Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress

Hearing this, Sal Khan quickly calculated in a flash; with pursuers behind and Pingdu City already breached, there was no way back.

There might be an ambush ahead, but crossing the Danshui River would lead to Quanya City. They could easily cross the river with their giant elephants, but hidden troops might not be able to, so he decided to charge out. Even if there was an ambush here, charging quickly would still preserve some of their forces. Staying here and resigning to fate would lead to total annihilation!

With that in mind, Sal Khan ordered the Elephant Army to swiftly charge across the Danshui River.

The sound of the bone whistle echoed once more, and the giant elephants trumpeted loudly, surrounding the giant elephant that carried Sal Khan, and rushed madly toward the exit of Hanwen Mountain.

The ground beneath Shen Kunyang trembled more violently, and as Sal Khan's Elephant Army entered into their range of terror, Shen Kunyang suddenly stood up: "Attack!"

In an instant, torches on both sides of the Hanwen Mountain valley flared up, and soldiers, covered with snow, rose and frantically fired crossbow arrows in the direction of the Elephant Army below. Fire oil and pine oil were poured down, and flaming arrows rained down densely into the valley.

The flaming arrows pierced the fire oil-soaked ground, and the dark blue flames on the arrows seemed to extinguish, but soon those eerie blue flames spread like phantoms, rapidly expanding all around. When they collided with the spreading blue flames, they rose with a roar, enveloping the legs of both humans and elephants, subjecting everything in the valley to scorching heat.

Tongues of fire lashed around, darting wildly with the wind in search of prey, like beasts starving to the point of losing reason.

Seeing the fire rise, the soldiers threw bags of wrapped chilies and Sichuan peppers down together.

The intense flames caused the chilies and Sichuan peppers to crackle loudly, dense and choking smoke rose as if to pierce the heavens...

Screams from elephants echoed everywhere, mingling with the even more intense and horrific screams of humans.

Sal Khan's eyes widened; he had never imagined such a large force was lying in ambush here!

"Charge through!" Sal Khan decided swiftly, holding back intense coughing, covering his mouth and nose with a cloth, "Charge through immediately!"

If they didn't charge through, once the pursuers arrived... there would be no hope at all!

The ice paths beneath their feet melted as the fire rose, so the giant elephants no longer had to tread gingerly as if walking on ice; under the guidance of the whistle, they burst into a gallop.

The Elephant Army of Tianfen Kingdom sprinted with all their might. Shen Kunyang, notching an arrow onto the bow, aimed at the direction of the dark valley entrance and let the flaming arrow fly, crashing into the stakes, where the flames seemed to die out in the dark, wintry night.

But just as the Tianfeng Elephant Army was about to reach the entrance of the valley...

"Boom..."

The stakes doused in fire oil and pine oil suddenly erupted into an intense blaze, tongues of flame reached skyward, illuminating everything around.

Sal Khan wasted no time thinking; he knew placing these fire-laden stakes here was meant to trap them within the valley path. If they couldn't get out, it was over; everyone and all the giant elephants would perish here, himself included!

He couldn't die, for he was the king of Tianfeng Kingdom!

Even though the giant elephants were precious, it was better to let some die to secure survival of the others than having them all killed here, which was an easy choice.

The giant elephant beneath Sal Khan halted suddenly, he used his shield to block fire arrows from his body, shouting, "Charge through! Let the giant elephants break a path!"

With the sound of the bone whistle, these giant elephants covered in flames charged fearlessly towards the barricades.

One giant elephant... two... three...

Countless flaming giant elephants, as if possessed, dashed into the flaming barricades, shattering them to pieces, allowing the elephant army behind to rush out alive.

"Don't let them escape! Fire! Shoot quickly! Smash! Pour fire oil! Block the exit with chilies and peppers! Quick!"

Hearing Shen Kunyang's shouted orders, the soldiers reacted swiftly, throwing bags of chilies and Sichuan peppers towards the barricades.

The intense, nose-wrenching spice was suffocating, so intense it could destroy human lungs. While humans could control their breath, the elephants, with their sharp sense of smell, now agitated from multiple assaults of the spicy odor, were driven to madness.

Zhou's fiery rain of arrows struck the giant elephant Sal Khan was riding, falling off and only managing to burn briefly on the iron armor before extinguishing as the small amount of fire oil on the arrows burned out. Sal Khan had already discarded the combustible seat, sitting directly on the elephant's neck, gripping the rope tightly with one hand, shielding himself from the rain of arrows with a shield in the other, and urging the giant elephant to charge faster towards the barricades.

Watching the giant elephants fall one by one, watching those around him go berserk, crashing into each other, crashing into the mountains...

Even without the enemy soldiers rushing down from the high ground, the giant elephants were throwing themselves into chaos.

"Quick, hurry!"

Under Sal Khan's urging, one giant elephant after another charged into the flaming barricade, letting out shrill and heart-wrenching cries, using their lives to break through the barricades.

The rain of arrows became fiercer, as Sal Khan commanded, heedlessly pressing forward with the elephant army...

They broke through the flaming barricades, dozens of giant elephants, their bodies aflame, some barely making it out of the valley before being burned to the point they could bear no more, collapsing and rolling on the ground, tripping over the elephants charging out behind them.

Even Sal Khan's clothes caught fire; he felt the pain of his skin splitting, felt the stinging of tears streaking down his cheeks. He gazed firmly at the Danshui River; once he crossed it, everything would be over!

As the giant elephant beneath Sal Khan approached the Danshui River, it finally gave out, tripping over the elephants that had fallen before it, causing Sal Khan to fall as well.

"Your Majesty!" The Great Shaman's disciple's eyes widened, sliding down the ropes of the giant elephant recklessly, letting go of the charging elephant, rolling on the ground, and with a dizziness held back, he helped up the fainting Sal Khan, shouting to the approaching soldiers, "Take His Majesty away!"

The following soldiers in control of the giant elephants slowed their pace, sliding down the ropes, embracing the unconscious Sal Khan, turning back to look at the Great Shaman's disciple: "Wizard..."

There were no more giant elephants of Tianfeng Kingdom left for them! What about the Great Shaman's disciple?!

"Take His Majesty! Don't mind me!" shouted the Great Shaman's disciple.

Only with His Majesty alive did Tianfeng Kingdom have hope!