Chapter Fifty-Three, Li Er Niu

  "Who comes?" A glance at the opponent's suffocating aura made Sun Jian take a deep breath, and he hastily asked along with the sound.

  "Chen Liu's standard bearer, the Yellow Turban rebel leader Xu Feng's tent guard commander." By the time he finished speaking, Dian Wei had already stepped forward to stand before Sun Jian.

  "General, take the sword." A loud shout came from afar, and a white light shot up into the sky. The ancient halberd knife belonging to Sun Jian flew through the air. Dian Wei smiled slightly and did not block it. Sun Jian single-handedly caught the precious sword, his face cold as ice. "Even if your skills are strong, you are still a Yellow Turban rebel, despised by all. Today, I, Sun Jian, will take your dog life, eliminate the rebels for the court, and bring peace to the people."

  "Fart, my General Guan said it, you people are just hanging a sheep's head to sell dog meat, taking advantage of the chaos to get my Yellow Turban Army and exchange for a good future, hiding sinister intentions, wanting to dominate, stop nagging here, die!"

  "Leader." Seeing Dian Wei walking up, Pei Yuanshao covered his chest, extremely moved. Dian Wei casually waved his hand "Step aside, whoever dares to harm my Tiger Guards, I, Dian Wei, will show no mercy. You stay here and observe the enemy's formation for me."

  "No. General, be more careful." Pei Yuanshao reminded worriedly, because just a few rounds ago, the opponent had let him take a knife and get injured. Pei Yuanshao understood that Sun Jian was a formidable opponent.

  "Haha, with my Di Wei here, even if he's a tiger, I'll pull out his tiger teeth; even if he's a silver dragon, I'll pluck off its dragon scales. Little Sun Jian is not worth fearing."

  At the same time, Zhang Fei swept through the enemy ranks like autumn wind blowing away fallen leaves, killing with abandon and having a great time. Everyone in Huangfu Song's camp knew about Zhang Fei's bravery, and when they saw him charging towards them, they hastily scrambled to get out of his way. However, the more chaotic the crowd became, the more recklessly Zhang Fei killed, his spear dancing up and down, whipping up waves of residual shadows. Every thrust of his spear could take down an officer or soldier, every swing of his halberd could claim a fresh life. Like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, or a dragon entering the ocean, no one could stop Zhang Fei's fierce charge. As he rampaged through the enemy ranks, although there were many soldiers, they were powerless to do anything about it, and those who were killed fell over each other in disarray.

  With a fierce general like Zhang Fei holding down the fort, the rest of the Tiger Guards' morale was greatly boosted, their killing intent grew even stronger, and they continuously launched charges at the enemy lines. Five hundred men, in an instant, didn't fall back in the slightest.

  Li Er Niu, was just recruited to join the Tiger Guard in Yangzhai. Before joining, after the Yellow Turbans entered the city, they gave his family a lot of money and grain, and also invited a doctor to treat Li Er Niu's seriously ill mother who was bedridden. Feeling the sincerity of the Yellow Turbans in helping the people, Li Er Niu's mother understood the righteousness and let him join the Yellow Turbans, although she only had one son. Because Li Er Niu was strong as an ox, often went hunting, and had a good archery skill, he easily joined the Tiger Guard. This battle is Li Er Niu's first battle in his life.

  With a heart full of passion, with gratitude towards the Yellow Turbans and Xu Feng, although he had never killed anyone before, seeing his comrades-in-arms charging forward bravely, fearless of death, Li Erniu gritted his teeth, drew his bow, and aimed at an enemy officer opposite him. "For Commander Guan, I, Li Erniu, will give my life!" Along with the sound of the bowstring vibrating, the arrow shot out, whizzing past the opponent's face, merely grazing it.

  "You damned rebel, how dare you launch a sneak attack? Come and meet your death!" The other side spotted Li Er Niu's figure in the crowd, whipped his horse and brandished his sword, rushing over with a loud shout.

