Sun Ce fought the assassins fiercely, but his body grew heavy and his head began to spin.
He knew the poison on the crossbow bolts was taking effect. He gritted his teeth and endured it.
The enemies in his sight began to double.
Before, every stroke of his sword had killed an enemy. Now several strokes in a row struck nothing.
The masked men in black fought with curved, swordlike weapons called Wu Hooks. As the poison took hold, their blows began landing on Sun Ce, leaving him with even worse wounds.
Sun Ce backed against a pine tree and laughed. "If I'd known it would end like this, I wouldn't have run. I only regret dying at the hands of vermin!"
The masked men showed no emotion. In twos and threes, they crept closer.
"Don't harm my lord!"
A shout rang out from the valley entrance. A battered troop charged in, led by a powerfully built general with graying hair. He wielded a long saber in one hand, cutting down masked assassins one after another.
The general was Huang Gai. A broken arrow shaft still protruded from his shoulder, but he paid it no heed and fought on.
The surviving soldiers beside Huang Gai rallied and charged up the ridge to fight the masked men.
Sun Ce found a sudden burst of strength. "Heaven hasn't forsaken me!" he roared. He pulled the two crossbow bolts from his chest, seized a masked man with one hand, snapped his neck, and swung the corpse like a polearm.
Though his body was heavy and his vision impaired, Sun Ce's strength let him sweep the corpse through a wide arc, keeping the men in black at bay.
Just as Huang Gai was about to reach Sun Ce, a young man of seventeen or