The boundless swamp, like a black ocean, spread to the horizon.

In the dark green shrubs at the swamp’s edge, light flickered dimly in the darkness, with faint sounds of tense breathing, showing that quite a few men lurked among those dense low plants.

Ying Bai was among them, in a position most suitable for observing terrain and striking, slowly wiping his long sword.

Behind him were the silently resting Cross Halberd Army troops. This was the Cross Halberd Army’s Seventh Battalion, called the Elite Battalion, entirely composed of Cross Halberd Army soldiers. They had been personally trained earlier by titled captains and generals under Pei Shu, and were the first batch of soldiers to grow up through the Hawksbill War.

Jing Hengbo placed great importance on this army carrying out secret missions, quietly crossing the swamp to attack behind Dige. The most important soldiers were all here.

Ying Bai’s gaze swept over the shrubs behind him. The mass of black heads gave him some comfort. Though they had encountered sudden attacks in the final stretch of the swamp, meeting a bunch of strange enemies he had never even imagined, fortunately his reaction was timely enough. He led the soldiers to retreat into this low shrub area where the boneless people couldn’t slip in, and those beast-like people, being too tall, couldn’t conceal themselves either. Both sides had entered a stalemate.

Though they preserved their strength and timely withdrew from the swamp, Ying Bai was still burning with anxiety—infiltrating through the swamp was meant to gain time and catch Dige off guard. Now blocked here, every minute and second was military opportunity. If they fought, they hadn’t yet found a way to deal with the opponents. If they didn’t fight, they would miss the battle opportunity. If Jing Hengbo reached Dige city but couldn’t form an encirclement, she might fall into passivity.

On the opposite side, those strange “people” had also formed a long line beside the swamp. Some people emanating cold air strolled by the swamp, staring at the shrubs here. Behind them in the woods, those tall human-beast figures appeared and disappeared, with cold flashes of claws often visible in the darkness, or fierce howls of wild beasts coming from the forest. The boneless people were invisible, but if he guessed correctly, they were hidden in the swamp’s sludge, ready to deliver fatal strikes to anyone passing by.

Both sides had been in stalemate for half a day. The opponents didn’t seem eager to launch attacks, but blocked the road to Dige tightly. It seemed that as long as they stopped Ying Bai, their mission was complete.

Ying Bai looked at the sky. Dawn was approaching. There was still a stretch of road to Dige. According to the original plan, he should reach Dige at dawn tomorrow, but now it was almost too late.

The only option now was to take risks.

He gritted his teeth fiercely and said in a low voice behind him: “Prepare for battle!”

A tense commotion arose behind him.

“Seventh Battalion First Squad, wear double-layer armor, walk by the swamp edge later to attract all the boneless people. Work in pairs—one to lure enemies, one to strike. Second Squad archers ambush. Third Squad follows me, carry thorns and charge in zigzag formation. Once we break through their defense line, Second Squad shoot arrows. Remember, only shoot at throats!”

Orders were quickly passed down, and the shrubs rustled slightly.

“Seventh Battalion Third Squad, remove armor!”

The movement in the shrubs stopped, followed by deadly silence, then someone cried out: “General, you cannot!”

In such battle, against such opponents, once armor was removed, there was little chance of survival.

Ying Bai’s face paled slightly as he watched the faint dawn light on the horizon.

If given time, he would find better ways to deal with these three types of monsters, but now he had to choose charging and order his men to remove armor.

The boneless people were not only slippery but tough. Only by wearing double-layer armor could the First Squad possibly resist their attacks and buy time for the Third Squad to clear the way. The Third Squad could only be lighter by removing armor and carrying thorns to block beast claws, having a better chance of breaking through the defense line.

He didn’t explain, just silently removed his protective armor and put it on a youth beside him.

“Once the bow is drawn there’s no turning back. If we can’t get through, more will die. Think of your brothers about to reach Dige.”

Silence all around as warriors silently removed their armor.

The steady, dignified cavalry commander slowly stood up, and the sound of his sword was like dragon song.

