Chapter 102: Board the Cart First, Buy the Ticket Later

Tang hengdao sabers generally come in two types. One is under eighty centimeters, wieldable with one hand, and can be used with a scabbard or paired with a shield.

The second type is the one Zhang Zhao holds now — close to a meter or even longer, suited for a two-handed grip, for slashing, chopping, and thrusting at medium range.

A flash of cold light — the first charging Divine Warrior arrived, raising the curved blade in his hand high as he hacked at Zhang Zhao.

But the hengdao saber in Zhang Zhao's hand was far longer than the curved blade. Before the man could get close, Zhang Zhao savagely slashed him across the neck.

The dark head instantly lolled to one side. Not much blood sprayed out, but one could see that nearly half his neck had been cut through. Then the man spun crookedly in circles and collapsed.

The second Divine Warrior, seeing that Zhang Zhao had no time to recover his blade, roared and tried to crash in and fight Zhang Zhao face to face — because at too close a range, the long hengdao saber in Zhang Zhao's hand would be hard to bring to bear.

But Zhang Zhao had already anticipated this. Borrowing the force of his slash, he executed a half-turn on the spot, and the ghastly long blade swept rapidly across the Divine Warrior's belly.

First the outer cloth robe, then the undergarment, and finally the dark belly — followed by a gush of blood.

A strong stench of viscera and blood hit the air. The Divine Warrior's belly looked as if it were vomiting.

Zhang Zhao had just given him a cesarean section.

Yet this Divine Warrior was remarkably brave. Clutching his belly, he actually still tried to charge forward!

Zhang Zhao could only slash upward diagonally again, and the sharp steel blade opened another gash across his belly.

This time more organs surged out in a rush, then hung down to the ground.

However brave a man may be, he generally cannot withstand such a ghastly sight — besides the physical pain, there is also the tremendous psychological shock.

After cutting down this Divine Warrior, the remaining men had basically all reached Zhang Zhao.

Having just recovered his hengdao saber, Zhang Zhao let out a great shout and kicked the nearest Divine Warrior flat onto the ground.

Then he too simply strode forward with a sudden step, sank his body down, left leg forward and right leg back in a bow stance, and borrowing the forward momentum, his hengdao saber slashed out from above with lightning speed.

Crack! A sound like a whip cracking rang out, and the hengdao saber's blade shuddered violently.

A bloody groove appeared out of nowhere on the body of the Divine Warrior who had been struck. He opened his blood-filled mouth and let out a piercing howl, then slowly toppled to the ground and rolled about wildly.

Three more killed in an instant!

Zhang Zhao's valor left Ashina Chuo, still seated at the rear, speechless with shock!

No wonder the bear-like warrior beside him showed no intention of going to help, and no wonder the surrounding armored soldiers were not the least bit nervous. So this Tarkan truly possessed the martial prowess to face ten thousand men!

Thud!

Zhang Zhao, the man Ashina Chuo regarded as a match for ten thousand, was suddenly rammed hard from the side.

It was Mahmud. His twisted face was full of savagery. In just a few short minutes, five of their eleven men were gone — these were all his sworn brothers!

And he had also seen that the armor on this gold-armored man was sturdy beyond measure. For them to try to pierce it with these rotten blades and rotten spears was sheer delusion.

The only hope was to bring the gold-armored man down. The golden armor on his body weighed several dozen jin — once he fell, it would be very hard for him to get back up!

The surrounding Divine Warriors were all warriors who had come ten thousand li from the Arab lands, hoping to win high office and rich rewards through force of arms. They only had to watch Mahmud's movements to know what to do — besides, they had been together for several years and had long since developed a tacit understanding.

Mahmud was the first to ram Zhang Zhao, and immediately a second man crashed in as well. Another Divine Warrior even stripped off his clothes and wrapped them around his hands, then seized Zhang Zhao's hengdao saber in a death grip, refusing to let go even as the blade cut him until blood streamed down.

Not bad!

These eleven men were stronger than the several hundred who had come in the previous days. If all the Divine Warriors had this kind of courage, the battle for Shule would certainly be bitterly hard-fought. Fortunately, such men were only a minority.

A third man crashed in. Zhang Zhao decisively released his grip on the hengdao saber, shifted his body aside, and hooked his leg — and this Divine Warrior went flying.

"By Allah!" Amid the roaring shout, Mahmud, seeing that he had failed to knock Zhang Zhao down, actually wrapped both legs around Zhang Zhao's waist, hanging from his body like a koala.

