boyutpedia Page 127
Page 127
Someone was dialing the lead rain, but was instantly riddled with bullets from even more directions.
Someone had just cut down a spearman when he was pierced through the calf by a spear thrust from behind and dragged off his horse...
With each breath, more lives were extinguished. The charging formation of eight hundred men was shrinking and dissolving at a visible speed. As the deafening shouts and gunfire gradually subsided, and the smoke and blood lingered in the air... in the center of the scorched battlefield, only four men and four horses remained!
Guan Sheng, Lu Junyi, Shi Wengong, Dong Ping.
Guan Sheng coughed up blood. Her strength was comparable to Lin Chong's, and it was extremely difficult to determine a winner. To fight Lin Chong, she had to be 100% focused. Therefore, she was helpless against the spears of the soldiers thrusting out from the side and the flintlock bullets. Her crimson battle robe was already soaked in blood, and it was impossible to tell whether it was from her enemy or from her own wounds. It even covered the spear holes, knife marks, and lead bullet pits that covered the fine heavy armor underneath!
The once elegant and majestic Kansai horse is now covered in blood, with several broken spear shafts and arrows stuck in its body. Its strong body is covered with hideous wounds, and hot blood is spitting from its nostrils. Its four legs are trembling slightly, stubbornly supporting its master and refusing to fall.
Guan Sheng himself was covered in wounds. His helmet had been knocked off by Lin Chong's spear, and his disheveled black hair was soaked with sweat and blood, clinging to his weathered, bloodstained, and gunpowder-scarred face. One eye seemed to be covered in blood, while the other burned like molten gold, spewing forth a furious rage and boundless grief that could incinerate the heavens! His famous Green Dragon Crescent Blade was now completely soaked in thick blood, turning it into a hellish color.
The place where she stood was a gruesome mound of corpses, made up of broken spear shafts, shattered armor plates, dead warhorses, and mangled red-armored bodies!
She looked around, and as far as the eye could see, there was only a forest of spears, a musket array, and an endless, sky-high Liangshan army formation.
Chapter 363: Lu Junyi was stunned and shocked.
"General Guan! Let's retreat! We've failed!!!"
Seeing that things were hopeless, Shi Wengong was the first to back down. What the hell was the point of fighting? More than twenty of Liangshan's most capable generals had rushed over, along with the most elite infantry and armored cavalry, who were all heading this way, surrounding us in layers.
Our eight hundred cavalrymen have been wiped out! Only four men remain, back to back and shoulder to shoulder; there are no other comrades among them.
"General Dong! You clear the way! Let's find a way to fight our way out!"
Dong Ping ignored Shi Wengong. Although she was strong, she was just an outsider from Zengtou City and had the lowest status among the four. So he turned his attention to Guan Sheng and wanted to see what Guan Sheng thought.
"You can leave if you want! I'm not coming back!"
Guan Sheng's eyes were bloodshot, and a thunderous roar burst from her throat. The heavy Green Dragon Crescent Blade, carrying immense power, was held high above her head and then cleaved down like tearing silk!
"clang!!!"
The clang of metal rang out, sparks flew! Lin Chong's eighteen-foot spear shot out like a venomous dragon, accurately deflecting the mountain-splitting, peak-crushing blow.
Using the immense force of the blade's violent rebound, Guan Sheng twisted her waist and hips, swinging the broadsword once more, the Azure Dragon Blade light transforming into a waterfall of silver! In just one exchange, she unleashed six consecutive slashes at Lin Chong! Before one slash had even ceased, another arrived! Each slash was imbued with her life's strength, the blade wind tearing through the air with a piercing shriek, truly possessing the terrifying power to shatter mountains and split rocks, to destroy cities and uproot fortresses!
However, at the heart of this dazzling storm of swords, Lin Chong remained as steady as a rock! Her feet were firmly planted on the ground, and her arms flew like wheels. Her eighteen-foot spear, whether pointing, deflecting, picking, or parrying, was like living mercury, deflecting the violent, storm-like slashes with the most precise angle and the least force each time.
Six deafening explosions rang out in succession, sending shockwaves surging! Guan Sheng's series of deadly attacks were completely neutralized by Lin Chong's six desperate parries and counterattacks.
"Not going back? General Guan, what do you mean by saying you're not going back! What do you mean you're not going back?!"
