Yun Chang POV

I looked up and saw a row of arrows flying straight for us.

No other way about it now! I steeled myself as I dismounted and began slas.h.i.+ng left and right, knocking down all of the oncoming arrows.

“3,000-man general, charge with your troops, quick! Charge now!” I yelled to the general beside me who naturally understood what sort of predicament we were in.

“Everyone! Charge with me!”

s.h.i.+eld warriors at the head! There might be another wave!”

The 3,000-man general roared and soon, over a thousand troops charged ahead. Naturally, I did not forget to tell them to let the s.h.i.+eld warriors charge first.

“Is mother alright?” Guan Ping asked as she came over.

“I’m fine but my horse got hurt.” I said as I looked at my horse and saw an arrow stuck in its abdomen. Luckily, it was not too deep and could be safely extracted with minimal hurt done to the horse.

“Will the horse be okay?”

“It’ll be fine.” I said as I reached out and broke off the arrow to prevent anyone from touching it and worsening its injury. That should do it for now.

“Well then, Guan Ping, we should follow–”

*Da* *Da*!

Un? All of a sudden, firecrackers came from our left and right.

“Kill!!!!!” Thunderous yells came from both sides the moment the firecrackers burnt out.

This! What is this! They were not in front of us but at our sides?! I looked about and saw enemies streaming out from the forest. A rough estimate would put them at more than a thousand at least.

“Yaa!” A soldier came slas.h.i.+ng at me while I was looking about and I dodged the attack before knocking him away. In the next instant, the enemy troops clashed with ours and the battlefield became utter chaos.

“Kuh! This is bad!!”

As I hurriedly helped to deal with the troops that charged at our vanguard , I finally realised that I had fell for the enemy’s trap. The footprints and arrows were just bait to get us to charge in. When our troops were spread out, the enemy’s ambush at our flanks would come in.

The arrows at the very beginning, and the barren territory, were all just smoke and mirrors. The real deal were the troops which were waiting at our sides. The very reason why they did not charge in at the beginning was so that they could force us to split up.

Right now, our 10,000 strong force was split in 2 and we were in a situation where we could not help each other and knew nothing about the other’s situation. We were truly in dire straits right now.

“Yaa!” I continued to hack and slash on foot while standing in the barren territory, doing my very best to force the enemy back as much as I can with my own strength. Because of the tree trunks in the area, my weapon could not be used to its full effectiveness and I was forced to hold it so that the range was halved.

When I looked about again, I saw that the enemy troops were wearing heavy plate armour and wielding scimitars which meant that they had a great advantage over our own troops.

d.a.m.n it all! The second time! I cannot believe we fell for an ambush twice!”

“Thousand-man general! Tell our troops to split in half and form 2 battlefronts to the right and left! You, and you, go to the rearguard and lead the battle!”

“Ah… Yes!” “U-understood!” The 2 generals who were entangled in fights seemed rather panicky as they replied and hurriedly went to the back, something that was not easy to do at all.

I knew that I was getting too hot-headed but there is no way that I can calm d

own under these circ.u.mstances. I also have no idea what Zhou Cang’s status is but it cannot be much better than ours. Now that we are split in half, I cannot even give the order to retreat.

“Enemy general! Hand over your life!”

Eh? Just then, someone came roaring at me. When I turned to look, I saw someone sprinting over like a beast, her ponytail flying behind her. She used the spear in her hands to part the crowd as she made a beeline for me.

I know who she is, this is the little sister of the Lu siblings who survived, Lu Xiang. Unlike the last time, Lu Xiang’s face was filled with hatred and anger and she seemed like a completely different person.

“Yaa!” All of a sudden, Lu Xiang roared out as she accelerated even further and closed the distance between us with just 2 strides. In the blink of an eye, her spearhead was slas.h.i.+ng down at my head.

“Mother! Watch out!”

“I know!”

Guan Ping who was busy with enemies herself did not forget to give me a warning but really, I am not at the level where I am unable to block this attack.

“Haa! *Ding* *Ding*!!” She followed through with her swing and swiftly attacked again before withdrawing her spear, after seeing that I had successfully blocked both attacks, and stabbing at me.

