Chapter 116: I Just Like Him That Way

A volley of arrows was unleashed, swarming like flying locusts. But these were no ordinary arrows; each shaft had been bound at the end with gunpowder and ignited, trailing sparks as they soared through the air.

All the gunpowder had been meticulously crafted by the Liangshan hero known as “Thunderclap” Ling Zhen, whose incendiary explosives were unrivaled throughout the Song Empire.

Yang Ye organized his archers in an unconventional formation, drawing inspiration from the Ming Dynasty general Mu Ying’s “three-stage volley” tactic from Earth. He divided the archers into three squads: the first to shoot arrows, the second to ignite the fuses on the arrows, and the third to stand ready.

The three squads fired in succession, rotating in a continuous, sweeping barrage.

Yang Ye did not require pinpoint accuracy from his archers; he only needed a rapid volley that covered a wide area. That was enough to achieve his tactical objective.

The advantage of the three-stage volley was its relentless, unbroken stream of flaming arrows.

The imperial troops, waiting idly like rabbits by a tree stump, were doomed. Even if they could withstand the rain of arrows, they could not survive the accompanying sea of fire.

In an instant, they were engulfed in a fiery inferno, screams of agony echoing everywhere as the scent of burning flesh filled the air.

Amidst the fiery storm, only Tao Zhenting remained unthreatened. Channeling his internal martial energy, he enveloped himself in an invisible, intangible protective aura. Any arrow that came within range of this aura would lose its force and fall harmlessly away.

In the world of the Water Margin, great warriors capable of facing thousands often possessed such skills. They were impervious to chaotic arrow storms, unshakable under massed human assaults, and immune to most covert attacks.

Tao Zhenting’s martial prowess was second only to Xin Congzhong and Deng Zhongbi. Even facing the five tiger generals of Liangshan, he could barely be bested. Such a figure could not be subdued simply by a barrage of fiery arrows in a three-stage volley.

Had he dared, a mighty roar and a fierce charge could have shattered or disordered the Liangshan archers’ formation, possibly halting their total annihilation.

Yet Tao Zhenting only shouted, spinning his two jujube gourd hammers like windmills to deflect the flaming arrows, but did not press forward courageously to use his peerless martial skills to create hope for his comrades.

Instead, he chose the thirty-six stratagems, opting to retreat rather than die with his comrades. He unleashed his swift legs and turned to flee, leaving his soldiers to be cut down like ripe grain by Liangshan’s arrow rain and burnt to crisp in the ensuing explosions.

Though not skilled in acrobatics, Tao Zhenting’s years of warfare had honed his exceptional ability to escape death, his movements swift as a spirit cat and as startling as a fleeing rabbit. In the blink of an eye, he had leapt over ten yards, evading the deadly range of the three-stage volley.

If Song Jiang’s nimble scout Shi Qian were here, he would have to admire Tao Zhenting’s speed, remarking that though he was not a thief, he ran faster than any.

But even such speed was no match for Yang Ye’s Cloud-Drifting Lightness skill. With his sharp divine eyes, Yang Ye discerned Tao Zhenting’s intention to flee and immediately employed the Grass-on-Fly technique to give chase.

Yang Ye had yet to arrive when the gleam of the Return-Spirit Seven-Treasure Blade preceded him. Fueled by the Fire Pill and Vajra Mysterious Skill’s internal force, the blade’s aura transformed into a blood-red phoenix radiating fierce power.

At that moment, Tao Zhenting felt a gust behind his head and sensed a tremendous force approaching. Foreseeing mortal danger, he hurled one of his jujube gourd hammers back using a hammer technique passed down from Pei Yuanqing of the Sui-Tang era: Meteor Chasing the Moon.

Both hammer handles were wrapped with iron chains entwined around his wrists, allowing for versatile attacks—near or far, defensive or offensive.

With a sharp “crack,” the white plum blossom mark on the Return-Spirit Seven-Treasure Blade flashed with a sinister light, forcibly triggering its “Iron Severing” effect. Before Tao Zhenting’s hammer could unleash its power, the blade cleaved it in two like tofu.

