Chapter 52 Attendants
At Chenshi (7-9 AM), war drums sounded and horns blared. The Nian Kingdom's 30,000-strong army launched a thunderous attack, encircling the Feng Kingdom's army which was encamped outside Langcheng.
As eagles swooped down and the Feng army's formation fell into disarray, a deep, resonant voice, like a booming bell, echoed from the front of the Nian army's ranks, resounding throughout the Feng Kingdom's camp—
"The Maple bandits have invaded our land and sowed the people's bewitching winds. Today, the loyal and righteous men of our Nian Kingdom will unite to protect our nation and vow to take your heads!"
As soon as the King of Poison uttered his challenge, the soldiers responded in unison, their voices booming like thunder: "Kill! Kill! Kill!!!"
The war drums roared, banners fluttered, and King Zhen, riding his Ferghana horse, charged into the enemy ranks. With a swing of his golden halberd, heads flew wherever he went, his killing moves continuous, swift as meteors, and unstoppable.
Crimson blood splattered, and the air was thick with the stench of blood. Seeing this, the soldiers' eyes turned bloodshot, and they charged forward with howls, the earth trembling as if a dragon had churned it up.
General Hu, whom Feng Kingdom had dispatched this time, was enraged as he watched the outer defenses begin to crumble. He hastily ordered his men to beat the drums and loudly proclaim, "How dare you, a mere small country, resist?! My great Feng Kingdom has a total army of 150,000, and you dare to offend us? You truly do not know the meaning of death!"
However, the Nian army responded with a fierce offensive—they were truly fearless.
.
Nianjun Camp.
The sounds of battle were deafening in the distance, while Masakatsu and Shiro, who were left in the camp, stared at each other in boredom.
However, Shinju wasn't entirely idle. He was having Ci Zifu fully repair his dantian, because he had discovered last time that Ci Zifu could complete the repair independently without affecting his actions. At the same time, he was also pondering the variables on the battlefield, growing increasingly uneasy with each thought.
Xi Luo was even more impatient. If there were a suitable foal, she would have volunteered for battle long ago. Both of her swords were short, curved blades, which were a clear disadvantage on the battlefield, and she was not strong enough to wield a long sword, nor could she swing the horse-slaying sword as freely as her father. Just holding a long sword with both hands was difficult enough for her, let alone holding both long and short swords with both hands.
Xi Luo paced back and forth, glancing at Zhen Su every now and then, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.
After noticing this, Masakatsu asked, "What's wrong?"
Xi Luo was always straightforward, but she always seemed a bit more reserved in front of Zhen Su. However, she eventually spoke up, wanting to hear what solution Zhen Su, whom she regarded as a master, had in mind.
Masakatsu didn't directly teach her how to increase her strength. Instead, he said, "Some things can't be rushed. Your bones are still growing. If you put too much weight on them too early, it will actually hinder your development. Being small also has its advantages. If you grow up in the future, you might lose some of your current advantages."
These words hit the nail on the head, and Xi Luo felt as if the clouds had parted to reveal the sun, which put his mind at ease.
Just as she was about to thank him, Shinjuku offered her a choice: "However, I have a way to ensure that you retain your current height advantage when you grow up."
Xi Luo realized that Zhen Su intended to teach her the technique, and her eyes lit up immediately. She held her breath and stared at him intently.
"Want to learn? Bone-shrinking technique?" Shinju asked with a smile.
“That’s not just something from a storybook…” Xi Luo’s eyes trembled, but she never doubted Shinju’s strength, nor did she believe he would lie to her. So, without Shinju’s explanation, she nodded eagerly.
Fifteen minutes later, Shinju instructed Xiluo to try shrinking his bones.
"This technique actually exists..." Xi Luo murmured, her face flushed with excitement. At this moment, she was not much bigger than a young deer, and she dared not imagine how well she could hide in the future.
"This method is actually bone dismantling. It is important not to use it too often and to take medicines to strengthen the body and replenish vital energy regularly, otherwise damage is inevitable. However, in certain critical situations, such as when trapped in a narrow passage or encountering a landslide, it can provide a better chance of survival."
