Chapter 360 Bring His Head

Chapter 360: Come and Take My Head

The leading Northern Di commander sat astride his powerful warhorse, the massive double-edged great axe in his hand still dripping thick drops of blood.

He urged his horse forward a few more steps, stopping only when he was nearly within reach of the guards' blades.

His gaze swept over Cui Ji's pale, bloodless face like a predator eyeing its dying prey. He grinned, his Zhou-accented speech stiff but tinged with the taunting cruelty of a cat toying with a mouse.

"Cui Ji, you dog! You've killed so many of my brothers—today I'll hack your head off and offer it to our fallen comrades!"

The surrounding Northern Di cavalry slowly closed in, bellowing crude war cries: "Kill Cui Ji! Chop him to pieces!"

Hooves trampled the snow mixed with blood and mud, splashing muddy slush and ice, forming a tightening ring of death.

Cui Ji's back pressed against a bare frozen slope. Wind and snow poured through the gaps in his armor, bringing bone-piercing cold. Yet it also preserved the last shred of clarity in his mind amidst searing pain and dizziness from blood loss.

He swept his gaze over the enemies closing in, finally settling on the self-satisfied face of the Northern Di commander.

One guard stood half a step in front of him, a chipped blade held before him, eyes like venom-dipped serpents fixed on every enemy who dared approach.

"Fall back south." Cui Ji's voice was hoarse, nearly swallowed by the gale, but the guards beside him heard it clearly.

"Understood, General!" The four guards answered in unison, adjusting their formation as they began slowly moving south.

Seeing this, the Northern Di commander sneered: "Trying to run? Too late! Charge! Cut them to pieces!"

"Kill—!" The Northern Di cavalry erupted with earth-shaking war cries, surging in from all directions like a tidal wave!

The four guards moved as one, blades flashing as they wove a dense net of death.

The two leading Northern Di riders were cut down from their horses with precision, but more enemies flooded in.

The battle reached a fever pitch in an instant—the clash of blades, the wet thud of steel sinking into flesh, roars and screams mingling with the wind and snow, echoing across this tiny killing ground.

The four guards held their ground like bedrock, anchoring themselves around Cui Ji, forming a final line of defense with their bodies and weapons.

At the same moment, Cui Ji's left hand suddenly snatched up a handful of sand and gravel mixed with frozen blood, hurling it fiercely into the faces of the Northern Di soldiers ahead!

A moment of chaos erupted!

Cui Ji drew a sharp breath, following the guard who charged the enemy line, slamming through the gap that had opened in the southern formation!

"Stop him!" the Northern Di commander bellowed, swinging his great axe.

That guard took a blade meant for Cui Ji's flank, his intestines spilling out, yet he clung desperately to the Northern Di soldier, screaming as they tumbled to the ground together.

Cui Ji's eyes were bloodshot. The long blade in his left hand precisely deflected a curved saber.

His body twisted unnaturally, narrowly evading another blade slashing at his neck.

The long blade shot upward, sinking into the unprotected armpit of a Northern Di rider, who screamed and fell from his horse.

Cui Ji didn't pause, charging out of the encirclement with his blade in hand.

"Get him! Don't let him escape!" The Northern Di commander's face twisted with rage as he led the chase.

The remaining Northern Di cavalry shouted and wheeled their mounts, giving chase at full gallop.

Wind and snow lashed his face. Cui Ji lay low over his horse's back, feeling his strength draining rapidly with the blood pouring from his right shoulder wound.

His vision began to blur; all he could hear was the howling wind and the thunder of hooves growing closer.

Suddenly, the horse beneath him let out a shrill cry of pain, its speed dropping sharply.

The pursuers drew closer and closer, hoofbeats like a drumbeat of doom.

The Northern Di commander, riding at the front, had drawn alongside Cui Ji. His great axe swept horizontally toward Cui Ji's waist with vicious force!

Cui Ji ducked low, pressing himself nearly flat against the horse's neck. The axe whistled past just over his back, sending his helmet flying.

He seized the moment to thrust the blade in his left hand backward, forcing the Northern Di commander to ease his assault.

The two rode side by side through the blizzard, blade and axe clashing intermittently, throwing off sparks.

Cui Ji maneuvered his horse in a circling battle, his right arm completely useless, his left arm fighting alone—wounds and blood loss sapping his strength more with every passing moment.

"How much longer can you last?" the Northern Di commander sneered, sensing Cui Ji's weakness, his attacks growing ever more ferocious.

A heavy axe blow split the web of Cui Ji's left hand open, nearly sending the blade flying from his grip.

The Northern Di commander seized the opportunity, giving up on direct attack. He used the flat of his axe to sweep up a massive clump of frozen snow, hurling it straight into Cui Ji's face!

Cui Ji instinctively turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut to dodge.

