Chapter 12: Brother-Protecting Maniac

“Aligu and the others are all dead.”

“Their heads were cut off by those Han people.”

“After them! We cannot let them go.”

“Ahhh, Huliatai, my brother!”

After the Karluks by the river annihilated all the Khitan warriors, they immediately chased in this direction.

But unexpectedly, what they saw was a tragic scene.

The forty-plus Karluk cavalry who had split off earlier had all been slaughtered.

Either shot in the back with arrows, or stabbed in the chest with sabers; some Karluks even had their heads chopped off.

Along the way, there were constant Karluk corpses, dripping with blood, terrifying and miserable.

The Karluks who arrived later were shocked and angry. The fate of their compatriots before their eyes completely ignited their fury.

“Kill them all, tear them to pieces, to sacrifice to our brothers.”

The Karluk leader roared loudly, leading his subordinates to chase in the direction Li Xiao and the others had left.

Nothing could stop their determination for revenge.

These Han people had used despicable means to slaughter so many Karluk warriors; anger could no longer express their feelings.

They were determined to slaughter these damned Han people completely; even women and children would not be spared.

They must use more Han blood to wash away their sins.

“Kill~”

The Karluks constantly whipped their horses, wanting to catch up with Li Xiao and the others at the fastest speed.

The distance between the two sides grew closer and closer. The Karluk cavalry leader gripped his longbow tightly; just another hundred meters closer, and they could shoot all those bastards ahead dead.

However, just as the Karluks followed the backs of Li Xiao and the others and rushed up a high slope, all the Karluks froze at the same time.

And invariably, they slowly reduced their horse speed, stopping bit by bit.

Expressions of astonishment appeared on their faces. The previous anger and killing intent vanished instantly, replaced by a feeling as uncomfortable as constipation.

“Go back, turn the horses around quickly!” The Karluk cavalry leader roared unwillingly.

They had to go!

Or their lives would be lost.

A few hundred meters in front of them, Li Xiao and the others also slowly reined in their horses.

While breathing a sigh of relief in his heart, a playful expression gradually appeared on Li Xiao’s face.

Right in front of them at this moment, over a hundred cavalrymen were galloping towards them rapidly, dotting the mountains and fields, the thunder of horse hooves making hearts tremble.

This was precisely the crowd from Hexi Fortress led by the Old Master.

They had also heard the movement of the Karluks arriving. Thinking that Li Xiao and the others were in this direction, the Old Master made a prompt decision and led half the men in the village over.

So at this moment, the roles of offense and defense were reversed.

Under the deterrence of over a hundred Hexi Fortress cavalry, the Karluks could only flee in panic.

“Brother, we’re here~”

“Who dares to hurt you, I’ll kill them until not a fragment of armor remains!”

From a long distance away, Li Xiao heard Erhu’s loud voice.

This kid was riding a reddish-brown horse, wearing leather armor, holding the reins in one hand and waving a long saber in the other, howling and charging forward regardless of everything.

Although Erhu was still young, his physique was robust, even more formidable than the average adult.

Charging with a saber at this moment, he looked somewhat like a fierce general on the battlefield.

“This kid~” Li Xiao chuckled.

Could he be a brother-protecting maniac?

But since reinforcements had arrived, it was time to counterattack.

Li Xiao immediately shouted: “Sixth Uncle, let’s charge back and kill all these dog-fucked Karluks at the Dragon Bone River.”

Li Dashan and the others didn’t hesitate at all and shouted one after another: “Good, kill them back.”

“Can’t let a single Karluk escape.”

Unknowingly, Li Xiao’s prestige in their hearts had risen by more than one level. Even Li Xiao’s words seemed faintly more effective than Li Dashan’s.

This was earned by Li Xiao’s solid battle achievements!

In the previous battle, ten Karluks died at Li Xiao’s hands, accounting for nearly a quarter of all the Karluks.

Not only was his archery superb, able to accurately shoot enemies from a hundred meters away, but his close-combat killing also made everyone look at him with new eyes.

When killing, he was relaxed and swift; enemies basically had no chance to strike a second time in front of Li Xiao.

His performance had completely conquered Li Dashan and the others.

In their view, Li Xiao seemed born for the battlefield, fully deserving the phrase “brave and skilled in battle”!

At this time, no one would treat Li Xiao as a teenager anymore.

Swish~

Without waiting for the reinforcements behind to catch up, Li Xiao and the others quickly turned back to pursue. The roles of prey and hunter switched rapidly, as if it were a game.

At this time, Li Xiao’s bow and arrows played their role again.

At a distance of nearly a hundred meters, an arrow hit a Karluk cavalryman in the back.

After that, Li Xiao seemed tireless, continuously drawing his bow and nocking arrows, repeating this action constantly. More and more Karluk cavalry were shot off their horses by Li Xiao.

This scene made Li Dashan and the others silent.

Today, Li Xiao had brought them too many surprises, to the point where they were no longer shocked.

As if no matter how powerful Li Xiao was, it was only natural.

