Chapter 191 Counterattack (4)
Translated by Gamer
“Die! Die!” Under Sun Ce’s crazy assault, Huang Zhong had no chance to counterattack. It was uncertain if it was intentional but some of Sun Ce’s attacks went towards the unconscious Liu Mang. This distracted Huang Zhong and caused him a few injuries. If it was not because Huang Zhong is extremely experienced, he would have been killed a long time ago.
Even then, Huang Zhong already have no less than 5 holes in his body. The energy loss after shooting 2 iron arrows together with the amount of blood loss caused Huang Zhong’s vision to blur.
“Looks like I will die here!” Huang Zhong smiled wryly. He was someone who has reached the peak of refinement. There were not many people in the world that could kill him. But today, he will die here, in Wan Cheng City.
Fortunately, Huang Zhong would die without regrets. His only concern, that was Huang Xu’s disease has already been cured. He owes a debt of life to Liu Mang, and today he will pay back this debt with his life.
Huang Zhong calmed himself. It is okay to die. However, he must still cut of a piece of Sun Ce’s meat in return.
Huang Zhong stopped defending and his sword flew straight towards Sun Ce’s vitals. His own body received Sun Ce’s attack. Despite that, he managed to injure Sun Ce across his arm.
“Go die!” Sun Ce was angry. Even until now, Huang Zhong refused to die and even dared to do this.
Huang Zhong already has no strength and just watched as Sun Ce’s spear move towards his throat. This will kill me quickly! There should not be any pain! Xu, your father will go first.
Huang Zhong was ready to close his eyes to accept his death when he heard the gong sounding the retreat.
“What!” Sun Ce was surprised for a moment, causing his spear to slow down. Huang Zhong quickly used this opportunity to move his neck and escape death.
“Retreat!?” Sun Ce was angry. What happened? Lu Su, Lu Su, what are you doing? Lu Bu’s Army no longer have the strength to fight back and the citizens have been driven out of the walls. Within a few moments, Wan Cheng would belong to Sun Ce. They were about to win but the signal to retreat was sound.
Sounding the retreat! It was not something to be played with. Withdrawing the troops meant that the whole army would have to leave even if they have the advantage.
*Rumble* The intense quake was felt on the walls.
“This quake is..!” Huang Zhong’s face turned into one of joy. Yes, there is no mistake, this large vibration is… this large quake is…! Looking at horizon from the city walls, a lot of dust can be seen surging. The earth was also shaking heavily.
“Heavy Cavalries!” Sun Ce’s face twisted. This has always happened ever since he attacked Wan Cheng. Every time it has reached a critical moment, his efforts became wasted. That day was because he got injured, today it is because of the heavy cavalries.
Right now, heavy cavalries at such a scale can only belong to two people in Jiangdong. One of those is Lu Bu. Also, Lu Bu’s cavalry is currently the strongest cavalry in the world.
“Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry!” Huang Zhong guessed correctly when he saw the large amount of dust. The huge quake told the people that the heavy cavalry is here. Nightmare of infantries, the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry is here! As long as the Wolf Cavalry is here, the city can be defended. Huang Zhong does not need to worry anymore. Rather, it is a matter of whether Sun Ce’s Army is capable of withstanding the might of the Wolf Cavalry.
Don’t even need to mention Sun Ce’s 30,000 elites. During the battle at Xuzhou, Kaiyang, Cao Cao had 100,000 elites including his Ferocious Cavalry, along with Guo Jia as the commander, was not able to stop Lu Bu’s 3,000 heavy cavalry. Lu Bu even managed to kill Li Dian. To make things worse, Sun Ce’s elites were marines while Cao Cao’s elites were truly elites. If those two forces were to fight, Cao Cao’s Army would win.
Now the nighmare called Wolf Cavalry has appeared. If Sun Ce does not retreat now, he will definitely not escape.
“What are you proud of!” Sun Ce saw that his men are starting to retreat. Sun Ce would not be able to fight alone. In ancient times, there are no modern technology for communications that are able to communicate to all the soldiers. During ancient times, their methods of communications are by using their loud voices and roaring. The people with loud voices are given the job as messengers. Other forms of communications during battles are the drums and the flags. As a result, Sun Ce could not stop his army from retreating even if he is their lord.
