Magical Water Margin: They all call me brother

Page 28

Three days is too short. Quickly take down a few Ghost Fanlou, capture some people alive and interrogate them. Most of the most vicious bandits in Daming Prefecture are in Ghost Fanlou. I don't believe we can't get some answers out of them.

In this large-scale purge by the government troops, Song Wan was the first to suffer a terrible fate. She had the most manpower and the largest territory, and was also the first to be attacked and retaliated against. The commanders of the Xiang Army who were dispatched this time were afraid of losing their hard-won official robes, and the soldiers were afraid of being transferred from the interior to the Western Xia border. They all showed 200% enthusiasm!

In an instant, a large number of rat-man sentries were attacked by the Song army. Arrows rained down from the darkness, turning the rat-man sentries into pincushions. Some crossbow bolts could even pierce through wooden walls and shields!

Before the surviving ratmen could figure out what was happening, a group of Song soldiers clad in infantry armor and wielding giant axes charged towards them with a roar, accompanied by the sound of thousands of armor plates clashing against each other, and destroyed their outposts with overwhelming force!

When Song Wan realized that things were going badly, two hundred Song soldiers had already surrounded her stronghold. She and her men could turn into mice and run away, but they couldn't bear to give up the birthday tribute of more than 33,000 strings of cash. They could only rely on the treacherous terrain to put up a stubborn resistance while sending two messengers to turn into mice and run out as fast as possible to ask for help!

Just like that, a horrifying piece of news exploded simultaneously around Liu Hong, Zhu Gui, Wang Lun, and Du Qian: the Song army had begun indiscriminately massacring Gui Fanlou! Song Wan's sister was surrounded at home, and out of respect for Lord Guan, he pulled his sister out of the way!

The author says:

Author's Note: 1300 monthly votes will result in an extra chapter! Here's a set of Song Dynasty armor that I made myself.

Chapter 56: The Ghost Fanlou Martial Arts Warrior Breaks Through the Formation Alone

Upon hearing Song Wan's plea for help, Wu Song did not hesitate to draw his sword and prepare to fight. They had just sworn a blood oath a few days ago, and now that his sister was in trouble, how could he ignore her?

"Sister Zhu Gui, quickly arrange the boats and prepare to flee with the birthday gifts! Daming Prefecture is not a place to stay for long, and your inn is far from safe and secluded. Come with us!"

Liu Hong also drew his iron rod, intending to rescue Song Wan.

Zhu Gui's face was ashen as he looked at the intelligence report in his hand—Daming Prefecture had launched an unprecedented crackdown on organized crime. As one of the four capitals of the Song Dynasty and the closest to the Liao Dynasty, Beijing and Daming Prefecture had a number of central imperial guards.

Although the combat effectiveness of these imperial guards was relatively weak under the rule of the Song Dynasty, they were still much stronger than the local militia. It should be noted that the two hundred river guards from Daming Prefecture who escorted the birthday tribute were only at the level of elite local militia, while the combat capability of the imperial guards was superior to them.

At this moment, the 20,000 Imperial Guards and 100,000 Local Troops stationed in Daming Prefecture are all on the move! Sooner or later, this will affect us!

Thinking of this, Zhu Gui sighed and nodded firmly.

"Okay! I'll go with my older brother and sister!"

In an instant, the third star on Liu Hong's Heavenly Gang Slash also lit up, displaying a deep dark green color, echoing the two stars of Lü Fang and Guo Sheng.

【Zhu Gui - Earth Prisoner Star】: The Heavenly Gang Slash bites the target like a crocodile, attempting to trap the opponent for six seconds, making them unable to move.

This buff is interesting. Lu Fang and Guo Sheng increased the elemental damage and power of my Holy Slash, while Zhu Gui added a negative restriction effect. Anyway, I have zero cost when I use Double Heavenly Slash, so wouldn't I be able to control people until they die?

Having made up their minds, the two sides immediately split into two groups. Liu Hong led Wu Song, Li Cunxiao, Lü Fang, Guo Sheng, and thirty caravan guards in two small boats to rescue Song Wan.

Zhu Gui, Pan Jinlian, and Wu Dalang quickly began packing their luggage at the hotel, preparing to flee.

In an instant, oars rose and fell, the blue waves rippled, and the two small boats rushed into the underground city of Daming Prefecture like arrows released from a bow. After twisting and turning, they arrived in Song Wan's territory. All that could be heard was the sound of arrows piercing the air, the clash of weapons, and the screams of people!

