Chapter 461: Arrowhead

The battle formation overlapped, twisted, and collided, spraying flesh and life from the gaps. The Japanese pirates' charge was blocked for a moment, and then they slowly began to push forward again.

"Something's wrong."

Wu Mingxiao deflected the incoming Japanese sword, but his hands shook, and the hilt almost slipped from his grip. The opponent had already raised the Japanese sword high, emitting a shrill, monkey-like scream, and was about to slash down!

*Ssh!

A fair hand reached out from behind him, five fingers forming a claw, tearing open the opponent's throat.

The corpse fell to the ground.

Wu Mingxiao took the opportunity to catch his breath, and heard Zhao Ying say calmly.

"Are the Japanese pirates always this fierce? You Dengzhou Garrison troops are holding up well."

Wu Mingxiao shook his head.

"No, Miss Zhao, these Japanese pirates are not right."

"So-called Japanese pirates are mostly refugees, at most mixed with a few broken families who know *Wu Gong*... that is, 'Ronin' from the East, and even those who can execute moves are rare. Usually, I kill them one by one."

"These Japanese pirates today are very strong."

He raised his Japanese sword and glanced at it; there were several chips on it. Almost one in ten of these Japanese pirates was a tough nut to crack. Although they weren't as difficult to deal with as the one just now, they were enough to fight him head-on for a few moves.

Zhao Ying kicked, sending the blade from the corpse's hand to Wu Mingxiao's side, turned, caught the ankle of someone kicking at her back, twisted it with a *crack*, and backhanded the throat of the sneak attacker, saying coldly.

"To be able to hide for so long without leaving a trace, and to have such a large number, it would be strange if they were just ordinary refugees."

Wu Mingxiao nodded.

"That makes sense."

He picked up the blade, rushed forward a few steps, and leaped onto a raised rock.

Borrowing this short moment, he scanned the battlefield.

The two were at the rear of the battle line, and along with them in this area were Ming Wanhai and several other *Jianghu* people, who were jointly intercepting the sporadic Japanese pirates darting out of the battle circle.

And in front of them was the defensive line composed of Dengzhou Garrison soldiers, forming a semicircle to surround the entire cliff, preventing the Japanese pirates from breaking through.

And in the center of the battle circle was the Qi Family Army, with Qi Jiguang as the arrowhead, drilling fiercely into the Japanese pirate formation. They had now almost pierced through the Japanese formation, only about ten *zhang* from the cliff.

It seemed the situation was looking great.

Wu Mingxiao, however, had a grave expression.

Because the Japanese line was pushing the Dengzhou Garrison's defensive line back bit by bit.

Most importantly, the Qi Family Army's advance speed had slowed down visibly to the naked eye. The width of the arrowhead formation was also constantly being squeezed narrower.

These Japanese pirates were very troublesome.

At the same time, in the center of the battle circle, the middle-aged man following Qi Jiguang also said suddenly.

"Vice Commander, no, we can't drill through."

"The ones who came up first were just cannon fodder to spread the formation; the ones coming up later are the real deal. If we stop for another moment or two, the brothers behind will be trapped."

Qi Jiguang in front didn't turn his head, just gave an "Mm," but didn't respond, only charging and slashing forward incessantly, his gaze, however, passing through the crowd calmly and throwing it toward the highest point of the cliff.

There were two people there.

One old, one young.

The old one was short but extremely sturdy, chest open, revealing a solid chest full of scars. A Japanese sword was stuck at his waist, five feet long, the scabbard dark purple with complex and gorgeous patterns. He had a dog-tail grass in his mouth, squinting as he watched the battle formation ahead.

The young man was tall, wearing armor, his expression calm, and he was also sweeping his gaze toward Qi Jiguang. The two just happened to meet eyes, then moved their gazes away tacitly.

The young man pursed his lips and said in a deep voice in the Japanese language.

"This General Qi is indeed extraordinary. If it weren't for the elite brought by the three *Daimyo* this time, I'm afraid we would have really been pierced through by his battle formation... We fell into a trap, Lord Tanaka."