Chapter Thirty-Six: Slaying Yuwen Chengdu

  It was indeed Qin Shubao, and Li Jiancheng was excited. Although Qin Shubao was not very strong in martial arts, his ability to lead troops in battle was absolutely among the top, and he always led by example, charging forward, which inspired his soldiers to fight exceptionally bravely, so he rarely suffered defeats. Originally, with his achievements, he should have held a very high position, but in historical records, Qin Shubao's reward was only 700 households, far less than the 1,300 of Longsun Wuji and Wei Zhengde. Why is that? The main reason, as seen from many books, is that Qin Shubao did not participate in the Xuanwu Gate Incident, so Li Shimin's trust in him was reserved, perhaps only this way conformed to Qin Shubao's character.

  Seeing someone coming to obstruct, Yuwen Cheng angrily shouted: "This matter has nothing to do with you, don't provoke trouble for yourself!" He spoke extremely loudly, mainly because of the two men's struggle. No matter what, he couldn't break through Li Jiancheng's defense. If a master joined Li Jiancheng's camp at this time, he would probably lose immediately, so he shouted fiercely and inwardly frightened.

  But little did he know that this made Qin Shubao immediately understand which side was right and which side was wrong, and at the same time, it also made Qin Shubao more determined to take charge of this matter. You should know what kind of personality Qin Shubao has? He has always been one who can't bear to see injustice, is eager to do good deeds, and loves to intervene in unjust matters the most. Yuwen Chengdu's shout was like adding fuel to the fire.

  "A joke, you dare to kill people in broad daylight and still be so arrogant! I, Qin Shubao, have seen this, if I don't take action, how can I explain it? A thief like you also dares to be so rampant!" Qin Shubao finished speaking, pulled out the double halberds from behind his back, and charged towards Yuwen Chengdu.

  "Little boy, since you're looking for death, don't blame me if there's a companion on the road to the Yellow Springs!" Yuwen Chengdu said as he jumped out of the battle circle with Li Jiancheng and headed towards Qin Shubao. It can be seen that Yuwen Chengdu didn't take Li Jiancheng seriously, thinking that Li Jiancheng was nothing special, Li Jiancheng thought coldly in his heart.

  However, seeing the two of them fighting together, Li Jiancheng did not intervene. At this moment, he just wanted to see how good Qin Shubao's martial arts were. He saw that Qin Shubao's dual hammers swung out a chaotic shadow, and when they reached their peak, they even produced a "whooshing" sound. It was clear that his dual hammers had already been practiced to the point of perfection. This was why he could become a great general but not a top martial artist in the pugilistic world. It was probably because he didn't have any good martial arts manuals. Thinking about it, it was indeed a pity. From what was recorded in books, Qin Shubao was also a talented person who practiced martial arts well. Now that he was over 20 years old, starting from scratch again wouldn't be very effective unless he had some extraordinary martial arts manuals like the "Longevity Formula", "Dao Xin Zhong Mo Da Fa" or "War God's Records". Therefore, Li Jiancheng thought about when to pass on some techniques to Qin Shubao for him to cultivate.

  Yuwen Chengdu's move didn't seem to be any less sharp than Qin Shubao's, but he had the upper hand in terms of strength. Currently, the number one strongman of the Sui Dynasty wasn't someone to be trifled with. As a result, Li Jiancheng saw that when Qin Shubao's dual hammers clashed with Yuwen Chengdu's Hunyuan Eight-Edged Golden Hammer, Qin Shubao's hands trembled slightly, apparently due to excessive force.

  Li Jiancheng knew it was time to make his move, so he shouted loudly: "Qin Zhuangshi, let's join forces and kill this villain!" He shouted loudly to make people think he had already woken up, so it wouldn't be considered a sneak attack, and Qin Shubao wouldn't have any misgivings. If he didn't shout and used underhanded tactics to get rid of Yuwen Chengdu, he estimated that it would leave a bad impression in Qin Shubao's heart, so he did it this way. However, for him, whether he shouted or not made no difference - Yuwen Chengdu was doomed either way.

  Li Jiancheng stepped forward with his sword, and Qin Shubao attacked from the front and back. Qin Shubao swung his twin hammers continuously in the front, while Li Jiancheng used his "Observing the Tide" sword technique from behind. Yuwen Chengdu felt that Li Jiancheng's sword techniques were increasingly oppressive, with growing pressure. Finally, he realized that things had gone beyond salvation, and gradually revealed signs of attempting to escape. How could Li Jiancheng let him return to report? Suddenly, with a loud "thud", the "Sword Against the Sun" technique was unleashed with full force. Yuwen Chengdu stopped in his tracks, and a red mark appeared on his neck, gradually expanding until blood flowed ceaselessly. He had already died. The person who shone so brightly in "The Heroes of Sui and Tang" had ended up dying so pathetically here.

