Chapter 654: [The Grand Arrival] (Upper) Extra Chapter for Linghu Lake's Red Drift

Just then, the sound of horse hooves like thunder came from all directions. Hu Xiaotian frowned slightly; it seemed the enemy had reinforcements arriving. The Dong family's influence in Da Yong was truly formidable. With such a disparity in numbers, if they really fought, defeat for our side was certain. Hu Xiaotian said to Zhan Peng: "Zhan Peng, fall back for now!"

Zhan Peng, hearing this, put away his horn bow.

Dong Tianbing still looked somewhat unwillingly at Zhan Peng; he was naturally combative, and facing an opponent like Zhan Peng, his fighting spirit had been fully aroused. He had already decided to compete with Zhan Peng in archery skill. Seeing Zhan Peng withdraw and retreat to camp, Dong Tianbing sneered: "Are you scared?"

Zhan Peng said nothing, silently walking back to Hu Xiaotian's side.

Zhou Mo gave Xiong Tianba a look; Xiong Tianba also picked up the Great Iron Hammer and came back, then reached out to take the other Great Iron Hammer from Zhou Mo's hand, brandishing it a few times, and said with a curled lip: "Too light! Empty chamber?"

Dong Tianjun was so angry smoke seemed to rise from his seven orifices, but his right hand had just been smashed on the iron hammer and his bones still ached terribly; for a moment he dared not go up to demand it back.

This time the one who came was Dong Tianjiang, the third son of the Dong family. Although he was the youngest of the three brothers, his martial arts were the strongest. Now he was the commander of the Tiger Standard Battalion of Yongdu, serving under Weichi Chong. The three brothers' tempers were each more violent than the last. Dong Tianjiang was dark and sturdy, riding a large black horse, even more robust than the eldest Dong Tianjun. He held a halberd in his hand, imposing and fierce, his domineering aura revealed, appearing before everyone like a heavenly general descending to earth. He raised his halberd and shouted loudly: "Brothers, follow me! Level the South Wind Inn, bloodbath these little southern barbarians!"

Hu Xiaotian had hoped this time they could reason, but unexpectedly each one was more overbearing than the last, each more unreasonable. Seeing Dong Tianjiang, Xiong Tianba couldn't help but laugh, hahaha: "I never thought there'd be someone blacker than me in this world, like a lump of charcoal."

Hearing Xiong Tianba's laughter, and seeing he clearly held his elder brother's weapon, Dong Tianjiang's anger flared from his heart, and he roared: "You little southern barbarian! Dare to seize my elder brother's weapon—take your life!" He clamped his legs around the horse's belly; the black horse beneath him neighed loudly, charging with Dong Tianjiang toward Xiong Tianba like a black whirlwind, rushing forward with unstoppable force.

Xiong Tianba ignored Zhou Mo's order, actually swinging his twin hammers and charging at Dong Tianjiang. Zhou Mo angrily shouted: "Come back!" Just from Dong Tianjiang's appearance, Zhou Mo already knew this person should be the strongest of the three Dong brothers, and indeed it was so: Dong Tianjiang was the foremost brave general of Da Yong, not only possessing astonishing divine strength but also outstanding martial arts, deeply favored by Grand Marshal Weichi Chong.

If Dong Tianjiang were an enraged male lion, Xiong Tianba would be a ferocious, agile leopard. He took three quick steps forward; his right foot stomped the ground, using rebound force he had already leapt into the air, his body in midair assuming a fish-leap posture, raising both hammers and smashing down on Dong Tianjiang with a whoosh!

Dong Tianjiang's halberd rotated and swept out, before him myriad illusory images appeared, within the illusions cold light flickered.

The twin hammers met the halberd, only hearing a ding-dong, kick-step……the continuous clashing sounds never ceased.

On Zhou Mo's face appeared an unprecedented look of worry. Although Xiong Tianba was born with divine strength, he had no profound martial arts; he could not contend with true masters. Earlier he had lost to Wen Boyuan's hands, not because his strength was inferior, but because his technique was inferior.

Dong Tianjiang also possessed astonishing divine strength; his physical strength was not inferior to Xiong Tianba's, and since childhood he had trained in martial arts, making him one of the few top talents among Da Yong's younger generation. He repeatedly blocked Xiong Tianba's twin hammers, then the halberd transformed into a long arc of light, straight for Xiong Tianba's lower abdomen.

Xiong Tianba's attack method was extremely risky, equivalent to completely abandoning defense; if the attack failed, it was tantamount to completely exposing his vital points to the opponent.

Xiong Tianba's move had grown old; he was in midair, now nowhere to dodge.

Although Zhou Mo rose to save him, ultimately the distance was still too great; at the critical moment, Zhan Peng drew his bow and nocked an arrow, shooting toward Dong Tianjiang's mount—shoot the person, first shoot the horse; only thus could he force Dong Tianjiang to abandon his killing move and rescue Xiong Tianba from under his halberd.

As Zhan Peng shot the feathered arrow, Dong Tianbing also began to act; in fact his gaze had never left Zhan Peng's left and right, and he likewise shot an arrow, intending to use Zhan Peng's previous method against himself, to break Zhan Peng's this arrow.

The feathered arrows flew at full speed in midair; the arrowheads collided, each side's strong impact causing the arrow shafts to tremble. The arrowhead shot by Dong Tianjiang actually split Zhan Peng's feathered arrow in half; Dong Tianjiang could hardly believe his eyes—he had never seen such a situation; Zhan Peng's feathered arrow, upon impact, split into two, continuing undiminished, shooting from different angles toward Dong Tianjiang's mount. Meanwhile, Dong Tianjiang's arrow continued flying toward Zhan Peng's direction.