Shi Wengong keenly sensed the problem and glanced back at Guan Sheng—it wasn't the look of a general eager to achieve great things, but rather the expression of a desperate, self-destructive person!
Shi Wengong had a bad feeling. She was a veteran who had stepped onto the front line of Western Xia at the age of sixteen and retired at the age of sixty to live out her retirement in Zengtou City. No one knew better than her how dark and desperate the Song army was. Something must have happened to make Guan Sheng show such a scene.
There must be something going on with Guan Sheng's superiors! Perhaps they issued an impossible order? Or perhaps they ordered her to carry out a decree that violates military principles? That's why she's so desperate, even feeling that it would be better to die on the battlefield, wrapped in a horse's hide, and thus be remembered in history than to obey the orders issued by the Privy Council!
Damn it, why is he just like that stubborn old man Zhou Tong?
"General Guan! You are still young! You have a bright future ahead of you! Although we have suffered heavy losses, Liangshan is also exhausted. Lu Junyi and I will cover the rear, and Dong Ping will lead the way. The four of us still have a chance to fight our way out! There are many talented men in Shandong. Who knows if we can make a comeback!"
Shi Wengong brandished his halberd, deflected Qin Ming's spiked club, parried Hua Rong's rotten silver spear, and blocked Hu Sanniang's Yin-Yang twin blades. He immediately spoke up to warn her.
"This morning, I saw the Privy Council's angel teleport to Licheng. Did the Grand Commandant give you some particularly troublesome orders?! Why don't you carry them out! Soldiers are meant to carry out missions! If Grand Commandant Gao wants to kill a few of us soldiers, it's just a matter of lifting a finger. Why do you have to fight the Grand Commandant head-on?! You even think that dying is better than carrying out a mission?"
I know an old friend who couldn't stand the Grand Commandant's orders and refused to carry them out. Now he's old and disabled, forced to live out his days in a small village. A wise man knows when to yield! Just do what the Grand Commandant says!
"To hell with the Privy Council! To hell with Gao Qiu!!!"
Guan Sheng was already very unhappy because the Privy Council had ordered him to kill Lu Junyi. The loss of eight hundred elite troops and being surrounded by Liangshan made him even more desperate.
After being advised by Shi Wengong, who had been through similar experiences, he immediately flew into a rage and started cursing incessantly!
"You wanted to know what the Privy Council's orders were? Fine! I'll tell you! The Privy Council said Lu Junyi rebelled and ordered me to kill her!"
Guan Sheng, having given up all hope, made his point clear from the start.
"I didn't want to do this mess, so I decided to bring everyone here to gamble and see if eight hundred cavalry could break through Liangshan's defenses and kill Liu Hong. Now that we've failed, I don't plan to go back alive! Last time, Gao Qiu blamed Huyan Zhuo for the defeat, and he'll blame me for it this time too!"
My mother was fighting well in Shandong, but Gao Qiu's three imperial edicts completely disrupted my strategy, leading to my current predicament! I, Guan Sheng, would rather die here than go back and be blamed by Gao Qiu, beheaded, or tattooed and exiled! If you want to leave, go ahead and use time to stop yourself!
Guan Sheng's face showed a death wish, and his words stunned Shi Wengong, and even more so Lu Junyi who was standing beside him.
No, what do you mean I committed treason?
Lu Junyi looked at Guan Sheng in surprise, racking his brains but still unable to understand how he had rebelled. "I followed Guan Sheng all over Shandong, working diligently and conscientiously. What kind of rebellion am I talking about?"
"Liangshan has broken through Daming Prefecture, and your steward and your wife have joined Liangshan."
While fighting Lin Chong, Guan Sheng spoke succinctly.
“A few days ago, Gao Qiu recaptured Daming Prefecture. Your steward and wife, probably in order to save their own lives, pinned all the blame for surrendering to Liangshan on you.”
Lu Junyi was filled with disbelief. What the hell? My wife and I have been loving partners for many years, and the housekeeper has always been loyal. How could this happen?
"If you want to leave, hurry up and go with Shi Wengong! Liangshan might not be able to stop you, but don't go back to Daming Prefecture. That's not home. Just find somewhere to hide!"
After Guan Sheng finished speaking, he stopped talking and, with a death wish, continued his bloody battle with Lin Chong. The Green Dragon Crescent Blade and the Eighteen-Foot Serpent Spear clashed once again in the ancient city, neither gaining the upper hand.
