Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 122 Shi Pu Reappears
"So, Zhu San'er has most likely perished together with Yan Shuai." Shence Army general Ba Wuji said to Wang Jian through gritted teeth, "The reason this bandit is clinging to us is because Zhu San'er said before he died that he must kill you?"

"If you have any complaints, you can surrender to the bandits now," Wang Jian said with a cold face.

Ba Wuji was speechless. Others could surrender to bandits, but as an officer of the Shence Army, his family was in Chang'an. If he surrendered to save his life, the court would simply drag his family to the Jingzhao Prefecture for execution without them having to go very far!
"It's all your fault for being so fixated on Zhu San'er, insisting on killing him. Now look what's happened, he's dead but still won't let you go!"

After a long while, Ba Wuji said resentfully, feeling that being assigned to work with his nemesis, the Thief King Ba, must be a sign of bad luck!

A large number of herdsmen cavalrymen, like swarms of locusts, swept towards them, including more than thirty elite Ming Cult cavalrymen led by Dong Hou.

As for the more than sixty armored knights under Ming Shiyin's command who did not defect to the enemy, they had already broken out through another route led by Lü Qingchen, one of the "Five Swords of Burning Heaven," and were not with Wang Jian and Ba Wuji.

The pursuing grass army knights continuously unleashed deadly short spears and arrows.

Although Wang Jian's remaining troops managed to retrieve shields during the retreat to block arrows, many soldiers, exhausted, had discarded their armor, making it difficult for them to advance against enemy cavalry attacks.

Wang Jian mounted his horse and fought desperately, using his slight advantage in strength and a fierce spirit to suppress Tian Jun a few times. However, Tian Jun, a woman born to be a cavalry general, was incredibly powerful in leading troops into battle with spears. If she seized an opportunity, she could break through the shield infantry line of Wang Jian's retreating troops.

There was nothing that could be done about it. Given Wang Jian's background, he had learned martial arts from a young age. Before joining the army, he had no opportunity to practice horseback riding and charging.

In contrast, Tian Jun, although her family had declined, had at least grown up in the army, and her father was a junior officer in the Weibo military. Coming into contact with warhorses was never difficult for her.

If you don't build a solid foundation in mounted combat when you're young, it's often too late to learn it later in life.

Desolate smoke rises as the sun sets, amidst abandoned tents and tattered flags.

Even those who survive are doomed; defeat is swift and devastating!
Comrades fell one after another, and the number of soldiers around them dwindled. Some government troops even fled in squads, crying and kneeling down, begging the common soldiers for mercy and to live.

After the bandits confiscated their weapons and armor, they let them leave safely without killing them, which further shook the morale of the remaining soldiers of Wang Jian's army.

This is certainly a psychological tactic employed by the rebel side.

However, Wang Jian had to admit that after Wang Xianzhi's death, the bandit army led by Huang Chao had also made a qualitative improvement in military discipline.

While the death of Marshal Yan was partly accidental, his defeat was by no means unjust.

From the moment Song Wei died suddenly, the rebel army seized the initiative in the Battle of Muling Pass. Commander Zhen Ranyu had been plotting to become the military governor of Pinglu for years; if she were to now claim fear of the rebel army and refuse to take office, requiring the mobilization of more troops, she would not only anger the eunuchs in court but also become a laughingstock to the world!
As proud as Yan Shuai was, he didn't even inform his junior brother Qi Kerang before charging into the Lunan battlefield. After a series of battles, he made a wrong move and ultimately met his untimely demise.

But Wang Jian had no time to lament for Marshal Yan; his previous death in battle had already repaid Marshal Yan's kindness. The biggest problem now was that he himself might die soon!

He had never felt such despair in his life.

The enemy was like an endless tide, and there was no sign of anyone coming to their rescue.

Moreover, the other party was clearly after Wang Jian's life.

The female general in blue helmet and armor made it clear that she was willing to accept anyone's surrender, except for the "traitorous bastard," and that once captured, his head would be cut off immediately!

"This shrew probably has something going on with Zhu San'er, otherwise she wouldn't hate us so much."

Wang Jian said to his personal guards.

