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Where had these Songshan bandits ever witnessed such martial prowess? Zhang Xun was even using their bodies to test his skills. For a moment, everyone nearby was terrified.

Mei Qian’s words were rapidly losing their effect. After all, a god of slaughter stood before them. Charge forward and die; refuse to retreat… What, were they fools?

“Do not retreat!” Mei Qian roared when he saw his men beginning to fall back again. He had finally forced Li Miao into such dire straits—how could he allow himself to be driven back once more?

Terrified out of their wits, Mei Qian’s soldiers ignored him and continued retreating.

On horseback, Zhang Xun swung his war blade again and again. By his strength alone, he forced dozens of men before him to stagger back. He surged forward with an unstoppable momentum, his ferocity erupting like a volcano and leaving the enemy too frightened even to speak.

Mei Qian’s battle formation collapsed with it. The soldiers stood gaping like idiots, watching in a daze as Zhang Xun charged straight toward Mei Qian.

With his thick brows thrust upward and murderous intent blazing from his eyes, Zhang Xun rode at full gallop. The sharp tip of his blade sliced through the throats of one of Mei Qian’s men after another. Even after Zhang Xun had passed, their throats erupted with hot blood like fountains.

The spray dyed his battle robe a deep crimson and turned the ground within several yards of him into a river of blood.

Zhang Xun seemed like a demon god descended upon the world. He did not even blink as he slaughtered men as casually as butchering dogs. Where had anyone ever witnessed such a scene? Not only Mei Qian’s soldiers but Mei Qian himself was trembling in horror, instinctively reining his horse backward.

Zhang Xun gave them no chance to escape. His war blade stabbed out like a sudden rainstorm, its edge gleaming coldly as countless afterimages spread across the chests and bellies of the surrounding soldiers.

Dongfang Ming happened to be near Zhang Xun. Sensing that something was wrong, he turned and bolted.

Zhang Xun lunged forward. His war blade carved a phantom arc through the air and slashed directly across Dongfang Ming’s neck. Dongfang Ming’s pupils sprang wide, and he died beneath Zhang Xun’s blade.

Mei Qian’s courage shattered. How could he dare continue fighting? He spurred his horse forward and fled toward the road behind them. With such terrifying might before him, who could remain unafraid? Mei Qian was only a bandit, after all—not an idiot who would throw his life away.

Zhang Xun’s strength left Mei Qian stunned. It stunned Mei Qian’s soldiers, and even Chen Dao, who had been fighting desperately nearby, stood frozen in shock.

Li Miao was stunned as well, but he was the first to recover. He cried out in delighted surprise, “Zhang Xun! General Zhang has returned!”

After his delight faded, Li Miao saw how Mei Qian’s men had been intimidated by Zhang Xun’s presence. Realizing that this opportunity was rare, he raised his cleaver and shouted, “All generals, heed my command! Press forward with all your strength! Today, we’ll show these Songshan dogs the courage of Jiangting’s sons! Kill! Kill! Kill!”

When he finished shouting, Li Miao stared at Zhang Xun’s figure with fascination in his eyes.

So this was what a true battle general looked like.

Li Miao made up his mind. He had to recruit more generals to serve under him if he wanted to make a name for himself in this chaotic age.

Strictly speaking, Mei Qian’s siege was Li Miao’s first true battle. Everything before this had been little more than skirmishing. Now he had witnessed soldiers facing death, despair, sudden reversals, and the hot blood of the battlefield with his own eyes.

Only now did Li Miao truly understand the cruelty of war.

That, however, did not hinder his petty desire for revenge.

Watching Mei Qian turn his horse and flee, Li Miao pointed at his back and shouted toward Zhang Xun, “General Zhang, do you see him? The one fleeing on horseback—that’s the chief of the Songshan bandits!”

Hearing Li Miao’s shout, Mei Qian angrily glanced back.

Damn it! Couldn’t a man even flee from battle in peace? Did he really have to call him out by name?

Li Miao grew even more excited.

“Yes, yes, the one who just turned around! The one with a face like a pig’s head! Beat the hell out of him!”

“I want him on his knees, licking the soles of my shoes three times!”

“Yes!”

At Li Miao’s words, Zhang Xun’s cheek twitched faintly, but he still answered and spurred his horse toward Mei Qian at full speed.

The instant Mei Qian saw Zhang Xun charging toward him with his blade raised, cold sweat broke out all over his body.

“Holy hell!”

In his heart, Mei Qian cursed Li Miao’s entire family several times over.

He abandoned all thought of anything else and fled without looking back. Some of his men saw him run, especially those who had witnessed Zhang Xun display his might—er, his divine might. They, too, turned and ran for their lives.

Fight?

