Chapter 2: Thunder Rumbles, Sword in Hand

  Qin Hao was furious, having been peeped at one after another, where is the face? You've made a fool of yourself, don't think you'll be fine either. So when the three men walked up to him, Qin Hao ordered: "You three go and spar with Deputy Commander Yang!"

  "What? All three of us are going up?" Zhang Shang asked in confusion.

  "Hmm, you three can go up together then." Qin Hao thought that since Yang Tian was so formidable, the three of them going up together would also be a beating, so he readily agreed.

  Yang Tianlu smiled and said: "Hehe, no problem, come on!" As he spoke, he arched his leg and opened up his stance.

  Gao Fang heard this and thought he had the opportunity to beat up Vice Captain, happily saying: "Great! Great!" Just as he was about to raise his gun and move forward, he was pulled back by Lin Chong. Lin Chong shook his head slightly towards him, indicating with his eyes that Zhang Shan should not be impulsive, then opened his mouth to say: "Vice Captain's martial arts are very strong, we three people going up might not be able to get to the bottom of it, can we request adding Song Yi? Moreover, pointing out martial arts also needs to let other people improve together, can we wait for everyone to gather?"

  "There's no need for this! Let's go!" Qin Hao said impatiently.

  "No! We must add more people!" Zhang Shan was resolute and refused to back down.

  Qin Hao glared at Sun Ming's red face and didn't bring any weapons, so he had no choice but to give up.

  One minute later, the remaining six people also came forward with their weapons, but at this time the sun had been shining for a long time and they felt a bit hot and annoyed.

  Qin Hao shouted: "Song Yi, listen to the order! You and Gao Fan, Lin Chong, Zhang Shan, three people work together, go forward and spar with Yang Deputy Commander! Pay attention to safety! The rest of you disperse!"

  Qin Hao and the rest of the people retreated to one side, clearing out a large empty space.

  Yang Tian slightly bent his knees and opened up a defensive stance.

  Lin Chong and the other three exchanged glances, dispersed and surrounded him from all sides. Lin Chong and Gao Fang wielded their spears in the center, while Zhang Shan and Liu Yi wielded their swords on either side. Yang Tianhua was afraid of being surrounded and hastily retreated in disorder, not daring to be careless.

  Lin Chong saw his chance and thrust his spear straight at Yang Tian's right leg. Gao Fang also followed up with a spear thrust to the chest, while Zhang Shan and Liu Yi drew their swords and attacked from both sides. With no place to hide, Yang Tian retreated two more steps.

  The four men saw Yang Tian retreat again, and their hearts were delighted. They stepped forward tightly, and they would definitely fall into defeat. So they took another big step forward, and Zhang Shan and Liu Yi also got closer to Yang Tian. Lin Chong and Gao Fan made the same move as before, stabbing at him, while Zhang Shan and Liu Yi stabbed at the same time.

  Yang Tian smiled, and here comes this move, waiting for Zhang Shan and Liu Yi to come forward. He exerted all his strength, stepped forward with the spearhead, and... Lin Chong and Gao Fan were shocked, thinking that Yang Tian was about to be stabbed on horseback, just as they were about to withdraw their guns, only to see Yang Tian draw out his Tang knife, left hand grasping the knife sheath to block Lin Chong's gun, right hand grasping the knife to sweep away Gao Fan's incoming gun, and then flashed by. Zhang Shan and Liu Yi's slow-moving swords also arrived at where Yang Tian originally stood.

  Yang Tian flashed past the gun head and arrived in front of Lin Chong and Gao Fan, Zhang Shan and Song Yi were shocked. Just as Lin Chong and Gao Fan were about to counterattack with their guns, Yang Tian suddenly exerted force on both feet on the ground, lightly tapped the shoulders of the two men with his knife, quickly flashed past the sides of the two men, then landed, turned around, and held up his knife to face the four men. The movements were smooth and continuous.

  "Good!" "Great!" ... Amidst applause and cheers.

  At this time, Lin Chong's left shoulder and Gao Fang's right shoulder were both bleeding, with only a small hole pierced in the clothes on their shoulders. The two simultaneously put away their guns and cupped their hands, saying: "The subordinate general has lost." They retreated and opened up some distance between them.

  Zhang Shan and Liu Yi were shocked, then quickly regained their composure. They exchanged a glance and simultaneously launched themselves at Yang Tian from both sides. Yang Tian dodged to the left with a swift leap, causing their coordinated attack to fail. Yang Tian immediately concentrated his strength in his right hand, swinging his knife towards the nearest target, Liu Yi, who raised his sword to block it.

