Changning’s Imperial Army - Chapter 133

Chapter 133 – Killing the General
Bai Shangnian turned around and saw a young man in white and managed to guess his identity, especially since his iron rod was a weapon that had quite a reputation in Changan city. When people in the underworld mentioned Hei Yan and Bai Ya, naturally, they would talk about their iron rod and huan shou dao.

Hei Yan seemed to be a little more firm and dauntless compared to Shen Leng; all he used was a quick, fine iron rod. On the other hand, Bai Ya looked more graceful and elegant, like a scholar. Nobody would have expected that what he loved the most was his huan shou dao.

“Liu Yun Sect’s outreach is truly far.”

Bai Shangnian narrowed his eyes slightly, but he was not scared at all. He would never truly respect a person from the underworld. To a general like him, he regarded the killings and fights in the underworld as children playing house – immature and ridiculous.

“Liu Yun Sect’s involvement in affairs is farther and deeper than you can imagine.”

Hei Yan stabbed his iron rod into the deck of the ship, piercing through. The blood on the rod left a ring around it.

His soldiers were still on the deck, and there were quite a number of them as well. They lifted their swords, surrounding Hei Yan tightly.

“It’s impossible to hide a second person in this ship.”

Bai Shangnian said calmly, “The hold of the ship is only this big, there isn’t much space. If there is another person, they would easily be exposed. Hence, I really admire your courage. You came here all by yourself to kill me…you truly have the makings of a combat soldier.”

Hei Yan shrugged; he seemed to be indifferent still. “Idiot.”

Bai Shangnian frowned slightly. The other party’s confidence, as though he had a card up his sleeve, seemed rather strange. Thereafter, he suddenly realized something…that fella was not here to kill him, he was here to kill the soldiers operating the ship.

This ship did not belong to the Navy; it belonged to Garrison B. Naturally, the soldiers on the ship were the people of his trusted aides. Additionally, the soldiers that he specially trained were on the ship too. Most of them were experts recruited from the underworld. At this moment, the speed of the ship rapidly decreased. In other words, that fella had already done what he was supposed to do.

Bai Shangnian pointed to the back. “Go, take a look.”

Two men in black were very agile, they dashed to the end of the ship. Indeed, he saw a boat chasing after them at a high speed.

Bai Shangnian looked in front again. Earlier on, the troops that Shen Leng brought with him for the drill had already sealed off the entrance of Hutai that led to Nanping River. After the fleet entered Taihu, they did not advance. Could it be that they managed to guess that he would leave first, hence they deliberately waited there?

“How long can you last?”

Bai Shangnian was still not apprehensive. Even if Shen Leng and his troops came, so what? Three quarters of his troops were the elites in Garrison B. He was the one who personally selected them.

Hei Yan moved his arms around. “Try and see then. I don’t know how long I can last either. Perhaps until you die.”

“Kill him,” ordered Bai Shangnian.

Immediately after, his soldiers pounced towards him.

Someone swung a hengdao towards Hei Yan’s throat; Great Ning’s soldiers’ most favorite method of killing someone – beheading them. Naturally, Hei Yan knew that very well. When the sword had arrived, he had already squatted. The sword swung across above his head, and the iron rod in his hand pierced upwards, piercing through that soldier’s chin, penetrating deep into his brain. When that soldier’s eyes rolled upwards, it seemed as though one could see the iron rod entering his brain.

After he took back his iron rod, he took a step back. Hei Yan dodged the attack from the second person. He swept his leg across and flipped the person over; he held the iron rod with both hands and pushed it down forcefully. The iron rod pierced into the heart of the soldier who fell to the ground. It pierced out of his back and into the deck.

Hei Yan drew the iron rod and moved to the side to dodge. Two swords stabbed into the area he was squatting at a moment ago.

There were two more corpses on the ground, and Hei Yan let his guard down because of that. Those soldiers were well-skilled in combat and they were not afraid of killing people. Every single one of their swords was stained by blood before.

Fortunately, the ship was not wide or spacious. With people walking to and fro, those soldiers were unable to use their repeating crossbows, which they specialized in. If not, Hei Yan would have already been shot by multiple arrows and end up looking like a hedgehog.

“The boat behind is approaching really fast!”

Suddenly someone yelled. Bai Shangnian quickly walked to one side and extended his head out. He saw a boat that looks like a centipede heading towards them, as though it was flying above the water surface. Fourteen pairs of paddles moved at the same time. It was not an exaggeration if one were to compare the boat to an arrow leaving the bow. It looked like a giant centipede chasing after them on the water.

“What kind of boat is that?!”

Bai Shangnian had never seen a boat as such before.

Originally, that boat was not going to make an appearance during the drill this time. However, Shen Leng’s newest model of battleship had two of them hanging at the sides. Shen Leng took one of the Wu Gong speedboats and left the ship to head to Yanping Island that day.

“Kill him as fast as you can!” yelled Bai Shangnian, after turning around.

Thereafter, he instructed his men to fire their arrows at the speedboat.

The men in black closed in on Hei Yan and tried to attack him from all sides. Hei Yan was the only one decked in white. The scene of the fight actually had the flavor of a Chinese ink painting.

Almost all the people who specialized in using bows or repeating crossbows were concentrated at the back of the ship, firing their arrows towards the boat. All the people in the boat flipped over and submerged into the water. The arrows hit the boat and the surface of the water, and yet, not a single person was hurt.

There was not a single person on the Wu Gong speedboat. However, it was still approaching. The people under the water swam over, with the help of the buoyancy of the boat. They were also able to use the boat to protect themselves from the rain of arrows.

