Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Death of Bi Yu

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  This is an adult brown bear, also known as "xiong" in ancient times. Its body length reaches two meters, weighing up to half a ton, with a large build, thick and dense fur, sturdy forelimbs, and sharp claws over ten centimeters long. At this moment, the brown bear sees the sky and sun, raises its head and roars, baring its teeth, constantly pounding on the wooden bars of the cage with its paws, causing wood chips to fly everywhere, and the cage is on the verge of collapse. Looking at it like this, there is a risk of breaking out of the cage at any time. Such a ferocious beast, even if it's the Northeast Tiger, known as the king of beasts, would have to turn around and run away when encountering it.

  The slaves around fled in all directions, and even the Wuhuan cavalry shouted in unison. The horses were frightened and ran wildly, kicking their hooves and jumping chaotically. Many slaves ran frantically, trying to get as far away from the terrifying beast as possible, but were caught up by the Wuhuan people who chased after them, beating them mercilessly with their whips.

  Meng Yuan and Xiao Ma stood still, not daring to move, having lost a good fight. Seeing the giant bear standing up, taller than a man, Meng Yuan said in dismay: "It's all over! Who dares to challenge such a fierce beast? We're done for."

  His eyes narrowed almost invisibly, and he waved his hand: "This is the challenge you have to face. How about it? Dare or not?"

  Yan brothers secretly took a cold breath: "The Wuman people are so poisonous and ruthless, this trick is good. The failure of the Xianbei people and the Wuman people has made the Han Ge department's reputation soar, and the slaves of various tribes, especially the Han slaves, have been escaping every day. If this continues, no tribe can afford it. And Khanluo Wang's defeat has also made the various tribes fearful and dare not ask for punishment. To break this situation, we must break the myth of Han Ge department's first warrior being invincible, let Ma Hong admit defeat in front of Wuman adults, and slaughter hundreds of escaped slaves in front of him. In this way, without losing a single soldier, the reputation that Han Ge department has accumulated with great difficulty will be lost, and the wave of slave escapes from various tribes can also be effectively controlled..."

  Tian Yu obviously thought of this too, and immediately urged his horse forward, saying loudly: "Ta Dun gentleman, I am Tian Yu, the clerk of Xing Shi, the protector of Wuhuan. In such a beast-fighting matter, there is a heavenly principle, Xing Shi has knowledge, and he will absolutely not agree."

  Tian Cong smiled and clasped his hands: "General Tian, you are indeed polite. Let General Tian know that last year I invited Ambassador Xing to the royal tent. After the banquet, I also invited Ambassador Xing to watch the beast-fighting competition, and the winner would receive a gold prize from Ambassador Xing. Unfortunately, Ambassador Xing is not here, otherwise he would definitely have rewarded General Ma with a large sum of money... Haha!"

  Tian Yu's face turned bright red with anger, his hands tightly gripping the bow handle, unable to utter a sound for a moment. Suddenly, he felt someone patting him on the shoulder, and turning around, it was Ma Xun.

  Ma Xun nodded to Tian Yu: "Guo Rong has made up his mind, no need to say more. This challenge is inevitable. In fact, the enemy hopes that I won't agree even more than any of us. But the more the enemy doesn't want us to do something, the more we must do it."

  Ma Xun stared intently at the other side, where the cage was being grabbed and bitten by the brown bear, causing a loud noise. After a while, he turned to Da Dun with a cold expression: "General Da Dun won't stop me from using weapons, will you? Don't tell me that in your army's so-called 'man-beast battles', no weapons are used and it's just bare fists."

  He smacked his lips, chuckled and said: "You can use a weapon, but if you do, I'll only let half the people go. If you fight the bear bare-handed and win, all the conditions I mentioned earlier will be fulfilled. What's it gonna be?"

  "Impossible!" Tian Yu immediately blocked the way, "Xing Long brother, not fighting is just a loss of reputation, which can be made up for later, but if we fight and make a mistake, all our efforts will be in vain."

  Yan Zhi also said: "The bear is a fierce beast in the world, even if it is the king of all beasts, it does not dare to fight with it, let alone humans? The commander-in-chief refused, and people will not blame him for being difficult."

