Chapter 24

Capture the thief, first capture the king!

He Ping's eyes were fixed on Wolf, this time he would not let the Wolf King escape, would not give him the chance to switch with a substitute. The moment he burst out of the flames, he charged straight toward Wolf, brandishing his halberd. Although he was still some distance from Wolf, the killing intent he emitted made the Wolf King, who had killed countless people, feel a chill. Wolf instantly understood that He Ping's target was only him.

"Quick, attack him! Stop him! Tear him to pieces!" Wolf was extremely angry. As the proud Wolf King and the first general of the Lance family, he was actually frightened by a mere child. However, despite his anger, Wolf did not lose his head. With his aged body, facing He Ping would mean certain death. He retreated while ordering the surrounding soldiers to charge. Even if they couldn't suppress He Ping, they had to delay him and prevent him from getting close.

The surrounding soldiers surged toward He Ping. The herd mentality was the same in any world. Initially, no one dared to engage him when he first charged out, but once one person mustered the courage to charge, many others followed. Seeing so many people charge, the surrounding soldiers also put aside their fear. After all, the opponent was only one person. No matter how strong he was, it was impossible for him to emerge unscathed from such a large group.

Facing the first soldier who charged, He Ping did not even turn his gaze. He simply swung his halberd, sending it at an angle toward the soldier as he charged. The soldier had no time to react and was pierced through the chest by the halberd's spearhead. To the surrounding people, it seemed as if the soldier had run into He Ping's spearhead on his own.

The death of the first soldier caused a slight hesitation among the other soldiers, but they had already charged and were prepared for many casualties. They would not retreat. More soldiers rushed into He Ping's attack range. He Ping, having retracted his halberd, could not ignore the attacks from so many people. However, as a master of long weapons, dealing with such a situation was not too difficult for him.

This time, He Ping used the axe part of his halberd. He suddenly stopped his charge, using the momentum from his run and his immense strength to swing the halberd in a half-circle. The five Okland soldiers who were still charging forward did not react to He Ping's sudden stop and directly collided with the halberd's axe. They had no time to dodge or even scream before they all fell to the ground, clutching their necks.

Instantly cutting the throats of five people with such a large and heavy weapon, causing them to die instantly, was a feat that left the subsequent soldiers stunned. In their eyes, the halberd was a symbol of roughness and power, not known for its finesse. However, the precise cutting of the five throats made them doubt their own weapon skills.

Seeing this, Wolf was also greatly alarmed. He had already learned the entire process of He Ping's battle with Chris and the subsequent charge led by He Ping and the Tianhua army. From the accounts of witnesses, Wolf deduced that He Ping's strength and speed were far beyond those of ordinary people, but his weapon skills were very clumsy. This did not surprise Wolf, as He Ping was still a child and had no time to learn weapon skills.

But now, He Ping's performance had completely overturned everyone's worldview. The single blow that cut the throats of five people did not seem like something a first-time halberd user could do. Even among the most famous halberd users and generals in Okland, only a few could achieve such a feat. At least, no one in Wolf's acquaintance could do it!

How is this possible!? How could such a significant change occur in just a few days? If He Ping were using the Fangtian halberd, which is only used in Tianhua, his improved skills could be attributed to Zhao Zheng sending someone to train him. But he was using an Okland halberd, which, although similar, has a very different usage method. Wolf had not heard of any general in Qingyang being skilled with the Okland halberd.

The situation had changed! He Ping's combat ability had increased several times. Although it would still be difficult for him to escape the military camp, with such skills, He Ping could reach Wolf. Once Wolf became He Ping's hostage, He Ping could leave the camp peacefully by using him as leverage!

Wolf instantly thought of He Ping's best escape plan and saw He Ping closing in. He was terrified and even ignored commanding the army, turning to flee. However, He Ping had also noticed Wolf's plan and increased his speed, pursuing Wolf. He Ping's pursuit speed was almost the same as Wolf's escape speed, and the distance between them did not increase.

Thus, a strange situation formed within Wolf's camp. The camp was filled with soldiers, a deliberate arrangement by Wolf to prevent He Ping from escaping under the cover of night. Now, these soldiers were continuously charging at He Ping, but since he was the only target, no matter how many soldiers surrounded him, He Ping only had to face a dozen or so at a time. For the current He Ping, a dozen soldiers were just enough to keep him busy.

In this situation, He Ping continued to advance toward Wolf at a steady pace. Realizing He Ping's intentions, Wolf did not sit idly by. He wanted to run, but the surrounding soldiers, who were all charging at He Ping, blocked his escape route. To escape, Wolf used every trick he knew, but with so many soldiers focused on He Ping and the darkness of night, no one noticed they were blocking the general's path. Moreover, the Wolf King was old, and his body was far inferior to these young soldiers.

As he ran, Wolf found that the distance between him and He Ping was not increasing but decreasing. With only about twenty meters left, Wolf was extremely anxious. At this moment, something even more terrifying happened. He Ping suddenly seemed to go berserk, his strength increasing significantly. He quickly cleared the soldiers between them, and with a swift movement, He Ping covered the twenty meters and stood directly in front of Wolf!

[PS: Tomorrow will be three updates. Thinking about it, I'm a bit excited...]