Lu Junyi was stunned for a full three seconds on the battlefield. It was only because his defense was comparable to that of Xu Ning, the Golden Spearman, that Sun Li summoned the shadow of Yuchi Gong and swung a steel whip as big as a mountain, which hit her without breaking her defense. Otherwise, he would have been killed long ago.
Upon hearing these words, Dong Ping was also filled with fervor, brandishing two light guns and shouting as he engaged in fierce battle!
"Excellent! General Guan, you truly are a descendant of King Guan! If you won't leave, then I'll fight alongside you to the very last moment! A warrior should die on the battlefield, not in his bed!!!"
"You...you all"
Shi Wengong was completely numb at this moment, Guan Sheng was determined to die, Dong Ping was hot-blooded, and Lu Junyi's brain had shut down... What kind of teammates are these!
Chapter 364: Shi Wengong Defects to the Enemy on the Front Lines
Escape? The chances are too slim. If I try to escape alone, without Guan Sheng, Dong Ping, and Lu Junyi providing cover on my flanks, things could really go wrong! Time Stop is powerful, but it can only be used once per minute. If something goes wrong, it'll be utterly disastrous.
At this moment, is there any way to survive?
As Shi Wengong brandished his halberd, striking down the Liangshan generals, his mind raced, trying to find the best and safest solution.
And it seems there's only one answer left.
Shi Wengong took a deep breath and began to move closer to Liu Hong's position. Although Liu Hong had received a huge boost at this moment, he was already at his limit after fighting Zhang Shuye and Yun Tianbiao, and he didn't have much strength left. Seeing Shi Wengong coming over, he nervously swung his Panlong Staff, ready to fight to the death.
Generals Lü Fang and Guo Sheng gasped in shock and summoned the demonic shadows of Lü Fengxian and Xue Rengui. The sky-covering Xuan Bird Flame and the White Tiger Frost Halberd roared down, aiming to reduce Shi Wengong to dust!
But faced with such a terrifying attack, Shi Wengong suddenly disappeared and appeared behind the two women, causing Lü Fengxian and Xue Rengui's attacks to miss completely!
Helpless, Lü Fang and Guo Sheng hurriedly turned around and retaliated with their halberds, clashing fiercely with Shi Wengong's halberd. Shi Wengong, fighting two against one, did not retreat an inch, but instead forced Lü Fang and Guo Sheng back three steps.
Liu Hong gritted his teeth, picked up the Panlong Staff, and prepared to attack. At this crucial moment, Shi Wengong suddenly dropped the halberd in his hand and knelt down in front of Liu Hong without hesitation.
"Great Sage Evil! Junior Brother! Senior Sister surrenders!!!"
Liu Hong was stunned for a moment, not realizing what was going on, while Lu Zhisheng had already started cursing.
"Junior brother, don't believe it! This isn't the first time this guy has done something like this! When my mother and master were fighting in Guanzhong, the three of us were once defeated and surrounded by the Western Xia cavalry. When we had nowhere to go, she led her troops and surrendered directly to the King of Western Xia!"
The King of Western Xia admired her martial prowess and accepted her surrender. Unexpectedly, she found a dark and stormy night, abandoned all her brothers, and fled back alone. Bah! I've never seen such a two-faced scoundrel!
Shi Wengong glared fiercely at Lu Zhisheng.
"Then what do you want me to do? Like you and Master?! Leading five hundred cavalrymen in a desperate retreat, without a drop of water for seven days, barely escaping with our lives? You are noble! You do not surrender, but how many cavalrymen did you bring back? Twenty or so? It's no different from a total annihilation! I might as well have feigned surrender and run away! It's a case of the pot calling the kettle black!"
After Shi Wengong finished refuting, he suddenly realized there was a problem and immediately explained to Liu Hong.
“Junior brother, we are all Song people, and I have long since retired from the military. This surrender is definitely not a feigned surrender!”
Liu Hong was genuinely dumbfounded. He had heard of Shi Wengong's cunning and adaptability, but he never expected that Shi Wengong would surrender so directly!
"Just as Lu Zhisheng said, how can I believe you're not feigning surrender?"
Liu Hong pressed him for answers.
"If you surrender to me today when you face a crisis, will you surrender to the Song or Liao dynasties tomorrow when you face a crisis?"
