Chapter 44: Decompression

"31 to 8."

Su Yao lowered his bow, nodded, and said, "You eagle-shooting archer actually has some skills after all."

"......"

Jin Fangyan rolled his eyes. With a mere 8 kills to his name, he had no idea whether Su Yao was praising or mocking him. He cupped his fists in a salute and said, "You are still the superior one, Your Excellency. Jin is deeply ashamed and falls short of your mastery."

Through this skirmish, however, he could tell that within a distance of one hundred and thirty or forty paces, the difference in their archery skills was not particularly obvious.

Although he did not possess the terrifying precision to either pierce a skull or shoot straight through a throat, he was still fully capable of neutralizing an enemy with a single arrow.

What created such a massive gap in their kill counts was, in fact, Su Yao's terrifying mobility.

When Jin Fangyan eliminated enemies within his range and had to chase them down on foot to fire again, Su Yao was able to effortlessly leap, bound, and shift among the tree shadows, taking up positions of absolute height and commanding from above.

It was precisely at that moment that the gap in their kill counts widened beyond reach, leaving Jin Fangyan trailing behind and staring in helpless frustration.

"Jin Fangyan?! As a Hun eagle-shooting archer, you serve the Han people. Do you not feel any shame?!"

This was a captive Su Yao had purposely left alive. Both of his legs and his right arm had been pierced by sharp arrows, rendering him completely immobile.

"King Xiutu has rebelled and turned traitor. Every man has the right to punish him. How dare you, accomplices to tyranny, have the face to lecture me?"

Jin Fangyan spoke with righteous indignation and an awe-inspiring aura of justice, as if the hesitation and inner conflict he felt moments ago had never existed at all.

"What is he saying?" Su Yao asked.

"He is begging for a swift death," Jin Fangyan replied with a completely expressionless face.

"Very well. Grant his wish after the interrogation is over."

Hun Scout: "?????"

Leaving the lamentations in the distant mountain forest aside for a moment, further down the road, in the rocky gorge section at the front of the Yangyang Path—a passage barely wide enough for three horses to walk abreast—the ground was completely littered with shattered stones, making it extremely difficult for wagons and horses to pass.

At this moment, the thousands of Xiongnu mounted archers who had forced a rapid march to this location could only line up in a lengthy procession and crowd tightly together behind.

"Huyan Jun, you good-for-nothing idiot who ruins more than he accomplishes!"

The veteran commander Bu Ye, who was currently directing the road-clearing efforts, pointed right at Huyan Jun's nose and unleashed a torrent of fierce abuse.

"You let a mere band of fewer than a hundred riders slip right through your fingers, and on top of that, you let them make off with two hundred horses? Why don't you just go die?"

"And that Lanya is also utter trash. Not only did he let his gates get breached through trickery, but he also had fifty Royal Tent Guards at his disposal, yet they still managed to lose that fight. Such an empty reputation! I swear, if I tied my family dog there as the garrison commander, it would hold out longer than he did!"

He was now fully aware that the so-called Han army of several thousand troops simply did not exist. Although he was still clueless as to how those men had tricked open the gates of Huanglu Fortress and taken the stronghold, it was obvious they could not have left many people behind.

Thus, he was now actively clearing the road so that the main army could pass through shortly, climb the mountain to launch a direct and forceful assault on Huanglu Fortress, and recapture the lost stronghold.

"Old General Bu Ye, if you underestimate these Han people, you are bound to suffer dearly," Huyan Jun said, swallowing his pride and enduring the verbal abuse.

In his opinion, even if they had to suffer some losses, they should pull back as early as possible and leave with all due haste.

Huanglu Fortress was, after all, merely a mountain fort. If the garrison forces were too small, it was entirely unrealistic to completely lock down the Yangyang Path below. As long as they dispatched a hundred shield-bearing daredevils to brave the arrow rain and clear the path, breaking away and retreating was entirely feasible.

After all, even if one had an ample supply of arrows, human physical endurance made it impossible to draw a bow continuously without rest.

At worst, the daredevils and slaves would suffer heavy casualties, along with the loss of some supplies that were difficult to transport, but the overall damage to the entire army would still remain within an acceptable range.

