Chapter 6: I Will Raze Blackwind Stronghold

Zhou Xing watched the army draw closer. Mustering what courage he could, the chief of Blackwind Stronghold asked, “Second Brother, do you think we can hold them off?”

Xu Mazi, his second-in-command, grimaced. “Chief, that’s Wu Xiangbei out there. It’s hard to say. It all depends on whether our men can kill him.”

“Kill him?” Zhou Xing’s eyelids jumped. “Are you fucking joking?”

Against another commander, an ambush might work. But this was Wu Xiangbei, a man even the armies of Beimang feared. How could a handful of bandits kill him?

Xu Mazi’s voice shook. “Then what do we do? Surrender?”

Zhou Xing kicked him. “Surrender my ass! Wu Xiangbei is truly furious. From the look of it, he means to wipe out every living thing in Blackwind Stronghold. Damn it! I never should have listened to Beimang. They set me up!”

Xu Mazi kept quiet. Now you regret it, he thought, but you enjoyed yourself well enough when you were doing the looting yesterday. He did not dare say it aloud.

After cursing some more, Zhou Xing turned and shouted, “Brothers, fight like hell today! If those bastards get inside, none of us will live!”

By the time he finished, Wu Xiangbei’s army had advanced to within bowshot of the gate.

Wu rode slowly forward, his eyes cold. He raised his spear and pointed it at the bandits. “Shameless vermin! Instead of serving your country, you attacked it from behind. My army is at your gates. Open them and face your deaths!”

High above, Zhou Xing put on a brave face. “Open my ass! Come and take the place if you dare!”

Very well, Wu thought with a cold smile. Let’s see how long you stay defiant.

He swept his silver spear forward. “Charge! Raze Blackwind Stronghold!”

At his command, the twenty horsemen split to either side and began circling the stronghold. The infantry divided into two groups. Several hundred men in front raised their shields at an angle over their heads and advanced steadily, while the archers behind them shot at the defenders above the gate.

“Shoot! Shoot the bastards dead!” Zhou Xing bellowed.

From their higher position, the bandits loosed their arrows. Shafts filled the air like a swarm of locusts, hissing past as screams rose from both sides.

Blackwind’s men were poor fighters, but they held the high ground, and the threat of death drove them on. Though disorganized, they managed for a time to keep Dangyang’s soldiers locked in a fierce exchange.

Outside, the battle was chaos. Cries of combat shook the air.

Han Qing stared into the distance, his throat working and his palm slick with sweat around his broadsword. When Wu Xiangbei committed all his infantry to the attack, leaving only the twenty horsemen around him, Han Qing steeled himself.

“It’s our turn. Move!”

Fortune had to be won through danger. Now that he had joined the vanguard strike force, there was no turning back.

At his command, the twenty men rose from hiding. The bandit archers sent a ragged volley at Wu Xiangbei, while Gao Yuan and the others with sabers charged.

Wu watched the surprise attack without expression. Several arrows flew harmlessly past him. He thrust his silver spear forward, and with a clear metallic clang its point struck the only arrow on target, knocking it aside in a shower of sparks.

He had done it with effortless composure.

“Kill them!”

Several of the circling horsemen wheeled toward the attackers, swinging their long sabers. Horses screamed and hooves thundered. Though only a few riders charged, their killing intent was terrifying.

The first bandit they caught had no time even to swing his saber. A rider cut into his neck, sending blood spurting more than half a meter high; he crumpled without a chance to scream.

Another tried to fight back, but his blade was knocked from his hand at the first clash. A charging horse flung him several meters away, crushing his chest. He coughed up bloody froth, plainly beyond saving.

More screams followed as other bandits died. Two men lost their nerve and fled, only to be overtaken and cut down within a few steps. Against armored cavalry, they were lambs waiting for slaughter.

There were fewer and fewer men around Gao Yuan. Glancing sideways, he saw only the huge, simple-minded Wang Shuang still beside him.

The horsemen charged again from behind. Then a calm voice called out, “Leave those two to me.”

It was Wu Xiangbei. At once, the riders reined in and turned toward the archers led by Han Qing, their lack of hesitation showing complete confidence in their commander’s strength.

Gao Yuan narrowed his eyes. The vast battlefield seemed to fall away until only the three of them remained.

He accelerated toward Wu, who waited immovable as a mountain.

Ten paces. Five. Three.

Gao Yuan was close enough to see his reflection in the horse’s eye. He swept his saber upward on a diagonal, its cold arc cutting through the air like a crescent moon.

It was an ancient martial technique: the rising saber cut.

A flicker of surprise entered Wu Xiangbei’s eyes. He had not expected such agility from a bandit. His spear shot out like lightning, intercepting the blade with precision.

Clang!

The impact numbed the web of Gao Yuan’s hand and nearly knocked the saber from his grip. Having blocked the cut, Wu flicked his wrist; the silver spear whistled toward Gao Yuan’s throat, fast and true. Attack had become defense, and defense attack, in an instant.

Alarm surged through Gao Yuan. This was the first true expert he had met since coming to this world. Wu did not appear to have studied any formal martial technique, but his attacks were direct, brutal, and designed to kill.

At his peak in his former life, Gao Yuan would not have feared him. But this body was too weak. If he met the spear head-on, he would likely be killed at once.

First, dodge.

He bent his knees sharply, sank at the waist, and leaned back. The spear skimmed his scalp, sending a few strands of hair drifting through the air.

Wu’s expression grew more serious. He flicked his wrist again, and the spear swept back like a relentless shadow, its killing intent crashing down like thunder.

Just then, a great shout rang out, deep and heavy as an explosion beside their ears.