Chapter 1016: He's Not Human
A mere dozen of Ding Qirui's personal guards were the first to rush forward and confront Li Daoxuan.
Against a single man, there seemed no need to deploy a multitude.
Ding Qirui's order was explicit: "Take this man down." Consequently, his personal guards advanced, weapons sheathed, their hands bare.
A flurry of fists rained down on Li Daoxuan, but the only sound was a series of dull thuds. Moments later, several guards recoiled, clutching their bruised fists.
Li Daoxuan, however, remained utterly unperturbed. He didn't swerve from his path, nor did his confident stride falter. He simply continued to advance, as if the attacks hadn't even registered.
Ding Qirui frowned, a puzzled "Hmm?" escaping his lips.
A knowing, silent mirth flickered across Zhao Bazong's face, echoed by his men. They had anticipated this exact outcome.
Undeterred, another wave of guards surged forward, raining down a barrage of punches and kicks. One even resorted to a low, vicious kick aimed below the belt.
Yet, the result remained precisely the same.
Ding Qirui's eyes widened in utter shock.
“Arm yourselves!” the captain of the personal guards roared, his voice laced with alarm.
Immediately, several men snatched up their long spears and drew their waist-swords.
Such weapons, striking flesh, were designed to kill.
On a battlefield, however, mercy was a luxury rarely afforded. When the moment came to strike, a soldier's hand would never falter.
A volley of long spears plunged simultaneously towards Li Daoxuan.
“Clang! Clang! Clang!”
The spearheads, having barely grazed his skin, met an impenetrable resistance, as if striking solid steel. With a sharp clang, they recoiled violently, sending their wielders stumbling back several paces.
Swordsmen who lunged forward found their blades deflecting off Li Daoxuan's raised arm. The impact generated another series of sharp clangs, twisting their blades and sending agonizing jolts through their wrists.
A collective gasp of horror rippled through the ranks. “What... what sort of monster is he?” someone cried out.
“Ah, to preserve my dashing good looks,” Li Daoxuan quipped, a hint of amusement in his voice, “I suppose I must don a mask.”
With a theatrical flourish, he produced a metal mask and settled it over his features.
Curiously, the mask bore a painted likeness of his own face, perfectly mirroring his features.
“What an utterly bizarre affectation!” muttered one soldier, bewildered.
Despite their baffled murmurs, the confrontation continued. Li Daoxuan maintained his steady, relentless advance towards Ding Qirui, his pace unwavering.
“Charge! Charge! Take down this fiend!”
The border guards, finally sensing the true abnormality, swarmed him with renewed ferocity. This time, every conceivable weapon—swords, spears, halberds, and more—was brought to bear against Li Daoxuan.
The air filled with a dense, unceasing clangor of metal striking metal. Yet, for all their concentrated force, every single attack proved utterly ineffective.
Li Daoxuan casually swung a fist, connecting with a guard directly in his path. The man screamed, launching backward to land spreadeagled on the ground.
“Out of my way,” Li Daoxuan stated, his voice calm. “I only deal with those who impede my path.”
Having delivered his warning, he paid no mind to the flurry of attacks from his flanks and rear, simply continuing his unwavering march forward.
The scene was nothing short of terrifying!
From atop his horse, Ding Qirui watched the chaotic skirmish unfold below him.
The terrifying figure allowed a torrent of weapons to clang and hack against him, yet he advanced as if utterly impervious, steadily drawing closer. The painted face on his iron mask seemed to be widening into a mocking grin...
“Stop him! For the love of all that is holy, stop him!” Ding Qirui shrieked, a sound both desperate and utterly undignified.
But he could not be stopped.
Spears snapped, waist-swords blunted and chipped, yet not a single blow could halt the man's relentless progress.
“He must be wearing iron armor beneath his robes!” someone yelled, grasping for an explanation.
“How thick could it possibly be?” another retorted. “My spear would punch through standard armor with ease!”
“It would have to be at least two inches of solid iron plate!”
“Impossible! Think of the weight of two-inch-thick iron!”
“Beyond the weight, he’d be bulked up, bloated! Yet he clearly has an ordinary physique.”
“Bloody hell! Nothing's working!”
“Just stop him!”
