The Chao soldiers raised their sabers and charged over. Qin Hengyi took the lead, sweeping his long spear. The massive force instantly sent several small soldiers flying. The Qin family soldiers rushed up and finished them off immediately.
The sound of wailing filled his ears, and flying blood met his eyes.
Old General Qin immediately looked at Guaizai. He thought the boy would be scared, but instead Guaizai was steady as an old dog, not frightened in the least. After watching for a couple of moments, he directly swung his long spear and charged straight at Lu Zhenghe, with Zhang Quan and Qin Er guarding him on either side.
Old General Qin felt deeply comforted seeing him like this.
This courage, this spirit—he was undoubtedly a child of the Qin family. He truly had the bearing of his younger self.
Knowing Old General Qin intended to train Guaizai, Zhang Quan only killed the small soldiers rushing in from the sides and didn't interfere in the fight between Guaizai and Lu Zhenghe.
Jiang Zhanying didn't know Guaizai. Seeing how small and short he was, he didn't take him seriously at all. But Lu Zhenghe did. At just six years old, this little kid had fought nine matches in a row at the Emperor's birthday banquet, forcing Beimang people to bow their heads and admit defeat, and had even earned personal praise from Old General Qin. That alone showed the child was no ordinary boy.
But privately, Lu Zhenghe also felt that no matter how impressive, he was ultimately just a child.
Yet now, after several exchanges, Guaizai still hadn't been knocked off his horse.
Seeing the other's long spear slash toward him again, Lu Zhenghe blocked with his sword. With a clang, his arms were shaken numb, and his palms hurt terribly.
This strength...
Lu Zhenghe's eyes narrowed slightly. Now he didn't dare be careless anymore.
The two were locked in a fierce fight. Jiang Zhanying and Qin Hengyi were battling to the death, but he still managed to steal a glance over. One look, and his expression immediately turned grim.
Guaizai had trained with the long spear for less than a year all told, and moreover he was on horseback. The horse kept moving, so he had to split his attention controlling his balance while fighting the opponent. The opponent seemed somewhat formidable too, which made it hard.
He wanted to go home. He missed his father and daddy. Today he definitely had to get revenge for Grandpa. Otherwise, if he missed this chance, he'd probably have to wait several more days.
He stared at Lu Zhenghe, his eyes rolling. Suddenly he pulled the reins, turned the horse, and started running, as if trying to flee the battlefield. But his speed wasn't fast, and Old General Qin and Zhang Quan were far away from him now.
Lu Zhenghe knew the Qin family liked this kid. Thinking of how his entire Lu family, young and old, had been wiped out, rage surged in his heart. At that moment he had no time to think much and directly spurred his horse in pursuit. But who knew that halfway through the chase, Guaizai suddenly flipped backward and leaped up, then thrust his spear back at Lu Zhenghe's horse with lightning speed.
His counterattack caught Lu Zhenghe off guard. He wanted to pull the reins to stop the horse, but it was too late.
The horse's neck was directly pierced through by the long spear.
Lu Zhenghe had no choice but to jump off the horse, and Guaizai also got down from his horse.
The two clashed again, weapons clanging. In the middle of the fight, Lu Zhenghe accidentally slashed Guaizai's bundle. As Guaizai dodged, the bundle split open, and something golden tumbled out with a clatter.
Lu Zhenghe and the people around him looked closely...
Time seemed to freeze.
Earlier, when they saw Guaizai carrying the bundle, everyone had wondered what was inside. Even Qin Hengyi didn't know. Before setting out, Tang Daniang had called him over and handed him the bundle. He had thought the kid was just tidy and had asked Tang Daniang to prepare a change of clothes or some cold medicine. But instead, he had brought a boiled chicken.
Qin Hengyi's face grew faintly hot. He glanced at his father and saw Old General Qin's face had turned bright red.
War was no child's play. It demanded absolute focus and caution — a single moment of distraction could cost you your head and send you to meet your ancestors. Yet now, everyone around them had actually frozen in place.
