When Will Brother Yuan Call My Name to Kill Enemies?

The moment Zhang Yuan reached the deck, his right arm swept out, and the long saber in his hand flew in an instant, tracing a hanging arc.

"Whoosh—"

The blade spun past the gunwale with a piercing shriek.

Its sharp edge swept past four or five bandits working the oars, trying to pull the boat back toward the middle of the river.

Blood. Severed limbs.

And broken wooden oars.

With a bang, the long saber embedded itself in the cabin, its blade sinking two feet into the wood.

Miserable screams and wails rose in a continuous chorus by the gunwale.

With no one left to row, the wooden boat spun with the current and crashed toward the shore.

"Kill him—"

"Drive him off!"

Seeing that Zhang Yuan had no saber in hand, several saber-wielding bandits roared and charged at him.

If they did not drive Zhang Yuan off the boat, they could only die!

Zhang Yuan stepped forward with empty hands, raising both arms.

Mountain Yue Fist Technique, Moving Mountains and Seizing Peaks.

Bang—

The two bandits whose sabers came chopping down were sent flying outright, smashing into the cabin two Zhang away. They shattered through the five-inch-thick planks and fell inside.

That strike brought the other two charging bandits to a halt, their faces drained white.

Too strong!

The strength Zhang Yuan displayed was beyond anything they could handle.

Zhang Yuan did not stop. He raised his left arm.

Stepping forward, elbow strike.

Ironclad Fist, Hanging Sky Elbow.

Bang—

The thick mast snapped in response. The white sailcloth hanging from it fell with the mast, covering both the cabin and deck—and burying several bandits beneath it.

A long saber stabbed toward Zhang Yuan through the sailcloth and rigging.

Zhang Yuan raised his left hand and blocked with his arm.

Clang—

The long saber broke.

Zhang Yuan reached out, grabbed the broken blade, and drove it into the shoulder socket of the bandit who had struck. The edge entered through his right shoulder, piercing a foot into his body.

Zhang Yuan twisted his wrist, and the blade ground through his heart and lungs. Blood spilled from the bandit's mouth as his body went limp.

Before he could collapse, Zhang Yuan kicked out, striking the bandit squarely in the chest.

His chest visibly caved in, and his body tore through the white sail behind him, leaving a bloodstain more than a Zhang long.

Boom—

Bereft of mast and oarsmen, the wooden boat slammed into the riverbank.

The bandits aboard staggered every which way. Only Zhang Yuan stood as though rooted to the deck, utterly unmoving.

Before the boat had even stabilized, figures in black armor were already charging from the riverbank onto the deck.

Yu Changlong rushed behind Zhang Yuan with a long spear in hand. Feng Cheng and two other soldiers panted as they ran onto the deck, quickly taking up positions at Zhang Yuan's side and forming the Azure Wolf Battle Formation.

On the other side of the boat, several figures vaulted over the gunwale. The man leading them was Chen Wu.

Chen Wu gave a low shout with his saber in hand. His blade thrust forward, piercing through a bandit scrambling before him.

Without slowing, he gripped his saber, seized the blood-spitting bandit by the collar, and shoved him forward. Driving him along with the five or six bandits behind him for seven or eight steps, he forced them onto the deck.

With the deck filled with Black Armored Soldiers, what chance did they have of surviving once they got up there?

Feng Cheng and the other recruits stared, dumbstruck.

It was one thing for Zhang Yuan to possess such formidable martial strength, but Chen Wu was actually powerful to this extent as well?

On the distant shore, Yong'an County Lieutenant Xu Xianzhong, who had been watching the battle, turned to look at the Luyang Prefecture military clerk who had just arrived beside him.

"Sir Military Clerk, did—did Commandant Zhang once serve in the army?"

The military clerk watched the Black Armored Soldiers crush the enemy aboard the boat, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"That kid knocked around in the army for three months five years ago."

Five years ago, three months?

Just that was enough to temper such cultivation, combat strength, and a decisive, killing heart?

Gao Tong, the constable chief behind Xu Xianzhong, wore a puzzled expression.

What kind of army could temper a man like this in three months?

Even frontier troops that fought without cease could not possibly do it, could they?

Besides, there had been no war around Luyang Prefecture for five years—

Five years?

Five years ago, three months?

Xu Xianzhong's whole body trembled. His eyes widened as he looked at the military clerk. "Five years ago, Zhang... Zhang... Second Master?"

