Insufficient balance

  Zhao Xu's team deliberately lagged behind, watching from a distance as his brother fought desperately against the robbers.

  "These guys are really something, young master! I'm afraid those bandits aren't their match!"

  One by one, the mournful cries were carried by the wind through the valley and into Zhao Xu's ears. Next to him was a bodyguard, who was once beaten by Zhao Fu until he vomited blood, a small leader of the Zhao family guards.

  "I see, I saw it too, that stupid bandit leader came back to report! If there's a chance, you lead your men to help them out, no matter what, don't let that Second Brother and Old Man Martin return to Huangsha City!"

  As he said this, the leader of the robbers was already leaning over his horse and galloping towards them, Zhao Xu's gaze flickered with a hint of resentment.

  "What useless things! Dozens of people can't even beat a few!"

  At this time in the canyon, Zhao Fubo led his four subordinates, with the assistance of several archers, still stubbornly guarding the defensive line, waiting for the arrival of his elder brother.

  "Be careful..."

  With a large gun in hand, he fended off the attack of two Mamluk cavalrymen who came face to face, but then a iron spear stabbed him and Zhao Fu Bo had no chance to resist.

  He was, after all, just a fifteen-year-old kid, and although he was stronger than the other kids, he was getting more and more tired of these fierce bandits.

  The big gun in his hand was getting heavier and heavier. The large muzzle flower could no longer be easily shaken open.

  "With a loud shout, Mu Ke rushed from behind and swung his sword to block the iron spear's attack for Zhao Fubo, then charged at him with a great roar."

  "Can't stop it, go quickly!"

  Zhao Fubo looked around at the current situation. Little John was weak and unsuitable for immediate combat, so Zhao Fubo had already sent him back to the defensive line earlier.

  There he used his longbow to help defend, and the only ones who could truly fight were himself, Mukk, and the remaining Mamluk.

  At this moment, the Mamluk cavalryman's body was also injured.

  Looking up and gazing into the distance, Big Brother's convoy was still nowhere to be seen. Zhao Fubo guessed in his heart that his plan to join forces with Big Brother to defeat this bandit group might have fallen through.

  "Alright, Muk and I will stay behind, the rest of you go first!"

  Han and Mu Ke fought back and forth, slowly retreating to the vicinity of the large chariot array. At this time, the bandits feared the power of bows and arrows, jumped off their horses, covered themselves with shields, and slowly approached.

  At this time, without the help of the four longbowmen, their defensive strength was greatly reduced. The bandits' momentum towards the gap between the two horse-drawn vehicles became stronger and stronger, but these bandits were also afraid of Zhao Fubo's sharp gun.

  They had never seen the Chinese internal family gun method before, and they had already folded seven or eight people under this gun. Therefore, they only dared to use their hand-held weapons to collide with Zhao Fu's big gun from a distance, hoping to exhaust his strength and then capture him.

  Fortunately, this is a time-consuming tactic. Half of them were unable to guard the gap left by Zhao Fubo and Mu Ke.

  "Whoosh...... Whoosh......"

  The sound of a long arrow breaking through the air came, and Zhao Fubo heard a "dang dang" sound by his ear, but it was Mu Ke who swung his sword to cut off two incoming arrows.

  "There's someone on the cliff!"

  His loud shout had barely fallen when the two longbowmen assisting Martin let out a loud cry of despair. Under the sudden dark arrow attack, they fell to the ground, their bodies twitching non-stop, apparently already dead from the arrows.

  "Damn it, I'm so unlucky..."

  Martin, who was dragged out of the car on his wheelchair by them, had now fallen to the ground. Without legs, he would have been in a precarious situation if no one had helped him.

  He strained his arms to support his body, trying his best to get up, cursing loudly in his mouth. Just like an old horse that had been tortured by illness and was already old.

  "Mu Ke protect Yu Er, I'm going to save Teacher!"

  At this time, Shu Yu'er had already jumped onto a war horse, and in her hand was surprisingly her own two-meter-long white wax rod spear.

  Little John had his bow slung over his back, and a quiver full of arrows at the saddle-bow, and with two other yeomen he kept the space between the two carts clear with a line of arrows.

  "Teacher, hold my hand!"

  Zhao Fubo bent down and stretched out his hand to grab Martin's arm, then with a loud shout, he lifted Martin's body from the ground onto his own horse.

  Just then, an arrow shot towards Zhao Fu's broad back, approaching like lightning.

  "Second son..."

  "Be careful..."

  Shu Yu'er and Little John shouted together. If it weren't for the urgent situation, everyone would have discovered that their voices were somewhat similar.

  Although Little John was somewhat hoarse, it was absolutely not like a man's voice.

  "when"

  A crisp sound rang out behind Zhao Fubo, which was Wei Zhen's steel armor in the leather jacket that saved his life. Little John thought Zhao Fubo had been shot and killed, raised the longbow in his hand, and shot an arrow towards the top of the cliff.

  "Ah..."

  A cry of despair echoed from the cliff, and Little John's arrow shot with hatred was still incredibly accurate. At this time, Xiao Hei, who was carrying Zhao Fu Bo, galloped away, leaving the range of the arrow rain on the cliff.

  "Hurry up..."

  It seems like the situation is really urgent, Muk has spoken many times today.

  As Zhao Fubo and Martin escaped the cliff top ambush of bows and arrows, Mu Ke ignited the horse carriage with oil on the axle.

