148 The Journey North 8

Qin Feng gave out one last curse before he lunged at the closest of the five newcomers that were charging towards the quartet. From the corner of his eye, he could tell that the Second Ducal Prince and his Bodyguards were barely capable of holding off the attack of that first ambusher.

Another piece of good news was that Lieutenant Wei seemed to have survived the sudden assault, and was busy holding off yet another of the newcomers. However, that wasn't enough to lighten Qin Feng's mood.

He was hardly a match for four of them by himself!

A hail of arrows flew at the quartet of enemies just as that thought crossed his mind. Which was enough to make the four of them fend off the same. That was enough to upset their pace, stopping two of them in their tracks as they fended off the missiles with their swords. The other pair, however, continued to charge at Qin Feng, who quickly raised his sword to defend.

He barely blocked the slash from the faster of the two before the second of the fur-clad attackers tried to cut at his throat. Qin Feng backed away from that second attack, and shifted his weight towards the first 'Barbarian'. He had managed to bind that one's sword as he parried, so the fellow was clearly not expecting a counter from him.

White Jade Hands: Eclipse the Moon!

His left hand struck as soon as he was close enough, and caught the man in the rib-cage, drawing a soft grunt and pushing him away in a hurry. But Qin Feng knew that the injury that he had just inflicted was next to negligible when the fur-clad fellow landed on his feet.

But Qin Feng no longer had the opportunity, nor the inclination, to deal with him. The next assailant, a fellow with sunken cheeks and a sour disposition, was already in front of him and making yet another attack!

Which was enough to draw a curse from his lips, as he fought to parry the unusual thrust that the enemy was employing against him. Fortunately, the sword in his hand managed to catch, and block the strange slashing attack, and divert it to the side.

Then Qin Feng gritted his teeth and threw a sword move of his own back at the skinny man pretending to be a Barbarian:

Four Seasons Sword: Shards of Winter Frost!

That the one attack that he had practiced the most, out of the four movements of the Four Season Sword. And his fight with the Barbarians and the old man at the Army Camp had only honed his understanding of the same. Added to the fact that the pinched-faced fellow had just had his own sword thrust parried, and was a little off-balanced, Qin Feng's weapon wove through the hasty, almost frantic defense of his enemy smoothly!

His sword penetrated the chest of the pinched-faced man that he was facing, sending a warm red spray all over Qin Feng's hand. He almost flinched, but punched out with his left fist instead, pummeling his victim in the face and pushing him back so that Qin Feng could retract his blade. Then, quickly, he swung the weapon again, dragging its edge across his opponent's neck.

He had learned that being kind to one's enemy was the same as being cruel to oneself. And, he reminded himself, this was not the first time that he had killed.

Still, that particular move had slowed him down somewhat, and allowed another of the false Barbarians a stab at his back. He ducked, a little too late, and ended up receiving a sword strike on his left shoulder blade. He cried out, in pain and anger, and whirled to slash at the one who had marked him. But the fur-clad fellow had jumped back, even as he waved for his remaining companion to attack as well.

Qin Feng grunted as he shifted his position, trying his best to keep both of the remaining assailants in sight. He knew that he had already overdrawn his strength. Then he remembered that there was another enemy behind him. A quick glance to the rear told him that the one who had been first to attack him was now engaged with Lieutenant Wei.

Somehow, the tall lieutenant had managed to kill off his first opponent, and was now harrying the fellow. Which was almost sufficient to make Qin Feng give out a sigh of relief. Despite the fact that Lieutenant Wei had drawn away one of the quartet that had originally targeted him, he didn't really have very much confidence in dealing these last two idiots that he was blocking.

All he could hope for was to hold them off for a while. And pray that either the Second Ducal Prince or his Bodyguards, or Lieutenant Wei, would come to his aid once they were done with their own opponents!

Both of them looked nondescript, although one was older than the other. He also had a bit of a paunch, which unfortunately did not slow him down, much to Qin Feng's disgust. And both of them seemed to have worked together before, he realized, when they both moved to strike at him at the same time!

Another foul curse burst from his lips immediately, as he tried to back away from the pair. His Four Seasons Swordplay was barely enough to ward off one of the blows, the other sword leaving a shallow cut on his left thigh as he twisted his body to evade the attacks.

And the fellow who had left that mark on him was quick to retreat too, when he tried to counterattack. But that was only a feint, to allow to jump away another three, four steps. The other enemy was clearly waiting for him to commit, so that he can take advantage of the opening presented.

Which was enough to confirm his original guess; these two had worked together before! How else would they have been able to coordinate their assault so well?

That realization was enough to make Qin Feng grit his teeth, and hiss another foul curse. How was he supposed to get out of this one?

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