Chapter 135: Vigilant Wang Zuogua

Feishan Hu looked at the smiling Wang Zuogua, lowering his head with a trace of guilt.
"Great Commander, I failed to hold Longmen Town and let the government troops seize the provisions and funds. I beg the Great Commander to punish me."

Thinking of the provisions and funds seized by the government forces, Wang Zuogua felt as if his heart was bleeding.
However, he forced an indifferent expression on his face and said loudly, "What worthless money and provisions! As long as you are still alive, brother, won't we have plenty more once we raid a few more manors and villages?"

These words were heard clearly not only by Feishan Hu, but also by Li Yi and the others who were a hundred meters away.
One had to admit that although Wang Zuogua was a crude frontier soldier, he certainly knew how to win people over.

"By the way, brother, how was Longmen Town lost?" Wang Zuogua suddenly asked.

A chill ran through Feishan Hu's heart, and he quickly replied, "The government forces used a trick to seize the city gates. I originally wanted to lead the brothers to drive them out, but I didn't expect this band of government troops to be subordinates of the fiend Li Yi. In just a quarter of an hour, they broke through our brothers at the South Gate. When I went to help, I was also severely wounded by that Li Yi."

Wang Zuogua nodded gently, but his sharp eyes scrutinized Feishan Hu closely.
"Then where have you been all these days?" Wang Zuogua asked again.

Sensing Wang Zuogua's guard, Feishan Hu felt anxious in his heart, but he forced himself to maintain his composure and said, "Seeing that we couldn't hold the town anymore back then, a few brothers brought me fleeing out the North Gate. Along the way, we were pursued by He Renlong's frontier troops, but fortunately, I managed to hide in a mountain ravine, recover from my injuries, and gather a few brothers before coming back to find the Great Commander."

These excuses had all been discussed and agreed upon beforehand between Li Yi and Feishan Hu.
Human hearts are unpredictable, and Wang Zuogua, who was capable of gathering a large band of rebels, was far from an ordinary man.
Therefore, Li Yi had coordinated their stories and even changed their armor precisely to avoid any mistakes.

"Oh? These brothers are quite loyal indeed; I will certainly put them to heavy use." Wang Zuogua laughed heartily, sizing up Li Yi and the others a hundred meters away.
Seeing that they had injuries on them and were dressed like his own men, his vigilance eased slightly.

Still, he carefully arranged, "In that case, let the squad leaders of these brothers come forward to claim their men respectively. Brother, do not worry; your elder brother will make up your troops for you later so you won't suffer any losses."
With that, he winked at Wang Pizi standing nearby.

Hearing this, Feishan Hu's expression changed drastically.
One must know that the men who came with them were all government soldiers; how could they possibly know which leaders were among the rebels? A single question would surely expose them.

Overcome with panic, Feishan Hu glanced back at Li Yi, and then hardening his heart, he drew his waist saber with a sharp *clink*.
The night wind was cold, and the bright moonlight was obscured by dark clouds at some point, leaving only the flickering, dim light of the surrounding bonfires.

Li Yi stood mixed within the formation, tightly gripping his tiger-tooth spear, keeping his eyes locked on the movements ahead.
He was searching for an opportunity—an opportunity to break through the obstruction of the veteran elite guards and seize Wang Zuogua.

However, Wang Zuogua was extremely cautious, staying a hundred meters away while rebel sentries kept a constant, vigilant watch on them.
Because of the distance, Li Yi could not hear the conversation between Wang Zuogua and Feishan Hu. Just as Li Yi thought Feishan Hu was about to muddle through, Feishan Hu suddenly turned his head, a look of panic flashing across his face.

"Attack!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Li Yi shouted immediately. He thrust his tiger-tooth spear straight through the chest of a frontier rebel standing right in front of him, then leaped forward like a soaring bird, charging fiercely toward Wang Zuogua.

Liu Zongmin reacted instantly, leading ten men as they dashed toward the surrounding rebels, drawing their sabers and hacking away desperately.
The remaining government soldiers formed up and marched forward, closely following in Li Yi's footsteps.

Although the rebels were on guard, they had not taken the matter seriously enough. Before they could react, Liu Zongmin and his men had already cut down several of them, throwing the rest of the rebels into a chaotic, scrambling panic.

