Chapter Nineteenth: Heartless and Ruthless

  Li Jian and others were discussing how to escape in a low voice when they heard the urgent sound of horseshoes, Li Jian's face suddenly changed: "There are cavalry, more than 100!" He grew up in a horse farm since childhood and was very familiar with horses. Soon he judged the approximate number of cavalry rushing over based on the vibration under his feet and the horseshoe sounds!

  Eight or nine young men and women who were clearly in cahoots with each other scurried to the side of the road under Li Jian's instructions. If the incoming cavalry launched a charge, standing in the middle of the road would be suicidal! The remaining hundred troops of the Liao army had panicked, they didn't have any cavalry at all! So the cavalry must definitely be the enemy! Bai Renjing was about to order the Liao army to push the carts forward and block the road when Gong Sun Ce and his two hundred elite cavalrymen appeared before them.

  "It's really Guo Liang! His armor is so cool!" a short-haired girl whispered, while another blonde girl said: "Nonsense, the silver armor one is the coolest! He has more style than that little brat Guo Liang!" As for Liu Wei, who was holding the anti-Qin banner, he was completely ignored by them.

  Guo Liang wore a suit of iron armor with a bright glow, and on his head was a helmet with a phoenix crest. He looked extraordinary and heroic. His handsome face kept staring in the direction of Li Jing, galloping back and forth to the right side of Gong Sun Ce, wanting to rush over and rescue Li Jing. The two hundred Yuqi riders behind him stood still like stone statues, motionless. Gong Sun Ce and the 100 Cool Army soldiers faced each other, while Liu Wei sat quietly on his horse...

  Gongsun Zan stared at the Hundred-Man General of the Lü Bu's army, harboring a murderous intent in his heart. He pointed at the general with his Green Dragon Halberd, and the general gathered his troops, merged them into one unit, and slowly retreated. Gongsun Zan also noticed Guo Liang's restlessness and saw him exchanging glances with a tall and slender woman. He couldn't help but laugh and say: "Young man, have you seen your heart's desire? The opportunity for a hero to rescue a beauty is rare, so cherish it well!"

  Guo Liang didn't mind Gong Sun Ce's teasing, turned his head to look at the hundred-man commander of the Liao army, feeling an inexplicable surge of energy throughout his body. He gritted his teeth and said: "My precious son has been made a fool of by these ghosts! I'm going to go kill him!" Guo Liang, who usually paid attention to his image and was refined and courteous, suddenly cursed loudly, causing Gong Sun Ce to sigh that young men in love were always so hopeless.

  "Alright, that hundred men will be yours, the rest are mine!" Gong Sun Ce said as he dismounted his horse. About fifty white-armored cavalrymen also dismounted their horses and followed him. Liu Wei knew Gong Sun Ce didn't want to damage the symbol of his authority, so he took advantage of the situation, planted the general's flag on the saddle, jumped off the horse, and followed behind Gong Sun Ce.

  Liú Jūn's hundred men saw Gōngsūn Zǎo bring more than fifty halberd-wielding soldiers, intending to engage in close combat. He also knew he couldn't escape, so with a loud battle cry, he led the Liú Jūn army in a charge. Gōngsūn Zǎo wore a suit of shining silver armor, clearly marking him as the leader. The hundred men charged forward bravely, with one spear thrusting out first.

  Gongsun Zan held a halberd in both hands, using one to deflect the spears of the hundred approaching generals. He kicked out with one foot, sending the hundred generals retreating continuously. With another swing of his halberd, he sent several charging Liao soldiers flying, and then followed up by sweeping away the retreating hundred generals once more. The hundred generals let out a miserable cry as their long spears flew out of their hands, only to be swept under Li Jing's feet, coincidentally knocking Li Jian into a full embrace.

  Li Jing was just a nineteen-year-old girl, although beautiful, but her courage was still normal. Seeing Bairen about to fall at her feet, she was frightened and lost color, screaming continuously. Li Jian was about to get up and pull his younger sister Li Jing back, but unexpectedly Bairen stood up, and he and Bairen suddenly collided together.

