Chapter 1: The Sun Rises for the First Time Section 30

  Li Hong's battle knife chopped down on the sneak attacker. Li Hong was in a superior position, and with one slash of his knife, he split open both the bow in the man's hand and his skull. The warhorse galloped forward, and Li Hong dodged to the side, avoiding an incoming spear thrust. He grabbed hold of it with his hand, let out a loud roar, and using his momentum, pulled the opponent off their horse. Next, he parried a horizontal slash from an axe with his battle knife, and with his left hand, used his spear to pierce through a man charging towards him with a sword. Li Hong's horse was fast, and soon they broke out of the encirclement by the twenty or so big men. This sudden attack had killed that little general, and also taken down two more big men, leaving the enemy in shock. However, soon everyone was enraged by their companion's blood, and they all charged forward together.

  So many people together, on the contrary, exposed a big gap. Li Hong alone was much more agile. He didn't even think about it, taking advantage of the horse's turn back, he had already taken down the strong bow and shot out two arrows in succession. Although the old wolf's bow was not particularly large, it belonged to a strong bow, and without 200 stone of strength, one couldn't even pull it open. Two sharp arrows whizzed into the enemy group, shooting down two enemies.

  Li Hong clamped his legs tightly around the horse's belly, and the black leopard let out a pained cry as it began to gallop wildly once more. Li Hong dodged an arrow on horseback and took advantage of the momentum to shoot another person dead. Immediately after, he held his bow in one hand and his knife in the other, charging head-on into the enemy ranks. The first person to encounter him had barely shown their face when they were beheaded by Li Hong's battle cry. With his left hand holding the bow, Li Hong deflected an enemy sword that was swung at him, his body tilting entirely to the right side of the warhorse as he held his battle knife horizontally, cutting down the enemies who came charging towards him and sending them tumbling to the ground.

  The big man who was just pulled off the horse held a long spear that had been pulled from his companion's body, running and shouting in his mouth, fiercely stabbing towards Li Hong. Li Hong shouted loudly, pulling the reins of the horse violently. The black leopard seemed to understand, suddenly jumping up and passing over the man's head, Li Hong's body was still tilting and couldn't grasp the balance, sliding down from the horseback, kicking the man's chest and abdomen with one foot. The man let out a miserable cry, being kicked into the air, spitting out blood from his mouth, it seemed that he wouldn't survive.

  Li Hong fell off his horse and rolled over a dozen times before stabilizing, just as he was lying next to the little general. Li Hong let out a cheer, pulled the small axe from the general's body, scrambled to his feet, and charged at the enemy.

  The enemy in front of him saw his companions being killed one after another, and their hatred had already clouded their minds. One by one, they roared with anger, turned around on horseback, and charged at Li Hong again.

  About ten zhang away, Li Hong swiftly shot two arrows in a row, and two enemies fell off their horses with a loud cry.

  As the enemy drew closer and closer, there was no time to grab another arrow. Li Hong took out his small axe and threw it fiercely at a big man holding a long spear. At the same time, he sprinted to one side.

  The small axe whizzed through the air and chopped into the man's neck, causing him to let out a blood-curdling scream as he fell off his horse. Li Hong had just run over to pick up the long spear on the ground when a war knife came flying towards him. He roared with anger, fearless, and charged forward.

  The enemy cavalry was shocked. This kind of mutual destruction was not what they wanted, so he hastily changed the direction of his knife, intending to block it. On the battlefield, there was no room for even half a moment of hesitation.

  Li Hong's long spear suddenly accelerated, inserting itself into the enemy's abdomen with incredible speed. With another burst of strength, he actually lifted the man off his horse. The man let out a blood-curdling scream, his hands tightly grasping the spear shaft to prevent himself from being pierced through.

  Li Hong didn't care that he was splattered with blood all over his body and head. He let out a tiger's roar and used the man as a human hammer to smash into the enemy cavalry who were closing in behind him. The enemy cavalry was actually knocked off their horses by him.

  Li Hong pulled out his long spear and pounced forward like an old tiger, the spear inserting itself into the man's throat amidst his extremely terrified screams. Blood spurted out.

