A step into the past - 寻秦记 - by Huang Yi

[Icefrog]

fight is fight! love is love!! jean is jean!!! i would FIGHT with my LOVE for JEAN!!!! thanks JEAN

[rati4u]

fight is fight! love is love!! jean is jean!!! i would FIGHT with my LOVE for JEAN!!!! thanks JEAN

lol...fight with love for jean?? i say fight for love and jean

[bharata]

fight for my beloved jean!! howgh! go go

[KChill]

Yeah, XSL! Take him alive! Get vengeance for me on my old boss!

Icefrog...you would love to fight with Jean??? Pull yourself together, homie, it's just a story!

[ChronoReverse]

Man, XSL is going to be REALLY legendary now. They'll be telling stories about how he singlehandedly destroyed the attackers and killed the leader in one night

[Jean]

ok ok, you guys can stop your imaginary fights and read about the real one coming up

************************************************** *

Xiang Shaolong shouted back, “It’s Prince Xinling’s men!”

The rest of the bandit leaders were shocked and hastened over.

Hui Hu and Wolfman were a little further behind and Xiang Shaolong secretly lamented that it’s a pity. He raised his hands and the flying needles shot out.

The strength of his wrist was formidable and the impact of the long and thin needles astonishing, going past the armor and the 2 bandit leaders right at the front were struck immediately.

Before the 2 thieves fell, Xiang Shaolong had pulled out another 2 needles and threw them at another 2 people behind them.

Hui Hu and Wolfman both realized that something was not right and as they cried out, they pulled their long swords and came towards him from 2 sides.

By now the 2 men in the front row had already fell with a groan from the side of their horses.

Xiang Shaolong had no intention of retrieving the flying needles and with one hand controlling the horse and the other hand pulling out Flying Rainbow, he faced Wolfman who was coming from his left side.

Wolfman roared and borrowing the force from the running horse, aimed his sword towards his face.

Xiang Shaolong cried out and raised his sword to block and at the same time leaned to a side and raised his leg and kicked Wolfman in his waist.

This kick is modified from Thai kickboxing and extremely powerful. Wolfman screamed and fell off his horse.

By now the 2 men at the back row who were struck by the flying needles dropped to the ground with a dull thud.

The warhorses, having lost their riders, were stamping and jumping in shock. When the hoof of one of the horses stamped down, it happened to land right on the chest of Wolfman who had fallen to the ground. Sounds of bones cracking could be heard immediately and this ferocious man died immediately.

Xiang Shaolong turned a circle around the 2 horses and took the opportunity to take out another flying needle and rushed towards Hui Hu’s back.

Hui Hu saw that the situation was not right and turned his horse around, running swiftly towards the rapidly burning camp.

Xiang Shaolong removed his armor to lighten his body weight and gave chase.

His horse is carrying a much lighter load compared to Hui Hu’s horse, and it’s also especially strong so it was only about 7 or 8 horse lengths behind Hui Hu in the blink of an eye.

Without a word, Xiang Shaolong threw his flying needle.

Who would have expected that Hui Hu saw that there’s no way he can run away so he might as well turned his horse around and coincidentally managed to avoid the flying needle.

That place happens to be right between the camp and the retreating soldiers so there was no one around for the moment, and it became a one to one situation.

Hui Hu raised his sword and came rushing back, shouting, “Who is that?”

Xiang Shaolong laughed loudly, “It’s your old friend Xiang Shaolong.”

Amidst the sound of metal clanking, the 2 of them went past each other on horseback and exchanged 3 sword strokes but no one gained the upperhand.

Xiang Shaolong did not expect him to have such excellent arm strength and swordsmanship. When he turned his horse around, he used his thighs to control the horse while his right hand held Flying Rainbow and his left hand drew out a flying needle.

He has been spending most of his time on horseback recently and this made his horsemanship improve greatly so he’s no longer the greenhorn he used to be.

Hui Hu took the opportunity to draw his bow and arrow and cocked the arrow with lightning fast speed. With a ‘clang’ he released a strong arrow, his long sword held across by his teeth.

Xiang Shaolong’s training has always been avoiding bullets so he’s not afraid of his arrow at all. He leaned to the side and avoided the arrow and his thigh tightened against the horse’s belly and it surged forward.

Hui Hu did not expect him to avoid this fatal strike and in shock he threw the bow at him while taking his long sword, which was clasped in his mouth.

Xiang Shaolong raised his feet and kicked the flying bow away. Flying Rainbow swept past, towards Hui Hu’s chest.