  "With a crisp crack, the sword broke, and Liu Yi was stunned; Zhang Shan, who was about to stab Liu Yi from behind with his sword, also froze; The surrounding generals who were watching the battle also froze; Qin Hao was an exception - he had heard about Yang Tian's ferocity yesterday."

  Liu Yi regained his composure and, holding the broken sword, cupped his hands in a salute and said: "This general has been defeated."

  Zhang Shan pretended to be indignant and said: "Not convinced, the deputy commander is using a divine soldier!"

  Qin Hao shouted: "Those who didn't obey on the battlefield are all dead! Who told you that you don't have divine soldiers?! Besides, there are four of you."

  Everyone applauded in agreement.

  Yang Tian sneered: "No need for divine soldiers, let's fight with our bare hands again?"

  "Ah~, no! I'm going to lose!" Zhang Shan also conceded defeat very quickly, causing the crowd to burst into laughter again.

  Qin Hao and others were very curious about Yang Tian's "sword" and surrounded him. Just as Yang Tian was about to put away his sword, Qin Hao said: "Don't put it away, let us take a look at your sword."

  "Take it!" Yang Tian casually inserted the Tang knife into its scabbard and handed it over to Qin Hao.

  Qin Hao took it over, pulled out the Tang knife and examined it in the sunlight. The Tang knife was 70 cm long, 6 cm wide, 5 mm thick, and weighed about 10 kg. The blade was straight like a sword, with a sharp edge at the tip, making it convenient for stabbing. The blade was silver-gray, with dense, rain-like faint hammer marks on its surface. The surrounding crowd looked at it and sighed "What a great sword!"

  "Does this sword have a name?"

  Yang Tian raised his hands and rolled his eyes, saying: "This is a knife, a Tang knife, not a sword!"

  "Hmm, how is it so similar to a sword..." Qin Hao asked again, but before he could finish, Yang Tian covered his mouth. "Idiot..." Yang Tian said, then realized something was off and saw that everyone was staring at him. He hastily added, "Ah, no! This knife was modified from a sword, it's called a Tang Dao. As for why it's called that, you can go ask Lei Ming." He pretended to be ignorant and pushed the responsibility onto Lei Ming. However, it indeed was forged by Lei Ming.

  Just as everyone was about to re-examine the Tang knife, a guard came over and said to Qin Hao: "Vice Commander Qin, the Commander has an order. Please ask Vice Commander Qin to lead the troops to the Commander's tent for discussion."

  "Got it." Qin Hao replied, and immediately threw the Tang knife to Lei Ming.

  "Go, to the general's tent!"

  Qin Hao led the crowd for a while before arriving at the commander's tent. As soon as they entered the tent, Commander Tong excitedly said to everyone: "Everyone come quickly, let Mr. Wen explain tonight's tactics."

  Many generals surrounded Mr. Wen, listening to him excitedly pointing at the map and explaining the tactics, all of whom understood how good it was and nodded in agreement.

  Tong Dashuai saw that everyone understood, and ordered: "Vice General Qin, dispatch a reconnaissance team to do a good job of reconnaissance on the enemy's situation, and report back at any time. Also, make arrangements for other sneak attacks and ambushes and report back!"

  "Yes!" Qin Hao responded loudly, and then assigned tasks to the crowd: "Zhang Shan and Song Yi are responsible for sneaking into the enemy camp; Liu Yi, Gao Fan, Chen Liu, and Wang Tianzheng are responsible for ambush outside the valley; Wang Li and Li Feng are responsible for setting fire; Lin Chong is responsible for protecting the two bow-and-arrow squads and pursuing the enemy. Yang Tian and I will lead more than 200 soldiers to participate in the sneak attack. Does anyone have any opinions?"

  "No!" The crowd replied in unison, followed by a burst of giggles.

  "Spare me the crap! If I didn't have to make up for you bunch of useless rabbits, would I be so short-handed?!" Qin Hao bellowed.

  "Qin leads with care..."

  "Hehe~"

  Then, Qin Hao arranged the troops to report to Tong Da Shuai, who was still discussing details with Mr. Wen. Tong Da Shuai highly praised Qin Hao for his progress and emphasized that they must prepare sufficient firewood, not block the valley entrance, and let them retreat along the original route for further pursuit and so on.

