Eight Heroines

  [======????=====] What's going on? Where am I? My head hurts so much!

  As I opened my eyes, I saw the lid of the pot that had cut off all hope, like a dead fish at the bottom of the pot. The dark stone wall curved upwards in an arc shape. At the end, a small amount of light seeped down from a tiny hole at the top, but it was swallowed up by the darkness around me before it even hit the ground.

  A hand propped up the body, "Where am I?" What was this thing? The hand touched something soft and not the hard, cold rock. A stretcher? How did I end up lying on this?

  "Whoosh!" A sudden noise, and Lei Hu looked around to locate the source of the sound. He was indeed in a mountain cave, but now the entrance was lined with soldiers holding long spears, each one staring at him menacingly.

  "General, that guy's awake!" someone shouted. The soldiers parted to make way for a man who looked like a leader, holding a torch and walking towards him.

  As he saw his own man walking towards Leihu, a soldier stepped forward and blocked the way, saying: "General, be careful of him... He injured several of our brothers last night and got us trapped here."

  "It's alright, I can handle myself." The young general was undaunted, smiling lightly as he nodded at the soldier, who then stepped aside.

  He came to the front of Leihu, squatted down lightly, and was startled by the soldiers behind him, who were busy rushing forward with their spears for several big steps, until he turned his head to signal them to stop.

  "Who are you? Did you kill those Qin scouts yesterday? You killed them alone? Why did you do that?" Without hostility, but also with caution, seeing Lei Hu just staring blankly at him, the general continued: "If it was you who killed them, then no matter which country you're from, you're not my enemy for now; if it wasn't you who killed them, then you're one of them, and you'll die."

  "No, I'm certain, I saw him kill the Qin soldier with my own eyes." A soldier shouted from a distance. But other soldiers immediately gave him a stern look: "He's also wearing Qin uniform, who knows if it's a disguise?"

  "Your voice is really nice to listen to!" The eyes still had some daze, but Lei Hu's words were very loud: "Your voice is really good."

  "Whoa!" she exclaimed in surprise: "How did you know I'm a girl?" The general's expression changed instantly: "Tell me, who are you exactly?"

  "General, be careful, he must be a spy!" The two deputy-hand-like soldiers had already run up and the two knives were already placed on Leihu's neck. "Tell me, how did you know that my family's young general is a daughter? Are you a spy from Qin State?"

  "Is he a woman? Isn't he my 'Historical Encyclopedia'? But his voice... Is he male or female? Or why is she dressed as a man? Why does his voice sound just like that girl's?" Lei Hu began to feel his body was so weak, and his head hurt severely. "Girl, where are you exactly?"

  "I'm here." A soft and faint voice sounded.

  "Where are you?" Leihu was overjoyed and hastily asked in pursuit.

  But the voice in my mind was even smaller: "You suddenly lost control of your spirit yesterday and damaged some of my functions. I need to repair myself now, during this time, I can only use some additional functions to help you. Finally, according to my knowledge, the general in front of you is not a man, but Li Xiaoguo, the daughter of General Li Mu of Zhao State... Bye..."

  "Hey! Hey!" As the voice of "Ya Tou" in his mind grew fainter and fainter, finally disappearing like a power outage, Lei Hu shouted out: "You stand still for me! I need you!"

  "Despicable!" A loud roar, two knives chopped down on Leihu's neck at the same time, and he was knocked unconscious without even making a sound. Even so, as he fell to the ground, he still tightly grasped the hand of General Shao that he had grabbed randomly earlier.

  "General, it's not good! The Qin army has started attacking again!" A soldier rushed in from the entrance, kneeling on one knee to report: "The brothers at the mountain waist have suffered more than half casualties and retreated back to the cave entrance, where they are now resisting outside the cave!"

  "What?" Two deputy generals shouted angrily: "Go back quickly and fight to the death to ensure General Shao's safety!"

  "Yes!"

  Li Xiaoguo looked back at Leihu on the stretcher and ordered, "General Gongsun, General Gu, please ask your brothers to hold them off first. I'll be right there."

  "Yes!" The two generals received the order and immediately rushed to the cave entrance. Before leaving, they scolded fiercely: "It's all because of this kid that we're being held back! When he wakes up, we'll interrogate him and definitely kill him!"

  What kind of person is this? Is he an enemy or a friend? Looking at Lei Hu, Li Xiao Guo was also puzzled: the soldier said that he single-handedly killed several Qin state-trained scouts. What kind of skill would that require? If he's a friend, what a fierce general he must be! But how did this person, whom she had never met before, know that she was disguising herself as a man? Could it really be someone from the Qin state who has investigated her thoroughly? And if so, why reveal himself so soon?

  Too many mysteries, beautiful eyes like orchids, tightly knitted eyebrows, yet still can't grasp the key.

  After covering Leihu's body, her slender figure flew towards the entrance of the cave like a swallow.

