Water Margin: Did we kill Zheng Tu today?

Chapter 101 Kill

One person, five people, ten people...

The blade flashed like snow, and blood splattered everywhere.

The steel knife that Zheng Tu had snatched was already chipped and covered with bits of flesh and blood.

With each swing of his sword, a soldier would fall to the ground.

In an instant, the long street was truly a scene of rolling heads and flowing blood.

With Zheng Tu's skill, facing these local soldiers was like a mad tiger among sheep. His official knife transformed into streaks of lightning, and wherever it passed, limbs and severed bodies flew everywhere, accompanied by constant screams and cries of agony.

But human strength has its limits, and the archers on the rooftops were watching intently, shooting arrows at us from time to time.

At this moment, the area surrounding Zheng Tu was littered with corpses, with at least eighty or ninety people dead. The remaining soldiers, seeing how ferocious this demon was, were terrified and none of them dared to step forward.

Zheng Tu stood with his knife at his side, panting heavily. Sweat and blood mingled and flowed down his bulging muscles, pooling at his feet.

His clothes were almost entirely covered in blood, some belonging to soldiers and some to himself.

The torn clothes were covered with countless wounds.

The wounds included knife wounds, gunshot wounds, and arrow wounds, some so deep that the bone was visible, with the flesh torn off. A knife wound on the left shoulder was particularly severe, almost slicing away half of the shoulder flesh, revealing the white bone.

Although his martial arts skills had reached a high level, he had not yet reached the point where he could single-handedly form an army.

Even two fists can hardly fight off four hands, let alone when attacked from all sides with swords and spears coming at you. No matter how high your martial arts skills are, you will inevitably be unable to defend yourself properly.

Even with his agility and skill, he couldn't escape being slashed during the opening, and that's how he got all these injuries.

If the number of casualties on the battlefield exceeds 30%, the army will collapse.

But today, these three or five hundred soldiers were ultimately facing only one person. Although they felt a sense of satisfaction, a thought lingered in their hearts: "This fellow... is at his last gasp; he'll collapse in a few more moments!"

A daring soldier saw Zheng Tu panting as he wielded his knife, assuming he was exhausted. He mustered his courage and quietly crept up from behind, raising his knife to strike.

No sooner had the knife been raised than Zheng Tu seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, his official knife slashing upwards with a backhand strike!

A flash of light, and a head shot into the air. The headless corpse swayed and then crashed to the ground.

The remaining soldiers were so frightened that they took three steps back and dared not move again. They simply raised their swords and formed a circle, their eyes filled with fear. Not one of them dared to make a move first.

Taking advantage of the opening, Zheng Tu mustered his strength and raised his voice towards the county constable hiding behind him:

"You, County Commandant! You ambushed me today only because you listened to Jiang Zhushan's one-sided story! Just bring Jiang Zhushan out and talk to me. If I truly deserve my punishment, I will throw down my sword and surrender! What do you say?"

The county magistrate thought that leading three or five hundred men to capture a thief was as easy as catching crabs in a bamboo basket.

Who would have thought that Zheng Tu would be so ferocious, resulting in such heavy casualties!

How am I supposed to explain this when I get back?

If we continue to suffer losses now, even if we capture someone, it will not be seen as a merit, but rather as a crime!

He also had some calculations in his mind: it was just a matter of letting Jiang Zhushan show his face and say a few words, what was the point? If he could get Zheng Tu to stop and reduce casualties, that would be the best outcome.

He immediately summoned Jiang Zhushan, who was hiding in the rear army, and solemnly instructed him: "Come with me and say a few words to that Zheng Tu. Remember, don't talk nonsense, just say some words of persuasion to surrender."

Jiang Zhushan nodded vigorously, repeatedly saying, "I understand! I understand!"

But he had other plans in mind: he could not say anything, but his expression would show! He could pretend to be pitying and say a few sarcastic and humiliating words to this scoundrel. Wouldn't that be great?

The county magistrate led Jiang Zhushan forward, and the soldiers spontaneously made way for him.

The two stood in the inner circle of the encirclement, still more than ten steps away from Zheng Tu, and with the protection of crossbowmen on the roof, they felt that they were safe and sound.

The county magistrate cleared his throat, about to speak.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two sharp sounds of air being torn apart suddenly rang out!

Two streaks of dark light shot out from Zheng Tu's hands!

The first arrow was as fast as a meteor, and it went straight into the county magistrate's right eye!

The arrow was incredibly powerful, piercing through his brain and exiting through the back of his head. The county magistrate didn't even utter a sound before falling backward to the ground, dying instantly!

The second short arrow missed slightly and only pierced Jiang Zhushan's left shoulder!

Jiang Zhushan let out a miserable howl, feeling both surprised and delighted.

To his surprise, Zheng Tu had such throwing skills that he almost lost his life; to his delight, Zheng Tu missed and he was still alive!

Fearing Zheng Tu might have another trick up his sleeve, he immediately pushed through the crowd and fled, laughing maniacally as he ran: "You scoundrel! You didn't expect that, did you! I'm still alive! But you're about to be torn to pieces! Hahaha..."

Before the laughter had even subsided, and after taking only two steps, Jiang Zhushan suddenly felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't breathe.

He slowly stopped, opened his mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out.

Looking down, I saw that the blood flowing from the wound on my left shoulder was a dark purple color!

"This arrow... has..."

He collapsed to the ground with a thud, his limbs twitched twice, and then he remained motionless.

It turned out that Zheng Tu had obtained these two short arrows from Huang Silang that night. In the midst of the chaotic battle, he had secretly taken them out of his pocket and hidden them in his hand, just waiting for the two of them to show themselves.

Upon seeing this, Zheng Tu laughed.

He eventually bled too much and exhausted his strength. Leaning on the steel knife in his hand, his head slowly drooped down.

The remaining soldiers looked at each other, not daring to step forward.

After a long while, one of the bolder ones finally mustered his courage, drew his knife, and tentatively slashed Zheng Tu in the back.

The knife struck solidly, penetrating into flesh and blood. Zheng Tu swayed, but did not resist.

"He's really dead!!" The soldier was overjoyed.

"This guy's done for!"

"Kill this scoundrel!"

These words caused an uproar among the crowd.

As if fighting for a treasure, the remaining soldiers surged forward like a tide!

The fear they felt earlier transformed into a frenzy of vying for credit, and the blades fell in a flurry, as if they were not cutting down people, but mountains of gold and silver.

With each swift stroke of the blade, blood splattered three feet deep.

On the long street, hundreds of soldiers surrounded the corpse, which was no longer human, and continued to hack and slash at it.

Zheng Tu ultimately fought to the death.

……………………………………………………………

[Zheng Tu, died. 】

[Survival days: 10 days.]

Zheng Tu suddenly opened his eyes, his head throbbing even more. This time, he could hardly contain his emotions, his brows furrowing involuntarily. Zheng Tu clenched his fist and pounded his brow. After a while, the pain subsided slightly.

"Brother Zheng, why do you look so unwell? Are you feeling unwell?" Ximen Qing asked with concern from the side.

"It's nothing serious, just a headache."

Zheng Tu casually brushed it off, then pressed down on Ximen Qing's hand as he was about to call for the doctor: "I'm much better now, brother, don't worry."

After exchanging a few words, Ximen Qing said, "Brother Zheng, although tomorrow's appointment is postponed, our friendship should not be delayed. Why don't we burn incense and swear an oath to become sworn brothers in my residence today?"