Chapter 80: Tempering
The Jing Dynasty has more than thirty armies, and the border garrison is considered elite. On the battlefield, once battle damage reaches thirty percent, they will suffer defeat. Ordinary armies with weak combat power will suffer defeat even faster when comprehensively suppressed.
The group of mountain bandits who attacked Pei Family Village in front of them could barely rob the magnates. If they really went onto the battlefield, they would be utterly vulnerable.
Pei Qinghe raised her long saber: “Charge with me!”
Pei Yan was the first to shout loudly in agreement: “Kill!”
The second one to eagerly respond was Gu Lian. She had only trained for a little over half a month and couldn’t claim any real skill, yet she was exceptionally fierce. Waving her long saber, she rushed forward, caught a mountain bandit who was turning to flee in disorder, and with a puff, stabbed through the mountain bandit’s chest. Blood splashed onto her lips, bringing a hot, fishy taste.
Gu Lian, killing for the first time, felt no fear at all, only exhilaration. She continued gripping her saber and chased forward, overly excited and fervent, not even noticing a mountain bandit charging over from the side.
Pei Qinghe kept watch in all directions with eyes and ears alert, finished off the mountain bandit with one saber stroke, and by the way warned and reminded Gu Lian: “Don’t lose your head in killing!”
Gu Lian licked the blood from the corner of her mouth: “Yes.”
Feng Chang was also experiencing such a scene for the first time; his heart kept trembling, and his legs felt a bit weak. Seeing Gu Lian killing more and more ferociously, Feng Chang steadied himself, gritted his teeth, gripped his long saber, roared, and cleaved off a mountain bandit’s head.
Pei Jia and Pei Yi had seen fighting to the death before, but killing people themselves was their first time.
Zhao Hai and Doctor Bao were both assigned to key positions in the village. Once mountain bandits rushed into the village, they would have to fight to the death.
Fang Datou had mixed in the barracks for over a decade and was most familiar with such bloody and brutal melees. Unfortunately, his left-hand saber wasn’t mastered yet, so Pei Qinghe ordered him to guard the village. He lay on the roof of a thatched hut, cursing nonstop at Scarred Wolf’s eight generations of ancestors.
Scarred Wolf did have some guts after all. Knowing the situation was hopeless tonight, he still didn’t run. With a ferocious laugh, he gripped his long saber and came forward to fight to the death.
A cold light flashed in Pei Qinghe’s eyes as she raised her saber to fight Scarred Wolf to the death.
Old Fan hadn’t been wrong in what he said before dying: Scarred Wolf’s skill was superior to Black Bear’s, his saber strikes extremely fast, one after another like a sudden storm.
The long saber in Pei Qinghe’s hand was even faster, countering speed with speed. In less than a moment, she left several deep blood marks on Scarred Wolf’s body.
Scarred Wolf was provoked into ferocity and didn’t dodge or block at all, driving his long saber straight at Pei Qinghe’s chest in a ruthless bid for mutual destruction.
Pei Qinghe’s gaze flashed, her long saber changed direction, the two sabers clashed, emitting a teeth-gritting sound.
Scarred Wolf laughed ferociously nonstop and continued fighting to the death.
Pei Yan was chasing and killing mountain bandits with no time to look back. Pei Yun on the tree to the west of the village calmly pulled a bow and shot dead mountain bandits fleeing from the village. At Pei Qinghe’s side, there was only Mao Hongling.
Mao Hongling suddenly thrust her spear fiercely, stabbing Scarred Wolf in the back. In intense pain, Scarred Wolf’s long saber hesitated. Pei Qinghe seized the opportunity and stabbed her saber into Scarred Wolf’s chest.
Scarred Wolf’s eyes wide open in death, full of unwillingness, collapsed to the ground.
With Scarred Wolf dead, the mountain bandits of Wolf Fang Stockade were terrified and lost all fighting spirit, fleeing in disorder across the board. The defeat was sealed; it was just a matter of how many mountain bandit lives could be taken tonight.
There was no time for idle talk on the battlefield. The aunt and sister-in-law exchanged a glance and together chased and killed the mountain bandits. Pei Yun leaped down from the tree, leading more than twenty people to block the mountain bandits’ escape route.
