Chapter 33: Ma Teng and Han Sui

  "Ma Teng!" Han Sui was finally truly enraged, "Do you really want to fight me to the death?"

  "When you broke into Chang'an four years ago, you should have had this realization, but you were wrong. I won't fight to the death with you." Han Zhuo stared at him intensely.

  "All he heard was his old man saying calmly: 'You no longer have the strength to fight me to the death, all that awaits you... is to stick out your neck and wait for the slaughter!'"

  Han Jue was furious and laughed instead, raised the long knife in his hand, and said sternly: "Want to kill me? This depends on whether you, surnamed Ma, have this ability!"

  The old man held his spear horizontally in front of his chest, but didn't say a word. I knew this was the first move of the Ma family's spear technique, and within this simple move "Horizontal Spear Standing Horse", it also contained the silent man's full anger and determination for revenge, I truly felt that: It wasn't just an opening move!

  Han Sui and Lao Die had also been friends for many years, seeing Lao Die make a move, he immediately countered with his own move, laughing wildly: "Old Ma! You can't be thinking of winning me on horseback?! How many years has it been?! Don't you know your own weight?!"

  "Less nonsense!" Old Dad poked the horse's buttocks with the gun tail, and the horse under him rushed straight to Han Wei. The long gun in his hand was about to pierce his chest.

  Han Shui hummed and also patted his horse to move forward. With a flip of the back of his long knife, he blocked Lao Die's spear in mid-air.

  Ma Teng's spear missed its mark and he quickly changed his move, exerting force at the end of the spear. The spearhead rose up and was already thrusting towards Han Sui's eyes.

  Han Su's long knife swung swiftly, shaking open the spearhead, and with a backhand swing, he slashed towards Lao Die's neck. Unexpectedly, Ma Teng didn't save himself, but instead increased his strength, and the long spear still pointed at Han Su's throat.

  Han Su's face changed, his long knife chopped down, and he pressed down on Old Man Ma's long gun. Ma Teng exerted himself and shook off the gun, continuing to thrust forward. Han Su kicked the horse's abdomen with his right foot, and the horse galloped a few steps to one side, dodging Old Man Ma's stab.

  I stared blankly, unable to speak for a moment: Nonsense, wasn't it said that in ancient times, duels were impossible during battles? But why did it happen here... Could it be that the Western Liang generals didn't understand the trend?

  I thought my old man's martial arts skills were already quite good, and he was considered a fierce general in Western Liang. But hearing what Han Sui said, this old scoundrel seems to be even better than my old man? Moreover, the two of them have known each other for a long time, their relationship is not shallow, they understand each other very deeply. Although my old man is filled with grief and indignation, he may have some increase in martial power, but killing red-eyed will damage his intelligence. What if he's careless and becomes paralyzed by overconfidence? Then I'll lose my old man!

  I'm already short of talent in my family, and even from a long-term perspective, having one more father is still better. Moreover, I'm so young, if I lose my dad, no one will care about me, so please spare my life...

  I stealthily urged the little horse to approach Zhao Cheng's side, taking cover behind several cavalrymen. I took out my bow from under the saddle, lightly grasped a carved feather arrow, strung it on the bowstring, and half-closed my left eye, aiming at Han Shui.

  Han Jie is indeed agile, coming and going with the old man, relying on his legs to ride a horse, fighting in the city below, raising a cloud of dust. The soldiers of both armies shouted loudly to help, and for a while it was extremely lively.

  But I see that Lao Die is gradually getting a bit overwhelmed, the Ma family's spear technique in his hands is just desperately thrusting forward, with decent speed and strength, but he simply refuses to add any variation, although each move attacks the enemy's weakness, it can always be stopped by Han Shui, and even countered.

  It's possible that Han Jue was a bit too confident, and Lao Die was fighting with a desperate, do-or-die attitude. The two of them were actually locked in a stalemate for half an incense stick's worth of time. The ground was already covered in circle after circle of hoof prints, the soft sand grains on the surface being trampled over and over again.

  Alas! Can't these two people separate a bit? How can I aim?! Although shooting small birds and rabbits, I'm still 100% accurate, but today this is making me shoot people! What if these two suddenly turn around and I accidentally kill the old man with one arrow, I'll likely become the most infamous person in Three Kingdoms or even Chinese history! I'd better be honest and wait for the old man to show weakness before assisting...