  Ma Xun, however, slowly disarmed himself and smiled at Tian Yu and the Yan brothers, who were shocked: "For over a decade... since I started fighting wars, I've always been fighting people. It's gotten a bit tiresome. Fighting beasts is something I haven't tried before. Now that there's an opportunity to try it out, not only can I satisfy my craving but also protect my reputation and save my life. Why wouldn't I take it?" He turned his head towards the Yan brothers and said word by word, "I accept this challenge."

  He narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly: "Indeed, you are a rare brave warrior. If you don't die, the king's tent at the foot of Han Mountain will be open to you at any time."

  Ma Xun ignored the commotion, tightened his leather armor, stretched his limbs and took big strides forward. The Han Goguryeo cavalry dismounted one after another, drew their swords and bows, following closely behind Ma Xun as they stepped towards the palisade. The heart-stopping thudding of wood and the deafening roar made all the Han Goguryeo cavalry dry-mouthed and trembling with fear. However, despite their hesitant footsteps, they continued to move forward without stopping.

  Ma Huan didn't turn his head, hearing the footsteps behind him, he felt relieved that people's hearts could be used. He raised his hand slightly, and the footsteps stopped. Turning to face his subordinates with a smile, he said: "Last time we killed men here, this time we're killing bears here, isn't it wonderful?! I declare, tonight's menu is braised bear paws."

  Wu Zhui and the Han Ge troops were breathing rapidly, their chests heaving up and down. If they weren't afraid of startling the brown bear, they would have definitely cheered excitedly. As they gazed at Ma Xun's gradually disappearing robust back, their eyes had an unstoppable fervor and worship. The expressions on these Han Ge riders fell into the eyes of the Yan brothers, who looked at each other silently.

  His gaze, sharp as a knife's edge, followed Ma Feng's figure until it disappeared behind the palisade. He let out a deep breath and turned to Nengzhi beside him: "If this man is a friend, he would be the most reassuring of friends; if an enemy, he would be the most dangerous of enemies."

  He gripped the bow tightly and said with a menacing tone: "If he wants to make friends, that's fine. But if he insists on being an enemy, this bow of mine will take his life sooner or later!"

  The wind is blowing gently, the water is cold... Under the gaze of hundreds of pairs of eyes filled with gratitude, admiration, shock and admiration, Ma Hong forcefully opened the wooden door, and when the wooden door closed heavily behind him, he couldn't help but flash this sentence with a slightly mournful tone. However, soon he threw away this romantic sentiment, because - the cage was finally broken!

  Ahh——

  The roar echoed far and wide in the wilderness, the dark clouds at the horizon seemed to be tumbling over with this bellowing sound. The people, horses and livestock on the open plain were frightened out of their wits, **incessantly.

  Perhaps it was being trapped for too long, or perhaps it was starving for too long. The moment the brown bear saw someone appear, it suddenly went into a furious rage, crazily crashing into the wooden pillars of its enclosure. These thick wooden pillars had already been destroyed by it... Suddenly, there was a loud crash, the pillars scattered everywhere, and the enclosure collapsed with a deafening roar - one of the strongest land beasts had escaped!

  The brown bear rolled to the ground and stood up, half a head taller than Ma Hong. Its short snout was wide open, revealing sharp teeth that shone with a dark yellow light. The amber-colored eyes stared fiercely at Ma Hong. The standoff lasted only for an instant, before the brown bear's front paws touched the ground, and it rushed towards Ma Hong like a monkey.

  Ma Xun bent his arm, raised his right hand, and curled his fingers into a fist. He stared at the fist and muttered, "It's all up to you." Suddenly, he charged towards the brown bear.

  Ma Xun had no experience with beast fighting, and hadn't even seen a human vs. beast fight before, so he couldn't learn from it. But he did have wilderness survival experience, so he naturally understood various animals in detail. Although the brown bear's body was huge and its movements were clumsy when running, its speed was faster than humans, making it impossible to escape. Especially in this space that wasn't even half the size of a football field, with no cover or shelter, competing with the brown bear in a sprint would be an extremely stupid idea. But going head-to-head with a massive creature weighing over 1,000 kg also wasn't a good idea.

