Chapter Thirty-Six: A Gentle Breeze and Light Clouds at the Time of Setting Fire
Time passed bit by bit in the angry stare between County Soldier and Zhuang Ding, the lights of the distant Zhuang household had already gone out, and the night was deepening towards midnight. Zhao Xing did not dare to be careless this time, he didn't pretend to be a boss, but instead stood with the Zhuang Ding men in the cold wind, his hand never leaving the long gun.
Both sides are waiting for each other to reveal their final trump card. Once that moment arrives, this brief calm will be replaced by brutal slaughter.
"Clatter, clatter, clatter...", a sudden and urgent horseshoe sound came from afar, the rider hastily arrived in front of Zhang Yang's tent, shouting: "Lord Governor, I have an urgent military report to make!"
"Come in!" Zhang Yang shouted impatiently.
"Reporting to the Honorable Prefect, a large number of bandits have been found inside Changzi County, killing people and setting fires, committing all sorts of evil deeds. The county yamen has already been destroyed, and the bandits are currently besieging the prefectural government office!"
"What! How can Zhu Xia and Feng be so reckless?! Do they really think they are bandits?!" Zhang Yang asked in puzzlement.
"County Magistrate Zhu has been killed by the bandits in the street, and all the yamen runners have scattered in all directions. The eldest son of the Zhang family was captured alive by 'a gust of wind'!"
"What's this 'gust of wind'?! How did it suddenly appear in the city?! Aren't there still 2,000 county soldiers stationed outside the city walls? Why didn't they come to rescue us?"
The county governor, the soldiers and horses in the big camp heard that the city was in chaos, they wanted to go and suppress it, but suddenly a red-faced man rushed out, killed at the gate of the camp, with a knife dancing very frighteningly. A brave captain went forward to fight back, but he was knocked down from his horse by one knife after another. Only when he had knocked dozens of people unconscious did everyone retreat into the camp and not dare to come out again...
"Alas, I've been plotted against! That red-faced burly man is none other than Guan Yu, the general of this village. Good Zhao Xing, Zhao Guochang, I haven't even attacked you yet, and you dare to send someone to harm me in the city!" Zhang Yang's hands were shaking with rage. "Prepare the troops immediately, get ready to attack the village!"
Looking at the distant scouting horse entering the central camp of the county soldiers, soon after, all the county soldiers moved quietly. Zhao Xing immediately realized that something was wrong and shouted: "The county governor intends to harm us, follow me to guard the Zhuangmen with my life, to ensure the safety of your families!"
"Kill!" Zhao Xing raised his arm and drew his bow, shooting an arrow straight at Zhu Murong's face as he charged over.
"Ahh!" A miserable cry escaped his lips as the arrow struck him in the thigh instead of his face.
Zhao Xing looked around somewhat embarrassed, but found that the villagers were already rushing up under Zhou Cang's lead and engaging in a fierce battle with the county soldiers at the entrance of the village. Zhou Cang was extremely ferocious, charging forward alone, his long-handled large knife flying up and down, the county soldiers dying or getting injured as soon as they came into contact with it, becoming a sharp blade!
Zhao Xing was not willing to show weakness, and he also wanted to try out the progress of his martial arts over the past year. Due to the road being impassable and the crowd being dense, Zhao Xing dismounted his horse and charged into the crowd with his long spear. As the saying goes: "One inch longer, one inch stronger!" Zhao Xing's long spear was just suitable for this situation where people were crowded together, and he could pick off enemies from behind. He saw him using his spear to target the gaps in the enemy lines, thrusting and withdrawing quickly, without regard for life or death. In the blink of an eye, he had turned the front row of soldiers into sugar gourds, and no one dared to come forward again.
At the height of the fierce battle, suddenly the county soldiers in front retreated like a tide, and the sound of killing came from the rear. The leader of the charge was Hu Che Er, a Qiang tribesman. Zhang Yang initially relied on his numerical superiority and showed no fear. But as a civil official, he had only seen a few real battles, especially when the front was blocked, the rear was attacked, and the old nest was looted, he quickly became flustered and ordered a retreat back to the county city. As the saying goes: "A defeated army is like a landslide!" This retreat turned the county soldiers into a chaotic mess, crying out for their fathers and mothers as they fled in all directions on the plains outside of Wohu Village.
