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"With such reassurances, I have no worries at all about heading to the enemy camp," Sima Lang said with a smile, "If negotiations fail, please, General, lend me a hand."
"No problem at all, with me here, you’ll be safe!" Zhang Xiu said proudly, not that he underestimated the Xiliang generals, but both Ma Chao and Pang De, though gifted, lacked experience compared to the then newly advanced Sunx Ce, and were not quite his match. Moreover, they were both practitioners of a fierce and aggressive style, which was easily suppressed by someone like Zhang Xiu who specialized in high speed and skillful techniques.
"Thank you, General," Sima Lang said with a smile, and then started chatting with Zhang Xiu about old times in Chang’an.
The smile on Sima Lang’s face gave Zhang Xiu great satisfaction, and naturally, he liked him even more, especially since Sima Lang had the intention to befriend him. Their rapport ignited like dry tinder meeting a flame!
During the brief thirty-li journey, when they were approaching Ma Teng’s camp, the thin-brained Zhang Xiu almost ended up building a mound of earth on the spot with Sima Lang, who could only smile wryly, and started to pray for brotherhood.
"Halt, who goes there!" Upon reaching the vicinity of Ma Teng’s camp, a group of nearly a hundred Qiang people rushed up and surrounded Sima Lang and his party, with the leader shouting loudly.
"Go, tell Ma Shoucheng that Zhang Boyuan is here to see him!" Zhang Xiu rode ahead of the others and sneered at the gatekeeper, instantly drenching the backs of nearly a hundred Qiang soldiers in cold sweat that soaked through their armor.
"Well, go on!" Seeing none of the guards move, Zhang Xiu became furious, letting out a thunderous roar. Instantly, the guards scrambled away in panic, rolling back into the camp and crying out, "The Spear King has come, The Spear King has come..."
"Hahaha~" Zhang Xiu burst into laughter at the guards’ reaction.
"Boyuan, your fame has spread far indeed! Even the guards are terrified of you to this extent," Sima Lang said, riding forward with a laugh.
"Hahaha, I gave them a good thrashing once, took their Command Banner, and then beat them up every few days. Now it’s turned out like this," Zhang Xiu said with a hint of pride.
"Zhang Boyuan, face my spear!" Just as Zhang Xiu was basking in pride, a booming shout came. A young general clad in Golden Armor with a powdered face, eyes like shooting stars, lips red as if painted, with the body of a tiger and the arms of an orangutan, came charging forward with a Long Spear.
As Li Jue said, the Xiliang Soldiers were running low on food, but they still had at least half a year’s supply, while the Qiang Soldier led by Ma Teng had less than a month’s worth of food left.
With circumstances such as these, Ma Teng, Hann Sui, and the Eight Banner Generals were forced to consider a retreat, but they were very worried that a hasty withdrawal might turn into a complete rout, wondering if they could even make it back alive.
After all, being hotly pursued by the Xiliang Soldiers could result in tremendous trouble. A careless move might allow Fan Chou, Zhang Ji, and others to seize the opportunity, and with Zhang Xiu leading the elite troops in a flanking maneuver, it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility to entirely rout the Qiang soldiers in one fell swoop!
However dangerous, the retreat was necessary, and Ma Teng and Hann Sui had made up their minds to retreat. Naturally, this news also reached Ma Chao’s ears, and the proud Ma Chao couldn’t accept retreat after successive defeats without gaining any significant advantage.
Of course, more importantly, Ma Chao felt dissatisfied. Believing himself to be a prodigy, he could not accept his repeated defeats at the hands of Zhang Xiu, nor was he satisfied with the outcome of his coordinated attack with Pang De, which had also ended in defeat.
Initially, he attributed his defeat to his recent breakthrough in Inner Qi Manifestation, but even after mastering it, he was still no match for Zhang Xiu, which infuriated Ma Chao even more.
However, Ma Chao firmly believed he could defeat Zhang Xiu, and so he was very dissatisfied with his father’s plans to retreat now. In his view, defeating Zhang Xiu would lead to a great victory over the Xiliang Soldiers, and he felt he was gradually getting the measure of Zhang Xiu.
Because of this, Ma Chao had a big argument with Ma Teng and left in a huff. Later, while trying to cool off outside, Ma Chao found a little Curly-Haired Red Horse that couldn’t stand up, apparently having eaten something problematic. Moved by compassion, Ma Chao helped the little horse vomit out a stone. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Afterward, the Curly-Haired Red Horse stuck to Ma Chao and wouldn’t leave his side. Finding it comfortable to ride, and in a slightly better mood, Ma Chao rode the little red horse back to camp, only to encounter this situation just as he arrived at the gate. Already not having cooled off, Ma Chao’s anger flared up and he charged toward Zhang Xiu.
"Clang!" The moment Zhang Xiu saw Ma Chao attacking, his Long Spear traced an arc, aiming at Ma Chao. With a loud explosion, Zhang Xiu, who was controlling the horse, was forced back five steps, while Ma Chao, mounted on the little Curly-Haired Red Horse, slid backwards three steps.
"Zhang Boyuan, prepare to die!" Seeing this, Ma Chao patted the little red horse’s neck, laughing maniacally as he lunged forward with his spear.
Zhang Xiu frowned, eyeing the little Curly-Haired Red Horse; if he wasn’t mistaken, that hadn’t been Ma Chao’s mount before.
"Clang!" Another deafening sound echoed, but this time Zhang Xiu only wavered slightly, while Ma Chao felt a tremendous force strike him, causing his hands to go numb.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Ma Chao violently expelled the golden Inner Qi from his body, and the little red horse underneath him burst forth with fiery red Inner Qi. The two energies merged together, engulfing Ma Chao in a swirl of gold and red.
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