"Ah!" Guaizai cried out. "Guaizai's chicken!"
Lu Zhenghe kicked the chicken flying.
"..." Guaizai looked as if he'd been struck by lightning, his little face pale.
Lu Zhenghe's move was no different from touching his lifeblood.
Guaizai's eyes turned red, his small fists clenched tight.
Tang Daniang had boiled it for him. Earlier, because they were rushing on the road, he hadn't even gotten to eat a bun. He had just thought that after driving off the enemy, he could properly take a bite of chicken.
Now it was gone.
This time, Lu Zhenghe had truly kicked a hornet's nest. Guaizai's fury surged, his nostrils flaring. With an angry howl, he actually threw aside his long spear, dodged left and right to avoid the sword strikes, and once he got close to Lu Zhenghe, he attacked bare-handed.
Lu Zhenghe's blade was seized with bare hands. The moment the sword left his grip, a sudden sense of dread rose in his heart. Instinctively, he wanted to retreat, but Guaizai grabbed him and wouldn't let go.
Kicked my chicken and thinks he can just leave? No way.
The Chao soldiers saw things going south and rushed to help, but the Qin family soldiers held them off firmly.
Lu Zhenghe couldn't escape and had no choice but to fight Guaizai.
The Da Xia generals had different promotion systems. One was the hereditary privilege system for military noble families.
This system gave the descendants of military noble families more opportunities to become generals.
Why?
Because they had received professional training since childhood. Their skills were naturally better than ordinary soldiers. Like Qin Hengyi, who had been personally taught by Old General Qin since childhood, his skills were extraordinary.
Another promotion system relied on ability, climbing up step by step among the ranks of soldiers.
Lu Zhenghe was the latter. Back then, he had been brave and fearless, quick-witted, and decisive enough that Old General Qin had thought highly of him and promoted him.
There were plenty of soldiers who could fight, but soldiers who could fight and were also sharp were few.
Lu Zhenghe was a general with some scholarly refinement. His fighting skills couldn't match men like Qin Hengyi and Jiang Zhanying, but he was still far stronger than an ordinary soldier.
After all, as a deputy general, he wasn't a vegetarian. In mounted combat with real blades, Guaizai was no match for him. But bare-handed grappling just happened to be Lu Zhenghe's weak spot.
He pressed forward step by step, wanting to suppress Guaizai, but Guaizai kept moving his footwork. Then, with a dodge and counterattack, Lu Zhenghe was punched in the stomach.
Once he started fighting Guaizai, he was clearly a level below.
Guaizai had trained in Muay Thai for years. Every move was fast and ruthless, and his strength was great. Lu Zhenghe was forced to keep retreating. Guaizai also took several punches, his whole body aching unbearably, but none of it hurt as much as his heart. After fighting for half an hour, Lu Zhenghe's breathing had grown ragged and his punches had slowed. But Guaizai?
Still going strong!
No wonder he wore that head covering. If his face couldn't be seen, he couldn't be read, and the heart would start to waver.
And once fear sets in, defeat isn't far behind.
At this moment in the fight, Guaizai suddenly bent down with both hands on the ground and swept one leg toward Lu Zhenghe's kneecap.
Lu Zhenghe felt a sharp pain in his kneecap, then dropped to one knee.
He hurriedly tried to get up, but before he could even stand straight, Guaizai pressed the advantage and kicked him in the temple. The whole process was clean and sharp, without a single wasted movement. This strike seemed like a heavy hammer. Lu Zhenghe only felt the world spinning, his vision going black. He staggered several steps before barely steadying himself. Guaizai, quick-eyed and quick-handed, grabbed the long spear beside him and hurled it at him.
Lu Zhenghe froze completely. He looked down at the long spear stuck in his chest, his pupils suddenly contracting, utterly in disbelief.
Everyone around him was the same.
Even Old General Qin was stunned for a long while.
No comments:
Post a Comment