Chapter 28
Book 3 Chap 5 – Fighting off enemies at the river
Xiang Shaolong and Wu Zhuo’s 100 men, with strong bows in their hands, lied low in a dense forest about a hundred steps away from the camp, looking at the slowly leaving troops in the gradually brightening sky.
When the sky was bright, Cheng Xu’s men has already disappeared around the bend at the lower stream.
After a moment, sounds of hooves and men talking were heard on both sides of the river.
A group of almost 400 horse thieves rode out from a dense forest at the upper stream while on the opposite bank a large group of surprised thieves ran out. One of them was sitting high atop a horse, with a wave of long and coa.r.s.e gray beard, and he is indeed the most famous horse thief roaming the Zhao borders, Hu Hui.
He was so furious his eyeb.a.l.l.s were almost bulging out and kept hurrying his men to move the rafts for crossing the river out from the hiding place so that they can go after their enemies. Obviously they have lost their footing.
Sounds of hooves were heard, the horse thieves on this side of the river are already riding hard along the river.
The horse thieves on the other side are starting to cross the river.
Xiang Shaolong took a peek at Wu Zhuo and saw that in this dangerous and tense situation, he still maintained his cool and was secretly impressed.
20 odd wooden rafts, with war horses and other equipment on it, came crossing the river.
When Hu Hui’s men ferried 2 batches of close to 400 warhorses and rations, they began to ferry the men across the river.
Hu Hui was on one of the wooden rafts.
By now, on this side of the river there were only about 50 to 60 horse thieves and totally unwary as they were busy moving the horses to the flat plains next to the river bank.
Xiang Shaolong gave a hand signal and a hundred odd men released a wave of arrows from the dense forest, causing chaos amongst the enemy and the horses and more than half their men were taken down.
Hu Hui and the rest were panicking as the hurriedly c.o.c.ked their arrows to return fire. The small group of soldiers left on the bank screamed and scattered in all directions.
Xiang Shaolong and his men have by now moved behind the rocks next to the bank and the sound of bows clanging were heard as the light arrows flew like locusts towards the horse thieves on the rafts who had nothing to cover them at all.
There was no way the horse thieves could avoid the arrows and fresh blood stained the rafts and river red.
Hu Hui hurriedly gave orders to retreat to the opposite bank.
Everyone aimed at him and a flurry of arrows flew towards this obvious target.
Although the horse thieves held the wooden oars high up, they were unable to block the hundreds of arrows and fell one by one.
Hu Hui saw that the situation was amiss and with an angry roar, jumped into the water and hid under the wooden raft.
The other thieves copied his move and all jumped into the water.
There were about 200 horse thieves still on the opposite bank but besides jumping and shouting, there’s nothing they can do as well.
The light arrows shot into the water, fresh blood kept bubbling up from the water, followed by bodies floating up. The scene looked totally brutal.
It’s either you perish or I’ll die, this has always been a rock hard fact in wars.
The wooden rafts were broken and the pieces flowed downstream.
Xiang Shaolong was worried about the situation at Cheng Xu’s side so he gave the orders to retreat, ignoring whether Hu Hui was dead or alive. They went up the warhorses they stole and led the horses equipped with rations downstream.
By now the battle at Cheng Xu’s side is coming to an end as well.
When they reached a suitable site downstream, they used the carriages as a line of defense and Zha Yuanyu also led 400 men and spread out around the dense woods nearby, waiting for the pursuing thieves.
400 horse thieves came rus.h.i.+ng along the river and they had just turned the corner when they saw the waiting Zhao soldiers but by then they have already fallen within shooting distance of the hiding soldiers. Just as they were at a loss whether to advance or retreat, the Zhao soldiers who were under cover behind the carriages let out a volley of arrows together and immediately men and horses felled.
The remaining men were unable to retreat in time and when they were thinking of going around the carriages via the side stream, Zha Yuanyu and his 400 hidden soldiers shot at them, causing total chaos among them.
As they hurriedly retreated, they b.u.mped into Xiang Shaolong’s reinforcements and was caught totally unawares. Less than 50 managed to escape by abandoning their horses and gear, running into the woods next to the bank.
Under this great victory, all the soldiers cheered, even those from the Pingyuan family shared this victorious atmosphere.
On Xiang Shaolong’s side only 40 odd men were injured, but none of the injuries serious. The outcome was something to be proud of and once again it proved that Xiang Shaolong has an excellent military mind and flexible and effective ways of warring.
Xiang Shaolong sent 20 men to send the 300 odd warhorses they captured back to Zhao, but kept the weapons and rations for his own use. After tending to the injured soldiers, they continued to travel west along the river.
By the time they pitched tents at dusk, they’re only about two and a half days away from the inner river.
Because the road along the journey was uneven and they’ve just had a short skirmish, the men and horses were all tired. Everyone was trying to get as much rest as possible and no one was talking throughout the night. Early the next morning they continued on their journey.
