Chapter 143 - Sun Ce Makes His Move (3)
Translated by Bloodfalcon, Edited by Krayto
“SU FEI, SINCE YOU ARE ALREADY HERE, LEAVE YOUR HEAD WITH ME!!!” Jiang Qin exclaimed then he licked his bloody long sword, his killing intent rising exponentially.
“GENERAL, QUICK, YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!!! I WILL STALL HIM!!!” The major quickly assembled his most elite troops in front of Su Fei. Sun Ce's army already occupied most of the naval HQ and if Jiang Qin halted him now, then Su Fei won't be able to escape.
Su Fei wasn’t a fresh general, so he quickly climbed up a warhorse to leave the battlefield.
“SHAAA!!!!” The major bellowed and quickly moved toward Jiang Qin. Their task is to stall Jiang Qin.
Jiang Qin did not look at this major, but locked his sight toward Su Fei and screamed “SU FEI, LEAVE YOUR HEAD HERE!!!!” Jiang Qin was already in pursuit, but was stalled by the major.
“Get out of my face!!!” Jiang Qin then slashed the major's head.
When Gan Ning was still Su Fei's lieutenant general, Jiang Qin was unable to take on Gan Ning alone. Only with the help of Zhou Tai were both of them able cope with Gan Ning. Now Gan Ning was no longer Su Fei's subordinate due to Liu Mang's recommendation, so they both commanded their own division.
Right now his major is just a nameless general and definitely not Jiang Qin's match. Although Jiang Qin's strength is not as strong as Zhou Tai, he is quite strong by his own rights. Recently he is able to duel with Zhang Liao during the defense of Shucheng County when he was dispatched there, but was able to escape before Zhang Liao dealt the final blow. He recently was recalled due to Wu clan's military offense and due to Zhou Tai's death.
“DANG!!!!” Two long sword met in the air. The major's strength is only second-class and now is struggling to withstand Jiang Qin's assault, his arm's bone was almost dislocated but he still continued his assault.
“DIE NOW!!!!” Jiang Qin screamed. Jiang Qin become angrier because Su Fei was already farther and farther away. But he truly did not realize that his long sword was already grabbed by the major.
This gesture is not inviting death, but the major is holding Jiang Qin's long sword in order to do mortal blow against Jiang Qin, so now he is returning a slash toward Jiang Qin.
“Pushi!!!” Blood is splashing, but it was only a superficial blow. The major did not succeed in delivering a mortal blow to Jiang Qin as Jiang Qin immediately released the grip of his long sword in order to choke the major.
“Ack, no, this is impossible!!!” The major really cannot believe that his larynx bone was being crushed by bare-hands. From swordfight to bare-hands, this kind of move, only an expert can do.
“ACKKKK!!!!” The major died with disbelief on face. Su Fei's other soldiers were cut down one by one by Jiang Qin's own soldiers. Although Jiang Qin managed to kill the major, he managed to stall Jiang Qin as Su Fei's distance was now at least 100 steps.
“SU FEI, YOU SHALL NOT LEAVE!!!” Jiang Qin quickly brandished his long bow and locked on Su Fei. Jiang Qin's archery is only middle class, but he still had his brute strength. Adding the anger caused by Zhou Tai's death, this made his strength quadruple.
“Whiz!!!” An arrow full of revenge was flying toward Su Fei.
“Neigh!!!” The arrow did not hit Su Fei but it hit the leg of his warhorse. The warhorse which was already speeding away was suddenly stumbled by this arrow and now started falling down.
Su Fei quickly jumped to one side in order not to be thrown away by the warhorse.
This time Jiang Qin truly goes all out. When Su Fei sees his fallen warhorse with a bloodied leg, he forces a smile and lamented thought “This time, I will really die here!!!”
His major died, his warhorse had already fallen and his soldiers are finished, only Su Fei remained.
Su Fei quickly shook his head and stood up. He unsheathed his long sword and said with full determination “Since I am going to die here, might as well take some of Jiang Qin's troops to accompany me!!!” Su Fei was very relaxed because he already accepted death. This battle was already too hard from the start. Although he managed to defend for a while, in the end he lost and now he is in a bad situation with no hope to escape, so might as well fight to the end.
“SHA, SHA, SHA!!!” Jiang Qin's troops already reached Su Fei's location. 2-3 Jiang Qin's own elites started their assault toward Su Fei, they must kill this enemy for their general. As long as they can kill this enemy, they will get promotion and merit. Moreover, they knew this Su Fei, when fighting with Jiangxia’s navy had concluded that this person is only a scholar who is able to command and not to fight. He would definitely not be strong in wushu.
With a merit this easy, they ran much more quickly. If others saw that they had obtained Su Fei's head, all of Jiang Qin's troops will be green with envy.
Although Su Fei is a scholar-type general, but he had learned the six-arts in Confucian tradition and was also well adept in them. Although his skill is unable to reach Gan Ning and the others in Lu Bu’s army, his skill is still able to kill small fries.
