Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

In reality, it was Yang Zhi, the "Blue-Faced Beast," who was too worried and confused. No matter how powerful Yang Zhi was, even if he fought his way out, those soldiers would be too busy to help themselves, so how could they have the chance to escape with their loads on their backs?

However, those involved are often blinded by their own perspective, and Yang Zhi didn't have much time to think things through clearly.

"ah!"

Yang Zhi has also been greatly exhausted. Although the fight has only lasted for half an hour, his energy expenditure has been enormous. The intense fighting has never stopped, and he has killed at least fifty people.

At this moment, "Golden-Eyed Tiger" Deng Long swung his iron mace and smashed it onto Yang Zhi's broadsword, causing Yang Zhi to stagger backward.

Seeing that he had repelled Yang Zhi, Deng Long thought he was about to succeed. At this moment, Yang Zhi had his back to him, and he thought he was about to smash Yang Zhi's open back with his hammer.

Unexpectedly, Yang Zhi suddenly turned around and threw punches and slashes with lightning speed, using three moves in quick succession. Before "Golden-Eyed Tiger" Deng Long could react, Yang Zhi grabbed him by the collar and dragged him towards Yang Zhi, causing him to crash headfirst into the tip of the broadsword, which pierced through his chest.

Even Zhu Jing, known as "Drilling Spear," and Sun Yuan, known as "Sea Yaksha," couldn't quite figure out what kind of moves Yang Zhi made with his three attacks. However, they could tell that these were indeed his ultimate techniques. Fearing that Yang Zhi might have more tricks up his sleeve, they quickly retreated, worried that Yang Zhi might launch a counterattack.

The move Yang Zhi used was called "Three Ultimate Moves from the Back Mountain," a move used by Yang Jiye, the Golden Saber General of the Yang family, to capture enemy generals on horseback. However, since there were no warhorses available on foot, the move was modified and became a counterattack to turn the tide of battle.

Yang Zhi pushed aside the corpse of "Golden-Eyed Tiger" Deng Long, removing it from the broadsword. At this moment, the broadsword in Yang Zhi's hand was completely stained red with blood, and Yang Zhi himself was also covered in blood, looking as if he had fallen into a vat of red dye.

The battle was nearing its end. Although the dozens of Imperial Guards were capable of fighting ten men each, they had all perished in the overwhelming numbers.

The remaining henchmen were only from Zijin Mountain and Umbrella Mountain. After killing the Imperial Guards, the henchmen from these two mountains also killed the men from Erlong Mountain, but they didn't make a move because their leaders were working together to kill Yang Zhi.

Even so, in the fierce battle, the combined forces of Zijin Mountain and Umbrella Mountain only had a little over three hundred men left.

"on!"

Zhu Jing shouted, ordering his henchmen to charge at Yang Zhi. Zhu Jing had already seen the power of Yang Zhi's family martial arts. If the fight continued, there was no guarantee that Yang Zhi would be able to use some ultimate move that they couldn't withstand. It would be better to let his men kill Yang Zhi by sheer numbers.

"Come on, too!"

Sun Yuan, the "Sea Demon," gave the order, and the men from the two hilltops charged straight at Yang Zhi. Yang Zhi caught his breath and thought to himself that he couldn't escape today, but he would kill a few more bandits to take him down with him.

So Yang Zhi charged into the midst of the henchmen, wielding his broadsword with incredible skill, using it to chop, stomp, sweep, mash, twist, cut, lift, hang, slash, wipe, intercept, block, pick, stab, deflect, cloud, hang, carry, block, support, press, misalign, follow, and fan. He risked injury to kill more than a hundred henchmen!

Of course, Yang Zhi was also hacked to pieces, looking like a tattered sack, with eight wounds all over his body. He was leaning against the uncle, his chest heaving like a bellows, and he was only able to keep his body steady with his broadsword.

Even though he can still stand, he's actually too weak to fight anymore.

"Yang Zhi is already finished; I think he's about to die. And those two groups of men are all gone. Why don't we charge in and attack?"

Wang Ying, the "Short-Legged Tiger" hiding there, counted that the two groups of people still had only a little over a hundred men who were still capable of fighting. Their numbers were far superior, and it would be perfect for them to go out and reap the rewards!

"Alright! Follow me!"

"Jinmaohu" Yan Shun grabbed his broadsword and led Wang Ying and others to charge forward. Instantly, another group of men arrived, their shouts of battle shaking the heavens and the earth.

Just when Zhu Jing, nicknamed "Sky-Piercing Spear," and Sun Yuan, nicknamed "Sea Yaksha," thought the matter was settled and that the person who obtained the birthday gifts would be chosen from their two groups, the appearance of the Qingfeng Mountain forces truly terrified them.

"who?"

"Sea Demon," Sun Yuan asked.

