Chapter 93 – Duel Conclusion; Who defeated who?
Translated by Bloodfalcon, Edited by Krayto
That cold, dark thing is a short halberd. Its whole body appearance is ordinary, but the cold radiance that it emitted, made any person who saw it understand that it is a murderous weapon.
But people were also confused. That is a short halberd, and it is used only for close quarter combat not for long-ranged battle. Does Huang Zhong want to use it as a projectile?
“Short halberd?!” This is the first time that Lu Bu has seen a short halberd acts as an arrow, but after seeing Huang Zhong’s skill, he does not dare to underestimate that halberd.
“No, it is not a short halberd!” Exclaimed Huang Zhong while stroking the steel pole object. Yes, that is a giant arrow made of black steel. That arrow serves as Huang Zhong’s ultimate move, but until now no one has ever pushed him to pull out this move. Usually people died under Huang Zhong’s curved dao or by his rapid-concentrated-shot at max.
TL: Black Steel http://metalsupermarkets.co.uk/blog/difference-between-black-steel-and-bright-drawn-steel/
Sometimes Huang Zhong will use the halberd privately to hone his skills. But today he must use it, for his opponent is the god-of-war, who has just survived all of his attacks and even countering his attack. So, in order also to survive, he must use this move.
“Lu Bu, you should be proud, to die by my most powerful move!!!” Exclaimed Huang Zhong coldly while looking at Lu Bu as if he is already dead, the look on his face is of absolute self-confidence.
“Die??! A person who can harm me, Lu Bu, has yet to be born in this world!!!” Retorted Lu Bu coldly.
“Is that right?!” Huang Zhong is looking at Lu Bu with strange smile and gaze. “Then today I will send you to your death!!! If you are the god-of-war, the today, I, Huang Zhong will become the god-of-death by sending you to your doom!!!”
Huang Zhong’s short halberd has been placed on the long bow drew his bowstring. He is already locking-on Lu Bu with his bow.
“Not good!!!” Lu Bu’s heart is startled. That short halberd in Huang Zhong’s hand is pressuring him too much. For the first time in all of his battles, Lu Bu does not have confidence on how to attack, defend or avoid that attack.
I can't let him shoot!!! Lu Bu thought, so Lu Bu will need to attack first. This is not because Lu Bu has become rusty in battle, but it is because he is currently dissatisfied being pinned by that attack, forced to be passively defensive and unable to do anything. He is Lu Bu, he is the god-of-war, he is always the one who destroys his enemies, he is an offensive type, how can he become passively defend?
Lu Bu once again violently shook his Poseidon halberd, exhuming killing intent from his body. Everyone needs to remember who he is. He is Lu Bu, the god-of-war a mighty tiger, a nightmare to all of his enemies.
“Fight, Fight, Fight!!!!” Lu Bu once again roared, the voice did not sound like a human, but more like a prehistoric beast, like the famous T-Rex.
Lu Bu’s warhorse is also excited because of Lu Bu’s spirit. Then it raised its front hooves and neighed as loud as possible before dashing directly to Huang Zhong with lightning-like speed.
“Does he want to do a final charge?!” Huang Zhong smiled at Lu Bu. He admires Lu Bu very much, but also pitied him, because he is the one who can force him to unleash his ultimate move, but he will also die by this move, so Huang Zhong would get lonely again, unrivalled under the heaven. He made his resolution then and said “Lu Bu, you will die by my hands today!!!”
“Die?! HMPH!!! I say the same thing!!! GIVE ME YOUR LIFE!!!!” Lu Bu also bursting out all of his courage and strength. They have fought long enough, it is time to decide who the victor is and who the loser is.
“SHAAAAAA!!!!!!” Lu Bu, one man one horse, invincible under the heaven.
“DIE!!!” Huang Zhong, one man one arrow, peerless among men.
“BOOOMMMM!!!!” The movement both side took is so big that the entire earth is shaking up and dust flying everywhere, obscuring their view.
“MILORD!!!!”
“HONORABLE FATHER-IN-LAW!!!!” Liu Mang is very worried, because he knew about Huang Zhong prowess from history. But Gao Shun and Zhang Liao are worried because they are seeing it from a military perspective. That arrow was unleashed at a very short range, no human could survive that attack.
That short halberd, judging from its length and material, its weight must be very heavy. Gao Shun and Zhang Liao came from a frontier village in the Bing Province.
