Magical Water Margin: They all call me brother

Page 68

Lu Junyi frowned slightly, realizing that Lin Chong was still charging forward amidst his wind and fire! It was as if the combined attack of wind and fire could not cause her any harm—no! The heat wave distorted the air, distorted the vision, and at the same time distorted Lin Chong's appearance—the Lin Chong in front of him was a mirage, not the real Lin Chong!

Lu Junyi immediately realized Lin Chong's ability to change light and shadow, and immediately returned to defend.

Lin Chong, with his tiger-like four claws, stepped out with the Big Dipper Step, leaping three zhang into the air and pouncing down! His eighteen-zhang spear trembled violently, drawing one hundred and eight bloodthirsty afterimages in the air.

Lu Junyi drew a circle with his steel spear to form a shield, and the True Dragon Essence Fire wrapped around the spear shaft suddenly burst forth, forming a perfectly round Brahma Mirror Shield in front of him. However, it still could not block Lin Chong's image. Like a ghost, she directly rushed into Lu Junyi's spear flower!

Lu Junyi frowned slightly. He had indeed hit Lin Chong, but he didn't feel any real impact on his hand. Was this also a mirage?

Suddenly, Lu Junyi heard a whooshing sound from his left. Lin Chong was clearly in front of him, but the eighteen-foot spear came slashing diagonally from the left, striking Lu Junyi's left arm hard. Metal clashed, flames exploded, and the eighteen-foot spear instantly shattered into a shower of shards! Lin Chong had clearly hit Lu Junyi, but he couldn't break through the double defense of the gilded armor and the Qilin fire scales!

That defense is incredible!!!

Lin Chong's attack failed to break through her defenses, and she was even struck by the fire scales of the Flaming Jade Qilin, causing blood to spurt from her tiger's mouth. Despite the damage, she still managed to unleash her next move. Suddenly, her spear twisted out like a serpent dismembering its bones, striking out with a seven-inch venomous fang from an impossible spot, aiming straight for Lu Junyi's fatal left rib!

The moment Lu Junyi was attacked on his left shoulder, he immediately understood the opponent's move. It seemed to be an illusion that deceived the eyes. He immediately closed his eyes and stopped relying on his vision to locate Lin Chong. Instead, he listened to the deathly scream of the spear attack and used his sense of touch to feel the storm of Slaanesh that Lin Chong brought up as he ran.

In an instant, Lu Junyi, amidst the darkness and nothingness, used the sound of the wind to vividly outline the terrifying silhouette of Lin Chong, the demon prince. With a cold laugh, she flicked her wrist and used the same "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" technique on her steel spear. The spearhead struck first, hitting the seven-inch mark of the spear, forcefully deflecting Lin Chong's attack!

The two opposing energies clashed, tearing up the ground within a radius of several meters! Lin Chong used the force to spin and deflect the recoil. As his black hair brushed against the blazing steel spear, dozens of broken strands instantly carbonized in the intense heat. After Lu Junyi used the butt of his spear to repel Lin Chong, he pressed the spear shaft into a full crescent shape with his right wrist. The spearhead rose from below in a dangerous phoenix-head-raising motion, its sharp light, wrapped in terrifying flames, soaring into the sky! The Yellow Wind Qilin also unleashed its Western Region Storm once more. The blazing spear light, amplified by the gale, forcefully pushed Lin Chong and his spear back twenty paces!

Lin Chong refused to believe it and charged several more times, only to find that Lu Junyi was indeed difficult to defeat, for no other reason than that his defense was impenetrable.

Yue Fei's strength lay in his unparalleled speed and damage, as well as his unique advantage in flight and dive attacks. When fighting Yue Fei, Lin Chong was not afraid at all, because Lin Chong's speed was even greater than Yue Fei's, except that he could not fly.

However, Lu Junyi's strength was completely different. Her strength lay in her impeccable parrying and defense. After understanding Lin Chong's abilities, Lu Junyi actually used a long weapon in a short one, treating a four-meter-long steel spear as a staff. She used her Flying Dragon Staff Technique to a masterful degree. No matter how Lin Chong attacked, she could parry and deflect. Even if she launched a sneak attack, it was extremely difficult for her to penetrate the double defense of the gilded battle armor and the flame jade dragon scales. She would even be shaken so badly that her tiger's mouth would bleed and flames would flare up, as she was injured by the damned dragon scales!

