Chapter Twenty: Cutting Melons and Chopping Vegetables

  This row of Chen's army had about 2,000 people, all infantrymen in uniform, slowly walking along the official road with hundreds of carts full of supplies.

  The scorching sun beat down on them, the heat was unbearable, and most of Chen's soldiers had already loosened their armor, constantly fanning themselves with their sleeves to catch a slight coolness. Their faces were filled with helplessness and unwillingness, and some soldiers' complaints could be heard from afar.

  The leading general was about forty years old, with a steady face and a serious expression. However, the weather was really unbearable that day, his eyebrows were tightly furrowed, constantly wiping the sweat on his forehead, and occasionally raising his head to squint at the sun burning alone in the sky.

  "General, it's already noon. Don't you think we should take a break and rest for a while before continuing on our journey?" A deputy general rode up from the rear of the troops, cupping his hands in respect.

  The general's brow furrowed even tighter, and he said with some concern: "This place has many hills, what if the enemy is hiding in ambush? How can we resist? Order everyone to be vigilant, just in case."

  He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, looked around and said suspiciously: "General, aren't you overthinking? This is a desolate place in the wilderness, and there's also the imperial envoy ahead. How could the enemy possibly sneak in without being detected? Besides, we've taken this road dozens of times before, and nothing has ever gone wrong!"

  "Be careful, a ship that sails for ten thousand years can't be careless. Today I have a bad premonition." The leading general frowned, speaking seriously as he continuously scanned the surrounding terrain.

  "In that case, let's send someone to scout out the surroundings." Biang Jiang nodded and said: "Someone come, search around the surroundings carefully."

  A dozen soldiers received orders and trudged with heavy footsteps to disperse and search around.

  "General." Seeing that there were two Chen * soldiers coming towards him, only about 100 meters away, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

  He looked at him with a pleased expression, shook his head slightly, indicating that he should not act rashly and calm down to observe the changes.

  The two Chen * soldiers, one older and one younger, stopped about ten meters in front of the earth slope and their conversation was clearly transmitted to Gao Xing and others.

  "You say General Zhang is really something, every time he's so cautious, afraid of this and that, without any courage. On such a hot day, even ferocious beasts don't want to come out and suffer, let alone those greedy and pleasure-seeking barbarian soldiers from Qi." The young man complained.

  "It's him, riding a horse, no big deal, but poor us, we're just low-ranking soldiers, relying on our two legs to travel thousands of miles, my feet are probably covered in blisters! Damn it!" The older man was also full of complaints.

  "Who says it's not? Wang Lin is indeed stubborn, and it's been three months now. This battle doesn't know when it will end, how much more suffering do we still have to endure!" The young man sighed emotionally.

  "Hey, I guess it's almost time. Ah, on a hot day like this, I'm actually thinking... damn it!" The old man cursed, and then the crowd heard a rustling sound followed by the gurgling of running water.

  "Alright, let's go back and report!" The elder said with a sigh of relief.

  "Brother Wang, isn't this bad? We haven't even carefully examined it yet, will the general blame us?" The young man hesitated to say.

  "It's all right." The elder waved his hand and turned back.

  "But shouldn't this mound be able to hide people?"

  The elder stopped in his tracks and chuckled: "Cao Xiazi, you're still inexperienced and haven't been a soldier for long!"

  The old man paused, walked forward, and pointed to the slope to explain: "You see, this slope is not high or large, and it's close to the official road. If there's an ambush, it would be easy to discover. Even if there's an ambush, with a size like this, at most it can hide a thousand people. We have two thousand against one thousand, what's there to worry about? Besides, look around this slope, there are no dense footprints or new soil, so nobody has been here before. Let's go back quickly!"

  The young man suddenly said: "Is that so? Or is it Brother Wang who is amazing, and unintentionally found out so many things."

  The elder chuckled and said with some pride: "I'm also considered the big brother of the team, follow me closely and you'll learn a lot."

  "That's it, that's it." The young man echoed repeatedly, and the two had already walked far away, their voices gradually becoming inaudible.

  Zhang Shun turned his head and glanced at Shang Buqi, who was also looking at him. The two men were at a loss for words, unsure of how to express their feelings. Excitement was a must, as the fact that they had not been exposed meant that the possibility of success in this operation would be great. Speechless, he couldn't help but laugh at Wang Ge's foolish and self-righteous stupidity.

  "Ready." A low, muffled, and brief voice sounded in everyone's ears.

  Everyone's face turned solemn, including Zhang Shun, who quickly mounted the horse beside him, tightly grasping the reins and staring intently at the empty space that had suddenly appeared on the side.

  The scouts sent to gather information about the enemy returned quickly, reporting that all was safe. The general let out a sigh of relief and turned to his deputy, asking: "What do you think?"

  The general at the front still frowned, looking back at the soldiers behind him with a hesitant face. When he saw that everyone was drenched in sweat, their faces were tired, and many people's lips were already cracked, everyone looked at him with longing eyes, and he couldn't help but doubt whether his decision was really wrong.

  He looked around again and the leading general sighed, "Rest for an hour before continuing on the road, but there must be soldiers on duty to keep watch and guard against enemy surprise attacks."

  The soldiers all heard this and were overjoyed, cheering and shouting that the general was wise. The general saw that the soldiers were so happy, his worries in his heart also decreased a lot. With the support of his personal soldiers, he got off his horse, took the water bag handed to him by the soldier, sat on the ground and started drinking water.

