Chapter 123: Great Battle

East Hong Township.

On the dried riverbed, seven or eight elite swordsmen of the Yu family, along with two Yu family sword masters, and one Blue Uniform Guard of the Demon Slaying Division, were surrounding and attacking a demon beast that was smaller in size, with black stripes all over its body, resembling neither a leopard nor a wolf.

However, despite the combined strength of everyone, it was still difficult to subdue this demon beast. It kept charging left and right in the midst of the encirclement, and whenever it swung its claws, blood would splatter.

A black-striped leopard demon!

Able to withstand the siege of so many people, including three existences at the Tendon Transformation Realm, it was undoubtedly a third-tier demon beast.

"Don’t fight head-on, entangle it, don’t let it escape!"

The Blue Uniform Guard, Ding He, shouted.

If everyone joined forces in a desperate fight, even if they could eventually kill this black-striped leopard demon, at least a few people would be killed or injured. Even they, the few martial artists at the Tendon Transformation Realm, might not be unscathed. But, this place was very close to the town of East Hong Township, so there was no need to fight to the death. They just needed to trap it here, and reinforcements would arrive soon.

Although there were people arranged to patrol and guard all key places in East Hong Township, it was inevitable that some would slip through the net. A black-striped leopard demon, small in size and fast, could sneak in during the night, making it impossible to guard against in advance.

"Roar!"

Seeing that no one nearby was fighting it head-on, but that three figures at the Tendon Transformation Realm were trapping it in the center, and that they would not attack unless it moved, the black-striped leopard demon let out a low roar.

It was, after all, a demon beast and not an ordinary wild animal. It vaguely sensed that the situation was not good. After a fierce roar, it suddenly pounced to the right, not hesitating to withstand Ding He’s saber strike, and forcibly broke through the encirclement.

"Not good."

Ding He’s expression changed slightly.

If this demon beast escaped, it would be very troublesome to pursue it afterward.

But he was not as fast as the opponent. After the black-striped leopard demon forcibly broke through, his saber could no longer catch up.

However.

Just as the black-striped leopard demon was about to break free from the encirclement and escape, a figure in white suddenly appeared. A ray of sword light swept obliquely, forcing the black-striped leopard demon to stop and forcefully suppressed it, driving it back into the encirclement.

It was Xu Hongyu who had arrived.

"The Master is here!"

Seeing this, many Yu family swordsmen were energized. They brandished their sabers and rushed forward to restrain the demon beast from the side.

Xu Hongyu’s strength was already sufficient to deal with any third-tier demon beast, most of which she could kill on her own. With many subordinates restraining it from the side, she pierced the black-striped leopard demon’s throat within a few moves.

"The Master’s swordsmanship is superb…"

Ding He breathed slightly and complimented the black-striped leopard demon’s corpse.

Xu Hongyu did not respond, but quickly dealt with the black-striped leopard demon’s corpse and took the blood essence. As she was looking into the distance, Xiao He’s figure arrived from not far away.

"Miss, there’s an anomaly in the direction of the Wilderness Mountain. A messenger reported that there was an earth tremor there, and a mountain collapsed."

Xiao He quickly stated as she approached Xu Hongyu.

Earth tremor, mountain collapse…

Xu Hongyu hesitated slightly, then thought of something and said, "Is it a terrain change caused by the severe drought? Then there might be some rare treasures that will appear, but at this time of demon chaos, the Wilderness Mountain is not safe either."

She also thought that Chen Mu was in the Wilderness Mountain, and that he might go to explore it. But, compared to any treasures, Chen Mu’s safety was more important. After all, the Wilderness Mountain was located at the border of two counties. If she received news, the He family in Huaiyu County would also receive the news. However, Chen Mu was usually prudent in his actions, so there should not be any trouble.

Xiao He whispered, "Why don’t I go and take a look."

Although she could not help much in terms of strength, and would be a burden if she went into the Wilderness Mountain, she was, after all, at the Tendon Transformation Realm, and could at least help monitor the situation on the periphery.

Xu Hongyu pondered slightly. She actually also wanted to go there, but since today, various places had been reporting that demons were appearing much more frequently than yesterday. They seemed to be even more agitated. Even demons like the black-striped leopard demon were sneaking into the township at night. If she left the township, the threat from these third-tier demons would greatly increase.

If she ignored everything and went over, not only would she not help Chen Mu, she might even cause trouble. That would undoubtedly be reckless.

Just as she was pondering.

Suddenly.

A whistle sounded in the sky to the south.

