The Second Volume of Water Margin

  Another soldier was jumping down with his face against the wall, and in an instant, a huge iron shield came rushing towards him, heavily colliding with the soldier's face. Immediately afterwards, Langzi Yanqing's sharp dagger had already stabbed into the soldier's neck, and as the dagger was pulled out, blood spurted out.

  The soldier fell down, and the last thing he saw was a frail little sky peeking out from behind an iron shield, which made him extremely resentful.

  This was Xiaotianqing's first real battle, and this move was almost an unconscious action. It wasn't until the soldier fell to the ground that she dared to peek out from behind her iron shield: "Did... did I really do that?"

  "First time? Not bad." The rogue Yan Qing carefully flicked the blood off his dagger to avoid affecting its sharpness, looked up and said: "The second wave is coming soon, focus!"

  Xiao Tianqing looked up and saw that indeed, two or three more heads appeared on the wall. They must have seen the two soldiers who had just jumped down and died, and they shouted: "There are people below! Add a few more ladders!"

  Jin Qian Baozi heard this and his face changed color, the big courtyard wall was their defense line, but if seven or eight enemies jumped down, it wasn't something that three people could handle.

  But at the next glance, Tang Long saw Yan Qing's firm eyes and Xiao Tianqing's serious preparation, which made Jin Qian Baozi's heart hot: "At worst, I'll repay Ximen Gege's kindness, and I've already killed one, so I've already come back. Killing two more won't make me lose out!"

  At this thought, Tang Long let out a loud roar, put down the iron hammer, took off his upper garment, revealing dark skin and bulging muscles: "Who dares to come down and take Grandpa's iron hammer? Come one, I'll smash one, come two, I'll smash a pair! Come on!"

  These few sentences also described the miserable situation of the soldiers who had just died, scaring the several soldiers who were exposing their heads on the wall to go weak in the knees, almost falling off the ladder.

  "Trash! All trash!" Zeng Sheng cursed, snatched a steel knife and shouted: "Get down for Laozi! See how I'm going up!"

  Just then, a soldier came running from the front yard, with a wound on his shoulder, shouting: "Young Master! Something's wrong!"

  Zeng raised an eyebrow and frowned, saying: "What's going on that you're in such a hurry? Where did this injury come from?"

  "A group of fierce and ferocious men suddenly appeared from outside, each one looking like a malevolent spirit!" The soldier's tongue was tangled with panic: "The leader is extremely formidable, I don't know how many brothers he has cut down!"

  "Rubbish!" Zeng Sheng cursed: "How many people have come? The soldiers in the front yard, why didn't they resist?"

  The soldier was scolded by Zeng Shangyi and in his panic, he bit his own tongue: "Sh...it!"

  "What's wrong with you? Ask the soldier in front of you!"

  "The bean sprouts have grown."

  "Useless trash!" Zeng Sheng slapped him without hesitation: "What a waste! How could you be tongue-tied at such a critical moment?"

  A soldier next to him hesitated and said: "Young Master Wu, it's possible that... they're all dead?"

  Zeng Sheng took a deep breath of cool air, and his eyes transmitted another intense pain, almost fainting: "Are they all dead? How many people came?"

  "Master Wu, why don't we charge out and join forces with Master Si?" The soldier beside him chimed in, "The more soldiers we have, the greater our chances of winning."

  "Good!" Zeng Sheng felt more reasonable, no matter how much money and women were in the yard, his own life was still important: "Assemble! Form an array! Follow this young master to kill out!"

  "The enemy is retreating! We're saved!"

  "The situation is unclear, don't be impulsive!" Langzi Yanqing said in a low voice: "Even if we rush in, it will take some time. Let's wait for the enemy to leave and I'll climb up the wall to take a look!"

  Jin Qian Baozi nodded in agreement with Yan Qing's words, now it was more important to stay here and keep watch than to relax their vigilance or sneak out to kill the enemy.

  "Leave the outside to the masters, we'll take care of things here! Defend to the death!"

  Ximen Qing and Wu Song heard the news of Shi Yan's arrival, the soldiers from the front were attacking the gate, they became anxious and didn't care about advancing step by step. They immediately decided that Wu Song would take the lead, Ximen Qing would be in the middle, with soldiers guarding on both sides, and behind them was Shi Yan's temple, seven or eight people formed a wedge shape, quickly pushing forward! While others were responsible for covering up the rear.

  At this point, Wu Song also had to use all his might, found two steel knives and danced them up, rushing forward. This knife method was indeed deadly, the soldiers of Zhenzhou City were already somewhat unable to cope, being charged by Wu Song, they immediately dispersed.

  "If Wu Song had a pair of suitable treasured swords, their power would likely increase several times!" Ximen Qing watched Wu Song's incomparable divine and martial arts skills in battle, and made up his mind to find a way to get a pair of treasured swords for Wu Song.

  After rushing through a courtyard gate, the seven or eight men with spears happened to collide head-on with the dozens of people led by Zeng Sheng. Zeng Sheng saw that Wu Song's swordsmanship was exquisite and felt somewhat intimidated in his heart, so he fought two more rounds before retreating backwards and ordering his soldiers to advance and resist!

  "This guy has a hidden weapon!" Ximen Qing's eyes were sharp, and he saw the flying knife attached to Zeng Sheng's belt. He was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat: "This is Zeng Sheng of the Five Tigers of the Zeng family, skilled at using flying knives. Second brother, be careful!"

  Zeng Sheng had already retreated and opened the distance, his hand was already on the waistband, these two flying knives Zeng Sheng used were extremely familiar, within twenty steps, shooting people or objects, all hit their mark. In Ximen Qing's urgent shouting voice, a cold light had already been emitted from Zeng Sheng's hand, the target was Wu Song's head!

