All Heavens: A Role-Playing System Starting from Tianlong

Chapter 166 The killers are none other than the Twin Dragons of Yangzhou!

Xu Ziling, who was standing nearby, also picked up a tile and silently poured his inner strength into it.

Seeing that Old Qi had made those sarcastic remarks, the soldiers became even more unscrupulous, grinning as they approached the village women.

Just as the two dragons were about to make their move, the man below, called "Li Jing," was faster than them. He drew his long sword and slashed horizontally, severing the heads of three Jianghuai soldiers who were close to the village woman before they could even scream.

In an instant, a cloud of blood mist shot into the sky. The Jianghuai soldiers, who had been laughing and joking, immediately turned pale.

"Li Jing! You've committed treason! Are you planning a coup?" Before Qi Laoda could finish speaking, Li Jing rushed forward while everyone was stunned, slashing down with his broadsword and splitting him and his horse in two.

Horse blood mingled with human blood, and internal organs spilled all over the ground.

Having landed a successful blow, Li Jing didn't stop. He quickly turned his blade and slashed at the guards beside Qi Laoda.

He had thought it through clearly: once he made his move, there was no turning back. The only way to survive was to strike before the group could react and catch them off guard.

Du Fuwei was extremely strict in disciplining his troops, and Li Jing's earlier rebuke of Qi Laoda, which stated that "officers and sergeants share the same responsibility," was by no means empty talk.

If Qi Laoda, as the leader of the cavalry, condones his subordinates' looting, he too will be punished.

Similarly, now that their commander has been killed in battle, these soldiers who stay behind to fight desperately, and who might win by sheer luck, still have a chance to atone for their mistakes.

If they flee without a fight, they will face pursuit by Du Fuwei's law enforcement team. At that point, they will be more reluctant to fight to the death.

Moreover, Du Fuwei had just recently annexed Li Zitong's forces, and the Jianghuai Army was in a period of consolidation, with a mix of old and new personnel.

If this matter blows up, Du Fuwei will surely use it as a warning to others. At that time, Li Jing wouldn't be surprised if Du Fuwei, the underworld tyrant, personally came to clean up his own house.

Just as Li Jing had expected, the Jianghuai army around him, having recovered their senses, shouted in unison and swarmed forward.

With a swift backhand strike, Li Jing cleaved his opponent off his horse, then countered with a swift slash, forcing back the leading knight. However, several spears immediately thrust at him from all directions, forcing him to swerve and parry with his longsword.

Although these Jianghuai soldiers were not as skilled as him, they were all veterans who had fought several tough battles alongside Du Fuwei.

Currently under the suppression of the army formation, the gap between them and Li Jing has been greatly narrowed, and each of them can barely withstand two or three of his moves.

With their commander dead, the group fought desperately to survive, and the mere dozen or so riders surrounding him were already putting him at a disadvantage.

He had no choice but to fight and retreat, using the village terrain to maneuver against the cavalry. The village roads were narrow and the houses were scattered, making it difficult for the cavalry to fully utilize their advantages.

Li Jing moved nimbly between alleyways and house corners, occasionally finding an opening to kill another person, with blood splattering wherever his blade passed.

Just then, one of the guards who had been serving Qi Laoda suddenly shouted, "The guy surnamed Li wants to rescue people! Take these villagers hostage, and he'll definitely submit!"

Li Jing sensed something was wrong. The reason he was willing to provoke this group into a fight to the death and to decisively kill Boss Qi was because that scoundrel was so wicked that he would immediately think of using the villagers to threaten them.

Unexpectedly, even after the other party died, someone still took up this vicious plan.

Li Jing was confident that he could escape with his martial arts skills, but protecting the villagers from the blades of these Jianghuai soldiers was another matter entirely.

He glanced at the trembling villagers out of the corner of his eye, his mind racing, but he was at a loss for what to do.

Seeing the knights turn their horses and charge at the villagers, he had no choice but to abandon his hit-and-run tactics and switch from defense to offense, fiercely attacking the Jianghuai soldiers around him.

However, the Jianghuai Army was numerous, and he clearly couldn't hold them off by himself.

The guard who had just shouted had spurred his horse forward, spear in hand, and thrust it straight at a woman holding an infant. The woman was terrified; instinctively, she turned to shield her child, closing her eyes. "Bang!" The next instant, the guard's head exploded. But strangely, no blood splattered.

The man's wound was covered with a layer of frost, which froze his skull, which was missing a quarter of its length. Fragments of flesh mixed with ice shards were stuck in the wound, like a handful of blood-red shaved ice.

Everyone was startled by the attack, and their movements froze for a moment. Li Jing seized the opportunity and killed four more people in quick succession, each strike drawing blood, causing the surrounding Jianghuai army to retreat.