  A hundred men turned their heads to glare at Li Jian, annoyed that he was getting in the way. One of them drew his waist knife and was about to chop down Li Jian and his sister Li Jing, who were standing beside him. Several students who had just dodged out of the way saw this and didn't have time to warn them before Guo Liang rode over on horseback, his body and horse moving as one, with an aura like a dragon. With both hands holding a spear, he stabbed the hundred men's leader in the chest, piercing him through. Guo Liang's handsome face turned bright red as he let out a loud shout, using his spear to lift the hundred men's leader off the ground and spin him around, as if showing off.

  Then he violently threw the Hundred Man onto the ground, and the Hundred Man spat out a mouthful of black blood, his eyes widened as he began to rot. Guo Liang jumped off his warhorse, inserted his spear into the ground, and rushed to Li Jing's side to comfort her hastily. His classmates and friends gathered around, asking this and that, while several girls looked at them with envy.

  Li Jian hummed softly, pretending to be injured, and lay down by the side of the road, leaning against a small cart, staring at Gong Sun Ce's majestic display of power. No one knew what he was thinking about. Without the command of the hundred-man squad leader, those hundred Liao soldiers were blocked by the halberd-wielding soldiers, and Gong Sun Ce and Liu Wei had excellent Mingguang armor that protected them from harm, so they could ignore this group of Liao soldiers. With no reserve in their output of damage, these Liao soldiers were like wheat, being reaped again and again by the sickle, dying and turning to ashes.

  Thousands of civilians surrounded by the Liang army stared nervously at Gong Sun Ce and others, many of whom had already become numb to the death of their loved ones, the loss of hope, and the presence of invulnerable military spirits and invisible evil spirits. They were trapped in a quagmire called despair, which was bottomless and difficult to escape.

  Gongsun Zan already had the right to nurture scholars, so he wanted to see if there were people with potential among these thousands. He gathered the crowd together and said in a deep voice: "I have one bad piece of news and three good pieces of news to tell you all. I'm someone who likes to save the best for last, so let's start with the bad news first. You must remain quiet; if anyone makes trouble, I'll recognize you, but these Qin soldiers won't."

  "The bad news won't get any worse, in short, your lives are guaranteed. Everyone knows that the original peaceful life has disappeared, and our world is full of all kinds of ghosts and monsters. What I want to say is that apart from these ghosts and monsters, there are also various gods and spirits, as well as vengeful souls. The county town has been occupied by the Qin army, if you go to the county town, you will be received by the Qin army and registered as civilians."

  "The first good news is that the Qin army will arrange work for you based on your individual skills, and distribute food to you every day according to the work you do." Gong Sun Ce was telling the truth, but some things were left unsaid, such as the fact that most people would become state-owned property of the Qin country - slaves.

  "The second piece of good news is that the various evil spirits that have appeared are not something that humans can't handle. There must be some among you who know that handsome guy, doesn't he possess the power to kill the military soul? So in this turmoil, humanity won't be annihilated, but will instead have a new development!" Gong Sun Ce said this not only to these people, but also to himself. Humanity won't completely become the oxen and horses of the spirits, at least they'll be on an equal footing!

  "The third announcement is important, that is, I will recruit twenty attendants from among you. Your task is to replace me in driving the horse cart and escorting the logistics supplies. In return, your families will be supported by me, and they don't need to participate in the labor tasks arranged by the Qin army!"

  "Think for yourselves, is it Qin's army or me who would be more willing to show you human feelings? I only need twenty of you, those who want to join can bring their families and go find him. As for those who don't want to work for me, I don't care. Take some of the things here and go wherever you want." Gong Sun Ce knew that these people didn't dare leave without the protection of the Liang army's military spirit, otherwise they would probably have died half last night. Not only did he know this, but these people weren't fools either, they naturally understood that leaving meant death.

  Facing the unknown Qin army, some people chose to believe in Gong Sun Ce, and more than 30 strong men stood out one after another. Liu Wei checked them once and directly eliminated half of them. Liu Wei knew that Gong Sun Ce still needed to select soldiers from this group to fight against the enemy, and having a strong physique was not enough, courage was also needed!

  On the other side, Guo Liang revealed the truth about the horse farm having no survivors, and Li Jing fainted on the spot. The other girls, regardless of the boys, cried to the point where the sky was darkening, and it was impossible to stop them. Their families were all dependent on the economic benefits of the horse farm for survival, and their parents were all at the horse farm. According to Guo Liang, they had all died.

