Chapter 26: Fury Sets the Prairie Ablaze (Part 1)

  They cleared all the guards at the south gate of the camp, and with Zuo Kai leading the way, the four of them entered as if no one was there. They quickly arrived at the entrance to the wine cellar.

  The earth cellar was temporarily dug, with new soil piled up from underground around it, forming a mound as high as one person. On top of the mound, there were two soldiers wearing felt cloaks and holding guns, leaning against their heads, drowsy and sleepy.

  At the sound of footsteps, two soldiers stood up: "Who goes there? Password!"

  "Damn it! You big-headed ghost!" Zuo Kai's dagger flashed out of the darkness, "Wang Liu, He Xi, you two bastards, can't even recognize my accent?"

  Two soldiers, upon seeing their superior officer, immediately opened the wine and put down their swords, smiling and saying: "Zuotou, this drink of yours has lasted quite a while..."

  "How come it's just the two of you? What about Tao Chang and Zhang Cheng?"

  "Wang Liu replied: 'The two of them are accompanying Talen Pao and the two bodyguards, selecting wine in the cellar?'"

  Zuo opened his eyes wide with surprise: "Ta, Talan has come?"

  "Yes, just arrived. But don't worry, we'll tell them you're out paying respects, and Pu Zhuan won't bother you." Wang Liu felt a sense of unease in his heart - was this Left Head drunk? He actually dared to directly address Pu Zhuan by name, without fear of getting shot.

  Wang Liu and He Xi were suddenly depressed, when they suddenly fainted. On the mound, Di Lie, Yang Zhechong and Ye Die'er appeared.

  "Bad news, Talen has gone mad, coming out to drink in the middle of the night, should we wait a bit longer..."

  "Why wait?" Yang Zhe rushed down the hill and shouted, "Talen is coming, isn't it just in time? This is called jumping into the net."

  On the left, a bitter taste in his mouth: "Taren is as strong as a bear, one of the few brave warriors in the Golden Army. Fang Dabei fought with him and was knocked down in two rounds, and his hands were cramped for several days. This Taren used to be a strategist, but he repeatedly broke military rules and was demoted to...".

  Yang Zhechong sneered coldly, "Even if he's a human bear, or even a real bear, I'll still rip out his intestines." Yang Zhechong had been bursting with confidence since taking down several elite Golden Army scouts. Now, he exuded an aura of being able to take on ghosts and gods alike.

  Di Lie also pulled Ye Die'er to jump down the earth slope, came to the wine cellar door, looked into the dark cave, then turned left and nodded his head, indicating that he would lead the way.

  Zuo Kai's face was bitter, and he carefully descended the stairs, his heart racing wildly as he desperately racked his brain. He thought about how to use language to make Talen relax his guard when they met later, creating an opportunity for Di Lie and others to strike a fatal blow.

  Because they knew there were strong enemies inside, in order to avoid exposure, they did not light torches. The cellar was very dark, and because it was wet and slippery after the rain, if one wasn't careful, it would be easy to fall. Fortunately, there were four of them, familiar with the road, and even walking with their eyes closed wouldn't be a problem. Di Lie and Yang Zhe's horse steps were solid, advancing cautiously, and quite steady. And Ye Die'er simply hung her light body entirely on Di Lie's body, almost not touching the ground as she walked down, of course without incident.

  Dilmer counted down eleven steps, his feet firmly on the ground, and turned left. In front of him, two torches cast a warm glow, illuminating five shadowy figures. At the same time, he caught a whiff of strong incense.

  Di Lie and the others tread very lightly, but in the empty wine cellar, even a slight sound would cause a big echo. The five people in the wine cellar were startled at once, and they all turned their heads to look back.

  He hastily stepped forward, bowing his head and quickening his pace, greeting the crowd: "It's me, it's me... Lord Taren..."

  Before Zuo could think of a way to phrase it, two figures suddenly appeared on either side of him, one holding a crossbow and the other drawing a bow. Two sharp whizzing sounds pierced the air as two Jin soldiers wearing fur hats with earrings fell to the ground screaming.

  After a successful strike, Di Lie and Yang Zhechong threw away the bows and crossbows in their hands, one to the left and one to the right, rushing towards the sturdy and majestic golden armored warrior in the center.

  Yang Chuo ran forward and drew out his waist knife. Taking advantage of the fierce momentum, he fiercely chopped at the golden soldier.

  Although caught off guard by the sudden attack, Jin Bing remained calm and composed. He drew a large iron flail from his waist, sat back in his saddle, grasped it with both hands, and swung it with great force.

  Clang! A piercing sound of metal clashing, sparks flying everywhere.

  Yang Zhechong's curved knife flew out of his hand and was nailed to the earthen wall, with the uneven notches on the blade clearly visible. The Jin soldier flipped his wrist, and the iron shield rolled back, carrying a strong gust of wind, smashing towards Yang Zhechong.