Murderous intent blazed in the Northern Di commander's eyes. The great axe, carried by the momentum of the snow-sweep, came around in a full arc. With the force to split mountains and crack stone, it slammed down toward the exposed gap at Cui Ji's right shoulder!

He had calculated it right: Cui Ji's right arm was badly wounded—there was no way he could effectively block from that angle!

Cui Ji had almost no room to evade. In the split second before disaster, the short blade in his left hand barely rose to parry.

"Clang—!" A piercing clash of metal. His long blade went flying!

Cui Ji's left arm screamed in agony, half his body numbed by the sheer force of that axe blow, blood rushing to his head.

He clenched his jaw so hard his teeth ached, barely managing to stay mounted—but his entire guard was broken.

The Northern Di commander pressed his advantage without mercy, twisting the axe blade, using the residual downward momentum to bear down diagonally toward Cui Ji's head and neck!

If that connected, he'd be dead or captured at the very least!

Veins bulged on Cui Ji's forehead, his eyes nearly splitting at the corners. At this critical juncture between life and death, he threw his body backward.

At the same time, his left hand curled from fist to blade-edge, swinging recklessly toward the enemy's unarmored midsection.

The Northern Di commander hadn't expected such ferocity from Cui Ji. He hastily sucked in his gut to dodge, his axe's momentum stalling.

But in that lightning-flash of an opening, cruelty flickered in the Northern Di commander's eyes.

The axe changed direction—no longer seeking to cut, but using its heavy blunt back to smash viciously into the forelegs of Cui Ji's horse!

"Crack!" The sickening sound of splintering bone.

The horse let out a shrill, anguished cry, its forelegs snapping, its massive body pitching forward and crashing to the ground!

In the instant the horse fell, Cui Ji used his last reserves of strength to roll sideways, dissipating most of the impact.

But he still hit the ground hard enough to black out his vision, his organs feeling dislodged. The wound on his right shoulder burst open completely, blood gushing forth, instantly staining a large patch of snow crimson.

The Northern Di commander reined in his horse, looking down from his height at Cui Ji struggling in the snow, a cruel and satisfied smile spreading across his face.

He slowly raised his massive axe, the gleaming blade aimed at Cui Ji's defenseless neck.

"Cui Ji, time to go!" The axe descended with a shrill whistle, striking with deadly force!

At that critical moment between life and death—"Shhhk—!" A sharp tearing sound split the air, cutting through the wind and snow!

Then, a resounding "CLANG!" A long spear blocked the massive axe with pinpoint precision, deflecting the fatal blow!

The jarring recoil sent a numbing shock through the Northern Di general's arm, and the heavy axe nearly slipped from his grip!

He looked up in shock, only to see a rider sweeping in like a gale!

The figure on horseback wore fitted combat attire, with a cloak and veiled hat flapping wildly in the blizzard.

But it was his eyes that seized attention—now bloodshot and crimson, the killing intent in them nearly solidifying into something real.

Behind him, dozens of cavalry followed, all wounded, yet radiating a fierce, battle-hardened fury.

The Northern Di general narrowed his eyes, sizing up Cheng Ge, suspicion flickering in his gaze, as if trying to reconcile that astonishing spear strike with Cheng Ge's youthful, sickly frame.

Just then, another group of Northern Di cavalry arrived from the flank, arraying themselves in a tense standoff against Cheng Ge's men.

Among them, one particularly burly Northern Di soldier was hoisting a severed head aloft!

The face was twisted in agony, eyes wide open—it was the very guard who had fought tooth and nail to cover Cui Ji's retreat.

The soldier gleefully swung the head in his hand, barking crude taunts in halting Zhou speech toward Cheng Ge and Cui Ji.

Cheng Ge's gaze drifted slowly to the head being so wantonly defiled.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

The howling of the wind and snow, the restless snorts of warhorses, the faint clink of metal... all background noise rapidly receded into a muffled blur.

In Cheng Ge's vision, only three things remained: the dripping head, Cui Ji barely clinging to life in the snow, and the cruel, smug grins on the Northern Di faces.

"Hah..." A faint, guttural rasp—as if wrenched from the deepest pit of his chest—escaped Cheng Ge's throat.

What surged out with it was something far more primal, more savage, more sinister—a killing intent.

As if drenched in the densest blood, a dark crimson flame seemed to smolder and dance in the depths of his pupils.

The lead Northern Di general's heart lurched, an inexplicable chill racing up his spine.

Having fought for years and clawed his way out of mountains of corpses, he had a beast's instinct for danger.

At this moment, he sensed an unprecedented, lethal threat from this "little lady" who looked like a stiff breeze could knock her over.

But the shock lasted only a heartbeat; the arrogance forged by years of victories quickly smothered that flicker of unease.

