Giant Ship Across the Song Dynasty: My Supplies Come from My Motherland

Chapter 69, Lu You is a true hero.

"I hit twelve!"

Yangti, swaggering from inside the hut, asked, "Hey bro, how many did you take down?"

"Thirteen." Lu You gave an awkward laugh.

"That's not right. You're one twelve and one thirteen, so I'm only fighting two?" Lin Zhou scratched his head, puzzled. "I can tolerate Yang Ti fighting twelve, but why are you fighting thirteen?"

"I...have practiced martial arts since childhood."

Lu You took a deep breath, then turned to look at Yang Ti: "You're quite impressive too."

"Thank you for the compliment." Yang Ti clasped his hands in a fist salute: "As a military officer, it is only natural."

"What about me? What about me?" Lin Zhou asked hastily. "Am I not brave enough?"

"Brave!" Lu You nodded: "Brother Lin's bravery surpasses mine."

As the three were comparing their stats, the door opened, and Cheng'er entered, carrying a sword. He glanced around and asked, "Which of you three was carrying the staff?"

"Me," Lu You said, standing up.

"You rascal," Cheng'er nodded, "not bad, you hit the vital spot with every blow, and none of them were fatal. Those young masters all had minor injuries when they checked their wounds, but none of them could stand up."

"Holy crap, you're that strong?" Lin Zhou turned his head to the side. "No way, don't mess with me... I only knew Xin Qiji was awesome, how come you're this awesome too?"

But no one paid any attention to Lin Zhou's nonsense. He was always like this, so everyone was used to it. At this moment, a servant brought in two wooden swords. Cheng'er picked one up and threw it to Lu You: "Let's have a fight."

Lin Zhou knew that Cheng'er was a skilled fighter; he had witnessed it when he was attacked before. Her swordsmanship was even more impressive than in kung fu movies. But now that Cheng'er wanted to fight Lu You, wasn't that just bullying him?

This is Lu You, the poet Lu You. For an Imperial City Guard agent to challenge a liberal arts student to a duel is a bit too much.

But who knew that Lu You's demeanor would change completely after he accepted the wooden sword? With a flick of his wrist, he created a sword flower, which stunned Lin Zhou. Was this still the same timid, henpecked, and mother-fearing young man? He looked like someone straight out of a Hong Kong comic book!

Lu You started by parrying with both hands, his eyes becoming sharp, while Cheng'er opposite him adopted a defensive stance, which was quite counterintuitive.

A frivolous scholar was making a grand, sweeping gesture with his hands, while a high-ranking agent was staring at the other's wrists and adopting a defensive stance.

"Come on, some more later."

The sheep's hoof dragged Lin Zhou into a corner. In that split second, Lu You suddenly exerted force with his feet, his body shooting forward like an arrow released from a bow. He swung his sword horizontally with both hands, the wind whipped up by the wooden sword producing a sharp sound. This move was wide and powerful, completely unlike what a scholar would do; it had more of the fierce and domineering nature of a warrior. Lin Zhou's gasp of surprise was stuck in his throat, unable to escape for a long time.

In contrast, Cheng'er remained calm and composed, her eyes fixed on Lu You's sword-wielding wrist. She shifted her feet lightly, advancing instead of retreating, dodging the wooden sword's edge while precisely striking the spine of Lu You's blade. With a soft clang, the two wooden swords clashed. Lu You felt a tingling sensation in his wrist; Cheng'er had skillfully neutralized most of his force. Startled, he twisted his wrist sharply, abruptly changing the direction of his horizontal slash, the sword tip slashing downwards, aiming directly for Cheng'er's lower body.

"Great idea!"

Yang Ti let out a low growl from the corner, his eyes full of approval. He was the best judge of character; Lu You's change of tactics was swift and skillful, definitely not a last-minute, half-hearted effort.

A hint of surprise flashed in Cheng'er's eyes; she clearly hadn't expected Lu You to react so quickly. He lightly touched the ground with his toes, his body suddenly rising half an inch higher, barely dodging the incoming wooden sword. At the same time, he thrust the wooden sword downwards at an angle, the tip aimed directly at the web of Lu You's right hand, forcing Lu You to withdraw and defend. Lu You crossed his arms to parry the attack, and the two instantly fell into a stalemate, their wooden swords clashing, each able to feel the force of the other's blow.

