At this moment, the four characters above his head, "[Match for One Person]", dimmed and seemed on the verge of disappearing!
Blood kept flowing from the wounds on my left arm, right leg, back, and abdomen.
But as long as Wu Shuangren remains in a state of being able to Match for One Person, his combat strength will only increase, not decrease!
"Kill!"
Li Ming struck first, his ghost-head broadsword slashing down with a whooshing sound. This strike was powerful and heavy, not seeking finesse, but only aiming to overwhelm the opponent with brute force—he wanted to force Wu Shuangren head-on, thus depleting the opponent's remaining strength.
Almost simultaneously, Zhao Kui cut in from the left, his livid palms striking Wu Shuangren. Although he was still recovering from his injuries, today's battle concerned the survival of the West River Gang, so he had come as well.
On the right, Chen Xiao's blade flashed like a venomous snake, targeting Wu Shuangren's lower body.
Du Jianghe, wielding two hooks, circled around behind Wu Shuangren.
Instead of retreating, Wu Shuangren advanced, his Fish-Dragon Saber colliding head-on with Li Ming's Ghost-Headed Greatsword!
"When--!"
The clang of metal rang out, and sparks flew.
Li Ming felt an immense force coming from the knife, and he was horrified!
Wu Shuangren clearly looked like she was about to collapse from exhaustion, so how come her Internal Skill was even stronger than before when facing me?
Is he faking it? But why would he fake it?
Li Ming couldn't understand it at all.
As he parried the blow, Wu Shuangren also took a full-blown palm strike from Zhao Kui on his left shoulder.
Bang!
The bones in his left shoulder made a cracking sound as the force of the Stele-Splitting Hand" penetrated his body, causing half of Wu Shuangren's body to go numb!
But he also used the force of that palm strike to accelerate his spin, the Fish-Dragon Saber drawing a strange arc—
The combination of Whirling Gale Shocks the Mountain and Cloud Tide Returning Wave Steps, along with the force of Zhao Kui's palm strike, resulted in a blade of light that swept across the area like a whirlwind, cutting into Zhao Kui's palm strike with lightning speed!
Zhao Kui's internal injuries had not yet healed, Internal Skill was somewhat stagnant, causing him to react a beat too slowly.
"Laugh!"
His left arm was severed at the elbow!
Before the scream could even escape his lips, Wu Shuangren stepped forward and plunged his blade into Zhao Kui's chest!
Zhao Kui stared wide-eyed at Wu Shuangren, who was standing right in front of him, in disbelief. He opened his mouth to say something, but only a mouthful of blood gushed out.
The third leader of the West River Gang is dead!
Li Ming had already swung his knife towards Wu Shuangren's head, but Xu Yu ignored him and smashed an iron bar at him.
A strong gust of wind hit him, leaving Li Ming with no choice but to sheathe his sword and return to defense.
"Third Brother!"
Chen Xiao's eyes were bloodshot with rage as he drew his knife and charged at Wu Shuangren.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Du Jianghe attacked Xu Yu, intending to eliminate this 'bodyguard' beside Wu Shuangren first.
Xu Yu rolled forward in time, narrowly avoiding Du Jianghe's double hooks, but his calf was still cut by the iron hooks, and blood flowed freely.
He stood up and wildly swung the iron bar in his hand. It looked completely haphazard, but it had the advantage of great strength and a wide attack range.
The iron bar was sometimes thrown at Chen Xiao, and sometimes at Du Jianghe, forcing the two of them to be distracted.
For a moment, only Li Ming was facing off against Wu Shuangren.
Wu Shuangren's left shoulder bone was shattered, and his internal injuries were even more severe!
The brilliance of [Match for One Person] has dimmed to the point of being almost invisible, and may disappear at any moment.
"Wu Shuangren!"
Li Ming roared, and his ghost-headed broadsword slashed down again.
He firmly believed he could win!
Ding ding ding ding—
Seven consecutive cuts, each one more severe than the last!
Li Ming unleashed his Internal Skill to its fullest extent, white steam rising continuously from his head, his broadsword wielding a blood-red curtain of blades as he launched a frenzied attack!
Wu Shuangren calmly and skillfully deflected the force from Li Ming's knife without retreating an inch.
The eighth cut.
The Fish-Dragon Saber was knocked away, leaving Wu Shuangren's chest completely exposed!
Li Ming was overjoyed and unleashed his ninth strike.
But just as the blade was about to strike, Wu Shuangren suddenly swayed and leaped to the right, dodging the attack.
Li Ming promptly changed his downward slash into a horizontal sweep. He had seen Wu Shuangren Cloud Tide Returning Wave Steps more than once. If Wu Shuangren chose to pull himself back at this moment, he would run right into the sweeping blade!
But Wu Shuangren did not turn back. He turned sideways and used his chest to meet Li Ming's knife!
Pfft—
The blood-red broadsword cleaved through the leather armor and pierced into Wu Shuangren's flesh!
Li Ming almost instinctively stopped holding back, intending to cut Wu Shuangren in two with a single stroke!
But in that instant, Wu Shuangren swung his right arm forcefully, and the Fish-Dragon Saber flew out of his hand, slicing across Li Ming's throat!
"You..."
Li Ming's eyes widened, and he instinctively covered his throat with his hand, but he couldn't stop the blood from gushing out wildly!
Wu Shuangren's body flew backward, like a leaf swept by a strong wind.
Blood was gushing from the corner of his mouth.
