Chapter 151: Battle Before the City

The forces of Dingbian City and the Hu army once again confronted each other outside the city walls. Li Daocheng ordered Bordu to take the lead in the vanguard. Gao Wanjun turned to her subordinates and asked who was willing to fight the first battle. As the words left her lips, someone right beside her shouted out a eager willingness to meet the challenge.

Gao Wanjun turned her head and saw it was Luo Simao. She gave a slight nod, uttered a brief word of caution, and sent him forward to engage Bordu.

Gao Wanjun had a fair understanding of Luo Simao's martial prowess. After all, the Luo family possessed the renowned "Luo Family Spear," an art as illustrious as her own family's. Much like the ancestors of the Gao clan, the forebears of the Luo family had followed the founding emperor to conquer the realm, riding across battlefields with an invincible divine spear in hand.

Luo Simao had thoroughly inherited the true essence of the Luo spear techniques. Having practiced martial arts since childhood and participated in actual combat, he had rightly earned his title as the General of Majestic Might bestowed by the emperor.

Wielding a coiled-dragon bright-silver spear and radiating high spirits, Luo Simao rode into the arena. Pointing his spear forward, he demanded, "Who are you? State your name and prepare to meet your doom!"

"Such arrogant insolence! You know nothing of the immensity of heaven and earth! Your grandfather here is Bordu, a warrior of the great Xia Kingdom! What is the name of this little brat?" Bordu shouted, swinging his steel trident. Three iron rings hung from the weapon's three prongs, clanking and rattling noisily as he brandished it.

"I am Luo Simao! Today, I shall let you taste the formidable power of your young master's spear!" With that, Luo Simao twisted his coiled-dragon bright-silver spear and thrust straight at Bordu's heart.

Bordu wasted no words and met the attack with his trident. From the very first exchange, Luo Simao felt that Bordu possessed vastly superior physical strength. Consequently, he unleashed his family's spear techniques, striving to parry while keeping clear of the heavy weapon. The two engaged in a fierce back-and-forth battle.

Bordu's trident strikes were fierce and heavy, executed with brutal power. The iron rings on the prongs crashed against the shaft, constantly producing a clamor designed to distract his opponent.

Luo Simao's spearplay was exquisite, his strikes flowing like a soaring dragon: first aiming for the brow, second for the hands, third for the shoulders, and fourth for the elbows. As the saying went, "A spear of seven feet, a staff of five, a grand spear spans one zhang and eight inches." The coiled-dragon bright-silver spear wielded by Luo Simao measured precisely one zhang and eight inches long. A coiled dragon was carved along its shaft, while the metal body gleamed with a brilliant silver light.

The Luo Family Spear comprised a total of one hundred and eight moves, divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers. Every three strikes formed a group, every four groups a section, and every three sections a path, with thirty-six strikes per path. Combined across all three tiers, they formed a complete set of "One Hundred and Eight Strikes."

Though numbering only one hundred and eight moves, in Luo Simao's hands they appeared ghostly, unpredictable, and endlessly versatile. When he practiced under the tutelage of his grandfather and father in his youth, he would scatter soybeans across the ground and use the tip of his spear to flick them away one by one, training the precision of his thrusts and the precise control of his strength. Clearly, he had invested an immense amount of grueling effort into mastering this weapon.

The spear reigned supreme among all weapons, and as the old adage went, "Practice fist arts for a year, staff arts for a month, and spear arts every single day." Without exceptionally solid fundamental skills, mastering spearplay was impossible. Any knowledgeable observer could tell at a single glance that Luo Simao's skill had not been acquired overnight.

Despite his immense strength, Bordu had not eaten his fill over the past few days. As the combat dragged on, he began to feel unequal to the task, his stamina gradually failing him. Moreover, Luo Simao's spearmanship was so exquisitely intricate that it left him dizzy and bewildered. In a momentary lapse of concentration, he took a spear thrust straight to the thigh. Letting out a startled cry, he whipped his horse around and fled in defeat back toward his formation.

The military physician stationed within the Hu army rushed forward immediately, applying healing ointments and bandaging Bordu's wound.

Li Daocheng frowned and raised his voice once more. "Who is willing to engage that young warrior in the silver armor?"

His subordinate generals once again acted like turtles drawing in their heads, maintaining a sullen silence.