Even if Lu Junyi is injured, the opponent's Dragon Blood ability and chivalrous ability can heal all injuries almost instantly.

For a moment, Lin Chong felt a sense of despair. Charging was ineffective, multiplying his attacks was ineffective, his shadow techniques had been read, and their fighting styles were evenly matched for the time being. This guy's defense was ridiculously high, and he also had self-healing abilities... I simply can't break through Lu Junyi's block and defense! What can I do to kill an immortal monster?

Although Lin Chong was fast enough and his parrying skills were high enough, it was difficult for Lu Junyi to cause him any harm. In addition, Lu Junyi was a homebody and a martial arts fanatic. She was suddenly dragged out by Liang Zhongshu to escort the birthday tribute, so she had a lot of resentment in her heart and was not willing to put in real effort. She did not use the Heavenly Gang Slash and just fought Lin Chong with pure martial arts. For a while, she was stuck with Lin Chong.

The two fought for another twenty or thirty rounds. Seeing that there was no hope of breaking through, Lin Chong realized that continuing the fight was pointless and even risked being surrounded by other Song troops, so he turned and left. Lu Junyi did not pursue him, allowing Lin Chong to retreat calmly.

Chapter 158: The Dragon Soaring into the Clouds Returns to Wind and Fire

At this moment, the battle situation became somewhat awkward. Wen Da and Li Cheng knew that there were bandits nearby, very strong bandits, but for the time being, they really couldn't advance or retreat, and were stuck here in an awkward situation.

Let's go further, what if we fall into the encirclement of these Liangshan bandits?

Let's take a step back; behind us lies the overflowing Yellow River, which can't be receded even a little.

Staying here? That's utter nonsense! Not to mention the time limit for escorting the birthday gifts, what if we keep staying in the same place and more and more bandits come?! At first, it was just a blue-faced thief, then Suo Chao came, and finally, a half-human, half-leopard who could fight Lu Junyi to a standstill for a short time came.

With no other option, Wen Da reorganized his troops and changed the order, sending Lu Junyi as the vanguard and Li Cheng to the rear. He also temporarily changed the route—first going to the Yuncheng County government office to meet up with Zhu Tong's cavalry!

At this moment, their route was predicted by Wu Yong, which was not difficult at all, because there were not many roads in Yuncheng, a small county town, and it was easy to predict Wen Da and Li Cheng's choice!

Therefore, after the two generals had traveled several miles forward, they gasped in shock—the terrain here was simply outrageous. The vast expanse of muddy ground rapidly narrowed into a long, narrow land bridge, a full two or three miles long. The widest part of the land was no more than a hundred meters, and the narrowest part could only allow ten riders to pass side by side.

To the east of this land bridge lies the vast Liangshan Marshland, where dense reeds block out the sky.

To the west of this land bridge lies a small pond formed by the flooding of low-lying areas after the Ji River breached its banks following the recent days of heavy rains.

The land, which stretches for two or three miles, is no more than a hundred meters wide at its widest point, and at its narrowest point, it can only allow ten riders to pass side by side!

Helpless, Wen Da could only grit his teeth and order the entire army to speed up their crossing. Hundreds of warhorses struggled through the mud, and halfway there, suddenly a large number of figures appeared in the distance: Liu Hong, the Great Sage of Chaos, flapped his gilded wings and led a hundred heavily armored infantrymen and two hundred musketeers from the Liangshan Camp, charging towards them in a mighty force! They blocked the exit of the land bridge! The Song soldiers gasped in shock.

Did the bandits who robbed the birthday gifts finally appear?!

"Master Lu! Lead the vanguard! Take your cavalry and charge! Crush them!!!"

