The military situation was too tense, everything too rushed.
Still somewhat dazed himself, Liu Cheng put on his helmet and iron loin armor. With thirty armored Black-Clad Guards and some hastily assembled gifts, he followed Deng Xia and his dozens of personal guards northwest on horseback. Scout cavalry were fighting everywhere along the way. Soon, once they passed the twenty-li mark and could make out Lantian County in the distance, they encountered an armed band of forty or fifty Di horsemen.
There was no telling whether they, too, were conducting reconnaissance in force or were simply on patrol, but the moment they spotted them, they came forward to fight.
"Wait here, Yulong. I'll find you someone to carry a message."
Clad in a full suit of iron armor, Deng Xia turned and patted Liu Cheng, whose lips had gone dry, on the thigh, then led his men straight toward the enemy.
His first three arrows toppled three men, and his guards behind him shot down several more. Startled, the little band of Di cavalry immediately fell into some disorder and slowed. Deng Xia galloped forward, putting away his bow, but he did not merely switch to a spear. With a saber in his left hand and a long spear in his right, he thrust at those farther away and hacked at those close by, wielding heavy weapons as lightly as feathers, and speared several more riders from their saddles.
His movements were so deft that he seemed to be wearing leather rather than iron armor, holding rice straw rather than an iron spear.
Now the Di cavalry knew they had run into a tough opponent. Their leader whistled, wheeled his horse, and retreated.
Deng Xia switched back to his bow and loosed another arrow, striking the leader squarely in the