Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 185 - 180: Returning to the Spear (Additional - for Votes 9)

Chapter 185: Chapter 180: Returning to the Spear (Additional Chapter for Votes 9)

"Northern Barbarians are attacking!"

As Yun Ying was contemplating his next moves, he was startled by the news and quickly put on his armor and took his weapons to go out.

Upon climbing to the top of the Chuzhou State city wall, Yun Ying couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

Outside the city, the hills and fields were covered with Northern Barbarian Cavalry!

And it wasn’t the kind of weak Barbarian Cavalry they had encountered before; from the enemy’s formation, it was clear that this was an elite force!

At that moment, the Rebel Army inside the city was in complete disarray, with several leaders hurriedly dispatching troops and generals, hoping to repel the barbarians and defend Chuzhou.

Yun Ying, as always, was at the forefront, fighting the enemy bravely with his remarkable individual combat skills.

But this time, the situation seemed to be a bit different.

The force that came to eradicate the Rebel Army this time was an elite Northern Barbarian Army. Chuzhou fell quickly, and Yun Ying’s valiant efforts alone were unable to turn the tide.

In the end, as the Rebel Army crumbled like a house of cards, Yun Ying too was trapped among the chaos and was cut down by random swords.

A hard-fought force of hundreds was wiped out in a single battle.

Before dying, though, Yun Ying had a gain: he learned the name of the Northern Barbarian general — Dong Chengyun.

...

Yun Ying was back to square one as a member of the Rebel Army.

This sense of defeat was far more crushing than what Lu Heng and the others experienced.

Because although Lu Heng also faced repeated failures and resets while playing the role of a beggar, each stint in that role lasted only a short while.

In other words, he’d start a new round every ten or thirty minutes, so he was somewhat numb to failing.

But Yun Ying’s role was different; he had always had a smooth journey with the Rebel Army identity, and although some of his men were sacrificed in each battle, he himself was very safe.

In each battle, he was able to defeat the enemy, make gains and his troop numbers continued to grow.

From initially being a squad leader to later commanding hundreds, this sense of growth was indeed very satisfying for Yun Ying.

But then, the game began to deviate from its usual patterns, and the situation took a sharp turn for the worse!

Suddenly, an overwhelmingly powerful Northern Barbarian Army fiercely attacked Chuzhou, almost annihilating all four leaders within. Even attempts to escape were futile, as the Northern Barbarian commander, Dong Chengyun, was well versed in military tactics and knew how to encircle and block effectively, essentially trapping the Rebel Army inside Chuzhou.

Even with his talent as a ResURRECTOR and impressive combat skills, Yun Ying was helpless in this scenario.

His command abilities were not that strong, and even if they were, there was no room to leverage them against such overwhelming force.

Just when he had painstakingly built up his forces, he was suddenly back to square one.

Regretfully, Yun Ying didn’t yet know what the victory conditions were for the Rebel Army role, but he suspected it involved building an influential Rebel Army force.

If he couldn’t even establish a solid foundation now, how could he ever compete in the Central Plains and strive for supremacy?

So, just when he had finally gathered a few hundred people, which could have been enough to clear the level, a sudden battle reset everything, and ordinary players indeed would find it hard to maintain their composure.

But there was nothing he could do; "Dark Sand," the game, was designed this way.

Yun Ying sighed softly and had no choice but to start over.

...

At this moment, Zhao Haiping was not playing the role of a "Commander" but was in the Cavalry’s Trial Illusion.

Before he could finish the Commander role, he needed to clear this Trial Illusion first.

On one hand, the "Heroic Spirit of the Wild Heroes" Trial Illusion was a major official instance that couldn’t be cleared hastily, and on the other hand, Zhao Haiping was confident that he could almost reach the last step after a week of intensive training in the Cavalry’s exclusive Trial Illusion, "Grab What’s in the Bag".

"If I can clear this instance, then later on, when playing the role of ’Commander’, it will definitely be a great help.

"Conversely, if I can’t even clear this relatively simple Cavalry instance, then completing the Commander role would be even less likely."

After two days of experiences, Zhao Haiping felt that the "Grab What’s in the Bag" instance was somewhat easier.

The reason was simple; it was an instance where individual combat skills could greatly shine.

Although replicating General Qin Kaiyun’s feat of cutting down enemy generals was hard, all the necessary conditions were set in this instance—physical condition, weapons, warhorse, and soldiers to follow... all were ready.

