Dream of the Red Chamber: From a Border Ruffian to a Capital Tyrant

Fifteen minutes later.

Jia Lang frowned deeply, hot, scarlet blood meandering along the seams of his arm armor, eventually pooling in his palm. The sticky, slippery sensation was nauseating, as if he were clutching a handful of insoluble blood sand.

Surrounded by the massive, wolf-like hordes of Xiongnu cavalry, Jia Lang did not suffer a fatal blow, but his once-shining iron armor was now shattered by countless frenzied slashes.

The armor plates were torn and curled up, the ropes were broken and the chains were snapped, and the garment was covered with crisscrossing knife marks. Some of the marks were even completely dented, revealing the blood-soaked undergarment underneath.

Looking down at the nearly ruined armor on his body, Jia Lang couldn't help but let out a bitter, blood-stained smile.

I recall those fantastical scenes from movies and TV shows I saw in my past life, where the protagonist single-handedly stormed into a dangerous place, facing an enemy force dozens of times larger, and not only was he unharmed, but not even a single hair on his head was disheveled.

However, reality is so starkly cruel; there is no glory, only life and death!

As more and more Xiongnu people surged up from all sides, wave after wave, the hooves of Jia Lang and his men's warhorses trampled into bloody mud, their forward steps were dragged down and became increasingly heavy and slow.

Ahead lay seemingly endless enemy cavalry, while behind them were relentless pursuers.

At this moment, Jia Lang and the others were truly caught in a dilemma.

One step forward meant facing a mountain of knives and a sea of ​​fire, with every inch forward requiring a bloody and gruesome price; one step back meant being overtaken by pursuers and torn to pieces.

The Xiongnu leader following behind Jia Lang and his men watched them fight like cornered beasts and let out a cold snort full of contempt and smugness.

"snort!"

The burly Xiongnu man's lips curled into a wide smile, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, his eyes filled with the mocking glint of a cat toying with a mouse.

"Run? Where do you think you can run to?"

"Now that you've come to my Xiongnu camp, you'll leave your lives behind!"

"We can use your heads to apologize to the Great Chanyu and claim credit!"

As he spoke, the Xiongnu commander narrowed his eyes, intently watching Jia Lang's darting figure, and with a cold snort, suddenly waved his hand and gave a command:

"Send the order: the entire army will advance and capture them alive!"

"Especially that General Gan Gou, I should personally cut off his head and present it to the Great Chanyu as a wine vessel!"

As a long-time rival of Jia Lang, who had fought fiercely with him at Yanmen Pass for two years, this Xiongnu Han man naturally recognized the renowned Flying General on the frontier.

In particular, Jia Lang's head was already on the list on the grassland. If he could keep this capable general here tonight, not only would his past crimes be forgiven, but he could also receive a great reward from the Great Chanyu. This was an incredible temptation for him!

"yes!"

A Xiongnu commander received the order and rode off at breakneck speed, roaring hysterically in broken Xiongnu:

"The order is given: capture the enemy general alive!"

"The order is given: capture the enemy general alive!"

The order spread like wildfire, and one Xiongnu soldier after another shouted it out. In just a dozen breaths, the entire battlefield erupted in a deafening roar.

"By order of the gatekeeper, capture the dried-up dog alive!"

"By order of the gatekeeper, capture the dried-up dog alive!"

The sound waves grew louder and louder. Although Jia Lang and the others couldn't understand the Hu language, they could tell from the fierce, greedy, and seemingly murderous looks in the eyes of the Huns around them that this was definitely a deadly talisman.

Faced with this desperate situation, Jia Lang remained silent, only sweeping his heavy hammer forward relentlessly.

"General! You go first! Don't worry about us!"

Li Tiedan rode up to Jia Lang's side, his face covered in blood and his expression extremely anxious. He shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Yes! General, you go quickly! Don't worry about us!"

The remaining soldiers beside Jia Lang roared in unison.

"fart!"

With a sudden, powerful swing of his heavy iron hammer, Jia Lang smashed two charging Xiongnu cavalrymen, horse and all, into a bloody pulp.

Then Jia Lang suddenly turned his head, his tiger-like eyes wide open, and angrily rebuked Li Tiedan and the others:

"Go back the way you came!"

