Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 78 Killing Mu Renyu

Zhu Wen was indeed very curious about how such a stupid person like Mu Renyu could have become the governor and survived until now.

But history is full of similar cases. Someone who behaves foolishly on the battlefield may be quite skilled in officialdom, even if their foolishness on the battlefield is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

For example, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a great general named Lu Shuang, known for his martial arts prowess and nicknamed "Ten Thousand Enemies." He was also known for his playful nickname, "Girl." On the battlefield, he encountered Xue Andu, the sixth-generation ancestor of General Xue Rengui. Lu Shuang deployed his battle formation, but, dazed by alcohol, Xue Andu charged and stabbed him to death with a spear.

Thinking of the history that Lan Suting had told him not long ago, Zhu Wen felt that Tian Jun, the alcoholic, should also control her drinking, especially since she was now addicted to the liquor developed by Huang Chao...

"Tian Jun, give Jiedu Mu a few arrows." Zhu Wen ordered.

If Junior Sister Duan Hongyan was here, it shouldn't be a problem for Mu Jiedu, who was speeding down the hillside and was as conspicuous as a big target, to be here.

As for Tian Jun's archery skills, they were far inferior, even not as good as An Renyi, the "White Tiger" of the Nebula Twenty-Eight Riders. But after all, she was trained by Kou Qianzhi, so she could use them for the time being.

A sharpshooter who never misses his arrow is much rarer than a brave general, and is something you can only come across by chance.

The Xuanwu Army knights originally wanted to charge together with Jiedushi Mu Renyu - because of the unpaid wages, they would not move unless Jiedushi Mu led the charge personally.

However, Gao Siji's escape from the battle formation and Mu Jiedu's furious pursuit of him up the mountain left them completely bewildered, not knowing whether they should follow him or not.

With Mu Jiedu's powerful sword and swift cavalry, it would be no problem for him to deal with the deserter. Furthermore, the front of the formation in the mountains was narrow. If they rashly climbed the hillside, what if the opposing bandit cavalry attacked the open gate vacated by their own side?

This kind of consideration made even the personal soldiers of Jiedushi Mu Renyu take no action for the time being.

But Zhu Wen had already unsheathed the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow Sword and rode up the mountain.

Gao Siji should also be able to return fire. Zhu Wen thought, after all, he was from Youzhou and was brought up by General Kou. Unfortunately, he was also a sincere man, having served Mu Renyu before. So, even when Mu Renyu was chasing him, he wouldn't be willing to draw his bow and shoot him. Otherwise, if Mu Renyu was shot head-on and dodged, it would have been much easier for him to sneak up on him and kill him.

Mu Renyu's personal soldiers would definitely not just stand there. They had a chance to kill the governor of a town, so how could they miss it?

Tian Jun immediately took action. Although she bullied Gao Siji, she also had feelings for him. How could Mu Renyu chase and chop down her own little brother?
Tian Jun used his thumb to hold the bowstring, then grabbed a handful of arrows with his fingertips, separating them. This was the key to rapid firing. This method of rapid shooting, invented by the Hu people on the steppes, could release arrows as fast as a torrential rain. It was said that the army of Attila the Hun used this archery technique to defeat the Romans.

Unfortunately, she was not Duan Hongyan or Kou Qianzhi after all. Although her archery power was like a meteor chasing the moon, her accuracy was not very good. Several arrows flew past Mu Renyu's head half a meter away, and Mu Renyu didn't even need to dodge. He was surprised at first, but after realizing that his archery skills were just so-so, he couldn't help laughing.

Mu Renyu turned back and shot an arrow, which hit the horse under Tian Jun's seat directly in the mouth and passed through the throat. The poor horse screamed miserably and fell dead on the spot.

Zhu Wen sighed in his heart. This war horse was bought for her by him on the way to Mount Tai, and he spent his own money.

He spurred his horse and drew his sword, heading straight for Mu Renyu.

Mu Renyu shouted loudly and drew his sword to fight. The sword was so powerful that it seemed like a towering mountain, crushing down.

As soon as they clashed, Zhu Wen realized that the opponent's sword was indeed powerful. Although Mu Jiedu was a bit reckless and impulsive, he was indeed a fierce general.

Mu Renyu was also quite tall, taller than Meng Kai. Although he was not as tall as Shang Rang's brother Shang Junchang, who was ten feet tall, he was still half a head taller than Zhu Wen.

It seems that it is too arrogant to think that I can defeat Mu Jiedu in just a few moves by myself.

"That young man Gao is my sworn brother. I cannot let Governor Mu kill him." Zhu Wen said, "After that young man has gone far away, how about we each return to our respective formations and decide the outcome later?"

Mu Renyu was stunned. He also realized that Zhu Wen's swordsmanship was very skilled, and it would be difficult for him to kill him. Although he was confident that his swordsmanship was not inferior to this kid, even Kou Qianzhi died at his hands. The other party might have some hidden tricks, so it was better to be cautious.

Thinking of this, Mu Renyu gave up the idea of ​​chasing Gao Siji and prepared to retreat down the mountain.

