"Achai!"
The death of his archer companion nearly drove the burly Barbarian to madness. He and Achai were the two greatest warriors under their chieftain, having served by his side for many years and forged a bond as close as brothers.
"I... I'm going to kill you!!!"
The burly Barbarian raised his sword and charged at Liang Cheng, whom he had just kicked away.
Liang Cheng's left arm had been struck by an arrow. He lay on the ground, apparently unable to rise due to the severity of his injury.
"AAAAAH!!!!!"
At this moment, Zheng Fan, who had been hiding in a corner, screamed and rushed out, brandishing his sword.
He had hidden earlier to avoid being a burden, but if he didn't intervene now, Liang Cheng would be hacked to pieces by this burly Barbarian.
Liang Cheng remained on the ground, watching Zheng Fan charge towards him from another direction, yelling all the way. A faint smile touched Liang Cheng's lips, and he shook his head slightly.
The night before they departed, Blind Bei had secretly summoned them for a talk.
Blind Bei had said, "I know that deep down, none of you truly respect my lord yet. But ultimately, never forget that we were all created by him."
"If the real world is a cage, then my lord was once shackled within it. Now, all we need to do is provide an environment where my lord can develop freely. As our creator, the one who brought us into existence, he will surely grow into a leader capable of guiding us, one truly worthy of our loyalty!"
Zheng Fan was now truly throwing caution to the wind.
He knew the Barbarian was formidable. Even if the man wasn't "shining," Zheng Fan was no match for him. But to continue cowering in the corner, to watch Liang Cheng be cut down and do nothing, merely hoping the Barbarian wouldn't notice him so he could save his own skin…
That wasn't in Zheng Fan's nature. He had died once already. In this world, every extra day he lived was a gain. Therefore, he refused to live with regret!
Therefore, even if Zheng Fan's attacks relied solely on his roars,
at the very least,
he still charged forward.
And,
his roars were deafening!
"URGH... COUGH..."
The charging Barbarian's body suddenly shuddered, and he lurched to a halt.
He looked down at his palm in astonishment; it had turned pitch black.
"PTOO!"
A mouthful of blood, thick with a foul odor, spewed from his mouth, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
He was poisoned. It was a terrifying poison. The poison… it came from the fingernails of that Yan State man…
Zheng Fan had already rushed up to the Barbarian, but the Barbarian merely lifted his head in a daze, watching Zheng Fan draw nearer.
He tried to raise his sword,
but—
CLANG!
His sword
fell to the ground.
He tried to raise his fist,
but his body began to topple backward uncontrollably.
"AAAAAH!!!!!"
Zheng Fan's mind was empty of all other thoughts. Once he was close enough, he swung the sword in his hands with all his might!
"THUD!"
"THUD!"
The first thud was the Barbarian collapsing to the ground, blood continuously trickling from the corner of his mouth, his life force utterly extinguished by the Corpse Poison.
The second thud was Zheng Fan. Because the Barbarian had fallen, his sword met only air. Carried by the unchecked momentum, Zheng Fan also tumbled to the ground.
From a distance, Xue Three, his face looking like utter crap, still managed to let out a cheer, "My lord is mighty!"
Zheng Fan stared in disbelief at the dead Barbarian lying beside him. *Whew…* He had no regrets that he hadn't killed the Barbarian with his own hands. All he felt was an intense relief at having survived.
Not fearing death didn't mean one didn't want to live.
Liang Cheng rose from the ground. Gripping the arrow's fletching with his right hand, he exerted his strength and pulled the shaft from his left arm. No blood flowed out; only a puncture wound remained, with layers of black, baleful energy swirling around its edges.
Tearing a strip from his own clothes, he bandaged the wound to conceal it, then walked over and extended a hand to Zheng Fan, who was still lying on the ground, gasping for breath.
Zheng Fan smiled somewhat sheepishly, reached out, grasped Liang Cheng's hand, and pulled himself up.
"Heavens!"
Over there, Xue Three let out an exclamation.
"My lord, we've caught a big fish here!"
Zheng Fan and Liang Cheng hurried over. Where the two Barbarians had charged out from, an old man now lay propped up. He had two arrows embedded in him and several large, grievous wounds.
Though the old man's armor was dented and battered, its fine quality was still evident. Among the Barbarian tribes, armor that also aspired to beauty was an absolute luxury.
It seemed the two Barbarians had been trying to escort this old man out of the encirclement, placing him here temporarily while they attempted to quickly deal with Zheng Fan's group.
The old man's eyes were open, glaring furiously at Zheng Fan and the others.
It was clear that, despite his age, he would have been a formidable opponent had he not been injured.
"My lord, if we capture this old fellow alive, wouldn't the merit be greater?" Xue Three asked.
Zheng Fan bit his lip. "Kill him."
"Huh?" Xue Three couldn't understand.
Liang Cheng, standing beside Zheng Fan, also spoke, "Kill him. He probably saw everything that just happened."
Although they had some understanding of this world, it wasn't profound. Who knew if Liang Cheng's fighting style would seem unorthodox in this world?
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. True enough," Xue Three conceded.
At that moment, the old man, seemingly aware of his impending doom, suddenly glared at Liang Cheng and roared,
"Devil… DEVIL!"
"Heh heh, you got that right."
Xue Three's dagger swiped down.
「...」
The Yan State cavalry had taken control of the battlefield. The large-scale slaughter had ended. Now, all that remained was to conduct a thorough search of the camp, ensuring no Barbarian was missed.
