Chapter 9: Gongsun Zan's Overconfidence

  "Zi Long, is that Zhao Zi Long from Changshan?" Long Fei stared at the young man in surprise. His handsome face, coordinated figure, and tall stature made him a perfect man who had captivated countless girls and envied by millions of men, the invincible general. Long Fei couldn't help but take another two glances: "Are you Zhao Yun, Zhao Zi Long?"

  Zhao Yun was perplexed, having just defected to Gongsun Zan not long ago. Unexpectedly, in this remote grassland, someone actually recognized him. Zhao Yun also looked at Long Fei, his resolute eyes, coordinated figure, and chiseled face, especially his eyes. Those eyes had a kind of masculinity: "Who are you? Dare I ask, do we know each other?"

  Long Fei hastily nodded, just about to say "I've long wanted to meet you, you're my idol." But then he felt it wasn't suitable and hastily shook his head: "No no no, Zhao Yun's great name is like thunder in my ears, I've long wanted to get acquainted with him, unfortunately there hasn't been an opportunity."

  Gongsun Zan looked displeased, glancing at Long Fei and then at Zhao Yun, his eyes full of speculation. Zhao Yun had arrived suddenly a few days ago, and Gongsun Zan had taken a liking to him because of his handsome appearance, so he had kept him by his side... Could it be...? Thinking this far, Gongsun Zan deliberately cleared his throat: "Do you two know each other?"

  "No, I don't know!" Zhao Yun hastily said.

  Long Fei smiled and said to Zhao Yun: "It seems you're suspicious of us? Even if we knew each other, what could you do?"

  "Hmph! You're still causing trouble even when death is near, stop stirring up discord in front of me!" Gong Sun Zan scanned his subordinates with a glance and angrily shouted: "Why haven't you taken action yet?"

  Hei Da Ge let out a loud "hiss" and drew his own battle knife, all the Xianbei people around him also drew their knives. Hei Da Ge led the crowd to stand in front of Long Fei, staring at Gong Sun Zan: "I have always looked down on you Han people, except for one behind me. Gong Sun Zan, don't think that your white horse Yizhong is so powerful, our Xianbei warriors are not afraid of them! In front of us, these people in white clothes are just a bunch of corpses!"

  "Hahaha..." Gongsun Zan burst into loud laughter: "Such big words, aren't you afraid of getting tongue-tied! Today I'll let you see what it means to be a heroic and righteous knight! Kill all these Xianbei people and those few Xianbei spies!"

  "General, wait!" Zhao Yun reached out to grab the reins of Gongsun Zan's horse: "General, although they are Xianbei people, they are also our Great Han subjects, we can't kill them!"

  "Get out!" Gong Sun Zan roared at Zhao Yun: "Do you want to rebel?"

  "General, you can't! You mustn't kill them! They are all our Great Han's people. You were sent by His Majesty to protect the safety of the northern border, and you absolutely cannot do such a thing as slaughtering innocent people!"

  "Get out!" Gong Sun Zan angrily said: "What do you know? I took you in because I pitied you, don't think that just because you know a few sets of gun moves you're impressive. If you dare to block me again, I'll kill you along with him!"

  Long Fei chuckled and limped to the front of the crowd, looking at Gong Sun's face, shaking his head in bitter laughter: "Gong Sun, you are really stubborn and unrepentant. Forget it, I'm too lazy to talk to you. What Hei Da said earlier was right, these cavalrymen of yours are just a bunch of corpses in my eyes!"

  "Bastard!" Gong Sunyan burst into thunder, roaring: "Kill, kill them all for me, don't leave one, whoever blocks, chop them all into minced meat!"

  The cavalry moved. They all turned their horses' heads and started running backwards. Hei Da led his own people to mount their horses and ran in the opposite direction with Baima Yizhong. Zhao Yun was stunned on the spot, not knowing what to do for a while. Long Fei said: "Aren't they going to fight? Why did they all run away?"

  Wang Wei pulled Long Fei over and rushed to the side of the horse carriage, running while saying: "Cavalry battles rely on the momentum of war horses. Only by opening a distance can we launch an attack. War horses are more powerful when they run, hurry up and hide beside the carriage!"

  The white horse galloped out for about four or five hundred meters, then suddenly turned its head and charged towards this side. The tall and sturdy Xianbei warrior shouted loudly while waving the curved knife in his hand and also charged forward. Long Fei had never seen such a battle tactic before. During his time in the mechanized infantry division, all he saw were tanks and armored vehicles. It was only occasionally on the grasslands that he would see herdsmen herding horses, and even then, it was not often that he would witness a cavalry clash.

  The white horse troops did not shout, the team was neat, with Gongsun Zan as the vanguard, and the others lined up behind him like a swallow. With both hands relaxed on the reins, they took off their bows and arrows from their backs, loaded the arrowheads onto the bowstrings, and pulled hard to aim at the Xianbei people in front of them. The black big guys on the Xianbei side were completely lawless, some galloping wildly on horseback, others slow and scattered, with curved knives spinning continuously above their heads, making strange cries from their mouths.

  When they were about a hundred meters apart, Gongsun Zan gave an order and the white horse Yizhong's bow and arrow flew out of his hand. The bows and arrows, aided by the momentum of the war horses, flew towards the Xianbei people. Long Fei stretched his head from the side of the chariot to watch the confrontation between the two cavalry teams. An arrow quietly pierced the car beam half an inch from his head, and the feathers on the arrow tail kept trembling.

  "Damn it, dare to shoot me! If I had a gun in my hand, I'd wipe you all out with one shot!"

