Chapter 16: Contact War (Part 2)

  A loud explosion, flames flashing, black smoke rising. That golden soldier's face was pitch-black, seven orifices bleeding, armor shattered, like a drunkard, stumbling and staggering two steps, then falling head-first, motionless. Another golden soldier closer to him was also affected by the blast wave, being knocked against the tree trunk behind him, collapsing limply.

  The remaining three Jin soldiers were greatly frightened, shouting loudly in a language that no one could understand, their backs against each other, arrows pointing wildly but unable to find any target.

  Just as the three Jin soldiers were in disarray, more than 20 steps away, a figure emerged from behind an apricot tree. With a flick of his arm, a swift and spinning cold blade flashed by. One of the Jin soldiers, an archer, let out a miserable cry as he clutched at the dagger lodged in his neck and fell to the ground. The arrow on the bowstring whizzed through the air, flying aimlessly into the depths of the forest.

  After three companions fell, the target was finally found. The remaining two Jin soldiers roared and rushed towards Di Lie's hiding place. One swung a knife back and forth, while the other continuously shot arrows to suppress him.

  When the sturdy and robust Jin soldier, wielding a thick and heavy curved knife, rushed to the back of the apricot tree, the raised curved knife lost its target for chopping. The Jin soldier was stunned, swearing to Ah Gu's spirit that the cunning and treacherous ambusher must not have left from behind the tree, otherwise he would not have escaped his eyes. But in front of him, there was no enemy at all, could it be...

  Wu Long instinctively looked up, and suddenly a figure fell from the sky, knocking him to the ground with tremendous force. The large curved knife in his hand flew out of his grasp, spinning more than six feet away.

  This Jin army cavalry commander was indeed an elite, even in such a disadvantageous situation, he still fought back desperately, grasping with his large hairy hands and counter-attacking the Di Lie who was riding on him.

  Against such close combat, Di Lie's experience and skills far surpassed those of the so-called brave warriors of this era. He firmly controlled the enemy's torso with his knee, then used his left hand to pinch a finger on the giant spirit palm grasping his own neck, and suddenly pressed down, cracking the finger. The Golden Soldier Wu Chang groaned silently, biting his teeth, but the severe pain from the broken finger had already made one of his hands lose its grip on Di Lie's throat.

  At this time, Di Lie wanted to break free from the enemy's other hand, which was already easy, but he obviously didn't plan to let his opponent off so easily. He first used his left hand to grasp the opponent's right wrist, and then his right hand passed through the opponent's forearm, entwining the opponent's right arm like a snake, suddenly exerting force and violently twisting it, forcibly breaking the opponent's right arm at the elbow.

  Jin Bingwu could no longer bear it, letting out a loud roar like a wounded beast, frantically twisting his body to try and break free. At the same time, he swung his massive palm, which was missing fingers, and fiercely grabbed Di Lie's face.

  Di Lie's face was expressionless as he parried the attack, while his fists flew towards his opponent's face, pounding away with speed and ferocity. Di Lie's strength at this moment was incredibly powerful, and in just three to five blows, the Golden Soldier Sergeant was already battered beyond recognition, his bones shattered, and on the verge of collapse.

  The whole process took a long time to say, but it only happened in the blink of an eye. The golden armored archer had just come back to his senses when the two men who were wrestling on the ground had already decided their victory or defeat. This last surviving person was both shocked and angry, and with a swift movement, he pointed his sharp arrow at Di Lie's shadow.

  At this time, Di Lie had already settled the golden armored squad leader and jumped up from the ground with a cold smile. The golden armored archer couldn't help but shiver, gritted his teeth, and forcibly drew open the bowstring - suddenly a figure burst out from the diagonal stab, bringing a fierce gust of wind to pounce over, the knife flashed, the bowstring snapped, and fingers flew off.

  Najin Bing reacted extremely quickly, swiftly discarding his bow and enduring the pain to use his uninjured left hand to reverse grip his sword. "Clang!" He parried the second incoming slash. However, due to the hasty block, his strength was insufficient, causing him to stumble backward in a roll.

  Yang Zhechong, relying on the advantage gained from the surprise attack, how could he let it be lost easily? With a burst of rapid and violent slashes, like a stormy rain, that golden armored soldier was killed to the point of being unable to breathe, repeatedly stabbed, his clothes and armor were all torn apart, and his unprotected arms were cut with bloodstains.

  With a loud clang, the two heavy curved knives finally could not withstand such intense impact, metal fatigue and became brittle, in another fierce collision, both broke. Whether it was Yang Zhong or Jin Bing, it was clear that neither of them had only one weapon. Both men simultaneously discarded their knives and drew out backup weapons - but there was a subtle difference here, Yang Zhong pulled out a short axe from his waist, while Jin Bing drew out a short knife from his boot tube.

