Book 4 Chap 8 – Revenge on the Snowy grounds
Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi sat on the 2 sides of the window inside the house, waiting quietly for the cruel enemy to arrive. Teng Yi’s emotions have calmed down, revealing the collected and stable composure of a highly skilled fighter but the pain and sadness in his eyes was intensified. Xiang Shaolong wanted to keep his mind away and asked, “Has Brother Teng been hunting here for a living since young?”
Teng Yi was silent for a moment before saying quietly, “To tell you the truth, I once had the dream of doing a little something for Han so I was in the military before and even raised to the position of commander. Later I saw that the people on top were too much, they only know how to belittle talents and pander to outsiders so disheartened, I brought my family with me to live in seclusion here. But who’d expect…”
Sounds of hoof beats were heard. The 2 of them were immediately energized and stood up to look outside the window. Amongst the falling snowflakes, in the silvery white world outside, a group of men and horses rode towards them slowly. Xiang Shaolong was stunned on seeing the scene and exclaimed hoarsely, “There’s at least 60 to 70 people!” Teng Yi replied coldly, “It’s 90 to 100.”
Xiang Shaolong took a closer look and looked back at him in surprise, saying with a nod, “Your observation is very accurate.” Teng Yi said, “Brother Xiang, you better leave! Just with the 2 of us, even with the traps we won’t be able to handle so many people.” Xiang Shaolong was originally feeling numb and was toying with the idea of retreating but now that he knows that Teng Yi has his mind made up to fight to the death, his valor was stirred instead and he said seriously, “Brother Teng do not be pessimistic so quickly. As long as we can persevere a little longer, once the sky turns dark, it’ll be beneficial to our movement. Humph! I, Xiang Shaolong, is not one to retreat at the last moment.”
Teng Yi looked at him in gratitude before focusing all his attention on the slowly approaching enemy. By now the sky is slowly darkening and Xiang Shaolong looked hard before he exclaimed in shock, “It’s Xiao Weimou!” And he felt a strong surge of apology.
Teng Yi had already heard his story and was stunned, “It’s Xiao Weimou from the state of Qi!” He sighed and continued, “Brother Xiang need not blame yourself, this has got nothing to do with you. You’re a victim as well!” Xiang Shaolong saw how understanding he was and felt a little better and at the same time gained more admiration for this highly skilled swordsman who is willing to lead a peaceful and boring life.
By now the large group came to the empty space in front of the houses and dismounted. The house that Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi were hiding in was where the tragedy happened so logically, Xiao Weimou’s men won’t step in here. Xiao Weimou looked gloomy and Zhen Lei stood next to him, his expression not any better either.
Looking at his men move the saddles and luggage from the horses back and moving them into the other houses, Xiao Weimou cursed and fumed, “I’m definitely not wrong. Xiang Shaolong pretended to escape to Chu but that is just a trick. If he wants to return to Zhao, there’s only 3 ways. I bet he will not dare to travel through our Great Qi and the state of Wei, so the only route left is this path in Han, but why is it that we still cannot find him?” Zhen Lei commented, “We came here by ships and traveled on the official paths, so it’s not strange that we’ll be about 10 days faster than him. Now we will stop and set a trap here and once he passes by this place, he’ll certainly not be able to escape unnoticed from the 10 odd sentry posts we set up.”
Xiao Weimou replied, “Remember not to hurt Zhao Qian!” After he spoke he walked towards the house Xiang and Teng were hiding in. The both of them were overjoyed and moved separately to the 2 huge windows next to the door and raised their bows, getting ready to shoot as soon as he steps within shooting distance. Zhen Lei called out, “Head! That house…”
Xiao Weimou grinned fiendishly, “Such an exciting sight, it’s good to see it one more time. I love to see women who has been raped and killed by me.” And then he walked forward with large strides. Xiang and Teng were ecstatic, as they got ready.
Suddenly someone cried out from afar, “Head! Something’s wrong! There are fresh graves here.” Xiang and Teng instantly regretted their actions. They did not expect Xiao Weimou to be so cautious as to send his men to take a look around. They know that the chance is not to be missed and the sound of the bows rang as 2 arrows shot out the window towards Xiao Weimou. At that point in time that fiend was about 300 steps away from them and on hearing the swishing of the air he was startled and immediately dodged aside.
He could have avoided both the arrows but because Xiang Shaolong knows that he’s very nimble, he deliberately shot a little to the side so although he avoided Teng Yi’s arrow, he could not avoid Xiang Shaolong’s arrow, which shot through his shoulder. He cried out in pain as he fell backwards. A pity that it did not strike any of his vital points but it’s enough to make him suffer.