  Wang Wei grabbed Zhao Yun's long spear and handed it over to Long Fei: "Here!"

  Long Fei took a glance and almost vomited blood. He turned his head away, ignoring Wang Wei, even if he explained it to him, he wouldn't understand. After finishing the discussion about bows and arrows, more than ten Xianbei people fell off their horses. The distance of over 100 meters was instantly closed, and the two teams of cavalry clashed fiercely together. Gong Sun Zan's formation effect suddenly appeared. With a single point of his long spear, the entire team of cavalry became like a sharp and fierce treasured sword that pierced through the Xianbei people from the middle, tearing them in half and breaking through their ranks. Another seven or eight Xianbei people fell off their horses.

  Cavalry relies on speed, and a clash of this scale is an instant matter. Gongsun Zan succeeded in one move, passing through the Xianbei people's team, going forward without stopping, and rushing out again for hundreds of meters before turning his horse head back to face the Xianbei people who were charging over. Gongsun Zan's cavalry was very famous outside the pass, being the most powerful on the grasslands, and even when numbers were equal, no one dared to fight hard with Gongsun Zan.

  "These Xianbei people are mostly evil and rarely good!" Wang Qiang coldly snorted: "Deserved to die, there's not a single good thing about the Xianbei."

  Long Fei, Zhao Yun, Wang Wei and Hua Tuo all turned their heads to look at Wang Qian. Wang Wei said: "Sister, this group of Xianbei people is here to save us, why are you saying this..."

  "Did I say anything wrong?" Wang Ji gave a few people a white eye, and her already charming face became even more playful. She glared at them and said: "These Xianbei people kill without blinking, and have made life bitter for us Han people. Letting them know the power of Great Han is not bad either! I quite admire Gongsun Zan's methods!"

  Gongsun Zan took advantage of his formation and archers to kill the Xianbei people, who were routed and unable to form a battle line. The Xianbei people, who had been shouting and yelling just moments before, fell silent. The ground was littered with the bodies of the Xianbei people, while dozens of war horses stood quietly guarding their masters' bodies, still hoping that their masters would get up from the ground and mount them once again.

  The Xianbei people were left with less than ten men, each of them wounded. They and their war horses panted heavily, but the fierce fighting spirit still burned in their eyes. This time, Gongsun Zan did not run far away again. The leader of the Xianbei people immediately turned his horse around, and all the men formed a line with Gongsun Zan in front of the Xianbei people. Gongsun Zan sneered: "You are overestimating your abilities, I'll give you a chance to choose, will you kill yourselves or let me take care of you one by one?"

  Long Fei suddenly poked his head out from behind the carriage and shouted loudly: "Gongsun Zan, what kind of skill is it to bully the few with the many? If you have the ability, let's fight one on one!"

  Gongsun Zan glanced over and saw that the four heads behind the carriage only showed half of their faces, with all eight eyes staring at him. Gongsun Zan snorted: "Hmph, you few are still alive? Wait till I deal with them, then see how I'll clean up after you! Up, kill them!"

  This time the cavalry did not charge again, and the Xianbei people moved slowly in unison. The Xianbei people gradually gathered together, waiting for the final judgment. Long Fei limped out from behind the carriage, watching Gong Sun's movements, thinking quickly about how to respond to this side. This group of Xianbei people had gotten into this situation in order to save themselves, and now it was time for them to think of a way to save themselves too.

  "Hahaha......" burst into loud laughter, laughing so wildly and loudly that the sound of laughter spread far and wide, and everyone could hear it clearly.

  Gongsun Zan waved his hand, stopping his men and horses, looking at Long Fei's crazy laughter: "What are you laughing at?"

  Long Fei ignored him and continued to laugh loudly. Gong Sun Zan furrowed his brow and led his men forward. Long Fei saw the opportunity was ripe, and shouted: "Everyone says that Gong Sun Zan is a general on horseback, only knowing how to fight on horseback, if he gets off the horse, he's a worthless fool." Long Fei glanced at Gong Sun Zan with a slanted eye, and Gong Sun Zan's brow furrowed even tighter. Long Fei chuckled and continued: "A person without the courage to fight alone is not worthy of being called a man, alas! The Great Han Dynasty has no one! They actually sent a woman to guard the north of the Great Han, no wonder the eunuchs in the imperial palace were all enfeoffed as marquises. General Gong Sun, I think you're also close to being enfeoffed, haha..."

  "YOU!" Gong Sun Zan glared at Long Fei, his eyes bulging with rage. A man being insulted as a woman was the greatest humiliation for anyone. Gong Sun Zan stared at Long Fei for half a day, then suddenly smiled and said: "Haha! You little brat, don't try to provoke me, your tricks won't work on me. If I don't wipe you all out today, my name's not Gong Sun Zan!"

  "Little brother, I appreciate your kind intention!" Hei Da Ge smiled slightly at Long Fei: "I'm grateful to have met a real man like you before my death. Unfortunately, I still don't know what your name is or what you do. When I get to the Kunlun God's place, I'll pray for him to bless you with a long life of one hundred years."

  "Long Fei shouted loudly: 'My name is Long Fei, a soldier. If I don't die today, this friend of mine will be settled!'"

  The two burst out laughing at the same time, with a somewhat sympathetic feeling. Gong Sunyan was furious: "Attack!"

  Gongsun Zan's cavalry slowly formed a circle around the Xianbei, surrounding the remaining Xianbei. Taran yelled on horseback: "Come on! If you can't kill me today, Gongsun Zan, I will definitely take revenge!"