knife

Chapter 13 Scared

At least two thousand bandits.

Wu Degan, the chief criminal investigator, had been in office for many years, and at a glance, he could still estimate the number of people with a fairly accurate estimate.

The Yuan brothers, Yuan Rong and Yuan Tong, were far more skilled in martial arts than Wu De, but they were still just江湖 figures. Seeing the bandits rushing towards them in a vast, overwhelming force, their hooves thundering and their roars deafening, their faces turned deathly pale.

A thousand or two people gathered together won't take up much space.

But a thousand or two thousand cavalrymen together make for a rather intimidating sight.

When one or two thousand cavalrymen begin their charge, they can truly fill your entire field of vision.

The Yuan brothers swallowed hard.

They usually prefer to work alone.
Even in a group fight, a few dozen or a hundred people would be the maximum.
Any more, and the government would treat them as bandits and hunt them down.

I have never seen such power before.

With this kind of attitude, let alone the fact that they have just entered the Profound Origin Realm and can barely be considered a seventh-rank, even if they were higher, what use would it be?

Even if one steps into the Innate Realm, amidst such a crowd, one can only choose to temporarily avoid the limelight.

If the Yuan brothers, who were considered martial artists, were already in such a state, then Zhang Ruo and her father were even more so.

Compared to Zhang Ruo, Zhang Qingyun, a woman, seemed stronger. Although she was also trembling, she still managed to support Zhang Ruo.

Clearly, Zhang Ruo's legs went weak.

“Master Zhang, don’t worry!” Wu De’s voice was a little hoarse: “The campsite that Master Li chose is very well thought out. Apart from our front, there are mudflats on the other three sides, so the cavalry will not dare to charge. And on the front, there are Master Li’s strong troops. They can’t break through.”

"Hehe, Wu Tixing, I didn't know you had some knowledge of these things?" Li Dachui laughed.

"It's a professional habit; whenever I arrive at a new place, I always have to explore my surroundings," Wu De said.

Yuan Rong took a deep breath, his expression returning to normal: "Master Li, what if they have someone with high martial arts skills who just barges in?"

Li Dachui looked at him strangely: "Can't they see me standing here? Which one of them dares to fight me one-on-one? They can only hope to defeat my troops in a head-on battle, and then take advantage of their numbers to swarm me."

Li Dachui was very proud and complacent, but at this moment, the more proud and complacent he was, the more at ease everyone felt.

Yuan Rong's gaze fell on the pretentious sword that Li Dachui still hung at his waist. Suddenly, he recalled the scene in the temple, where the assassin who had fallen from the sky was pinned to the ground and whipped on the buttocks with the sword by Li Dachui. That assassin's skill was no less than his own.

He touched his buttocks somewhat guiltily.

Since Li Dachui was so confident, everyone focused their attention on the frontal battlefield.

Two hundred light cavalrymen, carrying sixty-six heavy cavalrymen, slowly advanced, gradually increasing their speed.

“Master Li, these bandits don’t know you have heavy cavalry, do they?” Wu De asked.

Li Dachui sighed deeply: "These rabble, why would I need to use my trump cards? This time I was forced into it, wasn't I? Someone wanted to see what kind of strength I really possessed, so I had no choice. I can't hide my abilities anymore!"

Zhang Qingyun was annoyed when she saw Li Dachui's resentful look.

"Brother Li, I'm afraid you also hope that some people will see your strength through this, thereby increasing your bargaining power? Or perhaps you're using this opportunity to show off, just as you said, to avoid misjudging people!"

Li Dachui laughed awkwardly: "You figured it out?"

Zhang Qingyun rolled her eyes at him.

Li Dachui muttered under his breath, "It's already good enough that she's so pretty, why is she also so smart?"

"Brother Li, what did you say?" Zhang Qingyun released Zhang Ruo, took a few steps to the side, and stared at Li Dachui with her pretty eyes.

Li Dachui laughed heartily: "I said you're smart, not that I said anything bad about you. Look, the enemy is charging!"

A thousand cavalry charged forward; as far as the eye could see, there were galloping warhorses, and all that could be heard was the deafening sound of hooves and desperate shouts. The ground seemed to tremble. Seeing such power, Zhang Qingyun, who had been trying to remain calm, finally cried out in alarm. Her legs went weak, and she was about to slide to the ground.

Li Dachui reached out and put his arm around her, while Zhang Qingyun instinctively reached out and grabbed his clothes.

Li Dachui stared intently at the two sides about to clash in the distance, seemingly unaware of his own actions.

Zhang Qingyun reacted in an instant, letting go of her hands, only to find that her slender waist was being held, and she was almost leaning against someone's chest. Shyness overcame her fear, and she felt a heat from the other person's palm through her clothes. Her legs, which had just straightened up, went weak and slid down again.

Li Dachui tightened his grip, holding her firmly, his eyes never looking at her, but his words continued unabated. "Don't be afraid, I'm here! No one can hurt you!"

Zhang Qingyun blushed to her ears, and her whole body stiffened like a wooden stake.

But the next moment, she finally forgot the awkwardness she was in.

Because the two sides, located in the distance, have engaged in battle.

The light cavalry of the Tianzi Battalion suddenly spread out in an inverted V-shape, revealing sixty-six heavily armored knights in dark armor inside.

The bandits on the other side naturally saw it too.

The bandits at the front of the charge roared in despair.

Even if they haven't eaten pork, they've at least seen pigs run. Let alone charging head-on with heavy cavalry, they were far from being a match for the imperial court's light cavalry.

The difference between having armor and not having armor is so obvious.

Dressed in simple clothes, they were no different from someone running headfirst into a knife when facing heavily armored cavalry.

