Chapter 141 Delivering Heads Across a Thousand Miles

Over time, the towering pine trees had accumulated thick layers of resin, allowing Yang Weiguo and his men to ignite the fire with ease.

The western wind howled, and in an instant, over a dozen trees transformed into a sea of flames.

Propelled by the wind, the fire roared like a demon, sweeping relentlessly toward the main camp of the Western Xia army.

"Not good! There's a fire!" Someone shouted out, and instantly utter chaos erupted throughout the Western Xia encampment.

"General, this is bad! A fire has broken out!" A guard rushed into Li Changqi's tent and reported anxiously.

Awakened in the dead of night, Li Changqi was momentarily dazed, a wave of sleep-induced irritation washing over him. He almost drew his blade to execute the guard on the spot.

"Spare my life, Great General! I am only here to deliver a message," the guard pleaded, dropping to his knees before Li Changqi.

Li Changqi took a deep breath. Fortunately, he had not completely lost his reason and managed to suppress the rising fury within him. He asked coldly, "What did you just say?"

"Great General, a fire has broken out! We must flee at once!" the guard hurriedly replied.

Hearing this, Li Changqi felt his mind go blank with a loud ringing. He rushed frantically out of his tent, only to find the entire western horizon dyed in a bloody crimson. The night sky seemed to be entirely illuminated by the raging inferno.

"How did a fire start so suddenly? Weren't scouts sent to keep watch in Da'an City?" Li Changqi demanded in exasperation.

"The scouts never returned, and we don't know how the fire started," Yeli Milu replied with a bitter, helpless shake of his head. Could the fire possibly have ignited on its own? That would be utterly absurd.

"Listen to my orders! Do not panic!" Li Changqi shouted at the top of his lungs.

Yet, amid the panic-stricken soldiers surrounding him, who would possibly heed his commands at a time like this?

Li Changqi had vastly overestimated himself. He had believed that even if someone set a fire, he would have ample time to respond and lead his troops to safety. Only now did he realize how wrong he was.

Water and fire show no mercy. Could the speed at which a wildfire spreads ever be outrun by human legs?

"Stop panicking! The whole army, assemble!" Li Changqi yelled frantically.

Yeli Milu hurried over to Li Changqi, shook his head, and said, "Great General, it's useless. We must quickly lead everyone to flee, or it will be too late."

Seizing Yeli Milu by the neck, Li Changqi roared, "What are you talking about? Say that again if you dare!"

Yeli Milu endured the agonizing grip and gasped, "Look around you! We are already surrounded by the flames. If we don't leave now, we will truly be buried in this sea of fire."

Hearing Yeli Milu's words, Li Changqi turned his head to look, and terror gripped him as well. Indeed, in this brief span of time, more than half of the area surrounding the encampment had been consumed by the blazing inferno. If they did not flee immediately, they would undoubtedly be devoured by the fire.

Originally, Li Changqi had harbored grand ambitions of achieving military glory and establishing his legacy. But facing the imminent threat of death, he completely panicked. To hell with military glory—he would rather go back to being his carefree, idle prince.

After all, he was nothing more than a pampered aristocrat, a spoiled scion of nobility. At life-or-death moments, his only instinct was to save his own skin. And so, Li Changqi fled.

He summoned his warhorse, mounted it in a frenzy, and galloped wildly in the direction of Xingqing Prefecture.

Yeli Milu stared blankly as Li Changqi rode away. When he had spoken of fleeing, he certainly had not meant for the general to abandon everyone and run away alone! Yet, remarkably, the Great General had chosen to save himself and desert his men.

Yeli Milu let out a furious roar: "A worthless fool who ruins the state!" With that, he immediately set about organizing the soldiers to retreat. But at this juncture, what need was there for organization? The terrified troops had long since scattered in all directions.

Yeli Milu managed to rally barely over twenty thousand men, charging toward the hillside against the wind.

These twenty thousand men were undoubtedly fortunate. Yeli Milu possessed extensive experience dealing with fires, so he led them racing up the half-mountain slope following the direction of the smoke. Yet, at the same time, they were deeply unfortunate.

For waiting for them higher up the slope were five thousand raised slaughter blades, lying in wait for their arrival.

Seeing Yeli Milu charging toward their position with his troops, Yang Weizhongs could not help grinning broadly. He remarked to Luo Ping, "Truly, there is a path to heaven which they refuse to take, yet they charge uninvited through the gates of hell."

Luo Ping had never imagined that the Western Xia general would be so utterly incompetent as to flee directly toward the entrenched position of the enemy forces. Was this not actively seeking their own demise? The current Feiyu Army excelled at night combat, and they felt not a shred of fear even when facing a Western Xia force many times their size.

This was the power of absolute momentum.

"Charge and kill!" As Yeli Milu led his men charging forward, secretly rejoicing that he had finally guided a fraction of the army away from the jaws of death, the thunderous battle cries erupting all around shattered his relief, plunging him once again into despair.

This time, Yeli Milu was truly lost.

In the dark of night, volley after volley of sharp arrows rained down upon the Western Xia troops.

The Feiyu Army did not even need to aim; a dense, dark mass of Western Xia soldiers filled their field of vision. They fired their arrows without the slightest hesitation, and once their quivers were empty, they could easily resupply themselves from the fallen Western Xia soldiers—a logistical problem they never had to worry about.

The Western Xia army was thrown into utter turmoil. Flight was a primal instinct in moments of mortal danger, and despite Yeli Milu's desperate attempts to rally his forces, in the pitch black of night, not a single one of these frightened, bird-like soldiers would obey his commands.

The twenty-odd thousand men scattered and fled in every direction.

Taking advantage of the cover of night, the five thousand Feiyu soldiers systematically harvested the lives of the Western Xia troops. Of the twenty-odd thousand men, fewer than five thousand managed to escape. Some, blinded by panic, ran straight onto the blades of the Feiyu soldiers.

Yeli Milu failed to escape and was captured alive by Luo Ping.

"We killed Yeli Wangrong a couple of days ago, and now you hand us Yeli Milu on a silver platter. Is your Yeli family on a mission to deliver heads from a thousand miles away?" Luo Ping asked with a cheerful smile, fully exuding the posture of a victor.

Yeli Milu cast his gaze around him. The surrounding ring of men were all dressed in black, exuding a chilling aura of murderous intent. Even from a distance, Yeli Milu could sense a suffocating aura of death—a sensation deeply unsettling to the core.

"Who are you people?" Yeli Milu demanded.

"Aren't you asking the obvious?" Luo Ping chuckled, looking at Yeli Milu, and replied, "We are the Feiyu Army of the Great Song."

"I am baffled," Yeli Milu asked with a puzzled frown, "How on earth did you manage to march fifty thousand troops into Western Xia without anyone noticing?"

"Hahaha..." Upon hearing Yeli Milu's words, the surrounding Song soldiers burst into hearty laughter. The Western Xia army was truly a hilarious lot.

"For a dying man, we are remarkably merciful. We'll tell you so you can die with your eyes open!" Luo Ping said with a beaming smile.