Chapter 300 The Name of the King of Ni Shook Kai! [8000]

"Don't just stand there! What are you doing? Fight back! Fight back!"

On the watchtower of the camp, Yokokura Keinosuke, a fat man with a fat brain and a body as fat as a ball in his stomach, gave a series of instructions to his subordinates with red eyes and hoarse throat.

The disastrous defeat 5 days ago widened the gap in numbers between the Soma people and the expeditionary army to an extremely large extent.

In terms of numbers, equipment, and morale, the Soma people were at an absolute disadvantage. They had nothing to rely on except the mountain stronghold under their buttocks.

Unless the gods were effective, or all members awakened on the spot and became like the Chu army in the Battle of Julu, each fighting ten against ten, or ten against a hundred, otherwise they would probably not even survive today.

Although anyone with a discerning eye could see that the expeditionary army had basically no chance of losing, and the gap in strength between the two sides was too great, Yokokura Keinosuke still held a little bit of luck.

What if? What if I could repel the fire-fighting thief Kai? If I can defeat the fire-beating thief, I will have hope to survive! I will have hope to continue to roam around!

It was this "if" that made the deepest part of Yokokura Keinosuke's eyes burn with a strong light called "desire to survive".

In order to survive and to withstand the fierce attack of the punitive army, Yokokura Keinosuke really risked his life - he went to the front line in person and tried to boost the morale of his subordinates by "leading the expedition in person".

But unfortunately, the effect of his courageous act... although it cannot be said to be unsatisfactory, it can also be said to be completely useless.

At this moment, the remnants of the Soma army trapped in the isolated camp all had scattered eyes and blurred eyes, and there was an indelible panic between their eyebrows. Any slight movement could make them feel as if they were facing a great enemy and terrified.

A bandit even mistook a crow flying over his head as an arrow thrown by the punitive army, and was so scared that he ran away with his head in his hands, crying and howling.

The so-called "seeing enemies everywhere" and "fear of death" are nothing more than that.

From a certain perspective, the Soma clan is well organized.

If other gangs had suffered a disastrous defeat with "more than half of their members dead or injured", they would have scattered on the same day, not to mention taking up arms to fight again.

With such low morale... one can imagine the combat effectiveness and combat performance of the bandit army.

There were only a few arrows thrown back at the expeditionary army, which was completely different from the situation 5 days ago.

You know, in the previous "pass-taking operation", the counterattack of the bandit army still caused a lot of trouble to the expeditionary army.

The fire thieves, who were composed of two professional archer teams, the first-hand bow team and the first-hand iron cannon team, and the professional musket team, did not have much of anything, but the number of arrows and bullets was sufficient.

Looking at the shogunate's territory... no, looking at the whole country of Japan at the moment, there are not many troops that can afford such a rich battle.

The continuous barrage of bullets and the endless rain of arrows formed a death net full of gunpowder smell and sharp air-breaking sounds, tightly covering the mountain stronghold of the Soma clan.

This mountain stronghold, which is luxurious in both appearance and area, looks so weak and pitiful under this big net - Qing Deng even sympathizes with this group of bandits.

In today's Japan, where the level of civilization is still in the era of cold weapons, not every person and organization has the opportunity to "taste" this kind of firepower attack where bullets and arrows are fired as if they are free.

The intensive firepower preparation lasted for nearly 20 minutes, until the arms of the soldiers of the third and eighth squads were so sore that they could hardly draw the bow, and finally stopped.

Although not many enemies were injured or shot dead, it dealt a heavy blow to the enemy's already low morale.

It was windy today.

The steep cold wind whistled across the mountains and the land, continuously carrying wisps of stench of blood, feces and urine; shrill howls and screams to the army formation of the punitive army, and to the noses and ears of Qing Deng and others.

This stench was so pungent and unpleasant, and the sound was so horrifying that it was enough to make ordinary people who did not know the use of weapons shudder and tremble with fear.

But for Qing Deng and others who had been dealing with blood and death for many years due to their duties, the stench lingering in their noses and the screams around their ears were just part of their "daily life".