At this point in time almost half of the 100 men were already in the 6 houses while the rest of the 40 odd men outside all cried out in alarm and dashed towards the house they were hiding in. Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi hurriedly retreated towards the back door and once they reached the back of the house, they lighted the fire arrows and shot them towards the other houses.
These roofs and pine wood walls have all been tampered by them and a layer of inflammable pine oil has been poured on it so once it made contact with fire the flames spread immediately through the whole house and even the windows and doors were smeared with them. With the northern wind blowing, those who went into the houses seems to be in a space where they are cut off from the outside world and after traveling for the whole day, they all lied down to rest, not knowing that something has happened outside. By the time they realized something was wrong, the whole house was engulfed in flames. For a moment screams were heard everywhere, as if it’s hell on earth.
The 10 odd men who were running towards the house saw that they were about to reach the steps to the house when they suddenly felt the ground give way and they fell into the trap that Xiang and Teng made earlier, into a deep hole more than 10 feet deep and filled with pointed spikes so there’s no way they can stay alive even with luck. In that instant, more than half of the almost 100 enemies were either killed or injured and even the leader Xiao Weimou was injured.
With fire seemingly shooting out from his eyes, Teng Yi roared as he dashed out, killing everyone on sight. Xiang Shaolong dashed out from the other side, 2 flying needles flew out and killed 2 bewildered thieves before he drew out his wooden sword and killed his way towards the direction of Xiao Weimou.
Xiang Weimou was being helped up by Zhen Lei and another man and he felt the intense pain on his shoulder where the arrow injured him as he moved. He knows that he cannot fight and although he saw he greatest enemy Xiang Shaolong, there’s nothing he can do except grind his teeth in hatred and now that there’s only 20 odd men left, he cried out angrily, “Let’s leave!” Zhen Lei and his man hurriedly helped him towards the nearest warhorse as they left in a hurry.
Xiang Shaolong looked around and shouted, “Xiao Weimou is leaving!” The remaining thieves saw that it is indeed true and realized that the 2 of them were extremely highly skilled and although they have more people on their side, they could not take any advantage of them at all. In an instant their enemy killed another 5 of them and they all ran away in fear. Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi saw that it’s a chance not to be missed and they went after Xiao Weimou.
A few men who were loyal to Xiao Weimou turned back to stop them but they were soon gotten rid of by these 2 ferocious and highly skilled fighters. After Xiang Shaolong kicked a man flying away, he soon caught up with Xiao Weimou. Zhen Lei saw that they still have another 10 odd steps before reaching the horse so he pulled out his sword and turned back to block Xiang Shaolong.
Xiang Shaolong shouted, “Teng Yi! Give chase!” as he slashed towards Zhen Lei. Zhen Lei is indeed a highly skilled fighter and blocked the blow with his own sword. He dashed forward without fear for himself and for a moment the sounds of swords slashing in the air was heard and the fight was intense. The worse thing is that Zhen Lei is fighting with the thought of perishing together with the enemy and for the time being there’s nothing much Xiang Shaolong can do but to wait for the moment his attacks turn a little weaker. By now Xiao Weimou has jumped onto the horse. Teng Yi arrived just in time and slashed with his sword. One of the men was about to turn around to fight but was caught in the slash and he was thrown 7 steps back away by the impact, his blood spurting. This shows how strong is the hatred in his heart.
Xiao Weimou tolerated the intense pain as he clasped his legs around the horse’s belly and rode out. Teng Yi roared and he leapt forward, his great hand extending out and he actually managed to grab the horse’s back leg. The horse lost its balance as with a terrified neigh, fell down on the snow and Xiao Weimou was thrown off its back. Zhen Lei turned around for a look and was immediately terrified.
Xiang Shaolong was not one to miss the opportunity and he slashed thrice successively and on the 3rd slash, Zhen Lei’s long sword was thrown off and a huge opening was revealed. When Teng Yi leapt over and was tumbling around with Xiao Weimou, Xiang Shaolong’s wooden sword pierced forward like lightning and Zhen Lei gave out a horrifying cry before he was thrown back by the impact and died on the spot. At this time Xiao Weimou was struggling, his hand pinching Teng Yi’s throat and just as he was about to gather his strength to shatter the throat, Teng Yi pressed down hard on the arrow wound on his shoulder and the pain thoroughly numbed him for the moment and he loosened his grip as well.
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