  "Move aside..." A tiger guard beside him saw Li Er being stunned on the spot, his wrist shaking violently, and hastily shouted out loud, pushing Li Er to one side. However, he himself was unable to dodge in time and was chopped by the opponent's knife on his left shoulder. "Ah..." The cry did not come from that tiger guard, but from Li Er seeing his companion get injured, feeling a pang of unbearable pain in his heart, and shouting out loud.

  "Hu Wei has no cowards, even if we die, we must die on the charge. Brother, remember, on the battlefield, if you don't kill people, you will be killed." With that, Hu Wei charged at Li Er Nu with a faint smile, shouted loudly, and swung his knife backhand, fiercely chopping down on the opponent's horse leg. The warhorse let out a pained whinny, its legs injured, and suddenly fell to the ground, throwing all the soldiers off its back."

  "Come and die." The tiger-like guard suddenly jumped up, swung his knife with his right hand, and fiercely chopped towards the soldier's head. With a cracking sound, a bloody sword shot out, and the round head rolled to one side with a gurgling sound. At the moment of death, the soldier's eyes were wide open, filled with unwillingness and reluctance. Unfortunately, life only comes once, on the battlefield, it's either you die or I perish.

  After the "hullabaloo" landed, Hu Wei, the tiger guard, hadn't even gotten up yet when several officers and soldiers stabbed him with their long spears. With a "poof", a mouthful of blood spurted out. At the end of his life, Hu Wei still left Li Er Niu with an encouraging smile. Even as the enemy's spear was withdrawn, Hu Wei's face remained smiling, fearless.

  "Ah..." Witnessing his companion's tragic death in front of him, Li Er Niu let out a frenzied roar, the bowstring of his treasured bow vibrating with a "pa pa pa" sound as he fired three arrows in quick succession. The arrows, imbued with his unbridled fury, shot out with a "whooshing" sound, striking several soldiers on the opposing side who were unable to dodge in time. With bloodstained arrow fletchings lodged in their necks, they gazed at Li Er Niu with a mixture of shock and incomprehension, dying without understanding why his archery skills were so exceptional.

  "I want revenge." With Li Er Niu's loud shout, the bow and arrow in his hand shot out one after another without stopping. Taking advantage of his agility to weave through the crowd, the government soldiers couldn't even catch a glimpse of Li Er Niu's hair because he was a child of the great mountains, from a young age keeping company with wild rabbits and wolves, his speed, agility, and archery skills were all unmatched.

  "There's another one wounded, let's finish him off first." The three soldiers, discovering Pei Yuanshao hiding aside clutching his chest, were overjoyed and charged over with their swords, thinking they had found an easy target to gain merit. Li Er Niu saw this and shot three arrows in quick succession. At such a close distance, the government soldiers couldn't dodge or hide, and the three of them were instantly sent to hell by Li Er Niu. I reckon King Yan would be delighted, just in time for four people to make up a table for mahjong.

  "You stinky kid, you're quite something!" Pei Yuanshao rarely praised others, Li Erniu's face turned red as he smiled shyly and charged forward again.

  Before long, a war horse flew over, and someone on the horse shouted loudly, "The commander has ordered, the Tiger Guard to retreat."

  "What a disappointment, I, Zhang Fei, haven't even had a chance to warm up yet." With a dissatisfied mutter, Zhang Fei had no choice but to obey Xu Feng's order. He wasn't afraid of others, but he was afraid of his old father blowing his top, so he could only turn his horse around and retreat.

  Dian Wei swung his iron halberd and knocked Sun Jian back, then leaped out of the battlefield. He turned around to glance at Sun Jian with a smile that seemed to say "you're not bad" and said: "Sun Jian, you indeed have some skills, managing to last thirty rounds against me. Today's battle is unsatisfying, let's fight again another day. Next time, your luck won't be so good."

  "Thud." As Dian Wei's figure disappeared into the distance, Sun Jian suddenly lurched to one side and fell off his horse, spitting out a mouthful of blood. "General, are you alright?" Huang Gai hastily dismounted and rushed to Sun Jian's side, supporting him.

  "Chen Liu's tactics are truly formidable. I, Sun Jian, have been fighting on the battlefield for many years, but today I almost fell into his hands. Pass this on to the other generals: we must be cautious of this man. If you encounter him, do not engage in a fierce battle."