed but didn’t deny their words. “So, what should we do now, lead—”

“Watch out!”

Before Grandpa Wasp could finish, Chu Hao suddenly blocked in front of him and grabbed an arrow that would’ve shot through the old dwarf’s head with his bare hands.

Bang!

Chu Hao didn’t budge from his spot, but the spreading cracks beneath his feet showed just how powerful the shot was. It was only now they heard the sharp whistle of an arrow.

Somehow, the arrow moved faster than sound itself.

“An arrow that moves faster than sound itself and so may as well be soundless? It’s Duan Zipao’s Soundless Shot,” Chu Hao muttered while staring at the arrow he just caught.

As soon as he finished, the ground began shaking unnaturally. It was quickly followed by the sound of hoofs thudding against the floor. A terrible, powerful black tide quickly approached from the distance.

When the black tide was ten meters away from Chu Hao’s group, it abruptly stopped as if an invisible wall was blocking their way. Even the rumbling noises had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Now that the black tide had stopped, the group could finally see them for who they were. They were a group of black-armored, black-masked soldiers riding Scale Horses. They were none other than the Black Water Cavalry.

But unlike the dead or injured cavalrymen on the ground, this group wore armor with darker and more exquisite patterns on it. Their presence was generally stronger as well. Their energies combined to form the gigantic, howling silhouette of a leopard above their heads.

These were the elites of the Black Water Cavalry commanded by the Leopard Commander, Duan Zipao himself.

The elites numbered only three hundred, but each and every cavalryman was an elite who had fought at least a hundred battles. Powerful and experienced, they could give even an ordinary Half-Step Grandmaster a run for their money.

“Leopard Commander.”

Chu Hao saluted the cavalryman riding at the forefront of the group.

The Leopard Commander wore the same armor as his elites, but his Scale Horse was obviously bigger, stronger, and almost a head taller than an ordinary Scale Horse. There was also a huge, swollen bump at the top of his head.

When a Scale Horse had matured to a certain degree, it would start growing a horn on its head. If it was successful, then it would evolve from a Red-class Scale Horse to a Malice-class Unihorn Scale Horse.

A huge bow with a limb as thick as a baby’s arm was hanging on one side of the Unihorn Scale Horse. Clearly, this was the bow Duan Zipao had used to shoot the arrow earlier.

“It’s you, Chu Hao?” Duan Zipao shot the shadow guard leader a look before scanning the dead and wounded around him. A hint of murder entered his eyes as he asked, “Did you do this?”

“You misunderstand, Commander Duan. It is Ye Qing who did this. You can question your own men if you don’t believe me,” Chu Hao answered calmly.

“Ye Qing? You’re really telling me that Ye Qing can kill an entire guard of Black Water Cavalry all by himself?” Duan Zipao didn’t look like he believed Chu Hao. The Black Water Cavalry was considered an elite unit even in the Hengshan Army, and a full guard—one hundred and twenty five cavalrymen in total—could threaten even a Spirit Master. However, it hadn’t even been half a teatime since he received the call for help. Was it really possible for Ye Qing to trounce an entire guard in such a short time?

“Question the survivors.”

Duan Zipao waved his hand, and several Black Water Cavalry elites dismounted and did as he ordered. A short while later, they confirmed that Chu Hao was telling the truth.

“How many did we lose?” It looked like a storm was brewing between Duan Zipao’s brows.

“Commander! We have seventy five men killed, twenty five seriously wounded, and twenty six lightly wounded. Garrison Commandant Wu Jian was also killed in action,” one of the elites reported.

“Good. Good! How dare he kill so many of mine! He’s going to wish that he was dead!” Duan Zipao’s eyes turned crimson as he let out a guttural growl. As if infected by their commander’s bloodthirst, the three hundred Dark Water Cavalry elites also roared with bloodlust,

“KILL!”

“KILL!”

“KILL!”

For a moment, it felt like the terrible battle cry would never end.

It was at this moment Fei Chuan showed up at the scene with a group of men. His face turned ugly when he saw the dead and wounded on the ground.

“The general ordered you to capture Ye Qing, and this is how you do it, Fei Chuan?” Duan Zipao immediately questioned his colleague when he saw him.

“That’s my business, not yours,” Fei Chuan retorted. Despite his cold exterior, the Wolf Commander was feeling like shit right now. He could not imagine that he, a brigade commander of the Hengshan Army, had been played by a nobody like a fiddle. Even if they caught Ye Qing and executed him this instant, his reputation was already damaged.

“Not my business? Ye Qing came to my territory and killed my men because you couldn’t catch him, and you say it’s not my business?” The temperature at the scene dropped several degrees lower. “It’s not your call anymore. From now on, I’m joining in the hunt for Ye Qing as well.”

“The general ordered me to search for Ye Qing, Duan Zipao. Are you going to disobey his order?” Fei Chuan said with an unfriendly expression.

“Don’t make me laugh.”

Duan Zipao wasn’t afraid in the slightest, however. “Not only did you fail to capture Ye Qing, you allowed him to infiltrate our territory and massacre our men. You’re the one who should be trying to cover your ass. I bet the general would dearly like to hear what you have to say regarding your failure.”

A steely glint entered Fei Chuan’s eyes. “Once again, that’s none of your business. Stay out of this, or else.”

Duan Zipao didn’t give an inch. “Or else, what?”

“Please don’t argue among yourselves, my lords. Right now, our first priority is catching Ye Qing. You can discuss the trivialties after our duty is done, no?”

It was at this moment Chu Hao stepped forward and acted as the mediator. “If Ye Qing manages to escape, then your general would be furious at both of you. Surely you don’t want that to happen?”

Chu Hao didn’t care who caught Ye Qing. All he cared about was taking Ye Qing’s head back to the Harmony King.

“The northside of the city is the Hengshan Army’s territory. Not even the King of Heavens can make us submit, much less Ye Qing!” Duan Zipao scoffed. “Mobilize the rest of the Dark Water Cavalry and begin searching for Ye Qing! I will have revenge for our fallen brothers even if I have to turn every inch of ground in Tian Yong to do so!”

“At once!” Someone left to carry out his orders.

“One company of men will stay behind to treat our wounded and collect the dead. The rest of you, follow me!”

Duan Zipao left the scene as soon as he was done barking orders. He never even glanced in Fei Chuan’s direction.

While glaring daggers at Duan Zipao’s back, Fei Chuan ordered icily, “Inform everyone that they are to capture Ye Qing before Duan Zipao no matter what. Kill him if you must.”

“At once!” Sensing the barely controlled wrath rolling off their leader’s body, Fei Chuan’s men hurriedly left to carry out their orders.

After Duan Zipao and Fei Chuan were both gone, Chu Hao turned to the old dwarf and said, “Grandpa Wasp, can you please inform all shadow guards to come to the northside of the city and search for Ye Qing? The sooner we find him, the less chance there is that something will go wrong.”

Grandpa Wasp replied lazily, “Duan Zipao is an ass, but he’s right that the northside is the Hengshan Army’s territory. There’s no way Ye Qing can escape even if he has three heads and six arms, so you really don’t need to be so tense, commander.”

“It’s always better to be safe than sorry,” Chu Hao replied.

“Cut the bullshit and just do what you’re told, Grandpa Wasp,” Granny Ghost interrupted.

“Fine, fine,” Grandpa Wasp grumbled and produced a palm-sized bronze mirror from his sleeve. He wrote a few lines of words on the mirror that didn’t fade until he was done writing. Then, the words disappeared into the bronze mirror.

“Done. I’ve notified the men with the Thousand Kilometer Mirror. They should show up very soon.”