Chapter 22: Capturing the Fierce Tiger Three Times

  Xu Chu woke up from his sleep when it was already deep into the night.

  He shook his big head vigorously, shaking off the drowsiness. When he came to, he remembered that at the second watch, he still had to go and capture that Western Liao bandit general. He was suddenly greatly shocked and hastily shouted, "Someone come quickly!"

  "Master, you're awake."

  A servant rushed in with a lantern, dispelling the darkness.

  Xu Chu asked loudly, "What time is it now?"

  "The hour has just passed."

  "This is good! This is great!"

  Xu Chu finally let out a long sigh of relief, secretly wiping away cold sweat, thinking to himself that it was fortunate he hadn't been too late. He hastily put on his boots and rushed out, and as soon as the servant brought over his horse, he grabbed his large sword and mounted the horse, charging straight towards the outside of the manor.

  Zhuang Ding chased after him to persuade him, but he ignored it and ran out of the village without looking back.

  The villagers sighed and stood at the entrance of the village, speechless, gazing up at the vast sky.

  Under the night sky, the military camp lit up with lanterns.

  Luo Zheng stood at the entrance of the military tent, wiping his horse knife with a piece of torn cloth.

  The sound of horseshoes echoed from afar, unusually clear under the quiet night sky.

  Luo Zheng looked up and saw Xu Chu rushing over on horseback, seemingly in a hurry. He was wearing only his undergarments, holding a long knife in one hand and a wooden stake over two meters long in the other.

  "Come on!"

  Xu Chu let out a loud roar and reined in his horse twenty paces away from the military tent, then turned around and dismounted.

  "This time if you are captured alive by me again, won't you be begging for mercy once more?"

  Xu Zhu's dark face turned red with rage, fortunately no one saw him in the darkness, and he said angrily "A man of honor will not go back on his word. If I am captured again this time, I will follow my previous words and acknowledge you as my master."

  "Alright, bring it on!"

  Xu Chu said, "Earlier you let someone go, this time if I capture you, I will also let you off once."

  "Cut the nonsense," Luo Zhenlang laughed loudly. "Bring it on, let's see if you can capture me!"

  Xu Chu loudly said "good", and immediately took big strides to rush over.

  However, after being taken advantage of once, one should learn from it and gain some experience.

  Xu Chu did not dare to be rash this time, but instead walked forward while continuously using a two-zhang-long wooden stake to probe the ground fiercely. Suddenly, a faint cracking sound was heard, and amidst the flying dust, a hidden pit at the entrance of the camp was revealed.

  "Hahaha!"

  Xu Chu looked up at the sky and burst out laughing, "A minor skill, how can you deceive me twice?"

  "Not good!"

  Lu Zheng's face changed greatly, and he hastily turned around and ran away.

  "The thief is escaping."

  Xu Chu let out a loud roar, threw away the wooden stake, and with his sword in hand, skirted around the pitfall and rushed into the tent.

  Ruo Zhen rushed to the other side of the military account, seeing Xu Chu chasing in, and there was no escape. Without saying a word, he cut through the military account with one knife and escaped from behind. When Xu Chu arrived at the military account that had been cut, he had already escaped three zhang away.

  In the darkness, two Western Liang soldiers immediately pulled away the wooden planks covering the pit after Luo Zheng escaped.

  Xu Zhu chased hastily, in the darkness he couldn't see clearly, seeing Luo Zhen fleeing in disarray, without thinking he let out a loud roar, holding his long knife and charging out like a ferocious tiger suddenly pouncing out, fiercely attacking the sheep that were escaping in panic.

  Finally saw through the trap, an overwhelming sense of joy surged in his chest.

  Xu Chu couldn't help but want to let out three long howls, releasing this extremely comfortable and pleasant feeling.

  But before he could even get excited, he felt his feet sink again.

  "What's going on? Didn't someone see through the trap?"

  Xu Chu fell into the pit, and his mind subconsciously flashed with this thought. He couldn't understand why he had already gotten rid of the pit, but there was still one here. Before he could figure it out, he fell into the mud again.

  "Ahahah, caught you again."

  A loud howling sound echoed through the darkness, and all twenty Western Liang soldiers rushed over from the darkness.

  Luo Zheng, who was running away, heard the shout and immediately turned around and ran back, without a hint of panic or fluster.

  Soon, the Western Liang army arrived, and Xu Chu was also brought up, tied with five flowers and taken to Luo Zheng's front.

  Luo Zhen burst out laughing three times and said, "Xu Chu, are you willing to admit defeat?"

  "I refuse to accept!"

  Xu Chu tilted his head and didn't even glance at Luo Zhen.

  Lu Zheng's face suddenly turned red with rage, and he said coldly: "I thought you were a man of honor, but it turns out you're just a petty loser. I've already given you an opportunity, yet you still don't appreciate it. Do you think I'm afraid to kill you?"

  Xu Chu showed no fear and said proudly, "If you want to kill me, then kill me. What's the need for idle chatter?"

  He said, stretching his neck and waiting for the blow.

  Lu Zheng was extremely frustrated and had no way to deal with this guy who didn't care about anything.

  Killing Xu Chu is by no means a difficult task, it can be done with just one sword.

  But the problem is, if he just wanted to kill this fierce tiger, Luo Zheng wouldn't have gone through so much trouble. He could have simply led his army to trample over Xu's family and Xu Zi. The reason he went to such great lengths was to recruit this powerful warrior under his command.

  Just looking at Xu Chu's unyielding appearance, it seems to be quite challenging.

  Lu Zheng's face sank, and he asked, "General Ben will ask you one more question, how can you admit defeat?"

  Xu Chu said loudly, "If you want to admit defeat and surrender, then you treacherous thief will no longer be able to use your sinister plots."