He was skilled in martial arts and had much better eyesight than the Jianghuai army. He had already seen that the weapon that killed the guard was a piece of broken tile that had appeared out of nowhere on the ground.

"Who dares to meddle in the affairs of our Jianghuai Army!" another guard shouted hoarsely.

The moment he finished speaking, his head exploded.

This time, the wound was charred black, and a faint smell of roasted meat wafted through the air. Even these seasoned veterans who had tasted blood couldn't help but feel their stomachs churning.

"Ugh! It's all your fault, Young Master Ling, how could you do something so disgusting?" "Yes, yes, it's all my fault. Ugh! I never expected it to turn out like this."

Only then did everyone notice that there were two more teenagers in the center of the village.

Judging by their faces alone, these two looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, but their figures were both incredibly tall and strong, completely disproportionate to their age.

They were dressed in luxurious robes, with a ferocious black eagle embroidered on their chests, and were now half-hunched over, dry heaving as if no one else was around.

Having learned from their previous experience, the Jianghuai soldiers who were besieging Li Jing dared not be distracted, but those who were blocked by their teammates behind them had no such concerns and immediately surrounded the two boys.

Of the four personal guards who had accompanied Boss Qi, only one remained, and naturally, he was unwilling to be the one to take the lead.

But the four of them were used to following Boss Qi and acting like tyrants, so when someone needed to step up, all the soldiers naturally looked to him.

Left with no other choice, the guard had to bite the bullet and ride forward, cupping his hands and asking, "May I ask which school you two young heroes belong to?"

Were those your two commanders the ones who just made the move? We are here to recruit soldiers on Lord Du's orders. We hope you will all go your separate ways to avoid—damaging the harmony and angering Lord Du.

Shuanglong dry heaved for a while, but eventually recovered a little.

Kou Zhong straightened up, wiped his mouth, looked at the Jianghuai army surrounding him, and said nonchalantly, "Others may be afraid of that old devil Du, but we aren't. You've really bitten off more than you can chew by bringing up old devil Du to scare us."

He had barely finished speaking when Xu Ziling made his move. "Young Master Zhong is right, we, the Twin Dragons of Yangzhou, are not afraid of any old devil Du."

He tapped his fingers repeatedly, and beams of orange-yellow light shot from his fingertips, raining down on the surrounding Jianghuai army like a storm.

Those struck by the finger's force had their armor burned through like paper, and screamed as they fell from their horses to the ground.

Seeing that the other side was determined to meddle, the Jianghuai soldiers immediately brandished their spears and attacked.

Kou Zhong flashed out, his palms flying, and an ice dragon roared out from his palms.

Where the ice dragon grazed, several Jianghuai soldiers didn't even have time to scream before they were transformed into human-shaped ice sculptures along with their armor, frozen in place in their charging posture.

"This is the Ice Profound Force?! These two are from the Yuwen Clan!"

The Yuwen clan was one of the four major clans. Yuwen Huaji, Yuwen Chengdu, and others were highly valued by Emperor Yang Guang. Their signature skill, Ice Profound Force, was like a summons from the King of Hell to these anti-Sui soldiers.

Therefore, Kou Zhong's signature move of unleashing his chilling aura immediately threw the Jianghuai army into chaos, and Li Jing seized the opportunity to eliminate several more people around him.

With the three working together, they swept through the enemy lines with unstoppable momentum, killing or wounding most of the seventy or eighty riders in the blink of an eye, leaving only a dozen or so survivors.

The fleeing soldiers, who had miraculously survived, saw that their losses were barely enough to report to their superiors, and dared not fight any longer. With a shout, they scattered and fled out of the village.

Seeing this, Kou Zhong raised his foot to give chase, but was grabbed by Xu Ziling. In this delay, Li Jing left behind four men, while the rest of the Jianghuai army had already fled without a trace.

"Young Master Ling, why are you pulling me? If we join forces with Brother Li, we guarantee that none of us will escape!" Kou Zhong said anxiously.

Xu Ziling shook his head and lowered his voice: "Does Young Master Zhong still remember what I said before about having to come up with a solution?"

This is the method I came up with. If the Jianghuai army loses men in this village without any explanation, it will definitely implicate the villagers afterwards.

But now that we've proactively revealed our identities, and the blame has been cleared, Du Fuwei's attention is now entirely focused on us.

Kou Zhong thought for a moment after hearing this, and his eyes lit up: "So that's why you introduced yourself earlier."

"It's probably easier to deal with the devil than his underlings; those bastards under Du Fuwei will still take the opportunity to cause trouble. Watch me add fuel to the fire, make things as big as possible!"

As he spoke, he suppressed his nausea, picked up a corpse that had died under Xu Ziling's fingers from the ground, took the other man's knife, and chopped off an arm.

