GBP Chapter 176 Beast Tide!
Chapter 176 Beast Tide!
The princess also sniffed twice and smelled a strange fragrance.
"What a strange smell. It smells nice, but it makes me feel irritable."
"It is neither like the fragrance of natural flowers nor like the fragrance of cosmetics. I have never smelled this scent before."
Zhou Wei looked in the direction Yuan Xing and the others had left, feeling uneasy.
"Princess, this tastes strange. It's likely that someone did this on purpose. Be extra careful during the hunt later."
The eldest princess nodded: "The crown prince just brushed past us, very close, perhaps..."
Zhou Wei looked down at her skirt, lifted it up to examine it carefully, but found nothing unusual.
"The snow keeps falling, and it's easy to cover up any tricks someone might have done if it lands on you. In short, it's best to be careful."
The two rode their horses steadily forward, not in a hurry to catch up with the generals, but paying attention to the strange fragrance along the way.
The generals, who were already eager to kill their prey, were gathered together, somewhat bewildered.
As Feng Polu tied the rabbit he had just hunted to his horse, he asked Qian Tao, "Old Qian, are you sure you're not mistaken? Is this the mountain forest?"
Qian Tao exhaled a puff of white breath, gazed into the distance, and nodded, saying, "Of course I remembered correctly!"
“A few days ago, I went into the mountains alone and heard a tiger roar. You saw that bear that weighs several hundred pounds.”
"After I hunted it, I had several people carry it back to my residence. There was more than just this one bear that day."
"But it's strange, we haven't seen any bears or even any deer of any size today."
The generals, who had been scattered and hunting in the mountains and forests, have now reunited.
After taking stock of their catch, they found that they had only hunted wild rabbits, which was rather meager.
And some people didn't gain anything at all!
Qian Tao looked around but did not find the Third Prince.
Have you seen the Third Prince?
Feng Polu said, "They were following behind me, but we went around in circles and didn't hunt anything. So the Third Prince suggested we go further into the mountains."
Upon hearing this, Qian Tao was shocked: "Oh dear, you old Feng, how could you let the Third Prince be alone?"
Feng Polu was also somewhat puzzled.
"He said he wanted to go into the mountains again to take another look, and I couldn't stop him. Besides, he brought two guards with him, so he should be fine, right?"
Qian Tao was almost defeated by Feng Polu's naiveté. No wonder Feng Polu's military achievements were comparable to his own, but he only got the title of Zhaoyong General.
This is treating the Third Prince like he's someone important!
"Old Feng, the Third Prince is not good at riding and archery. What if something happens to him if you let him go into the mountains alone?"
Feng Polu exclaimed in surprise, "The Third Prince isn't good at riding and archery? But he himself said he's very good at it!"
"Nonsense, what kind of person is the Third Prince? Would he admit he's incapable?"
Qian Tao quickly mounted his horse: "Stop dawdling, Lao Feng, come back with me to search."
At this moment, the Crown Prince spoke up: "General Qian, I encountered Yue Lin when I was looking for prey. He went west."
Qian Tao bowed to the Crown Prince and said, "Your Highness, I will send a group of people to accompany you. Please do not go deep into the mountains and forests."
"No need, General Qian. My riding and archery skills have been carefully taught by the teachers hired by my father. Don't compare me to my third brother."
The prince refused, and Qian Tao didn't know what to say, so he led his men deeper into the mountains.
Seeing Qian Tao leave with Feng Polu, the Crown Prince thought for a moment and prepared to follow as well.
But Yuanxing stopped him and whispered, "Father, don't go."
The Crown Prince was puzzled and turned to look at Yuanxing: "Why do you say that, Xiaoyue? I am skilled in riding and archery. By following the generals, I can show them my abilities."
Yuanxing truthfully reported that he had sprinkled perfume powder on the eldest princess and the third prince to attract wild beasts.
The scent of the perfume powder had already spread as the two rode their horses at full speed.
It's estimated that it won't be long before the two of them are surrounded by wild beasts!
"Even if Father were to go, it wouldn't be now."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nianxing's eyes lit up: "That's right, Father! When these people are surrounded by ferocious beasts and half of them are dead or wounded, wouldn't it be like a god descending to earth for Father to reappear?"
"At that time, all the generals will be grateful to Father for saving their lives!"
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince was pleasantly surprised and said, "Little Yue, you actually have such a good thing?"
Yuanxing could only vaguely explain it away with the phrase "given by his master."
Jiang Nianxing glanced at Yuanxing without making a sound, her eyes filled with an inscrutable emotion.
roar----
Suddenly, a beast's roar came from the distant mountains and forests, and a look of joy appeared on Yuanxing's face.
The Crown Prince also exclaimed with delight, "The generals have been searching for this ferocious beast for so long without success, but it has finally come out..."
