Chapter 681: Want to Flip the Table? (Part 2) [Two-in-One]
A red-eyed silver dragon dances with orange-red flames.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a long spear with a red tassel.
Where there is gunfire, there will inevitably be bloodshed.
However, their unstoppable momentum was still thwarted.
"Don't be so arrogant, you brat!"
With this shout, the gun-wielding warrior was forced to retreat to avoid the attack, his spear shaft plunging into the ground and leaving a long ditch before he could barely stop. Before he could regain his footing, the enemy general charged at him.
Ding ding ding!
Several darts pierced through the air and came hurtling towards them.
The gun-wielding martial artist spun and retreated several times, a row of nine darts radiating a chilling aura embedding themselves in the ground, the last one grazing her arm. Soon, a stream of dark purple blood seeped from the wound. She decisively cut a gash above the wound and forcefully expelled the poisonous blood with her martial energy. Even with her speed, her injured arm still felt numb—good heavens, this was even more potent than the herbal powder Yu Zi always carried!
With her right arm injured, she had to use her less-skilled left arm to wield the gun, putting her in an even more precarious position.
Just as they were about to suffer a great loss, a long halberd came flying at them.
The enemy general recognized the person.
"I let you escape just now, and now you're coming to die!"
Yang Ying's expression turned icy: "You try it!"
The halberd in his hand transformed into a long-handled, broadsword.
The blade is covered with ferocious beast patterns, making a roaring gesture!
Swift as the wind and thunderous as lightning.
He seemed like a completely different person than before.
Her martial aura surged abnormally, causing the enemy general to feel a slight unease. Although the difference in martial prowess levels narrowed with increasing rank, he was several levels above Yang Ying. The latter wouldn't even make him feel the slightest discomfort; he could easily kill Yang Ying!
"Me too!"
The armed fighters dared not let Yang Ying face the enemy alone. Although the chances of winning were slim, it was still a rare opportunity.
How can a martial artist improve their skills without experiencing life and death?
——————
Despite his lord's hints that there was no need to rush, Zhao Feng, being an honest man, simply pretended not to understand and, upon receiving the order, led his men to rush to provide support. The closer they got, the more scorching the heat from the fire became, burning the armor plates of the warriors to a boiling point.
On the way, he rescued two martial arts practitioners who were being chased and jumping around. Just as he had the thought that "these two young men are brave and not afraid of death even when they challenge opponents of higher levels", he heard a joyful "Father" from one of them!
Zhao Feng, wielding a pair of bronze maces, pressed down on the enemy general from above, and even laughed heartily in his composure: "Young man, although I have saved your life, there is no need for me to acknowledge you as my father."
Who calls everyone "Dad"?
Zhao Wei, the gun-wielding warrior: "..."
The enemy general, who had been quite imposing and composed while bullying Yang Ying and his companion, was completely outmatched and unable to sustain the fight against Zhao Feng. His momentum vanished like a flood, leaving him only able to fight for his life. One wrong move and his skull could be smashed open by those two bronze maces!
The men Zhao Feng brought also joined the battle.
The enemy lines in this area quickly pushed the enemy out of the camp.
Zhao Feng's subordinates trusted their general, but were intrigued by the young man who immediately recognized Zhao Feng as his father. They knew their general was tightly controlled by his wife and had never even held another woman's hand in his life, let alone fathered such a grown son… Young man, one shouldn't just randomly claim a father!
At first glance, it looked vaguely familiar.
The latter description, though disheveled and covered in blood, gave the subordinates a very familiar feeling about his features, as if they had seen him somewhere before.
The subordinate official felt a chill run down his spine.
broken--
Why did he find it so familiar?
Could it be that the general's wife has really been cuckolded?
Not quite sure, he took another look.
The more I look at it, the more familiar it seems; the more I look at it, the more unsettling it becomes.
When Zhao Feng returned looking dejected and empty-handed, he saw his subordinate standing there like a block of wood. Zhao Feng raised his large palm-leaf fan and slapped him on the back of the head: "Wake up! This is a battlefield! How dare you stand there daydreaming? The older you get, the more you regress..."
Aren't you afraid of being ambushed and beheaded?
The subordinate stamped his foot in anger and cursed, "General, you can't even control your belt! What will you do when your wife catches you?"
Zhao Feng's eyes widened like copper bells: "You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want! You can't just frame me for something like this. I think you've gone mad, you old bastard, you're defiling my innocence!"
Zhao Wei and Yang Ying barely managed to stand up by supporting each other.
Seeing his father and deputy general joking around without even glancing at him, he was instantly filled with rage: "Father!"
Zhao Feng was in no mood to acknowledge his son at that moment.
He said irritably, "Don't call people out like that!"
Zhao Wei gritted her teeth in anger: "...Zhao Dayi!"
Zhao Feng then turned his head to look, but his furrowed brows were full of impatience as they met those eyes that were very similar to his wife's.
I vaguely thought it was the lady who had arrived, and my legs felt a little weak.
He looked closely and found the young man to be quite familiar.
"You know me, General?"
Zhao Wei: "..."
