Chapter 1373 - 335: Fight!

Chapter 1373: Chapter 335: Fight!

On the city wall, the Yan Army was still locked in brutal combat with the Chu people.

In the distance, Yan cavalry and Chu cavalry were tangled together;

Farther out, the Chu army that had surged out from the East and West Gates had pinned down the detached forces of Gongsun Zhi and Gong Wang, the flanking troops that had originally been left to cover the main force’s assault on the city.

And in the battle right before them, the Chu left and right wings had forcibly pried the formation open, slicing and reslicing the battlefield into ever finer pieces.

Like peeling an onion layer by layer, until in the end, only the sharpest, juiciest heart remained.

It was like a miniature replay of Tian Wujing’s million-strong army trading off against the wild people back then; the Chu people, truth be told, were also trading pieces.

The battlefield is an art of infinite change.

At a specific time, in a specific environment, under a specific situation, it can always give birth to a style that borders on the inconceivable.

Two days ago, the Yan Army stormed the city, their momentum like a rainbow arcing across the sky;

Now, the Chu people counterattacked, and the timing they seized was just as perfect. One must know, even if the army before them were not a noble’s private troops but the imperial clan’s forbidden guard, that still wouldn’t change the basic fact that Yan was strong and Chu was weak.

But that Zhuguai on the other side had somehow forced this opportunity into existence.

Masters crossing blades—this was a clash between true masters.

Lord Zheng had, after all, inherited Tian Wujing’s authentic teachings, so he did not feel that the current situation had come about because Liang Cheng had lost; he could only say that some changes in the flow of events were never something A Cheng could have held in his hands to begin with.

When Tian Wujing beat the wild people, hadn’t he also relied on his own snatching of Snow Sea Pass for the decisive assist? That had not actually been inside Old Tian’s original plans; you could only say that a willow planted without intent had truly taken root.

So Lord Zheng was not angry, nor was he disappointed.

In fact,

as his command chariot gathered the Yan Army and slammed of its own accord into the Chu phalanx, Lord Zheng found that he felt not the slightest trace of fear or worry. What welled up instead, from the depths of his heart, was a trembling, a kind of excitement, a kind of hot blood.

This was not a performance,

but genuine, unfeigned feeling.

"The first Earl of North Border had the glorious feat of breaking fifty thousand Qian troops with only thirty thousand; Old Tian had his ten days of campaigning over a thousand li to annihilate half of Jin.

And me,

though I always say I am invincible in war,

the few times I went south into the Qian State, even if you count the time I rode along with Li Fusheng, were just small skirmishes, little tussles. I wasn’t the lead in any of them.

When I followed Old Tian on the far expedition to the snow plains, I was just mucking about in logistics, picking up a bit of military merit.

The only thing I can really put on the table is that long-distance raid on Snow Sea Pass over a thousand li.

But in the end, on the frontal battlefield, it was Old Tian leading North Border and Jingnan’s elite who took it down.

So,

in my ledger, I have always lacked a truly real, solid piece of military achievement.

Now it’s fine,

the Chu imperial forbidden guard,

a Chu Zhuguai seated in person,

well then,

I won’t be picky,

I’ll take him!"

Lord Zheng gave a lazy yawn,

and ordered:

"Pass the word: this lord’s command chariot is the line—anyone who falls back behind the command chariot will be deemed a deserter and executed without mercy!"

"Pass the word: ignite all firework signal arrows. Summon from our camps and from the outer ring any soldiers who can see the fire signals—come to our aid at once!"

The Yan Army was the besieging side, so naturally their net was spread wide; that was also the opening the Chu had seized.

And now, what Lord Zheng had to do was drag in every last bit of troops he could draw upon. One hundred, two hundred, fine; three or five in a bunch, he wouldn’t disdain them either.

"Vnnng!"

An arrow whistled in. The Sword Saint raised his sword and knocked the shaft aside.