Fight what? One man had appeared and beaten dozens into a panic, even driving their chief away. How were they supposed to keep fighting?

Mei Qian’s forces scattered like startled birds and fleeing beasts. As their leader, Mei Qian was naturally among them. He rode wildly for half a mile.

“Chief! Chief!” A junior officer under Mei Qian hurried after him.

“My head is on the line!” Mei Qian shouted frantically, showing no intention of slowing down to deal with him.

A minor leader riding beside Mei Qian was sweating profusely. When he heard those words, smoke practically poured from his nostrils in anger, but he dared not show the slightest sign of it. He quickly seized Mei Qian’s reins and said, “Chief, are we retreating?”

“What? Quickly, tell me—what is the state of our army? Has everyone retreated?” Only then did Mei Qian realize what was happening. Seeing that there was no immediate danger around him, he forced himself to appear calm.

How had that Zhang Xun been so savage? One man had flattened dozens as effortlessly as play.

He was—he was simply a beast!

The minor leader looked at Mei Qian, thinking, Shouldn’t you be the one deciding whether we retreat?

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Mei Qian saw the question in the man’s eyes and understood at once. Yet after awakening to the situation, he immediately sensed that something was wrong. He recognized the junior officer fleeing on horseback as one of his own minor leaders, a man named Zhang Sanwen.

Mei Qian asked in a low voice, “Zhang Sanwen, we have several thousand soldiers, while that brat Li Miao has no more than four hundred child soldiers. Why should we flee?”

Zhang Sanwen nearly raised his head and cursed, How should I know? But when he looked at Mei Qian, he had the will to curse but not the courage. He swallowed, wiped away a bead of sweat, and thought, Isn’t everyone else fleeing too? If I didn’t run, that general would have punched a dozen more holes in me.

That was indeed the truth, but Zhang Sanwen did not dare say it so bluntly. He coughed twice.

“Chief, that general was simply impossible to fight. There is no one in our army who can stop him. If we stayed, wouldn’t it have been a one-sided slaughter? Besides, I don’t know why, but everyone suddenly began retreating. I never heard the signal to withdraw, but I simply followed the crowd.”

He was a fairly shrewd man. As the saying went, the law did not punish everyone; it was better to tell the truth outright. Otherwise, he could never have risen to become a minor leader—or been allowed to ride a warhorse. Zhang Sanwen was bold enough to speak plainly.

He truly did not know what had happened, but his explanation left Mei Qian deeply embarrassed.

Why had everyone retreated?

The reason was obvious.

He had been the first to lose his nerve.

Mei Qian coughed twice to conceal his embarrassment. Then he thought that no matter how powerful that general was, he was still only one man. They could simply avoid him. As long as they captured Li Miao, the general would inevitably be forced to hold back.

He shouted toward the several hundred men fleeing ahead of him, “Do not panic! That brat Li Miao has only four hundred child soldiers. He is no threat at all! Do not throw yourselves into disorder. Rally the troops and prepare to fight again!”

Mei Qian’s eyes shone as he continued in a voice like a great bell, “That Zhang Xun is only one man as well! If we avoid him—or wear him down—we will win! What is there to fear? Once we breach the city, the wealth, women, and land within Jiangting will all belong to you!”

“Are you excited?” Mei Qian began rallying their spirits.

“Excited!”

“Can we win?” Mei Qian gave two cold snorts, sharp light flashing in his eyes.

“We can! We can! We can!”

At the mention of wealth and women, the men forgot their pain as quickly as wounds scabbed over. They were ready to clash with Li Miao again. Of course, Mei Qian’s role was indispensable. His influence and prestige among the crowd were astonishing.

With only a few short words of encouragement, the Songshan bandits became as feverish as men who had just seen a naked woman, utterly consumed by lust and ready to face death without hesitation.

Zhang Xun happened to hear every word Mei Qian said. He could not help raising his opinion of the man by one point.

Only one point.

Zhang Xun had no regard for such a man. After all, he had once commanded an army of two hundred thousand; he possessed the talent of a true marshal.

How could he possibly take a mere bandit chief from Songshan seriously?

Li Miao, meanwhile, was excitedly riding the warhorse Zhang Xun had given him and leading his remaining troops in pursuit. But when he saw that Mei Qian had recovered his wits and was rallying his men, his heart sank.

Damn it.

That old dog had figured it out.

Li Miao could only smile bitterly. The situation had been going perfectly, but Mei Qian had seen through it. If Mei Qian had continued fleeing with his army, Li Miao might still have managed to pursue and destroy them, even with only a few hundred men remaining.

Unfortunately, Mei Qian now knew that Zhang Xun was present. He clearly intended to make a desperate last stand.

In that case, could Zhang Xun really fight four hands with both hands? Could he defeat a thousand men alone?