Although she knew that martial energy would nourish her meridians, greatly improving the physique and even slightly enhancing her facial features, she always thought she hadn't changed much. Who knew that her father, whom she'd called "Dad" for over a decade, wouldn't recognize her?
Yang Ying: "..."
She felt like she had seen this scene somewhere before.
Zhao Wei gritted her teeth and said, "I am your daughter!"
Zhao Feng blurted out, "You...you're Dawei?"
Yang Ying: "..."
The handwriting of this father and daughter is quite something.
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Wei conjured a long spear and prepared to stab her father's buttocks. Judging from her stance, she was determined to pierce several bloody holes, forcing Zhao Feng to flee in terror. The subordinate official on the side seemed unfazed, even chuckling as he commented on his niece's improved spear skills.
Zhao Feng felt very wronged. How could he have imagined that the young man in front of him, whose head reached his chin, was his daughter?
He remembered that before his daughter ran away from home, she was adorable and petite, loved by everyone who saw her! More than two years later, she was no longer a graceful young woman, but a tall and strong one!
He found it hard to accept at first.
He decided to kill a few more enemy soldiers to calm his nerves.
The reinforcements led by Chao Lian arrived before him, and the enemy forces that had not gained any advantage in the night raid were suppressed even more.
Corpses lay strewn across the ground; almost all of them were enemy soldiers who had launched a night raid. There were very few of Shen Tang's men. Given this casualty ratio, the enemy should have retreated long ago, but they didn't.
Is it that they don't want to?
It was basically a few old men who cut off their escape route.
Enemies are in front, and traps are behind.
Finally, seeing the situation was unfavorable, the enemy managed to escape at great cost.
After the battle, a headcount revealed that this unit had lost 50% of its strength!
When Zhao Feng and Chao Lian saw Shen Tang, her face was so somber it could drip water, and even the aura around her seemed to be affected, with faint sounds of thunder. An uninformed person might have thought the corpses on the ground were her soldiers. Although the two were not particularly perceptive about the situation, they could vaguely sense that Shen Jun was dissatisfied, almost as if "anger" was etched on her face.
"I have met Mr. Shen."
The two men clasped their hands in a gesture of respect.
Shen Tang sighed, “People say that ‘a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative,’ and now we can see that for sure. Although Longwu and the Tianhai and Shangnan families are no longer close neighbors, we are very grateful that Brother Zhaode and Brother Ziyi were willing to lend a hand in our time of crisis.”
The way she said that made it sound like she would die if the two of them didn't come.
Zhao and Feng were puzzled.
It was clearly set by Shen Tang's own people that the fire was started.
After dealing with the corpses on the ground, dousing the fire with water, and cleaning up the mess in the camp, the sky was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.
Shen Tang ate dry rice in the camp, accompanied by some pickled vegetables, salted fish, salted meat and other side dishes. He drank two buckets of millet porridge before feeling full.
He wiped his mouth clean with a handkerchief and slammed it onto the food counter.
"Let's go find someone to make trouble for!"
Whose bad luck are they looking for?
It was naturally bad luck for the Allied Forces.
It's time to spit out all the gossip I've been consuming about her lately!
"Prefect Shen, what are you doing bringing so many people here?"
The person asking the question was Tao Yan.
His camp was perfectly safe; the night raid last night didn't even cause a spark. On the other hand, Shen Tang's side, because she deliberately stirred up trouble and misled the outside world about the identities of the corpses, caused everyone else to believe that Shen Tang had suffered considerable losses in this night raid.
Tao Yan was naturally somewhat gloating.
The other coalition allies had varying expressions.
"I'm here to see the alliance leader, what right do you have to interrupt?"
Tao Yan didn't expect Shen Tang to be so impolite.
He roared, "Shen Youli!"
His response was a gleaming longsword, its blade pointed directly at his neck. Shen Tang's abrupt drawing of his sword shocked everyone, and Huang Lie jumped to his feet. But he didn't attack; instead, he asked Shen Tang, "Prefect Shen, what do you mean by this?"
"What do you mean? Ha, I'd like to ask you what you mean! Last night, during the night raid, the main force of Chaoli Pass tried to break through from our side. We fought desperately and sent people to your side for help. In the end, apart from our two old neighbors, Shangnan and Tianhai, hardly anyone else crawled over. What, have you all been crippled by Zheng Qiao's troops?"
Shen Tang's question was undeniably harsh.
However, her whole performance was aimed at tearing off the facade.
Huang Lie tried to comfort her.
"Prefect Shen has misunderstood; what happened last night was not..."
Shen Tang interrupted, continuing her tirade: "Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? What's the misunderstanding? How many people did Chaoli Pass send? Are they all warriors capable of taking on a hundred men each, keeping you too busy to spare, and making you fear them like tigers? Ha, yesterday I kindly reminded you to be wary of a night raid, and all I got in return was an ally watching from the sidelines! Fine! Very well! If that's the case, what's the point of this dragon-slaying scheme? Let's just clean up the mess and wait for the enemy to slit our throats! I'm done, do whatever you want!"