Li Daoxuan continued his inexorable advance, each step towards Ding Qirui a measured, demonic tread.
Ding Qirui was utterly unnerved, his composure shattered. Even his warhorse, sensing the unnatural dread, began to shy back, its hooves scraping nervously at the ground.
Even the animal’s primal instincts screamed that the advancing figure was not of this world.
“What... what in the heavens are you?” Ding Qirui stammered, his voice thin.
Li Daoxuan chuckled, tilting his head back. The painted face on his mask seemed to mirror his amusement. “I am an emissary sent by the Heavens to reward the virtuous and punish the wicked,” he said. “Do you believe me?”
“I believe you like I believe in ghosts!” Ding Qirui scoffed, trying to regain some semblance of dignity.
Just then, a sword slashed towards him from the side, ringing against Li Daoxuan’s shoulder. With a swift backhand, he seized the blade. His bare hand gripped the sharpened edge, yet no blood flowed. The soldier who had swung the sword stared in horrified disbelief, then dropped his weapon and stumbled backward.
Li Daoxuan snatched the sword, then, with a casual flick of his wrist, hurled it at Ding Qirui, a whimsical cry accompanying the throw: “Feast your eyes! Little Li’s Flying Dagger!”
His “Little Li’s Flying Dagger” was, admittedly, far from its legendary precision. The blade spun wildly, whizzing past Ding Qirui’s ear by a good half-meter, missing its target completely.
Yet that near-miss alone was enough to send Ding Qirui into a paroxysm of terror. With a guttural cry of alarm, he tumbled ungracefully from his saddle.
His attendants scrambled to steady him, pulling him back to his feet.
The warhorse, already spooked by Li Daoxuan’s unnerving presence, bolted the moment its rider fell. It whirled around and galloped away, vanishing from sight in a blink.
“Wait! My horse!” Ding Qirui exclaimed, aghast.
That momentary distraction proved costly. He looked up to see Li Daoxuan had closed the distance by several more steps.
“Argh! Everyone, quick, form a line! Stop this monster!” he shrieked, his voice cracking.
By now, every man present had sensed the profound truth: Li Daoxuan was not human. The border guards, who moments ago had charged bravely, now began to timidly fall back, their courage utterly broken.
Only a brave, or foolish, few dared to remain directly in Li Daoxuan’s path.
Li Daoxuan casually kicked aside another obstruction, then, with a blur of motion, covered the remaining ground and appeared directly before Ding Qirui.
Ding Qirui’s personal retainers, loyal unto death, lunged forward with a desperate yell. One flung himself at Li Daoxuan, locking his arms around the man’s waist. “Master, flee!” he cried out, straining with all his might. “I’ll hold this monster back!”
“Oh, the melodrama,” Li Daoxuan scoffed, an amused, detached tone in his voice. “Imagine if I pummeled your back a few times right now, and you gasped out those words while spitting blood? Wouldn’t that be even *more* dramatic? The audience would be weeping, truly.”
The retainer merely blinked, bewildered.
Ding Qirui let out a desperate yelp, scrambling to turn and flee.
Before he could escape, Li Daoxuan casually hoisted the clinging retainer into the air, treating him like a mere projectile. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled the man directly at Ding Qirui...
“Thud!”
The human projectile slammed into Ding Qirui, sending him sprawling to the dust.
Li Daoxuan took a single, deliberate stride forward, then planted his foot squarely on Ding Qirui’s chest, pinning him to the earth.
The surrounding soldiers froze, every man utterly rigid.
Ding Qirui was petrified, his courage evaporated. He desperately wanted to shriek for mercy, but the profound humiliation of a high official begging for his life prevented the words from forming. Such a loss of face was, for him, a fate worse than death itself...
The plea for his life remained trapped in his throat, choked by pride and terror, unable to escape.
Li Daoxuan, however, had no intention of killing him. He simply maintained his foot on Ding Qirui’s chest, then turned his gaze to Wang Ji, who stood nearby, gaping like a fish out of water. “Official Wang,” Li Daoxuan observed, a slight shake of his head, “you, at least, handle matters with considerably more grace. Two days ago, we conversed without a single blow struck. But with this esteemed Official Ding? Well... *tsk, tsk, tsk*... what a pity!”
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