The military clerk clasped his hands behind his back and gave a light cough. "Don't take those jianghu nicknames seriously. At our bureau, we all call him Er He, Xiao Yuan."

Though he said that, he could not hide the pride on his face.

"No wonder, no wonder..." Xu Xianzhong slowly turned back toward Zhang Yuan on the deck.

Anyone who had returned from three months of bloody battle at Fengtian would naturally possess such a disposition.

Aboard the ship, the bandits either fled, jumped into the water, or roared as they fought desperately.

Zhang Yuan led Yu Changlong and the others in formation, cutting through from a side cabin window to the rear deck.

Feng Cheng and the other two soldiers were covered in blood, their hands and feet trembling.

In close combat, if you did not kill, you would be killed.

Upon reaching the rear deck, Zhang Yuan's gaze crossed the gunwale toward the third wooden boat, which had barely managed to straighten itself and was heading downstream.

Five Zhang away.

"Old Yu, lead them."

Zhang Yuan gave a low shout and reached out to seize a two-Zhang bamboo pole lying on the deck.

"Chen Wu, Xu Qian, Guan Daniu, Deng Hua—"

Zhang Yuan's voice rang out.

Several shouts came from the cabin. Chen Wu, covered in blood, rushed out with three other soldiers.

Zhang Yuan thrust the bamboo pole forward into the water. Borrowing its force, he shot toward the other boat.

As the pole passed its midpoint, Zhang Yuan released it in an instant, stepped onto it, and kicked it back toward the stern. Borrowing the force of that step, he landed on the deck of the third boat.

Before his feet touched down, his long saber left its sheath. With one horizontal slash, he forced back several surrounding bandits. Then he rolled along the deck and drove his saber through a bandit's foot, piercing through both foot and deck together.

On the deck, the bandit with his foot pierced through howled in agony.

Behind Zhang Yuan, Chen Wu had already stepped aboard using the bamboo pole's force.

Zhang Yuan pulled back his long saber and raised a hand in a signal to Chen Wu.

Chen Wu nodded and charged forward along one side of the rear deck.

Zhang Yuan drew the short saber at his waist with one hand, gripped his long saber with the other, and charged forward from the other side.

Behind them, the soldiers Zhang Yuan had called by name had already used the bamboo pole to reach the deck.

Feng Cheng and the other recruits watched, their faces full of envy.

"When will Brother Yuan call my name to kill enemies..." a recruit beside Feng Cheng murmured.

"You'll all have your chance." Yu Changlong glanced at them, gripped his saber, and looked toward the cabin. "Come with me. Build up some more battle merit first."

The Yong'an County soldiers and yamen runners on the riverbank, along with Xu Xianzhong and the others, watched Zhang Yuan and his men leap onto another boat to pursue the enemy, their faces filled with admiration.

To charge directly at enemies several times their number—only true warriors would dare such a thing.

"As expected of the prefectural city's Martial Guard Bureau, crouching tigers and hidden dragons..." Xu Xianzhong said softly with emotion. "I thought only Commandant Zhang was fierce, but I never expected these men to be extraordinary as well."

Reaching the Houtian Realm before thirty would count as elite even in a border prefectural city like Luyang Prefecture.

Not to mention someone like Chen Wu, who was already at the Houtian Mid-stage.

The military clerk said nothing, unable to hide the smile on his face.

Bang—

Zhang Yuan cleaved through the mast on the deck with one stroke. The wooden boat slowly turned sideways.

Saber in hand, his gaze fell upon the bandits fleeing across the deck and through the cabin.

"Those who surrender will not be killed—"

His voice carried across the boat.

Many fleeing bandits shuddered and hurriedly threw down their sabers and spears, squatting on the deck.

Several wore savage expressions. Chen Wu and the others rushed forward, their sabers rising and falling as they dispatched them on the spot.

Of the three wooden boats, two had run aground, while one spun sideways in the bend of the river.

Shouts of killing and wails of agony filled the boats.

On the river, bright red blood flowed with the current, reflecting the sunlight as it gradually slanted westward.

"Wooo—"

A war horn sounded from downstream.

More than a dozen vessels of varying sizes sailed upstream.

On their decks stood soldiers holding weapons, sturdy young men wielding clubs, and officials in blue-green robes protected among the crowd.

"The Yong'an County Magistrate is here! Bandits, die—"