Xu Hongyu, Xiao He, and Ding He, along with everyone else, looked up at the same time.

They heard the whistle, and after shooting straight into the sky, it did not gradually stop. Instead, it made a turn and sounded again. Then, there was a third long whistle, three in a row, resounding through the sky.

Three whistles!

Everyone’s faces changed!

In the midst of the demon chaos, three whistles were the most serious sign of an emergency. Even the sound of the whistles could not determine the full extent of the situation. There had to be someone relaying the message to understand the full scope of the situation.

But no matter the situation, when three whistles sounded together, it meant that personnel from one place had to gather together.

"Let’s go!"

Xu Hongyu reacted quickly and immediately shouted, "Gather the remaining manpower in the township, notify the surrounding areas, all residents of the villages in the direction of the three whistles should retreat backward. Once the specific news comes, immediately report to the county government…"

As she returned to the township, she quickly issued commands. As one instruction after another was given, personnel stationed in the township and others nearby who were temporarily free from duty gathered from all directions and headed toward the south where the three whistles had sounded.

On the road to the south.

More and more personnel who had received the three whistles from all directions converged, quickly reaching nearly a hundred people. There were not only the personnel that Xu Hongyu brought, but also some ‘experts’ from the township, who had all been mobilized.

They did not go too far south. Xu Hongyu’s team directly met with the personnel who had come to report the news. The person was a Black Uniform Guard. He seemed to have been running at full speed. When he reached Xu Hongyu, he was already panting.

"Master… the Nangou Mountain direction has anomalies. There are a large number of demons, seemingly gathering from all directions. There are hundreds of them, with both second and third tiers. They are killing each other, and have not yet advanced to the north…"

Hundreds of demons!

Xu Hongyu’s gaze focused when she heard the report. No wonder there were three whistles. It was very uncommon for such a large number of demons to gather in a typical township. Even during a severe drought, since demons were not like humans and did not have order, when hundreds of demons gathered, they would often fight each other to the death.

But, since there was such an anomaly of hundreds of demons gathering, then it was highly likely that they would go north after their infighting. Indeed, it was necessary to gather people in advance to respond.

"Continue on the road."

After hearing the report, Xu Hongyu immediately said in a deep voice.

The team continued south, and after traveling another seven or eight miles, they met with another messenger. This time, it was a county yamen runner, who was almost out of breath. His face was somewhat pale. After meeting up with the team, he said intermittently:

"Master… the demons are… attacking from the south…"

"Let’s go!"

Xu Hongyu looked calm and continued forward.

Finally, after going another two or three miles, they arrived at a high slope. Looking toward the south, they saw a large number of strange-looking demons charging from the distance across the flat land. Although they were not in formation, and were far apart from each other, they were everywhere. It would be no exaggeration to say that there were hundreds of them.

"Everyone, follow me to engage them. Don’t scatter the manpower, concentrate our forces and break them one by one!"

Xu Hongyu’s clear, cold voice echoed across the wilderness.

Although the scale of the demon beasts was somewhat too large, numbering more than a hundred, and there were very few first-tier demons, with most of them being second-tier, and even some third-tier that could be seen, if they were to fully gather, and fight like an army, the number of her forces would be less than a third, making it impossible to resist them.

But, in the end, the demon beasts did not have order. They were scattered and far from each other. Though somewhat intelligent, they were not very clever. Even if their forces were insufficient, as long as they formed local fights where they were the larger force, they could still defeat the demons one by one with an overwhelming advantage.

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"Yes!"

Many of the Demon Slaying Division’s Blue and Black Uniform Guards who had demon hunting experience, all responded in deep voices at this moment, but some who did not have experience, who were facing demon chaos for the first time, felt unease in their hearts as they watched the demons spread all over the mountains and fields.

Kill!

Xu Hongyu, dressed in white, took the lead from the high slope, and charged down. When she arrived in front of a second-tier demon beast that was the closest to them, with a flash of her sword, she beheaded the demon with one strike.

The team behind her, Xiao He the maid, the Demon Slaying Division’s Blue Uniform Guard Ding He, and the others, also charged down. They soon collided with the demons that were charging straight at them on the wilderness.

The importance of decision-making was evident at this moment.

If they had scattered their forces, trying to form a line and block all paths of the demons, and ended up in a scattered fight, they would only have been able to block the demons for a short while. They would have quickly been completely scattered. But, with Xu Hongyu ordering them to concentrate their forces in numbers, they were able to quickly defeat a large number of demons one by one.

