Chapter 58: Jingke Mountain’s Gourd Valley, Wang Lun Battles Three Generals Alone
It is said that when the Chief of the Mountain Stronghold, Wang Lun, spoke those words, the three generals with Golden Sabers on this side began to size him up!
I saw that this leader was well-featured, with a face like jade, eyebrows like spring mountains, eyes like bright stars, and a straight nose and square mouth.
He wore a three-pronged golden hairpin to tie his hair, and a moon-white headscarf inlaid with a beaded forehead band!
He was clad in beast-face swallowing-head linked armor, with Sichuan brocade white robes underneath!
A moon-white cloak hung from his shoulders, and an exquisite lion mane belt was tied around his waist!
He rode a Thousand-Mile Black-and-White Leopard, and in his hand he held a Tiger-Head Black-Shaft Black-Tasseled Spear, truly majestic and imposing!
After Shen Ran observed him, he couldn’t help but praise him inwardly:
“What a majestic vagabond!
It’s a pity this person is not employed by the Imperial Court, otherwise he would surely become a fierce general experienced in battle!”
Suddenly, they heard Sitting Tiger Zhu Ke shout:
“Hey! Listening to your voice, you admit you are the White-Robed Demon King Wang Lun?
That’s for the best!
I thought I would have come to Gourd Valley in vain this time, but I didn’t expect you to actually be here!
Hehe! It’s truly a case of searching high and low without success, only to find it when you least expect it!
You probably don’t even know it yourself!
The Imperial Court has set terms with all the officials and generals in every prefecture in the realm to capture you!
Whoever can bring you to the Eastern Capital will be promoted three ranks, become a Marquis and Prime Minister!
Furthermore, Grand Commandant Gao of the Palace Guard has also stated that whoever captures you and delivers you to the Eastern Capital will be richly rewarded!
Now, you, Wang Lun, Chief of the Mountain Stronghold, are a living merit for all of us generals!
This general advises you to be sensible and surrender obediently!
If you do so, you might live a few more days!
Otherwise, if we start fighting, we’ll only be able to bring your corpse to the Eastern Capital!…”
Listening to this fellow babbling incessantly, Wang Lun couldn’t help but chuckle:
“Who are you, to dare to be so boastful?
Don’t you know that my Black Tasseled Spear kills people?
You have time for all that nonsense, why not come over and fight directly! Let this Chief of the Mountain Stronghold see how skilled you are!”
Saying this, he urged his horse forward, leveled his spear, and suddenly shouted:
“Listen closely, you three official generals, this Chief of the Mountain Stronghold has been waiting here for a long time!
Today, it is not you who will take me, Wang Lun, to the Eastern Capital, but this Chief of the Mountain Stronghold who will capture you and take you to Liangshan Marsh!”
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhu Ke became enraged and, tightening his Exquisite Painted Halberd, galloped his horse to attack Wang Lun.
“Haha! Well come!”
Wang Lun laughed loudly, wielded his spear to parry, and the two began to fight.
Zhu Ke was quite capable, and fought Wang Lun for over ten rounds with his halberd!
As their horses passed each other, Wang Lun suddenly feigned a thrust, and Zhu Ke, unable to react in time, was struck on the shoulder and fell from his horse!
Before he could get up, Lively Granny Wang Dingliu, who was nearby, rushed over, placed a foot on his chest, and held a dagger to his neck!
Zhu Ke, before he could even react, shouted:
“Wang Dingliu, are you crazy? Why are you capturing this general?”
Wang Dingliu sneered: “Hehe! Let me reintroduce myself, I am the Lively Granny Wang Dingliu, one of the Heroes of Liangshan!
I advise General Zhu Ke not to move rashly!
Otherwise, I cannot guarantee whether this dagger will make you a ghost at the saber’s tip.”
“Wang Dingliu, so you are in league with that scoundrel Wang Lun?” Shen Ran exclaimed upon seeing this.
“Haha! General Shen Ran, please do not blame me!”
Wang Dingliu, with the dagger at Zhu Ke’s neck, pulled a rope from his body!
