Section 107: A Total Defeat

When Thunder Dragon asked his question, Waiwai Carrot Strip turned his head aside and said nothing.

He had always been deeply prejudiced against Thunder Dragon, largely because Thunder Dragon had once competed with Li Zhan for favor. Just as Flowerpot was unusually close to Thunder Dragon, Waiwai Carrot Strip also had an extraordinary relationship with Li Zhan. Seeing Thunder Dragon and Li Zhan openly contend with each other, Waiwai Carrot Strip had always kept his guard up against Thunder Dragon.

Of course, he had no idea that Thunder Dragon’s attitude toward Li Zhan had already changed completely.

Windwalker cupped his hands toward Thunder Dragon and replied, “Alliance Leader Thunder is right. We only learned that your tribe had been attacked after receiving Alliance Leader Li’s message. As for why we did not take advantage of the chaos to attack... well, Alliance Leader Li told us not to confront the enemy head-on, but to hold them back and pursue them once they began retreating.”

Thunder Dragon was startled. “Alliance Leader Li also told you to hold the enemy back?”

“That’s right,” Windwalker answered.

Radar, standing beside Thunder Dragon, whispered to Thunder Bird, “Why does Alliance Leader Li insist that we hold the enemy back? They still have the advantage in numbers. How could they possibly retreat so easily?”

Before Thunder Bird could answer, Waiwai Carrot Strip cut in, “Since Brother Li wants us to do this, he must have his reasons. What are you muttering about?”

Radar’s face instantly flushed crimson.

Seeing this, Thunder Dragon quickly tried to smooth things over. “Now that our forces have joined together, this is the moment to focus on resisting the enemy. Don’t quarrel among yourselves and ruin the harmony. Trust that Alliance Leader Li has his own plans.”

No one said anything more. They combined their soldiers, arranged them into formation, and faced the enemy opposite them.

Deaf Lustfreak watched from within the ranks for a while. The enemy’s two chiefs had brought their troops forward, yet they were not taking advantage of their elite forces to exhaust and overwhelm him. Instead, they had formed up and were confronting him directly.

He could not figure out what Windwalker and Waiwai Carrot Strip were planning. He frowned anxiously and thought for a long time, but could not come up with any explanation.

A chief beside him said, “Boss, what do you think we should do? We can’t go on facing each other like this!”

The other chiefs nodded in agreement.

Although their side still held the advantage in troop numbers, most of their soldiers were wounded, and their fighting strength had already fallen considerably. If they fought Windwalker and Waiwai Carrot Strip’s reinforcements head-on, they might still win, but they would certainly pay a heavy price. Whether they could break through Thunderclap Tribe’s watchtower defenses afterward was difficult to say, let alone capture the tribal hall.

Pressed repeatedly by the chiefs, Deaf Lustfreak impatiently waved his hand. “All of you, be quiet for a while and let me think.”

The chiefs immediately fell silent and stared at him. They hoped that this man, whom they had just elected as their leader and who often boasted that he was no weaker than Li Zhan, would be as decisive and calm as Li Zhan at this critical moment and point them toward a way forward.

However, as time passed, the chiefs’ gazes shifted from hopeful anticipation to utter disappointment.

Ten full minutes went by. Deaf Lustfreak continued pacing anxiously within the formation, yet he still could not make a decision.

Should they continue the attack, or retreat immediately? Deaf Lustfreak could not decide.

If they continued attacking, they would, as the chiefs feared, pay an enormous price—and in the end might still be unable to capture Thunderclap Tribe.

If they retreated at once, Deaf Lustfreak believed it would be the wiser choice. Windwalker and Waiwai Carrot Strip might not even dare pursue them; after all, his side still had the numerical advantage. If a battle truly broke out, they would gain nothing from it.

But if they chose to retreat, all their efforts would have been wasted. Worse still, their intention to interfere in the neighboring tribes’ internal conflict had been exposed. It would be an utter failure.

Caught between battle and retreat, Deaf Lustfreak remained indecisive. Yet time waited for no one. The troops continued moving forward according to their planned route.

Ten minutes later, just as the chiefs were growing completely disillusioned, three wandering players who had come to deliver a warning came panting to the opposite bank of the river. They searched everywhere but could not find a boat. With no other choice, they stood on the far bank and shouted toward the others:

“Town Chief Deaf, this is terrible! Wild Lust Village has been attacked!”

It was deep in the night, and the three wandering players’ cries carried a long way across the river.

At first, Deaf Lustfreak could not believe what he had heard. The three players shouted several more times. Once he was certain that he had not misheard them, a buzzing filled his head, and he nearly fainted.

That was the village he had painstakingly managed for more than a month. It could not suffer the slightest mishap, or he would lose everything.

After finally steadying himself, Deaf Lustfreak immediately issued an order.

“Retreat! Our destination is Wild Lust Village! Everyone withdraw!”

Thunder Dragon and the others heard the three wandering players clearly.

Waiwai Carrot Strip immediately leaped into the air in delight. “Ha ha! I was wondering why Brother Li was nowhere to be seen. So he ran to set fire to the enemy’s backyard! What a beautiful fire! It must have blinded that fool Deaf Lustfreak on the spot! Ha ha ha!”