Up ahead, Gao Yi’s personal guard had already smashed into the Chu formation and begun a frenzied slaughter.

Looking out across the field, with the command chariot as the central point, the snowball that had been rolling before had now turned into an ever-expanding flat line.

The Chu people, Yan people, Jin people were all plunging into the kill like beasts.

The Sword Saint lifted Longyuan and said to Lord Zheng:

"I’ll ask you one more time—do you want me to keep killing forward, or do you want me to keep holding up this command chariot for you?"

"Hahaha."

Lord Zheng let out a loud laugh.

The command chariot had already crashed deep into the Chu formation. The Chu people, driven mad, fought desperately to hack their way forward; they knew very well who was seated on that command chariot!

And the Yan and Jin soldiers around the command chariot were even more rabid in their defense; they knew even better who was on that chariot!

"The Yan bastard Lord Pingye is here!"

"By order of the Zhuguai: whoever kills Zheng Fan, his clan’s rank will be raised!"

"Protect my lord!"

"Swear to protect my lord!"

Because this segment of the battle had become so fiercely deadlocked, both commanders were forcing their way forward with themselves as the axis, pressing the lines in. From his seat on the command chariot, Lord Zheng could already see, in the rear of the Chu array, that bronze war cart and the Fire Phoenix banner planted on it.

At last,

Lord Zheng looked at the Sword Saint,

then,

drew out the barbarian blade that had been stuck into the side of the command chariot,

his body gleaming with golden armor,

for the first time in his life flaunting himself like this at the very heart of the battlefield.

Before,

he hadn’t dared be ostentatious, because he’d felt that was asking for death.

Yet he had always envied Old Tian,

Old Tian who, every time he charged, rode a Pixiu, clad in gilded armor, hacking a bloody path before tens of thousands of troops.

Envious,

so envious,

truly, painfully envious.

Now,

he was finally forced into having that same chance.

Shoving aside all trepidation, discarding all unease,

this feeling of being the brightest point on a blood-drenched battlefield truly made one swell, made one exhilarated, made one drunk on it!

A man,

should be like this!

A Ming and the Sword Saint were both watching Lord Zheng; they were watching the choice he would make.

Lord Zheng rose to his feet,

barbarian blade in hand, and stretched in a big, lazy, careless way;

then laughed and said:

"How the hell could I possibly lose? I came here to siege a city, didn’t I? Now the Chu people have come running out on their own, they don’t even want me to bother climbing the walls—fuck all that chaotic crap;

I just can’t figure it out,

isn’t this exactly what I dream of day and night?

Why would I lose?

On what grounds would I lose?

I only know how to win,

I can only win,

I must win!"

Then,

Lord Zheng loosed a long howl. A black radiance burst from his body as he leapt down from the command chariot, his blade coming down to split open a Chu soldier’s face, then he ripped the barbarian blade free at once.

Blood,

splashed across his face,

hot,

searing,

and in that instant,

it was as if everything had returned to that day in the conscript camp, when Xue Three and Liang Cheng had pinned down a barbarian soldier and told him to do the killing.

That time,

he had mustered his courage, brought the blade down, and had been drenched in blood all the same.

In this world,

whether you say you’ve gone round and round from west to east,

or say you’ve clawed and climbed from bottom to top,

in the end, when all is said and done,

what you’re chasing,

isn’t it just one good, clean bout of satisfaction?

Behind him, a Chu soldier’s great halberd came cleaving down. A Ming’s figure blurred in beside Lord Zheng and caught the halberd on his own weapon.

Lord Zheng immediately twisted aside, his barbarian blade chopping across, prying open the man’s armor. The edge punched into bone; he stepped in, grabbed the hilt with both hands and kicked the man full in the chest.

The man flew; the blade came back.

Lord Zheng wiped the blood from his face,

glared around him,

and roared:

"Fuck!"

——————

Thanks to Mo Ning Yuqiong for becoming the 133rd alliance lord of *Demon’s Arrival*.

Good night.