Chapter 165: The Pyramid of Skulls

The pyramid of skulls was originally erected as a monument to showcase military might, built by piling up the severed heads of the enemy. Surely, every man with a shred of pride and spirit would feel it to be an unbearable humiliation upon beholding such a sight.

Naturally, Fengren Qimaili could not endure this intense provocation, which directly led to the current scene.

Although vegetable oil lacked the combustion efficiency of later-day petroleum, when splashed across the surrounding two-story buildings, it easily ignited the wooden structures lining these streets.

In an instant, the houses surrounding the skull pyramid transformed into a sea of flames.

Everything happened with such suddenness that the soldiers had no time to react, especially in the case of Fengren Qimaili. After the explosion subsided, a group of soldiers rushed forward eagerly, but where Fengren Qimaili had stood, there was no trace of his figure left—only a patch of blood-stained earth, with fragments of flesh scattered everywhere by the blast.

"Where is the General?" Fengren Qimaili's personal guard asked with a face full of astonishment.

"We saw nothing! We only heard a loud explosion, and the General was already gone," replied a nearby soldier.

"Could this be another sorcery used by the Song army?" another guard continued. Having never witnessed anything like an explosion before, they had no idea that Fengren Qimaili had actually been blown to pieces.

"Look, that's the General's sword!" shouted a sharp-eyed soldier, pointing to a sword stuck in the wall not far away.

Although roaring flames were already consuming the surrounding buildings, the soldiers dared not retreat without finding their commander. Upon catching sight of the weapon Fengren Qimaili had wielded, the entire group rushed over immediately.

The sword was embedded halfway into the wall. One soldier strained with all his might to pull the iron blade out, but despite exerting himself to the utmost, it remained stubbornly stuck.

Even at that moment, the soldier did not forget to flatter Fengren Qimaili. "The Young General truly possesses divine strength! He drove this sword straight into the wall like this, and I can't even pull it out for a moment."

The notion of driving a sword deep into a solid wall purely by hand was nothing short of an idle dream.

"The Young General must have deliberately jammed this sword in this exact spot to leave us a clue! Everyone, hurry up and search—we must find the clue the Young General left behind for us," the personal guard urged the troops.

"Th-this... is this the Young General's arm?" Just as the guard finished speaking, the sharp-eyed soldier spoke up once more, though his tone was now tinged with terror.

The soldiers rushed over hastily. It was a severed arm—or to be precise, only half a palm. It had not been cleanly chopped off with a blade; rather, the flesh of the half-hand was mangled beyond recognition. However, the ring worn on the thumb unmistakably revealed its owner's identity: it belonged to none other than their Young General, Fengren Qimaili.

"This... the Young General has been killed by the sorcery of the Song army!" Before anyone knew which soldier had cried out, the rest finally realized that their Young General was dead.

"The Young General is dead? Impossible! You are not allowed to talk nonsense!" Upon hearing this, Fengren Qimaili's personal guard could not help but roar in fury.

"The Song army's sorcery is simply too terrifying! Let's hurry up and flee; if we don't run now, we'll be burned alive by this fire!" shouted one of the soldiers.

What he said was indeed the truth. The surroundings had already turned into a blazing inferno, and failing to escape immediately meant they might truly perish in the flames.

Consequently, the soldiers prepared to leave.

"No! None of you are allowed to move!" At that moment, Fengren Qimaili's guard refused to comply. He blocked their path and shouted, "The Young General's body hasn't been found yet! You cannot leave—you must stay and help me find the Young General's remains."

"They can't be found! The Young General's body was torn apart by the Song army's sorcery. The remains are already shattered, and we can never recover a complete body now. The fire is about to reach us—if we don't leave right this instant, we'll all be burned alive here!" one soldier retorted to the guard.

"Scoundrel! How dare you speak to me like that? Do you believe I won't slap your face?" the guard shouted, his emotions spiraling out of control.

Seeing the guard in such an agitated state, the soldier realized it was unwise to provoke him further at this juncture. He kept his mouth shut, turned on his heel, and prepared to flee.

The guard, having long anticipated that this soldier intended to run away, immediately stepped in front of him and declared, "No, you cannot leave."

The soldier shoved the guard aside with a hard push and said, "If you want to stay here and wait for death, I won't stop you, but the rest of us still want to live. Step aside, or don't blame your brothers for showing you no mercy."

The guard had never expected a mere soldier to speak to him in such a manner. As Fengren Qimaili's personal guard, every soldier usually treated him with the utmost courtesy. Stunned by this sudden insolence, he lost face instantly. Drawing his sword, he threatened the soldier, "You are attempting to commit insubordination against your superior! Watch out for your head."

"If we wait any longer, we won't even have heads left!" With that retort, the soldier shoved the guard once more. Without wasting another word, he bolted frantically toward the city gates. "The General staying behind is actually a blessing in disguise; with so many brothers keeping him company here, he won't be lonely on the netherworld road—at least they can look out for one another."

"You bastard, get back here!" Hearing those words, the guard gnashed his teeth in rage, but the soldier, entirely unfearing, had already vanished into the distance.

The guard carefully gathered up Fengren Qimaili's severed palm and tried once more to pull out his precious sword, but after exerting himself for a long while to no avail, he was forced to give up. By now, the blaze had grown overwhelmingly fierce. Having no other choice, the guard reluctantly abandoned the search for the rest of Fengren Qimaili's remains, turned around, and prepared to head out clutching the severed hand.

However, the fire had already formed an inescapable wall of flames; leaving was now an impossibility. The houses on both sides had long since collapsed with a deafening crash under the fury of the inferno. Having taken only a few steps, the guard was struck down by a falling burning beam and never rose again.

Even in death, his arms remained tightly clutched around Fengren Qimaili's severed palm.

Fengren Qimaili had entered the city leading five thousand soldiers, yet fewer than four thousand made it back out. Without losing a single soldier of their own, the Song forces had simply laid traps within the city, wiping out over a thousand troops of the Western Xia army.