Wen Da immediately became nervous and ordered Lu Junyi to lead the first hundred cavalrymen to charge into the enemy lines. However, the muddy terrain slowed down the cavalry, allowing Liu Hong to lead three hundred soldiers to successfully reach the designated position and issue the order to open fire!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"

The instant the mud overflowed the bridles of the heavily armored warhorses, the fuses of a hundred fire lances simultaneously burst forth with crimson lights like a swarm of fireflies in the night! The first column of Liangshan spearmen knelt on one knee, their iron bullets piercing the twilight, congealing into a swarm of death in the eyes of the cavalry—those gleaming armors, forged at great expense, crumbled like fragile pottery in the smoke of gunpowder.

Thick breastplates burst open with spiderweb-like cracks, and blood mist erupted from the chests of warhorses, intertwining with mud in the air to form a reddish-brown web. In an instant, scrap iron and rotten flesh flew together, and blood blended with the evening glow!

"Fire!!!"

As the second rank of gunners charged forward amidst the billowing smoke, the surviving cavalrymen were already terrified. They were awestruck by the power of the fire lances, which could even pierce through iron armor, and their warhorses were also stunned by the thunderous roar of the firearms, causing chaos in an instant! Screams, neighs, and the clatter of hooves echoed across the battlefield, but Lu Junyi alone charged forward on his yellow Qilin. The most primitive fire lances were unable to penetrate the Qilin's fiery scales.

"Fire!!!"

The third rank of gunners advanced through the gaps in the smoke, past the heavily armored cavalrymen in the mud eighty meters away. They had become convulsing iron coffins. The moment each iron bullet pierced the horse's belly, the fodder and entrails wrapped in its intestines sprayed out in a radial pattern. Clinging to the reeds were not only hairy scalps, blood-stained pieces of flesh, but also countless unidentified fragments of internal organs.

As the swamp began to swallow the heavy armor, the musketeers completed three volleys. The smoke rose and fell in the evening breeze, revealing a scene of hell: Lu Junyi's fifty or so cavalrymen were riddled with bullets, their flesh and blood flying everywhere. Their still-breathing horses were digging at their ruptured bellies with their forelegs. One cavalryman's lower body was still stuck in his gilded stirrup, while his upper body, torn apart by the iron bullets, was carried more than three zhang away, his entrails leaving dark red trails in the mud!

At this moment, the remaining forty-odd cavalrymen finally charged within eighty meters. At this distance, the surviving light cavalry were finally able to unleash a rain of arrows, which clattered the armor of one hundred heavy infantrymen and left two hundred light infantrymen covered in blood and gore, putting considerable pressure on the Liangshan army.

Lu Junyi himself rode the Jade Qilin, shaking the earth as he charged forward. His steel spear once more unleashed a wave of fiery essence, while the Qilin spewed forth a desert storm. The wind, fueled by the fire, and the fire, amplified the wind's power, instantly transforming into a terrifying, sky-covering wave of flames. It exploded, roared, and danced, overwhelming the heavens and earth! Thousands upon thousands of fiery pythons, entwined with the sandstorm, actually burned the vast expanse of sand into countless shimmering stars, constructing a triple dragon storm of wind, fire, and shimmering essence, tearing out ring-shaped shockwaves in the air!

The large amount of sand and gravel melted by the high temperature even formed a devastating liquid fire rain, which made a sound like the cracking of crystals when it landed—this was the prelude to death before the scorching giant wave crashed down!

"Master! We can't let the fire get here! My soldiers are equipped with too much gunpowder!"

Liu Hong immediately called for help, but Gongsun Sheng, the Cloud Dragon, remained calm and composed. He pulled a feather fan from his wide sleeve and used a technique called "Returning Wind and Turning Fire." The towering flames and the three giant dragons actually made a 180-degree turn in the air, not only failing to harm the Liangshan soldiers but even reflecting back at Lu Junyi himself! The raging sea of ​​fire did not harm a single Liangshan soldier!

Chapter 159: The Wise Man's Ambush from All Sides

Not only that, the gale summoned by Gongsun Sheng even slowed down Lu Junyi's cavalry. Some warhorses, frightened by the explosions and terrified by the scorching flames, were blown off their feet by the gale and rolled into the mud with their riders on their backs, delaying their charge and giving the Liangshan soldiers more time to reload and fire a fourth volley, taking down dozens more warhorses!

