Chapter 132: Sinister Intentions

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The thunderous, earth-shaking sound of the war drums rattled the nerves of everyone present. A fear originating from the deepest depths of his soul welled up within Ye Dong. "What... what is happening? Is this the sound of war drums beating in unison!?"

In the blink of an eye, Ye Dong discovered that the vast, high noon sun was hanging in the sky—not a single cloud in sight, the blazing sun shining down directly upon them!

"Why is the sun out? Aren't we supposed to be inside the pitch-black Eternal Tomb!?"

Ye Dong took a deep breath of the scorching air, baked by the intense sun. A quick scan of his surroundings revealed that Wei Ye, standing before him, was clad in tattered armor and wearing a blood-stained grass hat. The dagger in Wei Ye's hand had transformed into a broken ring-pommel saber, and he was looking around anxiously, evidently realizing that something unnatural was happening.

"What is this clothing? Are we at war!?"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The rapid, heart-pounding drumbeats not only showed no signs of stopping but instead grew more intense.

Panicked, Ye Dong looked down at his own body. He saw that his attire was nearly identical to Wei Ye's. The Hellfire he had been carrying had turned into a chipped axe. He wore boots, though they were torn with a large hole, and his trousers were shredded by some sharp weapon, exposing his thighs.

"Are we in a battle!?" Ye Dong looked back and saw deep despair in the eyes of his companions.

"Charge! Charge! Charge!"

Before he could even ask for clarification, the war drums from all directions intensified, accompanied by the deafening roars of ten thousand men.

Just as Ye Dong felt his eardrums were about to burst, an even more terrifying vibration rose from the ground.

"Bang! Bang-bang! Bang-bang-bang!" The thunderous impacts grew faster and faster, causing the soil on the ground to dance.

"Is this a cavalry charge!?"

Ye Dong was struck with horror, clutching his pounding heart. "There's no mistake! I've heard this sound a hundred times in movies! This is the vibration of charging cavalry! We... we are surrounded by the enemy!"

"Supervisor He, we are surrounded!"

A soldier, his face covered in blood, gripped Ye Dong's hand tightly. "We've fallen into an enemy ambush! There are twenty thousand of them out there!"

"Twenty thousand!? Twenty thousand!"

Another soldier, clutching a spear, wept with a grim expression. "We're dead. We're finished this time! There are only two hundred of us here. How could we possibly fight one against a hundred!?"

"Do not be afraid! We have General Huang with us!"

A familiar male voice suddenly emerged from beside Ye Dong. "As long as he is here, we still have a glimmer of hope to escape!"

Ye Dong turned his head and saw that the speaker was Li Xing, who was also clad in full armor.

"This scene... could it be... another hallucination!?"

Ye Dong suddenly recalled the day he had obtained his extraordinary body and the Eye of Heaven under the guidance of Daoist Weizi. After a moment of careful thought, he reaffirmed his suspicion. "Yes, I have experienced this kind of illusion array before. This must be a hallucination!"

He looked at the impassioned faces of Li Xing, Wei Ye, and the others, and couldn't help but feel a secret admiration. "These three haven't shown a hint of cowardice from start to finish. In terms of sheer nerve, they are real men!"

"But if they know it's an illusion, why didn't they warn us?" A chill ran down Ye Dong's spine. "Could it be that this isn't an illusion? Or did I... did I travel through time?"

"What? General Huang!? How is he here too!?"

"He has been leading us all along!"

"General Huang? Who is General Huang?"

Ye Dong squinted and saw an old general in armor standing at the very front of their formation. This shocked Ye Dong once more. "Damn it, isn't this Huang Wuchang!? How did he become an old general!? If this isn't an illusion, what is it!? How could he possibly be a general!? If anyone is going to be a general, it should be me!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" "Charge! Charge! Charge!" "Boom! Boom! Boom!" "Charge! Charge! Charge!"

The frequency of the war drums reached a breaking point. Ye Dong looked into the distance and saw that even five hundred meters away, the horizon was covered in a sea of black-clad cavalry!

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" "Charge! Charge! Charge!" "Kill! Kill! Kill!" "Charge! Charge! Charge!"

The cavalrymen shouted, their warhorses neighed, and the sound of clashing blades filled the air as they swarmed toward their position like an overwhelming tide!

"Damn it, even if I know it's a hallucination, I can't help but be terrified! The visual impact is too strong; those 3D movies are nothing compared to this. There are at least ten thousand of them!"

