Chapter Eighteen: Blood Battle (Five)

  As he approached the front, before he could even take in the situation across from him, a fierce gust of wind entered Zhao Shi's ears. As he lifted his head, a large, ferocious face smeared with blood, like an evil spirit reincarnated, appeared before his eyes. A pair of cruel eyes stared at him fiercely, while the corners of its mouth had already curled up into a sinister smile.

  He ducked, dodged, and the heavy, bloody wolf-tooth club grazed his scalp, passing by in an instant. The feeling of brushing past death itself sent Zhao Shi's entire spirit into a frenzy, leaving only thoughts of slaughter in his mind.

  Without turning back, he dodged the opponent's kick by rolling sideways, taking advantage of his short stature. By the time he stood up again, he was already at the opponent's side and rear. With a swift swing of his horizontal knife, one of the Western Xia soldiers who had been following closely behind Wild Li Qi suddenly found himself with an additional person in front of him. The soldier's neck was slashed by the horizontal knife, and the blood that sprayed out splattered onto Wild Li Qi's face as he turned around. Wild Li Qi's wolf-toothed club momentarily halted in mid-air, and he reflexively used his hand to wipe away the blood that blurred his vision. However, being a seasoned veteran of many battles, he only hesitated for a moment before swinging his club down without any further hesitation.

  Although the time was brief and could be ignored, it was enough for Zhao Shi. He took a step back, dodging a Western Xia soldier's long knife that was swung at his shoulder, and in the blink of an eye, he had already rushed into Ye Liqi's arms.

  He crouched down, turned his head, and swung the horizontal knife out at a small angle. Feeling the horizontal knife pause, Zhao Shi knew he had already injured his opponent. Without looking at the outcome of his own battle, his body quickly sprang up, but his current physical condition was no longer that of a warrior who had been tempered through a thousand battles. His movements were slower than before by not just one fraction.

  A thunderous roar exploded beside his ear, and before he could react, a pair of large hands had grasped the back of his neck. Although Wild Li Qi had managed to grab his opponent, he himself was far from unscathed. Zhao Shi's small stature belied the deadliness of his knife, which sliced through the air with a horizontal motion, catching Wild Li Qi's unprotected legs and sending blood gushing out. The pain only fueled Wild Li Qi's frenzy, filling him with an even deeper hatred for this slippery, eel-like creature who seemed almost inhuman in his ruthlessness.

  As his legs went limp, he knelt down, but still didn't forget to swing the wolf-toothed club more urgently, making those who wanted to surround and attack him dare not come closer. His left hand was waiting with great force, planning to twist the neck of this guy who had hurt him until it broke.

  "Hurry, save the general...!" At this time, there were only four or five personal guards beside Ye Liqi. Seeing him fall to the ground, they all rushed forward desperately trying to pull him back.

  At this time, Zhao Shi was having trouble breathing, the large hand on his neck was like a iron pliers, the cervical vertebrae in the gradually tightening hands made a cracking sound, as if it would break at any moment. The more critical the situation, the calmer Zhao Shi's heart became, without even half a point of hesitation, the horizontal knife in his hand stabbed out backwards, immediately followed by the opponent's pained cry, the large hand on his neck loosened, but his arm was in pain, amidst the chaos, a long gash had already been cut open by the sharp blade.

  This isn't over yet, just as Zhao Shi was about to get up, Ye Liqi broke free from the soldiers' grasp and swung his large wolf-tooth club down at his head. Today was also an unlucky day for him - not only had he been shot in the leg by Zhao Shi's arrow, but within the time it took to exchange blows with Zhao Shi, he had already taken two heavy hits on his body. To say that it was just a flesh wound, the previous blow had actually landed squarely on his ribs. In his desperation, Zhao Shi naturally concentrated all his strength, and this knife thrust was extremely deep. Ye Liqi, in his pain, naturally hated this Han boy to the bone, vowing to leave him here.