As they drew closer, they discovered a Song army unit of twenty-five men attacking a tunnel entrance. These men were completely different from the local militia; brown leather straps strung with thousands of bright silver iron plates formed a standard Song Dynasty two-piece armor, which they wore.

One groin protects the chest, and the other protects the back. Thousands of bright silver lamellar armor plates are layered like dragon scales, covering from the shoulders all the way to the root of the thighs, protecting the most important part of the human body, the torso.

Each of them carried a two-meter-long halberd on their backs and held a large shield in their left hand, which served as a support to protect their bodies. They mounted incredibly powerful crossbows on the shields, equipped with finely crafted steel arrows with extremely sharp arrowheads, and aimed and fired them forward.

"preparation--"

At the command of the commander, a row of Song soldiers stretched out their right feet in unison, stepping on the footstool of the crossbow. The breathing of the dozen or so men was perfectly synchronized. They bent over at the same time, using the muscles of their waist, back, shoulders and arms to fully pull back the crossbow string and fix it in the groove. Then they loaded arrows, set up shields, and aimed at the enemy.

"shooting!!!"

With the roar of the Song army captain, twenty-five Song soldiers pulled the triggers in unison and fired forward! Amidst the deafening bang of the crossbow strings and the whistling sound of steel arrows tearing through the air, fifty crossbows burst forth in succession!

In an instant, the front-row demon rats were reduced to minced meat and blood amidst the barrage of arrows. When the iron shields made of pine wood were pierced by steel arrows, the sound of breaking was like the sudden cracking of an ice river in the dead of winter. The flying splinters, mixed with gunpowder smoke, wove a deadly net in the blood mist.

The remaining rats hastily retreated, but they could not escape the crossbowmen's second volley of shots, which were like the venomous spit of a snake. Some ratmen were hit in the limbs by the crossbows, and the huge impact could even tear their entire arms off their torsos alive.

Under the barrage of crossbow bolts, Song Wan's rat horde suffered heavy losses. Ordinary shields were no match for the crossbow bolts and steel arrows; the hastily constructed defensive line was utterly destroyed. Meanwhile, the Song soldiers, having blasted through the enemy lines, raised their shields and slowly but resolutely advanced through the tunnel. Their synchronized footsteps sounded like the coming of hellish messengers.

"Hiss—these are the Imperial Guards of Daming Prefecture: Jade Brave Crossbowmen! They're formidable! Their combat strength surpasses that of the River Guards of Daming Prefecture!"

After seeing the other person's appearance clearly, Lü Fang gasped.

“Brother, don’t worry. Ever since that battle, I’ve been thinking about how to deal with an enemy in formation. I’ll lead the charge! Once I disrupt the Song army’s ranks, you can then charge!”

Wu Song volunteered to charge into the enemy lines, and Liu Hong nodded in agreement, immediately leading thirty men ashore.

Wu Song took a deep breath and used a psionic giantification technique. Her muscle fibers surged beneath her skin like awakened pythons, and her originally strong body multiplied and expanded at an abnormal speed. When the five-meter-tall giant finally took shape, the trapezius muscles bulging on her back resembled granite cliffs, and her hanging arms were three times thicker than battering rams.

Her 2.5-meter-tall body instantly swelled to twice its original size, and her weight increased eightfold, transforming her into a beautiful 5-meter-tall giant!

Wu Song's family used to be part of the Guanzhong Army of the Tang Dynasty, and they fought many battles with the Tibetans, acquiring the blood of the Gray Dwarfs, one of the Tibetan tribes. However, Wu Dalang inherited both the Gray Dwarfs' abilities and appearance, while Wu Song only inherited their abilities.

Then, Wu Song used the gray dwarf's second ability: psionic invisibility. His five-meter-tall body instantly disappeared into the darkness. Using the Jade Ring Kick taught by his master, he moved silently like a cat and quickly crept up behind the Song army.

"preparation--"

Just as Wu Song was struggling to reload after the Song soldiers had fired a few steel arrows, he suddenly launched an attack! His two-meter-long arm wielded an equally enlarged two-meter-long steel blade, which he thrust over the heads of several Song soldiers, aimed at the Song soldier who was giving the order, and plunged downwards fiercely.

In an instant, a sharp steel blade pierced through the unarmored side of the neck of the man. Amidst the sound of steel tearing flesh and the cracking of the spine, the cold light of the blade, like a stalactite piercing through ice, completely penetrated the entire body! The dripping blood mist condensed into strings of agate blood beads in the firelight, and the tip of the blade peeked out three inches from the crotch gap, with blood flowing like a torrent.

