The Two Thousand Jin Army, led by Lu Gaosheng, was capable of rivaling a typical army of ten thousand soldiers. Similarly, the combat strength of Lu Gaosheng's Bai Lu Army was about the same, with a thousand soldiers able to hold their own against five or six thousand.
However, at this moment, this small group of less than a hundred scattered soldiers and mercenaries had the weakest fighting power among those present.
Naturally, it didn't take long for signs of their defeat to appear.
Faced with the elite Bai Lu Army, how could ordinary warriors stand a chance?
People seek survival, not death.
So, it was only a matter of time before the first deserter from Wu Qixue's group of mercenaries appeared, followed by the second, the third, and so on.
Even if they had brave and lofty thoughts when they arrived, warriors without any military training had combat capabilities not much different from ordinary people, especially when faced with such a formidable enemy.
From a distance, Lu Gaosheng sneered inwardly, thinking to himself, "So, they're just a bunch of misfits. How laughable!"
"Give the order, no need to pursue, don't waste time on these people, just drive them back," Lu Gaosheng commanded.
But at the same time, Wu Qixue dismounted his horse.
He remained silent as he walked into the crowd.
While the crowd retreated, he moved forward.
He raised a torch and gradually advanced to the front.
All the way to the very front!
With all his strength, Wu Qixue shouted loudly:
"I don't know!!!"
His agonizing roar seemed to calm the retreating crowd, causing them to suddenly stop in their tracks.
Wu Qixue surveyed the people behind him and asked:
"I really don't know, what are you afraid of?"
"Your mothers, children, relatives, and friends are all waiting for this batch of provisions."
"Yet here you are, retreating?"
"I ask you, where is our retreat?"
"So, what exactly are you afraid of?!"
Drawing his own sword, Wu Qixue, who had only a basic understanding of martial arts but was at the lower stage of the Human Realm, pointed at the Bai Lu Army formation and said, "If you won't go, I'll go by myself."
After saying that, he held the torch and raised his sword, charging forward.
Then.
From behind.
A resounding battle cry shook the heavens and the earth!
Following the battle, the hundred fearless warriors erupted with terrifying combat power or rather, momentum. When the person in front died, the person behind rushed forward, even Wu Qixue, who only possessed a little martial skill as a scholar, charged to the very front.
This ferocity, which no longer cared about death, greatly boosted the morale of the Golden Armor Army nearby.
On the frontlines, the pressure on the Bai Lu Army suddenly increased!
The Art of War says: "One man can withstand a hundred, but a hundred men cannot withstand a thousand."
Lu Gaosheng, who believed in tactics, strategy, and formations, was clearly unfamiliar with this spirit.
All he knew now was that Wu Qixue, the former best friend of Lu Qingming, had become a major trouble for him at this moment!
"How... how did this suddenly happen?! Wu Qixue! You... you're quite capable! Even Song YanShi hasn't seen this Lou Lan Ancient Road, yet you managed to find your way here all the way from Zhengwu Prefecture."
Why was Wu Qixue able to find this place?
Why did this group of misfits suddenly transform into fearless warriors?
This senior sister of his really liked to play jokes on him.
Gritting his teeth, a ruthless light flashed in Lu Gaosheng's eyes. If necessary, he would kill Wu Qixue along with the rest.
Lu Qingming was just a friend of mine. I was worried that no one would test my broken giant crossbow.
However...
The anomaly came swiftly, and so did its end.
A guard from Xu Guo, filled with high morale, shouted to those around him, "Don't panic, keep fighting! As long as General Xu resolves the assassin, we will definitely..."
Thud!
The guard couldn't continue his words, as if he had turned foolish.
In the dark night, a deathly silence closed in.
Something round and rolling had been thrown into the formation at some point. It was...
A head from Xu Guo!
The Golden Armor Army had gradually turned the tide of the ambush under the command of Xu Guo's guards. But after losing Xu Guo, they relied on the commands of the guards to form various formations of different sizes and put up a fierce resistance. However, as time went on and with consecutive days of forced marches, their weakness of physical exhaustion became increasingly apparent.
The surge of morale brought by Wu Qixue's arrival was now completely gone.
Everything seemed to have come to an end.
In the long night of bloodshed, a chilling breath was exhaled.
In fact...
From the start of the ambush, it had only been an hour.
...
...
Zhang San let out a sigh of relief, blood still lingering at the corners of his mouth. Although he had ultimately killed Xu Guo, he was also heavily injured after withstanding more than ten strikes from Xu Guo. His internal energy was depleted by more than half.
Whether it was the Black Mountain Guest or Xu Guo, it was indeed difficult to kill someone who was only a step away from the Heaven Realm. Moreover, this time he didn't have as much preparation time as before, and he didn't know the opponent's martial arts or ultimate moves.
But evidently, his final decision and style of combat were correct.
Although the initial strike of the small night blade failed to kill Xu Guo in one blow, the situation had suddenly changed, and they were so close to each other. Zhang San deduced that Xu Guo probably didn't notice his Heaven Realm lightness skill.
