Chapter 302: Chapter 175: Stay Away From My Man

Under Su Liyan’s protection, Lu Yuan casually slid his sword back into its Sword Scabbard and strode confidently toward Gu Gaoxu.

Su Liyan’s current form—half-human, half-snake, and bloodthirsty—terrified the Beastman Race, who scattered at the slightest contact.

Gu Gaoxu was still busy hacking away, fighting his way toward Lu Yuan.

In a matter of moments, Su Liyan charged to Gu Gaoxu’s side, clearing a path between him and Lu Yuan.

As Gu Gaoxu was enthusiastically cutting down his foes, he sensed someone approaching from behind.

Gu Gaoxu spun around, leaped, and was about to bring his blade straight down.

However, he nearly crashed right into Su Liyan.

Gu Gaoxu froze in place, his saber raised high in a pose that looked like he was about to unleash an ultimate attack at point-blank range.

A cold, stunningly beautiful face appeared before his eyes, complete with pointed ears and a pair of scarlet, slitted pupils staring right at him.

A wave of chilling dread forced Gu Gaoxu back five or six steps. He could feel his adrenaline surging, his heart pounding in his chest.

Not even the prospect of death had ever filled him with such lingering fear.

Lu Yuan walked to Su Liyan’s side, placed a hand on her arm, and said, "Come back now."

Only then did Su Liyan revert to her normal form. She gazed at Lu Yuan with deep affection and cooed, "Brother~"

Witnessing this scene, Gu Gaoxu couldn’t help but shudder and shiver.

He couldn’t believe what he had just seen.

In his haste, Gu Gaoxu had almost failed to recognize Su Liyan.

If not for the thrashing white snake tail he’d just seen, Gu Gaoxu might have actually brought his saber down.

Had he angered Su Liyan in her atavistic state, even she couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t have instinctively defended herself.

Fortunately, Gu Gaoxu had heard Brother Lu mention before that when Su Liyan and her mother entered their atavistic states, they would manifest large snake tails—one red, one white.

The snake tails were certainly a distinctive feature.

Snapping back to his senses, Gu Gaoxu gave Lu Yuan a huge bear hug, completely ignoring that they were still in the middle of a battlefield.

Lu Yuan stood his ground, still holding his wife’s hand.

Su Liyan stood beside the two men, watching Gu Gaoxu without a word.

After letting go, Gu Gaoxu looked at Lu Yuan and laughed heartily. "Brother Lu, with your wife looking like that just now, I honestly couldn’t tell who it was."

Lu Yuan punched Gu Gaoxu lightly on the chest. "You shouldn’t have. How long has it been? And you already don’t recognize her? If I’d known you were this forgetful, I wouldn’t have come all this way to save you."

Gu Gaoxu glanced at Su Liyan, cleared his throat, and lowered his voice. "Well, I’ve never seen her in her atavistic state before."

"Fair enough," Lu Yuan conceded.

Lu Yuan scanned the surroundings. The battle had become completely one-sided. Gu Gaoxu’s men were filled with renewed morale, while the Beastmen were being routed, throwing down their arms and armor.

Lu Yuan said, "This isn’t the time to catch up. Let’s break out of here."

Gu Gaoxu grabbed Lu Yuan’s arm, a cunning grin on his face. "Now that we’re here, would it be right to leave without doing a little something extra?"

Lu Yuan looked at Gu Gaoxu. "What do you have in mind?"

"With the main Beastman force tied up at the mountain pass, we go and wipe out their main camp, of course!" Gu Gaoxu said, waving his hand excitedly.

Lu Yuan, who knew that King Yan’s Army was indeed storming the pass, asked, "How do you know their main force is at the mountain pass?"

Gu Gaoxu continued, "It’s obvious. You think my old man would just stand by and watch me die? If the Beastmen weren’t all tied up at the pass, he would’ve charged in to save me long ago."

Gu Gaoxu had a point. If the main Beastman force hadn’t been at the pass, how could his mere few hundred men have held out here for four or five days?

Lu Yuan agreed with Gu Gaoxu’s assessment. The Beastman main camp had to be vulnerable right now.

If they could strike directly at the heart of the enemy, like a venomous dragon’s drill, they could cut down the Beastmen’s banner, and burn their provisions and weapons.

That would end this battle.

Lu Yuan considered the risk to be relatively low, so he agreed to Gu Gaoxu’s plan.

Lu Yuan’s and Gu Gaoxu’s men joined forces and quickly finished off the Beastmen who had been surrounding Gu Gaoxu.

The window of opportunity was fleeting.