"boom!!!"

Wu Song swung his steel saber fiercely, and the corpse of Ya Zheng, which had been pierced by the giant blade, was thrown out like a stone, knocking down three Song soldiers in one go.

"later!"

"An enemy is attacking from behind!"

"Good heavens! What is this thing?!"

The Song army was thrown into chaos. When they turned around and saw Wu Song's terrifying five-meter-tall appearance, they were even more terrified and trembled—was this even human?!

"Boom!!!"

When Wu Song was no longer stealthy, the entire ground began to tremble abnormally with her steps. She kicked two Jade Warrior crossbowmen away, slashed her steel blade fiercely at the ground, and then swung it sharply, carving a huge crater in the ground. Countless stones and dirt shot into the sky, forming a yellowish-brown tidal wave that crashed into the Song army, causing them to stagger and fall. Their armor and faces were covered in dust, and their entire bodies were obscured by the dust cloud.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Wu Song's tall and beautiful body spun and rolled, accompanied by three or four Song soldiers who were knocked away, and directly charged into the Song army's ranks. Her two steel sabers spun and danced, and although they could not penetrate the Song soldiers' armor, they could still use their immense strength to send them flying like kites with broken strings! She truly disrupted the Song army's formation with her own strength.

Chapter 57: The Thirteen Bells Ring Out, and the Rats Swarm

These brave crossbowmen, worthy of being members of the Imperial Guard, showed no intention of retreating despite the unfavorable situation of their leader being killed and their formation being disrupted. Instead, they put down their crossbows, drew their halberds, used shields in their left hands for defense, and halberds in their right hands for thrusting, and charged into battle with Wu Song with real swords and spears!

Wu Song did not linger in the fight. He wielded his twin swords and performed a set of drunken boxing moves. With dazzling movements, he constantly dodged and parried the Song army's attacks. Then, he quickly retreated towards the tunnel, drawing everyone's attention to himself and making them all turn their backs to Liu Hong.

Seeing that his sister had attracted everyone's attention and created an excellent opportunity for him, Liu Hong, along with Lü Fang and Guo Sheng, immediately launched an attack. With a fine iron staff reaching his eyebrows and flanked by two halberds, they simultaneously unleashed the "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" spear technique, causing the staff and halberds to tremble with high frequency and emit a series of mournful phoenix cries, launching an unstoppable and destructive charge towards the rear of the Song army!

Two valiant female generals, each wielding a halberd, seemed to be protecting Liu Hong's phoenix wings.

Watching the three men charge forward on foot with fearless backs, everyone in the team was inspired by their leader's bravery and fearlessness. A faint white light rose from their bodies, and everyone's heartbeat quickened, their breathing became rapid, and their spirits were incredibly excited!

Thirty soldiers with broadswords instinctively let out a deafening roar, following the footsteps of their three leaders, and launched a foot charge, like a hundred birds following a phoenix in flight.

The essence of the "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" spear technique lies in its ability to inspire the entire group to charge forward together.

Seeing the sounds of footsteps, shouts, and phoenix cries mingling behind them, the Song soldiers turned around in surprise and discovered that more than thirty people were rushing towards them. They quickly turned to defend themselves.

Just then, Li Cunxiao, at the back of the column, once again unleashed an incredibly dazzling incandescent lightning bolt. Liu Hong and the others, with their backs to the little blue dragon, were not greatly affected, but the Song soldiers facing the lightning directly were blinded by the white light, experiencing excruciating pain! They could see nothing at all.

In that brief moment, thirty swordsmen charged into the enemy ranks like birds returning to their forest. Before the twenty-five iron halberds could form a battle array, Liu Hong's iron rod streaked across the sky like a comet with two tails, smashing a heavy shield first. With a loud bang, iron filings and wood chips flew seven feet away!

At this moment, the 108 dim stars on these two star rivers are no longer visible, because the red, white, and dark green stars are too dazzling, obscuring the brilliance of the other stars, adding a fiery wave and a chilling white frost to the double star rivers.

The remnants of the starry river after shattering the great shield resembled hundreds of crocodile fangs, entangling the Jade Warrior crossbowman and rendering him unable to move or retreat. His eyes, gradually recovering from the intense lightning, could only watch helplessly as Liu Hong wielded a double-tailed comet, crashing down upon him head-on. Then, in a burst of excruciating pain, he completely lost consciousness.