  "Hero, wait a moment, let me deal with these thieves first, and then I'll come to thank you!" Li Jiancheng said to Qin Shubao.

  "Someone lend me a helping hand!" Qin Shubao shouted, then charged into the pile of black-clad men.

  In no time, those black-clad men who were not considered top-notch were slaughtered. Li Yuan hastily walked over to Qin Shubao and bowed his head in gratitude: "Thank you, hero Qin, for saving my family's life. Please accept my bow." After finishing speaking, Li Yuan bowed his head in thanks. Even Li Jiancheng had no objections to this. Who would have thought that someone could come out and lend a helping hand? It's not like anyone was looking at how things were in the past. A baby fell to the ground and was run over by a car, yet no one asked about it. However, it can't be said that people's hearts are cold; rather, some things happened that made people afraid to offer assistance. Society has progressed, but morality has fallen behind. Is this the sorrow of humanity or the sorrow of society?

  "I dare not, I dare not! When seeing injustice on the road, one should draw their sword to assist, this is what a martial artist should do. Moreover, as a constable, it is my duty to capture bandits." Qin Shubao was so modest that he saw Li Yuan bowing to thank him and didn't have time to stop him, thus allowing Li Yuan to bow once. He then hastily helped Li Yuan up, and Li Yuan did not insist further.

  "Qin Yingxiong saved my life, I dare not repay such a great kindness. If you have any requests in the future, you can come to me, Li Yuan, and I will do my best to help!" Li Yuan promised, knowing that in his past life, there was no Li Jiancheng factor, and it was all thanks to Qin Shubao alone who single-handedly fended off these assassins. Therefore, he was deeply respected by Li Yuan. Even Li Shimin did not hold Qin Shubao in higher esteem than Li Yuan!

  "Since that's the case, Qin has official duties to attend to and will take his leave first. Another day, he will definitely come to visit again!" With that, Qin Uncle Treasure took his leave. Li Jiancheng remembered from the book that he often caught criminals crossing provinces, and very few people who committed crimes could escape from him, so many thieves heard of his great name with trepidation. It seemed that the Li family had arrived in Taiyuan earlier than history, and yet Qin Uncle Treasure was able to meet them - this couldn't be said to be fate!

  "In that case, we must also hurry along, beware of the thieves catching up. We'll have a chance to talk another day. Farewell!" Li Yuan also knew that now was not the time for conversation, as the Yuwen family's people could come again at any moment, so they had to hurry too. After finishing speaking, Li Yuan called his guards to gather their things and continue on their way.

  Li Jiancheng rode over, holding a gourd of wine in his hand. This was the treasured wine from the store, which had been brewed and then buried underground in jars. Since they were going to Taiyuan this time, he brought some out. "Brother Qin, this is our local specialty, don't decline it." Li Jiancheng drew closer to Qin Shubao, speaking before he could refuse.

  "Since that's the case, Qin Mou is not polite!" Qin Shubo didn't pretend either, so he took the wine and said, "I still have official business to attend to, I'll take my leave first!" After finishing speaking, Qin Shubo urged his horse to gallop away.

  "Indeed, a personal talent!" Li Jiancheng muttered to himself before catching up with the group on horseback. He had originally intended to give him some silver coins; otherwise, it would be a pity if he sold that precious horse later. However, thinking about it, if Qin Shubao took his silver coins, it wouldn't be right either. Once he had the silver coins, how could he still be connected with Sui Yongxin? For now, Sui Yongxin and the Li family didn't have any grudges yet. Later on, if he paid a little attention, it would be easy to recruit him without any trouble.

  ……

  But Qin Shubao, walking on the road, muttered to himself: "I think that family is not an ordinary family, and Li Yuan seems to have heard of it somewhere? And that young master seemed to have killed the leader of the bandits with ease, but why didn't he take action earlier and waited for me to arrive before taking action? Is it to observe whether passersby will lend a hand? If so, this person must not be a mediocre person." Qin Shubao said as he opened the gourd and poured wine into his mouth.

  "Indeed, this is good wine! It's a pity that there's only so little of it. I don't know when I'll have the chance to drink it again. I should find some time to buy more of it later. Looks like I'll have to savor every drop." He carefully put the stopper back on and stored the gourd away, unaware of the wine's value, and even if he could afford it with his salary, where would he be able to buy it?

  Qin Shubao's thoughts I do not know, otherwise directly send him a plaque, let him go drink enough. At this time Li Jiancheng was on his way to Taiyuan, carefully paying attention to the Yuwen family's arrival again.