After a long silence, Xi Luo suddenly kowtowed to Zhen Su, "You have already taught me the techniques. Whether you like it or not, Luo'er will acknowledge you as my master!"
Shinjuku was both amused and exasperated. "That won't do. I'm teaching unorthodox methods, not proper martial arts. What will you do if you want to become an apprentice later?"
"It doesn't matter, Luo'er will learn everything." Her mind was made up. If her future master didn't acknowledge that she still had a master in her heart, then she wouldn't become that master's disciple.
Shinju refused a few more times, and although Xiluo did not argue, her stubborn attitude showed that she was determined to stick to her guns.
Masakatsu was at a loss with her, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "I'm still planning to go to the battlefield to take a look. Do you want to come with me?"
Xi Luo immediately replied, "Go!"
Most of those left behind in the camp were not elite troops, and even with the generals there, they could not stop Masakatsu.
After a quick disguise, the two bypassed the layers of guards, stole a horse, and headed straight for the bustling battlefield.
Shinju chose a high spot, unleashed his divine sense, and surveyed the battlefield. At this moment, the Maple Army's camp had been razed, and the Nian Army was engaged in battle with the enemy's main force. Although the encirclement was tightening step by step, several edges had been breached, preventing a complete encirclement. After all, it was 30,000 against 50,000; the difficulty of the battle was unimaginable.
As they were observing, a scream came from below the cliff where Shinju and Sairo were.
With a sudden thud, Shinju slid down the cliff face from the top and landed on the ground in no time. As he fell, he grabbed a few stones and rubbed them between his fingers, creating blade-like shards that flew through the air and instantly severed the hands of a Maple Kingdom soldier who was raising his spear to stab a Nian Kingdom soldier.
The spear slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. Then, Shinjuku launched stone fragments one after another, chasing after the spear and shaving off its tip in an instant, until only the blunt shaft remained, which struck the leather armor on the chest of the Nian Kingdom soldier.
No, leather armor is even more vulnerable to blunt force trauma! Shinju suddenly realized this and quickly stepped forward to help the soldier up.
"Are you alright?" Shinjuku asked.
The soldier, still shaken, took a moment to recover. He stared blankly at the masked youth before him. "I...I'm not dead!" He belatedly pressed his chest, exhaling a breath of stale air. "My chest hurts so much, but I can still fight..."
At this moment, Xi Luo also rushed down the mountain path. She looked at the Feng Kingdom man on the ground, who was holding up his severed hand and screaming in pain, and her eyes suddenly turned murderous.
However, before she could get close, five more soldiers from the Feng Kingdom suddenly rushed out. They had been fighting and retreating, chased all the way, and were frantic with anxiety. They had just heard the sporadic cries from this side and had crept over. Upon closer inspection, they found only two masked men who looked very young, and a Nian Kingdom infantryman who was clutching his chest as if he was having trouble breathing.
"Heh, you've been chasing us for so long, it's time for us to kill you, you worthless trash from Nian Kingdom!" They laughed wildly, as if they had gotten a great deal.
Shinju couldn't understand the Maple Kingdom language, so Xiluo explained to him, "They want to kill us."
"This is outrageous! They don't even spare children, they're worse than animals!" The Nian Kingdom soldier was furious. Although his sword was worn beyond recognition, he still stood in front of Zhen Su and Xi Luo. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead as he stared at the five people opposite him, trying to suppress the trembling in his voice, and said to the two behind him, "You two run! I'll hold off these Feng bandits, run!"
"You think you can protect them with your bean sprout skin? Hahahaha, the people of Nian Kingdom are truly laughably stupid! Isn't it good enough to live a life of luxury by relying on our Feng Kingdom? Why do you have to put on a show of chastity here and make a last-ditch effort!"
Xi Luo ignored the other party's taunts and was about to rush forward when she was stopped by Zhen Su. Then Zhen Su said something she couldn't refuse, "I'll give you a chance to learn from them. Let me do it."