When it comes to eloquence, who can match Shen Tang's?
The more the others listened, the more their eyelids twitched. Looking closely at Shen Tang's expression, they could see that he was truly angry and about to overturn the table!
The boy was hot-tempered; he really knew how to quit when he said he would.
“What Brother Shen said is exactly what I wanted to say.”
As they were talking, Wu Xian led his men into the tent, his expression serious.
He said, “Do you truly harbor the ambition to cleanse the world and slay the tyrant? I used to believe it, but now I do not. Last night, the camp of Brother Shen was scorched by the blazing sun, and my side also suffered considerable losses. If it weren't for my strategists taking the opportunity to create fog and reduce casualties, I fear I wouldn't have the chance to stand here and speak with you all today. If that's the case, then this dragon-slaying scheme is better off not happening…”
Although Huang Lie had already discussed this play with him, as the leader of the alliance, he still had to put on a show to make the table-flipping look more real!
"No!"
Wu Xian asked, "Why not?"
He glanced at everyone with a cold smile and said sarcastically, "If I retreat to Tianhai, even if that tyrant attacks, I can still survive for a while. It's better than being betrayed by my allies who are watching from the sidelines and dying without knowing why."
Shen Tang's decision to withdraw did not garner much attention.
Even when she wasn't there, the Dragon Slayer Bureau still managed to win.
But the addition of Wu Xian has made some people uneasy.
And yet, some people still add fuel to the fire.
"I wholeheartedly agree," Gu Ren said, rising from his seat.
"Prefect Gu, you..."
"Absolutely not! Things mustn't come to this!"
Everyone was almost dumbfounded.
How did things suddenly jump to the point of breaking up?
It wasn't so much that they were reluctant to part with Gu Ren, but rather with his young thirteenth brother. Shao Chong's reputation for bravery and skill in battle was renowned throughout the allied forces; he had often been a key figure in duels. Losing Gu Ren would be a huge problem!
Gu Ren took a deep breath, looking quite disappointed.
"Last night, our side also suffered heavy losses..." Although few people present believed him, Gu Ren was willing to lie through his teeth. "You all had no intention of slaying the dragon, and although I had the will, I was powerless to reverse the situation. It would be better to part ways amicably and let fate decide..."
Pack up your things, go home, and find your mothers.
At first, they thought it was just a bluff, but when they actually returned and prepared to break camp, the allied forces were completely uneasy. Within half a day, two more smaller factions hesitantly rose to follow, and Huang Lie's face turned ashen. He surveyed the faces of everyone in the tent and pressed them with an unfriendly tone: "If the allied forces fail and Zheng Qiao's forces counterattack, who among you can stop them?"
The only sound inside the tent was breathing; no one answered.
Those whose forces bordered Zheng Qiao's were even more ashen-faced.
"Leader Huang—"
His voice was filled with sorrow and pleading for mercy.
They never imagined things would escalate to this point. There had been complaints before, but they were always suppressed by Alliance Leader Huang Lie, who turned a blind eye to slacking off for the sake of the bigger picture. This time, with Shen Tang, a leader with a rebellious streak, they managed to turn both Shangnan and Tianhai against their sides in one fell swoop. The Dragon Slaying Bureau was on the verge of disbanding; Zheng Qiao could laugh in his dreams!
However, some die-hards, led by Tao Yan, did not believe it.
If the Dragon-Slaying Bureau truly collapses, the three families will eventually be wiped out by Zheng Qiao. Considering this, it's certain that Shen Tang and his two companions are using this opportunity to intimidate others and gain more benefits within the allied forces. This is a game of strategy, and retreat is not an option.
Then--
Chao Liguan received news that the Dragon Slaying Bureau was disbanding.
"Pfft—what did you say?"
Ever since the failed night raid and the heavy losses suffered by their side, the defending general had been in a bad mood, and his temper had flared up. This was because Zheng Qiao only cared about the results of battles, not the process. When news of the failed night raid reached him, he knew he would be reprimanded, which only fueled his anger.
I was drinking some water to cool down when I heard the news that the Dragon Slaying Bureau was disbanding.
The commander asked, "Who spread the rumor?"
This is just too outrageous.
If it were really that simple, they would have disbanded. How could they have played for more than two years?
The clerk said, "This is intelligence brought back by the scouts."
Defender: "..."
His intuition told him that the group of six men on the other side were up to no good.
"How about we take a gamble and see how far we go before Alliance Leader Huang sends someone to invite us?" Having vented her anger, Shen Tang was in a very good mood, and even the breeze on her face felt gentle and tender.
Gu Chi said, "No betting, the people are here."
Although it's all part of the performance, one can't actually lead troops too far. If the garrison commander of Chaoli Pass comes up with a novel way to block them, Shen Tang's small force will be left isolated and doomed.
Seeing the warhorses galloping towards them, Shen Tang looked towards the direction of Chaoli Pass and laughed, "The Dragon-Slaying Squad must first cut off the dragon's feet!"
(*^▽^*)
On the second day of the second lunar month, the dragon raises its head.
Did you get a haircut today?
(End of this chapter)
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