However, before he could finish speaking, he felt the ground beneath his feet shaking.
roar----
The distant roars suddenly increased, from one to two, and then to countless.
It seemed as if thousands of ferocious beasts were charging towards them!
Yuanxing's expression changed, and he immediately pulled on the reins, shouting, "Father, hurry! This is a beast tide!"
Beast tide?
Before the prince could react, countless birds appeared in the sky, fleeing at great speed, seemingly alarmed by the continuous roars of the beasts!
Seeing this, the prince dared not delay. He pulled on the reins and urged the horse to gallop in the opposite direction.
The whistling wind swept past my ears, and the roars of beasts grew ever closer!
While concentrating on escaping on horseback, Yuanxing questioned the system in his mind.
"What's going on? How could that powder trigger a beast horde? Judging from the noise, at least several hundred wild animals are heading this way."
[Host, anything produced by the system is guaranteed to be of the highest quality. Since it's of the highest quality, the effects will naturally be excellent.]
"But I only wanted to lure out a dozen or so wild beasts. Now that I've brought out hundreds, how am I going to handle this?"
[The host is advised to return to the city immediately.]
"What do you mean?" Yuanxing was shocked upon hearing this. "Do these beasts dare to attack the town?"
This animal-attracting powder is extremely effective; it greatly stimulates an animal's instincts, causing it to tear and destroy any living thing it sees without restraint.
The system's explanation almost made Yuanxing fall off his horse.
Isn't this telling him that the beast tide won't retreat because of the crowd, and that living people can actually arouse their bestiality even more?
"You've really put me in a difficult position. If I had known this powder was so effective, I wouldn't have used up the whole bottle."
Yuanxing was extremely annoyed, but it was too late to say anything now!
The beast tide is beyond human control, unless the Great Zhou's musket squad is mobilized.
However, the firearms of the Great Zhou Dynasty were not very efficient; they had to be reloaded after firing just one shot, and their range was short.
Using musket squads to fight the beast tide is also risking lives!
Yuanxing couldn't clean up this mess, so he could only flee with the crown prince.
"Although the beast tide was caused by me, it was an unintentional mistake. If the beast tide really causes deaths and injuries to the people, it has nothing to do with me."
Yuanxing practiced Buddhism from a young age. Although he later went astray, he was always subconsciously influenced by cause and effect.
He could harm others for the sake of cultivation, but triggering a beast tide would result in countless deaths and injuries, which made him somewhat uneasy.
He could only try his best to comfort himself, telling himself that this had nothing to do with him!
The system didn't explain it clearly to him; those civilians who died because of the beast tide were just unlucky!
The prince rode his horse, leading Jiang Nianxing and Yuanxing, galloping wildly out of the mountains and forests, the cold wind mixed with snow blowing into their clothes.
Braving the wind and snow, the prince shouted, "Speed up! Once we're out of the forest, these beasts won't dare to venture out."
Upon hearing this, Yuanxing felt bitter. Naturally, most wild beasts would not easily leave the mountains and forests.
But the ferocious beasts in this horde, stimulated by the animal-attracting powder, had long since lost their minds.
Simply escaping the mountains and forests is not safe!
Yuanxing didn't know how to remind the Crown Prince, fearing that saying too much might displease him.
He had previously boasted about the miraculous effects of the beast-attracting powder, but now it's causing problems!
Yuanxing could only reply cautiously, "Father, the camp outside the mountains is probably not safe either. Should we go back to the city directly? The capital's city walls are high and can surely withstand the beast tide."
The crown prince, mounted on his horse, shouted at the top of his lungs, "No need to return to the city, I'm still waiting to see the show!"
The "good show" that the Crown Prince was referring to was actually the Third Prince and the Eldest Princess, who were still in the mountains.
The beast tide was triggered by the medicinal powder on the Third Prince and the Eldest Princess, making them the primary targets of the beasts' attacks.
The time to test the results is fast approaching, how could the Crown Prince bear to leave?
On the other side, Qian Tao and his generals were still searching for the Third Prince when a sudden roar from a beast made everyone's hearts tighten.
"How could there be so many wild beasts roaring?"
Feng Polu gripped his bow and arrow tightly, trying to calm the restless horse.
Qian Tao was sweating profusely at this moment, as the group had searched for a long time without finding a single beast.
But now all I hear are roars of beasts; have we disturbed a den of wild animals?
"Oh no, something terrible is about to happen! Everyone, don't delay any longer, find the Third Prince immediately!"
Mentioning the Third Prince reminded Qian Tao of the Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess, and sweat finally began to trickle down his forehead.
"Damn it, I must have been bored to hold this deer hunting banquet. And if I was going to hold it, why did I have to invite the Princess? Now look what's happened, things are really bad!"
Qian Tao slapped his head, feeling extremely annoyed.