Who would have thought that this elderly chiliarch would actually lose his head and fixate on recapturing the fortress?

Just crafting enough makeshift scaling ladders for the siege would take them nearly a full day. Add to that the time needed to clear the road, climb the mountain, and finally execute the siege—even if everything went smoothly, this fellow would waste at least two days lingering here.

Now, look at those dozens of Han soldiers who had the audacity to execute a desperate dash with three horses per man to capture the fortress against all odds. It was hard to believe they did not have subsequent reinforcements or some hidden backup plan.

By the time their forces were exhausted and fatigued, if they were caught in a pincer attack, the result might very well be total annihilation.

No, their baggage train wouldn't even arrive until tomorrow. Lacking proper tools, even if they started full-scale road clearance right now, it would still waste a significant amount of time.

If pursuit forces truly arrived in two or three days to execute a pincer movement, then this tragic fate of suffering a devastating defeat was likely already inevitable.

The more he thought about it, the more terrified Huyan Jun became. He actively offered counsel to Bu Ye, only to be met with the retort:

"Pursuit forces? A pincer movement? What on earth are you panicking about, you coward!"

Old Bu Ye pointed at the narrow path before them.

"Leaving aside where else in Taiyuan there might even be Han soldiers, just look at this road—do you see it?

With a passage this narrow, as long as we deploy a few dozen rear-guard troops to hold their bows and raise their shields here, even an army of thousands would find it difficult to advance a single inch.

And they only need to hold out until we retake Huanglu Fortress, after which they can fight while retreating, forming a mutual support network right beneath the mountain fort. No matter how many Han soldiers come, it will be a one-way ticket to death!"

Was that really the case?

Huyan Jun thought about it for a moment and realized that Old General Bu Ye's words were not entirely without reason.

Yet why did the apprehension in his heart refuse to dissipate?

His gaze stretched forward along the gravel-strewn path beneath his feet, and in a daze, a hallucination seemed to materialize before him.

It was that scar-faced man who had coerced him with a bow—covered in blood, radiating murderous intent, standing there with his bow drawn and ready to fire.

Huyan Jun shook his head in resignation and rubbed his eyes with both hands. He never imagined he would actually become a frightened bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring. Imagining hallucinations was one thing, but why did that ruthless fellow in his illusion have two arrows nocked at the same time? Truly...

Huyan Jun's internal muttering did not get the chance to continue. A matchless, overwhelming force slammed violently into his eyes. Only then did he realize with a jolt—that wasn't a hallucination?!

That was his very last thought before death. At least he got to die with his eyes open and understand what hit him. In contrast, his neighbor, Chiliarch Bu Ye, died completely clueless. Facing directly toward Huyan Jun, Bu Ye was instantly pierced right through the temple by an arrow, killed by a single strike.

So much for strategic planning; so much for cautious calculation—everything turned to dust beneath Su Yao's arrow:

"Double Kill!"

"Triple Kill!"

"Quadra Kill!"

"Enemy attack—Enemy attack!"

What happened to holding the fort?

Not far behind Su Yao, who was nocking an arrow and still chanting incantations under his breath, Jin Fangyan also covered his face with both hands and squeezed his eyes shut.

Although he had no idea what this aggressive superior was chanting about, he was abundantly clear on one thing: Su Yao was on an absolute killing spree.

Tragic. The Hun compatriots here were simply too tragic.

Before they even had time to react, two chiliarchs and two centurions had been directly decapitated from afar. Now, he didn't even need to look; just listening to the piercing screams and cries of a sudden enemy attack echoing through the mountain valley told him just how terrified these people were.

So, when this man was sparring with him in the forest earlier, he had actually been holding back after all?!

"Eagle-shooting archer, aren't you going to fire a couple of arrows too? It's a great way to relieve stress," Su Yao asked, turning his head as he emptied his quiver in a matter of minutes.

"Jin will just tend to the general's quiver and hand over the arrows."

With that, Jin Fangyan unslung one of the quivers from his back and handed it over to Su Yao.

Su Yao nocked an arrow to the string, watched as three horsemen rushed over in disarray, and chuckled.

"Let's see if you are fast, or my arrows are faster."

As the words fell, a triple shot of arrows was unleashed!