There was a loud ‘clang’.

Although Hui Hu managed to narrowly block the sword, but his defense was raised chaotically while his opponent’s attack is planned. On top of that, he used the momentum from the running horse to increase the power of the strike so Hui Hu collapsed onto his horse’s back.

Xiang Shaolong roared and with a backhand let loose the flying needle.

There was a ‘clink’, and although the flying needle struck Hui Hu, it landed on his hard helmet and ricocheted off.

Xiang Shaolong knows that the situation is dire, if he allows the two horses to run in the wrong direction like this, there’ll be no way he can catch up with this fiend within the short distance to the camp so he dismounted his horse with a back flip, turned a somersault in the air and Flying Rainbow flew out of his hand.

************************************************** ***

[greyman]

here we go again!! hats off to cliffhanger jean!!

[bharata]

imagine, left hand picking needle n his right hand held sword. one leg kick the bow! such wonderful move..

[Icefrog]

oh yeah!!! for the love of JEAN, i can hold my breath, anticipate the pain and enjoy the thrill of the coming update....many thanks to you fair and lovely maiden, Goddess of Wuxia Translations!!!

[little Fish]

I have a question for Jean.

Seeing as you are reading this at the same time as translating. I'm wondering if you actually stop reading at the cliff hangers too? ...lol... I know there is no way i could put the book down at such a stage!! i wud atleast have to read the next few sentences.. altho knowing me..(i read for hours and hours and days and days if the translation is there) i would not stop reading till the end.. but its great having it in segments cause it forces me to stop reading..


once again, Thanks alot Jean =)

in no way i mean this question in a bad way.. jsut interested !!! ;-)

[Jean]

hey, at least you'll know the outcome of the fight tomorrow, since it's still a weekday. In not, you'll have to wait the whole weekend to find out!

little fish, actually, I have completed this chapter and started on the next. I usually translate a few pages in advance so that I can still afford to do a regular, almost daily posting. So for days that I'm too busy to translate, I still have a few pages of 'back up' to post.

[JAJA9]

Jean the perfect story teller. Thank you for keeping up the pace and the great cliffhangers. Something to look forward to everyday.

[overjoy71]

Thanks Jean... It is time to breath after all that excitement! haha

[tweety365]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! *kicking and screaming!* NOT NOW, JEAN!
Is XSL gonna miss HH? With cliffhangers like this, I don't think my heart will fare very well by the end of story . I'm chewing my nails while waiting for tomorrow. Thank goodness it's not Sat/Sun.

[9Dragons]

Pretty mesmerizing battle sequence. Hui Hu is no pushover with at least some skills. Didn't expect him to pull out and shoot his bow in the middle of a sword fight.

Our hero is even more amazing. Such lethal ambidexterity, utilizing every limb in combat. Sure he can dodge bullets, but I'm curious what kind of training prepared him to back flip off a mount into a striking attack.

[rati4u]

he had a training of reverse walking...reverse jumping...lol

jean...do you have any plans to translate tale of water margin???? forgive if i am wrong in my asking like this...but i am interested in that story as well!

[smurf120]

XSL single-handedly offensive attack against Hui Hu's camp and warhorse battle probably only rivals Yang Guo's one man battle

click to show/hide spoilers

attack against the army of Mongols at the end of ROCH

.

I love it!!!

[Shi-Potian]

this novel is still a long *** way from completion and there is tons of more wuxia/better stories out there then a tale of like shitloads of robbers fighting government i prefer one main character series myself!!! another magnificent updates thanks jean loving it hui hu seems to be touched by the gods the way he flukes off avoiding death by xiang shaolong everyone else died instantly.. .. . . .maybe hui hu becomes xiang shaolongs subordinate or even sword brother ^_^ lol

[Jean]

he had a training of reverse walking...reverse jumping...lol

jean...do you have any plans to translate tale of water margin???? forgive if i am wrong in my asking like this...but i am interested in that story as well!

Ehh... firstly, I don't even know if I have the stamina to finish this book I'm only at book 3 out of 25 books. It might take at least another year even if I do manage to complete it. (I think I took a little more than a yr to complete legendary siblings).

Secondly, I'm not really interested in water margin.

so u might have to find someone else.

[Jean]

ok... end of chapter! and the fight...

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By now Hui Hu had just managed to seat himself upright, his thighs clasping his horse’s belly when Xiang Shaolong’s extremely sharp Flying Rainbow, which was made by the finest craftsman in the State of Yue, pierced him in his back and he died on the spot.