A surge of anger rose within Li Daocheng. He thought to himself: *Since when did the warriors of our Great Xia Kingdom become such cowards? In the past, they would have been fighting one another for the chance to charge forward in situations like this.*

Li Daocheng cast his gaze left and right before locking his eyes onto Han Qianhu. "Han Qianhu, you must have eaten a fine fish this morning, didn't you? Go and test your mettle against that young general!"

"This general obeys the command!" Han Qianhu replied, tightening his reins and riding out to the center of the field.

"Who are you? State your name!" Luo Simao shouted.

"I am Han Qianhu! Are you the one they call 'Screwdriver'?" Han Qianhu had been stationed in the rear ranks and had overheard the exchange earlier, hence his deliberate distortion of the name.

"I am Luo Simao! Save the chatter, Han Qianhu, and surrender your life!" Luo Simao yelled.

Han Qianhu's weapon of choice was a massive mountain-opening battle-axe. The axe head was as large as half a carriage wheel, and its shaft was as thick as a teacup—a clear indication that he was a brute-strength warrior.

Luo Simao had not dared to lock weapons directly with Bordu and his steel trident; facing Han Qianhu, he was even less inclined to clash head-on with the heavy axe.

Seeing Han Qianhu bring the axe down in a mighty overhead chop, Luo Simao hastily swerved his mount to dodge. He did not even dare to use his spear to parry the blow. Consequently, he found himself severely disadvantaged, forced to constantly evade the opponent's giant axe to prevent his own long spear from being knocked violently out of his hands.

Fortunately, the Luo Family Spear emphasized an integration of offense and defense. Luo Simao was far from being driven into a completely passive state by Han Qianhu. Whenever an opening presented itself, he would still launch several counter-thrusts.

Drums rolled thunderously along the front lines of both armies, with soldiers shouting to boost the morale of their respective champions.

After trading blows for more than twenty rounds, Han Qianhu encountered the same problem that had plagued Bordu earlier: his strength was beginning to wane. Realizing the danger, his mind raced rapidly. *This won't do. If this continues any longer, I am bound to suffer. I might as well resort to my signature technique.*

With that thought, Han Qianhu whipped his horse around and feigned retreat, shouting aloud, "Old me is tired today! I'm heading back to rest for a bit. Another day I'll accompany you to a fight to the finish!"

Believing Han Qianhu was genuinely fleeing, Luo Simao spurred his steed in hot pursuit. Glancing back sideways and seeing Luo Simao chasing closely behind, Han Qianhu smiled inwardly. He stealthily reached into his tunic, drew out three small throwing axes, and suddenly spun around to hurl them directly at Luo Simao.

Catching sight of Han Qianhu spinning around and flicking his wrists, Luo Simao instantly recognized the use of hidden projectiles. He flattened himself instantly against his horse's back. The three small axes whizzed right past the top of his helmet. One of them struck the red tassel atop Luo Simao's helmet, shearing it clean off to the ground.

Luo Simao broke out in a cold sweat, terrified by the close brush with death. Daring not pursue any further, he whipped his mount around and galloped back toward his own lines.

Meanwhile, Han Qianhu turned his horse around behind him, taunting loudly, "Little brat, don't run off! Come back and taste a few more of my axes before you leave!"

Luo Simao, however, refused to turn back and re-engage Han Qianhu. Knowing he lacked Han Qianhu's raw strength, his movements during the fight had already been constrained and hampered. Now that he knew Han Qianhu possessed hidden weapons against which defense was nearly impossible, he saw no reason to take such a foolish risk—sacrificing his own life for nothing would be entirely worthless.

Seeing Luo Simao return in defeat—fortunately with his life intact, thus averting the loss of a major general—Gao Wanjun raised her voice once more. "Who is willing to step forward and fight Han Qianhu?"

No one responded on either side.

In truth, Dingbian City possessed very few capable military commanders. Aside from Luo Simao, only Huang Wenlong was somewhat passable, along with Bian Hongtai, the commander of the guards beside Fei Wen, who possessed a modest grasp of martial arts. As for Fei Wen himself, he was utterly useless, while the remaining junior officers would simply be throwing their lives away if they entered the arena.

Gao Wanjun called out twice more, yet absolute silence prevailed.

At that moment, Xiao Ding, who had been sitting on horseback right beside Huang Wenlong, spoke up quietly: "I shall go and give it a try."