The scenery changed again, the mountains rose and fell in the distance, the trees and gra.s.s grew lushly and everything looked like a painting. Streams flowed between the mountains, with waterfalls, captivating one’s eyes.
At the side is a huge and primitive forest with gigantic tress that even a few strong men holding hands won’t be able to go around its circ.u.mference.
Sounds of animals and insects could be heard coming from the forest, and the Zhao soldiers hunted some wild foxes and rabbits on the way to add to their dinner.
Sometimes they will come to a high point and from there they can see the unending plains and forests.
Once in a while they will see an isolated village or farm amongst the tall gra.s.s and to Xiang Shaolong, everywhere he looks seems to be a paradise. He does not understand why humans still want to fight, and can only blame it on their inherent greed and evil nature.
Although the scenery is beautiful, the journey was arduous. Not only they need to manually open up a path, many times they have to use tree trunks to pave the roads before they can travel in between the streams.
They traveled less than 10li the whole day, and in the end set up camp at the top of a hill.
Although they were tired, the soldiers were all in high spirits, and very willing to carry out any orders from Xiang Shaolong.
Beauties will always love heroes, so Lady Ya is all the more conceding towards him, letting him enjoy the gentleness of this exceptional creature.
Ever since Zhao Qian spoke to him that day through the window, she has been consciously avoiding him. He has no choice but to allow this situation to continue and did not make any moves to break this stalemate.
After his meal, Lady Pingyuan sent someone to invite him over again, saying there’s something to discuss.
Xiang Shaolong was also curious as to her present att.i.tude, so he hurriedly went to Lady Pingyuan’s private tent.
Who would have expected that Lady Pingyuan would put 2 family warriors in her tent, and he was greatly disappointed, all naughty thoughts disappeared totally.
His relations.h.i.+p with Lady Pingyuan is truly a battle of wills between the 2 s.e.xes. It gave him a feeling of committing something wrong, which gives him a stronger feeling of excitement.
Besides, which man would not like new and fresh things, much less a flirtatious man like Xiang Shaolong.
Lady Pingyuan was sitting on the floor rug with her guards up and after inviting him for a seat, she stared at him angrily and said, "This time we should be able to have a proper conversation!"
Naturally Xiang Shaolong understood her meaning. He was secretly feeling irritated but on the surface he had no choice but to say respectfully, "Lady please give your instructions!"
Lady Pingyuan stared at him again, a look filled with hate and love, but she said icily, "Now that we’re far away from the main road, where are we going actually?"
Xiang Shaolong replied, "The journey has been difficult, Lady must have suffered. We are going to the river’s inlets first, before following the river towards Daliang."
Lady Pingyuan suddenly sighed and leaned a little closer, saying quietly, "If you… I can make them leave."
Xiang Shaolong was ecstatic and hurriedly nodded his head in agreement.
Lady Pingyuan dismissed the 2 guards and after staring at him for a moment, she said after some thought, "You really are an exceptionally rare talent. Now no one will disbelieve that you once fought off Hu Hui’s 800 horse thieves with 50 men."
Xiang Shaolong smiled, "The horse thieves are just a motley crew of men, and it’s easy to win them."
Lady Pingyuan shook her head, "Some people are born leaders, not only can they make warriors work for them, they can also emerge victorious with their soldiers, never losing. You are one such person."
Xiang Shaolong has no idea what she is up to again, so he can only humbly accept the compliments.
Lady Pingyuan’s pretty face suddenly blushed and she lowered her head and said, "After pa.s.sing the river inlets, and about 20 day’s journey towards the southeast, you will reach Pushui, and if continue south down the river, you will reach Fengqiu in 10 days. That city’s general Guan Po is my man, we’ll be out of danger once we reach that place."
Xiang Shaolong replied, "Your subordinate will definitely follow Lady’s instructions." He added curiously, "Why is Lady’s tender and smooth face suddenly blus.h.i.+ng?"
Lady Pingyuan blushed all the way to her neck and said, "Are you back to your old ways again? Now scram."
Xiang Shaolong saw that she was embarra.s.sed and he felt pleased. He got up with a grin and with a bow, said, "Your subordinate takes his leave!" But his feet seems to have taken root and did not move at all.
Of course Lady Pingyuan doesn’t really mean to chase him away and seeing that his legs are not moving at all, she asked happily, "Why aren’t you leaving yet?"
Xiang Shaolong smiled evilly, "Isn’t Lady going to give your subordinate a little reward?"
Lady Pingyuan was feeling utterly confused, and after looking at him for a moment, lowered her pretty face.
Xiang Shaolong walked over and knelt down behind her. His hands reached out and with a little pull, this regal lady fell into his arms weakly and once again he managed to enjoy her sweet lips.
This time Xiang Shaolong took it a step further, his 2 hands caressed her bosom.
Lady Pingyuan’s body shook violently as she held his evil-doing hands in a death grip and moaned daintily, "Xiang Shaolong!"
Xiang Shaolong understands very well that the most precious thing is something that cannot be obtained. By luring her bit