Mao Anzhi held a long saber and wasted no words on him. With a roar of "Kill!", he sprang like a tiger, bringing his saber down at Lu Song's head-
Lu Song was both a Grand Libationer of the Way of the Celestial Masters and a displaced man from the Northern Lands, well versed in martial arts. But the broken bone in his left elbow had yet to heal, so he could not meet force with force and hastily stepped back. Mao Anzhi's twin halberds struck empty air, and three of Lu Song's trusted disciples rushed forward to surround him, their long spears and sharp lances crossing-
Seeing that Mao Anzhi had only fifty or sixty men, Lu Song shouted, "Charge through! Win by numbers! Win in the chaos! Charge into the Central Retreat! Into the Central Retreat!" Bravely taking the lead, he gripped his saber in his right hand and charged forward, shouting as he fought.
Ran Sheng said to Chen Caozhi, "Elder Brother, you and Su Ziyi guard the entrance to the main hall. I'll kill that rebel Lu Song." With that, he took a four-foot short halberd in each hand and rushed into the fighting like the wind. His hands rose and his halberds fell; in the blink of an eye, he hacked down three rebels of the Way of the Celestial Masters. Those tenant clients, who knew only how to wield hoes and swing sickles, had not even warmed the assorted weapons in their hands before their heads were smashed and their bodies broken in a single encounter, meeting violent deaths.
This was Ran Sheng's first time killing anyone, yet he felt only his hot blood boiling, without the slightest trace of fear or nausea. He killed people like cutting grass, severing their screams with a