Chapter 68

"In Mr. Qin's words, he still has some fondness for the Huashan Sect; I, however, am quite curious whether Mr. Qin was very pleased when he was at Huashan back then?" Bai Lang, looking at the sighing Qin Wujiu, also said a sentence, rather rude. However, Qin Wujiu seemed not angry, but instead sighed.

"I have been frail since childhood; I went up Huashan to train martial arts to strengthen my body. Commander Bai, you have already heard me say this before. However, after I went up Huashan in my youth, my master was already old, so it was several of my uncles and senior brothers who taught me my martial arts." Qin Wujiu, while carefully wrapping those two corpses, said.

"At this moment he didn't call himself old; I'm embarrassed, having heard you repeatedly say 'old' earlier and thinking you were seventy or eighty. It's not good to call yourself old when you're not even fifty..." Bai Lang thought to himself, but he wouldn't say it out loud, and just listened to Qin Wujiu's lament.

However, Qin Wujiu didn't continue directly, but paused a while before speaking, "After my master and the various uncles withdrew from worldly affairs, my senior brother inherited the position of Huashan sect leader..." Saying this, Qin Wujiu smiled, "I, however, became Huashan's junior uncle; my senior brother's disciples are about my age..." Bai Lang laughed hehe in cooperation, listening to gossip is still quite interesting.

As expected, after the chatterbox opened, Qin Wujiu also became more talkative. "My senior brother's martial arts nickname isn't very pleasant to hear; he's read little, and I've advised him, but he insists this also counts as a Tang legend, the name is not bad—I said that's a Tang legend, do you also want to become a monkey spirit? Among us martial artists, we should still have an elegant appellation." Bai Lang then asked, "May I ask, Mr. Qin, what is your elegant appellation?"

Qin Wujiu gave a bitter smile, "They're all a bunch of illiterate louts; the elegant appellation I came up with myself they don't use, instead they call me Tie Jian Shusheng, which is truly crude and uncultured." Then Qin Wujiu shook his head, "At least I have some talent in practicing Huashan martial arts...... I have also taught a few of my senior brother's disciples." Bai Lang almost laughed out loud, "Tie Jian Shusheng? Wouldn't Duo Ming Shusheng be better. However, judging by his tone, he probably has the highest martial arts in Huashan? Nevertheless, Mr. Qin's internal force is indeed extraordinary, deeper than that of the assassin who used fists and palms earlier."

Afterwards, Qin Wujiu didn't say more; he didn't say how he broke with Huashan, but now it seems he hasn't completely severed affection for Huashan—otherwise he wouldn't have personally attended to those two corpses. However, the sentiment probably ends there; otherwise he should settle accounts with Bai Lang.

General Yuan, who had fled back to Li Zicheng's camp, reported his assassination failure, and of course also received the cold mockery of his comrades—regarding someone like him, a martial expert in escort, Liu Zongmin and other generals under Li Zicheng have always looked down upon; if he were just an escort, that would be fine, but how could he possibly merit being ranked alongside them as a third-grade brave general? Nevertheless, Yuan's words still made them feel quite thorny. "Could it really be an impenetrable external training skill?!" someone asked, and of course received Yuan's affirmative reply. "It is an external training skill rarely seen by me. Alas, my two junior disciples...."

General Yuan was still anxious and upset, no longer caring how those people viewed him—his two junior disciples had died like that and their bodies couldn't be retrieved; how should he face his two senior brothers and the other two junior disciple girls? Compared to that, losing his treasure sword and hidden weapon was relatively unimportant.

On the contrary, a certain girl was nervous to the point of both crying and laughing, happy that her beloved had returned alive—listening to General Yuan's account, the opponent's martial arts this time were simply terrifying. "Don't be afraid, Qing Mei, this imperial army commander only has strong internal energy, but in terms of technique and secret arts he is still inferior; Yuan Mou can still easily flee even if he cannot win." He also gently comforted his female companion.

However, the problem ultimately remains: how can this imperial army commander, if he dons armor and charges into formation, be resisted? This kind of impenetrable great strength external training skill is indeed a top-tier battlefield charge-and-kill technique, far stronger than the master of General Yuan, who perhaps has higher martial arts. Such martial arts masters can be easily surrounded and killed by military formations; not to mention, a volley of arrows from archers would kill them, and even if they could break into the formation they'd only manage to kill ten or twenty before exhausting their strength—this is not a one-on-one martial arts duel but a situation where killing also means being killed.

"On the battlefield, where corpses stand. Only we, who roam freely within it, are unstoppable!" Bai Lang pointed at himself and said to those cavalrymen; today he would again lead dozens of cavalry to strike out, uprooting each small camp. However, Qin Wujiu stopped Bai Lang, "Commander Bai need not waste his strength; better to rest two days, Commander Sun's great army has already begun to set up camp."

Indeed, Commander Sun, leading his large army, has continuously entered the field, setting up camp on the outskirts of Kaifeng Prefecture, preparing for a decisive battle with Li Zicheng. Because Bai Lang's forces arrived first and continued with small-scale engagements, Li Zicheng's side had no capacity to harass Commander Sun's occupation of the battlefield, so Commander Sun completed his war preparations in orderly fashion—unless Li Zicheng could mobilize on a large scale to exhaust Commander Sun, he would only accept the fate of fighting a major battle here.

Originally, one could mobilize imperial troops by attacking the Xiangyang area, but Governor Deng had already completed his flank deployment, Li Zicheng couldn't achieve this, Zhang Xianzhong had already been defeated, so Li Zicheng could be said to be isolated and helpless. In terms of troop numbers and combat strength, he should surpass Governor Deng and have a fighting chance against Governor Sun, but if he had to fight both governors, that would be very troublesome.

If the two governors combined their forces, Li Zicheng would actually find it easier, and perhaps his chances of victory would be great—these days, when the Ming army engages, many first flee, causing the whole army to collapse; however, mainly when facing the Eastern barbarians, when facing bandits they can still persist somewhat. However, if the two governors combined forces, their orders would be fragmented and contradictory; perhaps someone would indeed flee first...

Bai Lang's attack ceased, the battlefield fell into silence, even the daily assaults on Kaifeng Prefecture that Li Zicheng had been conducting stopped. On this day, Bai Lang received a letter from Governor Deng, hoping he would unite efforts and obey Commander Sun's orders. "I never thought this old Deng would be a man of national importance?" Bai Lang muttered, but then Qin Wujiu conveyed Commander Sun's summons.

Arriving at a central Junying resembling a small town, Bai Lang entered wearing armor, but he carried no weapon. Inside the camp, the various commanders sat arranged left and right, while Governor Sun sat at the head; before him was spread a huge map. "Is this arranging battle plans?" Bai Lang also didn't have time to listen more; after entering, he soon said, "I am willing to lead my unit's cavalry to charge the enemy's main camp; I shall be the vanguard of the whole army!" The commanders all glanced askance, though they didn't dare stare directly; this fellow's skin is thick—clearly he's just a light cavalryman plucked from the ranks, yet with a few words he's made himself commander of his own unit...