Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 186 Shi Pu Reappears
The early spring chill was biting, and the mountain wind brushed against their faces, causing the warriors' battle robes to flutter loudly.

Shang Rang and his group of knights proceeded at a leisurely pace along the mountain road leading from Zhejiang to Jiangxi.

The mountain path was about four zhang wide, with towering cliffs on the right and a bottomless abyss on the left, filled with clouds.

This treacherous terrain is inherently unfavorable for military operations.

Shang Rang discovered that Zhu Wen's troops had not arrived in time to cut off Gao Maoqing's Jiangxi army's rear, so he made a decision to send cavalry to pursue them through the narrow mountain pass.

Enemies fleeing to flat ground can only be pursued by the infantry that arrives later; capture as many as you can.

"Our army dares not proceed quickly on such a treacherous road, and the enemy cannot escape quickly either. Cavalry is faster than infantry, so we can pursue them and at least annihilate a portion of the enemy army."

Although Shang Rang was outmaneuvered by Zhu Wen in terms of strategy, his soldiers still respected him to a certain degree. While Shang Rang had suffered a major defeat, it was at the hands of the renowned General Zhen Ranyu. As for the young general Qian Liu from western Zhejiang, his sneak attack on Shang Rang was nothing serious.

Shang Rang's new position as the leader of the Zhenyi Alliance was also recognized by Huang Chao, the commander of the bandit army, which was enough to make all the heroes submit to him.

"In your opinion, Alliance Leader, could those cowardly bastards who fled in disarray be hiding ahead, ready to turn around and bite us?" Xu Tangju asked.

Last year, Xu Tangju followed Cao Shixiong to cover the rear in Qizhou. After breaking through the encirclement, they recruited heroes and fought in Jiangxi and Zhejiang. When Cao Shixiong died in battle, he and Wang Chong hid in a pile of corpses and faked their deaths, escaping again. He has grown into a meticulous general.

The barbarians that Shang Rang used to ambush Gao Maoqing were also recruited by the two generals over the past few months while they were in hiding.

After scanning both sides with his gaze, Shang Rang calmly said, "The left side is an abyss; there's no way there could be an ambush there. The cliff on the right isn't too high; if someone skilled in climbing were there, they might be able to climb up and set up an ambush..."

"The mountain wall is covered with vines, and there may be a cave inside. We should be careful."

At Shang Rang's command, the knights wielding long-handled sabers moved to the right side of the formation. Wherever there were dense vines, they stopped and cut them all down to check for any caves where soldiers could hide.

The surprise attack by Qian Liu had made Shang Rang much more cautious.

We found several caves along the way, but they were mostly inhabited by foxes and deer; we didn't find a single human.

Some of the officers and soldiers in the army felt that Shang Rang and Xu Tangju's caution was unnecessary and might even delay the pursuit.

"Gao Maoqing is an incompetent bum; how could his subordinates dare to pull off a surprise attack?"

"Exactly! We should hurry and catch up with the remaining enemy forces, stripping them of all their weapons and armor!"

Wang Chongyin, standing to the side, said, "Not necessarily! That government army that was flying the Zhong banner was extremely fierce, and they still managed to injure many of our brothers in the face of adversity."

The two generals were about to argue when they suddenly heard several whooshing sounds as they cut through the air.

As the voice faded, a general was found headless, his body now a corpse on horseback.

"All troops, prepare for battle!" Shang Rang blew the bugle and shouted.

He had just dodged the cold glint of light by hiding in the stirrup. Otherwise, Shang Rang would be just like that headless officer now.

The knights of the grass army raised their shields, wary of the next volley of fire from the cliff top.

Shang Rang dismounted and picked up the long arrow stuck in the mud.

This arrow is over three feet long, with an iron arrowhead, a thin and wide shovel-shaped flat tip, a poplar shaft, a gold-plated shaft ornament, and a vermilion lacquer finish. The tail is ended with black eagle feathers.

“This is a shovel arrow.” Shang Rang examined the arrow in his hand: “Also called a shovel arrow, it has a sharp and broad blade and is often used for hunting to create larger wounds for bleeding.”

After a pause, Shang Rang added, "If used to shoot people, a strong bow can be used to shoot off their heads with a single arrow."

With the headless corpse right there as proof, no one would doubt this.

The knights of the Grass Army were all wearing armor, but to allow for flexibility and ventilation around their necks, they didn't wear neck guards. This flaw would normally be difficult to spot, but the archers on the cliff precisely struck the gap between the man's helmet and armor with an arrow, severing his head.

The broad-bladed arrow has poor armor-piercing ability. Only a master archer skilled in hitting a willow leaf from a hundred paces could achieve such a throat-severing effect with a single arrow.

The soldiers, recalling the previous surprise attack by Qian Liu, all became serious and on high alert.

The enemy either fired arrows again or used ropes to lower themselves down from the top of the cliff.

But after a long standoff, there was no action from above.

"How about we send someone up there and take out those bastards?" Xu Tangju suggested.

Shang Rang pondered for a moment: "Such a skilled archer is probably not weak in close combat either. If we want to go up and capture someone, we need to arrange more strong men. When climbing the mountain wall, the archers will provide cover from below, and if the enemy peeks out to attack, our archers will shoot upwards from below."

Unlike sniping downwards at an angle, if the enemy wanted to throw stones down or stab soldiers climbing the cliff with spears, they would have to get close to the edge of the cliff top.

At this moment, the entire team's attention was drawn to the unknown enemy on the cliff top.

Just then, a tall, dark figure appeared as if from thin air and rushed towards Shang Rang.

Shang Rang's expression suddenly changed, and he hurriedly used the long spear in his hand to defend himself.