Qing Deng, Kanazawa Chusuke, and Mizushima Renzaburo were all unmoved and looked normal, waiting quietly for the next order from the commander, my grandson.

My grandson Chutaro, who has delicate features, fair skin, and looks like a scholar, usually smiles and shows his side of being ruthless to the enemy, and is praised by the world as the "Dragon of Fire".

"General attack!" - My grandson calmly waved his hand forward.

Woo-woo-! Woo-woo-! Woo-woo-!

With the sound of the horn, the soldiers of the expeditionary army began to take small steps and gradually speed up.

The clanging sound of swords, guns and armor colliding gradually rose.

The awe-inspiring murderous aura connected into a hurricane that pressed directly towards the mountain stronghold.

The king, tiger and dog were still the attacking arrows of the whole army.

When the three generals jumped in front of the battle, the army of the expeditionary army suddenly surged with warm cheers from the sky to the ground. The already high morale reached a new level.

There is a saying: the general has the will to die, and the soldiers have no desire to live.

Almost everyone present had witnessed with their own eyes how brave the three generals standing in front of them were in the previous battle.

At this moment, the three generals stood at the forefront of the army again, fighting side by side with the soldiers of the army again - how could this not make people excited and raise their fists and bare their sleeves?

"Follow me!" - Kanazawa Tadashi's roar opened the prelude to the general attack!

The soldiers formed three "spikes" of basically the same size with Qing Deng, Kanazawa Tadashi and Mizushima Renzaburo as the center, and rushed forward fiercely to the mountain stronghold.

Seeing this, Yokokura Keinosuke, who was crouching on the fence of the watchtower, was furious and anxious, and shouted in a hoarse voice:

"Shoot! Shoot! The bows and cannons of the officers and soldiers have stopped! It's a good time to counterattack! Everyone, shoot!"

Instantly, the huge mountain stronghold was like a beehive that had been poked, a chicken coop that had been disturbed, and there was a lot of chaos.

Before Qing Deng and others arrived, the bandit army was in chaos.

Some people were frightened by the firepower preparation just now and completely lost their will to fight. Some stood there with pale faces, or sat on the ground with their legs trembling.

Some people were like headless flies, neither listening to orders nor going forward to fight, running around, not knowing what they were doing.

Although there were still some people who kept their minds clear and could muster up the courage to fight. But the weak counterattacks made by these few people were completely useless in front of the powerful front of the expeditionary army.

Under the command of Wang, Hu, and Quan, the expeditionary army easily reached the gate of the village as if they were walking through a street in the early morning.

The counterattacks encountered during the march were almost negligible.

What happened next... There is no need to describe it in too many words.

The Xiangma people who were about to collapse, except for opening their mouths and eyes wide, watching the expeditionary army break through their gate, what else could they do?

Swords, guns, and bows covered, shields protected, "engineers" stepped forward - the gate of the village was wide open!

Qing Deng leaped up and killed the enemy first!

A mortal being is no different from ordinary paper in front of a hundred-tempered steel knife. With just one blow, the person is dead and blood is flowing down.

While putting away the knife, Qing Deng shook the knife vigorously to shake off the residual blood on the blade, then lowered his head and glanced at the arm holding the knife, thinking to himself:

- Very good! Good recovery!

With the blessing of the talents of "Strengthening Essence" and "Fitness +1", Qing Deng's body has been largely healed and basically restored to its prime.

It's a pity that the sword can't recover naturally like the human body.

The offensive and defensive battle for the capture of the mountain road 5 days ago was so fierce that Ding Guishen was naturally "hit several times".

After the battle, Qing Deng counted the blade of Ding Guishen and found that there were as many as 7 gaps on the blade.

Fortunately, most of the gaps were small, and Qing Deng took a whetstone to grind it himself and barely repaired it. There were only two gaps that were too big to be repaired with a whetstone alone, and a professional knife maker had to be asked to help.

In a flash, Qing Deng had already rushed deep into the enemy group and killed two more bandits in an instant, and he was invincible.

Kanazawa Chusuke and Mizushima Renzaburo's attack and assault speed were no slower than Qing Deng.

Wherever the three of them went, the enemy formations retreated like waves.