Fang Xiaomao drew two swords from behind his back, gripped the hilts with both hands, held the blades horizontally in front of his elbows, leaned his body slightly forward, and lightly nudged his warhorse with the spurs on his feet.

The two swords in his hands at this moment were different from the swords he usually used; the backs of the blades were slightly thicker and the blades were longer.

The sixty-six heavy knights, all wielding twin swords, were just like Fang Xiaomao.

Tigers are like sheep.

One or two thousand bandits, those in front had no way to avoid them, and those behind did not know how to avoid them. Then, these sixty-six heavy cavalrymen forcibly cut through the middle of them, leaving a trail of blood and flesh wherever they went.

Meanwhile, the light cavalry roaming on both sides were easily and happily reaping the lives of the bandits who had managed to escape the heavy cavalry charge.

On a distant mountain ridge, Xiao Changche, Xiao Dongwei, and the others also changed color.

"They actually have armored cavalry, huh? No wonder they dared to invite me here!" Xiao Changche sneered.

"They actually have armored cavalry! 100,000 troops stationed outside the pass—that means Commander Linghu's central army has 500 heavy cavalry!" Xiao Dongwei looked at the opposite side in disbelief. "No wonder they dared to challenge you, General."

“Heavy cavalry is nothing special. There are plenty of ways to deal with them on the battlefield. Their sluggishness is their most fatal weakness!” Xiao Changche said with some disdain, but the next moment, his words came to an abrupt halt, as if someone had grabbed him by the throat.

Armored cavalry is indeed cumbersome and expensive, with extremely high maintenance costs, and its use is restricted, so Xiao Changche has never liked to use it.

But the heavily armored cavalry he saw today were quite different.

The heavily armored cavalry, who had charged forward, suddenly dispersed and began to annihilate the chaotic bandits.

This was originally an opportunity for the bandits.

Once the heavy armor lost its formation and speed, the light cavalry had plenty of opportunities to take them down.

But what Xiao Changche saw were knights clad in heavy armor who could leap and bound with the agility of swallows, mounting and dismounting their horses as if walking on flat ground.

If it were just one or two people like this, it wouldn't be so bad, but in reality, there were sixty-six heavily armored cavalrymen, all of them in the same situation.

Xiao Changche remained silent.

Xiao Dongwei and the others had all lost their color in their faces.

This means that all sixty-six heavily armored cavalrymen have martial arts cultivation levels above the Qi Control realm, with the lowest being a fourth-rank cultivator.

Only by reaching this level can one control internal energy to reach every part of the body, and be able to wear such heavy armor without any concern.

"Where did Li Dachui, a mere bandit, recruit so many martial arts experts? And how come these people are willing to serve as his underlings?" Finally, a general voiced everyone's thoughts.

Xiao Changche let out a long sigh. "I finally understand why he was able to hold off Wutu three years ago. I always thought this guy must have a lot of ingenious schemes, but now it seems it's all about strength. The Heavenly Battalion, hehe, truly lives up to its name. Now I'm very curious about the Earthly Battalion and the Human Battalion, which are on par with the Heavenly Battalion. Are they also like this?"

Everyone was shocked.

It's not surprising that Li Dachui himself has a high level of cultivation, and it's also understandable that his generals have high levels of cultivation. But it's quite frightening that even an ordinary soldier under his command has a considerable level of cultivation.

Solid, Qi Control, Profound Origin, and Innate—the martial arts of the world are divided into these four levels. Solid, Qi Control, and Profound Origin are each divided into three grades, commonly known as the first to the ninth rank. The first to the third rank is Solid, which is the entry point of martial arts, tempering the body, making one strong and skilled. Ordinary people are as vulnerable as chicks in front of these people.

The fourth to sixth ranks are called Qi Control, which means one has entered the inner chamber and has achieved success in cultivating internal energy. One can control internal energy to reach all parts of the body. With the force of a punch, one can easily kill even a running bull. Reaching the peak of Qi Control means one can dominate a region and become a powerful figure.

Those who reach the seventh to ninth rank are called Xuan Yuan, and can release their internal energy to the outside, strike a cow from a distance, and control their qi as a sword. Reaching this level makes them extraordinary figures in the world. Those who reach the ninth rank are the object of desperate recruitment by various forces, and the pinnacle of martial power in various countries is mostly composed of ninth-rank masters.

As for the Innate Realm, because it is so rare, it remains only a legend. For example, the city lord of Tai'an City is said to be an Innate Realm cultivator, but no one has ever seen him make a move. No one knows what kind of power the Innate Realm actually possesses.

Those who reach the Innate level seem to no longer care about worldly affairs. Perhaps they have reached another level of life and have begun to pursue more mysterious things. Very few of them show their faces in public, and even fewer are willing to act as a pillar of stability to protect ordinary people, like the Lord of Tai'an City.

In an army, the vast majority are ordinary people, only more physically robust and more skilled in killing techniques due to long-term training. Only a few soldiers are ranked as high-ranking officers; they are generally the most elite members of the army. For example, Linghu Ye's personal guard is basically composed of such ranked soldiers.

Once you break through to the Qi Control stage, you can basically become a mid-level military officer.

Xiao Dongwei, for example, is only at the top of the sixth rank, but he has a chance to break through to the Xuan Yuan realm in the next day or two.

As for Xiao Changche, although he was younger than Xiao Dongwei, he was an absolute top-tier eighth-rank official. Such people were extremely rare, and he was a role model promoted by the army outside the Great Wall.

Even under Xiao Changche's command, there couldn't be so many people who had reached the Qi Control level.

They were genuinely terrified.

Those bandits, who were directly facing these killing gods, were terrified.

Yuan Rong and his brother, Wu De, being discerning individuals, no longer looked at the battlefield but stared intently at Li Dachui.

Is this guy really a bandit?

Who exactly is he?

(End of this chapter)