"What kind of weapon is this? A fire lance? Is it really that powerful?"

"My breastplate was blown to pieces!"

"Never mind that! Charge! Who cares what weird weapons they're using, as long as we charge in, we'll disrupt them!"

The remaining thirty-odd Song cavalrymen, clad in heavy black iron armor, charged through the churning mud like iron beasts. Their hooves kicked up three-foot-high waves of brown mud. These skilled imperial guards, adept at archery and horsemanship, even drew their bows and fired volleys of extremely sharp arrows during the charge, covering and wounding the three hundred Liangshan soldiers. After firing three arrows in quick succession, they swiftly sheathed their bows, drew their long spears and broadswords, and launched another attack! They gave the Liangshan soldiers no time for a fifth volley.

"Hold the line! Hold the line!!!"

Liu Hong roared and summoned his Scale Shadow Spear, taking the lead at the forefront. The hundred heavily armored musketeers in the front row quickly withdrew their fire muskets and replaced them with spears. In an instant, hundreds of spears were stacked together, forming an impenetrable spear square, which directly resisted the cavalry charge!

Liu Hong himself followed Lin Chong's method of infantry overcoming cavalry, adopting a horse stance, lowering his center of gravity, and slightly raising his Scale Shadow Spear, inserting the butt of the spear into the mud, to remain stationary while facing the cavalry charge. His soldiers followed suit, forming a dense formation, using their combined mass and armor to withstand the enemy's onslaught.

Even so, when the tall, terrifying Xuanjia Iron Cavalry crushed the mud and approached with overwhelming force, some in the formation still cried out and screamed! Those giant shadows covered in mud and blood rust were almost touching the tips of the spears, and the mud splashed up by their iron hooves could smash the sweat under the soldiers' faceplates. The first row of heavily armored soldiers could even see the bulging veins of their warhorses throbbing under their iron faceplates, and their heavy breathing mixed with the rain and blocked their throats.

"clang!!!"

Amidst the deafening clang of metal, the terrifying spears of the Song Dynasty's front-line cavalry clashed with the dense, forest-like steel spear formation of the Liangshan infantry! Spears from both sides pierced each other's infantry armor or gleaming armor. Under the immense pressure, the shafts of the spears first bent into hundreds of terrifying crescent moons, then exploded, scattering countless wooden spikes and sparks from the friction of steel against steel!

Even Liu Hong's Shadow Scale Spear, forged with the reverse scale of the Dragon King of Jidu, trembled slightly when faced with the charge of the Song Dynasty's iron cavalry, which weighed over a ton. The shock made Liu Hong's arms tremble and he took three steps back.

However, the Song soldier who was head-on colliding with the Shadowscale Spear was even more desperate. Forces are reciprocal; the more fiercely he charged, the more violently he crashed into the ground. The momentum of the thousand-pound iron cavalry charge now turned into a devastating backlash. The entire Shadowscale Spear pierced through the iron curtain of the horse's chest like a poisonous dragon tearing flesh! The iron armor melted into crimson liquid in the thunderstorm, and the sharp spearhead spun, tearing through two layers of horse armor. Like a dragon emerging from its cave, it pierced through the entire chest of the horse and then plunged into the heart of the Song soldier on horseback!

Amidst the parabolic arc of black blood splattering like molten iron, fragments of human and beast entrails slid down the charred, shadowy gun barrels scorched by lightning.

This scene was unfolding in every space within the swamp, with many Liangshan soldiers indeed being killed by Song army arrows and pierced by Song army spears, falling to the ground like skewers of candied hawthorns.

However, many Song cavalrymen also suffered head injuries from the impacts of the spears. Some were slashed, some were killed, and broken spearheads were deeply embedded in the throats of their horses. Some cavalrymen were even stabbed off their horses, and many who fell from their horses had their sternums crushed by the subsequent hooves.

Amidst the flying mud and blood, the hundred-man heavy armored formation stood as unbreakable as a reef, withstanding the charge of thirty Song cavalry, shattering their momentum layer by layer! Although they were forced to retreat and sway, the first wave of the Song army's charge did not break apart the Liangshan formation.

