"Sister Qianqiu..." Du Yu eyed the great crowd of enemy soldiers nearby and murmured, "Can your Thousand-Autumn Divine Art handle them?"
"You mean the thousands of men surrounding you?" Dong Qianqiu said helplessly. "I really can't do anything in a battle of this scale..."
Du Yu's mind raced as he considered his options. "Sister Qianqiu... how many of those pieces of equipment I asked for did you prepare?"
"I put four Type 82-2 Military Grenades in your Crossing Starter Pack. The Rocket Launcher and Gatling Gun you mentioned were simply too big to carry."
"Four grenades... all right..." Du Yu nodded and thought quickly. Suddenly, an idea sprang to mind.
"Junior sister!" Du Yu abruptly shouted, startling everyone. "Master Guiguzi sent me here to check on you. I never imagined you really would be in trouble!"
The Zhao Army below the hill muttered that this was bad. Zhongli Chun alone was enough of a headache, and now her senior brother had arrived?
"What nonsense are you talking about... are you Sun Bin or Su Qin? Even they couldn't handle this situation... hurry up and leave..." Zhongli Chun said, her face full of worry.
"WHAT?! Junior sister?! You're asking whether my cultivation has improved?!" Ignoring Zhongli Chun, Du Yu kept shouting. "Are you making fun of your senior brother? Ah, as a fellow cultivator, of course my cultivation has risen higher than before! In that case, let me show you what I can do!"
The nearby Zhao Army began to wonder uneasily just who this man before them could be.
The infantrymen beside Du Yu were stunned by his words as well. This fellow was an Immortal? They hadn't noticed a thing during the entire journey here!
Du Yu quietly fumbled in his waist pouch.
"Sister Qianqiu... how do I use this thing..."
"Could you ask me before you try to show off next time... this is a little embarrassing."
"Stop talking and teach me already..."
"There's something on top that looks like a key ring. First, grip the metal safety lever with your hand to engage the spring, then pull out the thing that looks like a key ring. Releasing the lever activates the fuse. It'll explode five seconds after you throw it."
"Got it."
Du Yu stared coldly down at the Zhao Army. "If you keep surrounding us, don't blame me for showing no mercy! Anyone who doesn't want to die should leave now!"
Although Du Yu's words were frightening, military orders weighed like mountains. The Zhao Army didn't dare retreat at will.
"Fine... then so be it!" Du Yu roared. "Shaolin's supreme technique... Fire Cloud Palm!!!"
The men beside him froze. "Shaolin? What's Shaolin?"
As the words "Fire Cloud Palm" left his mouth, a little black ball flew from Du Yu's sleeve. It sailed straight into the Zhao Army ranks and struck a soldier square in the face.
"Ow!" The Zhao Army soldier screamed, feeling as though a lump of iron had smashed into his nose.
Watching the grenade land among the crowd, Du Yu couldn't help regretting it. He shouted, "RUN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!"
"Run?" Before the Zhao Army could understand what he meant, the grenade blossomed among them.
BOOM-
A tremendous blast rang out.
The modern grenade's immense force sent several men flying. Dozens nearby were gravely wounded by its shrapnel and lay screaming on the ground. Du Yu alone had torn a bloody breach in the Zhao Army's encirclement.
"Ah?!" Every Zhao Army soldier paled in horror and backed away. This technique was simply too brutal.
Du Yu had thrown the grenade in a moment of hotheadedness, without considering the consequences at all. Now more than a dozen lives had perished directly at his hands, and he slipped into a daze.
"Du Yu, this is war!" Dong Qianqiu's shout snapped him out of his stupor. "They intended to kill you. That's why you killed them. Don't dwell on it!"
Du Yu slapped himself across the face, looked at the men below the mountain of corpses, and roared, "I don't want to strike again! Break off your encirclement, and I promise you'll be safe!"
"What on earth was that..." Zhongli Chun was bewildered too. Holding her wound, she said, "I've never seen you injure a whole crowd with a single attack before."
"This is an emergency. I can only use that move a few times. What matters now is getting you out of here!"
"No... I'm their target, not you. You'll stand a better chance of escaping alone," Zhongli Chun said.
"No!" Du Yu roared. "Have you forgotten our promise? If you die here, how will you cross that river?!"
"I..." Zhongli Chun fell silent. She was deeply worried for Du Yu's safety, but she was also terrified that she would never see him again.
Below the mountain of corpses, the Zhao Army did indeed begin to back away slowly. The move the man atop the hill had just unleashed was far too savage. Nothing good could come of continuing to fight him.
"Wonderful... they're retreating... Little Zhongli, let's go!" Du Yu took Zhongli Chun's hand and was about to break through the encirclement when shouts suddenly rose in the distance.
They looked out and saw banners bearing the character for "Qin" suddenly rise behind what had been an unbroken sea of Zhao Army soldiers.
"The Qin Army is here!!" the Squad Leader shouted in alarm. "We're going to be surrounded twice over!"
"Their reinforcements..." Zhongli Chun bit her lip. "This time, even wings wouldn't let us escape..."
The distant Zhao Army slowly parted, opening a narrow path all the way toward them. A pale-faced young general riding an armored warhorse approached at a leisurely pace.