With a thunderous explosion, the concentrated internal energy on the shattered hammer dissipated violently in the air, scattering force that momentarily halted Yang Ye’s blade.

Tao Zhenting narrowly avoided decapitation but lost half of his weaponry. At that moment, the neighing of warhorses filled his ears as a black cloud, like lightning, charged forward, whipping up two black dragons.

It was Huyan Zhuo, riding the thousand-mile dragon steed Kicksnow Wuzhui, who had arrived. His twin whips danced unpredictably, embodying the five elements and yin-yang principles, each strike aimed at Tao Zhenting’s life.

Seeing escape impossible, Tao Zhenting abandoned hope and resolved to fight like a cornered beast, engaging both Huyan Zhuo and Yang Ye in fierce combat.

Yang Ye’s blade was sharp and precise, Huyan Zhuo’s twin whips fierce and relentless. Though Tao Zhenting was a warrior who could face thousands, he could not withstand these two tigers who truly knew how to fight.

Amid the dust and shadows of battle, the three clashed fiercely for thirty rounds. Tao Zhenting’s single hammer was used solely to parry and defend, not to attack, barely holding back the assault of the two brothers.

His strategy was to prolong the fight, hoping for reinforcements led by Yun Tianbiao to arrive and prevent him from being overwhelmed.

Seeing this formidable defense, Yang Ye devised a plan. Feinting, he drew from the Yin-Yang Fish seal the captured Liujin Fire Gun that had been taken from Tao Zhenting.

The Fire Gun of Fabrication (a dual C-rank special weapon, upgradeable):

Attack power: 1015; infinite ammunition; effective range 200 meters; maximum range 400 meters; firing rate three shots every two minutes. Bullets deal full damage unaffected by any world’s plot weakening, with a 10% chance to ignore enemy armor and deal full damage. Headshots trigger a critical hit, doubling damage.

Special effect: Summoning of Fabrication — by consuming 20 internal energy points, instantly summons two Song Dynasty soldiers for assistance; if the soldiers survive ten minutes, they vanish.

Weapon background: A unique item from the “Water Margin” world, independently created by the Daoist Hu Lai. It is a time-traveling matchlock gun with power surpassing that of the cold weapon era.

Note: The weapon’s owner can use other summoning tools to permanently change the summoned creatures.

Yang Ye had already used a beast-control talisman obtained from the Grand Xiangguo Temple to substitute the summoned soldiers with a fierce tiger and a giant python.

As he expended internal energy, the Fire Gun’s fabrication power was activated. Dark winds swirled, black mist thickened, and from the clouds leapt a glaring white-foreheaded tiger and a white-spotted venomous python, exuding boundless killing intent as they lunged at Tao Zhenting.

This was a true crushing encirclement. Tao Zhenting had no chance to swing his hammer again before a heavy tiger claw struck his face. With a pained cry, he retreated, covering his face.

Yang Ye swiftly closed in, seized the Fire Gun once more, and taking advantage of Tao Zhenting’s pain and blurred vision, pressed the barrel to his temple and fired a fatal headshot.

With a loud bang, blood and brain matter splattered everywhere, and Tao Zhenting collapsed heavily. The Huyan brothers ceased pursuit, leaving his body to be devoured by the tiger and python.

They turned back to command their troops to resume firing arrows—not to kill, but to detonate the gunpowder mines Tao Zhenting had buried beneath the vacant camp.

Yang Ye had long observed the entire process of Tao Zhenting’s gunpowder planting through his clairvoyant sight, so it was no challenge to lure them into the trap.

As the second volley of fiery arrows rained down, a thunderous explosion erupted within the empty camp. Flames soared into the night sky, forming a vast cloud of fire.

Yun Tianbiao and Zhang Yinglei, seeing the fire, believed the plan had succeeded and gave a shout to command their armies to advance in unison.