At that time, both of them were low-ranked soldiers guarding a frontier fortress. They have seen a ballista in action when they were defending the city. Before shooting the missile, it needed several people to pull the bowstring and then put the missile into the bowstring and fire it. It can only shot one arrow at a time, but the strength of the arrow can claim several people’s life.
Because of its strength, when people are hit by it, they can be considered as human shish kabob. Even armored cavalry can be compared as a paper armor when hit by it.
Therefore, when those invaders from beyond the Great Wall see a ballista placed on a city wall, they will quickly retreat. Although it is only a few in number and can only shoot projectiles one at a time, it is actually very frightening.
But, the one Huang Zhong’s shot earlier gave them a nostalgic feeling, like that arrow was launched from a ballista.
That is correct, Huang Zhong ultimate skill is basically turned him into a portable ballista, but a ballista is an inanimate thing, but Huang Zhong is a breathing and living person. Also ballista’s needed several soldiers to pull the bowstring in order to shoot, but Huang Zhong only needed himself to pull the bow.
“General Huang!!!” Su Fei is also very anxious, because today he had seen Lu Bu’s terror with his own eyes. If Huang Zhong could not withstand Lu Bu, then Jiangxia's army could not do anything against the might of Lu Bu’s army.
The dust dissipated slowly, revealing two people forms.
“Cough!!!” Lu Bu appeared first, he coughed blood. His mouth already dripping blood, his Poseidon halberd has fell to one side, and his helmet falling revealed a pitch-black hair which has been untied.
The opposite Huang Zhong also had his bow broken, but his condition is not as bad as Lu Bu.
“Milord, MILORD DEFEATED!!!” Zang Ba and all of Lu Bu’s army personnel on the scene cannot believe that Lu Bu, their god-of-war, their army’s soul, was defeated in battle.
A commander-in-chief who has lost its weapon and helmet, what does this view represent?! It represents that he has lost in the battlefield.
All of Jiangxia army roared “We won, we won, we won!!!!” They really cannot believe that their commander-in-chief, their general Huang Zhong has won, they have beaten Lu Bu, the invincible god-of-war!!!
“We really won, we really won!!!”
"General Huang, General Huang has defeated Lu Bu, has defeated that god-of-war!!!"
“Old General Huang, you did it!!!!” Su Fei also flashing a happy expression. Currently he is inside the grain and provisions warehouse handling distributions, when he saw Huang She come and suddenly gave him a big hug. Because if Huang She did not propose this idea to confront them directly, how could this result happen? Lu Bu defeated and Lu Bu’s army is in deadlock.
Lu Bu is Lu Bu's army soul, the embodiment of the army’s willpower. Since he was defeated, their willpower has also been defeated, Lu Bu’s army has lost their courage. But on the opposite, Jiangxia army's morale got a big boost.
Completing one big task is much bigger than three small tasks.
Su Fei then wield his flag fiercely “Beat the war drum, we march!!!” With Lu Bu's army being defeated here, it can be said that Sun Ce's army is also defeated. Now that Jiangxia has General Huang, can Sun Ce’s army still wreak havoc? At that moment, it will be their complete defeat.
“Sun Ce, Taishi Ci, Zhou Yu, Huang Gai, Ling Tong...!” Su Fei said each name with stressed tone. Every single name was Jiangdong's bigshots. Their skill in wushu are outstanding as they are valiant.
Jiangxia is not weaker than Jiangdong in naval warfare. After all they tread the same waters.
However Jiangxia has been suffering loss after loss, because they did not have a valiant general.
The one who can fight is only Gan Ning, Su Fei and Huang Zu. Gan Ning although strong, he cannot cope up with many valiant generals attacking him. Su Fei did not excel in wushu, and can only depend on his troops and Huang Zu is already old.
Now, with Huang Zhong's presence, all the issues have suddenly been solved. This old General Huang Zhong's son is sick and needed help from Jiangxia's doctors, so he requested to transfer to Jiangxia. No one thought that Huang Zhong's presence would actually give a big benefit to Jiangxia.
“We also beat a drum to counterattack!” With Lu Bu down, Chen Gong does the only thing he can as an advisor. So the first thing that he thought of is to save his lord. “Wenyuan, Xuangao, Hanyang, the three of you are responsible to rush ahead. Gao Shun, you are responsible to rescue Milord!!!”
Both sides began to move up together, a war will shortly begin.
