Chapter 159: Insidious Plot

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The Blood Wolf Soldiers fell silent, but some revealed looks of shame and indignation on their faces, while others felt uneasy and guilty. Hungry Wolf Balang was already considered a fierce and brave warrior in the Blood Wolf Army, with a record of defeating several experts of the same rank.

Now, if the person who had defeated Hungry Wolf with such overwhelming power was just a useless pretty boy, then what did that make Balang? What did that make them?

Recalling the words just spoken, it was as if they had stuck their faces out to be slapped.

Especially Hungry Wolf Balang, who was lying on the ground. A look of pain and shame appeared on his rough face. He had lost; he had actually lost to a pretty boy of the same rank.

Just as Lei Qing was displaying his might, showing his impressive bearing before the Blood Wolf Soldiers and proclaiming his prestige, Greedy Wolf Batu charged out on his horse with a long spear, shouting furiously, “Lei Qing, you sure are arrogant. Let me, Batu, see what you’re made of. You pretty boy who likes crawling between women’s legs, do you dare to fight? Are you even a man?”

Greedy Wolf Batu, one of the Two Wolves of the Grasslands, was much stronger than his brother and was a Mid-stage Silver expert. He clearly wanted to take advantage of Lei Qing’s weakened Fighting Qi after his battle to bully him. As long as Lei Qing got hotheaded and accepted the challenge, this would count as the second battle, allowing the Blood Wolf Army to win one back.

Such a despicable and shameless trick immediately provoked the Iron Cavalry soldiers who had been cheering for Lei Qing to shout in protest. Several generals immediately rode out in righteous indignation, preparing to help Lei Qing block Batu.

However, no one was faster than Shentu Xue. Riding a white steed, she charged across the midfield. With a sharp, penetrating shout, she scolded, “Despicable dog, your opponent is me. Although I find you ugly and cheap, and it would dirty my feet to step on you, if a lowly slave like you isn’t taught a lesson properly, you’ll become lawless. Come here quickly and kneel to lick my feet in gratitude.”

The members of the Iron Cavalry Regiment were immediately covered in black lines. How fierce! She hadn’t been with Lei Qing, that sharp-tongued guy, for very long. Shentu Xue had become much fiercer than before, and her new vocabulary was simply endless.

Batu, insulted in front of nearly twenty thousand people, immediately turned red with anger. He locked his target onto Shentu Xue and galloped forward rapidly, cursing at the same time, “Shentu Xue, you slut who can’t even keep your husband, how dare you act arrogant in front of me? If you kneel down right now and blow me to beg for mercy, I might spare your cheap life.”

Shentu Xue’s expression changed, and a soaring rage filled her. However, as a female general, if she couldn’t even withstand this kind of insult on the battlefield, she should have gone back home to have babies long ago. Why would she even come out to fight? In fact, that was indeed the case; if a female general wasn’t fierce enough, she would suffer great disadvantages whether among allies or enemies.

Suppressing her anger, she responded with a cold sneer, “Blow you? You cheap dog, why don’t you stick your butt up and take a piss to look at your own reflection? Come, come, come. I’ll use my Soul-Chasing Whip to give you a thrill. I guarantee after you get a taste, you’ll be reluctant to leave, unable to sleep all night, and later you’ll cry and kneel and beg me to whip you.”

“General Shentu is mighty!” Lei Qing yielded the battlefield to Shentu Xue, then galloped back to his own formation, looked up to the sky, and shouted.

The officers in the Black Flag Regiment were the first to follow Lei Qing, shouting loudly, “General Shentu is mighty! Mighty!”

The other Iron Cavalry soldiers also excitedly shouted at the top of their lungs, “General Shentu is mighty! Mighty!”

“General Shentu is domineering! Domineering!”

“Domineering! Domineering!”

“Despicable dog Batu, why don’t you kneel quickly and submit, shouting ‘Long live the Queen’?”

Under Lei Qing’s lead, the Iron Cavalry Regiment soon followed him in shouting. The sound waves rose higher and higher, directly drowning out Batu’s retorts. This practically left Batu unable to speak, and after being attacked by Shentu Xue, he lost all ability to counterattack.

Helplessly, he could only hold in his anger and fight with Shentu Xue. Their cultivation and strength were actually quite evenly matched. Both were outstanding figures in their respective armies.

One used a black spear, the other used the Soul-Chasing Whip. For a time, spear shadows were heavy, and whip shadows layered upon each other. They went back and forth, fighting intensely. Various sounds of clashing and slicing through the air rang endlessly.

Wild cheers and drumbeats shook the battlefield. The atmosphere reached a fever pitch. Both Xiahou Huan and Yuwen Di watched the fight between the two closely. Yuwen Di, in particular, was nervous and uneasy. If Batu lost, his trip would end in failure, losing both the battle and his men.

However, Yuwen Di was quite confident in Batu because he had learned beforehand from the Holy Eagle Envoy that a full-scale war wouldn’t break out, and the result would be a duel between generals. In a general duel scenario, Yuwen Di had studied all the experts on the opposing side. He concluded that Shentu Xue had the most obvious weaknesses and was the easiest to deal with. That was why, when Shentu Xue came out to assist Xiahou Huan, Batu came out according to the plan to provoke her anger.