“Even if I have to retreat, there is enough time for me to kill you!” Sun Ce could not allow Huang Zhong to stay alive. Even if he needs to retreat, he must kill Huang Zhong. This is because Huang Zhong has already reached the peak of refinement. People like him are a terror on the battlefield. He could become a swift knife that will destroy an entire army’s battle formation. He can also dispatch troops and lower the enemy morale. If Huang Zhong’s injury has recovered, Sun Ce will have to face this nightmare again.
Saying something that Sun Ce would not like to hear, he is currently weaker than Huang Zhong. Besides that, there is someone stronger than Huang Zhong in the Lu Bu’s Army, which is Lu Bu. If these two warriors were to visit you, you would not even dare to dispatch troops to fight them.
This is why Huang Zhong must leave even if Sun Ce is a little late in escaping. He must kill Huang Zhong. He must not allow others to obtain something that he does not able to obtain. Besides that, after killing Huang Zhong, he can kill the Prince of Shu, Liu Mang.
“Accept your death!” Sun Ce’s Overlord spear stabbed towards Huang Zhong. Before the hit could connect, there was a ‘whoosh’ sound, and a few arrows suddenly flew past Sun Ce’s face. Sun Ce blocked the arrows with his Overlord spear but could not kill Huang Zhong. He saw a young man aiming at him with a bow and an arrow.
The young man looks like Huang Zhong. It was Huang Xu. He had disappeared after shooting the ballista crossbow because Liu Mang knows that the city would probably fall. Liu Mang made him disappear to keep him as a contingency plan if the city was captured. Huang Xu would take Lu Bu’s family along with the other families of those who died and escape.
Huang Xu took Lu Bu’s family including Miss Lu, and arranged a place for them in the Wan Cheng prison. He prepared a year’s worth of food for them in prison. This way, the Sun Ce would not be able to reach Lu Bu’s family and would allow Lu Bu to launch a counterattack without worrying about hostages. If Lu Bu is unable to return in a year, then his family will die and the Lu Bu’s Army will disband.
Huang Xu came back after he settled that business. Lu Bu’s family, Liu Mang’s wives and Liu Neng’s family can escape. However, Huang Xu cannot escape. Even if his father is not on the walls, the person who gave him a second life is there. Huang Xu’s education since he was young tells him to report a drop of water of kindness as a gushing spring. (TN: Return a drop of kindness with a fountain of kindness.) Since he gave Huang Xu a second life, it would mean that Huang Xu would return the favor with his life! These father and child were truly alike to think of the same thing!
Huang Xu returned to the walls to find Sun Ce fighting his father. He does not know why his father was losing to Sun Ce and was slowly defeated. Even then, he did not hesitate and shot a few arrows.
Huang Xu once again nocked an arrow. This time he did not shoot. This is because he knows that an archer who did not shoot is scarier than an archer the shot an arrow. Huang Xu focused on Sun Ce’s body. Eagle Eye. It was one of the Huang family’s subtle archer skill. The Eagle Eye was a skill that applies great pressure on the opponent. It was like an eagle in the sky focusing on you. It was constantly ready to swoop down and take you to the sky.
Now, Sun Ce is receiving this kind of feeling from the young man. Although he is confident of defending himself from the arrows, he would not be able to kill Huang Zhong. If he were to kill Huang Zhong, he is sure that the archer would have pierced him with a few arrows.
“Detestable!” Sun Ce gritted. His hands continued to hold the Overlord spear firmly. It was a difficult choice. The young man with the bow is already making his escape difficult. Besides that, the Wolf Cavalry is also approaching and getting ready to siege.
If it was just the Wolf Cavalry, Sun Ce would not be afraid. He was afraid of the king of the wolves that would bring him a swift death.
“General Sun Ce, are you still here? Do you need me to send you off?” Huang Zhong also felt the Eagle Eye. He did not turn around to see but he can feel his son. It was Huang Xu telling him that his son is here to help.
Huang Zhong was filled with emotions. Originally, Huang Zhong was the one protecting Huang Xu. He took care of Huang Xu, travelled the entire world for medicine and even kneeled for Huang Xu.
All of that effort did not go to waste! That little boy Huang Xu has already grown up. He can now protect his father.
“I will take your life some other day on the battlefield!” Sun Ce knows he could no longer delay. Most of the soldiers in Sun Ce’s Army have already descended the walls. Now the Lu Bu’s Army controls the area again and started to gather. If he gets surrounded, he can forget about leaving. Sun Ce decided to leave after saying something hateful.