At this moment, plumes of smoke rose from behind the infantry ranks, and thunderous roars echoed through the sky. Iron bullets pierced through the splattering mud and blood, blasting the cavalrymen, who were much taller than the infantry, to pieces: half of their helmets, covered in brains, slammed into the mud; blue-purple intestines gushed from the gaping holes in the bellies of their warhorses; charred iron pieces, embedded among the still-warm corpses, hissed and steamed! Even though Lu Junyi had been hit by three iron bullets, his outer gilded armor was torn apart by the ordinary iron and gunpowder, but his inner Qilin fire scales remained unharmed, demonstrating an astonishingly high level of defense and damage reduction!

Liangshan now has the advantage of favorable timing, location, and popular support.

In terms of timing, the cavalry charge was against the wind, and the continuous torrential rain had left them exhausted.

In terms of terrain, this narrow area was not conducive to the deployment of cavalry and the use of flanking maneuvers. The muddy ground further restricted the speed and impact of the cavalry, making it impossible for them to crush the Liangshan troops with their full force.

In terms of manpower, heavily armored infantry deployed a dense wall of spears to intercept, while lightly armed musketeers used a barrage of bullets to snipe.

These three attacks resulted in Liangshan losing fifty men but managing to wipe out all one hundred cavalrymen under Lu Junyi's command in this narrow, muddy area! Ordinary infantrymen fought against the Imperial Guard cavalry, even achieving a one-to-two exchange ratio. Lu Junyi himself didn't even understand what these firearms were. After charging forward, he was stopped by Lin Chong and couldn't break through for the time being. Seeing that the fire lances were still being reloaded, he had no choice but to retreat.

"Quick! Reorganize the formation!!!"

Liu Hong roared, and more than 30 heavily armored soldiers on the front line were killed or wounded. More than 20 musketeers in the rear were also killed by a hail of arrows. The auxiliary troops immediately carried the wounded and their bodies to the rear. They even picked up a few Song soldiers' corpses and dragged them to the rear. They quickly stripped off their armor and dressed them haphazardly on their own men. Then they immediately went out to fill in the gaps!

The front line was still not thick enough. Even though the Song cavalry was weakened by the weather and terrain, their impact was still terrifying. Liangshan still needed more heavily armored spearmen and thousands of them to resist the full-force charge of the remaining Song cavalry.

But then, something even more terrifying happened. Chao Gai, leading his troops, suddenly emerged from the reeds on both sides in small boats, quickly maneuvering to the end of the narrow land bridge. A large number of farmhands and servants, wielding spears and bows, jumped off the boats and formed a battle formation behind them—Chao Gai and Liu Hong had agreed that they would each command their own troops, with Chao Gai blocking the front and Liu Hong blocking the rear! They blocked the army in the middle of the land bridge.

Not only that, Ruan Xiaoer, Ruan Xiaowu, and Ruan Xiaoqi also led their naval forces, launching a two-pronged attack from the reed marshes and the Ji River, flanking the government troops in the waters on both sides! Each fleet carried one hundred Liangshan musketeers, totaling two hundred men.

The biggest problem with the Liangshan musketeers was their lack of training. After all, they were soldiers selected from peasants, and their combat effectiveness was not high. Once they were approached and lost the advantage of firearms, they were not much different from ordinary militiamen, except that their morale was higher.

Now, these musketeers, standing on the sides of the ship, were in a very safe firing environment under the double protection of the three Ruan naval forces and the natural barrier of the waterway. They opened fire wildly on the flanks of the Song army crowded on the narrow land bridge!

Chapter 160: The Living Yama Attacks from Two Sides

At this moment, Wen Da was terrified to discover that he was surrounded!

Ahead are the Liangshan troops led by Liu Hong, Lin Chong, and others.

Behind them was the combined forces of Chao Gai, Wu Yong, and Gongsun Sheng's retainers.

I'm flanked by the three Ruan naval forces on both sides, plus the endless fire of muskets. How am I supposed to get out of here?

