Vol 9 Chapter 167 (2/2)
“Yaa!” The barbarian yelled as he slid past my spear and closed the distance of 3-4 paces between us instantly as he raised his sword.
“Wu!”
I hurriedly raised my spear to block the attack and–
*Ka*!
A crisp found rang out as he slashed through my spear, splitting it into 2. Both halves dropped to the floor as he placed his sword against my neck.
“Li Dian!”
Cao Ren’s yell could be heard from the side but all I saw before me was a scene from the past. It was a day when winter had just begun to set in, the day when we attacked Xu state city.
Everything was going well but I happened to let someone very important escape. Back then, that man was not good at martial arts at all and I very nearly defeated him in no time at all. However, just like now, he refused to give up and gambled everything on 1 shot and forced me to the ground.
The scene right now was almost the same as that one. Now that I think about it, their figures are almost the same. The only difference was that this man’s martial prowess greatly exceeded that of the man back then.
But the man from before should have died. Could it be…
I looked at the man who wore the barbarian helmet, not daring to call him a barbarian any longer. I only stared at him quietly while he held his sword against me with no intention of finis.h.i.+ng me off. I cannot see his face clearly but the more I look at him, the more I think he is the same man I am thinking of.
“You…” I began to spoke and the man’s sword trembled but I ignored it and continued, “If I have guessed wrongly, please forgive me but could you be–”
“Yaa!”
“Wu!”
Before I could finish, a spear suddenly came in between us and went straight for the man before me, forcing him to withdraw. I initially thought that it was Cao Ren but saw that the spear was visibly shorter and the one who saved me was wearing a headband, which meant that this was Lu Xiang and not Cao Ren.
“Lu Xiang!” I yelled out but she ignored me and continued to attack the man.
Compared to me, Lu Xiang’s attacks were more ferocious and continuous and forced the man to back up and left him no room to counter. Soon, they disappeared into the fray.
“Li Dian! Are you alright!”
“Ah, I’m fine!” I shook my head and yelled back to Cao Ren who had now fallen off her horse and was on her knee. Fortunately, several troops had come between her and Lu Bu and Cao Ren was still safe.
“Cao Ren!”
“I’m fine!” Cao Ren stopped me immediately when I was about to say further and looked at Lu Xiang as she continued, “The battle is greatly in the enemy’s favour! Li Dian, you are free now so go and command the troops in the middle! Don’t be stymied here!”
Wu! She wants me to go to the troops in the middle under these circ.u.mstances?!
I looked about and saw that neither side seemed to be the clear victor. Very few troops were emerging from the alleys which meant that the bulk of the troops in the middle were still embroiled in battle. From a logical perspective, it would indeed be better if I were to head there.
But… Is that really fine…
…
I do not think so. And so, I grabbed what remained of my spear and rushed headlong into the fray after Lu Xiang.
“Li Dian!”
“I will return at once!” I replied without turning back to Cao Ren who yelled at me from behind. My target now was not the troops in the middle but that man.
No matter what, I cannot just hand over a difficult opponent over to Lu Xiang who is badly injured. It would be far too dishonourable of me to do so. Besides, I still have some suspicions about that man.
“Uwaa!” I yelled as I parted through the crowd and charged through. After a while, I saw Lu Xiang currently engaging with the man.
“Lu Xiang!” I yelled but Lu Xiang did not turn back and continued to fight the man who was having difficulties fending her off. Looks like he cannot handle it when the duel becomes prolonged.
“Lord Li Dian?! Why haven’t you gone to the troops in the middle?!” Lu Xiang yelled when she finally noticed me as I drew closer.
“I can’t possibly let you fight 2 people alone right?” I replied as I leapt over and slashed at the man.
“Wu!” The man blocked my attack but Lu Xiang had already begun attacking him again.
“Uwaa!!” He moaned and I looked down and saw that Lu Xiang’s spear had grazed his abdomen.
Another shallow wound huh? But for someone like him who has little stamina, a wound like that would make it impossible for him to last past another 10 bouts.
As I thought so, I looked at the man. If this man is not who I think he is, then there is no merit to this duel. But if he is–
Then he must die.
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