  The general drank the water, feeling a sense of relief wash over him. Just as he was about to return the water bottle, he suddenly felt the ground tremble slightly. His face changed color, and following the sound, he saw a black torrent rushing towards him at high speed.

  "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" The general suddenly jumped up from the ground, exclaiming in a loud voice. He quickly mounted his horse and loudly shouted to reorganize the troops.

  The soldiers were enjoying the cool water when they suddenly heard their officer's shout, and they were momentarily stunned. By the time they reacted, wanting to put on the armor they had taken off and look for their weapons, the black torrent was already rushing up close.

  That black torrent, the first person wore a crimson cloak, the horse galloped swiftly, blowing his cloak high, his face covered with a bronze mask, ferocious and terrifying. In his hand he grasped a black lacquered long spear, the tip of which shone with a cold light in the sunlight, a strong killing intent emanating from afar.

  This man was indeed delighted, a folk legend says that Langling Wang Gao Changgong, due to his handsome and delicate appearance, lacked the power of intimidation, so on the battlefield he always wore a green-faced, fang-toothed mask. The appearance of Gao Xing surpassed that of his father, having more than enough, at the same time he did not want to reveal his identity prematurely, therefore he used a mask to hide his face.

  Behind the joyful figure, nearly a thousand black-clad cavalrymen followed closely, forming a sharp arrowhead formation with strong breakthrough power. Each of the cavalrymen held the reins in one hand and a powerful crossbow in the other, with arrows on the bowstring gleaming with a cold light. Their faces were solemn, with sparks of excitement jumping in their eyes.

  "Fire!" Sixty meters away from Chen Jun, a cold and short voice with a bronze mask on his head rang out.

  Then a dense sound of machinery rose, "hissing" like fine rain, the crossbow arrows cut through the air, like beautiful cold stars, and rushed towards the Chen Jun army.

  "Ah——" The crowd of Chen* soldiers suddenly let out a terrified cry, and everyone's first reaction was to dodge. However, the 60-meter distance, combined with the inertia brought by the galloping horses, gave the crossbow arrows their maximum speed and killing power. Where could they possibly dodge?

  Wails and mournful cries rose and fell in waves, merging into one another. After a round of crossbow arrows, five hundred of Chen's soldiers fell to the ground. The improved crossbows had a range of eighty meters, with an even faster shooting speed and greater power. The sharp and lethal crossbow arrows pierced through the bodies of Chen's soldiers, bringing out splashes of blood that spilled onto the earth, dyeing it red in an instant under the scorching sunlight, a sight so dazzling to behold.

  "Don't panic! Use the heavy vehicles as cover and assemble quickly to me!" Chen's general shouted loudly, reorganizing and concentrating his troops.

  But without wearing armor, with no weapons in hand, the formation was scattered and chaotic, Chen's army fled in terror under the dense hail of crossbow arrows, like a naked girl, completely powerless to resist, at the mercy of others.

  "One round of crossbow arrows finished shooting." The excited crowd had already rushed to the front 40 meters of Chen's army, and Gaoxing once again gave the order to shoot.

  All the cavalry quickly hung their crossbows back on their saddles, and took another crossbow in hand. When they rushed to the front of Chen's army thirty meters away, the second round of arrow rain was over, and three hundred people lost their qualification for breathing forever.

  "Kill!" A loud shout of excitement, like a thunderclap on the ground, the long spear in his hand shook, drew a spear flower, and rushed straight towards the leader of Chen's army.

  "Kill!" The cavalry also shouted loudly, and after a burst of "clang" sounds, they all drew out a shining steel knife from their waists. The blade was about one meter long, with the tip slightly wider, forming a beautiful arc.

  "Hey!" With a joyful whoop, the sharp spearhead darted out like a snake spitting venom, a cold star flashed by, and a miserable cry sounded. The Chen* soldier in front of him suddenly fell to the ground, his weapon still held high, his eyes filled with incredulity and intense resentment.

  After more than three months of cultivation, Kaixing's "Longevity Technique" had broken through to the third layer. Every day, he trained with a group of soldiers, and his body became much stronger, his physical strength also made great progress. In his previous life, he was someone who rolled around in piles of dead bodies, a laughing Buddha devil hand that made people tremble with fear at the mere mention of his name. His rich combat experience was not something these timid and incompetent soldiers could compare to. Wherever Kaixing went, Chen's soldiers all fell down, none of them were a match for him, and for a time, he was unbeatable, his prestige and power unmatched.

  The Qi army officers and men, under the leadership of Gao Xing, were in high spirits, shouting loudly, like fierce tigers descending from a mountain, carrying an unstoppable momentum, directly charging into Chen's military camp. The panicked Chen army had already lost their courage, unable to form an effective defense, like a thin layer of paper being torn apart by Gao Xing.

  No matter how the Chen* military commander shouted, the Chen* soldiers only knew to flee in a panic, dispersing the entire formation, trampling and squeezing each other, making the speed of the charge even faster. Every time a flash of light passed by, it would bring up a bright red blood color, desolate yet beautiful.

  "Bandits, surrender!" Hearing the desperate and terrified cries of his soldiers beside him, watching as the Qi army slaughtered his troops like cutting vegetables, General Chen's heart was in extreme pain, his eyes were bloodshot, and flames of anger and hatred burned within them. He let out a loud roar, drew his long sword from his waist, and charged straight at Gao Xing on horseback.