Chapter 327

The ship that sent Bai Lang and them across was not small; otherwise it couldn't hold nineteen horses and nineteen sturdy men. The ship quickly crossed the river, slamming a plank onto the shore with a slap, then a rain of long arrows converged as the archers-crossbowmen dispatched from the shore and those on the ship exchanged fire. Rattan shields were raised along the gunwales to block the arrows, and the shields were coated with mud to prevent them from being set alight by fire arrows. Bai Lang took the lead and went into battle.

Bai Lang was not on horseback; he merely held a trident in his hand, stepped on the deck, and leapt into the air like a flying tiger, covering over ten zhang in one bound, directly plunging into the vanguard of the archer-crossbowmen. The arrows in the sky had no effect on him; Bai Lang literally bore the arrows as he crossed that distance, waving his trident to deflect the vast majority of them—Bai Lang did not want to land and have people see his warrior's cap and his brocade robe slashed to ribbons by arrowheads.

That would hardly be flattering to Bai Lang's image—who made him care about face these days? But what's the point of fighting bare‑chested? To show off those flowery, ornate tattoos on his body? Later ages have the Nine‑Patterned Dragon, but does the end of the Sui have a White Tiger Star Lord? The tattoos on him now can be recognized—one or two might be hard to tell, but when all seven are together who doesn't recognize them as the Western White Tiger Seven Mansions?

Bai Lang landed and, following through, swept his trident in a great circle, drawing a fine arc of light. One zhang six chi plus another one zhang six chi—within a radius of three zhang two chi around him, all the archer‑crossbowmen were split in two. Basically these men were cut open at the waist and upper chest; even those outside the blade's reach were smashed in two by the shaft. This single blow cleared out roughly twenty‑plus men, while the remaining over a hundred archer‑crossbowmen still hadn't figured out what was happening.

They were stunned by the swift carnage, until Bai Lang took a sideways step and, following through, unleashed a second strike—this time the men on his right were unlucky. This strike felled another dozen or so, and the rest finally let out a shout and fled in haste. Bai Lang did not pursue; he simply rested the trident on his shoulder and returned to the deck. Those cavalrymen had already led away Bai Lang's warhorse.

Bai Lang looked at his own clothing; even though he had blocked well, his clothes were still slit in several places by arrowheads, fortunately his warrior's cap was unharmed. "There's no way—I can't extend my protective vigorous qi outside my clothing in this world, and the brocade robe probably can't withstand having Internal Force poured into it to turn into steel plate." Bai Lang sighed a few times; since it was already torn, there was nothing he could do but leave it be.

After everyone had gone ashore, Bai Lang mounted his horse, let out a shout, and then led these eighteen horsemen forward at a slow pace. Bai Lang's sortie was merely to strike at the morale of Zhu Cui's army—after all, in history it was quite common to use elite cavalry to repeatedly attack small forts and sap the enemy's spirit, just as the late‑Han flying general, leading Zhang Liao and other sturdy commanders with dozens of horsemen, would storm a few Junying each day, leaving the opponent helpless, right?

Bai Lang did the same; with his eighteen horsemen he quickly approached the series of outpost forts outside Zhu Cui's main camp. These little forts also fired arrows, but Bai Lang simply batted them away with casual sweeps of his trident, while two cavalrymen hooked their grappling hooks onto the gate, then, spurring their horses, pulled the bolt free and the gate flung open. Thus Bai Lang charged in first on horseback, and the colonel and soldiers who came to block the door were easily slain by him, whereupon the troops behind simply broke and scattered.

Bai Lang merely waved his trident with one hand, thrusting and slashing left and right—those elite troops sent to block the gate were all killed. Even those holding large shields were useless; the trident pierced and split them, and together with the soldiers behind they were hacked to pieces. Bai Lang alone broke into the fort, advancing over ten steps on horseback and slaying more than twenty, while the cavalry that poured in behind also loosed arrows repeatedly, killing over ten more, whereupon the troops behind simply opened the rear gate and fled.

Before fleeing, they naturally had to loot first, so amid the uproar some panicked soldiers ran straight to Bai Lang—only to be cut down easily. Since they were already looting their own camp, setting fires‑accidental or otherwise was par for the course; Bai Lang simply led his horsemen through the camp, casually cutting down the foolish fools who got in their way. These routed troops were driven to charge the second fort, and this time the second fort even sent out its own cavalry to meet them, treating their own fleeing soldiers as trash and trampling over them.

Even killing their own like this ended up stirring the ferocity of those twenty‑plus horsemen and the five or sixty infantry following behind, all in armor—these men had even practiced cannibalism before, so their eyes blood‑red, they charged. Bai Lang used a strike like a thunderclap, quickly crushing their morale as thoroughly as their lives. He swung his trident, lifting the enemy cavalry right off their feet, and the lance in his hand, from its tip, was caught by the trident and lifted upward.

The man was forcibly yanked from his saddle, and with a quick pull and swing of Bai Lang's hand, his upper body flew off like a hit ball while his lower half landed on the horse. Meanwhile Bai Lang's sixteen‑chi trident kept thrusting forward; a shake of his hand made the tip blur into a phantom, sweeping level across the two horsemen lunging ahead. The two cavalrymen, rider and mount, were sliced horizontally at the horse's neck, and as Bai Lang rode past, the two were still sliding off their lower halves.

The armor on his body was utterly useless.

Bai Lang led the charge, squaring off against those twenty‑plus horsemen; after killing just four or five he was already facing the infantry behind them, while the rest were matched against the eighteen horsemen following Bai Lang's advance. At that point the twenty‑plus horsemen were beginning to break up, their ferocious energy overwhelmed by Bai Lang's even more violent killing intent, and Bai Lang had easily cut down a few of their bravest, so they had slowed their horses and looked like they were about to scatter in every direction.

The cavalry following behind Bai Lang at this point nocked arrows, let loose a volley, then charged forward with their lances. These men were sharp‑eyed, quick‑handed, and strong‑armed; in the blink of an eye they had slaughtered or knocked down Zhu Cui's horsemen, then fell in behind Bai Lang to kill the infantry. Bai Lang swept his trident in a line, killing only over ten, and these infantry likewise began to rout, whereupon they were easily cut down from behind.

At that moment the defeated troops were still fleeing......

That day Bai Lang cleared eighteen camps, slaughtering hundreds of Zhu Cui's troops, causing the bugles in Zhu Cui's main camp to sound off repeatedly. When Zhu Cui's cavalry charged out, Bai Lang had already brought his horsemen back to the shore, had his men start boarding, and stayed behind to practice archery. He used an iron‑cored strong bow, fitted with iron‑tipped arrows, took a rough aim, then let loose. The bowstring thundered repeatedly like claps of thunder; although Bai Lang's aim was not precise, the arrows were swift and powerful, and any that struck were sure to pierce straight through...... By the time Bai Lang also boarded and began the return voyage, the opposing Zhu Cui cavalry was still in turmoil and unable to break through.