Jiangxia's army has been eager to try Lu Bu’s army, but they are surprised that Huang Zhong prevented them from advancing
“I lost!!!” Said Huang Zhong in a low voice, he is truly distressed.
“What?!” Su Fei staring at Huang Zhong. Huang Zhong said he is defeated, but how can this look be of defeated? He can just take his curved dao from his horse and behead Lu Bu and it is done. But now Huang Zhong is the one said that he is defeated.
“How can that be?!”
“Did Milord win?!” As far as Zang Ba realized, Lu Bu's undefeated legend has been broken. He dropped his weapon and helmet, his warhorse already lying on the ground unable to get up again. How can this Lu Bu be the one that won?
“Wait!!!” Chen Gong also stopped Lu Bu’s army movement.
After hearing Huang Zhong say that he is defeated, Lu Bu only nodded and did not say anything, he just picked up his helmet and his Poseidon halberd.
That is correct, Huang Zhong is the one who lost!
Beside Huang Zhong's bow has being broken into two, his curved dao, armor and helmet, are all still intact. His body did not have as many scars as Lu Bu, but Huang Zhong's beard is gone.
Huang Zhong's proud beard is gone, leaving only stubble under his chin. Telling the people, that he once had a long beard.
How the process happened only Lu Bu and Huang Zhong knew, other people did not know because their vision was covered up by dust earlier.
“Why didn't you kill me?!” Said Huang Zhong with hoarse voice while looking at Lu Bu.
“If I kill you now, it would be a waste!!!” Said Lu Bu while picking up his Poseidon halberd while putting on his helmet.
“I do not need your pity!!!” Exclaimed Huang Zhong.
“It is not a pity!!! I, Lu Bu, never show mercy to any person! Look forward to our next encounter!” Lu Bu did not want to waste time explaining to Huang Zhong. He is very excited today, because he finally encountered a person who can go toe-to-toe with him, how can he possibly kill Huang Zhong now?! Moreover, you also did not kill me right?!
Lu Bu knew if that time he went for the kill, Huang Zhong will die, but it would also cause him mortal injury.
“Beat the retreat signal!!!”
Both commander-in-chief’s return to their respective camps.
“Milord, are you all right?!” Zang Ba and co, quickly opened their mouths, saying their worry. First Lu Bu and Huang Zhong's battle made them really worried and scared and Zang Ba's heart almost lost his faith because he kept believing that Lu Bu is invincible. That battle just showed that Lu Bu almost lost his life to Huang Zhong.
“I am okay!” Lu Bu just continued to wipe blood from his body. Can this be called all right? It has been a long time, since Lu Bu got this severely injured. Now, he is did not even bother to look for his Poseidon halberd.
In his mind, he is thinking about Huang Zhong!!! Lu Bu gave a long gaze passing through Jiangxia's army main tent into Huangzhou city.
Compared to Lu Bu who get much caring in his army, Huang Zhong got much less than he deserved
“Old General Huang, are you all right?!” Inquired Su Fei while helping Huang Zhong remove his armor, he really did not understand why today Huang Zhong lost. From his point of view, obviously Lu Bu had lost his helmet and Poseidon halberd. It is a mark that he has lost the duel.
“Are you thinking about how I lost?!” How can Huang Zhong not know what Su Fei's was thinking?
“Um!” Su Fei nodded on the spot. In his opinion, Huang Zhong should be the winner. And after that duel, Jiangxia's army will immediately hit Lu Bu’s army as hard as they can, to repel Lu Bu.
“Ha-ha-ha!!!” Huang Zhong laughed bitterly. Su Fei's idea is very good. Because if Huang Zhong won, he can use the newly gained morale to repel Lu Bu’s army, but actually he is the one who lost.
He cannot stop wondering, how Lu Bu avoided that ballista arrow, it is very fast!!! Has that man's speed reach a demonic level?
“Su Fei, can you see where my beard is right now?!” Huang Zhong asked Su Fei.
“Your beard?!” Su Fei then paid attention to Huang Zhong. His beard has vanished, leaving only a stubble where it once was.
There is bloodstain mark on Huang Zhong's throat. The skin has been cut, but not deep, therefore it did not bleed.
“General Huang, how can this be?!” Su Fei finally understood.
“That man showed mercy, he could have swung his halberd to sever my artery!” Answered Huang Zhong. That man is really terrifying, Huang Zhong's heart has been painted with fear of Lu Bu.