He just needed to exercise his strong personal combat prowess, and there was a good chance of success.

As for the strategy component within it, it was nothing more than accurately finding the weaknesses in the enemy’s formation and incessantly infiltrating.

But in the instance "Heroic Spirit of the Grasslands," the character he portrayed, Emperor Taizu of Sheng, had to command the army. Not only did he personally lead the troops into battle, but he also had to make many strategic decisions.

The difficulty had increased yet another layer.

Moreover, the part where Emperor Taizu of Sheng personally commanded the troops also involved horseback riding.

Although Zhao Haiping had made significant progress in his riding skills through the Cavalry instance and riding a stirruped horse was even not worth mentioning, what if, after clearing the Cavalry instance, he were to receive a talent related to riding?

That would be a great help for clearing the "Heroic Spirit of the Grasslands" instance.

Thus, Zhao Haiping returned once again to the scene of General Qin slashing the opposing general.

This time, he chose without hesitation the enhanced version of the ’Xin’ level golden talent, Overwhelming.

...

"General Qin! Chi Ji is too swift, we can’t keep up! Our formation is in disarray. If the general is surrounded..." the Deputy General shouted in panic.

Zhao Haiping had seen this scene countless times, so before the Deputy General could finish speaking, he had already shouted loudly, "Hold your tongue!

"The enemy is changing formations. The opportunity for battle is fleeting. How can we afford to regroup?

"Everyone, follow me in a full charge. Slay the enemy general, achieve great deeds—today is the day!

"Charge!"

As Zhao Haiping spoke, he fiercely clamped his legs against the sides of his horse, pointed his spear forward, and charged rapidly toward the enemy formation.

Chi Ji burst forth with immense power, rushing toward the enemy like a gust of wind!

The Deputy General following behind him couldn’t help but turn pale with fright, but at this point, there was nothing to do but lead the elite cavalry in a headlong race.

Gradually, their own formation naturally morphed into the V-shaped Formation.

Zhao Haiping, portraying Qin Kaiyun, was like the tip of the arrow, with the Deputy General and elite cavalry fanned out behind him, piercing into the enemy formation like a steel spike.

"Let the approaching general announce his name!"

A military general from Gao Yi’s side hastened over on his horse, attempting to block them.

Zhao Haiping couldn’t be bothered with him, his gaze swiftly sweeping across.

"The nearest vulnerability in the enemy formation is to the right of this general, but to exploit it would require engaging him in battle.

"If attacking another point, not to mention taking a detour which would waste time, the cavalry behind me may also struggle to keep up and will surely be caught in a melee."

Thinking this, Zhao Haiping’s gaze still returned to this enemy general.

He must be dealt with swiftly, then break through the opening and continue the assault on the enemy formation!

But this enemy general wore fine armor and was tall, likely not so easy to handle.

With this in mind, Zhao Haiping didn’t charge straight toward him but instead pulled on the reins and turned to the front left, making a motion to evade.

"Don’t you run, enemy general!" Seeing Zhao Haiping attempting to flee, the general certainly wouldn’t let him escape, and immediately spurred his horse to chase.

In his eyes, Zhao Haiping had charged too far forward, obviously he was surrounded, breaking a significant military taboo.

In his eyes, General Qin Kaiyun riding a precious horse and wielding a spear that was not something ordinary people could handle was clearly one of the enemy’s major generals. To slay the enemy general in battle, wouldn’t that make one famous?

Obviously, when it came to slaying the enemy general, everyone thought this way.

The two, one in front of the other, the enemy general could feel that the Chi Ji in front, due to its previous fierce rush, seemed to have slowed down somewhat.

Overjoyed, he immediately spurred his horse to close the distance.

Just as he was about to catch up, he saw the tall figure wielding the long spear on horseback perform a baffling maneuver.

Zhao Haiping’s legs tightly clamped the horse’s sides, his body striving to maintain balance, his left hand leaving the reins to grasp the spear.

His left arm lifted, right hand forcefully pushing forward, and his entire upper body powerfully twisted.

His body had not yet turned, but the spear had already arrived!

The enemy general had not yet understood what was happening when Zhao Haiping’s spear had already passed over from his shoulder, a turnaround spear strike solidly piercing his chest!

The powerful impact travelled up the shaft of the spear, but Zhao Haiping did not let go. Instead, he just leaned forward slightly, resting on the horse’s back as he continued to gallop forward.

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