The surrounding Divine Warriors seized the chance to close in. Six men threw all their strength into shoving Zhang Zhao to the ground.

Ashina Chuo clenched his teeth in tension. Dunzhu was also somewhat nervous. He shot a meaningful glance at Wang Tongxin in the distance, ready to rush in and help the moment anything went wrong.

"Die, barbarian scum!" Zhang Zhao was furious! This dog of a thing had actually wrapped himself around his waist.

In an instant, the sour stench of Mahmud's body drilled straight into Zhang Zhao's nostrils. His black-yellow buck teeth swayed before Zhang Zhao's eyes, and the foul reek of his mouth was enough to drive a man mad.

The others came at him — some to twist Zhang Zhao's hands, some to hug his calves and try to drag him down by force.

Just as a filthy hand touched his arm, the enraged Zhang Zhao's hand found the two sharp blades at his waist.

These were two zhangdao short blades he had specially commissioned from craftsmen in the Khotan royal city, forged using the wrought-iron-wrapped-steel method. Though they could not compare to later-era materials, they were still quite sharp.

A zhangdao is a short blade similar to a Japanese wakizashi, used for fighting when the enemy has closed in and the hengdao saber cannot be brought to bear.

There were also specially forged steel-wrapped zhangdao for piercing armor. Zhang Zhao's current situation was precisely the moment when a zhangdao was most appropriate.

The moment the two zhangdao were in his hands, Zhang Zhao gripped one in each hand, flicked his wrists, and the two blades traced a half-circle in the air.

A scream rang out. The fellow who had reached out to grab Zhang Zhao's arm was now cradling his hands — each missing several fingers — and wailing.

Thrust! Slash! The hand-grabber was gone! Zhang Zhao finally had the chance to deal with the man coiled around his body, still desperately trying to tear off his face guard and then gouge out his eyes.

A burst of searing pain shot through him. Mahmud suddenly convulsed violently, and then a piercing scream rang out. Zhang Zhao's two zhangdao had stabbed into his left and right kidneys, and he even gave them a savage twist.

The kidneys are among the most vital organs in the human body. A wound this severe to that area can kill a man in a very short time.

The legs Mahmud had wrapped around Zhang Zhao's waist loosened. He dropped to the ground with a thud, left with nothing but ceaseless convulsions.

And with Mahmud's death, the remaining Divine Warriors finally broke. Facing this utterly ferocious gold-armored man, they could no longer summon the slightest will to resist.

"Dunzhu! Wang Tongxin! Finish them! Leave none alive!"

Zhang Zhao did not pursue. Instead he returned the zhangdao to his waist and turned to walk back toward Ashina Chuo.

"Tarkan, you are truly a vajra guardian of the Buddha! I have never seen anyone as valiant as you!"

Seeing Zhang Zhao — covered in blood, walking toward him like a demon god — Ashina Chuo hastily performed a Tang-style chashou salute, and his speech sounded even more like a son of Tang. This Tarkan of the Pugu carried Li-Tang blood in his veins; he would surely appreciate such gestures.

Zhang Zhao removed the vajra face guard and smiled at Ashina Chuo. "Then if I am so valiant, may I become the male camel of the Basmyl people?"

Time was pressing. Get the people in hand first, then worry about the rest — board the cart first, buy the ticket later!

The current de facto ruler of the Karakhanids, Satuq, was the Male Camel Khan — Bughra Khan. So the meaning of Zhang Zhao's question was very clear.

Ashina Chuo hesitated a moment, but he knew he had little choice. On the steppe, there had always been the custom of following the strong.

Of course, one could also choose not to follow — as long as one was willing to be slaughtered, entire tribe and all, by the strong. At that thought, Ashina Chuo hastily bowed and placed a hand over his chest.

"If the Tarkan can find a place of refuge for the Ashina clan, then the Tarkan shall be our khan!"

A brilliant smile spread across Zhang Zhao's face. This Ashina Chuo might have only a little over a thousand tribesmen under him, but that was only because the Khan of the Karakhanid state had stripped their family of its rule over the Basmyl people, leaving him to manage just this many.

Yet the Basmyl people as a whole numbered a full three thousand tents — at least eighteen thousand people. If he could use the prestige of the Ashina family to carry off even half of them, or a third, that would be a tremendous success.

Moreover, among the troops of the Karakhanid Satuq Bughra Khan besieging Balasagun, there was still an elite Basmyl cavalry force of over five hundred men!

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