Desert Knife

The wind in the northern desert carries a knife. The yellow sand rolled up the gravel and hit the rock wall of the dry river bed, making a crackling sound, like countless knives grinding their teeth in the dark. Ling Zhanchen was half-kneeling behind the cracked soil slope. His black armor was cut three times with blood by the knife. The wound on his lower back was still bleeding, but he didn't notice it at all. He just tightened the half-foot-wide "sand-breaking knife" in his hand. The blade had a cold, matte sheen, and the blood of the imperial soldiers on the blade had been half-dried by the wind and sand, condensing into dark brown marks. The sound of fighting behind them was gradually fading, and the Dayong Court's "West-Suppressing Army" flooded through the Jianghu people's temporary camp like a tide. Three months ago, Emperor Dayong was obsessed with pleasure, re-appointed Wei Song, the treacherous prime minister, imposed exorbitant taxes, and even ordered the massacre of Jianghu sects that refused to surrender. The swordsmen from various states rose up in anger and gathered more than 200 masters under the motto of "killing the traitors and bringing peace to the people." Unexpectedly, Wei Song had already made arrangements and sent General Zhao Lin of Zhenxi to lead a surprise attack with 5,000 cavalry. The strongholds in the Central Plains and northwest were destroyed one after another. The remaining swordsmen and the people oppressed by the imperial court were forced to flee all the way, and finally escaped into the depths of the desolate northern desert. "Brother Ling! Take the folks away quickly! I'll take the rear!" A roar pierced the wind and sand. Ling Zhanchen turned around and saw Zhou Tietie, a former blacksmith, waving a pair of iron knives and hacking down three soldiers of the Western Suppression Army to the ground. Zhou Tieben was the shopkeeper of the largest blacksmith shop in the northwest. Because he refused to make a standard saber for the Zhenxi Army, his house was confiscated and his family was exterminated. He was the only one left to escape and join the rebel army. At this moment, he was hit by an arrow in the back, and the feathers of the arrow penetrated his chest, but he still stood guard at the entrance of the camp. No one could get close to him amid the flash of swords.