Magical Water Margin: They all call me brother

Page 93

The dragon shadow on the coiled dragon staff hissed and wailed, its body surging with blue light. The iron staff tip shot out a burst of dark light, trembling and wailing. Liu Hong and Luan Tingyu's tiger mouths instantly burst open, blood staining the staff. Their feet sank three feet deep, and the surrounding ground was blasted open as if by a giant cannon!

Luan Tingyu's stable lower body only swayed slightly, and he took the full force of the Heavenly Gang Slash, which seemed to weigh ten thousand pounds. Although he was at a disadvantage, he did not retreat.

Liu Hong's attack was incomplete, and the golden flames in his eyes burned even brighter! Using the force of the recoil, he instantly rose upwards, his golden wings stirring up the wind and clouds. The gale transformed into sharp, knife-like turbulent currents that cut through all directions, instantly widening the distance once more. Then, taking advantage of the situation, he launched a second dive attack, like a golden meteor, whistling as it swept in a second time.

Luan Tingyu's pupils constricted sharply. In that split second between life and death, she displayed the adaptability of a grandmaster and the honed foundation of her skills. Her waist and hips suddenly sank, forcing her body to sink even deeper. At the same time, her left hand slammed horizontally across the middle of the iron rod with lightning speed, causing even more lightning to surge into it! The hexagonal iron rod trembled violently with a "hum," its dark light surging, carrying a giant wave of lightning that churned in the air, creating a sky full of flying lightning rod flowers, as it withstood Liu Hong's second charge attack!

"boom!!!"

In an instant, countless hellish meteors roared and thundered as they crashed into the lightning rod, being pulverized by the sky-filled lightning. But even more lightning bolts were smashed apart by the hellfire meteors falling from the sky!

Just as Luan Tingyu's staff flower was violently fluctuating and on the verge of collapse, Liu Hong seized this tiny opportunity. Holding the staff in his right hand, he stirred up the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends and continued to strike. Suddenly, the black gold reverse scale of the Jidu Dragon King appeared in his left hand. From a dragon scale the size of a palm, it suddenly transformed into a five-meter-long scale shadow spear. It was like lightning, directly piercing through the gap in the staff flower lightning net and fiercely stabbing into Luan Tingyu's right shoulder. Iron pieces flew everywhere and blood flowed. The blow seriously injured her right shoulder.

But the next second, Luan Tingyu suddenly grabbed the Scale Shadow Spear and pulled it forward. Liu Hong, who was flying in the air, felt himself lose his balance and was pulled in front of Luan Tingyu. Before he could react, he saw Luan Tingyu tilt his head back with all his might and then deliver a vicious headbutt that slammed into Liu Hong's face, making his whole brain tremble!

Just as the two were wielding their double sticks and fighting to a standstill, suddenly, a brand new army joined the melee between the Zhu Family Village and Liangshan Marsh!

Out of the corner of his eye, Liu Hong caught a glimpse of the terrifying silhouette of an ogre emerging from the darkness. Before he could react, a high-speed cannonball slammed into his left wing, blasting him away.

It wasn't until Liu Hong landed in a sorry state that he heard the deafening cannon roar and saw one after another ogres clad in full Tang Dynasty armor, carrying cast-iron cannons, crashing through the towering flames and smoke, and roaring as they joined the battle! Hand-held cannons unleashed deadly fire at the invading Liangshan soldiers, each shot sending out large amounts of scrap iron and gunpowder, like a flood of iron sand that completely engulfed them.

Luan Tingyu stared in shock at the suddenly appearing elite cannibalistic troops, utterly bewildered by the chaotic situation.

At that moment, the ogre who had cut off his left arm and attached a cannon to it, wielding a short cannon in his left hand and a giant spiked club in his right, charged toward Liu Hong while speaking fluent Khitan profanities!

Liu Hong frowned slightly, wielding the Panlong Staff with his right hand, using a Sevenfold Heavenly Gang Slash to directly clash with the ogre's spiked club. His left hand, the Scale Shadow Spear, transformed into Scale Shadow Armor, enveloping his entire body to prevent further serious injury. At the same time, he used Star Healing to urgently treat his wounds—fortunately, the cannon shot had hit the Golden-Winged Roc's wing, only shattering the bones. For such a minor injury, Ren Xia's healing ability could heal it instantly.