The already dilapidated bandit army formation was easily torn into a large gap by the "King Tiger Dog" in a few seconds, so that the soldiers who arrived later could charge forward and break through the gate of the village.

Countless bandits were unable to escape and were smashed on the edges of the three cone arrays led by "Wang Hu Dog". They also quickly shrank back and broke into pieces like waves hitting the coast.

In the chaos, Qing Deng heard someone shouting:

"Ah! It's that guy! That evil ghost is here again!"

"Ah ah ah! Why is he so haunting!"

"I know him! He is the Niwang! 'Niwang' Tachibana Qing Deng!"

"I won't fight anymore! I won't fight anymore!"

Qing Deng turned his head and saw many bandits screaming in panic, looking at him as if they saw some monsters.

Qing Deng couldn't help but show a helpless expression when he saw this - he never thought that his face would become a weapon one day.

For the bandits who had experienced the previous battles, Qing Deng, who always rushed to the front and rushed through the barriers first for two consecutive times, was the most impressive person for them.

Seeing this man who looked like an incarnation of an evil spirit appear again, and once again raised his katana which would surely bring a new bloody storm, how could one not be frightened?

For a moment, many bandits who wanted to muster up the courage to fight the expeditionary army lost their fighting spirit after seeing Qing Deng's face, and turned around and fled in panic.

This was a one-sided battle, a battle without any ups and downs, a battle not worth writing about.

The bandits were killed and expelled by the expeditionary army like cutting melons and vegetables. Those who died died, and those who surrendered surrendered.

From the time my grandson waved his hand to give the order of "general attack" to the complete defeat of the Soma clan, less than 20 minutes had passed in total.

The shouts and screams gradually died down.

Instead, there were questions one after another:

"Where is Yokokura Keinosuke?!"

"Hey! Tell me! Where is your leader... that Yokokura Keinosuke?!"

"I found you! Yokokura Keinosuke! I took your head off!"

"Waaaaaaa——! Wait, wait a minute! I'm not Yokokura Keinosuke! Sir! You, you got the wrong person! I just happen to have a big belly like Yokokura Keinosuke! I surrender! No more fighting! Please don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"

"Go find him! Yokokura Keinosuke is a big fat guy! His body should be very conspicuous!"

As the leader of the Soma clan, the value of Yokokura Keinosuke's head is far beyond that of ordinary minions.

According to the price indicated on the wanted order, Yokokura Keinosuke's head is worth at least 50 gold.

50 gold... For the soldiers of the Fire Thief Kai, this is an incredible sum of money.

Even from a political and military perspective, personally killing the leader of the Soma clan is undoubtedly a top-notch achievement that is completely worth fighting for.

In order to get this great achievement, the soldiers of each team went crazy. They stretched their necks and looked for the huge fat man everywhere.

Due to the spread of western culture to the east, the eating habits of residents in big cities such as Edo, Osaka, and Nagasaki, which are more receptive to new things than remote rural areas, gradually changed, and more and more people began to be willing to try and accept meat.

However, even so, there are still very few people who can consume meat for a long time.

The eating habits of most people are not much different from the past, from one or two hundred years ago - the main side dishes on the table are pickled radish, tofu and other vegetarian food, and the only meat is seafood, mainly fish.

Therefore, it is not easy to raise a fat man in Japan today.

Yokokura Keinosuke's huge body is like cotton in a pile of coal - it can't be hidden even if you want to.

After a while, someone raised his hand and pointed to the northwest, shouting:

"Found it! Over there!"

Everyone, including Qing Deng, looked up - Yokokura Keinosuke was wearing a black standard haori for fire thieves that he got from somewhere. While the battlefield was still in chaos and no one had the energy to notice him, he led his seven men to flee in a panic to the northwest forest.

Because Yokokura Keinosuke was too fat, and the original owner of the haori he was wearing was obviously a thin man, Yokokura Keinosuke's two forearms and high bulging belly were all exposed outside the haori, which looked particularly funny.

Any bandit in the Soma group could be let go, but Yokokura Keinosuke, as the leader of the Soma group, was the main culprit who must be eliminated at all costs. I want to see him alive or dead.