“The next time we meet, which one of us will die is not determined!” Huang Zhong said faintly. If he did not shoot the two iron arrows, Sun Ce would not have the opportunity to hurt him. If Sun Ce had not constantly tried to attack Liu Mang, would he have the opportunity to kill Huang Zhong? The next time we meet! You should decide how to die!
Huang Zhong was also angry. This good-natured man also had a big temper. When Sun Ce said he wanted to slaughter the whole of Wan Cheng City and framed Lu Bu’s Army, Sun Ce entered Huang Zhong’s kill list.
“Humph!” Sun Ce gave Huang Zhong one last look before he vanished below the walls.
“Phew!” Huang Zhong gave a heavy sigh of relief. He was really tired. Two arrows were his limit. Together with the injuries he obtained when protecting Liu Mang, he has already reached his limits. Just now he really pushed himself past his limits. If it wasn’t for that, his throat would have been pierced by the Overlord Spear.
“Father!” Huang Xu quickly rushed and tried to support Huang Zhong but he was stopped. “My son, you have grown up!” Huang Zhong looked kindly at Huang Xu. Even then this is a battlefield. A lot have died in the hands of Huang Zhong and Sun Ce. When he was about to die, he felt nothing. Truly grown up. Huang Zhong felt like it was yesterday when Huang Xu was just a little brat shouting that he hated his father, but today Huang Xu became a man. Huang Zhong was in a trance.
“Father!” Huang Xu looked at his father. His father was a good warrior and a good general but was not a good father. Ever since he was born, his father did not treat him with love but taught him the Huang family’s martial arts. Huang Zhong was too hopeful and treated Huang Xu as if he were a tool to bring honor to his ancestors. As a child, Huang Xu really did not like his father.
Huang Zhong’s excessive desire for Huang Xu to reach the peak of refinement became a waste when Huang Xu was infected with pneumonia. If he used energy for a day, he would cough non-stop or even vomit blood. There are no martial arts that do not involve the use of physical strength.
To cure Huang Xu of his illness, Huang Zhong travelled throughout the northern part of the Han Dynasty. He also went to the southwest areas. If there were any large boats, Huang Zhong would have crossed the ocean.
Huang Zhong worked very hard but Huang Xu was not grateful. At that time, Huang Xu assumed that his father is doing all that for his ancestors and he gave his father the cold treatment.
After travelling all over China, Huang Zhong still did not manage to find the cure for Huang Xu. Huang Zhong fell into despair but he managed to calm his heart. The Huang family’s man does not necessarily need to learn martial arts. Studying is also an option. They can still be successful. At this time, Huang Zhong recovered and became a father. He took proper care and showed love for Huang Xu.
However, it was too late. Huang Zhong can already feel the gap between him and his son. He still tried to repair their relationship. Those few years was Huang Xu’s happiest moments. However, Huang Xu could not forget and continued to worry that he was being used.
Then one day, Huang She kidnapped Huang Xu to embarrass Huang Zhong. When Huang Xu found out that his father kneeled to someone around his age for him, his heart healed. Soon after that, Huang Xu was saved by Lu Bu’s Army. After that Liu Mang told Huang Xu about his father’s actions and interpreted them. Liu Mang told Huang Xu that the training was Huang Zhong’s way of raising him so that he does not run into trouble in the future.
After so many years, my father grew old! Huang Xu saw that his father had white hair and wrinkles. The hair and wrinkles told Huang Xu that his father is getting old. He was no longer Huang Xu’s young and energetic father. (TN: Raws said flying. Flying father.)
As time flies, Huang Xu became a man (20 yrs old) and it was his turn to protect his father.
“Go. The little lord is still there! You must remember. That man is our Huang family’s savior. The Huang family owed him too much. It is difficult for your father to pay him back. The rest is up to you.” Huang Zhong patted his son’s shoulder. He believed in his eyes. He has never once seen things wrong.
Follow him. Perhaps you can honor your ancestors.
“Don’t worry father! As long as your son is here, no one will harm the Little Lord!” Huang Xu was very grateful to Liu Mang. It was Liu Mang who gave him a second life and eased the relationship between him and his father. If it was not for Liu Mang, Huang Xu would still not have forgiven his father!
