Chapter 137: Blood Feud

"Bullshit! You want to surrender to the Tartars—you'll have to ask this blade in my hand whether it agrees!" Liu Zeqing had just finished shouting when Zhang Shize, who had been shot down beneath the wall, stood up as if nothing had happened.

"The Duke of Ying is mighty!" Seeing their commander so valiant, the Capital Camps soldiers' morale soared, and they brandished their blades and spears, shouting wildly.

Zhang Shize gripped the long spear stuck in his body, drew his saber and pointed it at Liu Zeqing, shouting at the top of his lungs: "By imperial decree, only the chief culprit shall be executed—all followers are pardoned! Why don't you lay down your weapons and return to your homes!"

The surrounding Grand Guard warriors and Capital Camps soldiers joined in the shouting. Hearing this, many of Liu's troops on the wall showed moved expressions, and quite a few began calculating their own options.

Just then, Yang Yufan arrived with several thousand of his troops as reinforcements. He pointed at the wall and shouted angrily:

"Liu Zeqing, you've done every evil deed imaginable, and now you even try to imitate Kong Youde and cross the sea to surrender to the Qing? Today's Linqing will be your burial ground!"

"Hurry and take your household retainers down the wall to hold them off!" Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Liu Zeqing no longer had any will to resist—his mind was entirely occupied with how to escape Shandong and surrender to the Qing.

Even at this moment, Liu Zeqing—who considered himself far superior to the likes of Kong Youde and Shang Kexi—still felt not a trace of remorse, only brooding over why he hadn't left Shandong earlier to surrender to the Qing.

"Why aren't you moving?" After shouting for a long while, Liu Zeqing saw that his household retainer Platoon Officer Li Huajing was still standing in place. He immediately cursed at him with spittle flying, and instinctively kicked out with his foot.

"Sorry, Marshal. You want to surrender to the Qing, but we're not willing to cross the sea with you!" This time Li Huajing nimbly dodged aside, gripping his saber hilt and sneering:

"Marshal, things have come to this—you'd best just give yourself up!"

Li Huajing and some of the household retainers looked at Liu Zeqing with ill intent, their blades and spears also trained on him—clearly about to turn their coats on the spot. Liu Zeqing stumbled back several steps, saying in disbelief:

"Li Huajing! I've treated you well all this time—why would you do this to me?"

"Treated me well!" Li Huajing showed no intention of refuting him, only sneering continuously, then said: "But look at where things stand now—the imperial army has us surrounded on all sides, Marshal! A wise bird chooses its tree, and brothers need to find a way to survive for their families!"

Hearing this, before Li Huajing could even finish his last sentence, Liu Zeqing suddenly thrust his blade out, and with a swift stroke, chopped off Li Huajing's left arm.

Then, without giving Li Huajing any chance to speak, another stroke of the blade sent a head tumbling to the ground. "Who else wants to betray me?"

Seeing the soldiers around him retreat in fear, Liu Zeqing pointed at the mass of officers and men below the wall swarming like ants to attack the city, and roared: "Anyone who fights out of this encirclement with me—I'll forgive past offenses, and once we reach the Qing state, there will be rich rewards besides!"

"Kill!"

The moment Liu Zeqing's words fell, Mou Wenju leaped onto the city wall with his Yanzhou troops, directly engaging in bloody combat with the wavering soldiers of Liu's forces on the wall.

Seeing that Mou Wenshou had not yet mounted the wall, Liu Zeqing felt no fear whatsoever toward Mou Wenju, this younger brother of the Mou family. He stepped forward and delivered a splitting blow like a mountain-cleaving axe.

Mou Wenju had just cut down one of Liu's household retainers and was looking for his next target when he suddenly heard the whistle of wind. Without a moment's thought, he threw himself forward in a head-first roll, barely managing to dodge Liu Zeqing's blade.

Looking up, he was startled to find a deep gash left where he had been standing. Before he could react, Liu Zeqing closed the distance and struck again.

Caught completely unprepared, Mou Wenju could only raise his blade to block horizontally. Unexpectedly, the blow split his right hand's tiger's mouth open, and he couldn't even hold onto his weapon—it clattered to the ground with a 'clang'.

Liu Zeqing knew he had no retreat left; his only way out was to fight his way out of the city with his men. With his status as Regional Commander of Shandong and these troops, he could still receive courteous treatment from Dorgon and land a decent position within the Qing state.