"We are men from Qingfeng Village, here specifically to take your dog lives! Kids, leave Yang Zhi here, I want to question him about the timing of the birthday tribute. The rest of you, kill them all!"

With a single strike of Wang Ying's steel spear, all the fresh troops from Qingfeng Village rushed forward. The lackeys from Zijin Mountain and Sangai Mountain had been fighting for half a day and were exhausted. Most of them were also injured, and they were almost all cut down in large numbers.

"Shorty! Prepare to die!"

The old man, nicknamed "Sea Demon" Sun Yuan, was furious that after a lifetime of hunting geese, he had been pecked in the eye by a goose. He lunged at Wang Ying.

"You old bastard, take this!"

Wang Ying, armed with a gun, fought with "Sea Yaksha" Sun Yuan. Although Wang Ying was younger than Sun Yuan, his martial arts skills were inferior. However, after fighting for a long time, Sun Yuan's strength was greatly depleted. After all, he was old and weak, and he was now at a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, "Jinmaohu" Yan Shun brandished his broadsword to fight "Zhuantianqiang" Zhu Jing. Fortunately, Zhu Jing's martial arts skills were not weak, much stronger than "Haiyacha" Sun Yuan, and he was able to block "Jinmaohu" Yan Shun.

"You bastard!"

Meanwhile, "Short-legged Tiger" Wang Ying, with his abundant energy, used a single shot to deflect the five-pronged steel fork in the hand of "Sea Demon" Sun Yuan, and then shot him in the chest.

"Woo!"

Sun Yuan, the "Sea Demon," spat out a mouthful of foul blood and collapsed to the ground, dead. A powerful man who had schemed his whole life, he ended up being schemed against by others.

By this point in the battle, Wu Yong, the "wise strategist" who had been watching from the sidelines, felt that it was about time. Once the Qingfeng Mountain forces finished off the remaining men and suffered a few more losses, they could go out and clean up the mess.

To conceal their movements, Wu Yong specifically instructed everyone to prepare face coverings, so that no one at Qingfeng Mountain would know who had done it.

The henchmen of Qingfeng Mountain easily wiped out the remaining enemies, leaving only "Drill Gun" Zhu Jing surrounded. Zhu Jing had no way to fight his way out of these people and could only fight like a cornered beast.

"Professor, Zhu Jing is a good man, but now he's all alone. Should we help him?"

Having just witnessed such a bloody battle, Chao Gai, the "Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King," felt a pang of reluctance to leave.

In his view, so many heroes could have done so much, it wasn't worth dying for a mere birthday gift.

Now he's only thinking about saving as many people as he can. Yang Zhi is also dying now. They're all fellow martial artists, so let's not let them kill each other.

"Very well, if we save Zhu Jing, he'll be grateful to us and work for us!"

Wu Yong thought that since Zhu Jing was now isolated and helpless, if they pretended to be there to take the birthday gifts, and incidentally drove back the Qingfeng Mountain forces, and then rescued Zhu Jing, Zhu Jing wouldn't know what they were really there for, and might even have to thank them.

After all, Zhu Jing is now all alone on Zijin Mountain, and at least half of his henchmen have died, greatly reducing his strength. If Wu Yong and Chao Gai handle things properly, they might be able to join forces on Zijin Mountain, turn the tables, and seize Zijin Mountain as their base.

I don't know how these two became friends; their ways of thinking are completely different, the gap between them is too big.

"Let's go! Brothers, put on your masks and don't give yourselves away!"

Chao Gai shouted, pulled up his mask, raised his broadsword, and led his men out.

"Um?!"

When "Jinmaohu" Yan Shun and "Dwarf Tiger" Wang Ying saw another group of people charging out, their state of mind was the same as Zhu Jing's before.

However, they were still capable of fighting back, since they hadn't expended too much energy and their casualties weren't too high.

"Prepare for the enemy! Prepare for the enemy!"

"Jinmaohu" Yan Shun shouted.

"trick!"

Just then, "Scarface Leopard" Fu Xiang picked up a throwing fork, saw clearly through the crowd, aimed at "Dwarf Tiger" Wang Ying, and threw the fork, hitting Wang Ying squarely in the ribs.

"Ouch!"

Wang Ying was caught off guard and stabbed to the ground, but was dragged away and rescued by the henchmen.

"what?"

Seeing Wang Ying fall, "Jinmaohu" Yan Shun knew he had to defend the area. Just then, "Lita Tianwang" Chao Gai, wielding a broadsword, jumped forward. The two clashed with broadswords, but "Jinmaohu" Yan Shun was no match for "Lita Tianwang" Chao Gai's strength and was knocked back several steps.

"kill!"

As for the remaining battles, Chao Gai and Wu Yong's side had the advantage. Although they didn't have many people, they had many leaders and strong fighting power.