With a roar, Lü Fang's halberd twisted around another halberd and suddenly exerted force, flinging a Song soldier, armor and all, into the air. The mangled body crashed into his comrades' formation, triggering a chain reaction of blood explosions. Guo Sheng, on the other side, spun and swept across, a cold light flashing as he passed a Song soldier's throat, blood spurting out and condensing into a three-foot-long mist of crimson blood above the army.

At that moment, the other caravan guards roared and charged forward! Their broadswords slashed at the Imperial Guards' armor, sparks flying and clanging, but they couldn't break through the defenses.

However, these people were crossbowmen, so they only wore two layers of armor to protect their torso, leaving half of their thighs and arms unprotected.

Therefore, the caravan members immediately changed their tactics, swinging their broadswords to slash at the Song soldiers' arms, causing severed limbs and blood to fly everywhere in the storm of blades!

In one corner of the battlefield, Liu Hongzhen flicked his wrist, and the tip of his iron rod whistled as it transformed into a hundred afterimages. Countless cold lights in the darkness turned into a dazzling metal storm. The pupils of three Song soldiers were fixed on the dazzling spear flowers, and soon they became dizzy and their eyes were blurred, with bluish-black afterimages imprinted on their retinas.

In that split second of blinding light, countless afterimages collapsed into a thick iron staff, as thick as a bowl, which, with immense force, bypassed the shield and slammed into the armored soldier's right shoulder. With a piercing, ear-piercing metallic tearing sound, the bright silver lamellar armor shattered like an eggshell, and the muffled thud as the staff pierced the shoulder blade was like thunder.

This move, "Phoenix Falls into Cloud Vortex," involves first unleashing a dazzling display of spear movements to disorient the enemy, allowing allies to launch an attack.

The pupils of the three Song army heavy armor soldiers were filled with silver light, and the bluish-black afterimages remaining on their retinas had not yet faded when seven or eight broadswords cleaved their arms, which were not protected by armor. Bone fragments, mixed with arterial blood, spurted out in a five-foot-high scarlet arc as the blades cut into their elbow joints!

Lu Fang and Guo Sheng used the same tactic. Lu Fang hastily spun his halberd, creating more than a dozen afterimages. Although it only maintained the blinding effect for half a heartbeat, it was enough for the broadswords of five or six caravan guards to crush the knees of two Song soldiers.

Just as the dazzling spear flourishes that Guo Sheng had barely managed to unleash dissipated, three blood-stained broadswords, their blades dulled by the blows, had already cleaved into the gaps in the enemy's armor. With each powerful and heavy slash, the enemy's cervical vertebrae were severed into three pieces, and the flying head slammed into the rock wall, splattering out four ounces of brain matter.

The devastating charge of thirty-three men overwhelmingly defeated the twenty-five-man Imperial Guards of Daming Prefecture! Seeing that the attention of the Northern Song Imperial Guards had turned to Liu Hong's broadsword team, Wu Song, who was behind them, got excited. Since the swords couldn't penetrate the armor, they would switch to other weapons!

The five-meter-tall demonic figure picked up two armored Song army corpses and used them as human-shaped hammers! The armored corpse on the left swept across the waists of five spearmen, several iron shields shattering instantly, shards of iron mixed with the finger bones of the shield-bearers scattering eight feet. Several vertebrae snapped into fourteen pieces with a muffled thud, the white bone fragments at the breaks pointing straight out in a bloody arc.

The corpse on the right swung around and smashed into the crossbowmen's formation. In a deafening explosion, two bodies exploded into a cloud of blood mist. The severed leg of one of the remains spun and fell into the underground river three feet away, creating crimson ripples.

Wu Song's killing spree was so intense that he moved as if he were in an empty field. The two armored corpses that had been repeatedly smashed were already unrecognizable, their chest cavities collapsed into a pulp, and their armor plates deformed and dented, but they still had twelve bloody teeth that had been knocked out. He smashed the Song soldiers who dared to stand in his way into unrecognizable shapes and annihilated all twenty-five Song soldiers on the spot.

"Guo Sheng! You take your men and clean up the battlefield. These iron armors are all valuable; move them all to the ship!"

Liu Hong wiped away the blood dripping from his eyes and charged forward, stepping over the corpses of Song soldiers. Guo Sheng nodded coldly and quickly ordered his guards to carry out his master's orders.

The rat defense squad, which was about to be wiped out by the Song army, was hiding in a pile of dead bodies. When they saw Brother Liu Hong coming to help, they were so excited that tears almost streamed down their faces. They knelt down in front of Liu Hong and wept bitterly.

"Where is Song Wan? Where is Song Wan?! What's the situation now?!"

Liu Hong quickly helped these people up.