Feng Polu pulled on the reins and shouted, "Old Qian, don't regret it now. The Crown Prince is skilled in hunting, the Princess can bend a heavy bow, and I heard that her maid Zhou Wei is also quite capable. Don't worry about these two for now."
"Yes, let's find the Third Prince first."
The generals all agreed and were about to disperse to search again when they suddenly felt a violent tremor beneath their feet!
Not far away, plumes of white smoke rose, creating a scene resembling a fairyland that left everyone mesmerized.
Qian Tao was the first to react, shouting, "Oh no! That's snow dust that's been stirred up!"
The sheer force of a massive army marching in was something all the generals had witnessed; the dust they stirred up could obscure anyone within ten meters of the battlefield.
The snow in the mountains and forests has now formed snow dust. How many wild beasts are attacking?
Although the military officers were used to seeing bloodshed, they couldn't help but feel tense at this moment.
Feng Polu pulled on the reins, ready to run away: "Hurry! This is a beast tide; human strength cannot withstand it."
Everyone reacted immediately, mounting their horses and preparing to flee for their lives.
However, Qian Tao had excellent eyesight. When he rode on his horse and looked into the distance, he finally saw the snow in the mountains being swept up by the strong wind.
In front of the white vortex, three galloping horses!
On the lead horse, the Third Prince was disheveled and looked extremely disheveled.
"It's the Third Prince!" Qian Tao shouted.
Feng Polu immediately raised his bow and arrow and aimed at the distance.
"No way, Lao Qian, it's too far!"
The third prince was closely pursued by a fierce tiger, which was not particularly large, but was extremely fast.
It ran and roared, and even occasionally used the raised mounds on the ground to leap and try to hook onto the horse.
Fortunately, the Third Prince's mount was also a fine horse, and now, startled and ferocious, it was running like a madman!
Qian Tao knew that the bows and arrows used by Feng Polu and others could not reach that far.
He then raised his heavy bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed at the tiger behind the Third Prince!
swoosh————
An arrow was shot, but it landed in the snow some distance in front of the Third Prince.
It's obvious that Qian Tao's bow doesn't have enough range!
Just then, the Third Prince's horse tripped over something in the snow, slowing it down.
The tiger behind him immediately seized the opportunity, leaped up, and charged at his back!
For wild beasts, having their prey with their backs turned can better stimulate their wild instincts.
"Third Prince, be careful!"
Qian Tao had just let out his roar when he heard the sound of an arrow piercing the air behind him!
swoosh————
A long arrow pierced the cold air and flew towards the tiger!
Awooo—
Then everyone heard a tiger's roar. The tiger that had been chasing the Third Prince was hit by an arrow, rolled several times at high speed, and fell heavily onto the snow.
Behind the tiger were countless wild beasts, who had no time to dodge and trampled on its body.
In no time at all, the tiger was trampled into a bloody pulp!
Everyone who witnessed this scene was filled with lingering fear; if it weren't for that arrow, the Third Prince would have been dead.
Everyone turned around and saw the Eldest Princess and Zhou Wei riding up, the Eldest Princess still holding her heavy bow in her hand.
"What are you all standing there for? Run out of the forest right now!" Zhou Wei shouted anxiously.
The eldest princess also instructed Qian Tao: "General Qian, you and I will shoot down the fastest beasts!"
Upon hearing this, no one dared to delay any longer and they all rode their horses forward at breakneck speed!
Zhou Wei focused her energy and shouted at the Third Prince, who was fleeing for his life in the distance.
"Third Prince, faster!"
Upon hearing Zhou Wei's voice, the Third Prince angrily retorted, "Don't I know to hurry? This horse can only run this fast!"
Especially since his horse seemed to have been injured after being tripped, it's now moving slower and slower.
Seeing that he was about to be overtaken by the two guards protecting him, the Third Prince hardened his heart, drew the dagger he was carrying, and stabbed it into the horse's rump!
hiss----
The horse let out a mournful whinny and began to gallop wildly.
Zhou Wei squinted at the Third Prince's actions and cursed him under her breath as an idiot.
"What is he doing? How can that horse last until it runs out of the mountains like this?"
The eldest princess's heart sank as the third prince's horse bled profusely, staining large patches of snow red wherever it went.
Although the speed has increased at this moment, what happens next...
"There's no other way, this is the most important thing right now."
Zhou Wei was not so optimistic. If something went wrong with the Third Prince's horse, someone else would have to give him a horse.
If the Third Prince dares to use his status to steal the guard's horse, Zhou Wei will definitely stop him!
Even two people riding one horse wouldn't work; they certainly couldn't outrun the beast tide.
Therefore, she began to look for tall trees nearby.
If all else fails, the group will have to climb the trees to take shelter!
Fortunately, they were now deep in the mountains, surrounded by towering trees. If they could climb to the top, they could temporarily escape the beast tide.