Wind roared like a tiger, cutting through the dark night over the mountain ridges, converging towards the dilapidated mountain god shrine.

In the firelight, a figure burst in from the doorway, their movements and punches stirring up a violent wind. In a short span of time, the ferocity of Bazi Quan reached its peak, and then, their entire body crashed out like flowing clouds and water.

This Tieshankao, known as "Fierce Tiger Leaning on the Mountain" in Bazi Quan, is a fierce and ruthless move that concentrates the power of the whole body into a single strike. The attacker's momentum was at its highest, and after a few hard punches, the intention preceded the action. The body moved almost without thinking, and the power was unleashed to its maximum in this one move. With a deafening crash, like snow sliding down a mountain, it exploded without reservation in front of the dark-skinned giant. The giant had already been forced back a step, and now he was struck head-on by this Tieshankao. His feet slid backward, creating a thunderous roar. Before he could steady himself, he let out a yell and swung the serrated blade behind him.

With a bang, sparks erupted, and the flames recoiled. It was the long blade that had been thrown in by the attacker, hitting the shrine's dome. It fell down again, and the attacker caught it, launching a thrust that collided with the giant's serrated blade.

Although the attacker had the initiative, he was not as strong as the dark-skinned giant. In an instant, three more flashes of the blade appeared, but he was blocked by the dark-skinned giant as he tried to rush towards the injured nobleman in the corner of the shrine. At this moment, the other two guards in the shrine also drew their weapons and stepped forward with their blades. With a bang, more sparks from the blades erupted in the air.

In the blink of an eye, the battle raged, the wind of the blades howling. The fire in the center of the shrine was suppressed to the ground, creating extreme tension. Instead, the sparks from the steel seemed even more startling in the night. But the suppression was only temporary. After the brief pause following this collision, the fire burst upwards, flames erupting around the iron pot of porridge. The attacker yelled, "Yaah—!" drawing a blade, and the dark-skinned giant and his two companions charged forward in unison.

"You dare—"

"Ah—"

Boom—

From the moment the attacker charged in until now, only a few seconds had passed. He had charged towards the nobleman in the corner once, but was blocked by the dark-skinned giant. This time, however, he drew his blade backhandedly and struck the fire in the center with all his might, aiming for the injured nobleman.

In an instant, fire rose up among them, along with flames, dust, burnt branches, and the iron pot filled with scalding hot porridge, all flying towards the nobleman at the same time. Almost at the same time, the dark-skinned giant swung his serrated blade through the air, trying to block the attack: "You dare!"

The blade, along with his body, blocked most of the flames. The wind stirred in the shrine, forcing the countless sparks to become even more intense. The iron pot that had been cleaved into the air was hit on the edge by his blade, and it paused for a moment in the air. As the flames flew, the attacker's right-hand blade momentum was not exhausted, and he punched the bottom of the pot with his left hand. In the next moment, the one-eyed giant a few meters away roared and raised his palm.

He struck the flying iron pot and hot porridge with his palm, sending the pot flying back and crashing to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, flames flew, and the iron pot was hammered four times like a ball, flying several meters and crashing to the ground. Flames and scalding hot porridge flew around like celestial maidens scattering flowers. The attacker's left-hand punch on the red-hot pot bottom must have been painful. The one-eyed giant was splashed with the most porridge, and the nobleman in the back was also splattered to some extent. But no one could care about these things at this moment. As soon as the porridge pot crashed to the ground, the dark-skinned giant roared and swung his most powerful blade through the flames.

The wind blasted against the attacker's face, and the flames recoiled. The attacker parried with his blade, and the force of the blow forced him back several meters. Before he could steady himself, the dark-skinned giant broke through the flames and charged in ferociously.

He was protecting the injured nobleman. In the short exchange, plus the initial throw of the long blade, the attacker had launched three attacks on the nobleman, and this one had made everyone the most embarrassed. His attacks were powerful, aiming to blast the attacker out of the shrine and then kill him.

In these few exchanges, everyone had clearly seen the attacker's appearance. He was a young man in his early twenties, tall for a Southerner. He didn't look particularly strong or fat, but his blade was heavy, and his fist techniques were equally fierce. His strength was clearly driven by internal energy. However, he was still lacking compared to the dark-skinned giant. After losing the initiative, he was finally forced out of the shrine. However, the Tieshankao, which was extremely fierce, seemed to have finally taken effect. Blood was also seeping from the corner of the dark-skinned giant's mouth, but judging from the way he was wielding his blade, the damage probably wasn't too serious.

Rushing out of the shrine, the two had already slashed their way out for more than ten meters. At this moment, the fire inside the shrine had mostly died down, and there was only dim light outside. But the sparks that kept erupting between the two figures in the darkness still showed the intensity of the fight. Although the young attacker's martial style was strong, he had already fallen into a disadvantage in a short period of time. Just then, a thunderous crash resounded above the shrine.

Someone had broken into the shrine from the roof.

The sounds of fighting, shouting, and weapons clashing erupted in the shrine. The dark-skinned giant turned his head to look, swinging his blade to try to force the young attacker away, but the attacker was already blocking his path. Sparks flew as they exchanged several blows, forcing him back.

Without a word, the most intense battle collisions rang out outside the shrine. The young man blocked the way with the most ferocious posture. Inside the shrine, someone roared, "Ah!" and then half of the dilapidated wall was crashed into, collapsing. Someone shouted in Khitan, "Go—" The nobleman staggered out of the shrine door. Behind him, two figures' blades clashed. The giant with one eye was slashed to the ground, and the tall, thin man rushed out covered in blood.