The horse ran wildly and after a distance away, Hui Hu’s body fell from the horse.

Xiang Shaolong landed on the ground safely and ran up to retrieve his Flying Rainbow.

Thunderous war cries were heard from his side of the camp, apparently Cheng Xu and the rest saw how chaotic the thieves were and took the opportunity to kill their way out.

Xiang Shaolong felt his valor rising and he cut off Hui Hu’s head, ignoring the flowing fresh blood and with the head held aloft, leapt up the horse towards the 2000 horse thieves who were retreating and shouted, “Hui Hu is dead! Hui Hu is dead! Run away quickly! Escape!”

Those thieves who were running back carrying torches were already in a panic because they were being pursued, and now on seeing this person in front of them carrying Hui Hu’s head, thought that a strong army has come. No one dared to fight on and with a shout, all of them ran away in all directions.

The defeat of the thieves was like a domino effect, the thieves running at the back has no idea what has happened but the chain reaction made them run for their lives as well.

2000 odd men, defeated without even a fight.

In a short while, Xiang Shaolong met up with Cheng Xu and his troops who were pursuing the thieves and the whole army cheered and killed their way towards the blazing enemy camp.

The thieves have lost their leader, their camp is on fire, their rations and horses lost and none of them is in the mood for battle and were all running away. Xiang Shaolong led his men and killed until the day broke, coming out totally victorious.

They have killed more than a thousand enemies, but on Xiang Shaolong’s side only 5 men perished and 150 odd men injured. Fighting against the enemy’s 10,000 odd troops with less than a thousand men and yet they suffered so little losses, it’s really an unbelievable miracle. This has also established Xiang Shaolong’s position in the battlefield.

But it was really a close shave towards victory.

When the enemy’s camp was on fire, Hui Hu’s men has already cleared all the obstacles on the slope and filled the ditches and was about to launch an offensive when urgent matters cropped up on their side and they had to retreat.

Those wooden stakes became an obstacle to the thieves’ retreat instead and they were killed by the rocks that were rolled down and the arrows shot. Blood flowed like rivers and the scene looked like hell on earth.

Hui Hu and Wolfman’s head were soaked in herbs and alcohol and light cavalry were tasked to send these back to the King of Zhao through shortcuts so that he can show these off to their fellow countrymen.

This is a psychological attack against Zhao Mu on Xiang Shaolong’s part, to make the King of Zhao feel how important he really is. If not for the fact that there’s now another twist in Zhao Qian’s affair, there might have been a chance for him to retain his loyalty.

When Xiang Shaolong returned to camp, only Prince Shaoyuan whose hatred for him has now increased, refused to come out, using his illness as an excuse. Even Lady Pingyuan came out to welcome his heroic return, and of course Zhao Ya, Zhao Qian and the other ladies as well.

Ever since ancient times, beauties have always loved heroes and when all the ladies looked at him, their gaze was filled with intoxication, making him feel as if he’s in heaven.

In the 21st century, such a situation is almost impossible because everything depends on teamwork and collaboration, and an individual is only a small fry in the whole organization.

But in this warring states period, it is filled with romanticized individualistic heroism, that’s why there are people like Shang Yang who can change the whole situation, and a famous general like Lian Po who rules the battlefield.

Xiang Shaolong is a product that has crossed time, with the training and knowledge of modern military tactics, that’s why he can emerge miraculously victorious so many times.

So how can the ladies not fall for him.

Even the evil hearted Lady Pingyuan is now looking at him differently, and is now thinking of other things. Such a talent, if sacrificed will be such a waste.

Xiang Shaolong was injured in a few places and Zhao Ya and Zhao Qian dragged him into the commander’s tent to tend to his injuries.

Lady Ya saw that Zhao Qian was not at all concerned that Xiang Shaolong was only wearing his shorts and was feeling perplexed. She was afraid that if there’s something going on between the two of them, then there might be big trouble.

Zhao Qian asked with concern, “Is it painful?”

With 2 pretty ladies putting their dainty hands on him, he was so comfortable he almost moaned. Xiang Shaolong replied with a smile and lied down and fell into a deep sleep with the fragrances of the 2 ladies.

******************************************

The fight kinda seems anti-climatic huh. And really, are the guys in the special tactical team really like superheroes without their rifles/ shotguns/ bulletproof vests etc? XSL is only 20, how much experience could he have had??? Sounds a little far-fetched, but then again, he's supposed to be the hero.