Shi Wengong's mind raced. In this life-or-death situation, he couldn't care less about anything else. He bit his finger, drawing blood, and rapidly drew a scarlet blood rune array in the air.
"I have already ascended to demonhood, transformed into a demon. If you don't believe me, junior brother, I am willing to become your demon! A demon messenger, if powerful enough, can command multiple demons. For example, Wu Song subdued the two demons within her, so there was no problem with their coexistence. I can also become your second demon! Never to betray you!"
Wu Song also took the opportunity to rush over, nodded to Liu Hong, indicating that Shi Wengong's words were correct, and that this blood array was indeed the blood array for signing the demon contract.
Liu Hong had no more doubts at this moment. Without hesitation, he bit his finger and signed the blood seal. In an instant, Shi Wengong, who was in golden armor and robes, holding a halberd, and was majestic and invincible, had his entire body transformed into ethereal subspace spiritual energy, which merged with Liu Hong and became one with him!
【Demon Messenger - Time Stop】: Summons a time demon to stop time for six seconds. Can only be used once per minute.
Having gained the power to stop time, Liu Hong's combat strength surged once again. Meanwhile, the situation on Guan Sheng's side became even more precarious.
After Shi Wengong was no longer holding them back, Qin Ming, Hua Rong, and Hu Sanniang went straight to fight Guan Sheng. No matter how brave Guan Sheng was, he couldn't fight so many Liangshan generals in a row. When Qin Ming arrived at the battlefield and joined forces with Lin Chong to fight Guan Sheng, Guan Sheng was no longer able to attack and could only switch to a defensive posture, barely managing to hold on under the combined attack of Lin Chong and Qin Ming.
When Hu Sanniang attacked from the flank with her twin swords, Guan Sheng was clearly unable to hold on and could not fight against two tigers and one horse at the same time, so he began to retreat.
As Hua Rong drew his bow and began his sniping from afar, Guan Sheng could no longer hold on and was shot in the right arm by Hua Rong's arrow. The sharp steel arrow pierced through the armor, tearing the tendons and greatly weakening Guan Sheng's right arm. In the end, he was overwhelmed by the surrounding generals and captured.
However, Dong Ping and Lu Junyi are in a rather troublesome situation.
Dong Ping had gone mad, transforming into a burst of golden demonic light, rampaging through the Liangshan army with unstoppable force! Only a few top Liangshan warriors could withstand her charge.
This valiant double-spear general, this dashing marquis, seemed to possess inexhaustible energy. Even though everyone started fighting at the same time, and even Dong Ping, who was leading the vanguard, fought longer than the others. Guan Sheng and Lin Chong were exhausted, but she remained full of energy, charging endlessly! Charge! Charge!!!
What's more troublesome is that she's too fast. None of the Liangshan generals can surround Dong Ping. She attacks where there are fewer generals. If there's only one Liangshan general, she'll fight there for a while. But once there are two generals, Dong Ping will quickly leave and find a new lone target.
If there were no lone individuals, she would target the most elite soldiers of Liangshan, such as armored cavalry and infantry warriors, and start killing them directly!
"This thing keeps crashing around, it's so troublesome! It's too fast! We can't stop it."
Lin Chong also began to complain. If she were in her prime, she could still compete with Dong Ping in speed, but after fighting Guan Sheng for over a hundred rounds, even Lin Chong was exhausted.
"It's okay, I'll do it."
A cold glint flashed in Liu Hong's eyes. Facing Dong Ping, who was tearing through the air and turning into a dazzling stream of light, he did not dodge, but calmly raised his hand.
The next second, an invisible force field instantly spread out, enveloping everything around Liu Hong!
The bloodshed and carnage on the battlefield ceased instantly.
The dust kicked up by the horse race froze in the air.
The deafening roar subsided into silence.
Even the air ripples created by Dong Ping's high-speed charge were clearly visible in the air, like frozen ice flowers.
The most horrifying scene unfolded—Dong Ping, whose flesh and blood had transformed into destructive light energy and was charging forward, was frozen solid in mid-air!