Furthermore, in the subsequent dozen or so exchanges, Zhang San chose to directly confront Xu Guo's incredibly heavy blade, which further caused Xu Guo to relax his guard against Zhang San's lightness skill.
Just now, when Wu Qixue's team gradually turned the tide of the battle, Xu Guo was intentionally or unintentionally paying attention as well.
But in just a moment of distraction, perhaps due to the failure of the technique that sealed acupoints or the exhaustion of his moves, Xu Guo was ultimately caught off guard by Zhang San's Heaven Realm lightness skill combined with a small night blade.
Xu Guo couldn't evade the second strike of the small night blade and died by its edge.
It's fair to say that Xu Guo's death was not unjust. Zhang San was never an assassin who relied solely on brute force. From the beginning, he chose to "delay his action" and in the midst of the battle, he was willing to let Xu Guo repeatedly injure his internal organs, all to conceal his Heaven Realm lightness skill and make the opponent relax his guard.
Zhang San held Xu Guo's psychological state in the palm of his hand, so his defeat was only a natural result.
On the front battlefield, the efforts of a hundred men only lasted for a brief half an incense stick's worth of time.
With the defeat of the Golden Armor Army, Wu Qixue and his remaining forty or so men were surrounded by the Bai Lu Army.
"..."
Lu Gaosheng, hidden in the dense forest, fell silent for a moment, and finally gave the order, "Knock them unconscious, and that's it. Let's not waste any more time."
Half-naked and covered in numerous wounds, Zhang San appeared beside Lu Gaosheng.
The two locked eyes.
The great battle was over, and Xu Guo was dead.
He knew exactly what Zhang San wanted.
Lu Gaosheng spoke to the soldiers of the Bai Lu Army behind him, saying, "Pass the order to Li Xingsan and his team, follow the original route and transport the provisions. You all can go too. As for me, I'll return to the city on my own."
"Yes, sir."
Zhang San kept his eyes on Lu Gaosheng and uttered only one sentence:
"When this matter is over, return Wang Xiaoer to me. Otherwise, I hope Mr. Lu understands that I don't like killing randomly, but I'm not afraid to kill a few more. Can you guarantee her safety for a day, two days, or even a lifetime?"
With that sentence, the atmosphere between the two men turned as icy and cold as the winds and snow of Shuangxue Country.
Lu Gaosheng's eyes flickered with the same fierce aggression as Zhang San's.
Lu Gaosheng emphasized each word and said, "Then let's go back immediately. You return my inventory and list, and I'll give you back your disciple."
Zhang San nodded, sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and said calmly, "Let me rest and bandage myself a bit. After that, we'll leave right away."
Lu Gaosheng didn't object.
······
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The night was cool, like water.
The scent of blood was overwhelming.
Wu Qixue felt like he had returned to his childhood, the age of a destitute family.
Hmm...
Although his current days were also impoverished.
But it was really much better than before.
Back then, there were times when he had to rely on Lu Qingming, who was several years younger, for support.
Scholars always have pride, even if they don't say it out loud, they always remember it in their hearts.
That's why Wu Qixue particularly despised hunger because every time he felt hungry, he would recall those days of being helped by others, which always made him blush.
"I... am I not dead?"
Wu Qixue stood up unsteadily. After being struck on the back of his head, he felt dazed.
There was a faint, very faint beam of light on the horizon.
It was the last moment of the deep night.
Wu Qixue looked around, seeing corpses and blood everywhere. He struggled to step over the bodies and searched on the Lou Lan Ancient Road, searching and searching.
But he couldn't find what he wanted.
Gradually, he lost his strength. Amidst countless corpses on the ancient road, he knelt down, his expression numb.
In the distant dense forest.
After finishing his recovery, Zhang San was about to get up and leave with Lu Gaosheng. In that moment, he happened to see Wu Qixue kneeling on the ground.
Zhang San furrowed his brows slightly, looking at the man with an ordinary appearance and average build. He was puzzled. Given Lu Gaosheng's ruthless character, why would he spare such a person?
"Mr. Lu, you didn't kill him? That's unlike you," Zhang San said.
"He is my friend," Lu Gaosheng followed Zhang San's gaze and saw the same scene.
Zhang San seemed to understand a little, but being as callous as Lu Gaosheng, he didn't bother with Wu Qixue and turned to leave.
Until...
The sound of a man weeping came from the ancient road...
"Why?"
"Why bother?"
"Whether it's Song YanShi or Wang Jue, why must your conflict involve so many innocent people?"
"These... are life-saving provisions!"
Wu Qixue collapsed on the ancient road, crying incessantly. In reality...
In the area where he stood, there were long, deep tire tracks. He already understood that the food had been taken away and Xu Guo had been destroyed. The elite Golden Armor Army of two thousand soldiers had been completely defeated.
But that wasn't the end.
Underneath the mountains, between dawn and midnight, a massive fire erupted from the foot of the mountain.
This was the order of Lu Gaosheng, with the purpose of eliminating any possible traces. Setting everything ablaze was naturally the best choice.
Before leaving, Zhang San gazed at Wu Qixue from a distance...
But in the end, Zhang San still chose to leave.