While these bandit rabble were thrown into disorder, the veteran personal guards defending the central commander's tent were experienced and battle-hardened.
Five veteran guards rushed forward to block the way, drawing their waist sabers in an attempt to cut down Li Yi.

"Get lost!"
Li Yi let out a low roar, his eyes burning with fury as he drove his tiger-tooth spear fiercely into the shoulder of a veteran guard and jerked it upward, savagely tearing the man's entire arm off.

The surrounding veteran guards turned pale at this brutal and bloody sight.
One of them tried to lunge forward through an opening, but Li Yi swept his spear across the man's ribs, sending him crashing heavily to the ground while vomiting blood.
Disregarding his injuries, the veteran rolled forward, his blade slashing viciously at Li Yi's lower leg.
Li Yi stamped his foot down hard on the man's arm; with a sickening crack of breaking bones, the veteran shrieked and rolled upon the ground.

"This fellow is too tough! Attack together!"
The remaining veteran guards formed a tight triangular battle array and closed in on Li Yi to kill him.

Li Yi showed not a trace of fear. With a sweep of his tiger-tooth spear, he batted away a swinging saber, and taking advantage of the enemy's momentary lapse in focus, he poked the tip of his spear directly at a veteran's throat before instantly retracting it with lightning speed to fend off another attacker lunging from the left.

The veteran pierced in the throat clutched his neck and slowly staggered backward, staring at Li Yi with extreme malice. However, blood gushed endlessly from the wound on his throat as his life force drained away like a receding tide, until the light in his eyes slowly faded into darkness.

The veteran guards had never imagined that anyone could possess such terrifying prowess.
Having crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, every one of them had at least ten to twenty human lives on their hands, yet in a single exchange, this man before them had already killed or wounded three of their own.

Amidst the swirling sweeps of his spear, Li Yi's eyes remained fixed squarely on Wang Zuogua in the distance.
Although Feishan Hu had resolutely drawn his saber in an attempt to subdue Wang Zuogua, the veteran guards stationed at Wang Zuogua's side had been watching Feishan Hu's every move. The moment Feishan Hu's hand touched his hilt, two veteran guards preemptively rushed forward to slash at him.
Feishan Hu had no choice but to roll miserably on the ground, brandishing his saber as he tried to charge toward Wang Zuogua.
However, lacking Li Yi's martial might, he stood no chance against the two veteran guards, quickly sustaining wounds and desperately fending them off while covered in blood.

Staring at Wang Zuogua, who stood upon the stone steps coldly watching the battle, Li Yi gritted his teeth, roared out loud, and lunged forward. With a shake of his spear shaft, a flash of cold light erupted, momentarily dazzling the opposing veteran guards.
The next instant, the spearhead pierced straight into a veteran's mouth and burst out from the back of his head.

Yet simultaneously, a nearby veteran swung a wolf-fang mace with ferocious force, smashing it squarely into Li Yi's chest.
Though protected by his breastplate, Li Yi let out a muffled groan as a sweet taste rose in his throat, and he spat a mouthful of fresh blood.
Seizing the wolf-fang mace with his left hand and with an exceptionally ferocious look in his eyes, Li Yi drove his tiger-tooth spear straight through his attacker's chest.

Amidst the flickering bonfire light, Li Yi flung the corpse off his spear, pointed the weapon directly at Wang Zuogua, and shouted, "Rebel chieftain Wang Zuogua, do you dare to fight me?"

Wang Zuogua's expression shifted. Shoving aside the veteran guards shielding him, he shouted coldly, "I won't fall for such a crude provocation! Kill him!"

Fifty or sixty veteran guards guarding Wang Zuogua rushed forward all at once.
Li Yi's terrifying prowess filled them with dread, prompting them to instantly form a tight battle formation, hoping to overwhelm and eliminate this greatest threat through sheer collective strength.

Feishan Hu sat slumped on the ground, covered in blood, and upon seeing this scene, he roared at the top of his lungs, "My lord, run!"

Facing the charging veteran guards alone, Li Yi knew that unless he shattered these elite troops, he would never be able to approach Wang Zuogua.