Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 123 Bluffing
Cheng Qianxi felt he was lucky.

During the Battle of Qizhou, he joined forces with five descendants of the Dukes—Yuchi Yifeng, Qin Shuangbo, Xu Yuanping, and Luo Xiang—to fight against Wang Xianzhi. Wang Xianzhi killed four of them amidst a vast army, and Cheng Qianxi also lost three fingers on his right hand.

But he survived in the end, probably because of his ancestor Cheng Yaojin's lucky bloodline.

In the bloody battle of Muling Pass, after the death of General Zhen Ranyu, Cheng Qianxi charged out of the camp alone, only to encounter three thousand elite soldiers from Xuzhou brought by Shi Pu.

These three thousand elite soldiers from Xuzhou, whether cavalry or mounted infantry, if they had arrived three or four days earlier, could have easily turned the tide of the battle by attacking from both inside and outside, and together with Commander Yan, destroyed the Cao army in one fell swoop.

Shi Pu is a really good young man. Cheng Qianxi thought to himself, if only he were the military governor of Ganhua Army.

"This junior requests General Cheng to lead the charge." Shi Pu's expression remained cold, but his words were very respectful.

Cheng Qianxi, quite satisfied, picked up the great axe with his intact left hand and spurred his horse to charge head-on at the rebel army.

Qin Yan, carrying a steel spear, and Bi Shiduo, wielding a cross-shaped halberd, attacked Cheng Qianxi from both sides.

In their view, this descendant of the Duke had his right hand crippled by the Alliance Leader Wang, and could only use his left hand to wield weapons; how could the two of them possibly defeat him together?

After exchanging seven or eight blows, they felt an immense force from the opponent's axe, as if the heavens and earth were splitting apart, causing their hands and feet to go numb.

It turns out that these descendants of dukes, even if they weren't very good at military strategy, were certainly skilled in martial arts!

The descendants of the five dukes joined forces, but Wang Xianzhi easily crushed them, killing four of them. Yet, Cheng Qianxi, who had lost his right hand, managed to gain the upper hand against the two of them working together.

This is not surprising. Back then, Xue Chong, the descendant of Xue Rengui and the military governor of Tianping, faced Huang Chao, whose strength was no less than that of Xue Shuai Qi Kerang. Even when he was ambushed, he still fought for dozens of rounds before Huang Chao used a dragging sword technique and killed him on the spot with a move called "Azure Fire Golden Light Blade".

Although Cheng Qianxi and the others are not as strong as Xue Chong, the gap is not that big.

Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo were shocked. Only then did they realize how the figure who fell in Qizhou had single-handedly held up the sky and shielded the younger generation of martial arts practitioners from such fierce storms!

Climbing Mount Dongshan, one sees Lu as small; climbing Mount Tai, one sees the world as small. Though that person is dead, he remains "invincible under heaven."

With Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo tied down by Cheng Qianxi, the grass army cavalry's offensive was immediately thwarted.

Meanwhile, the Xuzhou cavalry under Shi Pu's command also met the onslaught of the herdsmen cavalry, engaging in fierce battles.

“Little girl, I have no interest in you.” Shi Pu swung the hook in his hand and said coldly to Tian Jun, “Why don’t you call Zhuoying over? I’d like to have a good time with her.”

"How utterly shameless you are!" Tian Jun said, her eyes blazing with fury. "Speaking such vulgar words, yet you dare not confront me directly!"

"I, Shi Pu, am a hunter. Why should I fight you head-on?" Shi Pu patted the head of the wolf he was riding with the back of his hand. "Look at this wolf. Can it charge like a horse?"

"Then you should change to a better horse to fight!" Tian Jun shouted angrily, and thrust his spear at Shi Pu.

The spear, like a comet striking the moon, thrust straight at Shi Pu's chest.

The figure on the giant wolf suddenly disappeared.

Tian Jun thought she was seeing things, but the spear thrust was already out of control. It went straight into the giant wolf's back, and the giant wolf howled in agony as it was pinned to the ground.

The slender figure appeared strangely beside Tian Jun's warhorse.

When Tian Jun was about to retract her spear to stab Shi Pu, she found that the spear was stuck too deep into the wolf's carcass and she could not pull it out for a while. She could only draw her waist knife with her left hand and sweep it horizontally.

But Shi Pu ducked and dodged Tian Jun's knife. With a swipe of his sharp claws, Tian Jun's warhorse let out a mournful cry, its intestines bursting open and its internal organs and blood spraying all over the ground!
Tian Jun's expression suddenly changed. She flipped over and leaped up, landing steadily on the ground.

But Shi Pu's strange movements had already instilled a sense of fear in her.

“I told you long ago, I, Shi Pu, am a hunter, and I don’t use the fighting methods of a conventional general.” Shi Pu’s eerie voice sent chills down one’s spine even in the height of summer: “I never wear armor on the battlefield, which is why I can move at this speed.”

"And you, you're about to be captured alive by me. Do you know how I'll deal with a woman like you who's not to my liking?"