“The earlier Duel has caused many troubles for you, Old General Huang!” Su Fei said while his heart is filled with guilt. If he is the one who accepted the duel, perhaps he is the one whose head will be on that battlefield just now. Su Fei shame unfathomable.
“Huang Zhong, Huang Zhong!!!” From outside there is a rude and frantic voice calling Huang Zhong's name directly, no respect for him as a commander-in-chief. Also without saying “Excuse me”, the owner of the sound entered main camp.
Su Fei and Huang Zhong's brow wrinkled. A man who can be so rude like that is only Huang She, Huang Zu of Jiangxia eldest son.
After Huang She entered the big tent, he immediately spurt out words like machine gun “YOU BOTH, WHY DID YOU NOT KILL LU BU JUST NOW, HUH??? WHY DID THE ARMY NOT MARCH, ARE YOU THROWING AWAY THE MOMENTUM???” Those words are spoken with a tone like a warden interrogating his prisoner.
One must know that Huang Zhong currently is commander-in-chief, but Huang She is just a quartermaster, his rank is private. If they are normal superior and subordinate, Huang Zhong will have ordered Huang She to be executed under military law. A private rushing to the main tent, this is a capital offense in military law, moreover Huang She also left his post abandoned.
“Eldest son, Old General Huang has been defeated, therefore we have no other options than to beat the drum to retreat!!” Huang Zhong does not want to bother speaking to Huang She, so Su Fei is the one speaking and explaining now.
“HUH, DEFEATED???!!! BOTH ARMIES HAVE SEEN THAT LU BU DROPPED HIS HELMET AND HALBERD, HUANG ZHONG STILL HAD HIS CURVED DAO, HELMET AND ARMOR INTACT, AND YOU SAID HE IS DEFEATED!!!! WITH THAT APPEARANCE, ANYONE CAN TAKE LU BU'S HEAD, BUT YOU, HUANG ZHONG, YOU SAID YOU ARE DEFEATED? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!?”
Huang She roared loudly. During his service inside the army, he has not battled even once. So he eagerly wanted to perform meritorious service. If today they can kill Lu Bu and repel Lu Bu’s army, then his father will be proud of him. And now, the chance to obtain merit just disappeared, how can that not make Huang She outraged?!
“Eldest son, you do not know the whole story!!!” Su Fei tried to explain, but due to Huang She's non-stop roaring, he did not hear Su Fei's voice.
Huang Zhong suddenly grab his curved dao and chopped the table to half.
“WHAT Huang Zhong, you want to kill me, huh?! Do you want to rebel?!” Huang Zhong's act of cutting the table has made Huang She jumped back frightened. However at the same time, Su Fei jumped in to protect Huang She and saying to Huang Zhong “Old General Huang, please think three times. This is our lord's son!!!” Hearing Su Fei protect him, made Huang She haughtier than ever.
“If I say I was defeated, then I have been defeated simple as that! Now fuck off, otherwise I will execute you under military law, a private rushing in to the main tent, roaring at the commander-in-chief. All of them are sufficient for me to execute military law, even if you are General Huang Zu's son!!!” Said Huang Zhong with a cold stare, making Huang She startled once again.
“Good, good, very good! Huang Zhong, your wings have already hardened so think you can talk back to me like this. I already said to father that person who Liu Pan recommended is untrustworthy, unworthy as a person!!!
I will report to father so he dismisses you, wait for the news!!!” Shouted Huang She while he exited the main tent. He knows that Huang Zhong is really terrifying, so he is afraid that Huang Zhong will be in rage and kill him in one blow.
Looking at Huang She exit main tent, Su Fei smiled bitterly. That eldest son of Milord really said malicious remarks toward Huang Zhong and then said “Old General Huang, please do not get offended by those small sentences!!!” If Huang Zu really dismissed Huang Zhong, then it will be a calamity for Jiangxia's army.
“Humph, dismiss me or not, it is not Huang She's decision!” Huang Zhong just snorted coldly. If Huang Zhong were not looking for medicine for his son's illness, how could he possibly come to Jiangxia? He is not Huang She's subordinate but Huang Zu's.
If Huang Zhong was really dismissed, he will accept it gladly.
“Su Fei, I am tired, please go back now!” Huang Zhong waved with his hand, signaling Su Fei.
“Yes, general!” Su Fei also looked at Huang Zhong's condition. It is tired, so he can only go back to his own tent.