  The remaining enemy cavalry ran in vain, and had to turn back to charge again. Li Hong gazed coldly at the group of enemies who were shouting and rushing up, turned around to meet them head-on. He took off running, and after a dozen or so steps, suddenly threw the long spear in his hand at one of the enemies. Then he picked up his bow and arrow, shooting out an arrow quickly, then another. The long spear flew through the air at high speed, making a piercing sound as it broke through the air. That person didn't even have time to dodge, being pierced through the chest by the long spear, flying high into the air with inertia, falling off his horse. The long spear on his chest was still shaking. Li Hong turned around and ran.

  Two enemies were shot down from their horses with a loud cry. At the same time, seven or eight arrows chased after Li Hong and were shot over. Li Hong made a forward leap and fell to the ground, and all the long arrows flew into the air. The enemy cavalry rushed forward, trampling towards Li Hong on the ground.

  Li Hong's eyes were bright and his hands were quick, he rolled under one of the horses' bellies, grasping a long arrow in his hand, which he inserted into the horse's belly with ease, all the way to the hilt. The warhorse let out a mournful whinny, and with astonishing strength, it leapt up, its hooves kicking over one of the knights, then shot forward, throwing the knight on its back to the ground, crushing him to death.

  Li Hong stood up behind the horse that had leapt forward, and immediately shot three arrows in succession at the enemy cavalry facing away from him. Three enemies fell off their horses one after another with a muffled hum.

  The enemy cavalry charged out for tens of meters before turning back. They suddenly found that only eight people were still alive, and the anger in their hearts was beyond measure, but some were also terrified, losing the courage to attack again. The enemy was too ferocious. But Li Hong came running recklessly, regardless of life or death. This provocation was infuriating.

  "Kill...!" The enemy roared in anger, and the eight of them shouted again, rushing forward without distinction. But Li Hong suddenly turned around and fled in a hurry.

  When they were about 20-30 feet apart, Li Hong stood still and shot two arrows at once. The old wolf had always scolded him for being stupid, thinking that teaching him to shoot three arrows at the same time was a waste. But Li Hong had been practicing. Today, surrounded by enemies, he finally decided to try shooting two arrows at the same time. Li Hong released the bowstring and the two arrows whizzed towards the enemy. He immediately took off running again, looking back at his handiwork.

  "Good." Li Hongda shouted. The two enemies fell off their horses. He picked up the two long spears, standing firmly in the middle of the wilderness, coldly staring at the approaching enemy cavalry. Just as the enemy was near, Li Hong suddenly squatted down, the two spears merged together and stood obliquely, the spear tail inserted into the ground, facing the flying iron cavalry without seeing it. The knights on horseback were shocked. If they crashed into it, not only would the war horses be stabbed to death, but they themselves would also fly out. However, the speed of the horse was too fast and there was no time to react. The warhorse was pierced by the long spear, let out a mournful cry, and flew out along with its inertia. A rider on the left side came too late to avoid it, "Boom" a loud noise crashed into it, and the man and horse overturned. Li Hong suddenly released the long spear when the warhorse was pierced, and rushed forward. Then he got up, picked up a battle knife, and rushed up, killing two enemies who fell off their horses with one knife each. Then he held the battle knife high like a madman, following the enemy cavalry to chase after them.

  The remaining four horses never looked back and galloped away in a cloud of dust.

  The men and women, young and old, in the four-horse carriage were stunned like wooden chickens, staring blankly as a madman-like giant killed 26 of the 30 Tuoba tribe soldiers escorting them, plus Tuoba Feng's son Tuoba Kui. As they gazed at Li Hong approaching from afar, their eyes showed nothing but fear, as if they had seen a devil.

  "Xue Er, is that your friend?" a middle-aged woman sitting next to Feng Xue suddenly asked in a trembling voice.

  The storm and snow awakened her from fear. She looked at Li Hong's majestic physique, approaching step by step like a heavenly god, and suddenly a sense of worship rose from her heart. She nodded vigorously: "He is the leopard."

  The little boy standing on the carriage suddenly raised his arms and shouted: "Hurray!" His shout startled the people around him, but they immediately followed with cheers. For the time being, they finally escaped the clutches of the Tuoba tribe. The men, women, old and young people in the four carriages all got off the carriages and gathered together to celebrate each other.

  Li Hongda walked back step by step. He picked up his own weapons all the way and put them on his body. Then he walked to the Wind Snow. He saw that national color Tianxiang face again. Fengxue was wearing a very ordinary Xianbei woman's costume, but it didn't damage her beauty, on the contrary, it made her look more elegant and lovely.