What a joke.

Once the enemy relied on their numerical advantage, Li Miao’s forces would be dragged into an endless battle of exhaustion. Their small advantage would be completely consumed.

“What do we do? What do we do?” Li Miao was nearly frantic inside, but he could not display the slightest hesitation or slackness before his soldiers, much less fear.

He deliberately composed himself and said calmly, his eyes sliding toward Zhang Xun, “Are you no longer afraid?”

Everyone followed Li Miao’s gaze toward Zhang Xun, and their legs nearly went weak.

That man was a demon king.

Mei Qian understood instantly.

He had lived for more than half a lifetime and saw at a glance that Li Miao was trying to shake his army’s morale. Furious, he shouted, “Hmph! Brat Li Miao, do not try to deceive us! You have no reinforcements under your command—only this one general. Do you truly think he can fight a thousand of us?”

Mei Qian’s men immediately caught on.

“That’s right! No matter how powerful he is, he’s still only one man! If dozens of us—or hundreds—attack together, what is there to fear? If every one of us spat on him once, we could drown him!”

Mei Qian continued, “Soldiers, Zhang Xun is only one man, while we number more than a thousand! Even if we send a hundred men to wear him down, can we really not exhaust him to death?”

He gave two cold laughs and looked at Li Miao as though he were already a corpse.

“As long as we avoid Zhang Xun for the moment and capture that brat Li Miao, tell me—what will General Zhang be able to do then?”

Mei Qian’s lips curled with mockery as he smiled at Li Miao.

“What do you think, Your Majesty? Ha ha ha…”

With just a few sentences, Mei Qian had made the situation perfectly clear.

Damn it!

Li Miao’s face darkened at once, and his heart jolted.

It was not ordinary ruffians one needed to fear, but educated ruffians. This man not only commanded several thousand soldiers and possessed respectable martial strength—his scheming was frightening as well.

Li Miao suddenly realized that Mei Qian actually had some brains. After tricking him several times, Li Miao had clearly underestimated the man’s intelligence.

Capture the leader first.

Such an advanced, sophisticated military principle—could a shameless old thug like this really understand it?

Li Miao felt like cursing.

Zhang Xun’s fury soared to the heavens.

Did he intend to threaten me with His Majesty?

Zhang Xun raised his war blade, then dismounted and shouted to the child soldiers and civilians behind him, “Bandits will always be bandits! If we retreat, they will advance. If we show weakness, they will only become more vicious! Think of your lives! Think of the wealth, grain, and wives in your homes that these beasts will ravage if Jiangting falls! Are you willing to let that happen? Will you fight?”

“Kill!” shouted one of the more courageous men.

Zhang Xun nodded. He turned back to the dense mass of people before him and thought, We only need to hold on for one more hour. Just one hour!

Suddenly, Zhang Xun’s voice boomed like rolling thunder.

“I, Zhang Xun, will fight alongside you! If Jiangting falls, I will atone with my life!”

“As long as the city stands, we stand! If the city falls, we die with it!”

Zhang Xun’s gaze was resolute, and his determination infected even more people. The soldiers behind him began shouting along with him.

“Where the sword points, none can stand against us!”

With a great roar, Zhang Xun charged forward, intending to crush everything before him. Even on foot, he remained at the very front, leading by example as he stormed into battle with his war blade in hand.

When two opponents meet on a narrow path, the braver one wins.

Zhang Xun’s performance was the very embodiment of courage.

Only a little over two hundred seventy child soldiers remained behind him, yet every one of the youngsters wore a bold and determined expression. Their tender shoulders had already borne too much—death, separation, madness, and bloodlust. They had endured everything that did not belong to their age.

This was the chaotic age.

Many civilians joined the battle as well. They knew this might be the true final clash. Both sides had clearly reached the end of their strength.

Mei Qian looked at the soldiers behind Zhang Xun and felt as though he were facing a torrent of steel. He did not know how good his chances of victory were, but in terms of momentum alone, he was already firmly suppressed.

The reason was easy to understand.

One side was made up of robbers; the other was fighting to protect its own interests—or, more precisely, its very lives. When it came to the will to die, the stronger side was obvious at a glance.

“Kill!”

Amid earth-shaking cries of battle, the true decisive clash began.

Zhang Xun led the child soldiers he had once considered unworthy of being called soldiers and drove them violently into Mei Qian’s forces. They plunged in like blades, viciously carving into Mei Qian’s flesh!

Within the surging tide of battle, a terrifying, bloodthirsty ferocity emerged.

Mei Qian’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.

What kind of ragtag army was this? Ordinary regular troops could not even compare with the terrifying momentum of this motley band of misfits led by Zhang Xun!

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