Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 78 - 73 The Momentum of Offense and Defense Has Changed!

Chapter 78: Chapter 73 The Momentum of Offense and Defense Has Changed!

Watching the expression of Households Commander Xu, who was "at a loss for words," Huo Yun Ying felt extremely pleased.

If it wasn’t for the fact that they were currently in the intense and critical phase of pioneering new ground, where no mistakes could be made, he might have even wanted to burst out laughing three times.

You treacherous dog, you’ve got what you deserved today!

Back in the Trial Illusion, this Households Commander Xu certainly caused too much trouble for the players, not being exposed until the final stages of the pioneering efforts.

Now, at last, his comeuppance had arrived.

Of course, the battle wasn’t over yet, and he couldn’t afford to be careless.

This was a 100% pain simulation of the ultimate trial. Huo Yun Ying dared not take any hit lightly.

Because one blow could potentially cause him to move awkwardly due to the pain, which could then lead to a complete breakdown.

Fortunately, Huo Yun Ying had repeated the entire process countless times during the speed run; he knew the bandits’ movements and techniques like the back of his hand and was crystal clear about their positioning and coordination.

Moreover, with Households Commander Xu acting as a natural shield, Huo Yun Ying, controlling Gao Ze’s body, weaved through the fray with surprising ease, swiftly killing two or three bandits with his sword in the blink of an eye!

And the entire situation on the battlefield changed drastically due to Huo Yun Ying.

According to the original course of events, after the Wandering Warrior overpowered Households Commander Xu, many Great Sheng Dynasty soldiers scattered, while the Wandering Warrior and shadow guards mopped up the aftermath, and the County Magistrate fell in battle, rapidly losing control of the situation.

Because among the group led by the Wandering Warrior, the strongest ones posed even more of a threat than the General. Once they broke free, the consequences would be unthinkable.

But now, as Households Commander Xu was slow to fall, the Wandering Warrior was also tied down.

Households Commander Xu, afraid that the other bandits might strike too harshly, didn’t dare let anyone else attack him, yet whenever the Wandering Warrior made a move, Huo Yun Ying as Gao Ze would interfere. Whenever the Wandering Warrior shifted his focus to Huo Yun Ying, Huo Yun Ying would circle around Households Commander Xu, ostensibly to cover the flanks, but in reality, using Xu as a meat shield.

Moreover, both the Wandering Warrior and Households Commander Xu couldn’t afford to be too obvious. If the Wandering Warrior were to ignore Households Commander Xu and pursue him aggressively, wouldn’t it just further confirm Xu’s suspicions?

Thus, the three of them formed a peculiar balance, where none could gain the upper hand.

As a result, the pressure on the frontline diminished sharply.

County Magistrate Tang, along with his personal troops, fought the Eastern Barbarian General to a stalemate. Seeing that the County Magistrate, Households Commander Xu, and Gao Ze were all unscathed and still fighting to the death, the situation hadn’t reached a point of no return. There was, naturally, no reason for the local militia and soldiers to flee, so they gritted their teeth and continued to hold on.

The Eastern Barbarian bandits couldn’t understand how a battle, which should have been one-sided from the beginning, turned into a tug of war!

The demon possessing the Eastern Barbarian General noticed something was amiss and angrily ordered, "Kill him!"

At the same time, County Magistrate Tang’s warhorse let out a mournful neigh and fell dead.

Shouting "Loyalty to the monarch and service to the nation," County Magistrate Tang also fell heroically.

The gap in strength between the two sides was substantial. Huo Yun Ying’s disruptive tactics only bought some time, but it still wasn’t enough to completely turn the tide of battle.

With County Magistrate Tang’s death, two shadow guards were able to extricate themselves.

Under the command of the Eastern Barbarian General, these two shadow guards and the surrounding bandits quickly converged on Gao Ze, obviously recognizing the trouble he was causing. He was a key figure who needed to be eliminated quickly.

Huo Yun Ying also realized his mission was nearly complete and began retreating while continuing to fight.

Households Commander Xu finally got rid of this persistent nuisance. He took a deep breath and turned his gaze back to the Wandering Warrior.

The corners of the Wandering Warrior’s mouth twitched, and with a single slash, he brought him down.

"You..."

With a "thud," Households Commander Xu fell to the ground, thinking to himself that this stroke was harsher than what had been previously arranged...

The Wandering Warrior, full of pent-up anger, let it out on Households Commander Xu.

The only reason he was spared was his usefulness; otherwise, he would have been killed long ago.

He wanted to pursue further but saw that the defeated Gao Ze had already led the remaining local militia and militiamen in a fierce breakout, escaping.