  But to be honest, Lao Die's performance today was not great, and he couldn't even exert his usual strength of five successes: it seemed that every shot was powerful and forceful, but somehow they all landed on Han Shui's body. Han Shui was shocked, but with a fierce effort, he managed to suppress the situation, and the two of them fought for over a hundred rounds, getting faster and faster. My eagle feather arrow didn't dare to shoot at Han Shui again, so I reluctantly put it back in the quiver on my saddle. Looking around at the crowd, they all seemed slightly stunned.

  The first one was Pang De, who was hiding behind his helmet with a expressionless face, his mouth pursed tightly, his right hand gripping the long spear tightly against the horse's back, and his left hand pulling the reins straight. A few steps behind him was his brother Pang Wei, who was not hiding his emotions, his face full of anxiety, his hands hugging the horse's head to prevent it from turning around, his eyes fixed intently on the two people fighting to the death in the arena. Slightly to the east, their older sister Ma Wen had a murderous look on her face, with a chill in her pupils that seemed to be ready to pounce into action at any moment. On the west side, Ma Dai was looking towards me, his eyes showing a hint of worry: Ah, this child practices the Ma family spear day and night, how could he not see that although his father's moves looked powerful, he was clearly no longer able to exert the full force of his spear technique.

  Under Han's left and right strikes, the move has gradually shown signs of difficulty. Han saw the old man's defeat and his knife technique was even more open and big, the heavy chopping knife ruthlessly striking the gun handle in the old man's hand, and the horse under the old man's crotch couldn't help but retreat three steps.

  Pang De and I immediately stood on either side of Ma Teng, guarding against Han Sui taking advantage of his victory to launch a pursuit.

  After a long fight, both sides had consumed a lot of physical strength. Lao Die was already panting, his long spear was covered in scars, and his horse was snorting and blowing white air, clearly having exhausted more than half its strength. Although Han Su's side had also spent a lot of energy, their momentum remained strong.

  The defenders of the city saw their commander win a round and, whether inside or outside the city, all cheered. Han Shui raised his long sword and rode back to his own lines.

  Damn it! You actually think you can leave?!

  I hastily drew out my bow and arrow, took aim at Han's back and shot an arrow. However, I was a step too late, he had already turned his horse around, swung his sword to block the arrow, and laughed: "Ma Chao, you worthy nephew, don't you want to come up and exchange blows with your uncle?" His words were full of pride and disdain.

  "Korean old thief, come and surrender!" I shouted in anger, the long spear behind me made a swift stroke, and I urged my horse to charge at this old thief. Han Sui also had the guts to directly welcome me. This physical strength is indeed abundant.

  I thrust my spear straight at Han's face, but he simply waved his sword and I lost my aim. Hurriedly withdrawing my spear, I stabbed again, but Han exerted himself to strike the blade of my spear with the edge of his sword. I couldn't help but tremble in both hands, and the long spear in my hand was almost uncontrollable. Only then did I realize Han's strength: this guy has extremely strong arm power, plus more than 20 years of battle experience, which is not to be underestimated. It was clear that Father had been forced by Han's power earlier and couldn't use his skills, so he could only use the spear as a breakthrough, thrusting straight at the opponent's vital point.

  I want to conquer the first enemy in life, it seems that it's not as easy as I imagined.

  "General, let me deal with this old thief!" Behind him, Pang De had already seen that I was at a disadvantage in the first two moves and shouted out loudly, his horse also galloping towards my original position.

  Han Jue smiled at me with a sly smile, and I couldn't help but narrow my eyes to look at him. He stretched his long spear to the left, blocking Pang De behind him: "De Ge, you retreat a bit."

  Pang De was baffled and stood still on the spot.

  "Fall back!" I raised my voice and roared, Pound's horse under him couldn't help but take a step back. "I want to personally pierce this old thief's skull! I want to avenge Mother and wash away the shame!" I felt my voice become hoarse in an instant.

  Pang De finally showed a hint of emotion, and in a low voice said: "General, be careful!" Then he turned his horse around and retreated.

  "Chao'er, can...can you do it?" Ma Teng asked, after all, he knew the difference in strength between Han Chui and his own son.

  I turned my back on him, raised my long spear high, and then urged my war horse to approach Han Su.

  ——

  The New Year is approaching, shouldn't we have some encouragement?

  Those who have tickets shouldn't be too stingy.