Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

Flames licked the air, and blade shadows crossed; the true hand-to-hand combat had only just begun.

Despite suffering successive blows from arrow rain and fire, twenty or thirty Qiang soldiers had still survived, leaving their numbers roughly equal to the garrison troops.

In the past, the Qiang soldiers would have had enough confidence to slaughter every defender in the fortress. But now, they had lost all will to fight and only wanted to leave this hellish place alive. The garrison soldiers, on the other hand, had high morale and were brimming with murderous intent.

Even a new recruit like Little Wu roared as he charged into the fray, hacking wildly at any Qiang soldier he caught. Meng Hu was even more god-like in his bravery, directly lifting a Qiang soldier’s corpse and throwing it forward, smashing two other Qiang soldiers to the ground on the spot.

One by one, the Qiang soldiers fell. In the end, only Centurion Walimu remained standing in the field, completely surrounded by the defenders.

Seeing the corpses of his comrades lying in disorder filled Walimu with grief and indignation. He cursed loudly:

“You treacherous thieves! You dared to fake a surrender!”

“Fake a surrender? It was just you being too stupid.”

Luo Yu walked out of the crowd step by step, mocking him:

“A hundred soldiers couldn’t beat our twenty or thirty men. Do you still have the face to lead troops?”

“Bastard! Who are you!”

Walimu’s brows knit together. “You look somewhat familiar… I remember now! You’re the guy who came out to fight a few days ago!”

That day, when Luo Yu fought cavalry on foot, Walimu had been watching from a distance. This face had left a particularly deep impression on him!

“Good eyes.”

“It really is you!”

Walimu laughed hideously and raised his blade.

“Wang Shuang’s death must be related to you, right?”

“That’s right. I deliberately let you into the fortress.”

Luo Yu chuckled. “I didn’t expect you all to fall for the trap so easily.”

It wasn’t that the Qiang people were stupid, but that they had looked down on the Qian border army with extreme contempt for a long time. They never took them seriously; otherwise, Walimu wouldn’t have charged into the fortress so recklessly.

“Despicable villain! If you have guts, fight me to the death!”

Walimu knew he had no hope of survival, but he wanted to drag Luo Yu down with him before he died!

“Good!”

Luo Yu waved the scimitar in his hand. “Then I’ll give you a chance to die in fair combat!”

The surrounding soldiers were a bit worried. Walimu wasn’t an ordinary soldier; he was a centurion, after all. His martial arts must be much better than the average grunt.

“What an arrogant tone. You rely on what, you brat still wet behind the ears?”

Walimu laughed in extreme anger and leaped forward.

“Eat my blade!”

“Hah!”

The heavy blade chopped straight down from midair. He was indeed a Qiang centurion; even after fighting for so long, he could still deliver such a powerful strike.

The watching defenders were incredibly tense. Could Luo Yu really win?

At the moment the blade fell, Luo Yu tilted his waist slightly. The blade chopped into the ground, almost grazing his chest.

Luo Yu had quick eyes and hands; he stomped one foot onto the blade. Walimu pulled desperately, but the blade wouldn’t budge.

Just as Walimu gathered all his strength to yank the hilt, Luo Yu suddenly let go without warning. Losing his center of gravity, Walimu fell backward and crashed onto his back with a thud.

“My turn.”

Luo Yu gave a cold shout and followed up with an arrow-step. Imitating Walimu’s earlier move, he leaped high into the air, his scimitar shining dazzlingly in the firelight.

Walimu’s pupils contracted violently, a trace of terror revealing itself in his eyes. Before he could steady himself, the blade crashed down.

Splurt!

Walimu’s eyes widened. He stared in disbelief at the blade plunged into his chest. He couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t even block a single strike from Luo Yu.

Huff.

Luo Yu stood up with his blade and scanned the field, his cold eyes devoid of emotion.

What greeted him were countless fervent gazes and cheers:

“We won!”

“We won!”

* * *

Sunrise, early morning. A sudden cold wind rose.

Jiming Fortress had been burned to ruins. The smell of gunpowder smoke and blood permeated the broken walls.

