[Master!]
[You're getting close to the First Empress.]
System 12345 exclaimed excitedly again.
[This terrain—]
[It seems to be in the mountains, like a royal hunting ground.]
[Ah—she's truly elegant, looks like she's out hunting.]
[Master, I think this is an opportunity.]
It began eagerly devising strategies.
[Generally, in hunts like this, it's an opportunity for the royal family to entertain nobles, attract guests, and for young talents from various families to showcase themselves.]
[Master, you can definitely blend in.]
[Leaving aside other aspects, in terms of appearance, no young talent can compare to you.]
[Even if your archery skills aren't great—]
[As long as you can hit a few rabbits and maybe a couple of deer.]
[I believe they will all warmly welcome you.]
[Come on, Master!]
[It's time to show your charm!]
[Participate in the hunt and make others take notice of you!]
[If you can find an opportunity to be alone with the First Empress, even better.]
[You can softly tell the First Empress that you're not very good at archery and hope she can teach you.]
[Then, you can hold her soft hand tightly and get close to her—]
[That scene—hee hee hee, I can't take it!!]
After giggling for a while, System 12345 continued.
[Master, here's a beautiful bow for you, to help you stand out even more during the hunt.]
[But Master, you also need to be careful.]
[This First Empress likes to gouge people's eyeballs out for no reason... She creates countless blind people every year.]
[Make sure you don't fall victim to her.]
"Huh?" Shu Yichao found himself with another item.
"Gemstone Bow? Bow and arrow firing speed +15%?"
"Nice stuff!"
"Swoosh swoosh swoosh!"
Shu Yichao, holding his newly acquired Gemstone Bow, fired three arrows in succession, each hitting the heads of the Albanian Legion commander and his two deputies who were attempting to rally soldiers for resistance.
All were his signature piercing shots through the eyes.
Watching their own army commander die on the spot, the already chaotic Esman army completely lost their will to fight.
They screamed, wailed, panicked, and discarded their armor.
However, the fact that the Albanian army commander had set up the camp in a defensible location meant that there was no easy escape...
On a cliff above, the First Empress, with only a few dozen people left by her side, looked pale as she watched the Khitan people surrounding the Esman soldiers at the foot of the mountain.
The scene reminded her of the several hunting expeditions she had organized in the past.
The army would surround a forest, shouting and driving out the prey.
The prey would run in all directions, but ultimately, none could escape death.
The scene was so similar to what was happening now.
Only this time, the former hunters had become the prey...
"Your Majesty, they're coming up!" her confidant beside her exclaimed mournfully.
"Don't panic, everyone!" the First Empress encouraged them. "This place is extremely defensible, we can hold out!"
She wasn't lying; the place they had retreated to had been carefully chosen.
There was a small platform at the top that just managed to accommodate their few dozen people.
And from the platform all the way down to the halfway point of the mountain, the terrain was extremely steep and treacherous, almost only goats dared to walk there. Moreover, at the halfway point, there was a muddy swamp.
As a result, if the people below wanted to attack them, they would have to traverse rugged and narrow paths, enduring firepower along the way.
In such terrain, it was even more difficult to attack than a castle fortress—cavalry couldn't charge up, infantry couldn't form superior forces, cannons couldn't be brought up, and catapults didn't have the accuracy.
And the people above could casually throw rocks down, causing bloodshed among those below.
"Your Majesty, save us!" the Esman soldiers being pursued noticed the location of the First Empress and her group, so they crowded and rushed towards them, climbing the mountain while crying out.
And behind them were the elite archers and cavalry, fighting on foot deep in the forest.
From time to time, Esman soldiers who couldn't escape were either pierced by the elite archers and cavalry from behind, or cut down by a single blow.
"Your Majesty, are we...?"
A confidant spoke up, "Shouldn't we save them? After all, they're still usable fighting force."
"No," the First Empress replied coldly, shaking her head. "We don't have enough food for that. With this terrain, even the Khitan people won't be able to attack us! They're likely to besiege us without attacking. We must save enough food to last until the day they retreat."
Silence fell.
"They're almost here," the First Empress spoke up. "Get ready to strike!"
"Whoosh!"
"Swish swish swish!"
With only a few arrows and javelins left in their hands, the Esman soldiers, who dared not waste any, began to spin their slingshots at the command of the First Empress.
"Crack!"
A crying Esman soldier who was climbing up the mountain suddenly felt a sharp pain on his face, immediately turning into a bloodied figure with blurred features.
"Ah!" Letting out a heart-wrenching scream, he then tumbled to the ground, bumping into the person behind him.
The person behind him lost his balance and fell as well—pushing and shoving, they tumbled down the mountain like an avalanche, resulting in heavy casualties.
Even the elite archers and cavalry were not spared in such circumstances; hail-like small stones rained down, and Esman people rolled down like falling rocks—resulting in a crash, and some unfortunate souls took a hit from a stone bullet, bleeding profusely and having to retreat temporarily.
"Yes!"
"Cheers!"
Seeing the Khitan people suffer, the Esman soldiers who had been beaten up cheered excitedly, some even cried.
It wasn't easy!
They had thought these guys were invincible.
But it turned out they were just humans after all, and they too bled.
"Phew—" Even the First Empress breathe a sigh of relief.
It seemed like they could hold out here.
Until—
"Raise your shields!" Seeing the crimson double-headed eagle flag approaching, the First Empress hurriedly instructed everyone to raise their shields for defense.
"The Khitan Caesar's archery is extremely formidable!"
"He might climb up to the halfway point and shoot arrows!"
"Huh." Seeing the situation on the mountain, Shu Yichao also understood what was going on.
"What, did you think a cliff could save you?" he sneered, then mounted his horse and galloped towards the cliff.
"Is the Khitan Caesar out of his mind?"
The First Empress blurted out when she saw Shu Yichao's actions.
Riding a horse on a cliff? Is this person a bit mentally ill? Isn't he just waiting to fall and become minced meat?
But...
"How is this possible!?" Watching Shu Yichao galloping swiftly on the cliff, traversing the steep slope as if it were flat ground, the First Empress's eyes widened in disbelief.
"He, he—"
"Sizzle sizzle—" galloping on horseback, bending the bow and aiming.
Seeing Shu Yichao draw his gemstone bow and aim towards their direction, the First Empress felt alarm bells ringing in her mind, hastily pulling up a wooden shield to defend herself.
However—
"Bang!"
Under the terrifying force of the arrow, the flimsy wooden shield shattered.
The First Empress felt a sharp pain on her face.
"Thud—" in the horrified eyes of everyone, the First Empress suddenly soared into the air, then was brutally pinned to the cliff.
Only the arrow feather sticking out of her eye sockets made a buzzing sound.
We're done for.
This extremely desperate thought flashed through everyone's minds.
[Master?]
[How's the hunting going?]
[How many prey have you caught?]
[...]
[What's going on!?]
[Just hunting, and you manage to offend people to death?]
[There goes the favorability again!]