Chapter 191 Zhang Tong VS Huang Zhong - Second Bou (2/2)
Huang Zu gulped. He wanted to ride back to relay this information to Liu Biao right away, but he was the only witness of this battle. He could not leave.
”Very well, both of you can begin when you're ready.” Xu Huang spoke, forcing the duel to commence.
Huang Zu and Xu Huang rode away from both Tong and Huang Zhong, leaving them alone.
Though Xu Huang wanted to take the duelist role himself, Tong insisted that he would fight. Feeling helpless, the new general could only pray for his Lord's victory.
On the other hand, Huang Zu did not worry one bit. He had full confidence and trust on this colleague with the same surname.
Tong and Huang Zhong glared at each other as they were still sitting on their horses.
Seeing the unwavering eyes of Huang Zhong, the corner of Tong's mouth twitched.
'He is neither nervous nor afraid. His focus and mental strength are sharp. The mind game failed.'
Huang Zhong also observed Tong from head to toes.
'Red devil eyes. His expression and his eyes aren't corroded by greed or ego. It's a warrior type that had baptism through battlefields. But if he's the honest warrior kind, why did he kill the innocent townsmen of Liyang?'
”Can I ask you a question before we fight?” Huang Zhong asked.
”What do you want to know?”
”Why did you kill the people of Liyang?”
Tong harrumphed. ”I have made a mistake.”
”What mistake?” Huang Zhong was puzzled.
”I didn't slaughter every single of them from the beginning, and I didn't have enough preparation for dealing with the brainwashed citizens.”
”… Are you blaming the citizens?”
”I'm not blaming the citizens. I'm blaming Liu Ping for sending the unnecessary edicts to the random cities. We could have solved our conflict with only soldiers, but he dragged the citizens into it. Since Liu Ping had turned the townsmen of Liyang into militias and had them taken arms to fight my men, I had to kill them all to protect my men. Are you satisfied with my excuses?”
”…”
Huang Zhong stared into the eyes of Tong to check if he was lying. The red eyes of Tong were the same as usual, cruel, yet clear as transparent glasses.
'They had a tinge of seasoned warrior tone, but they were not the deceitful type.'
He gave up speaking further. It did not matter anymore as both of them would have to fight a life-and-death battle here in a minute.
”Do you want to go first?”
”I'm a junior. Senior first.”
”Good. YAH!”
Huang Zhong kicked the sides of the horse, galloping to Tong head-on. He drew out his halberd and made a motion to slash.
”Humph!”
Tong harrumphed and did the same as Huang Zhong. He galloped his horse forward with a glaive in his hand, getting ready to clash with this legendary general head-on.
Before the fight, both of them withheld their killing intent. However, just one second before they swung their weapons, their menacing aura exploded out along with their strike.
*CLANK*
The glaive and the halberd's shaft hit each other as the two duelists aimed their polearm blade at the other's vital part. The crashing sound was similar to the sound of car-crash.
The impact made their hands numb. The iron metal slid against each other, causing sparks from the friction.
Both their bodies were pushed backward by the collision impact, but they maintained their balance on the horses. Tong and Huang Zhong guided the horse back at each other again.
*CLANK*
”GRR!”
”MM!”
They groaned as they felt another impact from the exchange. Their hands could feel the electric current running through their arms and their bones.
”Not bad for a junior. But how long can you last!?”
”I have a thousand times more years to live than yours!”
*CLANK*
They did not gallop their horse to get the momentum this time. As if they could read each other's mind, they stopped their horses closing at the other and started exchanging blows.
Huang Zhong switched his stance and jabbed Tong with a halberd thrust. The tip of his halberd was similar to an ordinary spear as it had a small edge on top of it.
Tong tiled his head to dodge the thrust that came for his face. At the same, he swung the glaive, aiming at Huang Zhong's torso.
Instead of dodging, Huang Zhong glanced at the incoming blade at the tip of the glaive and displayed the skills of the future legendary general.
He forced his horse forward and moved closer to Tong.
The glaive swung to the side and hit the side ribcage of Huang Zhong, but the part of glaive that made contact with his side rib was not the blade. The shaft of the glaive got him instead.
”Nhh!”
Huang Zhong gritted his teeth to endure the pain. He stared at Tong who ignored the missed-target halberd and spoke.
”This is the end, brat.”
The archer general rotated his grip on the halberd handle. The tip and the blade of the polearm, which had been pointing upward, circled clockwise into the three o'clock position. Then he pulled his halberd and let the shaft slid the side of Tong's neck.