He certainly did not relax his guard against Zhu Wen, and switched his sword from offensive to defensive, preventing Zhu Wen from using any unexpected tricks to attack him. A man should not underestimate the young, and he should not be careless with Huang Chao's disciples.

But at that moment, Mu Renyu heard an extremely angry roar, and then a snake spear was thrown towards him like a comet hitting the moon. Perhaps because Mu Renyu stopped his horse to challenge Zhu Wen, Tian Jun's snake spear throwing seemed much more accurate than her archery.

Mu Renyu heard the sound of the wind and hurriedly blocked Zhu Wen's sword, then turned his sword over to block it.

With Jiedushi Mu's skills, it was quite common for him to block the arrow with a knife. However, when he swung his knife to block, he found that the power of the snake spear was incredibly great.

Zhu Wen was also slightly surprised. He didn't expect that although Tian Jun's martial arts skills were far inferior to Alliance Leader Wang, he and Wang Xianzhi both had extremely strong explosive power.

Before Wang Xianzhi exploded, he could fight with "Heavenly Blade" Song Jue for dozens of rounds. After he exploded, he used the "Big Stele Smashing Hand" to smash Song Jue and his horse into a meat pie.

Tian Jun shot Mu Renyu several times but missed. Mu Renyu shot Tian Jun's horse dead with one arrow, which made Tian Jun very embarrassed. She shot out with her full strength, and the power contained in it far exceeded her usual physical limit.

Mu Renyu swung his sword to block the snake spear, but the snake spear was only slightly deflected and passed through Mu Renyu's leg and the warhorse under him.

Mu Renyu's warhorse was covered with a thin leather armor, but it could not withstand the piercing of the snake spear. The horse let out a miserable cry and fell to the ground dead on the spot.

The change in posture caused by falling from his horse made Mu Renyu's original preparations for defending against Zhu Wen instantly useless.

Zhu Wen's sword suddenly accelerated, whizzing past like a blood-red afterimage. Before Mu Renyu could react, Zhu Wen slashed through the gap between his helmet and armor, but was blocked by his neck, severing only a third of the blade.

Mu Renyu's whole body convulsed in pain, but his trachea and blood vessels had been severed, leaving him unable to resist. Zhu Wen pinned Mu Renyu to the ground and hacked at him several times before finally removing his head.

All this happened in a flash, and no one else had time to react.

Mu Renyu was over forty, but his physical fitness hadn't declined at all, his strength and attack skills were considerable. Zhu Wen knew that in a normal duel, he and his opponent would probably end in a draw after more than fifty rounds—this also took into account that the hillside would not allow Mu Renyu to fully utilize his cavalry skills. If they fought on flat ground, Zhu Wen, who was not good at cavalry, might even be at a disadvantage.

As a result, because of the sudden incident of Tian Jun throwing his spear in anger, the governor of a town was killed by Zhu Wen like a chicken. It must be said that it was absurd to the extreme.

Zhu Wen began to wonder: Should he just dismiss Tian Jun's persistent demands for a duel on horseback? "A hero doesn't fight on horseback; true skill doesn't show on horseback." Cavalry wasn't his forte, and if this woman suddenly exploded and caused him to lose, it would be humiliating.

In the Battle of Songzhou, he had lonesomely raided the camp and defeated Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise in succession. What a heroic act he had been. If Ma Zhan couldn't even defeat "Azure Dragon" Tian Jun, not only would he be laughed at, but he would also lack the confidence to tease her.

Zhu Wen held Mu Renyu's head and scanned the enemy troops below the hillside. He found that although the enemy cavalrymen were terrified, their formation was still tight and there was no sign of any flaws.

This Mu Jiedu was used to charging into the front, and the actual command of the troops was probably handed over to the provincial governors, generals, and commanders below.

This led to the fact that even after Mu Renyu was beheaded for his reckless behavior, his subordinates had no intention of disbanding.

Thus, Jiedushi Mu Renyu became the second Jiedushi-level official killed by Cao's army - the first one was of course Cao's old friend, Marshal Xue Chong of the Tianping Army, who was killed by Huang Chao himself.

But the gains were not as great as Huang Chao's defeat of Xue Chong. Zhu Wen killed Mu Renyu, but he only killed one person. He couldn't even kill a soldier of the Xuanwu Army, and it didn't seem to have much impact on the enemy's morale.

The whole thing looked absolutely ridiculous.

It can only be said that being a Jiedushi like Mu Renyu was a complete failure.

Zhu Wen felt that it would be better for a military governor to die if he had to do this.

The Xuanwu Army's personnel seemed to be of good quality, no wonder they didn't fall behind in the battle against Wang Xianzhi. As for Mu Jiedu, aside from charging at the front to boost morale, it didn't seem to make much difference whether he was there or not.

At this time, Zhu Wen undoubtedly could not have imagined that many years later, he would also sit on the throne of Xuanwu Town that Mu Jiedu once held, thus laying the foundation for his lifelong hegemony...

(End of this chapter)