The Flower Among the Flames

Chapter 21

Seulgi breathed out a sigh of relief seeing that he hit his mark. In all honesty, he was afraid he'd miss the zombie hounding Zhao Meng and hit her instead. What could he say? He was a terrible shot, but it seemed as though luck was on his side...for now. He let the Sheng soldiers take control of the ballista and took hold of Yù Fēng with both hands. He looked down the steps and spotted a group of undead clamoring over each other to reach the top. He let out a short grunt. Not on his watch.

Seulgi jumped from the top of the steps and impaled the zombie beneath him, shoving the other ones down the stairs. The impaled undead let out a growl but was quickly silenced with a slit of the throat, its head rolling down with the other undead. Seulgi then rushed down the steps to finish them off. He swung in short but deadly arcs and stabs, pushing them further back away from the staircase and into the open. With a quick slash, he obliterated all of them in a single stroke. Satisfied that they were unmoving, Seulgi did a quick take of the courtyard.

The added reinforcements and power of the ballistae did seem to help thin out the crowd of enemies. The heavy twanging and thudding as heavy bolts tipped with iron or experimental munitions smashed into the ranks of zombies. Seulgi let out a whistle. Thank the gods the siege weapons were being used against them and not his own men. They were deadly efficient, he had to admit.

"Seulgi!"

The Man of Joseon turned around alarmed but when he saw who was approaching, he made a small smile. Zhao Meng rushed up to him, an arrow notched on her bowstring. Quickly, she turned around and let the projectile loose from her bow, watching as it downed another zombie. That makes twenty, she counted, impressed with her kill count. Zhao Meng refocused her attention back to Seulgi and beamed, her bangs sticking to her forehead from sweat.

"I guess I owe you again," she said, playfully pounding his left shoulder. "I thought you couldn't shoot."

"I can't." Seulgi shrugged. "I got lucky this time."

"Really?" Zhao Meng raised an eyebrow. She paused to pull out another arrow and again turned herself to shoot at another foe. When she turned back, she continued, "So if it missed?"

"Spur of the moment, I suppose," Seulgi admitted, his glaive shimmering under the sun. He looked around wearily, noticing the rate at which the ballistae were firing slowed.

"Running low on bolts, it seems," Zhao Meng said, observing the same thing he did.

"Yeah," Seulgi replied with a low voice. "We need to fall back."

"Fall back?" Zhao Meng asked flatly. He knew how she felt about retreating. Hell, it was partially because of her that Seulgi was wounded on the first night. But he needed her to see past pride. Seulgi glanced around again and immediately noticed that whatever advantage they held moments ago was being lost.

"Zhao Meng," Seulgi said. "We can't keep fighting them out here. At this rate, we'll lose."

"I don't think so," she argued, her hand reaching for another arrow. "We can beat them, Seulgi. Our men can handle these walking corpses."

"I am sure they can," Seulgi nodded slowly. "But we don't have an endless stream of troops. Whatever this demon woman is doing, she is reviving the dead constantly. You saw them spawning from those holes right?"

Zhao Meng nodded, feeling nauseous in remembering how she almost died earlier. She didn't want to admit it, but she was beginning to think Seulgi was right. She also took a quick look around, shooting another zombie that was getting too close to them. Zhao Meng pursed her lip. They were losing ground again, and the vast horde of undead was overwhelming the troops easily. Zhao Meng spotted the Shaos and Bao He fighting side by side to her left. Even they were struggling. Now feeling a bit frustrated, she clenched her teeth and her fist tightened around her bow.