But the mountain stronghold has not been completely pacified yet. If everyone rushes to chase Yokokura Keinosuke without any order, it will be a mess.

At this time, Kanazawa Tadashi played his role as the "deputy general of the whole army":

He looked up and shouted:

"Tachibana-kun! Mizushima-kun! Kazama-kun! You guys take your troops to chase Yokokura! The rest of you follow me to continue to clear the mountain stronghold!"

With Kanazawa Tadashi's clear instructions, everything will be easy.

In an instant, the direction of the sound suddenly changed-a large number of shouts and footsteps, like a torrent pouring out of the mountains, rushed to the northwest, in the direction where Yokokura Keinosuke fled!

"Chase! Chase!"

"Keep an eye on that fat guy! That fat guy is our target! We must not let that fat guy go!"

"Don't let that fat guy get away!"

Aoto, Mizushima Renzaburo and Kazama Nobuyoshi led their respective subordinates, namely the third, fourth and eighth squads, and plunged into the lush forest.

Instantly, the silence of the forest was broken.

The forest, which was usually quiet, as quiet as the deep sea at night, suddenly rippled.

The "ripples" connected and expanded with each other, and quickly turned into a "wave" with amazing momentum.

Countless wild birds flew out of their nests in shock, circling over the forest repeatedly, not daring to land for a long time. The fluttering sound of their wings complemented the noisy footsteps of Aoto and his group, and together formed a trumpet to urge people.

At first, everyone thought that catching the fat and easy-hearted Yokokura Keinosuke should be a very easy task.

However... everyone soon realized how wrong their thoughts were.

Although Yokokura Keinosuke was fat, his steps were surprisingly agile. He was a flexible fat man!

He bent his knees and hooked his ankles like a flying swallow that cut through the waves. He hooked a tree root that protruded high from the ground and looked like a hideous blood vessel.

He jumped onto a huge rock and then jumped into the bushes.

As he jumped, his huge belly kept shaking under the influence of gravity and inertia - this formed a funny but shocking strong contrast with his figure that walked fast and climbed mountains and waded through water as if walking on flat ground.

The bandits who followed Yokokura Keinosuke closely and escaped with him were also so agile. The rugged mountains under their feet were no different from a flat stone road.

Just a quick thought will reveal that this is just a very normal and natural thing - as a mountain bandit living near the mountains, how could he not be familiar with the mountains? How could he not be good at walking in the mountains?

On the other hand, Qing Deng and others - they are in big trouble.

Kai is a "mountain country" that has no rivals in Japan in terms of the area and complexity of the mountains. Many places have maintained their undeveloped and original "pure natural" style.

Here a tree root protrudes; there a huge rock flies up.

Here there is a primitive dense bush that is difficult to pass through; there there is a huge canyon that is bottomless.

The magic of nature has become a terrifying enemy that will bring disaster.

The soldiers of the fire thieves are basically city people who grew up in Edo. How could they have seen such a battle?

Yokokura Keinosuke is obviously very familiar with the topography of this area - he specializes in taking the kind of road that is completely uninhabited and not what normal humans should take!

Looking up: the "winding" scenery that primitive people would have to shake their heads at seeing fills every corner of the vision.

The countless rugged rocks, thick ancient trees, tangled bushes, scattered gravel, plus the occasional swamps, wild beehives and other things, all hindered Qing Deng and others' pursuit.

The "howling" battle cry of the pursuit troops gradually changed into "uh uh" screams.

Someone here accidentally stepped on empty space and sprained his ankle; someone over there accidentally kicked a stone or a tree root and fell flat on his face.

Someone here accidentally stepped into a quagmire and half of his leg sank into the mud; someone over there accidentally disturbed a beehive and was stung by wild bees as thick as thumbs.

Even Qing Deng was almost injured.

Bang!

Qing Deng felt a pain in the back of his right foot - he accidentally kicked a tree root that was covered with a layer of protective color under the cover of dense fallen leaves, and almost fell to the ground.

Fortunately, just when his face was about to come into close contact with the ground, Qing Deng relied on "Cat Turn +1" to stabilize his body in time and did not disfigure himself.