“Whiz, whiz!!!” The sword in Su Fei's hand is dancing, slashing those three elites. He is so fast that their expression had not yet changed from that of joy to pain.
“Poof!!!” With that skill, three blood flowers were splashing in the air, welled from the throat of its victims and they are now gasping for air because their lungs were filled with blood due to their throat being slashed. The more they breathed, the more blood came into their lungs, suffocating them to death. And with that, three elites died instantly.
In Three Kingdoms period, the two-edged sword that every scholar-type person wore on their waist was not an ornament, it can be used to kill. A gentleman in this era must at least learn six skill which are rites, music, archery, equestrianism, calligraphy and math. So, even though they did not practice martial arts, they had skills in equestrianism and archery.
In addition to equestrianism and archery usually people added swordsmanship into the lessons resulting many sword masters in this nation. Such as, Wang Yue, who is Han Dynasty's first swordsmanship teacher, Xu Shu also one of those sword masters. Before he went to Jing Province, he had killed a person who was a robber in his hometown and now he was forced into hiding and living under pseudonym of “Shan Fu”. Chen Deng and Zhou Yu were also scholar-type generals like Su Fei, however their skills in wushu were not weaker than any generals.
Regarding Zhou Yu's skill, it should be very good, because he often wore armor to be in front of the battlefield. Chen Deng was also very good, because as Lu Bu's subordinate, he has been involved in many battle. For example, outside of Huangzhou city, he dared to bet with Zhang Liao and Zang Ba, further proving that he had confidence in his wushu skill.
During his tenure in Jiangxia, Su Fei did not have to fight because there was Gan Ning at his side. Now with Gan Ning commanding his own division, if Su Fei did not have a hands-on approach, then he will be only a hindrance.
When Su Fei cut down those three elites, Jiang Qin's elites quickly surround him. Now Su Fei is truly in a plight with no retreat.
“SU FEI, YOU WILL NOT LEAVE HERE ALIVE!!!” Jiang Qin also had arrived after being delayed by that major.
“I WILL NOT LEAVE HERE ALIVE, SO NEITHER WILL YOU!!!” Su Fei said with a resolute face.
“Your lord Lu Bu has killed my elder brother!!! Today, I will hold a memorial for him with all of Su Fei's division and with your head!!!” Zhou Tai's death made Jiang Qin hate Lu Bu’s army to the bone, that arrow that he launched served as a testament of his anger.
“So, you want to kill me, eh? Then kill me yourself!!!” Su Fei quickly put a stance with his sword.
“GIVE ME YOUR LIFE, SU FEI!!!!” Jiang Qin screamed his words. At the same time, his long sword also emitted killing intent and Jiang Qin started to wave his long sword with great strength.
Looking at that sword speeding toward him, Su Fei also knows that this is a sure-kill strike that can only be defended, but being passive is not in Su Fei's character.
Su Fei drew his two-edged sword and quickly made stance to parry that slash.
“Want to match strength with me?!” Jiang Qin is laughing in his heart. Jiang Qin's strength now can be comparable to Zhou Tai because of his anger, definitely not Su Fei's match. Although Su Fei's skill in wushu is better than Jiang Qin, right now he want to match strength with Jiang Qin, definitely inviting his own death.
“Humph!!!” Su Fei snorted coldly. Although Jiang Qin's long sword is quick Su Fei's two-edged sword is quicker and both of them are nearing their respective targets.
Su Fei noticed that this Jiang Qin did not avoid his strike and showed a big opening.
Actually if one looked carefully, Jiang Qin was now using an out ordinary soldiers skill to slash Su Fei's chest. Jiang Qin was so distracted he was not paying attention to the battle.
“GO TO HELL!!!!” Jiang Qin exclaimed fiercely. This sword must land in Su Fei's chest and kill Su Fei. Jiang Qin must hold a memorial for his elder brother along with Su Fei's head as an offering for him. He also must make his body into meatloaf to send to back Lu Bu. While Jiang Qin was thinking of that, his instinct suddenly kicked in and telling him he is in danger.
“CLANG!!!!” Subconsciously Jiang Qin parried Su Fei's stabbing move and quickly recovered his stance in order to cover his neck, leaving only cold trail that almost stabbed him.
That strike was really quick. If Jiang Qin a moment ago followed through with his movement to kill Su Fei, he might have been the one who died.
“DAMN, DAMN, SO CLOSE!!!” Su Fei shook his head while looking at Jiang Qin's fearful expression. If Jiang Qin kept his strike a moment ago, Su Fei would have been able to stab Jiang Qin's throat before Jiang Qin's strike reached him. A two-edged sword is designed for a fast kill and counter-attack. If not, it will be very difficult to defend now.
Because Jiang Qin managed to survive that strike, he will now pay attention to the sword movement and it will make very difficult to launch stealth strike.