Chapter 98: The End of the World (1)

“Fight them to the death! Fight them!”
Many people followed the Hu officer’s call, raising their arms and shouting. The atmosphere, which had once settled, was stirred up again!
“The Tang people are heartless—don’t blame us for being ruthless. Even if our heads are scarred, we’ll fight to the death rather than let these bandits win!”
Spies hidden among the Hu troops stepped forward, stoking the tension, fearing that the soldiers might believe the Tang soldiers’ words and lay down their weapons to surrender.
Pu Da Chui was seething with anger. “Heh, I told you, these Hu guys are like insatiable wolves. Brother Kuo, you gave them a chance, but they forgot to be grateful and instead turned against us. If they want to die, it’s not my fault. Pah! Pah!”
He spat twice into his palm, gripped his two hammers tightly, and charged forward. His attack carried immense force, like a tiger pouncing. A few inexperienced youths stumbled into his path; their heads were smashed in half. Angered by the stupidity of these Hu soldiers, Pu Da Chui swung his hammers with even more fury, determined to crush everything in front of him.
“Come on! I’ll kill one if they come alone, two if they come in pairs!”
Pu Da Chui was completely enraged. He moved further away from the defense line formed by the Bronze Warriors and Saber Soldiers, until he was alone, surrounded by Hu troops.
“Pfft!”
A spear suddenly pierced Pu Da Chui’s back. Fortunately, he was wearing Mingguang armor, which barely protected his back. If the spear had penetrated the armor, the consequences would have been disastrous!
“Damn it! Daring to attack you from behind!”
Pu Da Chui swung his hammer around and struck, sending the Hu soldier spitting blood. The spear even broke under the force of the blow.
But the spearhead remained stuck in his armor. Enduring the sharp pain in his back, he struggled to move toward his comrades. However, exhausted as he was, his speed slowed significantly. Seeing him weakened, the Hu troops gathered around, intent on killing him to show their dominance.
“Stupid!”
Pu Da Chui’s eyes widened as he roared. This sudden change shocked everyone, who froze and stared at him in shock.

Seeing the opportunity arise, Pu Dachui took a deep breath, swung his hammer, and charged forward. Yet his feet felt as if filled with lead; every step required ten times the usual effort. Even with his divine strength, it was becoming difficult to sustain. Just as he was about to carve a bloody path through the enemy, he suddenly felt a severe pain in his lower leg and collapsed involuntarily.

It was grappling hooks!

Five or six Hu soldiers had secretly attacked Pu Dachui’s lower body with grappling hooks!

“Despicable!” Pu Dachui spat out thick phlegm and cursed. But the Hu soldiers didn’t give him a chance—they took advantage of the momentum to close in. Pu Dachui clearly saw over a dozen spears aiming at him, with no way to avoid them, so he instinctively closed his eyes.

After what seemed like a long time, the expected stabbing pain didn’t come. Unbelieving, he opened his eyes to see Li Kuo’s face, slightly smiling…

We are comrades, brothers who share life and death! Live together, die together!

The timely arrival of more than fifty men led by Zhang Yanji pushed back the aggressive Hu soldiers once again from the horse path. Both sides had been fighting for this strategic point for nearly half an hour, yet the situation remained uncertain.

For Li Kuo and the others, the horse path was their last line of defense. If it fell, the western gate of Gulan City would be open to the Arabs. By then, General Gao would truly be powerless to turn things around.

So they could not retreat another step—retreat meant death, advance meant survival!

Li Kuo pulled his sword out from beneath a Hu soldier’s ribcage and glanced from afar at Li Siyue, who was twenty steps away. The younger man responded with a smile. At first, the youth thought Li Siyue’s reputation was exaggerated, but after fierce battles, he realized that Li Siyue was a general worthy of respect from all the brothers in Anxi—Big Brother!

He held off an enemy attack with just one sword for half an hour!

No matter how overwhelming the force, he remained firm as a mountain!

He was a true Tang man, a soldier worthy of respect from all his opponents!

The sword rose, the sword fell—killing meant just a single strike to the head. Li Siyue refused to back down. Even knowing he would die that night, he didn’t give up. As long as he stood and was alive, he would keep swinging his sword!

Who could stop him when he raised his sword?

“Puh!”

A cold arrow with a black tip somehow pierced Li Siyue’s left shoulder, causing this iron-willed man to hesitate. Three more arrows followed immediately. Li Siyue dodged two of them, but the last one scraped past his cheek.

“Sss!”

A layer of blood mist surged into the night and quickly dissipated. Li Siye let out a loud cry as his left side twitched, swinging his sword forward. He couldn’t fall—Gao Shuai still needed time to mobilize troops. He had to hold on until someone could take his place!
Even though the enemy was outnumbered, as long as there was a sliver of chance, Li Siye would fight his way through the ranks to seize a general’s head!
Thirty steps, twenty-eight steps, twenty-five steps—now he could clearly see the face of the officer holding the flag. He saw fear and panic in the other man’s eyes. Haha, ha…
So the arrow was poisoned. So that’s how it ends? Cough, cough!…
Heaven’s way ends, groups form in threes or fives; sun and moon both set. Emerging from darkness, entering profound gloom—energy spreads the way, energy connects to the divine. Where energy flows, evil spirits and thieves vanish. Those who gaze at me go blind; those who hear me go deaf. Any who plot against me will suffer in return!
“Kill! Kill them all! Charge forward! Open the city gates and welcome General Abu Muslim!”
Li Huaizhong raised his arms high, shouting wildly.
He had waited for this moment for too long. He had endured hardships, even willing to serve under Gao Xianzhi and even Tang army deputies just to wait for this day—the arrival of the Abbasid army.
What benefits had Gao Xianzhi given him to make him want Kulan to surrender unconditionally to the Tang army? Yes, Li Huaizhong was shameless, ungrateful, and profit-driven! But wasn’t this all caused by you, Gao Xianzhi?
If you hadn’t lost the Battle of Talas, would the Tang people be in such a desperate situation, attacked from both sides? This is all your fault, haha, entirely your fault.
“Charge over! Go down the ramp! It’s just one step away! Open the city gates! Open them!”
Li Huaizhong shouted frantically, unaware that a general had already come up to his side.