Lu Yuan and Gu Gaoxu were also worried that the explosions from earlier would have alerted the Beastmen.

Speed was paramount in war. Since they were going to do it, they had to be fast.

A few days prior, Gu Gaoxu had led his troops on a reconnaissance mission and located the Beastmen’s main camp and their supply depot.

With Gu Gaoxu leading the way, the group quickly slipped back toward it.

It really showed that the Beastmen weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed. Not only was their main camp built in a low-lying basin, but there were also no lookouts posted on the surrounding high ground.

Perhaps they were just too arrogant, never imagining someone could sneak this deep into their territory.

At this moment, the Beastman main camp was guarded by only a few hundred old, weak, and wounded soldiers. They were lazing about, yawning, as if the distant sounds of battle had nothing to do with them.

Gu Gaoxu ordered a small detachment of his men to take up their bows and silently eliminate the sentries on the camp’s perimeter.

Lying prone on the high ground, Lu Yuan and Gu Gaoxu watched every move below, the entire scene laid out before them.

Su Liyan was also lying beside Lu Yuan, behaving very obediently.

Behind Lu Yuan, several hundred men lay in wait, while a few others kept watch for them a short distance away.

Seeing his men proceed so smoothly, Gu Gaoxu couldn’t resist nudging Lu Yuan with his elbow, jutting his chin and raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

Lu Yuan naturally understood what Gu Gaoxu meant. ’He’s showing off his men to me.’

’His men can sneak in without a sound.’

’Since Gu Gaoxu has already made his move, won’t I be a laughingstock if I just lie here and watch the show?’

Lu Yuan waved his hand, and a trusted subordinate crawled to his side.

Lu Yuan whispered something in the subordinate’s ear.

The subordinate nodded and crawled back.

Gu Gaoxu watched Lu Yuan’s subtle movements and asked, "Brother Lu, what are you up to?"

Lu Yuan chuckled. "Just you watch."

While Gu Gaoxu was talking to Lu Yuan, he saw about a dozen men stand up in the distance.

They were Lu Yuan’s trusted men.

"Are they insane? Why are they standing up? The Beastmen will spot them!" Although Gu Gaoxu kept his voice low, his tone was heavy with urgency.

It was clear he was anxious.

In Gu Gaoxu’s view, the men Brother Lu had brought this time, while capable, didn’t understand warfare.

Standing on high ground made them easy targets to be discovered.

WHOOSH~ WHOOSH~ WHOOSH~

With three sounds like whistling fireworks, three shells pierced the sky, heading straight for the Beastman main camp.

They were fired by Lu Yuan’s trusted men.

After firing, the dozen or so men immediately began to reload.

For this long journey, Lu Yuan had ordered his men to bring only three Mortars.

The dozen or so men had each carried a portion of the components, which they had just assembled.

These three Mortars could also be converted into individual Rocket Launchers.

Lu Yuan was capable of developing such firearms; he had personally crafted all the components.

The quantity was limited, as they couldn’t be mass-produced.

Violent explosions rocked the Beastman main camp.

They were followed by another three shells, then another three, and another...

The explosions stunned the soldiers who had just snuck into the camp, forcing them to retreat in a hurry.

"Brother Lu, what the hell? You had equipment this good and didn’t bring it out sooner?" Gu Gaoxu had wanted to show off in front of Lu Yuan, but instead, he’d been upstaged again.

Lu Yuan said with a smile, "You never asked if I had any."

Amidst the continuous explosions, the Beastman main camp was reduced to nothing.

When the Beastmen at the mountain pass heard the explosions coming from their main camp, they naturally knew their base was being attacked.

But at this point, they couldn’t retreat even if they wanted to.

The moment they pulled back, King Yan’s Army would pour through the mountain pass.

Once King Yan’s Army was through the pass, the Beastmen would have no way to drive them back out.

By now, the Ancient Poison Scorpion was completely exhausted and covered in blast wounds, no longer able to fight.

If it had known that accepting the Beastman Race’s offerings meant sacrificing its own life, it would have rather starved to death than taken a single bite of their food.

The old Beastman chieftain directing the battle at the mountain pass ordered all Beastmen under the age of forty to retreat to the Northwest, while he led the remaining ones to hold off the attack.

The Beastman Race had longer lifespans than the Human Race, living for over a hundred years more.

The old chieftain’s reason for doing this was to preserve some of his people and prevent the extinction of his race.

Seeing that the Beastman lair had been destroyed, Gu Gaoxu jumped to his feet, grabbed his greatsaber, and charged back into the fray.

"Kill!"