The opposite side had also noticed. Beast eyes glowed like green phantom fire, and mud churned in the swamp, bubbling with black foam.

“Charge!”

Shrubs toppled, pine needles flew, troops divided into three routes, rushing straight at the opposition.

From above, the rolling human flow looked like three torrents, three sharp arrows shooting straight out. One arrow pierced toward the swamp shore, stirring up splashing mud. Black elongated bodies rolled endlessly, leaping in the night like black snakes. In the center was Ying Bai personally leading, like countless spiked maces, smashing hard into the half-beast, half-human monsters rushing toward them. The third group remained in place, silent as rocks in the darkness, deep and steady as mountains, bows drawn and arrows nocked, waiting for that instant when the encirclement would be torn open.

Almost instantly, both sides crashed together viciously. Screams and roars exploded in that moment, sharp and piercing, breaking through the darkness before dawn.

Ying Bai charged at the front. His first strike already flattened the skull of the most ferocious monster. Though he usually led cavalry and rarely fought on foot, as a famous general renowned in Dahuang for years, his tactical choices and grasp of battle situations were naturally precise and sharp. Though the double-armored soldiers inevitably got injured, they avoided being wounded and entangled by the boneless people. Though the beast-like people had sharp claws, they kept howling and clutching their bloody claws, tumbling backward. As he predicted, these beast-like people were fierce like wild animals but also lacked intelligence and organization like wild animals. Once frustrated, they immediately scattered and avoided, actually opening a path.

Once the breach was torn, Ying Bai shouted: “Release arrows!”

A blue light flashed across the fish-belly white sky, like dark blue-black clouds suddenly covering the sky before a storm. The air shrieked sharp as ghost cries. The beast-like people also crouched down like beasts, staring foolishly at the sky. Seeing that posture, Ying Bai inwardly cried: “Not good!”

Sure enough, the next moment, that group of originally upright, walking beast-like people suddenly went on all fours, curled up and scattered in all directions. Those arrows originally aimed at their throats immediately missed, mostly hitting their thick-skinned rumps.

Ying Bai cursed inwardly at the miscalculation and lost opportunity. Otherwise, that arrow rain could have killed at least half the beast-people, greatly reducing battlefield pressure.

Now those monsters were startled and fled into the surrounding forests. The road ahead was finally broken open. Ying Bai didn’t want to continue fighting. With one command, soldiers gathered and moved forward. Deputy generals kept shouting: “Quick! Quick march! Don’t approach the swamp! Those boneless people can’t leave the swamp!”

Just as Ying Bai was about to breathe easier and regroup to deal with enemies who had turned to ambush tactics—boneless people would ambush from the swamp shore, beast monsters would charge out from the forests again, requiring troop reorganization.

At this moment, he suddenly felt a bit cold.

This chill came suddenly. A soldier beside him rubbed his arms, saying: “So cold…” Ying Bai had already alertly raised his eyes.

Ahead suddenly rose a vast white mist. In the mist were vague figures walking straight forward. This side had alertly drawn bows and nocked arrows, but that side paid no heed, walking straight forward. Wherever they walked, the mist moved, looking like a group of walking zombies.

With a “buzz,” another volley of arrows flew, shooting precisely into the white mist. Seeing those people neither dodging nor avoiding, with no chance of escape, soldiers were about to cheer when Ying Bai had already narrowed his eyes, shouting: “Fall back!”

Before soldiers could react, the soldier charging at the front suddenly screamed and shot backward, crashing into his comrades. When he hit the ground, blood spurted all over his body, seemingly dyeing the mist ahead red.

There seemed to be faint squeaking sounds in the air.

White mist became light red mist. In the light red mist, those people still walked straight, not changing their route at all, coming toward this side.

Now near daybreak, dawn also rose. Milky white morning mist mixed with that vast, cold white mist, making vision even less clear. In that dim, chaotic white, that group of “people” walked somewhat stiffly, with uniform steps, straight forward step by step, step by step…

This time without Ying Bai’s order, everyone began retreating. What caused suffocating terror wasn’t just that soldier’s inexplicable death, but also that eerie gait, that cold mist, those mysterious zombie-like people in the mist who seemed uninjurable and undying, and the enormous psychological pressure brought by their silent, step-by-step approach.