"Now! Instructor Luan! Quickly cooperate with the military governor—no, cooperate with these cannibals—to kill the Great Sage Evil! The Liangshan army will automatically collapse! The reinforcements coming are few in number!"

At this moment, the head of the Zhu family also staggered, leaning on his cane, and was the last to break through the clouds. Luan Tingyu was even more confused and couldn't help but ask.

"Where did these cannibals come from?!"

"Never mind that! Quickly take this opportunity to fight and push the Liangshan bandits back!"

The head of the Zhu family abruptly changed the subject, frantically striking the ground with his cane, and forcefully ordered Luan Tingyu to attack.

Lei looked around in astonishment and found that there were two hundred ogres charging towards him, all of them wearing Tang Dynasty lamellar armor. One out of every five ogres was armed with a small hand cannon and was bombarding the enemy with shotgun shells, while the other four were armed with massive two-handed weapons. Taking advantage of the enemy being thrown into disarray by the artillery fire, they quickly engaged in close combat and slaughter. Each of them was a well-trained elite warrior.

These were not cannibalistic bandits at all, but two hundred well-trained Liao soldiers!

The leader, an ogre with a broken arm and a cannon embedded in his left arm, was so distinctive that Luan Tingyu recognized him at a glance. He had a broken arm and a cannon attached to the wound.

That was Yelü Dashi, the military governor of the Liao Dynasty.

Luan Tingyu gave the Zhu family patriarch a deep look. Although he said nothing, he said everything.

At this moment, taking advantage of Liu Hong's inability to move one arm, Yelü Dashi, after suppressing the Panlong Staff with his spiked club, raised the iron cannon in his left hand again and used the arcane spell [Ghost Reload].

Two ethereal ghosts wrapped around his left arm. One ghost cleaned the cannon barrel and loaded gunpowder, while the second ghost took a two-kilogram iron ball from Yelü Dashi's belt, stuffed it into the cannon barrel, lit the fuse, and prepared to fire another shot close to Liu Hong's face!

Even more terrifying was that, as the sky was filled with rolling dark clouds and roaring thunder, Luan Tingyu roared and summoned his Thunder General incarnation, which was more than ten meters tall. The six-sided iron rod, carrying the overwhelming power of the Five Thunder Orthodox Law, slammed down on Liu Hong, forming a pincer attack with Yelü Dashi!

Liu Hong frowned, preparing to unleash his most powerful abilities.

But at that moment, the ten-meter-tall Thunder Warrior suddenly covered and enveloped Liu Hong's body. The cannonball fired by Yelü Dashi was intercepted, blocked, burned, and annihilated by the sky full of thunder net. Although a large number of Thunder Iron Armor were shattered by one cannon, Luan Tingyu managed to block the terrifying cannonball that was fired close to his face.

Liu Hong turned his head in surprise and saw that Luan Tingyu had actually used Lei Jiang to protect both her and himself at the same time. In the middle of the attack, his hands also changed their moves instantly. The hexagonal iron rod, wrapped with lightning, transformed into a terrifying angry dragon and knocked Yelü Dashi away from Liu Hong with one blow!

"Grandpa Zhu! I was indeed the instructor you hired! But before that, I was a Song Dynasty person! A Song Dynasty person!!!"

Luan Tingyu roared and brandished his thunder cudgel, exposing his back to Liu Hong without reservation, and charged towards Yelü Dashi alone.

"I trained the Zhu family's army for you for ten years, helping you become a powerful ruler and raising your three children to be outstanding generals. All past favors have been repaid! From this day forward, our ties are severed, and we have no further connection whatsoever!!!"

Chapter 244: The Great Sage of Chaos's Scale Shadow Cannon Attack

Seeing Luan Tingyu suddenly turn against him and attack him, Yelü Dashi was stunned. Wasn't she one of his own? Why was she now rushing at him while talking about the Song Dynasty and loyalty? Liu Hong took a breath and continued to use Star Healing to recover from the wounds inflicted by the sneak attack. He watched as the Thunder God General fought the cannibalistic giant.