"Am I, the general, the kind of person who would abandon his comrades and be a coward who clings to life?"

"General!!"

Upon hearing this, Li Tiedan shouted again at the top of his lungs.

"Shut up!"

Jia Lang glared angrily at Li Tiedan:

"We live together, we die together; let's not waste any more words!"

"Soldiers, follow me—"

"Charge out!!!"

Jia Lang raised the heavy iron hammer in his hand, its head gleaming with a bloodthirsty cold light in the reflection of the raging fire, and let out a roar that shattered the night sky.

Another round of extremely fierce fighting ensued.

At this moment, the Xiongnu camp was ablaze with fire, and countless tents were set ablaze, like angry fire beasts roaring in the night.

The raging flames illuminated half the sky as if it were daytime, and severed limbs flew about in the firelight.

Half an hour later, Jia Lang's warhorse was covered in blood. He swung his heavy hammer left and right, each blow accompanied by the crisp sound of shattering weapons and the muffled sound of bones breaking.

Those Huns, like tattered kites caught in a gale, crashed heavily to the ground with a dull thud.

Seeing that a gap had finally appeared in the encirclement ahead, Jia Lang breathed a slight sigh of relief and thought to himself, "I have a chance to escape." But when he quickly glanced around and saw the remaining soldiers behind him, his heart felt as if it were weighed down by a thousand pounds, so heavy that he could hardly breathe.

Of the more than 1,000 elite warriors he brought from Yanmen Pass, only about 500 remained at this moment.

This means that half of his good brothers have been left forever on this cold grassland, turning into lonely ghosts.

"General, be careful!"

Suddenly, a roar like thunder came from beside me.

A sudden sense of alarm rose in Jia Lang's heart, and a bone-chilling cold instantly shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, making every hair on his body stand on end!

"Uh~"

Before Jia Lang could react, a suppressed groan exploded in his ear.

Jia Lang hurriedly turned his head and saw a heavily armored Daqian soldier lying limply on the ground, with a black wolf-tooth arrow stuck in his chest, the arrow tail still trembling slightly.

It turned out that just as Jia Lang was overwhelmed with emotion because of his comrade's sacrifice, a cunning Hun archer sneaked up to the nearby area.

The Xiongnu man was overjoyed to see Jia Lang staring blankly, feeling that this was a golden opportunity bestowed by the Eternal Heaven.

He swiftly drew his bow, the arrow, like a black serpent, slicing through the night sky with a deathly whistle, hurtling towards Jia Lang's back.

At this critical moment, one of Jia Lang's personal guards discovered the deadly crisis.

The guard's bloodshot eyes widened as he watched the deadly arrow draw ever closer to his general. His heart tightened, and without a second thought, he roared and leaped forward, shielding Jia Lang with his own body!

"puff!"

The guard's body jolted violently as the arrow pierced his chest and emerged from his body, causing him to collapse to the ground.

Seeing his personal guard lying in a pool of blood, Jia Lang's eyes widened in fury, the anger in them seeming to materialize and burst forth.

He never imagined that his momentary lapse in concentration would lead to the death of a loyal soldier of the Great Qian Dynasty!

"ah!!!!!"

Jia Lang was like a lion that had gone completely mad, letting out a deafening roar. He was like a madman, brandishing his weapon and charging recklessly into the enemy camp to fight to the death.

"General!!"

"General! Don't act rashly!!"

"General! Don't let our soldiers sacrifice themselves in vain!"

"General!!!"

Upon seeing this, the soldiers beside him roared at the top of their lungs.

These blood-and-tears screams finally pulled Jia Lang back from the brink of losing his mind.

The madness in Jia Lang's eyes gradually faded, and he regained his clarity, but beneath that clarity lay endless grief and overwhelming anger.

Jia Lang reluctantly turned back to look at the soldier lying in a pool of blood. The young man's face had turned as pale as paper, and his life was rapidly slipping away.

"Walk!!"

"Charge out!!"

With hot tears welling in his eyes, Jia Lang's voice became hoarse and strained from extreme sobs as he roared with all his might.

"kill!!!!"

The remaining soldiers let out their final roar, the sound of which drowned out the roar of the sea of ​​fire. With a death wish, they charged madly toward the breach!