In that instant, as he swung the Fish-Dragon Saber, he Cloud Tide Returning Wave Steps to leap backward, thus avoiding being completely struck by Li Ming's blade.
The light in Li Ming's eyes quickly dimmed, he clutched his throat with both hands, knelt forward, and bowed his head forever.
The leader of the West River Gang is dead!
"Big Brother—"
Chen Xiao howled in agony.
Du Jianghe panicked completely when he saw this.
Without hesitation, the fifth leader turned and ran!
Chen Xiao wasn't so lucky. He was distracted by Li Ming's death, and Du Jianghe suddenly ran away, giving Xu Yu the opportunity to deal with him with all his might.
Chen Xiao was quickly knocked to the ground by Xu Yu with an iron bar, his head was smashed open, and red and white blood splattered all over the ground!
Seeing their leaders either dead or fleeing, the remaining members of the West River Gang suffered a complete collapse in morale and lost all will to fight.
The group scattered like birds and beasts, and were completely routed by the militia!
Wu Shuangren did not pursue the attacker. He stood there, breathing heavily, activating his Internal Skill to control his blood and qi and stop the bleeding from his wounds.
Xu Yu stood beside him, shoving an iron rod into the ground.
Both of them were covered in blood and riddled with wounds.
However, none of the West River Gang passed by the two dared to attack them, regretting that they hadn't run fast enough!
Dozens of corpses lay scattered along the long street, their blood soaking the bluestone slabs, and the air was thick with the stench of blood.
After the militiamen routed the West River Gang, they stopped their pursuit and stood guard around Wu Shuangren.
How are you?
Mo Zhengxing rushed to Wu Shuangren's side and asked anxiously.
Wu Shuangren slightly. "He won't die."
Mo Zhengxing quickly took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket, poured out two pills, and gave them to Wu Shuangren to take.
These pills are for replenishing qi and blood, and restoring vitality.
Give it to him.
After Wu Shuangren took the pill, he pointed at Xu Yu.
Mo Zhengxing handed Xu Yu two more pills, then took out gauze from his pocket to bandage Wu Shuangren's wound.
But Wu Shuangren pointed at Xu Yu: "Bandage him up first."
"I..."
Xu Yu was about to speak when Wu Shuangren to stop him, signaling him not to speak.
In today's battle, Xu Yu's injuries were more severe than Wu Shuangren's.
If it were a true Fourth Rank martial artist, such injuries would have caused them to collapse long ago, but Xu Yu was still able to unleash extremely strong power until the very end!
However, in Wu Shuangren's eyes, the [Lean Tiger] Traits above Xu Yu's head was also faintly visible and showed signs of disappearing, so he asked Mo Zhengxing to treat Xu Yu's wounds first.
Everyone was panting and looked exhausted.
Suddenly, the sounds of battle erupted again from ahead!
Wu Shuangren could barely stand, but he gritted his teeth and held on, looking ahead.
"Form ranks!"
Mo Zhengxing shouted nervously.
If another enemy were to attack now, none of them would likely be able to hold out.
A while later, a group of people rushed out from around the street corner.
The leader was wielding a Guan Dao (a type of halberd), and was covered in blood.
It was Bai Jinhuan!
81. The war continues, the killing intent is fierce.
"... After I finished speaking, I led the militia and charged forward. I thought it would be a tough battle, but those West River Gang members were just all show and no substance. They couldn't hold out for long, and the front ranks started to retreat. Once the front ranks retreated, the rest couldn't hold out any longer and started to run away. Then we completely routed them!"
Bai Jinhuan's face was covered in blood and his body was covered in wounds, but he excitedly recounted the battle outside the Fist Academy to Wu Shuangren and Mo Zhengxing.
He spoke lightly, but judging from his injuries, Wu Shuangren and Mo Zhengxing could imagine the danger he had been in!
Although the 150 militiamen left behind at the Fist Academy outnumbered the rest, they were mostly new recruits. If Bai Jinhuan hadn't charged ahead and created an opening in the enemy's front ranks, they probably wouldn't have won so easily in the end.
Bai Jinhuan's ability to break through the encirclement of the West River Gang's experts today is also due to his daily sparring with Wu Shuangren, which has improved his martial arts skills.
"Militia Commander Wu, your training methods were effective!"
Bai Jinhuan said to Wu Shuangren.
Today was his first real experience leading troops into battle. In that moment of intense fighting, he truly understood what was most important in a clash between two armies—
It's about whether you can hold on with your last breath!
Wu Shuangren's daily training hadn't significantly increased the militiamen's physical strength, nor had it equipped them with particularly formidable martial arts skills. However, when these militiamen gathered together and formed ranks to face the enemy...
Perhaps they themselves don't even realize that they already possess power greater than many other groups!
Wu Shuangren nodded.
He wasn't really sure about the fighting capabilities of his militia, and didn't know how well they could perform.
Today's battle has given him certainty—he hasn't gone down the wrong path!
Wu Shuangren sat outside a shop, resting with his back against the door panel.
Some of the archers inside the building fled in advance when they saw that things were not going well, while others were blocked by the militia and chose to surrender.
The militiamen were cleaning up the battlefield in the streets, looting money from the dead, stripping leather armor from some people, and collecting all the weapons.
Moments later, the preliminary casualty figures came out—
Of the fifty veterans who came out with Wu Shuangren, eight died, four were seriously injured, and eleven were slightly injured.