  From the point of view of convenience and speed, taking a weapon from the waist is faster than bending down to pull out a knife from boots. Moreover, the Jin soldier's injured arm inevitably affected his movements. Just because of this slight delay, Yang Zhe's axe arrived first, splitting open the Jin soldier's forehead, while the latter's short knife was still three inches away from Yang Zhe's lower abdomen...

  The battle ended, Di Lie smiled at Yang Zhechong who was panting and sitting on the ground, saying: "Not bad, it seems that the scouts of Great Song are still better than those of Great Jin."

  Yang Zhechong smiled bitterly: "Don't mock me, leader. If I hadn't seized the initiative first, it's hard to say who would have died at whose hands."

  At this time, Ye Die'er, who was waiting outside the apricot forest, had not heard any killing sounds from inside the forest for a long time. With bated breath, she finally couldn't bear to quietly turn back and take a look. Seeing that the two were safe and sound, she was overjoyed at first, but when she saw the corpses piled up and the ground covered in blood, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and scream, her stomach churning with a wave of nausea, and hastily ran away.

  Di Lie and Yang Zhechong exchanged a smile, then turned to the Jin soldier who had been stunned by the thunderbolt and shouted: "There's still one alive, go interrogate him." Then he walked away, collecting the five good horses left behind by the Jin soldiers, as well as various gold and silver treasures that came with the horses.

  Just as they were enjoying the "sweeping", Ye Die'er led three horses over, looking lively. She was still wearing that yellow blouse with a white apron on top. The hem of the apron was the same length as the skirt, and there were straps hanging down from both armpits and the back, tied around her waist with a silk sash, making her waist look even more slender and curvy. Only now, the hems of both the apron and the blouse were soaked in mud, which somewhat spoiled the view.

  Di Lie smiled and pointed to a nearby pit of stagnant water: "The water there is still relatively clean, come on, go wash up."

  The water is very cool. As long as you don't make big movements and stir up the mud at the bottom, it won't become cloudy. It's perfect for washing your feet.

  Ye Die'er was rubbing a handful of green grass, gently washing her skirt. When she lifted the hem, her crystal white and tender feet were faintly visible. She caught sight of Di Lie, who was nonchalantly soaking his toes nearby, occasionally glancing at her with great interest. Ye Die'er couldn't help but feel flustered and anxious, her ears burning red-hot.

  Just as Ye Die'er was both shy and delighted, unsure of what to do, she heard Di Lie's voice: "I've always had a question I couldn't figure out, why did that guy called Gong Xin, among thousands of women, choose you to give to that dead ghost Sa Ci?"

  Ye Die's face turned pale for a moment, then flushed red again. She bit her lips lightly and trembled as she spoke: "After the Golden Tiger broke through Bianjing, they immediately demanded that the imperial court send them tribute women. The imperial court sent officials to search extensively, gathering all the courtesans, official concubines, virtuous women, and even former palace maids from the city, totaling over 5,000 women, who were then sent into the Golden Tiger's camp... After selecting and rejecting some, they returned over 2,000 weak and ugly women, keeping only 3,000 young and beautiful women. From among them, they chose over a hundred women with exceptional beauty to be imprisoned separately, saying that they would be presented as gifts to the Golden Khan and the high-ranking officials of the country... And I was one of those women..."

  I understand now that Ye Die'er was one of the spoils of war for the Jin people after their victory in the southern invasion, just like the countless treasures and slaves they plundered. They had to set aside a portion of the spoils to give to the court officials who stayed behind in the capital and did not participate in the military campaign, as well as to their ruler... Even if they themselves got to eat meat, they couldn't let the court officials just drink broth, and as for the ruler, they had to offer him the best things.

  Obviously, Ye Die was one of the "best things", so she could keep her chastity under Jin Ren Yin's wolf-like power. Unfortunately, she was only "one" and not "the only one". There were still over a hundred such "gifts" in Gong Xin's hands. As a result, under Sa Ci's repeated requests, Gong Xin had to turn a blind eye, slightly leaking through his fingers, removing Ye Die from the "gift list" and handing her over to the unsatisfied Sa Ci. If Di Lie hadn't appeared at the right time, what awaited her would have been a tragic fate of being ravished.

  Di Lie nodded understandingly: "No wonder you're so anxious, it turns out you're worried that your sister will have the same experience..."

  The butterfly's gaze was cast towards the darkening sky, her eyes filled with worry and desperation. In her heart, she was screaming: "Sister, you must hold on! You must wait for me to come and save you!"