“Brother Da Hai has a worthy successor!” Li Dashan sighed gently with emotion.

He couldn’t help but think of Li Da Hai, who had died in battle at the Northern Mountains not long ago.

With Li Xiao, this eldest son, growing up so brave and outstanding, Brother Da Hai could rest in peace.

…

The Hexi Fortress group had ample horse strength and faster horses. Filled with murderous intent, they finally caught up with the Karluk cavalry on the south bank of the Dragon Bone River.

Just like the previous battle, facing the Karluks fighting back desperately in a hopeless situation, the Hexi Fortress group didn’t blindly rush forward to slaughter.

Instead, following Li Xiao’s idea, they split into two groups to outflank the Karluks from left and right, constantly shooting with arrows to deplete the Karluks’ effective strength.

Only when the remaining Karluks’ will to fight was almost ground away did the more than one hundred Hexi cavalry launch the final charge.

“Die~”

Having experienced a close-combat slaughter just now, Li Xiao had thoroughly completed his transformation.

His whole temperament seemed to have become different. Facing a Karluk cavalryman directly ahead who was holding a spear, looking ferocious, and charging frantically at him…

Li Xiao was incredibly calm inside, watching this Karluk with indifferent eyes.

Fierce in appearance but faint of heart.

This was Li Xiao’s evaluation of him. The ferocious appearance was just this Karluk’s disguise; endless fear of death was his true inner feeling.

“Hah~”

The distance between the two got closer and closer. Li Xiao also raised the spear in his hand, which he had just picked up from a dead Karluk.

It had to be said that when charging on horseback, long weapons had more advantage.

“Hah!”

At the moment the two warhorses passed each other, Li Xiao’s body suddenly leaned, instantly dodging the Karluk’s spear.

At the same time, the spear in his hand was swift as a dragon, stabbing rapidly toward the Karluk’s chest.

Pfft~

The spearhead hit the Karluk’s heart squarely. A large amount of blood sprayed out instantly, and he died on the spot.

“Good!”

Not far away, the Old Master was constantly watching the situation of his three grandsons. After all, it was their first time on the battlefield, so worry was natural.

However, seeing Li Xiao use a spear to cleanly pierce a Karluk, the Old Master also cheered in a low voice and nodded with satisfaction. His eldest grandson didn’t disappoint him.

With a tough physique, superior strength, and speed, the Old Master had to admit that Li Xiao’s strength at this moment might have already surpassed his own.

In a head-on fight, he himself might lose his life.

So the Old Master felt very gratified in his heart at this moment.

Then his gaze turned to the two boys, Dahu and Erhu. They were working together to besiege an injured Karluk.

Erhu held a long saber, thrusting left and right, hacking frantically. His fierce appearance didn’t look like a rookie just entering the battlefield at all.

As for Dahu, he was much calmer. He didn’t have Erhu’s crazy and fierce momentum, but his attacks were ruthless, landing a slash on the Karluk whenever he saw an opportunity.

In a short time, that Karluk was hacked to death by their combined efforts.

The wounds on his body were too horrible to look at, as if he had become a vent for Dahu and Erhu’s hatred.

Although the performance of these two children wasn’t as tough as Li Xiao’s, it was enough to satisfy the Old Master.

“Heaven has not failed me!”

The Old Master sighed gently with emotion, then continued to kill Karluks.

On the other side, after Li Xiao pierced the Karluk’s chest, he awkwardly found that the spearhead was stuck in the Karluk’s ribs and couldn’t be pulled out.

This was awkward.

“Get lost!”

At this moment, Li Xiao’s blood was rushing, and his killing intent was strong. He had no time to fiddle with the Karluk’s corpse.

In the next instant, with a violent shout, he exerted force suddenly, lifting the corpse high up directly.

Then he threw it forcefully at a Karluk cavalryman not far away.

That Karluk cavalryman hadn’t reacted before he was knocked off his horse by the corpse. Immediately after, another spear darted out from the side, and the Old Master sent him directly to meet God.

Huff huff~

After throwing the Karluk corpse, Li Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, followed by a helpless bitter smile.

Because he found that the spear he used couldn’t withstand the force just now, and cracks had appeared on the shaft.

It could be used one more time at most before it would definitely break.

This was the disadvantage of spears.

Although they had high cost-performance, the quality was really lacking. Compared to the horse lances used by the Central Plains dynasties, they were far inferior.

However, the production process of horse lances was complex and very expensive. Even in the cavalry of the Great Tang, only people at the general level were qualified to use horse lances.

This kind of weapon was too high-end to equip troops on a large scale.

So by this era, horse lances were already rare.

The Li family originally had a horse lance, but it was taken to the Northern Mountains by Li Xiao’s father not long ago. At this moment, it had probably fallen into the hands of the Karluks.

“If there’s a chance, I still need to get a horse lance,” Li Xiao said to himself.

When charging, the effect of a horse lance was simply invincible.

And just at this time, Li Xiao glanced not far away. Without the slightest hesitation, he held the spear in reverse grip and threw it directly like a javelin.

(End of this chapter)