Thunder roared, sparks flew, and a hexagonal iron rod, carrying rolling thunder, collided violently with the short, soft, menacing spiked club in Yelü Dashi's hand! The deafening roar caused the hard stone slabs of the entire street to churn and tremble like waves! Cracks spread wildly like a spiderweb, and countless ripples transformed into countless deep ravines; the houses on both sides groaned and twisted in the violent impact, bricks and stones cascading down, beams and pillars collapsing, and dust billowing like the roar of a dying beast, blotting out the sky.

Luan Tingyu roared, and the ten-meter-tall Thunder General Dharma Image stretched out its arms, its muscles bulging. It reached its hands into the top of the thundercloud dome and forcefully tore out billions of dazzling bolts of lightning from the boiling dark clouds! It was not simply summoning lightning, but using supreme power to frantically seize and compress the immense heavenly thunder!

Amidst a deafening roar of thunder, the violent electric current emitted a teeth-grinding shriek in His palm. Under extreme compression, the invisible lightning was forged and smelted. Countless serpentine bolts of lightning roared and melted, ultimately transforming in the giant's hand into a blazing white liquid lightning that was impossible to look at. This was no longer a simple whip of light or a column of air; its core was an almost solid plasma, while its surface flowed with a destructive liquid like molten gold. Terrifying energy ripples distorted and vaporized the surrounding space, as if it had lifted a living, collapsing mountain of lightning, which crashed down relentlessly!

Yelü Dashi's bloodshot eyes narrowed, but he didn't retreat a single step. The short, soft spiked club in his hand suddenly erupted with an eerie, demonic light. The man-eating fangs covering the club seemed to come alive, emitting greedy hissing sounds. The moment the thought arose, the demonic weapon instantly expanded like a glutton sucking water; its bone-white body swelled rapidly, and the grotesque head covered in twisted barbs swelled even more violently!

In the blink of an eye, the spiked club had transformed into a towering demonic pillar as tall as Lei Jiangfa! Its top was covered with massive fangs, each comparable to a palace pillar, cold and menacing like a forest of purgatory forged from frozen iron. The muscles in the ogre's right arm, as if forged from refined steel, suddenly twisted and bulged, so thick they seemed about to burst, the purplish-black veins churning like earth dragons, clearly demonstrating the brute force unleashed throughout its body.

He roared and swung the massive demonic weapon, several times larger and as heavy as a small mountain than his own body, with no skill whatsoever, only pure brute force—from bottom to top, carrying a suffocating gale and a ghostly shriek that pierced the air, it swept against the sky and smashed fiercely into the falling thunderous mountain!

boom! ! !

Two brute forces capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, two demonic weapons powerful enough to shake the heavens and earth, collided once again in mid-air in the most savage and primitive way, creating a deafening roar even more soul-stirring than the first strike!

This time, the invisible blast transformed into a visible, pale ring of energy, like a destructive drumbeat resounding from gods and demons. The ring, carrying shattered plasma, burning metal fragments, and dust from bricks and stones pulverized by the shockwave, swept out with the force of a world-ending tsunami, completely flattening the already shattered streets and alleys below.

Within a radius of tens of meters, the remaining pavilions, broken walls, and rubble all emitted mournful groans. Then, like clay figures shattered by an invisible giant hand, they instantly disintegrated, turning into towering columns of smoke. The sky was shrouded in a torn electric grid, and the earth collapsed and groaned amidst continuous tremors.

Just as the two were locked in a stalemate, Yelü Dashi used another [Ghost Reload], and two ghostly imps quickly reloaded the cannon in his hand. Accompanied by billowing smoke and a deafening roar, they fired another cast iron cannonball close to Lei Jiang's body!

The densely woven lightning net, already damaged once, began to cave in under the second artillery barrage, with each lightning thread breaking apart. It looked as if the cannon was about to break through it completely.

Luan Tingyu gritted his teeth, prepared to withstand the cannonballs with his bare body if Lei Jiang broke through. But at this critical moment, Liu Hong rejoined the battlefield. The cannonball suddenly emitted a silver light and was controlled by Liu Hong with his spiritual energy, hovering in mid-air, unable to advance any further!

Liu Hong glanced enviously at the cannons of the cannons. He wanted to make cannons too, but his technology was inadequate. Cannons required dozens of times more gunpowder than matchlock muskets, and better technology was needed to cast sealed barrels to prevent them from being blown apart by the large amount of gunpowder. Liangshan simply didn't have that technology. They could only make miniaturized, precision matchlock muskets.