Zhang Yinglei led his troops to seize Jiaxiang City, while Yun Tianbiao led his forces to intercept and annihilate the so-called Liangshan remnants attempting to plunder the camp.

Two developments blossomed simultaneously; first, Zhang Yinglei’s stealth assault on Jiaxiang City. As his signal arrows shot into the sky, an immediate response came from within the city: the drawbridge was lowered smoothly, and the city gates were opened wide under the cloak of night.

Delighted, Zhang Yinglei shouted, “Men, follow me!”

Thousands of troops filed into the city in orderly ranks, only to find the streets utterly silent and deserted—no defenders from Liangshan in sight.

With his vast experience, Zhang Yinglei immediately sensed danger. His plan had failed, and the enemy had lured him into a trap.

Just as he was about to order a retreat, a tremendous crash resounded as a massive portcullis slammed shut at the city gate.

Though not as formidable as the one in Dongjing, Jiaxiang’s portcullis was heavy enough to crush any slow-moving imperial soldiers beneath it into pulp.

Drums thundered, wooden clappers rang out, and cries of battle erupted all around. From the inner city walls, countless heads peered over as two battalions, each five hundred strong, charged out to confront Zhang Yinglei’s forces—one clad entirely in black armor and helmets, the other in bright red armor and helmets.

Leading the charge were two generals: the Water General Shan Tingqian and the Fire General Wei Dingguo.

Zhang Yinglei had heard their names and knew their martial skills were not exceptional, so he paid them little heed.

With a roar that shook the earth like thunder, he spurred his horse forward, wielding his bronze halberd with unmatched valor, charging alone against the two generals.

Seeing this, General Han Tao on the city wall shouted a warning, “Brothers, this enemy is fierce. You cannot defeat him by force!”

Before Zhang Yinglei’s charge could reach them, Shan Tingqian and Wei Dingguo did not engage in a straightforward fight as usual.

Instead, they waved their hands, commanding their black- and red-armored troops to advance together, employing the tactics of flooding soldiers with water and burning enemies with fire.

Shan Tingqian raised his black banner and pointed toward Zhang Yinglei’s charging direction. The five hundred black-armored soldiers, in perfect formation, each sprayed a potent corrosive poison from ceramic water jets.

A deluge of toxic liquid surged toward Zhang Yinglei like a relentless tide. Though he was a fierce warrior, his bronze halberd warded off the poison, preventing it from reaching him.

However, his horse was not so fortunate. The poison seeped through the horse’s skin, causing it to suffer grievous wounds and die painfully.

Similarly, Wei Dingguo’s red-armored troops followed their commander’s red banner, first hurling sulfur firebombs wildly, then spraying a dark, oily petroleum-like substance with ceramic sprayers identical to those used by the black-armored troops.

Fueling the flames, the fire raged fiercely. The imperial soldiers lacked Zhang Yinglei’s bravery and protective aura, making it impossible to survive this combined assault of water and fire.

Watching his comrades fall one by one, Zhang Yinglei’s heart felt as if cut by a thousand knives. He never dreamed that the Water and Fire Generals of Lingzhou would suddenly transform, mastering the art of using water and fire tactics to conquer their enemies.

Though rumored to possess strange arts, these two were known for bravery without wisdom, lacking knowledge of military strategy, relying solely on brute combat. No one had ever heard of them excelling in water-fire tactics—until now.

Their performance today blinded Zhang Yinglei completely.

At that moment, Shan Tingqian and Wei Dingguo waved their banners simultaneously, ordering the black- and red-armored troops to cease spraying and burning. The two armies formed ranks and parted in the center, revealing three towering generals—heroes radiating overwhelming presence and strength that could rival ten thousand men.

Leading them was a man crowned with a golden hoop, his figure godlike, wielding two snowflake-patterned steel sabers, exuding the aura of a supreme master in harmony with heaven and man. With a commanding shout, he bellowed:

“Thieving scoundrels! Do you know the martial prowess of your Second Uncle Wu?”