Chapter 77

Chapter 711: When fortune comes like spring, there will be joy in the camp (3)

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Among the soldiers of the Hanjin Camp, Songho was neither Gao Shun nor a nameless soldier. He was struck down and died on the spot.

This left General Songho greatly flustered, unable to regain his composure. Perhaps it was a natural outcome, given that the entire detachment had been wiped out.

As a result, Urek, who had been hoping for rescue, became increasingly anxious.

"These guys, how can they be doing nothing when I, Chuhu, am in such peril! Biyang! Biyang! Where are you?"

Biyang, whom Urek repeatedly called out for, could not return to his side alive. Something flew into Urek's face as he repeatedly tried to escape.

He caught it by reflex, but when he realized what it was, Urek dropped it in shock. It was none other than Biyang's severed head.

His neck had not been cleanly cut but torn off. It seemed to have happened suddenly, as his eyes were wide open and his mouth agape.

The one who threw Biyang's head was Gao Shun.

"Come out, enemy commander, and present your head! Do you think you can escape from Gao Shun, the leader of the Eight Commandants of the Lü Bu Army?"

Gao Shun, who had been moving through the enemy ranks alone without any guards, had finally targeted Urek's head.

"Stop him! Stop that man!"

Urek had long lost the dignity of being Chuhu. He was thoroughly frightened by Gao Shun's overwhelming bravery.

Jiangyiduan, though a formidable force, had the confidence to defeat the same number of Xiliang cavalry.

But it seemed that this confidence was nothing more than arrogance. Or perhaps a few hundred Hanjin Camp soldiers were more threatening than thousands or tens of thousands of Xiliang cavalry...

"Chuhu, calm down. We, the Husa Army, will be responsible for your safety!"

One of the Husa soldiers, unable to bear Urek's repeated attempts to flee, spoke up. Urek nodded repeatedly at him.

"Yes, yes. You are here."

Urek let out a sigh of relief. Among the Husa soldiers, there were several hundred in heavy armor. Their duty was to never leave Chuhu's side, no matter what.

Moreover, the opponent did not use weapons but fought with bare hands. It seemed that the heavy armor would protect them from any blows.

"No matter how skilled that man's bare hands are, they will be powerless against the iron armor! Warriors of Ema! Go! Bring me that man's head!"

Urek once again showed his composure as Chuhu. It was good that he had stopped fleeing and was now ready to face the enemy again, relying on the heavily armored Husa soldiers to confront Gao Shun.

However, Urek would soon realize why Gao Shun held the position of the leader of the Eight Commandants without using weapons.

With a metallic thud, Gao Shun's punch indented the armor of the enemy soldier he struck. His fist plunged into the armor as if into a pile of sand.

The surprise did not end there.

Gao Shun moved with a fluid, water-like gait, weaving through the heavily armored Husa soldiers. However, the punches he delivered were incredibly powerful.

The noise of his punches hitting the armor was indistinguishable from the sound of iron clubs striking. Each time, the marks of his fists and palms were clearly left on the Husa soldiers' armor.

"T-t-t-that...!"

Urek could hardly speak, stunned by Gao Shun's divine prowess.

'He's not human!'

* * *

Urek thought he must have committed some grave sin. Though he did not know what, he felt he had incurred the wrath of the White Stone God, and a celestial general had descended to punish him.

Under normal circumstances, he would never have entertained such absurd and crazy thoughts. But Gao Shun's bravery was so unrealistic that such thoughts gained strength.

The Guanxi Army boasted many valiant generals.

From the Ten Commandants of Guanzhong to Jiangyiduan and his rival, the Red Armored Army. Excluding the Xiliang cavalry and the Yellow Infantry, the Guanxi Army included the names of all the famous units and generals of Guanxi.

But none of them possessed the same bravery as Gao Shun. How could bare hands knock down a heavily armored soldier in one blow? It was beyond Urek's comprehension.

Urek regained his senses only after the commander of Jiangyiduan, Jizhong Hongque, appeared on the battlefield.

He had led his troops here without rest, thinking only of Urek's safety and pushing them to the limit.

Jiangyiduan's troops were already quite exhausted from the battle with the Danwaigun. While the number of casualties was not as high as the Danwaigun, there were many injured.

Jizhong Hongque rallied his troops and set out to find Urek. In the vast field of corpses, the bodies of Jiangyiduan soldiers were scattered everywhere, with the occasional unfamiliar corpse surrounded by more Jiangyiduan soldiers.

'What on earth happened here?'

Jizhong Hongque could not understand the situation at all. If he were to force a logical explanation, there was only one possibility.

'Rebellion? Yes, if it wasn't a rebellion, how could this have happened?'

Jizhong Hongque's suspicion fell on Biyang. But unfortunately, Biyang's head and body were separated and scattered somewhere in the area.