What a pity, in the pursuit team, the only person who could stabilize his body with excellent balance ability when he was about to fall was Qing Deng.

There are already countless people who stepped on empty space, tripped, and fell because of momentary negligence.

If we count the people who were unable to get up and chase Yokokura Keinosuke due to other reasons such as stepping into the mud and startling wild bees... the current non-combat casualties of the pursuit team have reached a very scary level.

The complex and changeable road conditions in the mountains are also a great test of physical strength.

For the same distance, the mountains consume more energy than the flat land.

Although some people were not injured, they slowly fell behind due to lack of physical strength.

Under the dual pressure of physical strength and complex road conditions, the pursuit team's originally very tight formation was constantly stretched and scattered, and finally became scattered. A lump here, a piece there, uneven. Looking down from above, it looks like a handful of "black pepper powder" that was thrown everywhere.

One side is difficult to move forward and has difficulty in taking a step; the other side is like a fish entering the sea and a dragon born in the sky - the distance between the two sides is getting bigger and bigger.

At the same time, there are trees, rocks, vines and other objects blocking the view.

Therefore... although he was very unwilling, the huge figure of Yokokura Keinosuke still escaped from the eyes of hundreds of soldiers in the pursuit team.

In order to catch Yokokura Keinosuke, Qing Deng and others had worked hard to chase him so far. If they returned empty-handed, it would be really unbearable.

As a last resort, Qing Deng and others could only split up their troops - Qing Deng, Mizushima Renzaburo and Kazama Nobuyoshi led their respective subordinates to search in different directions.

"Third Division, follow me!"

In the third division, there were only 32 soldiers who had not fallen behind and could continue to move forward to catch up with Qing Deng.

After hearing Qing Deng's call, the remaining soldiers had to cheer up and follow Qing Deng closely.

Qing Deng would naturally not be stupid enough to run around and search aimlessly like a headless fly.

At this critical moment, Qing Deng's "Wind Perceiver" came to the rescue in time!

Listening to the sound to determine the location - this is Qing Deng's specialty who is currently practicing Yunliu Ninjutsu!

Qing Deng closed his eyes and skillfully relied on the extraordinary hearing born from the superposition of "Concentration" and "Wind Perception" to search and identify the location of Yokokura Keinosuke. He used his left hand to push away the bushes and his right hand to cut the vines with a knife; while shuttling through the mountains and fields, he kept his ears pointed high, not missing any slight sound around him.

Whether this would be effective... Qing Deng was not sure.

In the final analysis, this way of searching was just a matter of luck.

If Yokokura Keinosuke did not escape to the location that Qing Deng was responsible for, then no matter how powerful Qing Deng's ears were, no matter how hard he listened, it would be useless.

The harsh and harsh road conditions, where one could fall flat on one's back if not careful, had already made the soldiers of the third squad exhausted and depressed.

The road ahead is full of the fog called "unknown"; the feeling that the outcome depends entirely on luck is very devastating.

Under the pressure of both sides, the morale of the third squad has dropped rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

About 20 minutes later, Qing Deng heard an impatient shout from behind:

"Hey! Master Tachibana! Is this the right road you took us? We have been walking along this road for a long time! Not to mention the bandit chief Yokogura, there is not even a bird dropping!"

The owner of this shout is Akabane Koichiro, who is the most hostile to Qing Deng in the third squad and has the worst relationship with Qing Deng.

At this time, Akabane looked very embarrassed - his waist was bent as if it was about to break, his hands were tightly supporting his knees, he was panting, and his body was covered with hot sweat, which soaked the outermost layer of the feather webbing on his body.

While he was attacking Qing Deng, he cast a look full of irritation and impatience at Qing Deng.

Akabane is like a megaphone - he speaks for many people and expresses their inner thoughts.

There is no need to inquire one by one. Just by simply observing their expressions, you can find that there are many people with a lot of resentment on their faces full of fatigue.

Physical exhaustion and the unsuccessful search had completely worn away their little remaining patience.

Just when Qingdeng was about to say something... suddenly! A wisp of mountain breeze brought a faint sound of footsteps!

The mountains and wilderness are no better than the city.