  Ximen Qing could only exert himself and push Wu Song's body aside with all his might, as he watched everything happen but was powerless to stop it.

  He had just thrown the flying knife, only to discover that he had missed his mark. Due to the lack of one eye's vision, he couldn't fully estimate Wu Song's position, and with Ximen Qing giving him a push, the flying knife flew over Wu Song's head, only cutting off a few strands of hair.

  Wu Song was also startled and broke out in a cold sweat, hastily dancing his twin blades even more urgently to protect his head and face, making it impossible for Zeng Sheng to make a move.

  Zeng Sheng saw the first flying knife lose, just about to touch the second flying knife, suddenly the back of his head was hit by something, and he fell to the ground with a black eye.

  Ximen Qing looked over and saw that Yan Qing, the rogue, had already put away his crossbow on the wall of a nearby courtyard, and with a dagger drawn, jumped down to engage in close combat.

  It was just a single arrow from Langzi Yanqing that made Zeng Sheng meet his demise!

  Zeng Cheng died, and the soldiers of Zeng's army immediately lost their will to fight. They scattered in all directions, and Wu Song was finally able to catch his breath. He ordered his soldiers to pursue and kill them.

  Ruanzi Yanqing quickly approached Ximen Qing and the others, who asked: "Xiao Yige, what's the situation inside the courtyard? Have the enemy attacked and entered?"

  Yan Qing's face turned pale with shame, and without saying a word, he knelt down first, startling Ximen Qing and Wu Song. They thought the enemy had already entered the courtyard and hastily asked him in detail, only to learn that Yan Qing was blaming himself for not killing Zeng Sheng with his first arrow, which led to the enemy attacking the courtyard.

  Knowing that the courtyard had not been breached, Ximen Qing finally put his mind at ease and helped Yan Qing up, saying: "Who can guarantee a hundred hits? Zeng Sheng is a living person, not a dead target. Little Yige doesn't have to be too self-critical."

  At the time of Gu's death, Xiang Yu went forward to examine Zeng's body and found that he had indeed been shot in the eye by an arrow from the front, but it did not succeed. Only after another arrow penetrated deep into his skull from the back of his head was Zeng finally killed.

  Yan Qing said with shame: "The master doesn't know, Xiao Yi usually relied on three arrows, one hundred shots and one hundred hits, thinking that his archery skills were not inferior to Yang Yubazi. He didn't expect that at the critical moment, he still lost his mark. From now on, Xiao Yi will no longer show off."

  Ximen Qing saw that Yan Qing was somewhat disappointed with his archery skills, so he comforted him saying: "If one arrow doesn't hit the mark, there's still a second arrow. Look at Zeng Sheng who rose to power but ultimately died under your arrows."

  Yan Qing slightly shook his head and remained silent, Wu Song also advised him a couple of sentences, only then did he stop.

  Ximen Qing saw that the soldiers at the front of the city had almost all escaped, and he let out a sigh of relief. He was just about to order Shi Hui and Yan Qing to climb over the wall and go inside to open the gate from within when a soldier came running up, panting for breath, and saluted him. Ximen Qing recognized him as the squad leader of another contingent, nicknamed Zhang Dàmǔ (Big Mouth Zhang).

  "How's it going on your side?" Ximen Qing asked.

  Zhang Dàmǒu wiped the sweat and said: "The soldiers in the Taihe Temple have been killed, but the remaining Zengtou City soldiers are all in the backyard of the temple. They are gathered together, making it difficult to take action. Liu Tuozi called me over to report."

  "What's going on?" Ximen Qing thought for a moment and said: "About how many people? Look at what they're all doing."

  Zhang Dazui replied: "There are probably over 200 people, and I sent some brothers to sneak over and listen. It seems they're waiting for Fourth Master to distribute money among them."

  "Fourth Master? That's Zeng Kui!" Ximen Qing raised an eyebrow: "You go back and tell Liu Daizi, we'll head over once everyone is gathered here!"

  Liu Renzhong hid behind the back door of the Daxiong Treasure Hall, looking seriously at the Zengtoushi soldiers in the backyard, and the brothers behind him all lowered their heads and dared not speak loudly.

  Thanks to the right strategy, Liu Renzhong led thirty or so men in a steady advance. After finishing off the enemy at the Daxiong Bao Hall, only two brothers were lightly injured, which didn't affect the battle. Moreover, what made Liu Renzhong happy was that most of his brothers had taken advantage of the situation to exchange their wooden staffs for steel knives.

  However, what he saw next in the backyard made Liu Renzhong feel like a tiger biting an turtle with no way to open his mouth. The reason was that there were too many people, and they all gathered together to rest. He sent a brother with sharp ears over to listen, and it seemed that they were waiting for their share of the money.

  He Lao San and the other two squad leaders repeatedly asked to charge forward, but were calmly rejected by Liu Renzhong.

  The reason is simple, there are too few people.

  If it were one against two, or even one against three, Liu Renzhong would dare to order a charge, but now the ratio is almost one to seven. Liu Renzhong does not think he can definitely win, especially since Ximen Qing repeatedly emphasized the issue of casualties. A Pyrrhic victory in Ximen Qing's eyes is not considered a victory!

  Thinking of this, Liu Renzhong felt a kind of inexplicable emotion. This Ximen Qing was not an ordinary person and was different from the other leaders on Mount Liangshan; he cherished every brother's life!

  So Liu Renzhong sent Zhang Dàmǔ to report the current situation to Ximen Qing.