Before Wen Da could react, muskets on both sides of the water roared to life, the intense flames transforming the pale blue waters into a boiling, exploding blacksmith's furnace. One after another, the fast boats from Shijie, like shuttles skimming the water, rapidly approached. In the instant hundreds of muskets were mounted on the gunwales, the waves crashed against the blue stone embankment.

As the sulfurous smoke dissipated and thunder rumbled across the calm waters, twelve blood-red lotuses bloomed on the chests and abdomens of the front-line Song soldiers! One of the officers, wearing a phoenix-winged helmet, had half his head blown into red and white goo, yet he still held his command flag high on the muddy bank, fluttering wildly in the gale.

Pieces of armor and iron shards, mixed with teeth, were embedded in the mud. With the muffled thud of the third volley, the Song army's flanks had already suffered considerable losses. The entire muddy ground was piled with corpses and blood. A soldier whose spine had been blasted off by a fire lance was dragging his tattered, purplish-red intestines toward his comrades when suddenly his arms were shattered by five flying iron bullets. His severed limbs flew three zhang into the air amidst the smoke and dust, piling up among the rotting flesh, forming an insignificant corner of this carpet of blood and flesh.

With no other option, the two wing commanders could only order their cavalry archers to provide cover with their bows and arrows to suppress the Liangshan muskets. However, they discovered that the archers couldn't do it—these cavalry archers were using light and agile short bows. Longbows couldn't be used freely on horseback because they would be blocked by the horse's back, so their range was short. They were at a disadvantage even when exchanging fire with infantry archers, let alone the longer-range fire muskets! The cavalry archers' arrows couldn't even reach the boats on both banks.

So, a surprise attack?

Some Song soldiers attempted to swim across the shallows, sending their warhorses to a nearby fishing boat. Suddenly, the shallows burst open in sprays of water! As a cavalryman and his horse were swallowed by the turbid current, a bewitching and alluring blue-gold scale-like shadow flashed beneath his straightened stirrups—the chestnut horse's forelegs were still in a leaping posture, but its entire body was severed from the abdomen, spraying blood everywhere.

The choking cavalryman swallowed a few more mouthfuls of water, then suddenly looked down and saw a beautiful yet sinister mermaid, swaying six arms wrapped in pearl shells. Wielding six different weapons—a reed-leaf spear, a fishing fork, a butcher's knife, a meat hook, a ship-shaking hammer, and a ship-breaking nail—she gave him a chilling smile.

His own warhorse was killed by this six-armed merman and hooked into the water!

The imperial guard tried to struggle, but his movements in the water were severely restricted and hindered. Ruan Xiao'er, however, was unaffected in the water. He swiftly plunged his fishing spear into the soldier's helmet, ripped off the Song soldier's helmet, and then thrust his spear into the soldier's eye socket and out the back of his head, cleanly and efficiently taking a life.

In an instant, the three Ruan sisters, along with all the mermaids of Shijie Village, got into a frenzy of fighting. Any Song soldiers who dared to go into the water were killed one by one, two by two.

As one of the cavalrymen was dragged to the bottom of the river, he even caught a glimpse of that exquisitely beautiful face adorned with coral spurs: the instant her gills opened and closed behind her ears, her waist, covered in bronze scales, had already shredded the warhorse's greaves, and her slender, jade-like fingers were moving along the gaps in the armor, disemboweling him as easily as unpacking a purse.

The battle underwater was fierce, but the battle on the surface was equally terrifying. Two hundred Liangshan soldiers were still firing at the Song army trapped in the middle at a rate of two shots per minute. Smoke billowed everywhere, explosions roared, and iron bullets rained down, leaving the Song army on the shore helpless. The entire riverbank was left with only the bubbling, crimson water!

"Li Cheng! You hold off the troops behind you! Everyone, charge forward with all your might!!!"

Wen Da assessed the situation and found that Chao Gai had more men behind him. Therefore, he believed that Liu Hong would be easier to break through from the front. Without hesitation, he left Heavenly King Li Cheng and a hundred soldiers to cover the rear, while he gathered the remaining two hundred cavalrymen in the center and on the left and right flanks. Together with Lu Junyi and the surviving cavalrymen in front, they charged forward in a mighty force!