And those demons that were far away and not in the path of the interception of her team, did not take the opportunity to directly pass by the high slope defense line. Instead, they all noticed the battlefield on Xu Hongyu’s side, and quickly began to actively gather from all directions. There was no need to actively divide the troops to engage them.

Soon.

Before long, after a fierce battle, although Xu Hongyu’s team also suffered some casualties, the proportion was less than one-tenth. The demon beasts, on the other hand, suffered casualties of several times more. At least fifty or sixty second-tier demons and a dozen third-tier demons had been killed. Many others had fled due to injuries.

But even so, Xu Hongyu, Xiao He, and the others on the battlefield did not show any relief or joy. Instead, as they continued to fight, their expressions became more solemn.

Because.

The number of demon deaths and the demons that had fled had exceeded one hundred. Yet, from the view of the wilderness, the demons attacking from the distance were not that different from when they first started. They were still constantly emerging. It was not an exaggeration to say that the number was at least two or three hundred!

"How can there be so many?!"

Xu Hongyu, after another strike and killing a third-tier demon beast with the cooperation of Xiao He and the others, her chest heaved slightly. She breathed for a moment, and looked at the wilderness in the distance. Her eyes revealed a trace of shock.

The number of demons gathered was undoubtedly somewhat too many. What was most strange was that the demon she had just killed was clearly a type that would only be agitated during the Great Cold. Yet, now, when it was clearly a severe drought, it also looked like it was excited to attack.

Something was not right!

Xu Hongyu instinctively felt that the situation was not right, but she could not think of the reason for it. Looking at the demons that were still constantly surging, her heart became more and more solemn.

The situation was not good.

Although the demons did not have order and her side was concentrated against them, the advantage was that they always maintained a local encirclement where they had numerical superiority. But the problem was that this kind of fierce fighting was also very exhausting. After this battle, although she could still continue fighting, the qi and blood loss for some of the martial artists who were only at the Flesh Training Realm was severe. It was obvious that their physical strength was declining.

Defeating one hundred demons, with less than a tenth of her side hurt, the next hundred would absolutely not be the same numbers.

It was even hard to say whether they could defend against them.

Pfft!

Ding He was covered in bloodstains. He pierced the body of a second-tier demon beast with one strike, and then breathed heavily twice, exhaling a thick white mist. He looked at the distance with a somewhat ugly expression, then quickly retreated and came closer to Xu Hongyu.

"Master, there are too many demon beasts. It’s probably not good to continue fighting. Should we retreat temporarily?"

In this situation, if they did not retreat to find an opportunity to rest, and continued to fight fiercely, casualties would inevitably increase, and the situation would undoubtedly worsen, until it completely collapsed.

Xu Hongyu’s gaze also shifted. The closest village to here had already been ordered to evacuate in advance. There was indeed a space to retreat temporarily. But, the problem was that, in the current situation, even if they retreated, it would be difficult to find an opportunity to catch their breath. After all, the demons were still coming from everywhere. Retreating would just move the battle line back.

Ding He probably meant more that they should temporarily give up resisting, and allow all the demons to rush in. When reinforcements from the county government arrived, they could then counterattack. But, if they did that, the impact would be really great. Hundreds of demons would be scattered through the townships. At least a few villages would be ravaged by them. Even the townships might fall into demon disaster.

But if they did not retreat, it would be difficult to keep defending for much longer.

Just as Xu Hongyu’s beautiful eyebrows slightly furrowed, unable to make up her mind, Xiao He suddenly reached out and poked her.

Xu Hongyu was startled, and then followed Xiao He’s line of sight to notice a figure in blue at the high slope in the distance. The figure was coming from the east, and was holding a steel saber in hand. Under the setting sun, the figure cast a long shadow. It seemed to step across rivers and to wear mountains on its head, and to descend from the high slope to the battle line.

"I ran into some things and was delayed, but it seems like I still made it."

Chen Mu arrived at the front of the battle line. He nodded lightly to Xu Hongyu, then took a step forward.

Looking at Chen Mu’s figure going towards the battle line, facing the demons that were still surging forward, a trace of light appeared in Xu Hongyu’s pair of clear eyes. She then glanced at Ding He beside her and said, "There is no need to panic. Continue the fight."

"But…"

Ding He was stunned. He was about to say something more, but saw Xu Hongyu had already begun to charge forward again.

Clearly, Xu Hongyu had intended to retreat. How did she suddenly change her mind? Was it because of Chen Mu who had just arrived? But now, even if Chen Mu had some strength, how could one person’s reinforcements…

His thoughts abruptly stopped.