Chapter 427 – Rebuilding Xiangyang County (11)
“Is that the crossbow of our brothers?”
Li Yun immediately recognized that familiar buzzing sound, but he realized the arrows were flying in the wrong direction.
Before he could think further, several arrows sliced through the air, accurately saving a few brothers on the verge of death.
Not right!
This is backup?
A look of joy spread across Li Yun’s face. If he could avoid death, who would want to seek it out?
With that thought, the silvery spear resumed its fierce and intimidating state, instantly repelling two enemies.
He called loudly, “Brothers, reinforcements are here!”
Reinforcements?
Could it be that the brother who volunteered to seek out the Young Master for help has accomplished his mission?
A strong desire for survival ignited within him, and his previously dispirited spirit suddenly rallied, bursting forth with powerful resistance.
Like affirming Li Yun’s words, countless arrows buzzed through the air, with the bodies of the Green Garment Army continuously falling. After two waves of shots, a troop charged in from the darkness, led by none other than the familiar Meng Hunyun! Their battle cries simmered with endless rage, seemingly seeking to avenge the blood debts of their brothers!
The torches of the Green Garment Army did not set the mountains ablaze but instead burned their own men.
Flames engulfed them, pain-filled screams mingled with the cries of battle—it was like a hellish battlefield, where lives were lost every second.
Jiang Pengji lowered her crossbow, pulled her long knife from her waist, and charged into the battlefield.
With every strike of her blade, it was like taking a life with one swing. In no time, her body was drenched in fresh blood.
Li Yun picked up his spear again, searching for that bandit leader, but the man fled as fast as he could, trying to escape as soon as he sensed danger.
“Where is he?”
A suspicious thought crept into his mind as he cleared a bloody path with his spear but still hadn’t seen the burly bandit chief.
Just as his gaze shifted, he caught sight of a familiar figure, like spotting the most beautiful flower, his eyes lighting up.
He was about to rush over to snatch the kill, but before he could get close, a flash of white light sliced through the man’s neck, and suddenly the head flew high into the sky.
Looking again, a pair of unfamiliar hands caught the falling head.
Li Yun: “…”
Who stole his kill?
“Enemy head presented, who doesn’t submit will be killed!”
There stood a thin young man, holding the burly man’s head high, his hoarse voice thick with bitter resentment.
Jiang Pengji was certainly unwilling; her meticulously trained and heavily invested troops were nearly wiped out by the Green Garment Army. She couldn’t just walk away without avenging them! But she knew even better that allowing the situation to develop would only result in more losses.
Even as she shouted this, both sides, already bloodied with rage, showed no signs of stopping.
Until the Green Garment Army gradually began to falter, the foot of the mountain became littered with charred bodies, the rich smell of charred flesh filling the air, and only then did reason start to return, with the remaining forces of the Green Garment Army kneeling in surrender.
“Some of you, count the prisoners. The rest, go extinguish the fire, lest the mountains burn.” Jiang Pengji said hoarsely, casually tossing aside the head, her gaze revealing a fierce light that dared anyone to meet her eyes. “The bill from the Green Garment Army will be settled sooner or later. Wounding my subordinates is truly deserving of death!”
Meng Hunyun clenched his fists, his steady face brewing with anger.
It wasn’t until dawn broke that they could manage to clear the battlefield. After counting Jiang Pengji’s men, only eighteen hundred remained.
“My lord…” Meng Hunyun looked with tear-filled eyes, as if he could cry at any moment.
It was hard not to feel heartache. The more than three thousand troops brought from Chongzhou now had dwindled to eighteen hundred.
Though this casualty rate seemed small, every troop measured by this world’s standards was elite; losing one was painful, let alone losing nearly half!
“Have they all been buried?” Jiang Pengji frowned, not revealing too much emotion.
She was used to life and death; at most, she’d feel a moment of sorrow without becoming immersed in it.
“They’ve all been buried.”
Meng Hunyun had wanted to take their bodies back, but the current situation didn’t allow for that.
He could only bear the pain and bury them where they fell, erecting a grave for each.
The only consolation was that their graves were all in one place, so they shouldn’t feel lonely.
“Take everyone back…” Jiang Pengji’s face grew serious, her eyes scanning the area until landing on Li Yun. Noticing his right hand, her brow arched slightly as she asked Meng Hunyun, “Who is this person? I’ve never seen him before?”
According to Jiang Pengji’s training methods, the distribution of calluses on the troops’ hands shouldn’t look like this.
Upon hearing her inquiry, one of the troops bravely stammered, “Brother Li is our benefactor.”
“Benefactor?” Jiang Pengji glanced at Li Yun, “What’s going on here?”
The mention of Li Yun made many feel incredibly fortunate.
Li Yun, hailing from Fengyi County, lost both parents at a young age, and learned martial arts with a mentor in the nearby deep mountains.
When the troops were being pursued and hunted by the Green Garment Army, Li Yun happened to be passing down the mountain. Hearing about the atrocities of the Green Garment Army, he instinctively turned towards the troops, enthusiastically volunteering his help, showing them the way and assisting them in evading their pursuers. He appeared cold on the outside but was rather genuine, with a bright personality that quickly endeared him to the troops, leading them to call each other brothers.
Jiang Pengji listened, neutrally responding with an “Oh.”
“Do you have another destination?” Jiang Pengji asked Li Yun.
Li Yun momentarily didn’t respond, then said, “My master let me come down the mountain to see more, but he didn’t specify a destination.”
In fact, his master’s original words were that with the world in chaos, only by continuously challenging others and fighting could one improve martial arts. So, he had been instructed to go down the mountain and widen his horizons. If he could earn a title in the process, perhaps he could even marry a good wife and carry on the old Li family line.
Because Dongqing favored culture over martial pursuits, learning martial arts wasn’t as prestigious as learning literature, his master had once lamented how it’d be hard for Li Yun to succeed.
Now that the world was in turmoil, it was the perfect time for martial artists to rise and navigate the chaos.
“If you have no fixed goals, how about coming to Xiangyang County? The northern part of Dongqing is already in disarray, and it’s quite dangerous for you to be alone out here.”
Li Yun thought it over and readily nodded, “Sure.”
He noticed that the slender young man before him had exceptional skills. If he went to Xiangyang County, there might be an opportunity for a match-up in the future.
Though Li Yun was clever, he had blind trust in his master.
He would never forget his two objectives for coming down the mountain—improving martial arts and earning a name to win a wife.
Seeing this seemingly aloof male god reveal such a silly side left the live stream audience in stitches.
【Tuhui Big Boss】: #Chin resting, the handsome gunman just got lured to Xiangyang County by the streamer, I wonder if the ship he’s on can only go up but not down? For details, consult poor Luo Yue, who’s overworked now.
【Don’t Want to Add More Chapters, Just Want to Die】: I feel like I’ve seen a delicate flower wilting under the heavy pressure of overtime.
【Let’s Hurt Each Other】: The streamer shouldn’t… be that miserable, right?