"Thirteen roads, all thirteen roads have been blocked by the Song army! Three or four hundred Song soldiers are advancing through every tunnel, trying to completely surround and annihilate us! The boss is guarding inside the Ghost Fanlou! I'll take you there!"

"Alright! Lü Fang, you take your men and guard this passage. We absolutely cannot lose it, or we'll have no choice but to retreat from here!"

"Master! Don't worry about me!"

Lu Fang revealed a confident smile and patted his chest to assure her.

Liu Hong nodded and, leading Wu Song and Li Cunxiao, hurriedly entered Song Wan's lair. There she saw her tall, hunched figure standing amidst a small mountain of tens of thousands of copper coins. Her slender hands picked out the most valuable gold and silver jewels from the copper mountain and sea. Her dark green rat-like eyes were completely consumed by wealth and greed, and two sickly flushes appeared on her pale face.

"Song Wan! What's wrong with you?! The Song Dynasty's Imperial Guards are everywhere, and instead of running away, you're still packing up treasures?!"

"Brother Liu Hong? You've come to save me?!"

Song Wan turned around in surprise, glanced at Liu Hong, and then struggled to look back at the one-third of the birthday tribute. His right hand gripped a gold hairpin with a dragon and phoenix design tightly, so tightly that his fingertips turned white and the gold in his hand deformed.

"But... but I can't bear to part with it! This is money our brothers risked their lives for! I can't just give it away like this!!!"

"Snapped!"

Liu Hong stepped onto the copper mountain and swiftly rushed forward, slapping Song Wan across the face. This shattered the greed and confusion in the rat-like beauty's eyes. The woman touched her reddened cheek with her delicate hand, looking at Liu Hong in disbelief.

"This money is murdering your brothers! You could have all turned into rats and run away, but you're fighting to the death because of this money, sacrificing yourselves in vain?!"

My men and I fought tooth and nail to wipe out the Song soldiers in one passage, opening a route for your escape. Now, government reinforcements could arrive at any moment! Do you want me to perish along with your entire army?!

Liu Hong was furious when he saw the Earthly Fiend who was blinded by money.

"Brothers and sisters are all here! I was able to lead you to rob the birthday gifts once, surely I can do it a second time?! You actually value this pile of gold and silver more than your brothers?! Come with me now!!!"

Song Wan was stunned for a moment, and the greedy desire in her eyes gradually dissipated. She shook her head vigorously, and her eyes regained their clarity. Like a child who had made a mistake, she stood in front of her brother with a wronged expression, admitting her mistake.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I misunderstood. I'll leave right now! Everyone! Retreat with Brother Liu Hong immediately!"

Song Wan gritted his teeth, took only the gold and silver treasures he had just picked out, leaving behind the mountain of copper coins. He then rang a large bronze bell, making the eerie bell ring thirteen times in a row.

In an instant, the ratmen who had fought bloody battles in various tunnels and suffered heavy casualties heard the news of the retreat and breathed a sigh of relief. They all transformed from human form into rats and scurried into the hidden and narrow caves, scattering in all directions!

Chapter 58: The Scholar in White Robes Burns with Jealousy

While Liu Hong went to rescue Song Wan, Du Qian also received the same plea for help. Although this group of cannibals was powerful, they only numbered about twenty and were very small. The first wave of attacks from Daming Prefecture did not reach them at all.

Du Qian, the two-headed cannibal, was quite righteous. Even though his injuries had not fully healed, he stood up without hesitation and prepared to gather his troops to rescue his sister. However, he was stopped by a white figure.

"Don't go yet, let me ask you a few questions."

Wang Lun suddenly opened his folding fan, and a beam of white light transformed into ink-wash landscapes in the darkness. After blocking Du Qian's massive body, he calmly asked the rat-man who had come to ask for help.

"Did Song Wan only ask us for help? Or did she also contact Liu Hong and Zhu Gui?!"

The rat-man looked at Wang Lun in surprise. During their previous small gathering, Wang Lun had also spoken before Du Qian. Now it was the same. Who was really the boss of this Ghost Fanlou?! Du Qian? Or Wang Lun?

However, the situation was too urgent for him to think about such things, so he said breathlessly.

"Yes, yes! The boss sent two groups of messengers to ask Chief Du and Brother Liu Hong for help!"

"We can't hold on much longer! The Song army's offensive is swift and fierce, and the imperial guards of Daming Prefecture have also been mobilized! Please, sisters, for Lord Guan's sake, come and save us!"

"Okay! I'll go right away!"

[Off to rescue that little mouse, Song Wan!]