*Ci* *Ci*!

I raised my blade and used the hilt to deflect the spearhead and dodged the stabs that followed immediately.

Lu Xiang uses a spear but it’s not as long as the sort that Lord Zhao Yun and the like use so when she attacks, she does not need to worry too much about control. Naturally, she is not constrained by the tree trunks that surround us as well.

In comparison, I had to be careful with my strength and techniques on top of being constricted by the tree trunks. As such, I was forced to yield the initiative to her and merely defended as I waited for an opportunity to counterattack.

“Yaa! Haa! Yaa! *Ding* *Ding* *Ding*–”

After about 20-30 bouts, Lu Xiang’s attacks grew even more ferocious. The speed and mix of her attacks also increased, making it difficult to attacks. That said, she only uses simple slas.h.i.+ng and stabbing stances so I am still able to deal with all of her attacks as they come.

*Sou*– *Ci*!

Without any warning at all, she wordlessly stabbed viciously at me. I turned to the side and stuck close to the tree trunk as I deflected it but she suddenly stopped her attack and did a sweeping slash that was aimed at my legs. Luckily, I was swift enough and brought down my blade to block it but she suddenly withdrew her weapon again and leapt up as she did a somersaulting slash.

When I saw this, I hurriedly raised my blade to block the attack–

*Deng*!!!!

Wu! When our weapons clashed, I could feel a monstrous strength pressing down against my blade. This time, it was far greater than any of her previous attacks, so much so that I could see her hands shaking out of the corner of my eyes. Fortunately, this was still something that I could deal with. I can even block Lord Lu Bu’s attacks after all.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Eh? Lu Xiang roared out and slid her spear towards my left hand before I could react. I was going to remove my hand but if I were to do so, her spear would slash down my left shoulder.

“Yaa!” Just then, she yelled out again as she leaned to her right.

Wu! This action forced my blade to go along with her motion. I was not able to stop it as my blade itself was heavy enough that the momentum and her strength overpowered me,

*Ka*! A hacking sound soon followed and when I turned to look, I saw that my Green Dragon Crescent Blade had cut deeply into a tree trunk.

“Wu…” Lu Xiang groaned as she fell to the ground hard and struggled to get up.

“Enemy general… *Ke* *Ke*…” She wanted to say something but began coughing due to her fall and could not finish. When she finished coughing, she immediately charged at me, “– Hand over your life!”

“Kuh!” I reached out with both hands to grab my weapon but did not have enough strength to yank it out in time.

This was getting rather troublesome. All I can do is try to lure her away, dodge her attacks and wait for an opportunity to seize my weapon. As I stared at Lu Xiang who was charging at me, I waited for the opportune moment to dash to the side–

“Mother, I’ll help you!”

Eh? All of a sudden, a light blue figure burst into the scene. Her twintails swayed before me as the blade of a glaive similar to my own gleamed–

*Ding* *Ding*!

As their weapons clashed, rays of sunlight shone down and were reflected by their blades.

“Guan Ping!”

“Yaa!” Guan Ping roared out as she swept aside Lu Xiang. Compared to myself who thinks as I fight, Guan Ping seems to go with her internal flow.

“Mother, are you alright?” She turned and asked. Her light blue clothes were by now covered with blood but her face was devoid of fear. Instead, what I saw was a firm resolve, as though the childish airhead was gone.

“Ah, I’m fine.” I nodded.

“That’s great!” She actually smiled which surprised me and raised her blade as she continued, “Let me deal with that Lu Xiang!”

“Yaa!!” Lu Xiang roared as she charged once more but Guan Ping had yet to turn around.

“Oi! Watch out!”

“Eh?!” Only when I yelled at her did she turn back but Lu Xiang was already right before Guan Ping and Guan Ping’s weapon was still lowered–

*Ceng*

“Wu!”

“Guan Ping!!” I roared out as a spearhead appeared her back, piercing through her abdomen.

“Guan Ping!!!” I yelled out in shock once more as my eyes began to blur.