One moment it was a thunderous, unstoppable torrent of beams; the next, it was a bizarre creation frozen in time on a specimen shelf. The muscles on Dong Ping's face bulged with rage, the posture of his arm swinging his weapon with all his might, even the visible beam of destruction emanating from the weapon's tip at extreme speed…
Everything was forcibly nailed to this solidified amber of time and space. The dazzling aura of her charge had not yet dissipated, but she had lost all momentum, like a dynamic painting frozen in time, frozen in front of Liu Hong.
Chapter 365: An Epic Victory - The Qilin Escapes
Liu Hong charged forward with a sudden burst of speed. In this frozen moment where everything else was still, he alone could move freely! He rushed directly to Dong Ping, who was immobilized and seemed to be eternally suspended in mid-air. The eerie and oppressive feeling brought about by that stillness was far more terrifying than any earth-shattering display of power. Liu Hong could even clearly observe the slight tremor in the corner of Dong Ping's eye due to the extreme force exerted in his frozen state, and the glistening bead of sweat that had been rapidly shaken off but remained suspended beside the sweat on his temple.
"What terrifying abilities! Liangshan mobilized many warriors, but none of them could capture you. It's a pity that Shi Wengong's abilities are your natural counter."
Liu Hong's voice was exceptionally clear in the absolute silence. His hands swiftly pulled an iron chain from his storage bag and precisely and rapidly wrapped it around Dong Ping's stiff limbs and torso. The moment the chain touched the frozen body, it moved as if alive, binding him tightly. Then, time began to flow!
In an instant, the frozen world thawed. The air began to flow again, and the whistling wind filled her ears. A powerful inertia seemed poised to launch Dong Ping's body forward once more, but just as she regained her sense of motion, the chains binding her suddenly erupted with a blinding burst of lightning! The electricity paralyzed her limbs, smoke billowed from her mouth and nose, and an overwhelming, unstoppable binding force seeped into her very bones, simultaneously and forcefully suppressing the immense kinetic energy she had gathered, along with the surging beam of light within her body!
The valiant double-wielder was like a hawk with broken wings; before he could even utter a muffled groan, he was completely bound by the strange lightning chains, heavily losing his balance and crashing solidly into the dust. He was dazed and disoriented from the fall, every joint feeling as if it had been struck by an invisible hammer.
What a master of dual pistols! Even in such an unfavorable situation, she still struggled to get up and used beams of light to break through the cage, forcing Liu Hong to exhaust himself and overdraw his mental and physical strength, transforming for the second time into a dual dragon form of thunder and shadow. The two colossal dragons that blotted out the sky were like chains of thunder and shadow, tightly binding, imprisoning, and sealing Dong Ping's body.
Speed is power, and when Dong Ping charged at the speed of light, he was indeed unstoppable.
However, now that she was paralyzed by the lightning and bound by the twin dragons, she couldn't get going or accelerate. In the end, she was captured alive by Liu Hong's time-stopping technique and the lightning chains.
At this moment, only Lu Junyi remained, stubbornly resisting on the battlefield.
The battle raged for several hours straight. By this time, everyone was exhausted and at their limit. The only three exceptions were the energetic and tireless Hu Sanniang, Dong Ping, and Lu Junyi.
"Surrender! Jade Kirin! You are all alone!!!"
Qin Ming had already reached her limit. After Hellfire was destroyed eight times in a row, she couldn't even use Hellfire anymore. She could only fight with her bare hands, swinging her spiked club with the force of wind and thunder, smashing it down with the brute force to destroy everything!
Shi Xiu's broadsword was cunning and ruthless, targeting the lower body; Shi Jin's three-pointed double-edged sword was wide and sweeping, blocking the middle. The three cooperated seamlessly, aiming directly at Lu Junyi.
Lu Junyi's jade-colored eyes flashed with a cold light, and the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand seemed to come alive. It slashed upwards at an impossible angle, and the tip of the spear precisely touched the middle of the spiked club's shaft—the point where Qin Ming's power was transferred! Thunderbolt's strike, which was powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, was actually broken by this miraculous touch. The force of thunder crashed into the muddy ground beside him, splashing mud several feet high.
Lu Junyi turned his body, and the end of his spear swept out like a poisonous dragon emerging from the sea, deflecting Shi Xiu's sneak attack. The spear shaft spun back and lashed Shi Jin's sword shaft like a whip, with a terrifying force no less than Qin Ming's. The impact made Shi Jin's arm go numb, his tiger's mouth crack, and he staggered back.
This is just the beginning!