The next moment, Shinju flashed out from behind the soldiers. He deliberately slowed down his movements so that Xilu could see his every move clearly. Shinju bent down to the side, swept his left leg down with a sweeping kick, and then twisted his wrist to brace himself on the ground, kicking upside down and smashing the jaw of the man on his right. He then somersaulted and landed behind the remaining two men, grabbing their helmets with both hands and slamming them together.
With a heavy thud, the two men's heads buzzed, and they staggered to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The two who had been swept down in front, seeing the situation was bad, turned to run away, but were caught by Shinju. He lowered his stance and unleashed a complete set of Seven Kill Fist techniques on the two men, his movements calm and unhurried, even having the leisure to glance back at Xiluo to make sure she had seen it clearly.
Xi Luo watched intently, completely absorbed. The Nian Kingdom soldiers beside her were dumbfounded, feeling their heads buzzing and their legs trembling, as if in a dream.
Finally, even though they slowed down their movements, it still took less than a cup of tea for all five of them to fall to the ground.
Xi Luo was overjoyed and imprinted the boxing technique he had just learned into his mind. He exclaimed from the bottom of his heart, "Boss!"
She wanted to call him "Master," but since she hadn't formally become his disciple, she didn't dare to overstep her bounds. She was already planning to hold a grand apprenticeship banquet to be worthy of her boss.
Masaya was amused by her way of addressing her and teased her, "You've remembered them all, right? I won't type them again if you can't."
To everyone's surprise, Xi Luo nodded vigorously, "I've got it!"
"He seems to have good eyesight and memory; he's a promising talent for martial arts," Shinju thought to himself.
The sounds of battle still echoed not far away, and the thick aura of blood continued to pour into their secluded corner.
Shinju glanced at the soldier from the Nian Kingdom, "These men are yours to handle."
The soldiers of the Nian Kingdom nodded repeatedly, "Good, good."
"Xi Luo, let's go."
"Hey, hey, wait a minute, may I ask your name, hero?" the soldier hurriedly called out.
"You who defend your country are the true heroes. I am just a passerby, and I will not leave my name."
Shinju knew perfectly well why he was called a hero; the number of people he could save was limited. As he ventured deeper into the battlefield, he saw hundreds upon hundreds of corpses, friend and foe alike, rivers of blood flowing. The murderous aura and stench clung to him, refusing to dissipate. Everything confirmed his suspicions.
This is war; he can't save many people at all.
The fighting was particularly fierce here, near Yuncheng, and many gaps in the encirclement were concentrated here. The Nian army's offensive began to weaken, gradually shifting to a defensive posture. Not only were their arrows running out, but their cavalry was also unexpectedly scarce, while the Feng army in this area was mainly composed of cavalry, with both light and heavy cavalry, and was most skilled at breaking through enemy lines, making them extremely fierce in battle.
Shinju frowned deeply, puzzled: How could the King of Poison have overlooked this so much, and the battle has already begun to turn against him so quickly...?
As he was pondering, two soldiers from the Nian Kingdom fell beside him. He and Xi Luo each rescued one of them, then moved the wounded to a secluded spot and questioned them.
"Cough cough... The terrain here is open, giving our cavalry a significant advantage. However, the enemy cavalry outnumbers us by more than double! Our archers lack mounts and are unable to pursue, and our archer formations are under-supported. We are relying entirely on our spearmen to hold the line, but with such a disparity in strength, if this continues... I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for much longer!"
“Cavalry…mounts…” A burst of light suddenly ignited in Shinju’s golden eyes.
He knew where the breakthrough was.
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Author's note: P.S.: The challenge lines were inspired by Yue Fei's resistance against the Jin dynasty.
Qingbao is the pinnacle of combat prowess in this story. I get excited whenever I write about fight scenes.
[Edited] The last part is finished, and some grammatical issues at the beginning have also been corrected. Also, I forgot to remove the censored words and the title.
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