Holding the bloody severed arm in his hand, Kou Zhong found a conspicuous earthen wall, dipped his finger in blood, and wrote seven large characters: "The murderer is the Twin Dragons of Yangzhou!"

At this moment, Li Jing had led three horses to the two dragons.

He had overheard their conversation clearly and thus knew their identities and thoughts. He clasped his hands in greeting and said, "So you two are the disciples of Li Qiushui, the renowned 'Number One Talented Woman of Yangzhou' who has been the subject of much discussion recently. No wonder you have such talent at such a young age."

However, this young man overlooked one thing in his plan. Releasing a few survivors would indeed give Du Fuwei a clear target for revenge, while minimizing the impact on the villagers.

However, not far from here, another large contingent of the Jianghuai Army was stationed. Some time ago, Du Fuwei defeated the Hai Sha Gang and the Shui Long Gang, and seized a batch of firearms and fireworks, which were distributed to various units for use as messengers.

Qi Laoda's squad wasn't qualified to be equipped with it, but the force in the distance was. Now that these routed soldiers had fled, the Jianghuai army would likely arrive in the blink of an eye.

He mounted his horse and beckoned to the two dragons: "This place is not safe to stay any longer. My two young brothers, you should quickly leave with me to avoid our pursuers."

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling exchanged a glance, their hearts sinking.

Inexperienced and naive, they thought that since the area was in the middle of nowhere, they would have plenty of time to distance themselves from Du Fuwei after defeating the small squad in front of them. However, they did not expect that there was a large force of Jianghuai Army nearby.

The two acted decisively, without further delay, and hurriedly instructed the villagers to hide themselves and, if caught, to truthfully explain their whereabouts, without resisting.

The three then mounted their warhorses and galloped off in the southwest.

The three hadn't gone far when they heard a loud bang in the air not far away. Looking up, they saw a huge firework exploding in the sky.

Kou Zhong spat and cursed, "Those few bastards who escaped have already run into the main force."

Brother Li, why don't we part ways here? Right now, it's the two of us brothers who've provoked Old Devil Du; we don't need to drag you into it."

Li Jing shook his head and laughed, "Brother Kou is joking. I have already violated the discipline of the Jianghuai Army by being an insubordinate, and I would have no way out if I fell into Du Fuwei's hands. So how can you say I'm a burden?"

Besides, I've hit it off with these two young men instantly. If I manage to escape today, I truly wish to become sworn brothers with them and share a drink and laughter."

Xu Ziling interjected, "To be honest, Brother Li, we brothers have always admired you for your courage and courage in the face of power, and we have long wanted to be your friend."

The three chatted amiably, showing no signs of being pursued by the infamous Du Fuwei. Li Jing even had the leisure to inquire about the purpose of the Twin Dragons' trip.

After walking for a while, Xu Ziling suddenly looked worried: "I wonder if those villagers will be able to escape."

Li Jing waved his hand and said confidently, "There's no need to worry about Ziling. Even if he fails to escape, he won't be in danger. We need to worry more about ourselves."

Kou Zhong raised an eyebrow: "Oh? What makes you say that, Brother Li?"

Li Jing explained, "The troops stationed near Shigou Village are called Shangmu, and they are Du Fuwei's personal guards."

The commander was named Kan Leng①. Although young, he was Du Fuwei's trusted and beloved general.

This man is brave and skilled in battle, and his discipline in commanding troops is far superior to that of the likes of Old Master Qi. With him around, the villagers of Shigou Village will certainly not commit any offenses against him.

About an incense stick's time after the two dragons left, a group of knights in full armor gathered in Shigou Village.

This group was several times larger than Qi Laoda's previous troops, yet they were crammed into a narrow open space in the village, but their ranks were orderly, the horses did not neigh, and the people were not noisy, which showed the commander's ability to manage the army.

The leader was a young general who looked only a few years older than Shuanglong, but had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a strong physique.

The man rode a tall, dark yellow horse, silently reading the blood-written words left by Kou Zhong.

Just then, one of his men rode up to his side.

The leading youth glanced at his subordinates, and before they could speak, he said, "Still haven't found any villagers from Shigou Village?"

The subordinate nodded: "General, this is truly unbelievable. Forget about the people, the brothers haven't even found a trace of them."

The boy in the lead didn't seem to care much, waving his hand and saying, "Forget it, if we can't find it, we won't look for it."

Old Wang, your team stays in the village. If the villagers return, ask them what happened. As for recruiting local militia, that can be postponed. Don't disturb the villagers or cause any more trouble.

"When the eldest brother arrives, he will explain the truth. The rest of you, come with me to meet these Yangzhou Twin Dragons."

At his command, his knights silently set aside a squad of ten to remain in the village, while the rest followed him as he rode out of Shigou Village, their hooves thundering, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.