Zhou Xing did not go after them, and instead stopped Zhou Cang and Hu Che Er who were eager to kill. "Zhou Cang, quickly follow me to Li Jia Zhuang to provide reinforcements, Hu Che Er, lead the cavalry to the county town to meet up with Guan Yu's camp, I want you to take a message for me - 'I want Zhang Bao and Zhang Yang's heads'!"
"Obeying the master's (your lordship's) orders!"
"Please, Mr. Wen, guard the house and comfort the villagers, I'll be back soon!" After bowing to Jia Yu at the entrance of the village, Zhao Xing spurred his horse towards Li's Village. It would take more than an hour on foot between the two villages, but riding a horse would take only half an hour. From afar, he saw that outside Li's Village were torches everywhere, and the sounds of clashing weapons and screams of men and horses blended into one.
As he looked around, it was a group of bandits disguised as people and horses surrounding the village. Pei Yuanshao was leading the shield soldiers to fight to the death, and it seemed that the bandits had not yet broken into the village.
After observing for a while, Zhao Xing found that among the thieves, there was one who was directing in the middle, and the other thieves were surrounding him, presumably the leader. Always looking forward to Gu Da Ge being able to take the enemy general's head in the midst of the army, Zhao Xing was somewhat moved, wondering if he could also perform a "Wine Beheading Thief Chieftain" play with his own skills.
After some thought, Zhao Xing decided not to take the risk and wait for Zhou Cang to arrive with the infantry before making a move. Although they couldn't charge into the enemy formation, that didn't mean there was nothing to be done. Just then, a certain scoundrel who never followed the rules of "announcing one's name" or "insulting each other before battle" suddenly shot a cold arrow.
After a few arrows whizzed by, the bandits discovered Zhao Xing, who was quietly shooting cold arrows from behind. More than a dozen bandits were enraged and rushed towards him with loud shouts. However, Zhao Xing would not wait to be surrounded like a hero. Following his usual principle of "if you can't win, run", he whipped his horse and fled in the distance. The bandits refused to let him go and chased after him. Halfway through the chase, they encountered Zhou Cang and the spear-throwing team, who were rushing towards them with loud shouts. After a heavy downpour of spears and arrows, all the bandits were nailed to the ground, while the injured horses scattered in all directions.
"Hurry up and send someone to gather the scattered horses and bring them back to the village for treatment!" Zhao Xing ordered, then turned around and ran towards Lijiazhuang again. He did this three times, each time bringing a group of pursuers who were all defeated. After that, Zhou Cang led his halberd-wielding soldiers to attack the bandits from behind.
Zhang Biyun, who was being led by Pei Yuanshao's shield-bearing soldiers and was getting anxious, had already cursed the opposing general's family women countless times in his heart, but he just couldn't break into the village. At this time, however, he heard a shout of killing from behind, followed by a whistling sound that pierced the air, and the people around him were like leeks that had been harvested. "Not good, there's an ambush! Brothers, let's get out of here quickly!" Zhang Biyun saw that the situation was not looking good, so he turned around to flee!
"Bandits, don't run! Look at my spear!" Zhao Xing shouted loudly, this time truly charging into the enemy ranks. His long spear thrust upwards and downwards, stabbed to the left and right, and in the blink of an eye, he killed his way to Zhang Biao's side.
"Even if we can't break through Li Jia Village, killing Zhao Xing is still a great achievement." Zhang Biao Lin, who was thinking about beautiful things even when he was about to die, came to fight with his knife. The two fought together, and after several ups and downs, Zhao Xing felt that the bandit's knife method in front of him was not much different from what he had practiced with Guan Yu, and it was not as good as Zhou Cang. Suddenly, his confidence increased greatly, and suddenly he pulled the reins, jumped into the air, and his long spear shot out like a dragon coming out of the sea, straight at Zhang Biao Lin's heart. It was the "Panlong Chu Dong" that he had used when fighting with Guan Yu a few days ago. Zhang Biao Lin cried out in his heart that it was not good, but he couldn't dodge in time and was pierced by Zhao Xing's spear, dying an absolute death.