In contrast, the Song and Liao dynasties presented a different picture. Both possessed artillery technology, such as Ling Zhen's Imperial Guard artillery and Yelü Dashi's cannibalistic gunners. However, they paid little attention to matchlock muskets and did not pursue miniaturization or precision technology. The two groups had completely different technological backgrounds.

However, Liu Hong suddenly had a bold idea: ordinary cast iron couldn't withstand the explosive power of gunpowder, but surely it could withstand the Dragon King of Jidu's reverse scale?

To Yelü Dashi's astonishment, Liu Hong's Shadow Scale Spear in his left hand suddenly transformed into a Dragon Scale Cannon. The entire cannon was covered with dense, indestructible black-gold lightning scales. Liu Hong took out a large amount of gunpowder from his pouch and threw it in. Then, he used his spiritual energy to control the iron-cast cannonball fired by Yelü Dashi, loading it into his own cannon chamber. He ignited it with his spiritual energy, aimed the Shadow Scale Cannon at Yelü Dashi, and fired.

boom! ! !

Amidst a deafening roar, thirteen jets of dark gold lightning, wreathed in crimson inferno, roared out from the cannon muzzle! The destructive energy beam, carrying the vengeful, scorching iron bullet, tore through the air and struck Yelü Dashi's belly with a speed far exceeding the launch speed. Three teeth-grinding, bone-chilling sounds exploded almost simultaneously!

The Tang Dynasty heavy armor, forged from fine steel and covered with ferocious grassland runes, crumbled and scattered like fragile glass.

Immediately following was a dull, bone-crushing sound like ancient wood breaking. The thunder and flames carried by the shell instantly exploded on his massive body, creating a crimson mist of blood mixed with sparks, charred flesh, and metal fragments.

However, the expected shattering did not occur. The heavy bullet, powerful enough to pierce Lei Jiang, struck as if it had crashed into a soft mountain of fat. The layers of bulging fat on Yelü Dashi's abdomen burst forth with terrifying resilience, visibly and rapidly caved in, forming a huge, deep pit the size of a bathtub. The skin, fat, and fascia rolled and tore wildly under the violent impact, and the broken bone fragments at the deepest part were vaguely visible, but ultimately it failed to penetrate.

The ogre's mountain-like body was blasted backward, retreating nine steps. His body trembled violently, and he spat out a jet of scorching, purplish-black blood, but his bloodshot eyes gleamed even more fiercely! His arms, as thick as pillars, were bulging with veins like hellish vines, firmly planted in place. He used his flesh as an anvil to brutally catch the scorching cannonball, still emitting blue smoke, deeply embedded in the fat furnace of his belly!

Yelü Dashi wiped the blood from his mouth. One Thunder General, Luan Tingyu, was already troublesome enough, but adding Hun Tian Dasheng to the mix made it too difficult for him to fight two against one.

Meanwhile, the battle situation was also developing in a way that was unfavorable to them. Liangshan had recovered from the initial shock, and all the generals were launching a counterattack against the ogres. The ogres' guards led by Yelü Dashi were indeed powerful, but they were too few in number and were suppressed to the point that they could no longer fight back.

At this moment, another general joined the battle, which greatly increased the pressure on Yelü Dashi, who was fighting against Liu Hong and Luan Tingyu at the same time. He turned around and was suddenly stunned. He saw that the man's left eye was the pupil of a blue dragon and his left cheek was covered with dragon scales. It was none other than the Blue-Faced Beast, Yang Zhi.

"Little Miss! What are you doing here?!"

Yelü Dashi was utterly astonished. Wasn't this Yelü Zhi, the daughter of Yang Silang and Princess Tie Jing? Princess Tie Jing was born very late, and so was Yelü Zhi. Both mother and daughter were much younger than their peers, so their seniority was ridiculously high, two generations older than him! He would normally have to call her "Grandma."

Chapter 245: The Zhu Family Village Vanishes into Ashes

"Dashi?!"

Yang Zhi was also somewhat surprised. "Isn't this my grandson?"

"Why are you here?!"

"You have no right to ask me! You traitor who betrayed the Liao Dynasty and fled to the Song Dynasty!"