Seeing this spectacular charge, Ye Dong couldn't help but swallow hard, gripping his broken axe tightly in his hand.

"They're attacking! They're attacking!" Several soldiers panicked at the sight, their bodies involuntarily retreating.

"Don't be cowards! If you're a coward, you're finished!" Li Xing shouted, "Pick up your weapons and prepare to meet the enemy!"

The soldiers looked at each other, appearing to have lost all confidence in their ability to resist.

Watching the soldiers lose their will to fight, Ye Dong felt a sudden chill. "Right, I can't be a coward. In this situation, I must not show fear! The first rule of being in an illusion array is not to be a coward! Especially when it's a military battle!"

"So what if they have the numbers!?"

Suddenly, he saw Huang Wuchang raise his great sword and roar back at the troops. "Brothers, we are trapped here today, but no matter what, we must fight our way out! Even if we die, we must take at least one of them with us!"

Though his words were imposing, only half of the men—or perhaps even fewer—responded.

"Are those who didn't speak just cowards?"

Ye Dong looked back and saw that many had been frightened until their faces were bloodless, their eyes wide as eggs. He could already guess that in this trial, half the men were likely doomed!

"Don't be afraid, this is—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Ye Dong felt a jolt of alarm and swallowed his words. "With Huang Wuchang's power, he must be able to see through this illusion array, but why doesn't he say so? Why doesn't Wei Ye, who possesses the Eye of Heaven, say anything? Is there a rule that you must not speak of it even if you see it?"

The thought made him shiver. "If someone blurts out 'this is an illusion array,' they will surely face catastrophe! It must be that! That's why they choose not to say anything, watching the cowards walk to their deaths!?"

"They're here! They're here!"

"Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!!!"

The murderous army of twenty thousand, treading upon a sky filled with dust, charged toward Ye Dong and his men under the watchful gaze of the blazing sun!

Where had he ever seen twenty thousand people charging at him at once? And they were people intent on killing him!

"Kill!" Ye Dong raised his axe, screamed hysterically, and charged toward the incoming warhorses!

***

"Whoosh."

Suddenly, Ye Dong felt his vision go black, and his ears began to ring. The cloudless sky vanished, the blazing sun disappeared, the murderous army was gone, and the earth-shaking drums were silenced.

"Have I emerged from the illusion array?"

Panting, he turned around sharply to see a squad of armored ghosts dragging seven or eight terrified souls upward!

"Save me! Save us!!!"

Ye Dong saw clearly that the owners of those souls were the companions who had been standing not far behind him; they were constantly screaming for help!

"Thud! Thud!"

The men whose souls were snatched away by the armored ghosts fell to the ground one after another, their weapons dropping beside their lifeless bodies.

"It really was an illusion!"

Ye Dong gripped his Hellfire tightly, watching the souls being dragged away while waving for help, feeling a profound sense of helplessness and regret.

Seeing Ye Dong's face pale, Li Xing patted his shoulder gently. "Brother Tian, this was their choice. If they were cowards, they can't blame anyone else."

"Tch, those cowards, better to die early and be reincarnated," Ye Dong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, feigning mockery. "But looking at them, their souls won't even make it to Hell."

"To lose so many companions in one go... how can these traps be so mystical?"

Ye Dong couldn't understand why they had all fallen into the illusion array while walking perfectly fine, and why it was specifically the cowards who died.

"This problem... it must have been orchestrated by Huang Wuchang!"

With this thought, Ye Dong hurriedly turned to look at Huang Wuchang, only to see him wearing a look of confident, calculated satisfaction, as if he had expected this outcome all along.

"My god, it really was Huang Wuchang's doing!" Ye Dong felt a sudden chill. "The Void Realm wasn't fully broken at all!"

"Huang Wuchang deliberately led us into the illusion array within the Void Realm, using the lives of cowards as sacrifices for this General's Tomb. Only then could the seal of the inner array be completely lifted!"

Thinking of this, Ye Dong felt a surge of anger, almost shouting it out loud.

"Those companions trusted him so much, entrusting their lives to him—how could he be so cruel and selfish!?"

Ye Dong looked around at the array used for drawing symbols, where the black flames were still burning fiercely. Seeing this, he finally understood the true method for breaking the Void Realm.

"Huang Wuchang's black flames, which melt metal and wood, actually represent the fire element of the Five Elements, which in turn represents 'courage'! This was information he deliberately hid to filter out the cowards among the companions and use their souls to sacrifice to the Void Realm! Damn you, Huang Wuchang, you treacherous villain!"