  Li Jian let out a long sigh, lowering his head to glare at Gong Sun Ce and Guo Liang who was comforting their classmates. He had been jealous of Guo Liang for a long time, and now that he saw himself and Guo Liang becoming people from two different worlds, coupled with the blow of his parents' death, he completely exploded.

  Li Jian slowly got up, first laughing loudly and unclearly, then fiercely kicking over the small cart beside him. Guo Liang turned his head to look at him. Seeing the concern in Guo Liang's eyes, Li Jian felt hypocritical. He waved his arms wildly, shouting towards the sky. Grabbing Guo Liang, he looked like a madman, with bloodshot eyes, panting heavily, and asked loudly: "Tell me! Was it you who killed them? You must have killed them! They didn't let Jing'er associate with you, so you harbored resentment and killed them, right? Is that right or not?"

  "What...?" Guo Liang was about to explain, but Li Jian had already entered a frenzied state and wouldn't listen. He shouted directly: "Shut up! Who can prove they weren't killed by you? We're just ordinary people, and you used to be an ordinary person too. But how could you possess the power to kill ghosts and monsters?! You must have sold your soul to a demon and obtained its power! So it was you who killed my dad and mom! Tell me, is that true or not?"

  Li Jian grasped Guo Liang's shoulders with both hands, shaking him violently. His ten fingers exerted great force, but the iron armor was not something his mortal body could harm. The force was so great that his fingernails began to bleed, but he didn't notice, continuing to shake Guo Liang and interrogate him. Seeing Gong Sun Ce approaching, he abandoned Guo Liang and pounced on Gong Sun Ce, who wouldn't let him get close, directly kicking him flying into a small cart.

  Gongsun Zan's body was strengthened as he killed more and more enemies, otherwise how could he kick the Lü Bu's army of a hundred men back one after another? Fortunately, Gongsun Zan didn't use too much force, or else Li Jian wouldn't have had enough lives to withstand his kick. Although Li Jian was physically strong, Gongsun Zan's kick, even with reduced force, still caused him severe internal injuries.

  Li Jian rolled off the small cart, and when he tried to get up, he felt something stuck in his throat and couldn't breathe. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, then breathed smoothly, and his head cleared up a lot. Zhang Chao, the glasses man, went over to help Li Jian up. But Li Jian pushed Zhang Chao away, glaring at Gong Sun Ce with hatred, then turned his head to glance at Guo Liang sideways. He couldn't express the anger in his heart - why could they have power while he, Li Jian, didn't?!

  "Looks like this is going to be a problem." Gong Sun Ce adjusted Guo Liang's askew helmet, his tone serious. Guo Liang had already detected the killing intent in Gong Sun Ce's voice and opened his mouth to plead: "Gong Sun elder brother, no matter what he says, he's still Jing Er's older brother. He was just momentarily enraged and it wasn't intentional. It wasn't meant to offend Gong Sun elder brother."

  "Just because he's your friend, I spared him the effort earlier. Otherwise, I would have kicked him to death with one foot. But he shouldn't have had any intention of killing me, and as a military family, we're very sensitive to such intentions. His intention was directed at you, and I just happened to be affected by it. Even I could feel his strong intention to kill, can't you?" Gong Sun Ce questioned Guo Liang, who indeed felt Li Jian's intense intention to kill him from the beginning, although it was faint, he still felt it. It's just that he had been tolerating it because of his relationship with Jing Er as her older cousin. Facing Gong Sun Ce's questioning, he fell silent.

  Li Jian saw that Gongsun Zan was about to kill him, so he turned around and tried to run. Gongsun Zan didn't even turn his head, and with a swift stab of the qīnglóng jiǎn in his hand, Li Jian was pierced through the back and chest. They were originally very close, and before Li Jian could take his second step, he had already been stabbed by the qīnglóng jiǎn. He looked down at the blood-red qīnglóng jiǎn protruding from his chest, and the dripping qīnglóng jiǎn was still emitting heat. He felt his strength rapidly disappearing.

  Li Jian's mouth was filled with blood again, and he struggled to turn his head to look at Guo Liang, saying: "Jealousy is the original sin, take good care of..." Before he could finish speaking, his head tilted to one side, and he died, his eyes fixed on his younger sister with a gaze full of regret.

  As he was dying, he seemed to see his unconscious cousin's eyes suddenly well up with tears, and he felt that he had not died in vain. At least she understood him in her heart.