The garrison soldiers, who had fought fiercely all night, sat in a row against the wall. Some were grinning foolishly; others had collapsed from exhaustion. Little Wu was excitedly telling Meng Hu how he had hacked a Qiang soldier to death…

The taste of survival after a calamity was truly sweet.

Luo Yu smiled with gratification. Through this fierce battle, the new recruits had undergone a transformation. At the very least, their legs wouldn’t shake with fear when they saw Qiang soldiers in the future.

Dong Chuan sat beside Luo Yu, prostrating himself in admiration.

“Brother Luo’s brain really works well. If it were me, I would only have defended to the death; I would never have deliberately let the Qiang soldiers into the fortress. I wouldn’t have been confident in killing nearly a hundred Qiang soldiers in one go.”

Even now, Dong Chuan felt like he was dreaming. More than twenty defenders had actually defeated nearly a hundred Qiang soldiers, losing only two brothers on their side. In the past, this would have been completely unimaginable.

“With the grain in Jiming Fortress cut off, defending to the death would only have dragged us into a dead end.”

Luo Yu spoke softly, “Only by risking death could we gamble for a chance for the brothers to survive.”

“I admire you.”

Dong Chuan gave a thumbs-up. “This battle has scared the wits out of the Qiang soldiers. The dozen or so Qiang cavalry left outside didn’t dare to support them; they just ran away directly.”

“Actually, there’s nothing to fear about the Qiang people. They carry one head on two shoulders just like us; if they get cut, they die too.”

Walimu had led the main force in a night raid on Jiming Fortress, leaving only a dozen men at the camp. When the fire started in the fortress, those dozen men wandered around the perimeter, caught in a dilemma.

Because they couldn’t figure out what was happening, they didn’t dare enter the fortress rashly. When Walimu’s corpse was hung on the wall, those people scattered in an uproar, not daring to stay a moment longer.

“But we can’t rejoice too early.”

Luo Yu gave a wry smile and looked around.

“The fortress is burned to ruins, and the grain is gone. If Qiang reinforcements arrive, we really won’t be able to hold. We need to think about a way out.”

“Look! Cavalry!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Meng Hu’s shout of alarm rang out.

Everyone stood up one after another, looking into the distance with panicked expressions. If another squad of Qiang cavalry came now, they could only wait for death.

Fortunately, the riders were wearing Qian army uniforms.

“Reinforcements! It’s our reinforcements!”

More than twenty tall horses galloped over in a line. The riders on their backs actually wore breastplates. It should be known that there wasn’t a single piece of iron armor in the entire Jiming Fortress. On the Que Prefecture front line, soldiers qualified to wear iron armor were definitely elites.

The cavalry approached aggressively. Only when they got close did Luo Yu notice that many of them had a Qiang soldier’s head hanging from their saddles.

They were the very Qiang soldiers who had fled from the outskirts of Jiming Fortress!

Which meant these men had run into the Qiang remnants and killed them in passing.

Luo Yu looked at the cavalry squad with great curiosity. He had seen some cavalry at Yunyang Pass; many were just for show, weak and powerless. The aura of these men was completely different; a solemn, murderous spirit rushed toward his face.

“Whoa.”

At the very front of the horse team, a young officer pulled the reins and stopped steadily in front of everyone.

This person wore light armor and a sharp blade at his waist, possessing the capability of a battlefield warrior. Yet his appearance was delicate, with fair skin and handsome features. If not for the military attire, he would look more like a scholar.

He frowned slightly, scanning the ruined fortress walls.

“How did it end up like this? Where is Wang Shuang? Where is Zhang Gui? And the Qiang soldiers besieging the fortress?”

Luo Yu hurriedly stepped out of the crowd and cupped his fists.

“Both commanders are dead. The Qiang soldiers have been annihilated by us.”

Although he didn’t know who this person was, he could tell from his tone that his rank was definitely higher than Wang Shuang’s!

“Both dead? Then who led the troops to defeat the enemy?”

“It was me.”

“You?”

The young officer looked at Luo Yu with interest.

“What is your name?”

“Luo Yu.”

“Good name. Enter the fortress.”

He smiled faintly.

“By the way, my name is Xiao Shaoyou, Vice Centurion. From now on, you are all under my command!”

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