  In the rolling thick smoke, the spark rushed up and completely blocked the way for the pursuing soldiers to advance. Even Mu Ke carefully untied the horses that pulled the carts, tied the reins together, and then took these horses and galloped away.

  A group of people rushed desperately to the distance along the canyon, and at this time, the Mamluk beside Zhao Xu, who was hiding on the top of the cliff, finally appeared. His eyes looked at the departing figure, revealing a complex expression.

  Soon after, Zhao Xu rode his white horse to the bonfire site with a carefree expression. Looking at the corpses on the ground, he suddenly opened his fan with a "whoosh" sound and covered his mouth and nose, as if the bloody smell had already made him unbearable.

  On his carriage, one by one, beautiful but scantily clad faces appeared.

  Among them was the water snake waist, wearing a veil, her face could not be seen clearly. However, her deep eye sockets with black pupils showed a hint of surprise at the many bandits' corpses on the ground.

  When her gaze collided with the leader of the Mamluk beside Zhao Xu, it seemed to exchange some information. Immediately, the two gazes quickly shifted, as if nothing had happened just now.

  Zhao Xu looked at the corpses all over the ground and couldn't help but let out a sigh.

  "Er Lang is indeed a heroic figure, relying on just a few of them to block the attack of these Mamluk cavalry. If it weren't for their exceptional bravery, it would be because you Mamluk cavalry are useless!"

  When he said these words, the guards and the bandit leader's eyes all flashed with a hint of sadness. But Zhao Xu, who was pleased with himself, didn't notice at all, and simply fanned himself with his folding fan.

  "Hurry up and put out the fire, then clear the way! I'm in a hurry to get going! Alas, what a pity. This time we let the tiger return to the mountain, who knows when we'll have another chance to capture it?"

  Taking advantage of the flames to shake off their pursuers, Zhao Fubo and his party hastily fled the gorge, and soon after, the terrain became vastly more open.

  The canyon is the last barrier that isolates Zhao's family from the outside world, and beyond this hill lies a coastal plain with lush grass and beautiful water.

  Thanks to the nourishment of the ocean climate, large tracts of pasture grow on the sandy land here. After passing through a small mountain dozens of miles away is Zhaojia's Difeng Village where they raise horses and cattle.

  When Zhao Fubo's father built the Difeng Village here, it naturally had the meaning of relying on hills to defend against attacks. The tall walls indicate that this is a completely military fortress-like castle.

  Outside the castle are some earth-colored houses made of mud. Except for the shepherd's residence, most of them are cowsheds and horse stables.

  When the buildings could be seen from afar, Zhao Fubo's little black horse suddenly let out a sad neigh and fell to the ground. Heavily, it threw Zhao Fubo and Martin off its back, rolling them onto the road.

  The roadside grew pasture, and underneath was soft sandy ground, so the two didn't get hurt from falling. The little black coal that fell to the ground, however, never got back up again.

  "Little black charcoal... little black charcoal..."

  Zhao Fubo sprang up from the ground and rushed to the horse's head, only then did he discover that a long arrow had deeply pierced into Xiao Hei Tan's abdomen.

  The little black coal on the ground, in the horse's mouth, also surged up with clusters of unceasingly flowing bloody foam.

  Those big eyes with spirituality stared at Zhao Fubo, a drop of clear tears flowed down its long face, as if reluctant to part with Zhao Fubo.

  A gentle and prolonged hiss came from his throat as he spoke to Zhao Fubo.

  "My silly brother, what would you do without me?!"

  Zhao Fubo stared blankly at Xiao Hei Tan's injuries, and when he realized it was a mortal wound, a massive sadness suddenly gripped him tightly.

  He went limp and sat down on the ground with a thud, letting out a loud wail as he burst into tears. He reached out to hug Xiao Hei Tuan's thick neck, pressing his face against its sweaty neck.

  Since he was old enough to remember, he had been living in the abandoned garden that used to be a horse farm. The only companion he had, apart from this black colt as black as coal, was no one else and no friends.

  When they got hot, they went down to the river together; when they got cold, they huddled together for warmth.

  If it weren't for Shu Yu'er being sent to Liu Yuan by her father later on, Zhao Fu might still be the solitary Zhao Fu.

  But at this moment, Xiao Hei Tuan, who had been with him day and night, was dying in front of him, and he was completely powerless.

  Holding onto the horse's head and wailing loudly, Zhao Fubo muttered incoherently, his tearful eyes pleading for help as he looked around at the people nearby.

  "Xiao Hei Tan, you can't die! If you die, I'll be left all alone..."

  At this moment, Zhao Fubo didn't dare to imagine what it would be like if he returned to that desolate wilderness and could no longer see Xiao Hei Tan. What a lonely figure he would become!

  His crying shocked not only people like Martin and Little John, but even Shu Yu'er was also surprised to the extreme.

  She could hardly believe that the crying Second Brother in front of her was Zhao Fubo, who had six apertures open and one aperture closed, completely ignorant of emotions.

  Shu Yu'er, infected by Zhao Fubo's emotions, had tears in her eyes and silently accompanied him in crying. On the other hand, Little John, although his blue eyes also looked a bit moist.

  He, who had been through a long time in the war, still stood with two other longbowmen, holding his longbow and staring in the direction where the bandits might come.

  It was now dusk with the sun about to set, several birds were slowly flying towards the distance on the edge of the fiery red clouds.

  Zhao Fu's wailing brought some wind, which lifted the fine yellow sand and swirled it in the wilderness, making the dusk even more desolate and sorrowful.