His casual guess turned out to be more accurate than those of Duan Hongyan and others who spent every day with Zhu Wen.

"If we really have nowhere to go later, then cut off our heads and surrender to the bandits." Even the resolute Wang Jian was now filled with despair and said to his personal guards, "It's better than us all dying together."

The guard immediately burst into tears, saying, "We've been brothers, how could I bear to do such a treacherous and ungrateful thing to Brother Wang Jian?"

Wang Jian looked at the sky with a helpless expression and sighed deeply. His words weren't entirely meant to win people's hearts; they did indeed reveal a degree of self-abandonment.

Regardless of whether Zhu San'er is still alive or not—if Zhu San'er is already dead, and the relationship between that blue-armored female general and Zhu San'er is extraordinary, then the other party is even less likely to let him go.

If he had to die, Wang Jian really didn't see any point in having someone else die with him. Unless, of course, the other person's survival after his death might threaten his son.

Ba Wuji, standing to the side, gritted his teeth in hatred, thinking to himself, "If my whole family weren't in Chang'an, I would have chopped off your head and gone to join those bandits long ago!"

The enemy cavalry were preparing to launch another charge.

Wang Jian's group was either dead or wounded, and they no longer had any power to resist.

Seeing Ba Wuji's face, which was as pale as a pig's liver, Wang Jian suddenly felt a sense of relief and smiled at Ba Wuji, saying, "I never thought I would die with Brother Ba."

Ba Wuji glanced at Wang Jian and asked, "Who's your brother?"

Wang Jian rubbed the bridge of his nose and said leisurely, "You don't want to be brothers, right? Then you can be my son."

Ba Wuji was furious and wanted to make a move, but he felt a sharp pain in his chest. It was the arrow wound that Bi Shiduo, the cavalry general of the grass army, had shot with a heavy arrow that pierced through armor.

The thought of dying on the spot suddenly extinguished his desire to compete with Wang Jian. However, the prospect of dying alongside his nemesis still caused Ba Wuji considerable distress.

Just as Wang Jian and his men were resigned to their fate, a dense rain of arrows suddenly fell from the surrounding hilltops. In an instant, the vanguard of the rebel army burst into sprays of blood, and men and horses were shot down.

The bandit general Wang Chongba was shot in the lung by a crossbow bolt and fell off his horse on the spot, but was rescued.

Tian Jun dodged several sharp arrows on horseback and also gasped in surprise.

Wang Jian and his companions were overjoyed to have escaped from their desperate situation.

"Is it Xue Shuai Qi Kerang's reinforcements? It shouldn't be this fast," Wang Jian murmured.

“No need to guess.” A tall, pale-skinned young man, riding a large wolf, emerged from behind the bushes. “Brother Wang Jian, I didn’t expect to be able to save you.”

Shi Pu sighed regretfully, "It seems that Commander Yan has already passed away. It was only after I tried every means to persuade Commander Zhi Xiang that he agreed to let me lead troops to rescue him."

He then turned his gaze to Tian Jun: "That's why I said delicate women really shouldn't go to the battlefield. That little girl, I remember I captured you alive once in Mount Tai, right?"

Tian Jun immediately glared angrily: "You despicable scoundrel who attacks from the shadows, how dare you speak like that?"

“I used my claws to grab you, not a hidden arrow.” Shi Pu waved a pair of huge hooks in his hand: “As for Zhuoying, she ambushed her own master with a crossbow first, I was just retaliating.”

"You are very beautiful, but not to my liking. If I were to capture you, I wouldn't even be interested in taking you as a concubine; I would simply send you to the soldiers to line up."

Shi Pu licked his lips and spoke in a cool tone.

He could say such vicious things so calmly, without a trace of malice.

The large wolf he rode was captured by Shi Pu when he fled after being defeated by Zhu Wen at Mount Tai. Zhu Wen had saved the white wolf king in the Mount Tai region when it was a cub, and thus summoned a pack of wolf friends to surround Shi Pu. However, Shi Pu jumped onto one of the wolves, restrained it, and forced it to fight its way out of its pack, thus escaping to safety.

It now appears that the giant wolf, the size of a small horse, has been subdued by Shi Pu.

(End of this chapter)