Chapter 130: Crumbling at the First Blow

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From within the formation, Niu Da heard Whitehair shouting and asked Xu Mo, “Boss, how should I answer him?”

Xu Mo blurted out, “Tell him to go to hell!”

As soon as he heard this, Niu Da immediately threw back his head and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Go to hell, you bastard!”

Whitehair had been waiting for Xu Mo and the others to admit defeat. Instead, he received such a reply and was instantly enraged, puffing out his cheeks and glaring furiously.

Peng Dong, standing beside him, burst out laughing. “Brother, is this the ‘subdue the enemy without fighting’ you were talking about? Ha-ha-ha…”

Unable to bear the insult, Whitehair wasted no more words. He pointed his single-edged saber forward and ordered, “Get them!”

The moment his voice fell, the bandits surrounding Xu Mo and the others began shouting in a chaotic chorus before swarming forward all at once.

Seeing the enemy launch their attack, Niu Da immediately shouted, “Prepare…”

Then, after judging the perfect moment, he roared, “Thrust!”

In the next instant, the forty-odd members of the delivery team thrust out their sharpened bamboo spears in unison and cried, “Kill!”

“Ah!” “Ugh!” “Aaargh!”

The bandits who had rushed forward first immediately let out agonized screams.

Some bamboo spears pierced through their abdomens, some drove into their chests, and others struck their thighs. The scene was drenched in blood.

“Withdraw!”

Seeing that the first attack had succeeded, Niu Da immediately ordered them to pull back their weapons.

Over the past two days, the team members had trained only two movements: thrust and withdraw. Their bodies had already developed an instinctive response to Niu Da’s commands, and they immediately retracted their bamboo spears in perfect, orderly unison.

The moment the spears withdrew, nearly ten bandits collapsed into pools of blood. Some clutched their endlessly bleeding wounds and howled in agony, while others rolled their eyes back and convulsed, clearly beyond saving.

A few bandits who had escaped injury witnessed the power of the bamboo spears with their own eyes and were so terrified that they wet themselves on the spot.

But these were only the first bandits to charge forward. Those behind them had no idea what had happened and continued forcing their way ahead, as though they would miss out on their share of the feast if they arrived too late.

“Thrust!”

Niu Da issued another attack command.

“Kill!”

After witnessing the devastating effect of the first round, every team member was filled with even greater confidence. Their thrusts were faster and more powerful than before.

Another series of horrific screams rang out from among the bandits.

“Withdraw!” Niu Da shouted at once.

Just as before, the instant the bamboo spears were pulled back, more than ten men collapsed onto the ground.

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Soon, the wails of the two groups of wounded men merged into one, making the scene resemble a vision of hell.

“Thrust!”

Seeing that the bandits were still charging the formation, Niu Da immediately issued the third command.

“Kill!”

By now, the team members had fully grasped the power of their bamboo spears, and their thrusts had grown even fiercer and more confident.

After three consecutive rounds of attacks, nearly thirty men lay outside the circular formation. Some were dead, others crippled, and bright red blood flowed everywhere. The gruesome scene had reached an entirely different level.

Most of the spearheads were stained red with blood.

Several of them were still dripping, creating a terrifying sight.

The bandits surging forward from behind finally saw the carnage. They all retreated in terror, fear consuming every face and pair of eyes.

Seeing the bandits trembling and too frightened to take another step, Niu Er, standing in the front line, began taunting them.

“Come on! Come again!”

Niu Er was venting all the humiliation and fury he had suffered during their previous defeat. At that moment, he felt utterly exhilarated.

At the edge of the woods, Whitehair saw that they could not break through at all and immediately panicked. He turned to Peng Dong and asked, “Brother, what do we do? Those bamboo spears are too vicious!”

Peng Dong had already knitted his brows. He was not blind; he had seen perfectly well how powerful the bamboo spears were.

Even so, he still believed that their greater numbers would allow them to overwhelm the enemy.

“Keep charging! We have more men. We can crush them beneath sheer numbers!” Peng Dong said viciously.

Whitehair was startled. “Brother, if we keep forcing the attack, even more people will die!”

Peng Dong glared at him and snarled, “Then what else can we do? So many men have already died. Do you think we can just let them go? Wouldn’t that leave us suffering a massive loss?”

Whitehair thought about it and realized Peng Dong had a point. In the blink of an eye, they had already lost so many men. If they withdrew now, would they not be losing everything?

While Whitehair hesitated, Peng Dong had already raised his saber and advanced with several men.

“Keep going! Anyone who dares to run will be butchered by me!”

Waving his single-edged saber, Peng Dong roared from the rear of the crowd.

The several bandits accompanying him also gripped their blades and menaced the others with savage expressions.

Under Peng Dong and the others’ coercion, the bandits had no choice but to launch another attack.

The result was obvious. Seven or eight more bandits instantly fell, yet the circular formation of bamboo spears around Xu Mo remained completely unmoved.

This time, the bandits were utterly cowed. No matter how Peng Dong and the others shouted and urged them forward, no one dared take another step.

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Suddenly, one of the bandits broke ranks and fled.

He dropped the club in his hand and ran desperately toward the woods, shouting as he went, “I don’t want to die here! I don’t want to die here!”

The moment Peng Dong saw someone fleeing, he ordered one of his trusted men to pursue him.

The deserter was quickly caught and hacked to death on the spot.

Pointing toward the corpse, Peng Dong roared, “You all saw that, didn’t you? Anyone who dares to run will meet the same fate!”

The sight instantly cowed everyone, and no one dared flee again.

“What are you standing around for? We have so many men—what do we have to fear from them? Charge! All of you, damn it, charge!”

Peng Dong shouted in a frenzy.

Yet no one dared attack the circular formation. Everyone understood that with their skills and weapons, charging forward would amount to nothing less than suicide. No one was foolish enough to do that.

Whitehair finally could not bear to watch any longer. He rushed over, seized Peng Dong by the collar, and said in a low voice, “Withdraw! Everyone has lost their fighting spirit. Stop being stubborn!”

Peng Dong knew perfectly well that Whitehair was right, but he was far too obstinate to admit defeat.

Whitehair understood him fairly well. He immediately shouted, “Withdraw! Withdraw at once!”

As soon as the order was given, the bandits surrounding Xu Mo and the others turned and fled wildly. They did not even bother with their wounded companions lying on the ground; every one of them cared only about escaping.

Before long, the bandits had vanished into the woods. With Whitehair dragging him along, Peng Dong also disappeared deep among the trees.

At that moment, all that could be heard were wave after wave of agonized groans.

Then the members of the delivery team erupted in thunderous cheers. They embraced one another and celebrated their victory, the sight filling everyone with exhilaration.

Niu Da said with great satisfaction, “Boss, these fellows really are nothing but a rabble. They were no match for us at all!”

Xu Mo nodded. Then he glanced at the bamboo spear in his hand and shook his head regretfully. “What a pity, what a pity. I never even got the chance to take part before the battle ended! What a bore…”

Niu Da and Qin Woodenhead burst out laughing at this.

A moment later, Niu Da asked, “Boss, what should we do with these wounded bandits?”

Xu Mo took Niu Da and Qin Woodenhead around the battlefield for a quick inspection and found that some of the bandits were already dead.

Several others were so gravely wounded that there was no hope of saving them. Only six or seven had suffered relatively light injuries and might still survive.

Xu Mo called Niu Da aside and said quietly, “Finish off those who cannot be saved. Give them a quick death. Take those who can still walk to the county office. As for whether they survive, that will be left to fate.”