  The thunder rumbled and shook its head repeatedly, sighing that Tong Da was a big boss who was too cautious, and Qin Hao had shallow knowledge. He didn't think about where so many books came from at that time.

  Tong Dashuai saw Leimeng shaking his head and thought there was something wrong, so he asked in a hurry: "Leimeng, is there anything wrong again?"

  "Hmm..." Lei Meng was stunned for a moment, then said, "It's not quite right, it's better to cut a firebreak, otherwise the forest fire will burn for a long time." Although the term was a bit new, everyone still understood what he meant. Tong Da Shuai said: "This is no problem, I'll send someone to cut open one side, and on the other side there's a six-meter-wide river that can't be burned through."

  Then Lei Meng asked again: "What are you going to do, General?"

  Tong Dashuai was surprised: "I'm staying in the camp?" After a pause, he said again: "Do you want me to participate in the ambush and pursuit too?"

  "Yes, but not at the valley mouth, rather near the enemy camp." Lei Meng replied.

  Tong Dashuai and Mr. Wen stroked their beards in contemplation, then suddenly exclaimed in unison: "What a great plan!" They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  Qin Hao divided the task well, saw Lei Ming in front of him, and remembered the question about the Tang knife. He couldn't help but take a step forward and ask in a low voice: "Lei Ming, is what you're holding a Tang knife? Why is it called a Tang knife?"

  Lei Meng was stunned by the question, how did he suddenly ask himself? He turned his head to look at Yang Tian in the crowd, and saw him smile and turn away. Alas, it was him again, Lei Meng thought to himself.

  Suddenly, Lei Meng said seriously: "Hmmm, unexpectedly Qin Tong is a connoisseur. What I have in my hand is indeed a Tang knife. As for why it's called a Tang knife? It's because a master blacksmith named Tang took the advantages of knives that can chop and swords that can pierce, combined them together to forge this knife, so later on, knives made in this style were all called Tang knives."

  Yang Tian listened from a distance and rolled his eyes, this was also too ridiculous to say, but fortunately, it hit the crux of Tang Knife - combining the advantages of knife and sword.

  "Where is Tang Zongshi!! I want to find him to forge a sword!" Qin Hao excitedly grabbed Lei Ming's shoulders and shook them violently.

  Lei Meng raised his hand and grasped the hilt of the knife, stabbing it into Qin Hao's left chest, coincidentally hitting the same spot where Yang Tian had struck earlier. This was truly a case of "when one is already unlucky, even drinking cool water can choke them". A wave of pain washed over Qin Hao as he hastily withdrew his hand and retreated backwards.

  Tong Dashuai saw the commotion on this side and hastily asked what was going on.

  Qin Hao was still in a state of excitement and exclaimed: "General, Lei Meng and Yang Tian have divine weapons!"

  "Oh? Thunder, can you show me?" General Tong asked politely.

  "Alright." Lei Meng handed over the Tang sword.

  Tong Dashuai took over the Tang knife, pulled it out and looked at it. This weapon seemed like a knife but not a knife, seemed like a sword but not a sword, but could chop and stab. "Hmm, good knife!" In the end, Tong Dashuai still defined it as a knife and affirmed its value.

  "General, this sword is called Tang Sword, it can cut through any weapon at will." Qin Hao said hastily, not waiting for Lei Meng's introduction.

  "Oh? So fierce?" Surprised for a moment, Tong Dashuai shouted: "Come on, bring the sword!"

  "General, I have a sword!" Zhang Shan replied loudly and handed over the sword in his hand.

  Tong Dashuai's left hand pulled out a copper sword from Zhang Shan's hand, and his right hand grasped the Tang knife, which had become much heavier.

  The crowd dispersed, and General Tong swung his right hand with force, swinging the Tang knife "Hei" onto the copper sword in his left hand. The blade clashed with the sword's edge. All that could be heard was a "ding" sound, as the knife and sword bounced off each other. The copper sword had a large notch taken out of it, while the Tang knife remained intact.

  "Good sword!" Tong Dashuai threw away the copper sword in his left hand, stroking the Tang knife and asked Lei Ming: "Lei Ming, does this sword have any special skills?"

  "Reporting to the general, this knife has a thick back and is powerful for chopping; also, this knife has been forged thousands of times, it's dense and even, so it can cut through copper swords." Lei Ming explained, slightly hesitating, then continued: "If the general likes it, I'll give this knife to the general."