  Feng Xue was extremely excited, standing in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by a dozen or so children who were all eager to see their big hero. Feng Xue's smile was especially radiant, like a flower, and Li Hong couldn't help but stare blankly. His heart began to beat violently again.

  "Brother Leopard, was it Uncle Murong who called you here?" asked Feng Xue excitedly.

  Li Hong noticed her affectionate term of endearment, his heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but feel short of breath. He smiled awkwardly at the snowy wind, saying, "It's not like that."

  Feng Xue and several older women standing behind her suddenly changed their faces.

  "I was on my way back to the Great Han State. I saw the corpse of your follower on the road and chased after you. You'd better hurry back, lest General worry." Li Hong gave her a slight bow and turned to walk towards the black leopard.

  The little boy who had just stood on the carriage and warned Li Hong was standing beside the black leopard. The black leopard seemed to know him, letting him lead it. The little boy was about eight or nine years old, sturdy and strong. On his round face grew a pair of bright and clever eyes.

  "You're very brave, thank you." Li Hong said with a smile.

  The child seemed to be afraid of him and ran away in a hurry.

  "Brother Leopard, thank you for coming to save me." Feng Xue suddenly said timidly behind his back.

  Li Hong turned around, looking at her with a worried face, and said softly: "What you're doing won't save them, it will only harm them, and also harm yourself and the Niu Tou tribe."

  "Am I supposed to just watch them go to their deaths?" Feng Xue said sorrowfully.

  Li Hong looked at the group of people in front of him. They were all the wives and children of Quan Ju and Ke Zui, about twenty people in total. The children all looked at him with a mixture of admiration and fear in their eyes. Seven or eight beautiful women, each with an extraordinary appearance, could be considered among the best-looking among the Xianbei tribe's females. Li Hong had seen many Xianbei women during his time as a slave in the Hu Bu tribe, but none were as beautiful as this group of people. Looking at the helplessness and despair in their eyes, Li Hong's heart was also heavy.

  Among the various tribes outside of China, defeat in war also meant losing everything. Including their own women and children, they would become other people's property, this is an eternal and unchanging law. Even if Tan Shi Hu unified the Xianbei tribe's various branches, it was only a relatively mature slave society. He could not change the ancient and natural law of the Xianbei tribe either. Moreover, the Xianbei state was actually just a relatively loose alliance, many tribes internally and between tribes had affairs that the great king had no right to interfere with.

  "You'd better go back. The Tuoba tribe is now in the midst of the Xianbei's power, even the Great General wouldn't easily turn against them. But the Great General can still protect you with just one word."

  "I and my subordinates will attack them, the Tuoba tribe soldiers who escaped just now must have told Tuoba Wei. Murong's uncle has done his best to protect the Niu Tou tribe, I won't implicate him again. I'll take them with me and escape." Feng Xue said resolutely.

  Li Hong stared at the little woman in front of him in surprise, stunned by her persistence. "You, alone?" Li Hong asked doubtfully.

  Snow nodded slightly.

  Li Hong let out a disappointed sigh and gazed at the group of children in front of him, saying slowly: "You will get them killed."

  "It's all the same anyway, we're all going to die." Tears suddenly rolled down Feng Xue's face.

  Li Hong's heart softened, and he couldn't say anything more. But he also couldn't just watch as the wind and snow swept in, watching this group of old, weak, women and children be captured by the Tuoba tribe again. He had killed so many Tuoba soldiers, killed Tuoba Feng's son, and had already sentenced this group of people to death. If the Tuoba tribe couldn't catch Li Hong, this resentment would naturally be directed at them.

  "Brother Leopard, are you going back to Great Han Country?" Feng Xue asked lightly.

  Li Hong nodded, "The general has agreed. I can return to the Great Han State."

  "Then can you give us a ride?" Feng Xue said softly, while secretly glancing at him with her eyes.

  "Do you have somewhere to go?"

  "My father and Uncle Murong opened up a small ranch in the Moon Valley of Greater Yan Mountain back then. Now my two older brothers and our clansmen all live there."

  Li Hong nodded, "You get everyone to ride horses as much as possible. I'll go collect some weapons, they'll come in handy on the road."

  "Thank you." Feng Xue was unable to express her gratitude for a moment, and tears flowed down uncontrollably.