One cavalry detachment discovered a peculiar sight.
Five cavalrymen reined in their horses before a pile of wooden carts, their eyes wide with profound shock.
On the wooden carts, a row of Barbarian heads was displayed.
The Barbarians' hairstyles were completely different from those of the Yan people. Although Yan State was located in the north and called a barbarian land by several large Central Plains countries, this was merely geographical discrimination, much like in later eras.
The Barbarians' peculiar hairstyles and their custom of tattooing and scarring their faces and scalps made their severed heads easily identifiable.
A dwarf crouched on one of the carts.
A man with a bandaged left arm stood on the other side.
In the center stood a man with a bloodstained face. He held an old man's head in his hand, and a headless corpse lay at his feet.
The squad leader's eyes narrowed. At this moment, he felt an intense urge to order his men to charge!
Those Barbarian heads were undoubtedly valuable; they could all be counted for merit or rewards. But what he coveted more was the old man's head. He had likely already guessed its owner's identity.
The main army hadn't stopped its search precisely because they were looking for that old man.
Mere conscripts! How incredibly fortunate these three were! As bait, they were supposed to die, yet in this chaos, they had managed to collect so many heads and even seized the greatest prize of this battle!
Xue Three, chewing on a grass stem, was disgusted by his own stench. But he was even more repulsed by the killing intent radiating from the five Yan State cavalrymen before him.
This killing intent was directed at the three of them.
He twisted his neck, his lips moving slightly as he whispered,
"My lord, they're planning to prey on us."
Contending for merit, even to the point of harming one's comrades-in-arms, was an unavoidable occurrence in the army. Especially since, in the eyes of those regular Yan State Army soldiers, Zheng Fan and his men were merely conscripts.
The warhorses began to paw at the ground; the cavalrymen could no longer restrain themselves.
It was still chaotic enough to act. If they delayed any longer, the search would end, more eyes would be watching, and it would no longer be convenient.
The squad leader finally made his decision, raising his broadsword.
"ROAR!"
Just then, a low roar echoed from behind the five cavalrymen.
The squad leader's body trembled instantly. They knew very well whose arrival that beastly roar signified.
The cavalrymen immediately turned their horses, lowered their heads in that direction, and simultaneously struck their left chest armor with their right fists.
"Another demonic beast?" Xue Three muttered.
Beside him, Liang Cheng also silently straightened his posture.
Just then, Zheng Fan saw a demonic beast slowly approaching. It had a tiger-like face and a pair of horns on its head.
It was a strange-looking demonic beast. Strictly speaking, if one were to find a comparison, it resembled a Pixiu more than the mount ridden by the Recruitment Envoy in Hutou City.
Atop the demonic beast sat a youth in red armor. The youth's face was very pale.
Behind the youth, an old swordsman in a purple robe followed step by step, cradling a sword.
The demonic beast passed the five cavalrymen and stopped directly before Zheng Fan. The young general in red armor atop it had a knowing smile. His gaze first swept over the severed heads, then across Zheng Fan and his two companions.
When his gaze fell upon Xue Three, the young general frowned slightly. Naturally, one couldn't expect a battlefield or military camp to smell fresh and fragrant, but for such a potent stench to be standing right before him was still somewhat unbearable.
However, a moment later, the red-armored general leaned down slightly, fixing his gaze on Zheng Fan, who stood at the front of the trio, and asked,
"You killed all of these?"
Zheng Fan nodded, meeting the other's gaze.
"How did you kill them?"
"By sheer luck."
The red-armored youth sat up straight again, his expression unreadable.
He guided his mount back towards the squad leader.
"Do you know your crime?" the red-armored general asked calmly.
The squad leader was stunned for a moment, then immediately dismounted and kowtowed.
"This subordinate knows his crime!"
In the army, sophistry was not tolerated, nor was there much emphasis on catching culprits red-handed. After all, you could never be sure if you were the 'chicken' your commanding officer intended to make an example of.
"It is good that you know your crime," the red-armored general nodded.
Hearing this, the squad leader looked up in terror, exclaiming,
"But they are mere conscripts! They were only bait!"
The implication was that people of such low status could be killed without consequence!
The red-armored youth replied calmly,
"They are now fellow soldiers."
Then, the red-armored youth called out softly, "Seventh Uncle."
"BUZZ!"
A red glow suddenly emanated from the old swordsman. His sword flashed from its scabbard and then returned.
"THUMP!"
The squad leader's head rolled to the ground.
The remaining four cavalrymen immediately dismounted and knelt on the ground, trembling.
The red-armored youth seemed to have no intention of further punishing these low-ranking soldiers. Instead, he turned to face Zheng Fan's group.
"Clean yourselves up and come to my tent."
Zheng Fan was somewhat taken aback. Just then, the sword-cradling old man's gaze swept over him, carrying an icy chill.
"This subordinate obeys!"
Zheng Fan emulated the manner of speaking of the squad leader who had just lost his head, cupping his fists in response, but he did not kneel.
"Heh heh heh... a conscript, daring to call himself 'this subordinate'."
The red-armored youth laughed. Then, as if remembering something, he added another order,
"By the way, that dwarf. Even if he scrubs off a layer of skin, he is not allowed into my tent."
Having given the order, the red-armored youth slowly rode away on his mount, the old swordsman following closely behind him.
The crisis was averted.
Zheng Fan let out a long sigh of relief.
Xue Three, however, grumbled in dissatisfaction,
"That damn pretty boy! How dare he look down on me..."