Mou Wenju had underestimated Liu Zeqing's combat ability. He never imagined that Liu Zeqing—whose military merits were all stolen from others—could have such strength. Without his blade and with his right hand useless, he could only keep dodging left and right.

Liu Zeqing pressed his advantage relentlessly, pursuing Mou Wenju without mercy until he cornered him, then mercilessly drove his blade into his abdomen and twisted it around vigorously.

Mou Wenshou had just mounted the wall and was searching for his clansman when he suddenly saw Liu Zeqing raise a very familiar head. His fury erupted like fire, and he sprinted forward shouting:

"Wenju! Liu Zeqing, I'll make sure you die without a place to be buried!!!"

Mou Wenshou and the clan soldiers under his command were all enraged beyond measure. Mou Wenlu, Mou Haixi, Mou Haiqi, Mou Shixiao, Mou Shixing and others each fought with extraordinary valor, their only thought being to avenge Mou Wenju.

"Boom—"

Just then, a tremendous crash came from below the wall—the south gate of Linqing Prefecture had been pushed down by the crowd.

The Capital Camps officers and soldiers, along with Yang Yufan's troops, poured into the city like floodwaters bursting through a sluice gate. Qiu Lei's forces from Wuding Prefecture also converged from the other gates, and the entire city was filled with imperial troops bearing the court's banners.

Liu's forces were chased into frantic disarray, utterly unable to resist. Some had already lost heart and thrown down their weapons to surrender. Only about one-tenth remained following Liu Zeqing, fighting while retreating into the city's narrow alleys.

But no one had expected that even the common citizens of the city bore a blood grudge against Liu Zeqing.

Aside from those who had fled the city, most citizens, upon hearing the imperial troops shouting along the streets that they would not harm the people in the slightest, summoned their courage and used all sorts of objects to block the roads as barricades.

Their women and children were kept at home, while groups of men of all ages stood at the alley entrances holding various farming tools and rakes. Seeing Liu's routed soldiers being chased toward them, they shouted and charged out, beating the dogs that had fallen into the water.

When Yang Yufan led his men in pursuit, he witnessed this scene of citizens and Liu's routed troops fighting together—everyone's face was filled with shock.

Qiu Lei, Assistant Regional Commander of Wuding Prefecture, wanted to lead his men charging in, but Yang Yufan raised his hand to stop him. Without saying a word, he simply stood rooted in place, watching this brutal scene.

In truth, the citizens of Linqing, who had been oppressed by Liu's forces for half a year, all bore a blood grudge against these routed soldiers—and fought even more fiercely than some of the officers and men.

Aside from most who were fighting, some people actually threw themselves directly onto Liu's routed soldiers and bit them. The ground was littered with ears, shredded flesh, and severed limbs, and the air was filled with the miserable screams of the routed troops.

One of Liu's routed soldiers was pinned to the ground by several burly citizens, while another citizen raised a stone high and smashed it viciously down on the arm with which the soldier gripped his blade.

"Ah!!!"

A miserable shriek rang out, and the soldier fainted from the pain. But the citizens clearly had no intention of letting him off. The one holding the stone kept smashing down until he had brutally broken the soldier's arm into a bloody pulp.

Liu Zeqing at this moment could neither die nor flee. The citizens were growing more numerous, and his routed troops, beaten senseless by the imperial army, had lost all will to fight—now thinking only of escape, they were even less able to resist.

The officers and soldiers of the other units all stopped outside the alleys, looking at each other in bewilderment. No one dared to go in at this moment—were these really the gentle ordinary citizens of peacetime? They were a bunch of madmen!

A crowd of citizens piled onto Liu Zeqing, biting him piece by piece until he was a bloody mess.

Liu Zeqing cut down an old man with one stroke, then kicked over another person, but suddenly received a heavy blow to the back of his head—a citizen had smashed him senseless with a wooden club.

Then, several citizens pinned Liu Zeqing to the ground with rakes and piled on top of him. The scene that followed was so gruesome that even Mou Wenshou and the others who arrived upon hearing the news found it shocking to behold; some of the more timid ones dared not look directly.

Afterwards, Zhang Shize, recuperating from his wounds in camp, saw the mangled corpse carried in by the Capital Camps soldiers, and his expression likewise shifted.