  Whenever a city is attacked, blood flows like rivers; whenever a country is attacked, the mountains and rivers are stained with blood. The generals of Qin were mostly so brutal, and the soldiers often used cruel and ruthless tactics in battle. The Qin army would often gouge out the enemy's eyes, causing them to bleed profusely, or kick the enemy's groin, causing them to suffocate on the spot; or grab the enemy's throat, causing them to choke to death; or twist the enemy's neck and cut off their head; or dig into the enemy's ribs, or strike the enemy's solar plexus, causing them to die instantly; or grab the enemy's hair and throw them to the ground, leaving them crippled; or hook the enemy's feet and toss them into the air, causing their heads to smash into the ground and their brains to splatter. After a battle, the battlefield would always be gruesome, with corpses scattered all over, limbs severed and bodies mutilated.

  When Li Xiaoguo arrived at the high point of Dongkou, he looked around and saw that there were almost no soldiers left on the mountain waist who were still resisting. Either they were dead or those who were alive were being surrounded by many Qin soldiers, and as soon as they fell to the ground, they would be brutally trampled.

  The mouth of the cave was already sparse with soldiers, and a dozen or so crossbowmen were still firing with all their might, but the remaining arrows were scarce; other soldiers saw that the Qin army had not yet approached, and each one picked up huge stones and wooden blocks to throw down. With each attack, the Qin soldiers below fell in batches, but more of them accelerated their ascent.

  "General, this won't do. Once our arrows and stones are depleted, we'll have no advantage left but to retreat to the cave entrance." Gong Sun Jiang hastily said: "Now we only have less than 50 soldiers left. Why not let Gu Shi open lead the remaining elite troops to protect General Xiao from the side and break out? Even if I, Gong Sun Zhang, die, I can still hold back a few hundred Qin soldiers for General Xiao!"

  "No, it's better for General Gong to protect General Shao and break out, I'll cover our retreat." However, Gu General also spoke up in disagreement: "In terms of martial arts, I'm far inferior to General Gong, and in terms of strategy, I'm even more lacking. It would be more appropriate for General Gong to protect General Shao and break out."

  "General Gu, what are you arguing with me about?"

  "No need. The two generals don't have to fight anymore." Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Li Xiaoguo smiled and said: "My father, General Li, once said that a good general is one who shares life and death with his soldiers. Asking me to abandon my brothers and escape on my own is absolutely impossible, haha, let's prepare to face the enemy instead!"

  "General, if you..."

  "Say no more, my mind is made up! Prepare for battle!" Without letting the two deputy generals say anything else, Li Xiaoguo had already drawn his war sword, facing the wind, and the war flag was fluttering.

  "Alas!" The sigh came from both of their mouths. Then Gong Sun Zhang turned around and shouted, "Soldiers listen up! General wants to share life and death with brothers!"

  "General, General..." received a mountain of cheers and applause.

  It is indeed:

  "Combing red sleeves, fearless of the cold wind on her face. Blood-soaked arrows swift, light sweat seeps through thin clothes."

  "When enemy arrives, hold sword and flag, why run? Turn back head, smile with beard and eyebrow."

  ……

  At close quarters, one of us will die.

  The Qin army finally reached the outside of the cave, a fierce battle unfolded, with no chance to retreat, no reinforcements arrived, one by one, the soldiers of Zhao fell, and even in death, they still managed to deliver a fatal blow.

  Li Xiao Guo had also become a "hot target", surrounded by four Qin soldiers as she stood in the middle, her hand trembling with the sword, blood dripping down, one drop at a time...

  "General, be careful!" A loud shout, Gu Shi chopped two axes to an enemy general, jumped towards her, "Ah" a miserable cry, he pounced on a Qin soldier who was besieging Li Xiaoguo, but was hit by an arrow shot from behind. It turned out that he had seen someone sneak up and shoot a cold arrow, and flew over to save his master.

  The remaining three Qin soldiers were taken aback by this scene and retreated several steps.

  "General Gu, how are you?" A sword pierced through the chest of Gu Shi, who had opened up a path for the Qin soldiers. Li Xiao Gu hurriedly bent down to support him: "General Gu?"

  "I'm fine!" Gu Shi said, swaying as he stood up, his bloodshot eyes scanning the surrounding enemies. He began to chant: "Sword breaks sword, sword snaps spear, bloody battlefield; killing intent urgent, red light gleaming, no death without bending..."

  This is indeed the battle song of Zhao's soldiers!

  Li Xiao Guo also started singing along: "Drums beating, war horses neighing, the mountains and rivers are in danger; looking around, all are jackals and wolves, killing my parents..."

  Whet your precious sword, bid farewell to your loved ones, when will you return? Sweep away the bandits, eliminate the tyrants, only death can bring us back! Swords clash, spears break, blood soaks the battlefield; the killing machines are urgent, the red light shines bright, our bodies will not bend until we die...

  Have they gone mad? Have they gone mad?! The Qin soldiers looked at each other, one by one starting to retreat. The enemy is not what's scary, what's scary are the enemies who have already given up on themselves!

  The battlefield surprisingly had no slaughter, only a tragic song.

  But nobody noticed that a man who was destined to change the course of events was standing in the cave, gazing out, listening and pondering. He was Lei Hu, and he had already sent his thoughts back to the time when he was with Wen Tian.