  In a hurry, Yang Zhechong had no choice but to raise his right forearm, with the cavalry shield (a circular shield, known as a "shield" in the Song Dynasty) on his arm, and barely blocked one blow. With a dull thud, the wooden leather shield was shattered into pieces, and Yang Zhechong fell onto the stacks of wine jars beside him. For a moment, there were crashing sounds everywhere, and it was unknown how many wine jars were smashed, filling the wine cellar with the fragrance of wine.

  The two men exchanged blows quickly, and in the blink of an eye, Yang Zhechong was knocked flying. Yang Zhechong's movement also created an opportunity for Di Lie.

  Di Lie had only a dagger in his hand, of course, he couldn't compete with Tie Gun's heavy armor. He also borrowed the momentum, dodged and slid, a fatal scissors kick, grabbed the thick ankle of the golden soldier, and with all his might, he actually lifted the nearly 200-pound massive body and smashed it into the jars.

  Zuo Kai's mouth was wide open and he couldn't close it, catching sight of the two soldiers holding torches, he panicked and reached for his waist knife. Zuo Kai shouted in time: "Tao Chang, Zhang Cheng, no one move! Stand aside!"

  Two soldiers hesitated and looked at each other, still instinctively obeying the superior's order, and reluctantly let go of their hands.

  At this time, Yang Zhechong and the golden soldier struggled out of the broken pottery wine jar at the same place, staggering and walking out. Both were drenched in wine, their clothes torn, and their bodies scratched by sharp pottery shards, which stung fiercely after being soaked in alcohol.

  Two people stared at each other like bulls on the arena, but Yang Zhe's gaze was fixed on the golden armor, while his opponent's gaze fell on Di Lie. The feeling of being ignored by his opponent made Yang Zhe's heart more scorching than his body. He clenched his left fist tightly, but his right hand kept trembling and couldn't clench into a fist, as if his entire right arm had gone numb.

  "Talen is it? Indeed has a bit of the warrior's appearance." Di Lie Chong nodded his head in respect to the golden armor, then waved his hand at Yang Zhe Chong, indicating for him to retreat.

  Yang Zhechong was reluctant, but had to admit that he had lost the strength to fight again. He could only retreat to one side, pull out a spare short knife, and intimidate the two Xie army soldiers with a fierce gaze. Although Yang Zhechong was knocked down by Taren in just one move, his ferocious and daring momentum put great pressure on the two Xie army soldiers, making them even more afraid to make any rash moves.

  Dilute's hand, wielding the dagger, made various enticing movements, appearing and disappearing, advancing and retreating, like a snake's forked tongue. At the same time, his footsteps moved, step by step, closing in on Taren.

  Talen was panting heavily, with a gash on his left eyebrow, fresh blood mixed with sweat trickling down, some of it seeping into his left eye. Talen raised his hand and wiped his eyes forcefully, his gaze slanted - within arm's reach, the fallen iron ladle was inserted at an angle into a jar that looked intact on the surface but was completely shattered at the bottom.

  Talen rushed towards Dirui with a fierce grin, decisively stretching out his hand to grab the hilt of the iron trowel - at this moment, a cold light flashed by.

  Talen clutched his arm and let out a pained roar as the dagger pierced through his right forearm.

  Di Lie rushed forward like a strong wind, grabbed the hilt of the dagger and with a forceful twist, cut off Talen's left forearm tendon. Talen roared like thunder, his uninjured right arm swinging towards Di Lie's face, but was blocked by Di Lie's left hand. Talen then spread his five fingers wide, grasped Di Lie's neck and exerted a fierce grip.

  Talun had a record of strangling a wild wolf to death with one hand many years ago. During this invasion of the Southern Song, he also strangled several women who tried to resist him into unconsciousness with just one hand. Sometimes, he couldn't control his strength and ended up killing them directly.

  But this time, Taren obviously found the wrong target, and his palm felt like it was grasping a piece of extremely tough cowhide, no matter how hard he tried to squeeze. Just as he was about to make another effort, he saw his opponent holding a bloody dagger, and with a fierce storm-like flurry of stabs, his body suddenly burst open with countless wounds, blood shooting out like arrows, and his strength rapidly dissipating... When the last bit of strength disappeared, his right hand, still in a strangling pose, finally fell limply...

  Di Lie jumped up from Talun's corpse, tearing off the golden armor stained with a large amount of blood and throwing it away. His eyes seemed to be dyed red with blood as he fiercely turned his head towards the stunned crowd, exuding killing intent: "Bring all the wine jars to the outer camp for me! If you can't move them, smash them all and burn them!"

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  Regarding the question of whether Song Dynasty wine can be ignited: The alcohol content of Song Dynasty wine was indeed not high, but at that time, the wine was mixed with wine lees, so it was also called "jiāo zào". When drinking, you need to "filter", that is, filter. The wine lees contain many aromatic organic compounds and sugars, which may be the reason why they can be ignited. Of course, this is just a personal analysis, and those who are interested can try it out for themselves - if anyone does so, don't forget to tell me the results of the experiment.