"You're Zhong Wuyan?" The young man glanced at the people atop the hill, his gaze finally settling on Zhong Wuyan.
"Are you the Qin Army's commander?" Zhong Wuyan asked coldly.
"That's right. I am Bai-"
Before Bai Qi could finish, Zhongli Chun vanished from where she stood. In the next instant, she appeared before him and threw a punch from a vicious angle, aiming straight for his throat.
If she could take the Qin Army commander's head here, there would still be a sliver of hope for this war.
Bai Qi's expression chilled. He raised the saber in his hand to block the blow, but both he and his horse were sent flying. The warhorse hastily adjusted its posture in midair and brought him safely back to the ground.
Du Yu's heart jolted. As expected of Bai Qi. He even blocked an ambush that fast.
"Heh! You really are just as the rumors say." Bai Qi rubbed his hands, aching from the impact, and gave a bitter smile. "If I can kill someone like you, I'll be one step closer to becoming grand general."
Bai Qi slowly retreated. Zhongli Chun shouted, "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!"
Before she could catch him, several Qin Army soldiers charged at her. They were nothing like the Zhao Army soldiers from earlier. Clearly battle-hardened elite guards who had remained at Bai Qi's side, they attacked Zhongli Chun from treacherous angles. Already wounded, she barely dodged them before striking several men away.
"I may not be your match, but you'll still die here today." Bai Qi sneered and ordered the men beside him, "Have the archers in the distance loose their arrows. Shoot Zhong Wuyan dead, along with the Zhao Army here."
"What?" At first, the Zhao Army thought they had misheard him, but a moment later, a vast rain of arrows came flying from afar.
"LOOK OUT!!" Zhongli Chun shouted, immediately shielding Du Yu beneath her.
"YOUR MAJESTY!! LOOK OUT!!" The Squad Leader sprang forward and placed himself in front of Zhongli Chun.
Before Du Yu could react, a tremendous clatter erupted like falling hail.
Only after the chaotic rattling had passed did Du Yu slowly open his eyes.
"Little Zhongli!!" The moment he opened his eyes and saw Zhongli Chun holding him protectively in her arms, Du Yu cried out.
"I'm fine..." Before she could finish, Zhongli Chun spat out a mouthful of blood.
Du Yu looked closely and saw two arrows embedded in Zhongli Chun. Although the Squad Leader had stood in front of her, her large frame made it impossible for him to shield her completely.
"Corporal Di Cong!" Only then did Du Yu realize that the Squad Leader had suffered the worst injuries. Standing in front of Zhongli Chun, his modestly sized body had taken dozens of arrows. Without even a chance to utter his last words, he had already toppled over stiffly. Du Yu looked around again. The infantrymen who had fought beside him had all died beneath the volley, and even the Zhao Army around them had fallen in great swathes.
In the distance, the Qin Army's second wave came on. A large crowd of men carrying long spears slowly advanced toward them.
"What do I do! What do I do!" Du Yu panicked. Gritting his teeth, he looked toward Bai Qi in the distance, fury rising in his heart. As the saying went, to catch the bandits, first catch their king. Unable to concern himself with anything else, Du Yu pulled a grenade from his backpack, yanked out the pin, and hurled it toward Bai Qi.
"Du Yu! You must not kill Bai Qi!" Dong Qianqiu grew frantic at the sight. If Bai Qi, the Qin Kingdom's renowned general, died, the history that followed would inevitably change drastically.
The grenade landed right before Bai Qi. Though he didn't recognize it, something about it struck him as suspicious. He pulled on the reins, making his horse rear up on the spot. Almost at that very instant, the grenade exploded. Nearly the entire force of the blast struck the warhorse's chest. Bai Qi was hurled away, while the horse beneath him was reduced to a bloody mass of mangled flesh.
"What technique is this?!" Bai Qi was baffled. How could something as small as a pebble unleash such tremendous force?
"Be careful, Lord Bai Qi! They say those two are both cultivators!"
Bai Qi scrambled awkwardly to his feet, cursed under his breath, and said, "Even cultivators can still be wounded, can't they? Have the archers and spearmen attack in turns. Today, I, Bai Qi, shall slay Zhu Xian before everyone's eyes!"
Watching a group of Qin Army soldiers slowly approach with their long spears, Dong Qianqiu made an immediate decision. "Du Yu! Give up! We're starting your recall right now!"
"Now...?" Du Yu turned to look at Zhongli Chun. She had wounds all over her body and two arrows lodged in her back. If he left now, she would be killed immediately.
"No, Sister Qianqiu!" Du Yu was unusually frantic. "Is there really no other way? Can you transmit a message to their commander and make them retreat? Or... or could you send me a few souls right now..."
"Du Yu!" Dong Qianqiu was getting angry. "The Legend Management Bureau will not gamble an Operator's life for the protagonist of a Grade C Legend!"
Gritting his teeth as he watched the enemy slowly close in, Du Yu immediately pulled out another grenade.
"ANYONE WHO COMES CLOSER DIES!" Du Yu roared, and the advancing Qin Army soldiers did indeed halt in fear.
"ANYONE WHO STOPS DIES!!" Bai Qi roared as well, his voice carrying an air of authority.
Before you continue