Lin Zhou stared, his eyes wide, muttering to himself, "Is...is this still Lu You?"

He originally thought the duel would be a one-sided crushing defeat, but he didn't expect Lu You to be able to fight Cheng'er to a standstill.

After a brief stalemate, Lu You took the initiative to change tactics. He loosened his grip on the sword with his left hand and held the hilt with his right. With a flick of his wrist, the wooden sword seemed to come alive in his hand, creating several delicate sword flowers. The sword tip moved left and right, sometimes real, sometimes fake, dazzling the eyes of onlookers.

Cheng'er dared not be careless in the slightest. He discovered that Lu You's sword moves seemed chaotic, but in fact, each move precisely locked onto his weaknesses. Cheng'er simply abandoned his defensive stance, and suddenly exerted force with the wooden sword in his hand. His sword moves suddenly became sharp and ruthless, each move aimed directly at Lu You's vitals. The ruthless methods of the Imperial City Guard agents were on full display at this moment.

Cheng'er's swordplay was swift and deadly, each strike grazing Lu You's clothes, making his heart pound with fear. Yet Lu You remained calm and composed, his steps steady and his movements agile as he dodged Cheng'er's attacks. At the same time, his wooden sword constantly sought opportunities to counterattack, and occasionally, a single counterattack would force Cheng'er to retreat and defend.

Amidst this constant defense and counterattack, Lu You changed his wooden sword from thrusting to slapping, striking Cheng'er's hand, causing Cheng'er's wooden sword to fall to the ground.

"Hey, if that were an iron sword, you'd have lost your hand." Yang Ti clapped his hands and cheered, "Well done, brilliant! Even Song has such a master!"

"Thank you for the courtesy." Lu You picked up the wooden sword from the ground with the tip of his sword and handed it to Cheng'er.

Cheng'er frowned and rubbed the back of her hand: "Impressive, Yue-style swordsmanship, from Jiangdong?"

"Our ancestors originally came from Wu County."

"No wonder," Cheng'er said, sounding somewhat dejected. "I never expected there to be someone as skilled as you. Sigh..."

At this moment, Lin Zhou stood up: "No way, Cheng'er, you can't beat someone who just copies books and poems?"

"You come here!" Cheng'er glared at Lin Zhou fiercely: "You didn't know you were fighting with other people? You only fought two people and got your nose broken, while they beat more than a dozen people to the ground."

"I'll sprinkle you with lime powder!"

Cheng'er didn't want to waste words with this rogue, so she simply waved her hand and said, "Young Master, the Prince has come to fetch you. You can leave now."

"So easygoing today? Why?" Lin Zhou interjected, "We're fighting three against twenty-seven today! Don't let us go so easily!"

"What? Do you want my dad to give you a reward?"

The three of them went outside and saw Prince Rui chatting with Xu Ping in the courtyard. Upon seeing the three of them, the prince smiled broadly, clearly very satisfied with what his son and "son-in-law" had done that day.

"Good, you have guts!" King Rui patted Yangti on the shoulder: "Truly worthy of the bloodline of my Great Jin."

After he finished speaking, Si Hou and Lu You next to him did not look very good, but Lin Zhou seemed indifferent. He was looking down and picking at the dirt stuck in his fingernails.

"He went first." Yangti pointed at Lin Zhou and said, "Someone was bullying our brother, so he went first, and then I went next."

"Good, good, good, they are all good children." Prince Rui nodded with a smile: "Not bad, not bad."

At this moment, Si Hou pointed at Lin Zhou with a cold face and said, "I don't want to see you here a third time."

"Yes, yes, yes... I understand, I understand."

Lin Zhou followed the prince out with a grin, but before they even reached the door, Yang Ti suddenly said, "Father, tonight I'm going with my brother-in-law to rescue Tu... Hong Liu!"

"You two?" The prince's face immediately fell. "Neither of you are a match for your mother's guards. Stop fooling around."

"Add one more!" Yangti pulled Lu You over: "My brother here is pretty amazing too."

Lu You stiffened, looking at the Jurchen prince beside him with a wry smile, and muttered softly, "Brothers...?"

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I'm going to the hospital for a checkup tomorrow, so I'm posting an extra chapter today. If I can come back this afternoon, this will be an extra chapter; if not, it will be the chapter posted tomorrow afternoon.