Dong Tianjiang immediately understood what had happened: the feathered arrow Zhan Peng shot concealed a secret; originally it was not a single piece but two parts overlapped; upon encountering strong external force it would split into two. Zhan Peng must have already calculated that I would shoot an arrow to intercept, hence he made such an arrangement.

Dong Tianjiang marveled at Zhan Peng's superb archery while secretly admiring his mind.

Midway, Zhan Peng's arrow encountered the impact of Dong Tianjiang's feathered arrow; although it could continue toward the target, its power had already been reduced by half.

Dong Tianjiang watched the suddenly split feathered arrows, finally still retracting his halberd, backhand slapping the two feathered arrows, easily knocking them to the ground; he was worried his mount would be injured, choosing between killing Xiong Tianba and protecting his beloved horse, he chose the latter. Meanwhile, Xiong Tianba, thanks to Zhan Peng's arrow, fortunately escaped disaster; although he was bold, his face also changed at this moment—if Zhan Peng had acted a step later, he feared he would be pierced through the heart by Dong Tianjiang's halberd.

As Xiong Tianba's feet just touched the ground, someone grabbed his collar, hearing Zhou Mo coldly snort: "You brat, actually disobeying my order." He lifted Xiong Tianba from the ground, casually threw him, and Xiong Tianba flew like riding clouds and mist toward the gate of the South Wind Inn, landing with a thump on his buttocks, though not seriously hurt. Zhou Mo publicly rebuked him, but actually he was rescuing him, taking the opportunity to pull him out of danger.

Dong Tianjiang seized the horse reins, looking down at this unexpected guest opposite him.

Zhou Mo calmly gazed at Dong Tianjiang; Dong Tianjiang's icy killing intent surged like raging waves, engulfing Zhou Mo, yet Zhou Mo remained like a reef standing firm in the sea, unmoved despite the wind and waves.

Dong Tianjiang raised his halberd, his tiger eyes fixed firmly on Zhou Mo; just from Zhou Mo's single move of grabbing Xiong Tianba and throwing him back to camp, he knew the person before him was absolutely a top-tier master.

Dong Tianjiang's killing intent grew ever stronger, yet at this moment his mount beneath him slowly retreated a few steps, widening the distance between him and Zhou Mo.

Zhou Mo secretly admired: Dong Tianjiang, though young, had a very calm mind; perhaps his ferocity was only superficial, and when truly facing an enemy, he knew how to assess the situation and seize the initiative—he was advancing as retreat, widening the distance from Zhou Mo in order to better launch an attack.

Hu Xiaotian surveyed the surrounding dark mass of Yongdu troops; the entire South Wind Inn had already fallen into the enemy's encirclement. Under these circumstances, verbal advantage would not play much role. Dong Tianjiang was undoubtedly the strongest in the enemy camp; if Zhou Mo could defeat him, it would be equivalent to striking the confidence of all the enemy, perhaps turning the current passive disadvantage around.

Zhou Mo shared Hu Xiaotian's thought: capture the bandit chief first; as long as we control Dong Tianjiang, we could temporarily hold the situation. He slowly stepped forward, fists clenched, dust on the ground rose without wind due to the surging aura around him, forming a swirling vortex of dust beneath his feet.

The black horse beneath Dong Tianjiang seemed to sense this unusual aura; its mane stood up all along the neck; Dong Tianjiang's expression became unprecedentedly solemn; he raised the halberd with his right hand, clamped it with his right arm, lifted the reins with his left hand, his burly body leaning forward, gathering strength, a great battle imminent.

Suddenly, a gap appeared in the encirclement; a four-horse carriage slowly approached the South Wind Inn; inside the carriage window, a breathtakingly beautiful face poked out, laughing gege: "You knew the princess was coming, yet you didn't need to put on such a big show? Eh? The three Dong boys are also here." It was the Grand Princess Xue Lingjun arriving.

Dong Tianjiang hung his halberd back on the saddle, dismounted, and cupped his fists in greeting: "The subordinate Dong Tianjiang respectfully welcomes the Grand Princess."

Xue Lingjun's face was full of smiles: "I just heard there was lively entertainment here, so I came to take a look; unexpectedly it's you guys."

Dong Tianjun and Dong Tianbing also hurried over to pay respects; although they were also imperial relatives, their identities ultimately could not compare with the Grand Princess.

Xue Lingjun said: "All right, disperse; what's the point of making such a big fuss for whom to see?"

Dong Tianjun said: "Reporting to the Grand Princess, the Da Yong envoy is arrogant and rude, forcefully breaking into the Qichen Palace, and even injured Fang Gonggong of the Kunyu Palace."

Xue Lingjun said: "Even if that's true, it's not your place to interfere; in the Da Yong imperial capital, at the emperor's feet, you actually arbitrarily dispatch troops to besiege friendly state envoys—just whose orders are you following?" She had just been all smiles and charm, but in an instant turned cold as ice, speaking harshly and sternly.

Although the three Dong brothers felt resentful in their hearts, they dared not openly contradict. Xue Lingjun lowered the carriage curtain: "Immediately withdraw all personnel, otherwise I will go to the Minister of Justice's residence to question Minister Dong!"

The three brothers glanced at each other; Dong Tianbing nodded, and Dong Tianjiang shouted: "Did you hear the Grand Princess's words? Withdraw!"

Dong Tianjun was still thinking about his pair of hammers; he looked over and saw Xiong Tianba still holding his pair of Great Iron Hammers; he pointed at Xiong Tianba and roared: "Give me back my hammers!"

For Linghu Lake's red drift extra chapter, thanks to all brothers and sisters who donated and supported, plus a few more monthly tickets, mid-month, the monthly tickets have been a bit bleak! (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome you to)

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