  Lu Zheng frowned deeply, a rabbit beating a tiger, without using strategy how can he succeed.

  "General, why not just kill him with one sword and be done with it."

  There were some discontented voices among his personal troops, who quietly made a suggestion.

  Luo Zhen suddenly had an idea, thought of a plan, and ordered his troops to retreat. He turned to Xu Zhu and said, "Alright, I'll give you another chance. If I capture you again, don't expect any mercy, I will surely kill you."

  Xu Chu said loudly, "As long as no underhanded tricks are used, I will certainly admit defeat if I lose."

  Luo Zhen waved his hand, ordering his personal soldiers to take Xu Zhu away. "Come back in two hours, but if you dare not come." He said this with a pause, then coldly said: "General will immediately send troops to flatten the Xu family village, killing all people and livestock."

  Xu Chu glared and grunted, then was dragged away by the Western Liang soldiers.

  Luo Zhengjing stood still for a moment, then turned around and opened the door to enter the vegetable garden.

  The grindstone earth fireball hung high in the sky, more than 500 craftsmen lay lazily scattered on a vacant lot, with nothing to do.

  Two attendants were busy in the vegetable garden, eating and drinking with gusto, their faces flushed red.

  Seeing Luo Zhengjin arrive, two bodyguards were startled and quickly scrambled to their feet, grabbing a half-section of cucumber and rushing over.

  Luo Zhengzheng was about to speak when he suddenly felt a softness under his feet. He hastily lowered his head to look, and almost didn't breathe for half a second.

  All around the vegetable garden, there were landmines everywhere on the empty ground, and even at the entrance, there were quite a few.

  Just now when I came in, I didn't notice and stepped on a landmine.

  "Who pulled it?"

  Lu Zheng suddenly burst into anger and sternly asked.

  "Huh?"

  Two bodyguards rushed forward and also discovered it, instantly secretly calling out in distress.

  The vegetable garden was still a bit small, with over 500 people crowded in an empty space, eating, drinking and relieving themselves inconveniently. Especially when nature called, they had to walk far away, so the two of them didn't bother to take care of it, and landmines were scattered all over the ground.

  Didn't want Luo Zheng to come in but stepped on it, both secretly regretted, if only they had spoken about hygiene earlier.

  "Who pulled it?"

  Luo Zheng shouted again, he was really furious.

  Two bodyguards didn't know who pulled it, and they were so scared that they didn't even dare to breathe.

  Luo Zheng hummed and scolded loudly: "Don't you give General Ben's shoes yet?"

  The two attendants finally breathed a sigh of relief and hastily replied, quickly running to fetch the shoes.

  When Luo Zheng put on his boots, more than 500 workers had already gotten up and stood in a heap, with reverence on their faces.

  "Who will handle the net?"

  Luo Zheng temporarily did not pursue responsibility and instead asked those craftsmen.

  "Small people can."

  As soon as he finished speaking, a thin and small but vigorous man immediately stood up.

  Luo Zheng finally showed a pleased expression and said "Alright, immediately weave a large net for this general, like this, like that..."

  The thin man nodded repeatedly and took note after being instructed carefully for a few sentences.

  Luo Zheng added a few more words, then his face sank and he said in a murderous tone: "You are all human beings, not beasts. If you dare to urinate or defecate anywhere again, I will make you eat all these feces, damn it."

  More than 500 people all had red faces, each desperately holding back their laughter, not daring to laugh out loud, and it was very hard to hold back.

  Luo Zheng grunted and turned around, leaving the vegetable garden. He moved the general's tent to a different location and continued to command the army to dig trenches around the campsite, digging up all the surrounding areas except for one spot directly in front of the entrance that was left open for passage.

  Two hours later, Xu Chu arrived as promised.

  On the three-sided wooden fence of the military account, more than ten torches were burning fiercely on the ground, except for a piece in front of the entrance of the military account that had no torch.

  However, looking back at the military account, there was no firelight inside, and the thick curtains hung down, making it impossible to see the scene inside.

  Xu Chu's martial arts skills were high and his courage was great, he wasn't afraid at all. With a low hum, he flipped off the horseback, but didn't rush into the military account. Instead, he circled around the military account four weeks, using wooden stakes to tap the surroundings thoroughly, and indeed found a pit that surrounded the military account in a circle.

  "Good thief, said no trickery, yet dug a pit."

  Xu Zhu was furious, with a feeling of being played.

  Luo Zheng's voice came from the military account, "These pitfalls are just blocking you from ambushing, there is no pitfall at the door, come on, see if General Ben can capture you alive without using pitfalls, General Ben is waiting for you inside."

  Xu Chu grunted and strode in with large strides, carrying his long sword.

  This military account can hide at most twenty or thirty people. Even if there is an ambush, this fierce man is not afraid at all and thinks he can handle it.

  But having been bitten by a snake once, one is afraid of a rope in the road at night.

  Xu Chu didn't dare to be careless, and he strode up to the front of the military tent and stopped. First, he used his long sword to lift up the thick fabric curtain, and he stared inside with wide eyes, but found that it was pitch black inside, so dark that you couldn't see your own fingers.

  The front of the general's tent has no torches; even if one wants to borrow some light, it is impossible.

  Xu Zhu grumbled in his heart, but this fellow's guts were indeed not ordinary. He used a wooden stake to probe several times and found that the ground was ringing without any pitfalls. Immediately, he threw away the wooden stake, picked up his long knife, and stepped forward with big strides.

  "Huh?"

  But as soon as I took a step forward, I felt the sky spinning and the earth turning, with strong light shining down.

  Xu Chu was startled and subconsciously raised his hand to cover his eyes, hastily stopping in his tracks.

  But before he could figure out what was going on, a big net came down from above and caught him in it.