Chinese Generals Summoning System

Chapter 6: Encountering Bandits on the Road

Early the next morning, Liu Ji was shaken awake by his younger sister, Liu Niuniu. “Big brother, hurry up and get up! We’ll have millet porridge soon—with shredded venison in it! Hehe!” Shortly after Liu Ji was woken up by Liu Niuniu, a large pot of millet and venison porridge was ready. Liu Ji drank a full two large bowls, and even Liu Niuniu had a large bowl. Once everyone in the temple’s main hall had polished off the entire pot of porridge, leaving not a single drop behind, Liu Hao ordered them to pack up. The entire group—32 people in all—quickly shouldered everything they could carry, left the abandoned temple on the desolate mountain, and set off toward Yongzhou. “Son, why have you been stopping to look at dead bodies along the way? Could it be that you’re trying to profit from the dead? You’re a scholar—how could you possibly profit from the dead? Besides, those dead people aren’t likely to have anything of value on them.” “Well… Father, I was just checking to see if anyone was still alive. You know, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda!” “You silly boy, have your books turned you into a fool? Given our current situation, how could we possibly have the means to save others! With the little food we have left, even we won’t last more than a few days. Sigh—” On the road to Yongzhou, they frequently came across corpses lying by the roadside—mostly people who had died of disease or starvation. Liu Ji, who had always been afraid to go near dead bodies, now, whenever he saw one, would—contrary to his usual self—run over to take a look. This struck his father, Liu Hao, as rather strange. However, after hearing Liu Ji’s explanation, Liu Hao merely let out a long sigh and didn’t interfere with Liu Ji’s “acts of kindness” anymore. Of course, Liu Ji wasn’t doing any acts of kindness; he was collecting soul points. However, many of the corpses by the roadside had been dead for two hours already, making it impossible for the Chinese General Summoning System to absorb their soul points. As a result, despite working for most of the day and encountering at least twenty corpses, Liu Ji had collected only four soul points. Adding this to the one soul point he had left over from before, Liu Ji now had a total of just five soul points—still 95 soul points short of summoning a third-rate general. As for summoning a second-rate or higher general, Liu Ji didn’t even dare to think about it—that would require far more soul points, and the success rate was even lower. Walking along a mountain path, Liu Ji was lamenting how difficult it was to collect Soul Points,when suddenly, around a bend in the mountain pass about a hundred steps away from their group of refugees, another group of people appeared. Liu Hao, who was leading the way, immediately turned pale. Not only were there two cavalrymen at the very front of the approaching group, but the dozens of people following behind them were also armed. Given their attire and demeanor, Liu Hao was certain this group was either bandits or marauding rebels. In this world, a “step” is defined as taking one step forward with each foot, which is roughly equivalent to 1. 5 meters; thus, one hundred steps is approximately 150 meters. “Hurry! Everyone, run up the mountain! Lao Tie, carry Niuniu! Liu Ji, stay close to Brother Liu Pi!” Liu Hao shouted to the others. Since the enemy had cavalry, retreating was no longer an option; their only chance of escape was to head up the mountain. At Liu Hao’s command, the able-bodied men and women—holding their small children—followed Liu Hao, Liu Tie, and the others as they frantically fled up the nearby mountain, while the band of attackers charged toward them, cackling and bellowing wildly. “There are women! Brothers, don’t let them get away!” “Hahaha! It’s been days since we’ve had a taste of women. Hurry up and chase them—don’t let a single woman get away!” Liu Ji, who was fleeing up the mountain, glanced back down the slope and saw that the bandits had already reached the foot of the mountain. Aside from two horsemen, there were at least thirty others, all brandishing weapons as they chased up the mountain. Terrified out of his wits, Liu Ji mustered all his strength and continued to flee uphill. As they ran, Liu Pi called out urgently to Liu Ji, “My lord, fleeing like this is no solution. Most of us here are women and children; it won’t be long before they catch up to us. Moreover, there are archers among our pursuers.” “Aaah—” A young man in the midst of fleeing suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream and collapsed on the hillside. It turned out that the archers among the bandits behind them had begun firing arrows at the fleeing crowd. Immediately afterward, another agonized scream rang out: a woman holding a child had been struck in the back by an arrow. Fortunately, she hadn’t been