Chapter 14: Perseverance (IV)

Our kindness does not mean we are weak, and our honesty does not mean we are timid! When pushed to the brink by foreign invaders, even if we are ordinary peasants without armor or weapons, we will resolutely pick up hoes, plows, and kitchen knives to fight to the death against those damned invaders!
Because we are Tang people—we refuse to be slaves and will never accept our fate!
Fighting against the earth tests our strength, while fighting against heaven brings endless joy. Even with only a sliver of hope left, we will never hand over our destiny to fate!
Because we are Tang people!
Fury, hatred, shame…
Filled with countless emotions, Lin Er strikes!
His attack is like that of a fierce tiger, aimed straight at Hubi Er’s face. Hubi Er is terrified and shouts, “Stop him! Stop him!”
Immediately, his bodyguards step forward, drawing their curved swords to attack Lin Er. But Lin Er strikes with great force from a high vantage point—how can a few curved swords stop him?
The cold gleaming hoe bends those swords with just one strike, then slashes straight into the chests of the advancing invaders.
“Thud!” “Thud!”
The sharp blades pierce flesh with dull sounds, creating large holes that spill blood. The invaders collapse without even a cry.
Lin Er rolls aside to avoid several more attackers, then, near a mound of earth, picks up a broken sword and hurls it at Hubi Er.
“Ah!”
The sword pierces Hubi Er’s left heart just right.
Hubi Er covers his chest in disbelief and screams. How is this possible? How could such a fierce warrior suddenly appear among these weak and docile villagers? Shouldn’t these Han people be mere lambs for slaughter? When did they gain such fierce fighting spirit?
No, it can’t be—this must be an illusion. Hubi Er struggles for a moment before collapsing backward, unconscious.
Boom!
With Hubi Er dead, the invaders fall into chaos.
“The chief is dead! The chief is dead! Fight them! Fight to the death!”
Lin Er is overjoyed. Seizing this opportunity, he shouts to inspire his fellow villagers. In terms of sheer strength, they are no match for the invaders. But in a life-or-death struggle, it’s all about courage. If armor and weapons guaranteed victory, everyone would just surrender—why struggle at all?

“Yes, fight them to the death! Kill one and gain one; kill two and gain a pair!”
Butcher Sun Fu had just slain two Hu soldiers with his kitchen knife in quick succession. Now he stepped up to Lin Er’s side and shouted in agreement with his friend’s words.
“Yes, fight them! At worst, it’s just death. Even if we die, we’ll drag those two scoundrels down with us. Kill them, fellow villagers! Let’s make those Hu dogs pay!”
The village’s old blacksmith swung a shapeless, unnamed forging at the approaching Hu soldiers. It was now a matter of life or death—since the Hu soldiers intended to kill them, there was no reason for them to hold back!
“Kill them! Even if we can’t escape, we’ll make those Hu dogs pay dearly! We must not let them off easy!”
Although weak and pale, tailor Zheng also picked up a short knife and stabbed it into the chest of a nearby Hu soldier.
Heh, he had never killed a chicken in his life, yet now he had killed someone with his own hands. Killing turned out to be so simple—just plunge the blade into the chest and pull it out hard, and warm blood would gush out like a fountain, splashing all over you!
“Elders and young, grab your weapons and protect our women and children!”
Lin Er’s hoe was like a deadly weapon, killing silently. In less than half an hour, three or four Hu soldiers died at his hands. Yet he wasn’t satisfied. While killing enemies, he deliberately retreated toward the mill. The most important thing now was to evacuate the villagers—there was no point in continuing the fight! They had caught the Hu dogs off guard by suddenly attacking, but if they prolonged the battle, they might not stand a chance…
Dusk was approaching, and the sky was filled with flames-colored clouds.
Li Kuo and his army of over ten thousand entered the Ling River basin.
“Report! Report! Report!”
An experienced scout from the scouting unit rode fast along the path reserved for him in the middle of the army, waving his whip and shouting loudly.
“Report!”
When he reached Li Kuo, he leaped off his horse, knelt on one knee, and said sternly, “Report to the commander: enemy forces have been spotted ahead!”
Li Kuo held the reins in one hand and frowned. “Oh? How many enemies? What’s their equipment like?”
The scout thought for a moment before answering sharply, “Reporting to the commander, there are about eight hundred Hu soldiers in the village ahead. Their equipment seems uneven—mostly curved swords and wooden shields.”
After a pause, the scout continued, “Commander, they are… they are…”
“What are they doing?”
Li Kuo seemed to realize something and pressed him.
“They are surrounding and killing the villagers!”
The scout gritted his teeth before finally speaking.
“Damn it!”