The Wandering Warrior watched the direction of Gao Ze’s escape with hatred, shook the fresh blood off his blade, and sheathed it.

...

The bandits who had just finished a fierce battle advanced in the direction of the theater.

The Eastern Barbarian General counted the number of men and found that their losses were much heavier than he had anticipated.

He had thought that a sacrifice of twenty or thirty men would be enough to wipe out the opposition completely, yet now over fifty men lay dead!

He had less than sixty men left at his side, and at least half of them were injured.

This outcome was indeed hard for him to accept.

But considering that County Magistrate Tang and his personal troops had mostly died in battle, the bandits still felt that there was no one left in the entire county who could pose a threat to them.

The escape of Gao Ze was troublesome, but after all, there was only one person.

At this time, the urgent matter at hand was to rest and replenish their strength, and then to loot on a grand scale later.

Moreover, the Eastern Barbarian General had already promised the scholar to come to the theater to enjoy a play, and he himself was quite interested in it.

The market in front of the theater was in utter chaos.

These small traders had already heard that bandits were coming, and many had fled, but there were still some who couldn’t bear to leave their stalls, packing up in a hurry, not realizing that the battle was already over.

The eyes of the bandits lit up as they burst into the market and began to plunder!

The Eastern Barbarian General said nothing, clearly understanding the nature of these bandits. It was hard enough to get them to wait until tomorrow morning to start their major looting; not allowing them to take advantage of the market now might provoke a rebellion on the spot.

Thus, the Eastern Barbarian General refrained from commenting; after all, the theater was not far away.

"Hurry up and finish, and gather at the theater afterward!" he shouted, leading two shadow guards, the Wandering Warrior, and a handful of bandits into the theater.

Many more bandits entered the market to abduct and ruthlessly slaughter the merchants who couldn’t escape in time.

For these bandits, the merchants were nothing more than lambs to the slaughter without any threat.

A bandit unwittingly ventured deeper into the market, holding the spoils he had looted and still greedily looking for his next target.

At that moment, his eyes gleamed with greed—not far away, a female merchant was frantically packing her things, and the bundle she was holding seemed heavy, likely filled with valuable items!

"You! Don’t run away!" he shouted in the ancient Eastern Barbarian language, charging toward her.

The female merchant became even more panicked, rolling up her bundle in an attempt to flee, but she couldn’t outrun the bandit and had her arm seized abruptly.

Upon seeing the face of the female merchant, the bandit was taken aback.

She was surprisingly beautiful, not at all like the ordinary women from this small county town!

Tears were still visible on the female merchant’s face, and she was trembling all over, apparently terrified.

This pleased the bandit even more, who couldn’t help but laugh loudly as he drew closer.

However, his laughter came to an abrupt stop!

He felt a chill in his chest, and looking down in disbelief, he saw that his sidearm dagger was already in the woman’s hand, having pierced through his chest!

The so-called sidearm dagger was a type of short weapon, a secondary arm used for fighting in confined spaces, and also a tool for suicide in desperate situations.

However, the bandit hadn’t entertained any thoughts of suicide before the other party completed the act for him.

The look of terror on the female merchant’s face vanished in an instant, replaced by coldness and disdain.

She didn’t immediately withdraw the dagger, but skillfully covered the bandit’s mouth with her left hand, sidestepped to avoid the blood, and then withdrew the blade.

"What’s going on!" some of the bandits noticed something amiss here and moved closer.

But the market was already in such disarray that they couldn’t see what happened clearly.

Xia Ruoling let the bandit’s corpse drop to the ground with a "thud," and taking advantage of the confusion, she quickly moved to another part of the market with the sidearm dagger and the bundle meant for the performance, looking for the next isolated target.

...

"Damn it!" The Eastern Barbarian General, fury making his face turn ashen, slapped the bandit before him hard across the face.

Even the demon possessing him couldn’t understand why these bandits, after randomly looting the market, ended up with three men down, without catching the culprit!

What was even more outrageous was that the murderer seemed to have no weapon of their own and used the sidearm dagger from the first bandit to kill.

The loss of three men was not crippling, but it was hard for the Eastern Barbarian General to accept.

Because the previously incurred losses in the battle with the County Magistrate Tang had been significant enough, and with the additional three casualties, there were now just over fifty bandits left in the theater.

The demons possessing the Eastern Barbarian General and the Wandering Warrior felt that something was wrong with this invasion, but they couldn’t pinpoint what that was at the moment.

In the end, they abandoned the idea of searching the entire county town to find Gao Ze and the assassin, like looking for a needle in a haystack, and rather considered the proper course of action.

The Eastern Barbarian General’s gaze swept over the crowd in the theater, contemplating the target of his usurpation.