Chapter 74: Little Hammer Hammers You to Death!

The rowed Jiannu cavalry immediately charged forward.

Abatai took the lead, his Wolf-tooth Mace pointed directly at Yang Xin. He quickly pulled away from those behind him. Clearly, he wanted to personally smash the villain’s head…

“Lowly scum, you’re just a lowly scum!”

That villain kept shouting insults.

But now no one behind him joined in. All Ming soldiers had their bows and arrows ready. Some even raised their Matchlock Guns. They all looked grimly at Fan River in its dry season. On the wide riverbank, the water had shrunk to a strip dozens of meters wide. Two thousand Jiannu cavalry accelerated over the gravel, gradually forming a huge goose-wing formation. They raised their bows and arrows on horseback.

“Don’t move yet! Watch me kill the enemy!”

Yang Xin roared loudly.

After saying that, he dragged his Green Dragon Crescent Blade and began running toward Abatai, who was about to enter the water. In an instant, both entered the river. Abatai on horseback raised his Wolf-tooth Mace, while Yang Xin gripped the end of his blade’s hilt with both hands.

Abatai splashed through the water, reaching Yang Xin in almost a blink.

Like two fierce beasts meeting, they roared together. Then they clashed in the deepest part of the river. Next, the Wolf-tooth Mace swept down with a howl toward Yang Xin’s head, and Yang Xin’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade slashed upward in an arc through the water, like a true dragon emerging. But just as the blade swung out, Yang Xin fell backward. Releasing the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, its hundred-and-twenty-jin weight whipped through the air. Like a spinning saw, it instantly cut into the chest of Abatai’s warhorse.

At the same time, the Wolf-tooth Mace missed Yang Xin’s head and slammed hard into the river.

A spray of water exploded up.

Though it struck where Yang Xin’s belly should have been, the water was a foot and a half deep…

Abatai’s warhorse whinnied and collapsed.

The experienced warrior leaped sideways at full speed.

Amid the water spray from the Wolf-tooth Mace, two hands suddenly grabbed the front of the wooden handle. Then someone yanked it fiercely backward. Abatai, caught off guard, let go instantly. The Wolf-tooth Mace was now in Yang Xin’s hands. But Yang Xin swung it to the right, slamming into the head of a Jiannu rider. It got stuck there as that unlucky guy fell into the water.

Abatai in the water rushed to pull Yang Xin’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade.

He actually did pull it out.

But he misjudged its weight. Not expecting it to be so heavy, he bent over abruptly as he pulled. Though he was strong enough, the surprise made him stumble. As he took a deep breath to lift it quickly, a sudden breeze whistled by his ear. He looked up instinctively, and a fist landed on his chest…

He screamed and flew backward.

But a hand grabbed his clothes instantly and pulled him back.

“I hit!”

Came an exaggerated shriek.

Then, like a demolition hammer, Yang Xin’s little hammers fell wildly, leaving afterimages. Abatai kept being pushed back by the blows, then hauled back. He looked like he was shaking nonstop. In just a blink, reinforcements from the Jiannu arrived. Yang Xin, who had thrown fifteen punches in one and a half seconds, carelessly tossed Abatai onto the dead horse. He scooped up the slanted Green Dragon Crescent Blade and swung it hard overhead into a circle. Three Jiannu riders who reached him first were directly cut in half. As their corpses fell, Abatai on the horse carcass suddenly spat out blood. Pieces of broken lung were mixed in. Clearly, his ribs were shattered and pierced inward. Yang Xin’s fists held ton-level force—Tyson couldn’t match it. Fifteen violent punches in rapid blows had shattered his ribs into fragments.

Abatai, known for bravery among Wild Boar Skin’s sons, slumped like a deflated puppet. Blood kept pouring from his mouth as he sprawled on his horse’s dead body, unable to rise again.

Next to him, Yang Xin continued to swing his Green Dragon Crescent Blade wildly…

Or rather, he spun it.

Holding the end of the hilt with both hands, Yang Xin whipped the hundred-and-twenty-jin terrifying weapon in circles around himself. The four-meter-wide circle spun like a high-speed saw. Jiannu riders desperate to rescue Abatai charged in uncontrollably. The moment they touched the blade, they were sliced in two.

Even their horses too.

The hundred-and-twenty-jin weight swung with unstoppable force.

It couldn’t be blocked by flesh and blood.