But the shadowy figure was incredibly fast. Before he could even smell a faint fishy odor, a blue light flashed before his eyes, and a sharp pain shot through his chest. Then he lost consciousness.

The poisoned short sword is light and swift, striking with incredible speed, making it difficult for a long spear to defend against. Its sharp tip can also pierce armor in a single blow.

The soldiers cried out in alarm.

The man, with long arms and legs, a pale face, and dressed in black, sneered and quickly ducked under the bellies of several warhorses.

"Where did this bastard come from, daring to injure General Shang?" "Don't let this scoundrel get away!"

The soldiers shouted incessantly, thrusting their spears and swords at each other.

The assassin dodged towards the abyss.

He was cornered by his soldiers and had nowhere to escape.

Just when the heroes thought they could capture this man immediately, they saw him perform a backbend and fall backward into the abyss, disappearing into the vast clouds and mist.

"That certainly gave him a good time!" a soldier spat into the abyss.

"Quickly check on Chief Shangrang's injuries!"

Xu Tangju sighed from the side, "This fellow probably won't die."

He wasn't referring to Shang Rang, but to the assassin.

“This thief is probably Shi Pu, the young general from Xuzhou. His fighting skills are average, but his assassination skills are even better than those of the ‘shadow assassins’ of the early dynasty. Zhu Du of Luoyandu once fought against him and said he was a bit troublesome.” Amidst the surprised expressions, Xu Tangju said with a sigh.

An opponent that even Zhu Wen considered somewhat troublesome was certainly not someone to be trifled with.

In mid-air, Shi Pu suddenly threw out a rope with a gleaming hook at the end.

The grappling hook gripped the crevice in the rock, and the rope taut instantly, stopping Shi Pu's fall.

A fierce glint appeared in Shi Pu's eyes. Using both hands and feet, without relying on any other tools, he moved swiftly down the vertical cliff face like a gecko, and soon reached the bottom of the valley.

"Shang Rang, you dared to propose to the woman I've set my sights on, so of course you have to pay the price you deserve."

"Gao Yan, you can handle the rest yourself. This time, I'm only taking five Silla maids from you, which is a big discount considering our years of friendship."

Previously, Shi Pu had also hidden in a narrow crevice in the mountain wall.

The crevice was only big enough for one extremely slender person to fit in. Shang Rang and the others were distracted by the archers above, which is why they were less vigilant towards Shi Pu.

A top-tier assassin like Shi Pu could certainly make his body very slender.

Shang Rang never imagined that his attack was related to the shadow.

Chuo Ying had long been considered by Shi Pu to be his for the taking.

Shi Pu was unaware that Shang Rang and Zhuo Ying's engagement was only nominal and did not involve them living as husband and wife.

Naturally, he hated Shang Rang to the core.

However, for someone as cunning as Shi Pu, venting his anger was merely a side effect.

Unlike Gao Yan, Shi Pu's lechery was common knowledge. However, when he indulged in sexual pleasure with women, he remained as cold and ghostly as ever, unlike ordinary men.

After killing someone, Shi Pu would feel his blood burning, which is not in line with the calmness of a hunter.

So he needs a woman to calm him down.

The five Silla beauties that his old friend Gao Yan sent him this time were all virgins, which made Shi Pu relatively satisfied.

Seeing the virgin's blood stain the clean white sheets, he would not only feel extremely happy, but also feel that his mind was exceptionally clear.

……

"Shang Rang was attacked by Shi Pu, but he survived and has regained consciousness, though he is still somewhat delirious?" Zhu Wen recounted the news brought by Huo Cun.

The overall planning for this campaign into Fujian, including the feint to lure the enemy and draw the Jiangxi army to defeat them, as well as the strategy of tunneling through the mountains into Fujian, all originated from Shang Rang's suggestions. Shang Rang was indeed quite skilled in planning military maneuvers.

Before they could even celebrate their victory, they were ambushed by Shi Pu, which was incredibly unlucky.

"That little beast, if he has the guts, he should come at us. He's not even as good as Gao Yan!" Tian Jun had been captured alive by Shi Pu in Taishan and hated Shi Pu with a vengeance.

“First, he has fought me before, so I am more wary of him. Second, Shang Rang is easier to deal with than I am.” Zhu Wen quickly concluded: “In addition, the fact that Shang Rang is still alive proves that Shi Pu does not want Shang Rang to die now.”

"You mean, Shi Pu deliberately didn't use lethal poison..." Tian Jun asked in surprise, "What was the point of him doing that?"

"That poison must be very difficult to cure. If it can't be cured, Shang Rang's mind will definitely become stupid, just like some kind of idiot."

Zhu Wen said this because he did know of a slow-acting poison that could dull the minds of intelligent people, but would not actually kill them for many years.

Before Zhu Wen could finish speaking, Tian Jun used the pair of dragon horns on his helmet to ram him.

"Hey... I didn't say it was you, why are you taking it personally?"

Tian Jun snorted in embarrassment and annoyance: "If you only want to weaken the grass army, why don't you just kill him?"

"Shang Rang is still the leader of the Zhenyi Alliance and the de facto leader of Wang's old subordinates. Shi Pu is worried that if Shang Rang really dies, Master will quickly integrate the remaining troops from the Battle of Qizhou and strengthen the Grass Army's strength." Zhu Wen said, "Next, when we go south to fight, our army will be divided into more forces. If we lose a wise general, we will be in trouble in many situations."

"We need to find a renowned doctor as soon as possible to cure Shang Rang's poison." Zhu Wen yawned. "We can't expect someone like me who hates trouble to do everything."

(End of this chapter)