Yelü Dashi roared at Yang Zhi, but he was only putting on a brave front. He was already at a disadvantage against two opponents, and with Yang Zhi, whose fighting strength was no less than his own, he simply couldn't win.

"Stop! I said stop!"

Left with no other option, Yelü Dashi jumped back out of the battle formation and called for a halt to the three of them.

"I am Yelü Abaoji, the eighth-generation descendant of Emperor Taizu of Liao! I am Yelü Dashi, the military governor of Xingguo in the Great Liao! In the past, my Emperor Jingzong and your Emperor Zhenzong became sworn brothers. I am the fifth-generation descendant of Emperor Jingzong, and your Emperor Song is the sixth-generation descendant of Emperor Zhenzong. According to seniority, the current Emperor Zhao should call me uncle! Since the Treaty of Shanyuan, Liao and Song have been on good terms for generations. How dare you Song people be so disrespectful to me?!"

"You son of a bitch! You've already led your troops to invade the territory of my Great Song Dynasty, and you still dare to ask me why I'm being so rude?!"

Luan Tingyu also had a fiery temper, and he picked up a stick to continue fighting.

"What does the alliance you signed with the Song Dynasty have to do with the Liangshan bandits?!"

Liu Hong looked utterly bewildered and declared, "I am a barbarian!" The two continued fighting without a word, but were stopped by Yelü Dashi.

"Stop, stop! I said stop! Brother with wings on his back, if you're a rebel, you're rebelling against the Song Dynasty, not the Liao Dynasty. Why are you fighting me?! If the Song and Liao go to war, we should be allies!"

Yelü Dashi again expressed his objection, using sophistry to forcefully stop the two.

"Furthermore, you! The one with the stick, you're just a head instructor from the manor, what right do you have to hit me? Do you know who I am? If I die here, His Majesty will be furious! Then, you will be the culprit who started the war between Liao and Song! Sister, don't you want your country to be plunged into war again because of you?"

Luan Tingyu hesitated and stopped, but Liu Hong didn't care at all. This was the 12th century; what was the Liao Dynasty anyway? These forty small cannons in this man's hand were quite good; I wanted them!

"Great Sage! Fine, I admit defeat this time! I can provide you with a large sum of money to help you gain a foothold in Shandong, as long as you let us retreat!"

Seeing that Liu Hong refused to yield, Yelü Dashi also readily admitted defeat to preserve his strength. Although his cannon guards could still fight, the difference in numbers was too great. The two hundred men had come hastily without much ammunition, and once they ran out of ammunition and were forced into hand-to-hand combat, they would be wiped out by Liangshan sooner or later.

Old Zhu didn't say the enemy was so powerful that I couldn't handle them!

Liu Hong frowned slightly and looked around the battlefield. The Liangshan troops could definitely devour these cannibals, but they would have to pay a lot of extra sacrifices. These people had an exaggerated rate of artillery equipment, and they were firing grapeshot, which would blow up a whole area in the narrow streets.

"Fine, I won't ask for much. Just leave me all the weapons, equipment, armor, and cannons of your two hundred ogres, and I'll let you go back."

"That's going too far. Ogres are twice the size of humans. What do you need our armor for?"

Yelü Dashi was also the type of person who wouldn't act without seeing the benefits, so he tried to issue an empty promise.

"If I can get back, I'll give you three thousand taels of gold!"

"You are the one who is now besieged in Zhujiazhuang."

Liu Hong pointed backward.

"Look at the place you came from, what's left now?"

Yelü Dashi frowned and looked back, only to find that Liangshan's apricot-yellow flag had already been planted there—Lin Chong had already noticed something was wrong and led his cavalry to charge around the battlefield, first clearing out the spawn points of these cannibals. At this moment, Lin Chong held the corpse of Old Master Zhu on the tip of his spear, wedged it onto the spear, and raised it high, so that his old, bleeding corpse was like a large flag of flesh and blood, fluttering in the air.

At the same time, more and more Liangshan infantrymen began to rush to the aid of the Great Sage, who was flying too far forward and too prominent, to the point that he was separated from the army.