Shi Pu's eyes gleamed with malice: "Queuing is just the mildest way to make a woman wish she were dead. For example, we can find a stallion in heat, drag you behind it, let it jog slowly in the camp during the day, and give it extra feed at night, and it will use you to relieve its lust—little girl, isn't that incredibly interesting?"

Tian Jun suddenly felt extremely nauseous, but in addition to that, she also felt a chill run down her spine.

She had heard countless vulgar words from men in the military camp, but Tian Jun was still a girl who had just turned twenty and had no real experience with men and women.

What makes Shi Pu's words terrifying is that his tone suggests he is capable of doing such a vicious and shameless thing.

He might really have done such a thing! Even the fearless Tian Jun felt a chill run down her spine. Because falling into Shi Pu's hands was indeed far more terrifying than death.

She had been captured alive by Shi Pu once in Mount Tai, but thanks to the protection of her shadow, Shi Pu did nothing to her. Thinking of this, Tian Jun felt a chill run down her spine.

If Shi Pu hadn't waited for Zhu Wen to arrive before revealing his true intentions, but instead had captured Zhuoying beforehand...

Just now, Shi Pu killed Tian Jun's warhorse with a single blow, making Tian Jun realize that this evil fellow was truly unpredictable.

She thought of Zhu Wen, who might wake up at any time.

She couldn't let him wake up and not see her.

Faced with Cheng Qianxi, Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo, who were struggling in battle, also began to consider retreating.

The two men stopped fighting Cheng Qianxi and rode over at full speed: "General Tian, ​​why don't we retreat here?"

Tian Jun nodded, agreeing that it was the perfect idea for Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo to suggest it.

The grass army cavalry then abandoned their pursuit of Wang Jian and slowly retreated.

"Brother Shi Pu is truly remarkable, Wang Jian admires him." Wang Jian looked at Shi Pu with a playful gaze.

The sound of galloping hooves came from behind; it turned out that Shi Pu's rear guard had just arrived.

“That little girl is from Wei Botian’s family and doesn’t have much experience in the martial arts world,” Shi Pu said. “Besides, I’ve already captured her once, so a little scare will frighten her.”

Wang Jian praised her, saying, "Aside from her young age and lack of strength and skill, she is a natural-born cavalry general."

Shi Pu said, “The mountain path was narrow and our army came in haste. There were only about 500 men ahead. I decided to raise more banners and drag grass with horse tails to make a show of force. They were also stunned by a volley of arrows and did not see through it.”

Their conversation revealed a clear fact: if Zhu Wen had come in person, none of them would have survived.

Tian Jun was too inexperienced, and with Zhu Wen on her mind, she lacked fighting spirit. In addition, she was unfamiliar with Shi Pu's movements and was intimidated by Shi Pu's bluff.

In reality, Shi Pu's elusive speed couldn't be maintained for very long; it was originally a family secret technique used to assassinate enemy generals.

An assassin like Shi Pu isn't particularly effective in a formal battle formation. However, if used properly, he can be extremely dangerous.

"I have long admired Brother Wang Jianren's name." Shi Pu's words suddenly became quite respectful, and he bowed.

Wang Jian hurriedly helped him up, saying, "Brother, there's no need for such formalities. I'm already grateful for your life-saving grace."

He sighed again, "It's a pity that I wiped out my troops this time, and I will inevitably be punished and demoted when I return."

Shi Pu smiled slightly: "Brother Wang is a recognized general of our time. Even if he is temporarily in trouble, he will surely rise again. There is no need to take a temporary setback to heart."

"Then I'll take your kind words, brother!" Wang Jian laughed heartily.

In fact, when Shi Pu heard that Zhu Wen might be dead, he couldn't help but have some reservations about Wang Jian.

People say that the dead Zhuge Liang scared away the living Zhongda (Sima Yi). You, Wang Jian, are a hero publicly recommended by the younger generation of the military, yet you have been driven to such a desperate situation by Zhu San'er, who is either dead or half-dead.

If it were my buddy Yang Xingmi, things wouldn't have come to this.

Thinking of Yang Xingmi, Shi Pu felt a slight annoyance. That fellow had always kept his distance, preferring to be a wandering knight-errant rather than truly serve under him.

If I, Shi Pu, could have Yang Xingmi as my assistant, what would I have to worry about in achieving my great cause?

On the surface, however, Shi Pu still wanted to forge a good relationship with Wang Jian. Since he hadn't managed to save Commander Yan and achieve a great feat, he could only try to cultivate a good relationship with the bandit king Bala.

Shi Pu believed that even if he couldn't compare to talents like Yang Xingmi or Wang Ba, it was only a matter of time before he held an important position.

Shi Pu was always very respectful to those in high positions or about to be in high positions, which was completely unlike his usual cold and arrogant demeanor.

In contrast to Shi Pu, Wang Jian treated his soldiers like brothers, often showing them concern and care. He only treated those in high positions with the utmost respect if they possessed genuine talent and ability, like Commander Yan. When faced with characters like the Song brothers, Wang Jian would often argue forcefully, disregarding their feelings.

Both men were exceptionally talented, but their ways of doing things were quite different.

(End of this chapter)