The only sounds that can be heard in this primitive jungle are just the chirping of birds and the chirping of insects.

In such an environment, Yokokura Kinosuke's rapid breathing and heavy footsteps are particularly obvious!

Qingdeng made a decision immediately, turned around following the sound, turned his head and shouted to the people behind him:

"Over here! Follow me!"

The team members didn't know why, and they didn't bother to complain about this or criticize that. They all followed Qingdeng's back like a flock of sheep following a sheepdog.

Qingdeng, and the soldiers who followed Qingdeng, flew across patches of dusty ground.

The mud splashed by human feet kept slapping against the hem of the hakama tube.

Under the sunlight, the continuous woods reflecting bright green colors are constantly being left behind.

As the body gallops forward, similar scenery is constantly updated.

For a moment, a very familiar figure appeared in Qingdeng's eyes - his belly was as big as a ball. He was followed by several subordinates who had escaped together. His chest and shoulders were rising and falling violently due to rapid breathing.

It’s none other than Keinosuke Yokokura!

Aoto and Yokokura Keinosuke discovered each other almost at the same time, in no particular order.

At the same moment when Aoto discovered Yokokura Kinosuke, Yokokura Kinosuke also heard a strange noise coming from behind him.

He turned around and met Qingden's eyes.

Keinosuke Yokokura used practical actions to explain to Aonto: What "wonderful" expressions people can make when they are extremely frightened.

Qingto heard Yokokura Keinosuke yelling a curse word from a distance.

Immediately afterwards, the flexible fat man turned his gaze back to the front and ran for his life regardless.

Seeing this, Qingdeng waved his hand and ordered the subordinates behind him to "follow up."

A new round of fierce pursuit begins in the deserted Kaibi Mountains!

This is a confrontation of perseverance.

Even Yokokura Kinosuke and others who are accustomed to dealing with mountains are inevitably a little overwhelmed after running away in the mountains for such a long time.

Their steps began to slow down and their bodies were no longer stable. When jumping on rocks and tree roots, his movements are no longer as flexible and agile as before.

This is true even for this group of bandits, let alone Qingdeng and his party who have basically no experience in "mountain combat".

Ayoto has the foundation of cloud-ryu ninjutsu footwork, and also has the "cat turn +1" that can improve his mountain mobility, as well as the "iron lung", "strong muscles +1" and other talents that can enhance his physical strength. Blessings, so there is still strength left.

But the rest of the team members... they don't have Qingdeng's abnormal physical fitness.

In this situation, problems are a sure thing.

Sure enough - a voice full of hard work and boredom suddenly sounded behind Qingdeng:

"No more! No more! I can't run anymore!"

It's Akabane again.

I saw Akabane, who was sweating more than before and looking more embarrassed than before. Regardless of the dirt on the ground, he was lying on his side on a thick and long tree root - looking like he would be there no matter the wind or rain. The King of Heaven is here, and I can’t stand up again.

As a kind of creature that will die if it does not live in groups, human beings are very blindly obedient.

No matter what it is, as long as someone can start it, countless people will dare to follow it openly.

As Akabane became the first "crab eater", more and more people who were already exhausted and wanted to stop and rest followed suit.

For a time, the soldiers of the Third Division were lying or lying down in large numbers, "merging" with the ground beneath them.

As for the rest of the people, they were basically hesitant. They looked at Qingto, and then at Akabane and others who stopped and made it clear that they were "not going on strike anymore." They didn't know what to choose now.

"..." Qingdeng was speechless.

He quietly stared at the motionless subordinates behind him.

Then slowly stop walking.

Stopped.

Happy New Year everyone! (Baoxi.jpg)

The author has returned to his hometown. But as a conscientious author known for his diligence, how could he give up coding just because he returned to his hometown? So the author just finished coding this chapter on a mobile phone in a rickety car.

It was very hard to write! (Leopard Death.jpg) What’s even more frightening is that in the next few days, the author will have to use his mobile phone to code...

For the sake of the author’s conscientiousness, even if he only has a mobile phone, he still has to fight for his life to update it, so please give this book a monthly vote!

Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation! (Leopard head crying.jpg)