Lu Hui, wielding the double-headed snake spear, weaved through the crowd, already stabbing many enemies. Jiao Ting, the "Faceless," held a knife in his left hand and used grappling techniques with his right, twisting and turning several people before slitting their throats with a final strike.

"General Shi" Shi Yong pinned a henchman to a tree with his spear, piercing his guts. "Mountain Demon" Han Bolong, wielding a sharpened ghost-head knife, led his ruthless bandit brothers in hacking at anyone they saw.

"Scarface Leopard" Fu Xiang had already made a contribution with a single fork, piercing "Dwarf Tiger" Wang Ying and knocking down one of the two leaders on the other side. However, he still did not move forward, maintaining his previous fighting style, throwing a fork at anyone he didn't like from behind, pinning them to the ground.

Meanwhile, all the henchmen from Qingfeng Mountain rushed up to fight the enemy, leaving "Sky-Piercing Spear" Zhu Jing unattended. Seeing this, he staggered and tried to run away, leaning on his spear shaft.

However, Li Hanxiao didn't give him that chance. A silver bullet hit the back of his head, knocking the guy unconscious.

This kid has some talent; we can keep him around. Li Hanxiao can't let him get away.

Meanwhile, the situation of the troops at Qingfeng Mountain was also not optimistic. Yan Shun, the "Golden-haired Tiger," was now almost a "bald tiger" from fighting. He couldn't hold them off by himself. His henchmen were being killed in droves. The enemy had too many high-level fighters, and he couldn't hold them off alone.

After being kicked by "Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King" Chao Gai, Chao Gai muttered, "You don't want to live anymore! Get out of here!"

Chao Gai was unwilling to kill them, and although his words didn't sound very pleasant, they were indeed well-intentioned.

This sentence also awakened "Jinmaohu" Yan Shun. Yes, if you can't beat them, you should run away. Forget about the birthday gifts. Money is nothing compared to life.

He also estimated that as long as they ran away, these people probably wouldn't chase after them. After all, the birthday tribute was still there. Surely these people wouldn't lose 100,000 strings of gold and silver jewelry to chase after them?

"Let's go! Let's go!"

"Jinmaohu" Yan Shun feinted, then turned and ran, ordering someone to carry "Dwarf Tiger" Wang Ying as he took off.

General Shi Yong wanted to give chase, but was stopped by King Chao Gai, who said, "Forget it, don't pursue a desperate enemy!"

Seeing that most of the people from Qingfeng Mountain had fled and suffered heavy losses, and that they were unlikely to return, the crowd simply gave up on the idea of ​​pursuing them.

"Brother, we've got the birthday gifts!"

Wu Yong, the "wise strategist," walked over at this moment. His plan had succeeded perfectly, and he was quite proud of himself.

"on!"

However, he didn't know that he wouldn't be the one laughing last.

Just then, Li Hanxiao gave the order to attack. The Liangshan soldiers, who had been preparing their bows and crossbows, unleashed a barrage of arrows at Chao Gai and Wu Yong's men, and dozens of them instantly fell into pools of blood.

"There are still enemies!"

Wu Yong shouted.

"Wu Xuejiu, how could you forget me!"

Li Hanxiao led his men out, and had already secretly surrounded them when Chao Gai and Wu Yong led their men to fight.

"Ah! Li Hanxiao! How could I..."

When Wu Yong saw that the person who came was Li Hanxiao, he was filled with remorse.

Wu Yong hadn't seen the Liangshan forces come to take the birthday gifts before, and he thought Li Hanxiao was planning to do it elsewhere. After all, even when the troops from Qingfeng Mountain came out, the Liangshan forces hadn't shown up, so he assumed they wouldn't come and wasn't on guard.

"Chief Li, what does this mean?!"

Chao Gai, the "Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King," loudly questioned Li Hanxiao, who was still kept in the dark and believed that he had no past grievances or recent feuds with Liangshan. Why would Li Hanxiao kill someone so readily?

"Ask Wu Xuejiu, I, Li, know all about your dirty deeds. If I had led my men into battle earlier, I would have been killed by you right now. Brothers, attack! Capture the leader alive!"

With a laugh, Li Han gave the order, and the Liangshan troops charged forward. Many hunting dogs sprang out from the woods, and eagles swooped down from the sky. The battle broke out instantly.

"Quickly engage the enemy!"

Wu Yong, the "wise strategist," was almost hoarse from shouting, because he could tell that Li Hanxiao must have found out about his and Chao Gai's conspiracy through some means. Li Hanxiao must have come prepared, and now it was impossible for them to take the birthday gifts.

Now, there is only one thing they can do: fight for their own survival!

Even as he was unconscious, Yang Zhi, who had been leaning against a big tree and slumped to the ground, was still thinking that this was the strangest thing he had ever encountered in his life!