He studied Cheng Ge's pale, delicate jaw, then swept his eyes over that slender frame, and sneered:

"Oh, where did this little lady come from? Playing with swords and spears—careful you don't hurt those delicate little hands of yours!"

The Northern Di soldiers around him erupted into even more raucous laughter, crude taunts and jeers filling the air:

"Has Great Zhou run out of men? Now they're sending a woman to the front lines!"

"Look at that figure, tsk tsk—take off that hat and she's bound to be a looker!"

"Hey, little lady! What kind of future is there following that half-dead weakling Cui Ji?

Why not come with us! We'll give you fine food and drink, and you can take your pick of any man on the grasslands—all of them tougher and hardier than these Zhou dogs, hahaha!"

The soldier holding the head even leered, giving it a shake as he hollered at Cheng Ge:

"Beauty, take a good look—this is what happens when you don't obey! Get off that horse nice and easy, and I'll take good care of you!"

The Northern Di general also nudged his horse forward two paces, leveling his axe at Cheng Ge with pure mockery: "Beauty, weapons have no eyes—it'd be a real shame to mar that face. Why not let me get a look at you?"

With that, he actually used the flat of his axe blade to flick up the edge of Cheng Ge's wind-whipped veiled hat, the gesture dripping with lewd intent.

Just as the cold steel was about to graze the veil—

Cheng Ge's wrist flicked. His spear lashed out like a black bolt of lightning tearing through the murky sky, slamming into the side of the axe at a speed almost too fast to follow.

"CLANG—!" A short, piercing clash of metal rang out!

The Northern Di general felt an overwhelming force slam through the axe shaft.

His grip stung, his whole arm went dead in an instant, and the massive axe was knocked wildly aside, nearly ripped from his grasp!

The mockery on his face froze solid, replaced by shock, as he gaped at Cheng Ge in utter disbelief.

Yet even as the axe was knocked aside, the spear rode the recoil, carving a subtle, unnatural arc.

The spear tip, like a viper's strike, lanced straight for the general's mouth, which hung open in shock! Had it landed, it would have punched clean through his skull!

The general's soul nearly fled his body. In that life-or-death instant, he reacted with astonishing speed—snapping his head back while desperately hauling the axe around to block.

The spear tip sliced past his chin, carving a gash down to the bone, and several teeth flew out amid a spray of bloody spittle!

"Ah—!" The Northern Di general let out a strangled scream of agony, pain and terror driving him to the edge of madness.

All traces of contempt vanished. Eyes bloodshot, he bellowed and swung his axe in a full-force arc, aiming to cleave Cheng Ge in two at the waist!

Cheng Ge's crimson gaze hardened. He didn't flinch or dodge—just as the axe was about to land, he dug his heels into the horse's flanks, and the warhorse, as if reading his mind, sprang a half-step forward and sideways.

At the same instant, Cheng Ge's body folded backward as if boneless, flattening himself against the horse's back.

The axe howled past on a gust of biting wind, shaving the tip of his nose and shearing off a few strands of flying hair!

Having escaped the killing stroke, Cheng Ge's body snapped upright like a released bowstring!

He gave the general no time to recover. Riding the momentum of his rise, his spear lashed out like a furious dragon—abandoning finesse entirely, pouring every shred of his strength into that one thrust!

The spear flew true, unstoppable, driving forward without an instant's hesitation!

"Thud—!" A dull, sickening thud of impact rang out.

The spear slammed into the general's exposed midsection, left wide open by his own axe swing.

The razor-sharp tip punched through leather armor, muscle, and organs as if they were paper, jutting out a full foot or more from his back!

The sheer force of the strike wrenched the general's massive frame backward, nearly ripping him from the saddle!

Once again, time seemed to freeze.

The Northern Di general's face—a mask of ferocity, rage, and terror—froze solid.

He lowered his head, staring in disbelief at the spear that had run him clean through.

Then he raised his eyes to the "young lady" on horseback, whose veiled hat had fallen half off, exposing a pallid face and blood-red eyes.

He tried to speak, but when he opened his mouth, only scalding blood spilled out.

The surrounding jeers and curses died out instantly.

Every Northern Di soldier's eyes bulged, as if their throats had been seized, their faces a mask of utter shock and bewilderment.

They could not believe that their fearless, invincible general had been... taken down in a single instant.

Cheng Ge's face stayed utterly impassive, as if he had just squashed a noisy bug.

With a sudden twist of his wrist, the spear churned inside the Northern Di general's chest cavity, producing a grating, teeth-grinding crunch.

The general's eyes bugged out, the last trace of color draining from his face. He could not even manage a scream—only a hollow, wheezing rattle from his throat.

Then Cheng Ge braced his arms and heaved upward!

"RIIIP—!" came the sickening sound of tearing muscle and snapping bone.