Chapter 53

Although no one could describe the upcoming scene, it was actually called a slow‑motion shot—a slow‑motion shot caused by psychological factors. Bai Lang's right hand clearly and unmistakably seized the head of the shouting general from Li Liangyu's army—since they were at a banquet, this man also wore a headscarf, and everyone saw clearly that Bai Lang's five fingers went in like scooping into tofu, directly pulling in with blood.

The human skull, the hardest bone, is hardly different from an eggshell; one sees blood and a white liquid flowing from one side of the head, while the head is simply pressed into the chest cavity, so he cannot utter another word. The man whose head was pressed in flailed his arms and legs a few times before collapsing limp.

Everyone's throat felt as if it were blocked, and they stared blankly at all this; they could not say whether Bai Lang's movement was fast or slow, as if only after that person shuddered a few times and fell did Bai Lang turn and almost simultaneously leap out to block in front of another general who was trying to shield Li Liangyu.

The following action was also clearly visible, yet no one could move for some unknown reason—Bai Lang's left hand reached forward; even though these generals wore mail armor even at the banquet, it now seemed utterly useless...... Bai Lang's left hand simply slipped into the general's chest, and when it protruded from the back, everyone saw he was clutching a human heart. Everyone present, except Governor Deng and the dancing girls, was a seasoned killer; they recognized the heart at a glance—perhaps someone had even eaten one before.

But such a situation was truly too horrifying...... Bai Lang withdrew his hand, casually tossing the heart aside, and as he turned his body he was already facing Li Liangyu. Bai Lang smiled at the corner of his mouth; everyone shivered coldly—was this not the grin of a ferocious tiger baring its fangs? At that moment the generals finally came to their senses, shouting loudly as their personal guards lunged forward—though their movements were somewhat sluggish.

Li Liangyu drew the pistol at his waist, while the two standing personal guards pulled out their waist sabers and placed them before Li Liangyu, intending to block Bai Lang's charge. Under Bai Lang's impact, the guard swung his saber down—these were trusted household servants, fed silver by Li Liangyu, who daily trained their strength and practiced martial arts; however, in terms of battlefield killing techniques, they might not even match the Qing soldiers' bayonet.

The long saber fell; Bai Lang did not dodge or evade, and the blade struck his shoulder—an ordinary person would be cleaved from shoulder to waist by this blow, but Bai Lang only had his clothing torn at the shoulder, the blade rebounded, and the guard could not hold his grip as his tiger's mouth split. 'Even the Qing soldiers' pa-ta-la and the weapons of Ge Bu Xian Chao Ha cannot break my golden bell cover—what are you, then?'

Bai Lang lunged forward, and the guard before him flew straight into Li Liangyu; airborne, the man's bones and tendons were shattered, blood filling his mouth, unable to live. In his panic Li Liangyu fired his pistol, but it struck only the oncoming guard; the guard's corpse slammed into Li Liangyu, instantly breaking his arm as well.

Just as Li Liangyu was scrambling to crawl away, Bai Lang's hand had already come to rest on his neck......

Inside the tent everything fell silent at once; only then did Governor Deng react, saying, 'General Bai...... stop...... it seems there's no need to stop.' Three corpses lay in the tent, each dying differently, and a bloody smell permeated the canopy. The dancing girls had already shrunk into a trembling ball, too frightened to speak, while the generals and guards stared at Bai Lang's hand resting on Li Liangyu's neck, not knowing what to do.

'Great Commander Li, are you going to save Xiangyang or not?' As he spoke, Bai Lang suddenly extended his leg backward, kicking the remaining guard's neck with a single blow that severed the head from the neck—this guard indeed knew martial arts and internal force, for he had originally been ahead of Li Liangyu, yet now he suddenly employed a lightness technique to launch a silent attack on Bai Lang's rear.

This guard's neck was ultimately no match for the strength of the golden bell shield; Bai Lang kicked it straight off. The golden bell shield is heavy and solid, yet the Tiger Style strikes like lightning; Bai Lang's ability to combine the two shows considerable talent.

Hardly had the words been spoken when Bai Lang suddenly said, 'No good—letting him live, his word wouldn't count; might as well kill him.' Before Governor Deng and the others in the tent could say anything—indeed, before they could even react and shout—Bai Lang had already snatched Li Liangyu's head out, blood spraying straight onto the tent roof.

Governor Deng fainted outright...... With things turned out this way, could he possibly avoid fainting?

Li Liangyu had been outright killed—what of his great army? Who would command it? Since Governor Deng had 'fainted,' Bai Lang simply said inside the tent—of course, after first kicking over the headless corpse, holding Li Liangyu's head upside down by the spine—'You few, are you willing to follow Commander Li, or to follow Governor Deng?'

Bai Lang's expression remained normal as he casually asked the other generals in the camp. Beads of sweat the size of beans were visible on their faces; although the tent was neither drafty nor hot, they broke out in sweat on their foreheads while feeling a chill all over—this figure before them was essentially a beast in human form, and if one said they would follow the Great Commander, they might truly end up today walking the road to the grave alongside Li Liangyu.

They all then said, 'Of course we'll follow Governor Deng.' 'Then why don't you hurry and wake the governor, have him take his seat? After that, gather your troops for the governor to inspect?' Bai Lang continued. Those fellows immediately scrambled to help Governor Deng onto the seat, carefully pinching his philtrum, while sneaking glances at Bai Lang holding the head...... fearing he might suddenly go mad and kill.

Governor Deng woke up very quickly; the instant he 'awoke,' Bai Lang immediately drove Li Liangyu's head into his corpse as a nail, clasped his fists and half‑knelt, saying, 'Report to the governor, Commander Li died suddenly of illness; please, governor, take command of Commander Li's entire army to save Xiangyang! Do you agree?'

The generals all replied, 'Yes, and please allow the subordinate to rally the troops, awaiting your inspection.' Having said that, they stared at Governor Deng, hoping he would utter a single 'Allowed!' so they could rush out—at least for now it seemed this man‑shaped tiger still heeded the governor's word...... These generals, thinking it over deeply, found even their gaze toward Governor Deng tinged with deep dread.

Why did Bai Lang suddenly erupt in murder? Was someone behind it? Commander Li is a heavyweight general—could it be that, like Commander Mao years ago, he was killed by the supervising envoy? If we step back—how does the emperor view Commander Li? The more one thinks about it, the more frightening it becomes......