More people were alarmed by where those arrows had gone. They clearly saw the arrows shot out but ultimately caused no casualties, not knowing where they went.

Only Ying Bai had seen the earlier scene. The arrows were indeed shot and did approach those people, but all grazed past them. Some arrows hit their bodies, making sharp sounds like metal clashing.

What kind of strange people were these again?

Where did such a terrible and disgusting army come from?

Worse still, rustling sounds and flashing figures came from nearby forests, black slurry churned and boneless forms twisted underfoot in the swamp. Those beast-people and boneless people who had been scattered with difficulty were already taking advantage of these new monsters’ arrival, moving from forests and swamps toward that mist. That vast, cold white mist was the best cover.

All previous efforts wasted.

Ying Bai’s face also turned pale and cold.

He wasn’t particularly afraid of these new monsters appearing—there was always a way to deal with them. But his worry was whether the opponents would continuously produce such monsters. How could they advance on this route?

Cold white mist pressed closer. All soldiers were drawing swords.

The terrain was unfavorable to both sides. One side was swamp, the other dense forest or shrub forest. On the middle road, tens of thousands of confronting soldiers crowded together. They couldn’t fight in open field, couldn’t disperse—they could only charge, only fight with their lives!

The two armies approached like two spears about to clash, sparks about to fly.

“Charge!”

The frontmost soldiers, unable to bear this step-by-step oppressive approach, howled and charged out.

Black armor crashed into white mist.

Still only at the mist’s edge.

Before thrusting out their sword points.

“Hiss hiss” rang out continuously. At the white mist’s edge, a large patch of red mist suddenly exploded.

More and redder than the previous red mist, because more people were injured. The front batch fell in unison like cut grass, each person’s body slashed as if by countless blades, torn with countless bloody wounds!

Soldiers behind saw this scene and cried “Ah!” in shock.

Now very close, they clearly saw the opponents had no weapons at all, hadn’t even struck!

They were just a group of “people,” each person surrounded by a layer of frost, looking particularly pale, particularly gaunt, and particularly sharp. They just walked straight forward, and anyone touching them on all sides was as if pierced by sword qi.

They themselves seemed like swords, so sharp that they wounded on sight, so much so that those monsters hiding in the white mist kept their distance from them.

How to deal with such things?

Soldiers began involuntarily retreating.

But Ying Bai’s face had already calmed. The sword in his hand gleamed coldly, pointing straight forward.

If the opponents were swords, there would be a day to break them, as long as he was sharper!

As long as he could break one of their points, he could restore military morale and let soldiers know these monsters weren’t invincible!

He knew that as commander he shouldn’t rashly enter dangerous ground, but now there was no retreat.

He leaped up, his blue robes flashing over the white mist.

Those pale people in the white mist suddenly withdrew together, then gathered toward the center. They pressed so closely together that in an instant they gave the feeling of countless sharp swords assembled together. At the same time, that sword qi also assembled together. The scattered mist contracted and gathered, fiercely converging into a white pillar of light-like mist, rushing straight to the clouds above and toward Ying Bai slashing down with sword from the clouds!

In an instant, Ying Bai striking alone became one person facing all the sword-people, one person facing a giant sword capable of splitting mountains!

That gathered giant sword light was so vast it enveloped Ying Bai entirely.

Bone-chilling cold seeped out, covering heaven and earth, so penetrating that Ying Bai’s movements were inevitably affected. He could have dodged aside but was slowed by a beat.

Just this one delay, and his heart turned cold.

Too late.

Below him sword qi rolled, broader than ten feet. This wasn’t sword qi any master in the world could produce, not even Ziwei, because this was sword qi gathered from hundreds of “swords,” rushing at him alone. The next moment, that cold, sharp, relentless sword light would engulf him, freeze him, until completely crushing him.