"Professor Wu! Taoist Priest! You two go to the front first! The Liangshan brothers have been fighting for a while and have suffered heavy losses. You two can fly, so hurry up and go help them!"

"The rest of you, follow me and scatter the government troops! We can't let the Liangshan people underestimate us! Charge!!!"

Chao Gai, true to his loyalty, dispatched his two top spellcasters to the front lines to assist Liu Hong. He himself, wielding the Thirteen-Section Demon-Suppressing Pagoda Whip, led Liu Tang and a vast army of Zhuangke soldiers to confront Heavenly King Li Cheng!

At this moment, Li Cheng's hundred cavalrymen were also annoyed. Although Lu Junyi's vanguard cavalry were slowed down by the muddy ground, at least they were able to charge forward.

When faced with Chao Gai's sudden attack from behind, they had to stop their horses, turn around, and then begin to walk slowly, trot, walk quickly, and charge.

Chao Gai didn't give the enemy any time at all! Before leaving, Wu Yong used an ice spell to freeze the water. Chao Gai's dozens of cavalrymen charged up on the surface of Liangshan Marsh and rushed to Li Cheng with lightning speed. They entangled with Li Cheng and made it impossible for him to break free and launch an attack.

Then, a massive horde of infantrymen roared, howled, and screamed as they charged forward! Liu Tang took the lead, clad in fiery armor, wielding a broadsword, and sliced ​​a cavalryman who had just begun his charge into four pieces, man and horse! His full head of red hair shot into the sky like flames, like a demon emerging from hell, like a celestial being descending to earth.

In the center of the battlefield, Chao Gai charged ahead. The instant his chestnut horse reared up, his gold-carved tiger-head spear and Li Cheng's coiled dragon-patterned steel spear already sparked seven times. As the two heavily armored warhorses crossed stirrups, the bronze taotie head that had been shattered from Li Cheng's black iron arm guard embedded itself in the cracks that had appeared on Chao Gai's breastplate. Spear shadows filled the air as the two fought for twenty rounds without a clear victor!

After the two generals fought for twenty-two rounds, their two steel spears became entangled. Li Cheng roared and the moment his steel whip was unsheathed, it brought forth hellfire. The nine-section water-milled whip, wrapped in hellfire, slashed fiercely at Chao Gai's head!

"clang!!!"

Chao Gai remained calm and composed, his Thirteen-Section Demon-Slaying Whip emitting a terrifying, black smoke of death as he faced Li Cheng head-on. The clash of the two divine weapons did not produce the sound of metal striking metal, but rather the crisp cracking sound of some kind of behemoth's fangs breaking.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!!!"

At the moment of the seventh exchange of whips, the brass beast-shaped guard and steel shoulder shield on Li Cheng's left shoulder were shattered by Chao Gai's Demon-Slaying Whip, and the resulting fragments of his collarbone were scattered all over the ground.

Chao Gai's right shinbone was also struck by Li Chenggang's whip. The charred flesh, burned by the flames of hell, was covered with drops of blood from the whip's edge, leaving an eight-foot-long scorch mark on the muddy ground.

The two men, with their double whips and two kings, fought to a standstill, their skills evenly matched, and it was difficult to determine who was superior for a time.

At this moment, Lu Junyi, who was charging at the forefront, also became nervous. His previous slacking off was because he was forced to work, but now these bandits had them completely surrounded. What if all the Song soldiers were wiped out, and he was left to fight so many bandits alone? Would he end up like those storyteller's tales of "The Tragedy of a Heroine" or "The End of a Female Knight-Errant"? Never mind, he'd break through using his true abilities first!

Chapter 161: The Qilin Appears in Fury, Unleashing a Heavenly Strike

"Jade Kirin Lu Junyi has arrived!!!"

With a roar, Lu Junyi took the lead and launched a second charge! The slightly tattered gilded armor wrapped around Lu Junyi's graceful figure, and the Heavenly Essence Fire rising from the gaps in the armor melted the sand and dust into crystal fragments.