Windwalker also nodded in admiration. “Alliance Leader Li’s move worked perfectly. Deaf Lustfreak has immediately led his army back to defend the village. Now we can pursue them, surround them, and beat this cornered dog senseless!”

Thunder Dragon nodded as well. “Alliance Leader Li truly has a brilliant strategy. Before this, I misunderstood his intentions. Thinking back on it now, I am deeply ashamed.”

By then, Deaf Lustfreak had already led the six chiefs and their soldiers into a hurried retreat. They dragged several fishing boats out from the bushes along the riverbank, and the soldiers crowded aboard before frantically rowing toward the opposite shore.

Watching the enemy army descend into chaos, Windwalker smiled and said to Thunder Dragon, “The enemy has completely lost its will to fight. This is the perfect moment to pursue them. Alliance Leader Thunder, let’s hurry after them!”

Thunder Dragon nodded and waved his hand. “Everyone, board the boats and pursue the enemy!”

It was around two in the morning.

Li Zhan and Wu Fan led their soldiers in completely destroying the buildings on the eastern bank of Wild Lust Village, reducing the entire area to a wasteland. The destruction included one barracks, one drill yard, forty-five acres of farmland, one watchtower, twenty wooden houses, and dozens of meters of wooden fencing.

After the wooden houses were destroyed, most of the villagers fled into the surrounding woods. A small number were so terrified that they lost their wits, covering their heads and crouching on the ground.

Li Zhan ordered his soldiers not to pursue the villagers blindly, but to focus on destroying the buildings. He also had Golden Snow tell the Alpha Wolf that the villagers themselves were innocent and should not be harmed recklessly. Their enemies were Deaf Lustfreak and his soldiers. The enemy would appear soon.

After wrecking the dock on the eastern bank, Li Zhan and Wu Fan led their soldiers across the river in arrow boats. Once they reached the western bank, they first destroyed the two arrow towers, then turned back and dismantled the dock there as well, clearing a broad stretch of open ground across the entire western shore.

Li Zhan ordered the soldiers to rest briefly and prepare to meet the enemy forces returning to defend the village.

About half an hour later, dense and disorderly footsteps sounded in the distance, mixed with cries of battle. Li Zhan knew that Deaf Lustfreak was “cooperating” with his plan.

He gave a soft laugh and immediately ordered the resting soldiers to reform their ranks. Zhao Ming and four other swordsmen took the front, ten militiamen stood in the center, and Zhang Feng with five foot archers brought up the rear. Seven battle wolves surrounded Golden Snow on the left side of the formation, while Li Zhan and Wu Fan walked along the right. The entire force advanced steadily toward the source of the noise.

After covering roughly five hundred meters, they encountered the enemy troops fleeing in panic.

Deaf Lustfreak had already been frantic after learning that the village had been attacked. To make matters worse, the three wandering players each gave a different account, describing the situation in mysterious and exaggerated terms. According to their “analysis,” the village hall should already have been surrounded by a large enemy force and could fall at any moment.

After hearing this, Deaf Lustfreak completely lost his bearings. He wanted only to rush back with his soldiers and rescue the village.

More than twenty wounded soldiers who fell behind along the way were overtaken and killed by Thunder Dragon’s pursuing forces. Two wounded chiefs were also slain.

Just as Deaf Lustfreak was about to return to the village with his exhausted force of more than thirty militiamen, he unexpectedly collided in the darkness with Li Zhan and Wu Fan’s elite troops, who had been waiting there for a long time.

The seven battle wolves needed no orders. They had been waiting eagerly for this satisfying slaughter, and their ability to see in the darkness made them even more formidable against their exhausted opponents.

In a single exchange, seven militiamen at the front were inexplicably killed in an instant. By the time the enemy realized what was happening, another seven militiamen had been seized by the snarling wolves, which sank their teeth into their throats.

When Deaf Lustfreak and the remaining four chiefs saw Li Zhan, their faces all changed in terror.

They had barely more than ten soldiers left, and those men were utterly exhausted. Li Zhan and Wu Fan’s combined force, on the other hand, numbered more than twenty, every one of them vigorous and ready for battle. Behind them, another force of more than thirty pursuers was rapidly closing in.

This battle was nothing short of a complete defeat for Deaf Lustfreak and the others.

Overcome by despair, Deaf Lustfreak stamped his feet, beat his chest, and burst into loud sobs. He had never imagined that the supposedly foolproof plan he had designed would end this way.

Worst of all, his village, which he had painstakingly managed for more than a month, was about to be reduced to rubble, and hundreds of villagers were about to leave him.

An unprecedented sense of helplessness completely crushed Deaf Lustfreak. He could no longer maintain the dignity of a town chief. He simply sat on the ground and wept like a child.

The three chiefs beside him were also utterly at a loss.

Once Wild Lust Village was destroyed, their own tribes would obviously be next. They should never have opposed Li Zhan in the first place.

But there was no point regretting it now. All they could do was prepare themselves to become wandering players.

Wu Fan looked at Deaf Lustfreak sobbing on the ground, spat, and cursed, “Damn it! What a spineless bastard. He doesn’t deserve to be my opponent!”

But as Li Zhan’s thoughts raced, he gazed at Deaf Lustfreak, who was crying like a child, and quietly formed a plan.