The spearmen charged into the forest, dismounting their horses and climbing trees. The slower ones were cut down by pursuers before they could reach safety. We lost about twenty men. War always has casualties. To cover their retreat, I drew my saber and rushed forward. One of my sabers had been lost, leaving me with only one. I pulled out the dagger-pistol from my waist, holding the saber in my right hand and the pistol in my left, and charged into the enemy formation.
I'm a low-tier fighter, but against these ordinary cavalry from the underworld, especially after they dismounted, I had a significant advantage. The primary difference was speed. In the time it took them to swing their sabers once, I could swing mine twice, parry, and counter-kill.
Once most of our allies had climbed the trees and began firing at the enemies below, any of them who tried to approach the tree roots or climb up were shot in the head by the spearmen. We had managed to turn the tide for the moment.
After about three minutes, I, lacking the protection of a demon core, became unable to sustain my movements. I activated my Swift Wind Art and retreated from the battlefield, standing in an open space on the ridge, gasping for air. The enemy cavalry nearby immediately charged towards me. By the time they got close, I had recovered enough to re-engage.
The enemy force in the forest grew stronger, and some of our spearmen were shot down from the trees by arrows or clumsy blunderbusses. The battle became a fierce, evenly matched contest. This continued for about ten minutes until Zheng Baobao and Xiao Nu, covered in blood, joined the fray, which decisively shifted the momentum of the war.
The enemy general was a formidable opponent. I tried a few exchanges with him and realized I couldn't defeat him, so I made a strategic retreat, moving to a different location to pick on weaker foes. Baobao, however, was fearless. She charged straight at him on horseback and, within a few swift moves, beheaded the enemy commander.
Without their leader, the rebel army lost all will to fight and began to retreat over the ridge.
Worried that Baobao and Xiao Nu were exhausted from the fight, I didn't order them to pursue. Out of the two thousand rebels, about five to six hundred escaped, but they were no longer a significant fighting force.
After the battle, we took stock. Of our two hundred spearmen, only seventy-two remained. Our casualty rate was similar to the enemy's, but we had won by not being completely annihilated.
None of the guns were lost. Perhaps the enemy had not yet recognized the true terror of the G98, mistaking them for merely a new type of firearm from the imperial army. The spearmen collected their weapons, remounted their horses, and, along with the three of us, returned to Erliu City.
Since it was a pursuit battle, we didn't lose much time. As we arrived at the city gate, a lone rider in black, wearing a tall hat, approached from a distance. It was Hei Wuchang, an subordinate of Fan Wujiu.
Unfortunately, though she was quite good-looking, she was mute. She could only communicate through gestures. After verifying my and Baobao's soul-collecting tokens, she signaled for us to follow her.
We traveled about three kilometers north of Erliu City and found the ruins of what looked like a palace. I suspected this was the portal. Using my qi-sensing technique, I confirmed that the aura of the ruins differed slightly from the surrounding environment, shimmering with a faint blue light. Miss Hei Wuchang dismounted, entered the ruins, and after circling a pillar, squatted down and searched for a moment. She found a seemingly ordinary piece of blue brick. Placing her feet on it, she raised her hands and twisted using her waist.
With a creaking sound, the ground split open, revealing a sloped passage leading underground.
The four of us entered the passage and descended the steps. We walked for a full five minutes. Even on the straight path, when I looked back, the entrance had shrunk to a tiny point of light, like a star.
It felt similar to the underground laboratory in Jinling Shabia, only the slope was not as gradual.
Finally, we reached a large wooden door with rivets. Hei Wuchang grabbed the handle and knocked three times. After a moment, the door swung inward. The sight of the person opening it startled me—it was a tall, green-faced, fanged creature that looked exactly like the "ghosts" from myths and legends.
The green-faced, fanged demon, as usual, checked my and Baobao's soul-collecting tokens. Since Xiao Nu did not have one, the demon denied her entry. It was fine; she could guard the entrance, preventing enemy attacks—though I doubted the enemy would dare attack the underworld.