A few more mountain bandits didn’t turn to flee but charged into Pei Family Village, trying to kill a bloody path.
Pei Jia, Pei Yi, Fang Datou, and others finally came into play. They led a group of refugees gripping wooden sticks and surrounded the few mountain bandits. The wooden sticks fell swiftly, beating these unlucky mountain bandits to death alive.
Pei Xuan’s tender and cute voice rang out: “Chop off their heads.”
Then came Pei Feng’s voice: “Be wary of someone pretending to be dead.”
A group of seven- or eight-year-old children, each holding a knife, hacked forcefully at the mountain bandits’ heads. Some children lacked strength and hacked more than a dozen times in succession, like chopping radishes.
The refugees watching this scene all felt a chill in their hearts.
Some blood splattered on Pei Xuan’s cute round face. She casually wiped it with her sleeve and said with a face full of regret: “Cousin Sister Qinghe won’t let us go out to kill mountain bandits. Otherwise, I could have killed at least two.”
Pei Feng always had to compete with Pei Xuan in everything, repeatedly defeated but never admitting defeat verbally: “I could kill three!”
Pei Xuan mocked: “You should go puke first!”
Pei Feng didn’t know if it was his stomach churning or anger, but his handsome little face was extremely pale. Hearing this, he glared angrily at Pei Xuan: “You’re bullying me again! Wah!”
He turned his head and puked all over the ground.
Pei Xuan grinned broadly in amusement.
Madam Lu and a group of old women also came out of the thatched huts, each holding a weapon. There were no idlers in Pei Family Village; in times of crisis, everyone could pick up a saber and kill enemies.
Madam Lu took three steps at a time to rush to her precious grandson’s side, anxiously patting Pei Feng’s back: “Feng Ge’er, how did you puke like this?” Then she glared at Pei Xuan: “No laughing!”
Madam Lu had a bad temper and foul mouth; the children didn’t like her. With Cousin Sister Qinghe around, Madam Lu could only vent verbally.
Pei Xuan wasn’t afraid at all, made a cute funny face, and led the girls off to do tasks.
After Pei Feng finished puking, he coolly said to his grandmother Madam Lu: “I’m fine.” Then he led the boys to chase after them.
The artisans hiding in the granary, hearing the killing and screams outside, all had trembling legs: “Liu Shan, do you think Sixth Sister Pei can hold off the mountain bandits?”
Among the six great mountain bandit stockades of the Yan Mountains, Scarred Wolf had a fearsome reputation, ranked even above Black Bear. They had all heard of Scarred Wolf’s fearsome reputation, how could they not be terrified?
Liu Shan was also very scared but forced out a few words: “Everyone, don’t be afraid. Sixth Sister is very powerful and will surely repel the mountain bandits. Our young master has never done a losing deal.”
The artisans felt slightly at peace.
They endured with eyes open until dawn, when the granary door finally opened.
Sixth Sister Pei, who had fought to the death all night, appeared at the door covered in blood stains, smiling in the morning light: “You can come out now!”
……
More than 130 mountain bandits were killed, over a dozen seriously wounded were also hacked to death, and five were kept alive. About thirty or forty fled into the mountain forest.
Pei Yan felt some regret: “I wanted to lead people to chase into the mountains, but unfortunately Cousin Sister Qinghe wouldn’t allow it.”
Pei Qinghe glared over: “The mountain forest stretches endlessly; they can climb trees or hide in caves. Once into the mountains, who knows how many people it would cost. What’s growing on your neck? Can’t you use your brain?”
Pei Yan was sprayed until disheveled and dejected, not daring to make a sound.
War always has casualties. In last night’s battle, Pei Family Village won a complete victory but also suffered some deaths and injuries.
Doctor Bao’s thatched hut became busy again.
The Pei Clan women who had fought to the death all night either applied medicine packets and bandaged or rested. The refugees dug a deep pit and carried the corpses to bury them.
The five captives were locked in an empty room.
Pei Qinghe went in for half a day, came out with a few sheets of paper, and calmly instructed: “Feng Chang, bury these few as well.”
After Feng Chang entered the room, he first puked once.
Pei Qinghe called Pei Yun over: “Cousin Sister Yun, go to the Beiping Army and deliver this letter to General Meng.”