  As the stick came down, Zhao Shi was unable to dodge in time. However, it seemed he wasn't destined to die just yet. At that moment, someone squeezed through Wild Li's personal guards and leaped forward, embracing Wild Li's arm with a loud shout. Although this person couldn't withstand Wild Li's immense strength, they managed to deflect his aim slightly. As Wild Li exerted his force, the person's body tilted, but still altered Wild Li's trajectory. The wolf-tooth club whizzed through the air, grazing Zhao Shi's side before smashing into the ground, sending mud and water flying everywhere, a testament to the enormous strength Wild Li had used.

  Ye Lizi's body already had two arrow wounds, Zhao Shi's shot was nothing, but the previous one was pulled out to boost morale, and after a long time, the blood on his shoulder never stopped. The man pounced down, and his entire body slammed into Ye Lizi's leg, causing the wound on his leg to throb in pain instantly. Ye Lizi groaned, his head spinning, and in his haste, he punched the man's back with his left fist, causing the man to spit out blood. His personal soldiers were also shocked, but as the two men struggled together, they didn't dare act rashly.

  On the battlefield, Zhao Shi was undoubtedly a top-notch fighter. Having just narrowly escaped death, he turned around to see that it was indeed Zhao Gouzi who had grabbed onto the enemy. The normally gentle face was now twisted in a fierce scowl, with gritted teeth and a determined look. He had already rolled into a ball with his opponent, and Zhao Shi didn't hesitate for a moment. He parried an incoming blow from someone beside him, charged forward, and tightly grasped onto the exposed head of Ye Liqi. The horizontal blade in his hand also didn't idle, making a swift slash across the enemy's neck. Ye Liqi's body was pinned down by Zhao Gouzi, with one arm tightly held in place, and he stared wide-eyed at Zhao Shi as the blade flashed before his eyes. His mouth made gurgling sounds, but no voice came out. The surging blood dyed both Zhao Shi and Zhao Gouzi a deep red, while Ye Liqi's body convulsed, and his ferocious gaze gradually lost its luster. It was clear that he wouldn't survive. Ye Liqi was a notorious general of Western Xia, having fought in countless battles and earning great fame, yet he never thought he would die on this small hill so far from home.

  Zhao Shi's hands relaxed, but he didn't feel any emotions like excitement or pride. In his past life, he had killed countless people, and although this was his first time killing someone in this era, to him, on the battlefield, it was either you die or I live. No matter who he killed, it was all just a normal, intense fight. However, having encountered danger twice in just an instant, the consequence of being highly tense for so long was that his body felt a wave of numbness and weakness.

  It was said that it was slow, but in fact this series of actions were as fast as lightning, the guards around Yori didn't even have time to react, the main general of the army fell on the spot, and even if his personal guards could escape alive, they would still be beheaded as an example. Suddenly, a voice that was not quite human let out a wail: "The General is dead... The General is dead... Kill them, kill them..."

  Six personal bodyguards who followed Ye Lizi now had red eyes, and at this time they all released their opponents, regardless of their own safety, turned around and rushed towards Zhao Shi and Zhao Gouzi, with knives and guns drawn, ready to chop the two into minced meat.

  Zhao Gouzzi was already dazed from the blow, and when he was hit again on the back, he let out a long, mournful cry. Fortunately, Zhao Shi was by his side and instinctively grabbed the enemy's wrist, using a standard over-the-shoulder throw to slam the enemy onto Zhao Gouzzi's back. Zhao Gouzzi let out a muffled groan as he was knocked unconscious, but this also saved his life. The sword blows aimed at him were all deflected by the Western Xia soldier, who was beheaded and dismembered in an instant, becoming a bloody corpse.

  Zhao Shi dodged a few times, relying on his short stature to cover and block, before being dragged back by the rushing militiamen. The commander had already died, and two of Wei Qi's personal guards fought to the death to retrieve his body, while the rest were killed on the spot.