Upon hearing this, Li Kuo whipped his horse whip fiercely, and a sharp crack echoed immediately.
“Pass my order to all commanders: the entire army must advance at full speed toward the village entrance. Whatever Hu soldiers are encountered, whether they surrender or not, leave none alive!”
Li Kuo clenched his fists, his face resolute…
A strong smell of blood filled the air, with dozens of corpses piled haphazardly at the village entrance. Among them were elderly men with gray hair, young boys whose lips were frozen and who hadn’t yet grown facial hair, and of course, strong-bodied farmers with bare chests.
Without exception, they all had their eyes wide open, refusing to close them…
Next to a half-built adobe wall near the millstone, about forty or fifty villagers were packed together. Their hoes and plows had lost their handles, and their kitchen knives were chipped. Whether due to the intense fighting or the sheer crowd density, the snow beneath their feet was melting, and blood seeped in, mixing with mud and snowwater to form a pool of blood.
Lin Er licked the blood from the corner of his mouth and smirked coldly.
He had already been slashed six times, and his left shoulder had just been hit by an arrow. It was already a miracle he had lasted this long. He truly despised the Hu soldiers—for killing out of rage, they used arrow showers. As a result, while those in the front lines who fled were safe, the elderly, weak, women, and children who moved more slowly were trapped and pierced through, nailed to the ground!
Of course, he couldn’t abandon them. So he led the men who had escaped back to fight. Whether the Hu soldiers had run out of arrows or intended to humiliate and torture him, they forced them to the side of the millstone, ready to carry out a brutal massacre.
“Damn you, heavens! Open your eyes! Are you just going to stand by and watch us get slaughtered like pigs by these Hu dogs?”
Butcher Sun Fu had had his eyes blinded by Hu soldiers during the fierce battle earlier, and now, with no hope of escape, he lost control of himself and cursed the heavens loudly.
“Shut up!”
Lin Er glared at him and said, “You seemed like a real man before. Why are you more cowardly than anyone now? It’s just death—what are you afraid of?”
“I don’t want to die! I can’t die! I still have a wife and children to support. I can’t die!”
Sun Fu crossed his arms and slumped down, sobbing softly.
“Useless wretch! Even if we die, we’ll die standing!”
With disdain, Lin Er spat out a thick glob of phlegm at Sun Fu.

Rely on heaven? Heh! If heaven truly had mercy, how could it stand by and watch those barbarians wreak havoc in the village? If heaven truly cared, why hasn’t it sent troops to save them from this disaster yet?
It’s better to save ourselves than rely on heaven’s help!
At this distance, those barbarians could shoot all of them like hedgehogs with just one round of fire, but they don’t seem to intend to do so.
They want to avenge their commander’s death through close-quarters slaughter; they want to wash away their shame through brutality.
“Pah!”
Lin Er spat fiercely and said loudly, “Don’t be afraid, fellow villagers! We’ll fight them to the death if necessary. We’ve already dealt them a crushing defeat today—this is enough profit for us. Since they want to play games with us, let’s play along! We’ll take one with us to die, and we definitely won’t let those barbarians get away unscathed!”
“Yes, Brother Lin Er is right! We can’t let those barbarians off easy. Let’s fight them! Fight them!”
The crowd became enraged. The remaining dozen or so strong men raised their hoes and plows, shouting loudly to boost their courage.
“Hmph! Still so arrogant at the brink of death! Kill them all!”
Dozens of steps away, the deputy commander of this army sneered coldly and gave a harsh order. Those wretches dared to kill Lord Hubi during the chaos—such crimes were unforgivable!
He must kill all these weaklings, dry their bodies into jerky as military rations, so that the peasants in nearby villages would see the price of resisting him!
What’s the use of this so-called Tang Dynasty or its so-called morality? In this world, strength is the truth. What is strength? It’s fists, it’s blades!
“Kill them! Those who follow me will thrive; those who resist me will perish! Anyone who doesn’t obey Commander An should be killed—kill them all, kill them all!”
The deputy commander laughed arrogantly, his face twisted like a fierce ghost released from the hell of asuras.