Jizhong Hongque diligently searched the dark battlefield. Soon, something caught his eye. It was the body of a Hanjin Camp soldier.

'Light cavalry...? Assassin...?'

Unaware of the existence of the Hanjin Camp, Jizhong Hongque assumed the soldier was either light cavalry or an assassin.

The Hanjin Camp was indeed light cavalry.

The name Hanjin Camp originated from the Hanjin Army of the Qin dynasty. In later eras, it was also known as the Hanjin Commander.

However, the Hanjin Camp could not be confined to the small category of light cavalry.

Of course, Jizhong Hongque would not have known this.

* * *

Jizhong Hongque, with many doubts in his mind, set out to find Urek again, leaving Songho's body behind.

Had his earnestness reached the heavens? He discovered Urek's whereabouts.

He spotted the Chuhu banner fluttering precariously.

At the forefront...

The first to run towards Jizhong Hongque was none other than Urek. As soon as Jizhong Hongque saw Urek's face, he shouted to his troops.

"Protect Chuhu! We must not spare our lives!"

Urek's troops, already few in number, had been repeatedly defeated by Gao Shun alone. Jizhong Hongque's arrival meant that Gao Shun's forces were again at a numerical disadvantage. But it didn't matter; the advantage was already heavily in Gao Shun's favor.

"Chuhu! Your subordinate, Jizhong Hongque, has arrived! You need not worry anymore."

Jizhong Hongque knelt on one knee and paid his respects to Urek. Urek, in response, grabbed Jizhong Hongque's hand with both of his. His reaction was vastly different from when Biyang had come to report.

After all, Jizhong Hongque was the commander of Jiangyiduan and the strongest warrior of the region. Even if an incredible monster threatened him, Urek could feel at ease with Jizhong Hongque by his side.

"Oh! General Ji has come! I can rest easy, rest easy indeed!"

"Chuhu! What on earth is going on here? Could Biyang have rebelled?"

"No, no! Nothing like that. Rebellion? What nonsense are you talking about?"

"All I see are the bodies of our own troops. If they didn't fight each other, why are they here?"

Urek grabbed Jizhong Hongque's collar and shook him, pointing at Gao Shun, who was causing chaos at the rear.

"That man! That monstrous man has killed Biyang and is trying to kill me too!"

Jizhong Hongque's gaze followed Urek's finger. Urek spoke to Jizhong Hongque as if he were a younger brother reporting to his elder after being beaten.

"Quickly, kill that monstrous man!"

"Have I ever disappointed Chuhu even once?"

"Never! No, never!"

Jizhong Hongque, with Urek's encouragement at his back, charged towards Gao Shun.

* * *

"Jiangyiduan's commander, Jizhong Hongque, requests a life-or-death duel!"

Despite not being Han, Jizhong Hongque still challenged Gao Shun to a one-on-one duel. The Husa soldiers surrounding Gao Shun stepped back.

Thus, Gao Shun's massive figure was fully revealed.

His blood-soaked appearance was that of a fierce demon, and the fierce light in his eyes felt like a sharp blade cutting through flesh.

However, Jizhong Hongque waited calmly for Gao Shun's response, as if it were nothing.

Gao Shun was intrigued by Jizhong Hongque's introduction of himself as the "commander."

"Are you truly the commander?"

Jizhong Hongque nodded at Gao Shun's question, which continued.

"Are you better than the general named Chuhu?"

Gao Shun did not know the meaning of "Chuhu" and assumed Urek's name was Chuhu.

"I am Jizhong Hongque, the commander of Jiangyiduan."

Jizhong Hongque could not risk Urek's safety, so he was very cautious about mentioning Urek.

"I am Gao Shun, the leader of the Eight Commandants of the Lü Bu Army. If you have the courage, come at me!"

Gao Shun beckoned to Jizhong Hongque with his finger. Jizhong Hongque nodded and said.

"I don't want to fight an unarmed enemy. Don't you think it would be more interesting if you had a weapon?"

"Hmph! Against the likes of you, I don't need my Gulong spear. My bare hands are enough. Come on, attack me!"

Gao Shun had learned the Gulong spear technique under Lü Bu's command. Of course, he was skilled with various weapons besides the Gulong spear.

However, his spear skills were inferior to Zhao Yun, his sword skills were not as good as Wei Yue, his polearm skills were second to Zhang Liao, and his axe skills were bested by Xuhuang.

Gao Shun rose to the position of the second bravest general in the Lü Bu Army through his bare-handed combat skills.

Yet, he said this to provoke Jizhong Hongque, fully utilizing his strength in bare-handed combat.

"What? Bare hands are enough? Your arrogance is unbearable! Fine! I, Jizhong Hongque, will show you how to receive my sword with your bare hands!"