Leading the charge was Wu Song, wielding her twin swords almost without stopping, like a madwoman. She stepped over the corpses of the cannibals and Zhu family soldiers, and was the first to reach her brother's side. A few seconds later, Lu Zhisheng also joined the attack on Yelü Dashi, wielding his monk's staff. The five of them surrounded Yelü Dashi and beat him up in a frenzy, putting immense pressure on the cannibalistic governor!

"How about this, I won't take your armor, you leave me your forty cannons! Then you stay here as a hostage until you give me the three thousand taels of gold you promised, then I'll let you go back!"

Liu Hong lowered the requirements.

At this moment, seeing no hope of breaking through, Yelü Dashi had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept it.

"Fine! I don't want the Zhu Family Village stronghold anymore! I've already lost the teleportation portal, but you can't tell anyone about this! Damn it, I've been taken down by those bandits! But you can't let it out that I went to the Zhu Family Village to help the mountain stronghold and was captured alive by a group of Song Dynasty bandits! I'm a military governor, after all. Otherwise, I'd rather die fighting you than surrender!"

"make a deal."

Liu Hong thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, and that's how he got the cannibal to surrender.

The two hundred guards were quite straightforward. They placed forty hand cannons in front of Liu Hong, then lined up in neat rows and went back through the portal. They also took three thousand taels of gold to redeem their military governor.

During this period, Liu Hong accepted the surrender of the Zhu Family Village while secretly becoming vigilant.

I've been here for almost four years now, which should be 1115 according to the Gregorian calendar. Before, my power was weak, and I only played around in Yuncheng and even Jizhou. I didn't pay much attention to what was happening outside. Now it seems that I still need to see what the world outside the Song Dynasty is like.

"By the way, is everything alright in the northeast of Liao?"

Liu Hong looked into Yelü Dashi's eyes and said something casually.

"what are you saying?!"

These seemingly ordinary words immediately put Yelü Dashi on alert. He looked at Liu Hong with suspicion and uncertainty. Few people in the entire Liao Dynasty knew about the Jurchen rebellion in the Northeast. Why would the Song Dynasty rebels in Shandong know about it?

Seeing Yelü Dashi's reaction, Liu Hong knew that 1115 was the year Wanyan Aguda established the Jin Dynasty. The Northeast was already in chaos, the Jurchens were rising, and his time was running out.

Chapter 246: Liangshan Marsh's Shift in Strategy

"Liu Hong! You traitor! I can understand you deserting the Song Dynasty and becoming a mountain king, after all, the higher-ups are truly inhuman and don't give us warriors any way to survive. But what makes sense for you to make peace with the Khitan cannibals now?!"

While Liu Hong was still pondering the Liao and Jin affairs, Luan Tingyu couldn't hold back any longer. He swung his staff, pointing it at Liu Hong from a distance. The tip of the iron staff was wreathed in a terrifying beam of lightning. It was about to strike in the next second.

Her decisive betrayal and departure from the Zhu Family Village made Liangshan no longer treat her as an enemy, and instead, they sat together as victors.

However, seeing that Liu Hong had actually reached an agreement with Yelü Dashi, Luan Tingyu could no longer sit still. But just as she raised her stick, Lin Chong's serpent spear and Yang Zhi's steel spear were already clamped around her neck, trapping her in an X-shape.

Then Wu Song's twin swords, Hua Rong's silver spear, Qin Ming's spiked club, Lu Zhisheng's monk's staff, and Suo Chao's golden-tipped axe all rushed forward, surrounding Luan Tingyu with seven or eight weapons. She was unable to move, only able to open her eyes and glare angrily at Liu Hong.

"Instructor Luan, please calm down. I have no Tongliao. These soldiers have all been disarmed by me and must lay down their weapons to return to their homeland. Besides, perhaps in the near future, Liao and Song will have to fight side by side to resist an even stronger enemy."

Liu Hong was alluding to the fact that in the original history, when the Liao Dynasty was on the verge of collapse and disintegration due to the Jin Dynasty's attack, the Northern Song Dynasty chose to break the Treaty of Chanyuan. Not only did it not help the Liao Dynasty fight against the Jin Dynasty, it even joined the Jin Dynasty in attacking the Liao Dynasty.

Liu Hong could understand the Song people's thoughts at the time. After all, although the Song and Liao were brotherly countries, they had fought a blood feud, and Liao still occupied the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun in the Central Plains and refused to return them.