He then tied Zhu Ke up, laughing as he did so:
“My Brother Wang Lun heard that all the generals from Jiankang Prefecture are fierce generals experienced in battle, and he felt a desire to recruit talented individuals!
Therefore, he specifically sent me to Jiankang Prefecture to invite you generals for a visit to Gourd Valley!
Brother Wang Lun also wants to take this opportunity to get to know you all well!”
Saying this, the fellow glanced towards the valley entrance and then laughed:
“To be honest, my Brother Wang Lun has already set up a perfect trap here!
After you generals stepped into Gourd Valley, the area outside the valley entrance was already blocked!
Therefore, you all have only one path to take now, which is to honestly lay down your weapons, surrender, and submit to my Brother Wang Lun!”
Before he finished speaking, Golden Mace General Xu Tao let out a cold snort:
“Hmph! You good-for-nothing Wang Dingliu!
I considered you a brother all along, and you dare to deceive me like this?”
Without waiting for Wang Dingliu to reply, the Chief of the Mountain Stronghold, Wang Lun, chuckled:
“Everything Brother Wang Dingliu has done was at my command!
Therefore, you two generals should not blame him anymore!
Since you two do not intend to surrender, then I will have to make a move!”
As soon as he said this, Xu Tao did not reply, but directly urged his horse forward, brandishing his two golden maces and striking down.
Wang Lun quickly raised his spear to parry, and they fought for dozens of rounds without a clear victor!
Shen Ran, seeing this from the side, immediately shouted:
“Brother, do not panic, let me lend you a hand!”
Saying this, he swung his Gold-Backed Broadsword and charged forward!
Wang Lun, seeing this, quickly blocked the broadsword with his spear, then used the spear shaft to hold off Xu Tao’s golden mace, fighting two generals alone.
The three of them turned and circled like a revolving lantern, their twelve hooves “dada dada” kicking up dust, their six arms waving their weapons like flowers and butterflies!
In the blink of an eye, they had fought for over twenty rounds, with no clear winner!
Shen Ran, while fighting, secretly thought:
“This Wang Lun is skilled in combat, proficient with his spear, and possesses great strength!
Even if Xu Tao and I join forces, it will be difficult to defeat him quickly!
It seems I still need to use a plan to force him off his horse!”
With a decision made in his heart, he slashed out with his saber, then deliberately and slowly retracted the saber handle!
Wang Lun, how could he miss such an opportunity?
He immediately used his Black Tasseled Spear to press down, hooking the saber handle of the Gold-Backed Broadsword. Then he urged his horse forward, about to reach out and grab Shen Ran’s armor belt!
Unexpectedly, Shen Ran suddenly switched his grip, rotated the saber’s grip, and thrust towards the Chief of the Mountain Stronghold’s face!
Seeing this, Wang Lun thought, “This is bad!” He quickly dodged his head, swayed his body, clasped his horse’s saddle, avoided the saber’s grip, and his warhorse bolted forward!
In this way, he avoided Shen Ran’s saber thrust to his face, but as his warhorse bolted forward, he encountered Xu Tao again!
Without a word, Xu Tao struck at the back of Wang Lun’s saddle with a mace!
Wang Lun, seeing this, quickly used his spear shaft backward, and with a “clang,” deflected the golden mace!
After the three separated, they each turned their horses and came back!
Wang Lun, far from being angry, was even more excited, and laughed, saying:
“Haha! It seems Brother Wang Dingliu did not lie to me, Generals Shen Ran and Xu Tao are indeed fierce generals!
That’s good, if you two were too weak, I would have been wondering if it was worth it to lure you here!”
Hearing this, Shen Ran couldn’t help but sneer:
“You vagabond does not have as high martial arts skills as imagined!
Let alone today with my brother and I joining forces, even if it were just one of us, capturing you would be easy!”
“Brother, there’s no need to waste words with him, let’s capture him first!” Xu Tao said coldly.
Seeing the two generals urge their horses to attack again, Wang Lun couldn’t help but laugh heartily:
“Haha! I was just testing your martial arts skills a moment ago!
You don’t really think this Chief of the Mountain Stronghold only has such meager abilities, do you?…”