  Ma Xun was confident that he could kill the giant bear with one blow, but considering the beast's tenacious vitality, he couldn't be certain whether he would be scratched or bitten back to death. To know how terrifying the bear's scratching and biting power was, tearing open the abdomen was nothing, armor and all, under the giant claws, were no different from paper scraps, and the medical level of this era... So, he didn't rush forward to wrestle with the brown bear, but instead -

  Just as he was about to collide with the brown bear, Ma Xun suddenly turned around and shifted his body, slipping past the bear's sharp claws five feet away and pouncing towards the carriage. However, when he rushed past the bear's side, the bear suddenly stretched out its arm and scratched Ma Xun's shoulder armor and cloak with a loud "pa" sound. The sharp claws tore through the steel-like muscles of his right arm, leaving three gashes. If this scratch had been on his left arm, it would have been severely injured even if not disabled.

  The man and the bear passed each other, Ma Xun was shocked to break out in a cold sweat. No wonder it's one of the most ferocious beasts on land. It seems that this fierce beast can't be allowed to get close again, otherwise the consequences will be terrible. If you don't get close, you must have a weapon, where is the weapon?

  The answer is... Rickshaw!

  The cage car is very sturdy. Of course, how can it not be sturdy to load a thousand-jin giant bear? The upper half of the cage car has been dismantled by the brown bear, leaving only a flatbed truck. The cart shaft is two zhang long, the body is wide and thick, the two wheels are as high as half a person, the wheel rim is as wide as a palm, the spokes are dense, and it weighs no less than 50 jin.

  Ma Xun rushed forward, his five fingers merged into one, grasping the wheel hub. With a swift retraction of his iron arm, he ripped off a wheel with a loud "ka-chunk" sound. He flung the wheel out with a powerful swing of his arm. The wheel spun in mid-air, emitting a heavy whirring sound, and struck the body of the brown bear that had just turned its head.

  The thousand-jin giant was beaten back, almost falling to the ground. The brown bear was furious, grabbing the wheel and tearing it apart, scattering fragments everywhere. At this moment, a second wheel came crashing down with a terrifying whistling sound, and the brown bear swung its front paws, smashing the wheel to pieces.

  "Try this again!" Ma Hong grabbed the cart handle and pulled the cage car to fly over, still seven or eight steps away from the brown bear, suddenly swung a large flatbed truck, heavily smashing towards the brown bear's rounded head.

  Bang! Yelp!

  The five-inch thick steel plate burst and shattered, with wooden blocks flying everywhere. The brown bear was smashed, its skin broken and bleeding, swaying back and forth, letting out a thunderous roar.

  "Go to hell!" Ma Hong, holding a car handle over two zhang long, roared and jumped up. The hundred-day spear training was brought to its peak at this moment, and he suddenly stabbed towards the open mouth of the brown bear - Puff! The wooden handle broke through the brain and came out, and the bloody beast blood sprayed out like a faucet being turned on...

  When Ma Yun was covered in blood and pushed the gate open, the clouds parted and the sun came out. The dark clouds split open, a ray of golden light shot down, shining on his body, bright red and radiant, as if it were a divine sign.

  Under the small hill, a piece of land was prostrated: there were Han halberdiers, Yan's followers, Wuman cavalry, and even escaped slaves...

  Before this miracle at the limit of human power, who does not feel awe and reverence?

  No, there were still people sitting on horseback who did not move: Yan Shi brothers, Tian Yu, Neng Chen resisted, and... the king of Wuduan, Doutan.

  They did not kneel down like ordinary people, but their faces were different, and they had a hundred flavors in their hearts. However, they all had one idea: the plot of the Wuhuan people was broken. The Wuhuan people originally wanted to achieve two goals with one move, defeating the reputation of the Han Goguryeo and finding an opportunity to return to the scene. If everything went smoothly, they could even use the claws and teeth of fierce beasts to eliminate their great enemies. Unexpectedly, in the end, they instead helped to establish Ma Xian's prestige. From then on, no Wuhuan people dared to provoke Ma Xian or Han Goguryeo again.

  Ma Hu and his Han Gou troops finally stood firm on this grassland from that moment on.

  The horse stood still for a long time, then suddenly turned its head, silently staring at the red, shining figure in the distance. In his heart, he whispered: "Ma Xun! Ma Jinglong! We will meet again."