After the saw cut over a dozen bodies, the Jiannu finally realized. They all raised their bows and arrows, shooting at the monster in the center. But Yang Xin’s three layers of armor completely protected him from these long-range attacks.

Especially since Yang Xin stood in water over a meter deep, his weaker lower body was also immune to arrows. Beside him lay a dead horse shielding his flank. There was also Abatai, still alive despite losing one lung to Yang Xin’s blow—the remaining one barely worked. Even that lung was filling with blood. But it might keep him lingering a bit. His death was certain, like a patient beyond help in intensive care, just a matter of how long he held on.

But the Jiannu didn’t understand this.

They only knew Abatai was still alive.

All they could think of was shooting arrows to kill the monster and save Abatai. They had to be careful to avoid hitting Abatai. Weapons like Long Spears or axes couldn’t be used—only bows and arrows offered precision. Even if they couldn’t kill Yang Xin, they still shot, hoping to hit his eyes! Not just nearby soldiers; all Jiannu crossing Fan River gathered here. Some brave ones pushed forward in the crush, like a wall around Yang Xin. Then his revolving blade sliced them in two…

“Kill!”

Suddenly, shouts came from the south bank.

Cao Wenzhao, holding his Iron Mace, spurred his horse on first.

“Kill!”

All the gathered cavalry roared eagerly. Their dense wall of horses moved forward, accelerating instantly. Charging riders held bows and arrows or Matchlock Guns. They fired a quick round at the tightly packed Jiannu surrounding Yang Xin. Then they grabbed their weapons and crashed into the Jiannu.

At that moment, everyone seemed to go mad.

On the cold-weapon battlefield, the invincible fighter’s boost to morale showed fully. Yang Xin’s unbeatable image filled every Ming soldier’s mind. Like a crowd of frenzied followers under their idol’s control, they fought totally ignoring their fears and worries. They forgot daily pettiness. In all their heads, only the desire for battle and killing remained.

The Jiannu they had feared now lost their terrifying aura. Instead, all they saw were the corpses Yang Xin had bisected and Abatai beaten to death by his fists.

As Ming soldiers stopped fearing the Jiannu, their elite combat skills truly surfaced.

These pure mercenaries who lived for war became a pack of ravenous beasts. They swept through the enemy, leaving countless Jiannu corpses behind…

After all, Yang Xin alone had drawn at least a quarter of the Jiannu.

Over five hundred Jiannu riders formed a huge whirlpool of men and horses in the river. They surrounded him tightly, attacking relentlessly to rescue Abatai or take back his body. Their numbers were so great they blocked the river flow, lowering the downstream water level. Fan River was small at best. With five hundred horses jammed close, they made a dam-like barrier. The upstream level rose.

But no Jiannu cared.

They couldn’t even stop the Ming assault.

They absolutely had to save Abatai—dead or alive, they must get his body back.

Otherwise, they would die if they returned.

Wild Boar Skin’s military laws were harsh. Losing a commander might turn a whole Niru unit into slaves. Worse, this was his own son—even if illegitimate, he favored him highly among his sons. After the top three Beile, this warrior was the most skilled. If the Ming took Abatai’s body, these Jiannu could be executed upon return, their families enslaved. Winning or losing this battle didn’t matter. Holding Tieling wasn’t important. What mattered was seizing Abatai back.

Whether alive or dead.

But this made them quickly split apart under the Ming’s full-speed charge.

Those on the fringes got encircled by Ming cavalry’s superior numbers. After all, Ming troops outnumbered them two to one. And these weren’t their cannon fodder—they were the best cavalry Ming could deploy in Liaodong. Even in single combat, they didn’t lose to Jiannu.

Plus, Ming had more than one fierce fighter.

Cao Wenzhao, charging with two Iron Maces into the Jiannu, showed the charm of a human warrior without gimmicks. His Maces, weighing over ten jin, shattered heads as he galloped unstoppably straight toward the giant whirlpool. Soon, Jiannu around Yang Xin faced another beast outside. This one might not be as scary as the inner terror, but he still surged ahead. Anyone trying to block him fell instantly under his Iron Mace.

More Jiannu had to break off to fight back.

At that very moment, on the other side of the huge whirlpool, a young Ming soldier fought his way equally fiercely to the edge. He matched Cao Wenzhao’s ferocity, wildly swinging his Iron Mace through the Jiannu. All who opposed him kept falling off their horses.

Behind him, more Ming soldiers arrived.