At this moment, Shen Leng dived deep down into the water, like a fish. He swam beneath the ship from one end to the other. After he emerged to the surface of the water, he took out the scabbard and pressed it. A metal hook flew out and hooked onto the side of the ship. Shen Leng quickly climbed up. He leapt high up into the air and drew out the black cord sword on his back. The light reflecting off his blade shone onto the ship. As the silver light flickered, two heads flew up into the sky, followed by a trail of blood behind them.

Shen Leng landed onto the ground. He brandished his sword; the soldiers who were aiming the Wu Gong speed boat were hacked to death at an extremely fast speed. When the rest of the people realized what was happening, they started to attack Shen Leng. Shen Leng’s men in the water started mounting the boat again.

Hei Yan was struck in the shoulder by a sword. Even though it was not deep, he was bleeding profusely. His white clothes looked like plum blossoms scattered all over the snow. It gave this ink painting a bright color.

“I said before, maybe I will last till you die first.”

Hei Yan looked at Bai Shangnian. Shen Leng and his men had already got onto the ship one after another. Bai Shangnian looked more and more worried.

“And so?!”

Bai Shangnian grabbed his long lance. “Just you people alone?”

Hei Yan was the first to charge forward. “My brother’s blood is splattered all over the ground in the woods outside of your residence. Do you remember?!”

Bai Shangnian snorted. “So he was from Liu Yun Sect. I actually thought he was a spy planted by Zhuang Yong.”

Hei Yan wanted to get closer. His murderous intent was unrelenting.

“I bet you did not expect that before my brother died, he left the information within the dead leaves. With a set of skills like his, how can he be slaughtered on a tree? He knew that he would die without a doubt, and that sword was so he could leave behind a mark. We found the information he wanted to send to us within the dead leaves below the tree. Hence, everything that you schemed today will not succeed.”

Hei Yan bellowed, “Die!”

He leapt into the air, aiming his iron rod at Bai Shangnian.

Bai Shangnian snorted once again. He swung his long lance; with a loud clank, the iron rod in Hei Yan’s hand flung out upon impact. The iron rod spun for a while before it stabbed into the deck of the boat behind Hei Yan. A sharp pain shot through Hei Yan’s right arm. The web between his thumb and his index finger cracked upon impact.

With a loud thud, the long lance swept across and hit one side of Hei Yan’s body. Hei Yan seemed like a kite whose string had been broken – he was thrown backwards. His back hit against the deck hard.

Gu Le drew his sword. “Die!”

“What a savage!”

Bai Shangnian lifted his long lance. It was very heavy in the first place, but it moved unimaginably swiftly in his hand. Gu Le just approached him and yet the lance pierced him in the left shoulder immediately. If not for his fast reaction, it would have pierced through his heart.

Gu Le groaned in pain. Before he had time to react, he was being lifted up by the long lance.

Bai Shangnian swung hard; Gu Le was flung into the water.

Yang Qibao charged over from the side. When he was two meters away, the long lance swept across once again and struck his hengdao. With a clank, the sword flew out of his hands upon impact. Yang Qibao’s arms were numb. He did not expect the lance to be that powerful and terrifying.

Just at this moment, a huge shield flew over. Bai Shangnian snorted. He hit it with his long lance, striking it down. However, Bai Shangnian was extremely taken aback.

That huge shield was too strong!

It was Wang Kuohai’s strength. When it came to martial arts, Wang Kuohai was not as skilled as Gu Le or Yang Qibao, or even Du Weiming. However, when it came to brute strength, the three of them combined would not be able to beat him.

Bai Shangnian absolutely did not expect his physical strength to be that great. Even though he managed to hit the shield away with his long lance, both his arms became sore and numb after that. Thereafter, he saw a black figure approaching him from behind. A black cord sword had already arrived before his eyes. The sun shone onto the tip of the sword, yet it could not neutralize the coldness of it.

Bai Shangnian immediately abandoned the long lance and darted away, dodging the attack.

After Shen Leng approached him, he brandished his sword continuously without being interrupted. A while ago, in the courtyard in Wei Village, Chu Jianlian had taught him for three days. To ordinary people, three days would not make much of a difference. But to a person like Shen Leng, he could comprehend a lot in just three days.

Bai Shangnian was forced to retreat. He took the opportunity to kick him right after the sword swung across. Shen Leng kicked him as well. Both their legs collided, causing Shen Leng to slide backwards upon impact.

“A small fry! How dare you ruin my major plan!”

Bai Shangnian leapt forward, making it seem like he was flying. All it took was one step for him to get to Shen Leng, before he stepped on him!

Shen Leng flipped over and dodged it. Bai Shangnian’s leg landed in a hole on the deck of the ship instead.

Shen Leng just stood up and Bai Shangnian’s leg came kicking towards him. Shen Leng placed his sword horizontally, blocking his chest. His leg landed on the blade. The soles of Shen Leng’s shoes rubbed against the deck of the ship. The friction created a rather ear-piercing sound.

Just at this moment, Yang Qibao had arrived. He smashed his fist against the back of Bai Shangnian’s head. Bai Shangnian was in great pain and took two steps forward. Before he could stabilize himself, Hei Yan’s iron rod had already pierced him in his chest. Bai Shangnian lifted his head abruptly and saw Hei Yan’s eyes. Even his eye with the black eyeball was bloodshot. He looked extremely malevolent.

“When you go down, kneel in front of my brother!”

Hei Yan’s iron rod pierced through Bai Shangnian’s chest and came out of his back. Bai Shangnian punched Hei Yan in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. He hit his head against the deck hard.

However, someone swung his sword again.

Shen Leng’s sword swept horizontally across. When it sliced his neck, a trail of blood flew across.

The sword swept across; a split second later, blood started gushing upwards, suspending his head in midair.

The corpse was standing on the deck of the ship; blood came gushing out of his neck. Under the sunlight, it formed a bitter rainbow.