All objectives revolved around Batu challenging Shentu Xue.

Of course, even the oldest hunters make mistakes. Yuwen Di had miscalculated regarding the duel between Balang and Lei Qing. He had carefully studied the intelligence on Lei Qing, a “cream puff” who had just advanced to Silver-rank not long ago and had only obtained the right and qualification to form the Black Flag Regiment through Xiahou Huan’s strong recommendation.

Claims of defeating Helian Bo, beheading Zong Wuji, and capturing Yuwen Hu alive showed obvious signs of propaganda, exaggerating his strength too much. The more someone needed exaggeration to promote themselves, the more their true ability was suspect.

That was why he instructed Balang, his strongest Early-stage Silver expert, to challenge Lei Qing first under various pretexts to expose his true face. What a pity. Yuwen Di miscalculated; Lei Qing was far more formidable than he had estimated. This miscalculation directly caused him to lose the opening round.

Xiahou Huan was also very confident in Shentu Xue. Although Shentu Xue was a woman, she had a personality and strength even fiercer than a man’s. Among the experts of the same rank in the army, Shentu Xue was the strongest because of her tenacity, her fighting spirit that grew stronger with each battle, and the hard work she put into her Soul-Chasing Whip. It could be said that if both sides fought without using Fighting Qi, Xiahou Huan admitted he would feel a bit apprehensive facing Shentu Xue’s Soul-Chasing Whip. That thing moved mysteriously and was covered in venomous fangs and barbs. Being struck by it once would definitely be an excruciating experience.

Sure enough, the battle on the field became increasingly intense. After dozens of moves, the two were still almost evenly matched. But after seventy or eighty moves, Shentu Xue actually used her exquisite and strange Soul-Chasing Whip techniques to force Greedy Wolf Batu into a disadvantage.

Seeing this situation, the members of the Iron Cavalry Regiment, especially Shentu Xue’s direct subordinates, went crazy, cheering her on. As long as Shentu Xue defeated this despicable dog Batu, she would win the war for the Iron Cavalry Regiment and earn thirty thousand gold worth of supplies.

For the Iron Cavalry Regiment, who were used to being poor, this was a huge sum of money. At the very least, they could form a new regiment and strengthen the Iron Cavalry Regiment. Under the leadership of Mad Blade Xiahou Huan, the Iron Cavalry Regiment had a strong sense of identity and loyalty. Even though life was hard and poor, it was like a family where everyone was brothers and sisters.

Everyone hoped that the Iron Cavalry Regiment would become better and stronger.

Amidst the cheering, Shentu Xue, filled with anger, fought braver and braver. Her whip moved like a swimming dragon, and she had completely gained the upper hand.

Lei Qing also watched with great interest and said to Gongsun Xu, whom he had dragged along using Zhen Jimu’s safety as leverage, “Brother Gongsun, look at our Iron Cavalry Regiment’s Shentu Xue. Not bad, right? In this battle, Big Sister Shentu will probably win for sure.”

Actually, Gongsun Xu was also watching with admiration, but being coerced by Lei Qing to participate in the war between the Iron Cavalry Regiment and the Blood Wolf Army made him feel resistant and uncomfortable. He snorted coldly and said, “Shentu Xue is indeed formidable, but in a battle, no one knows the outcome until the very last moment.”

“Haha, just stay jealous then.” Lei Qing knew he was unhappy and laughed mockingly. “I don’t think you are a match for Big Sister Shentu either. If you don’t believe me, go spar with her later.” The reason he forcefully dragged him along to participate in the war was that Lei Qing had his own plans.

Suddenly, Shentu Xue’s Soul-Chasing Whip used a strange technique. The head of the whip suddenly seemed to come alive, coiling around Batu’s black long spear at a weird angle. The backward-facing barbs clung tightly to the spear handle. With a shake of the whip, she used skillful force to shake Batu’s hand open and fling his long spear away.

“Good!” Lei Qing and the other generals roared in unison. With this move executed, it was likely Batu had no way to recover.

However, just when everyone thought the outcome was decided, Batu smiled strangely, as if some treacherous plot had succeeded. His hand quickly reached into a bag hanging on his horse.

Lei Qing had sharp eyes. Seeing this movement, he immediately thought it was bad and urgently said, “Brother Gongsun, get ready to save someone.”

Batu seemed to have pulled out something like a hidden weapon and threw it at Shentu Xue, but the object didn’t fly fast. Shentu Xue lashed out with her whip and coiled around that hidden weapon.

Looking closely, it was an ugly, horrifying toad.

Shentu Xue was immediately startled, terrified to the point that her heart went numb, her whole body went soft, and her limbs lost strength.

“Not good, how would they know Little Xue’s weakness?” Xiahou Huan’s expression changed. “Quick, get ready to save someone.”

But the reality was that it was already too late. Batu sneered and pulled out a javelin, throwing it at Shentu Xue from close range. With a thud, it pierced into her chest.

In pain, Shentu Xue realized she had lost and hurriedly rode backward.

But Batu harbored a murderous intent. He drew another javelin, preparing to throw it at Shentu Xue’s back to kill her with one strike. Just when everyone was caught off guard and rescue seemed impossible…

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Several sharp arrows, like linked pearls, cut through the sky and shot rapidly toward Batu.

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