The one who had stormed in from the roof was also a burly man. Catching them off guard, he had already seriously injured two people in a short period of time. He wielded a thick-backed horse-chopping saber, probably specially designed for battlefield combat, with a shortened hilt for close combat. At this moment, he was already covered in blood. The tall, thin man rushed over to try to hold the horse-chopping saber, but he was stabbed through the abdomen, piercing through from the back.

This horse-chopping saber weighed dozens of pounds and was mainly used for chopping on the battlefield, making it unsuitable for thrusting. The nobleman was staggering forward, and the tall, thin man tried to hold the horse-chopping saber with his body, but the man did not hesitate at all. As soon as the blade pierced through, he exerted force with both hands, twisting it three times. The tall, thin man's figure fell, and the horse-chopping saber rose, covered in blood, closing the distance with the nobleman.

This man was clearly experienced in battle and knew how to kill. Once he gained the upper hand, he would not give anyone a chance. The nobleman was still walking towards him, and the man was approaching from behind. The dark-skinned giant watched, his eyes widening in anger. He suddenly raised the serrated blade in his hand and hurled it towards them.

The serrated steel blade spun past the nobleman's shoulder. The man behind him held the horse-chopping saber, but he had already lowered his body, and the blade swept across the nobleman's legs.

The serrated steel blade flew past and crashed into the decayed shrine door.

The second strike swept back from the nobleman's waist.

Countless dust fell. The nobleman raised his head, his gaze looking over, and then blood soared into the sky, and his head flew into the air. The dark-skinned giant saw the pair of eyes behind the nobleman's body.

The blood-soaked horse-chopping saber swung in a semicircle in the air, the blade stopping beside the man, blood dripping onto the ground. The nobleman's body fell backward, and the man pushed it away. At this moment, the man was covered in blood, even his face was splattered. He wiped it away and looked over here.

"Heh, Liao dog."

The voice rang out in the woods. And the young man who had been blocking the dark-skinned giant's path had also raised his long blade.

Now, the situation had become two against one.

*******************

The wind howled in the woods. Outside the mountain god shrine, which faintly revealed firelight, three people stood there, facing each other. In the distance, an unknown sound came. The man holding the horse-chopping saber looked back: "They're catching up. Little Hu, send the signal and take him down!"

After he said this, he shook his blade and charged forward. The young man holding the long blade pulled something out from behind, and a firework shot into the sky. The dark-skinned giant growled and turned to run.

Clang, clang, clang—

The sound of weapons clashing rang out. The dark-skinned giant no longer had a weapon, but he still had some steel on his body that could be used for blocking. The three of them, two chasing one fleeing, rushed into the woods.

In the darkness, the sound of fighting gradually drifted away, then was drowned out by the wind, becoming faint. After a while, the sound of footsteps rustled near the shrine again. The man holding the horse-chopping saber and the young man holding the long blade walked back, somewhat bored. Looking at the three corpses at the shrine door, the flowing blood, the young man looked towards the woods behind him. He tore a piece of cloth from his body and began to bandage his palm—the web of his right hand had split open, and his left hand was also slightly scalded: "Damn, this guy is too strong. If he hadn't thrown away his weapon and fought to the death, we wouldn't have been able to handle it..."

He was young, and his eyes were full of ferocity when he was fighting the dark-skinned giant just now. Now that he relaxed, although he was still speaking coarsely, he seemed to have a bit of scholarly air.

The man nodded, stuck the horse-chopping saber into the ground, found a stone, and sat down with some difficulty: "Maybe we would have really died here... Little Hu, what do you think that noise over there was?"

He was referring to the noise that had alarmed the three of them earlier. The man named Little Hu looked into the darkness: "I don't know, maybe wolves, maybe hunters... Uh, Boss, are you injured?"

The man raised his hand and pointed to his shoulder: "A knife in the back, in exchange for their three lives. I was holding on, but luckily I scared away the most troublesome one... It's okay, go cut off their heads. Tomorrow, find a few boxes, pickle them with lime, and show them off to my big brother when I get home, haha."

He laughed, took out medicine from his body, then shook his head and frowned, feeling a little embarrassed: "Damn, I really don't want to go back at this time. With such a serious injury, I don't know how to tell my mother. It would be good if she didn't find out, but if she did, she would worry like crazy. But it's almost Qingming Festival. I didn't go home for the New Year, so I have to get home before Qingming. Damn, these guys are just making trouble for me..."

The young man named Little Hu was holding a head, cutting off the tall, thin man's head, with broken corpses all over the ground. He turned his head and said, "Boss, you're killing enemies for the country. The old lady should understand..."

"No, no, no, that's not the way it is." The man waved his hand hastily, "There's an old mother at home. No matter how you get injured, she's going to worry. My mother isn't a nagging person, but it's because she doesn't nag that she just looks at you like that... Sigh, when I was a kid, I liked to fight in Bianjing, but I was afraid my mother would find out if I got hurt. She used to worry about my father, and she worries about me now that I've joined the army. So every year when I go back, I don't dare to tell her I've been in battles. Being a soldier is just about eating, drinking, and collecting rations. I tell my old mother that I'm just hanging around in the military camp..."

"Little Hu, you remember, this time, don't mention anything about fighting battles, killing enemies, or suppressing bandits to anyone. I'm just a spoiled rich kid who hangs around in the military camp, and you're just a soldier under the spoiled rich kid. What we do on weekdays... well, as long as we don't bully good people, that's fine. As for wanting to die for the country, you can't find a way... You can think about it, but you can't find a way, got it... Sigh, this injury definitely won't heal in a short time..."

The wind blew past, the leaves rustling. General Qin Shaoqian, who was fierce-looking and covered in blood, sat there, becoming a little talkative...