hit in a vital spot, and she continued to cling to her child as she staggered upward the mountain. Liu Hao’s face turned ashen as he stopped in his tracks and glanced back at the bandits below. Four of them were holding bows and arrows, and because the mountain path was rugged, Liu Hao and his group hadn’t gotten very far. The bandits were closing in rapidly, now less than forty paces away. The mountainside was completely barren, with nowhere to take cover from the arrows. If they kept running like this, their group would become nothing more than sitting ducks for those archers. “Bro, hand Nuonuo over to Liu Ji. Liu Pi, I’m counting on you to look after the siblings. All the men stay behind—for the sake of your wives and children, let’s fight them to the death!” Liu Hao decided to stay behind with his men to cover the retreat; otherwise, none of them would escape. He could disregard the others, but for the sake of his own son and daughter, Liu Hao would sacrifice his life without a second thought. Liu Hao’s shout immediately brought the other three men, who had been fleeing, to a halt, while Liu Tie quickly walked over to Liu Ji and placed Liu Niuniu in his arms. Holding his little sister Liu Niuniu, Liu Ji’s face turned deathly pale. He knew what staying behind meant at that moment. His fear vanished almost instantly, and without a moment’s hesitation, he shouted, “Liu Bi, let’s stay too! Let’s fight alongside our father! Father, if we’re going, we’re going together! If we’re going to die, our whole family will die together!” “You good-for-nothing brat, get out of here! You aren’t afraid of death yourself, but what about your little sister?” Liu Hao roared at Liu Ji in a fit of rage. Liu Ji clenched his teeth and said nothing. He lifted his younger sister, Liu Niuniu, onto his back and told her to hold on tight. With his left hand supporting her bottom and his right hand drawing his short blade, he glared fiercely at the bandits closing in. Upon hearing Liu Ji’s command, Liu Pi immediately turned around and thrust his long sword into the ground,and the blade instantly stood upright. Liu Pi then swiftly took the bow and arrows he was carrying on his back, and in the blink of an eye, fired an arrow down the mountainside, instantly killing one of the bandits’ archers. Immediately afterward, Liu Pi fired eleven more arrows in rapid succession, emptying the entire quiver of twelve arrows he carried. Those twelve arrows brought down a total of nine men, including all four archers among the bandits. At least five of the nine bandits were killed instantly, while the other four suffered serious injuries; they lay on the hillside, screaming in agony, unable even to stand up. Liu Pi’s sudden outburst not only terrified the remaining bandits, preventing them from continuing their pursuit up the hillside, but also left Liu Hao, Liu Tie, and the others speechless. His archery was far too fast and fierce. Just as Liu Pi finished firing all 12 arrows, he threw his bow to the ground, drew his long sword, and roared, ““Kill—” and charged down the hillside. Liu Hao hurriedly shouted to Liu Ji, “Take Niuniu and don’t go down there!” Then he too let out a roar: “Charge—” and followed Liu Pi as he charged toward the bandits below. “Charge—” Liu Tie and the other three able-bodied men also charged down without hesitation. Liu Ji, holding his younger sister, hesitated for a moment but ultimately stayed put. Meanwhile, the other women, carrying their children, did not continue fleeing up the mountain; they all gathered around Liu Ji, watching the men charging down with bated breath. The more than 20 bandits remaining on the hillside, seeing that their opponents had stopped shooting arrows and that only six men had charged down, immediately regained some morale and swung their weapons to meet them head-on. Liu Pi was the first to charge into the bandits’ ranks. His long sword flashed up and down, and soon six bandits had fallen by his blade. Liu Hao and Liu Tie, who charged in right behind him, each cut down two bandits,Another young man managed to kill one bandit in a life-for-life exchange, but the other two young men were cut down the moment the battle began. The remaining bandits, seeing how formidable their opponents were—especially Liu Bi, a highly skilled fighter—immediately lost their nerve and turned to flee down the mountain. The two horsemen at the foot of the mountain were clearly the leaders of this band of bandits, but no matter how loudly they shouted from below, they could not stop the remaining bandits, who were now utterly terrified. Seeing this, the two horsemen exchanged a glance, urged their horses back a short distance to create enough space for a charge, and waited until Liu Pi and his men had chased the remaining bandits down the slope. Then, the two horsemen immediately spurred their horses forward, brandishing their swords as they charged toward Liu Pi and his group.