Chapter 1: The Sun Rises for the First Time Section 4

  A group of people stopped to rest for a while. Tie Lang counted and found that seventeen brothers did not catch up, and it was estimated that they were all dead. These people had been through many battles and lived a life of licking blood from their knives, so they looked at life and death very lightly, and no one shed tears for the deceased.

  At this point, Duan suddenly fell to the ground. Li Hong was standing next to him and quickly helped him lie down on the ground. Li Hong tore open his clothes and found a large wound on his abdomen, estimated to be stabbed by a knife, with blood still flowing out. This Duan was really extremely fierce, actually enduring severe injuries until now before fainting.

  Li Hong skillfully tore off the tattered robe from his own body and tightly bandaged Duan Zhen's wound. The several soldiers beside him looked at him with surprised eyes, one of them asked: "Have you often done this before?"

  Li Hong was taken aback, and only then did he react to his own familiar movements of bandaging the wound. How could he be so skilled? Had he done this often in the past? Li Hong couldn't explain it, so he just smiled at them, taking it as a given.

  "Can you help cut down a few small trees?" Li Hong suddenly asked. The several soldiers surrounding him didn't ask much, picked up their combat knives and cut down the nearby small trees. These people now looked at this Han boy with new eyes. Li Hong not only had high martial arts skills, was brave and fearless in battle, but also ruthless and merciless when killing, cold-blooded and cruel. This was too different from their impression of the Great Han people, couldn't help but make them feel awe.

  "This kid is fierce, he single-handedly killed over twenty enemies. Muyong Feng walked up to Tie Lang and said, 'He saved me today and has earned my gratitude, so from now on you shouldn't call him an idiot in front of others.'"

  Tie Lang listened to Da Shuai's words and hastily bowed his head in response, thinking to himself that this fool was actually quite capable.

  Li Hong used a knife to cut the cowhide clothes on Duan Yun's body into many strips, tied them together to make two straps, and then made a simple stretcher with several small tree branches. Then Li Hong tied the straps to both ends of the stretcher, preparing to carry Duan Yun away together.

  Murong Feng walked over and placed his hand in front of Duan Yu's nose to check, saying softly: "He has lost too much blood, it won't do."

  Li Hong shook his head and said, "The area of his injury is not large, he should be able to survive."

  "Let's go, don't mind him." Murong Feng glanced at Duan Yu who was still unconscious and sighed. He then waved his hand to the other soldiers, "The pursuers are right behind us, let's hurry up!"

  Li Hong suddenly stood up and stared at Murong Feng in disbelief, angrily shouting: "General, he's still alive."

  Everyone stood still, staring at Li Hong in astonishment and shock. No one had ever dared to shout at the general like that before. The Iron Wolf angrily pointed at Li Hong and cursed: "You idiot, you're looking for death, how dare you speak to the general like that."

  Murong Feng gazed at Tie Lang, letting out a cold hum of discontent. Tie Lang suddenly realized he had called Li Hong "idiot" again in front of everyone, and he scratched his head awkwardly, looking extremely embarrassed.

  "In the heart of our Xianbei people, we can never abandon the life of our own brother, but on the battlefield, if because of one life that is about to leave this world, it causes more of our brothers to lose their lives, then we may lose all of our brothers' lives, and even possibly lose the entire war." Murong Feng said with a heavy heart.

  "But we will also lose the hearts of men, lose the unyielding conviction, and lose the righteousness that shares adversity together." Li Hong waved his hands excitedly and shouted.

  Murong Feng looked at him with a cold and stern expression, not saying a word. Suddenly, Murong Feng swung his hand forcefully and walked forward first. He thought that this kid was indeed an idiot, whose brain had problems, and very serious ones at that.

  Tie Lang ran to Li Hong's side, pulling his arm and said: "Let's go quickly. You have a kind heart, but the battlefield is ruthless, and the war knife is even more ruthless. He's going to die soon, can't be saved."

  Li Hong struggled free from his grasp and said word by word: "He won't die, he's our brother, as brothers we can't abandon him."

  Tie Lang gazed at his stubborn face, pointing to Duan Jin and asked, "If you were killed by the enemy because of his drag, wouldn't you regret it?"

  "I would rather be killed than abandon a brother who has shared hardships with me. To abandon one's own brother and not save him, is that human?"

  Tie Lang looked at Duan Yun lying on the ground, unconscious, and his heart ached. Tears involuntarily moistened his eyes. He and Duan Yun had been fighting side by side since they were teenagers, for over twenty years, how could he not have feelings?

  Iron Wolf helped Li Hong lift Duan Zhen onto the stretcher, and the two of them carried Duan Zhen in a relay, chasing after the troops at high speed. Iron Wolf's leg was injured during the intense battle earlier, and he couldn't hold on after running for a while. Li Hong's back and hands were also injured, and he gritted his teeth in pain as they made their way through the forest. The two of them persisted and finally ran out of the forest, by which time the sky had completely darkened.

  Murong Feng was walking in the front, when he suddenly heard a burst of cheers from the soldiers behind him. Murong Feng turned his head to look back and instantly became furious. Tie Lang and Li Hong caught up with him, carrying Duan Yun on a stretcher, both of them were exhausted and stumbling. More than a dozen soldiers excitedly shouted and rushed forward to welcome them. When Murong Feng saw this scene, he suddenly thought of something in his heart, and the anger that filled his chest instantly disappeared without a trace.

  "The hearts of men." Murong Feng thought of the two words Li Hong had said to him. In the current situation, the hearts of men were the most important thing. With the hearts of men, there was morale; with morale, one could see the hope of victory. Once the hearts of men were scattered, his own plans would be even harder to achieve.

  Murong Feng stood there, motionless.

  Tie Lang and Li Hong walked to the front of Murong Feng, surrounded by soldiers. Everyone was tense, not knowing what would happen as a result of Tie Lang and Li Hong openly disobeying the general's orders. Tie Lang was nervous and anxious, lowering his head and speaking in a low voice: "That idiot said there's still hope, so I..."

  Murong Feng gently patted Tie Lang's shoulder, removed the leather strap from his neck and put it on his own, then took the stretcher from Tie Lang's hand. He looked around at the crowd and said loudly: "Let's go, let's go."

  The soldiers were first amazed, then silent, and finally cheered again. The crowd swarmed around the stretcher and rushed to Bailu Plain.

  After more than an hour, on the pitch-black grassland, a red dot suddenly appeared. This red dot grew bigger and bigger, and soon more and larger red dots emerged. The pursuing soldiers finally appeared.

  Murong Feng strode forward with large steps, ignoring the reports from his subordinates.

  The stretcher is now being carried by the big men in shifts to conserve energy and increase speed. Duan Yun is still unconscious on the stretcher. Li Hong had pulled out a few wild grasses from the small woods earlier, and during his free time when he didn't have to carry the stretcher, he crushed them into patties and applied them to Duan Yun's wounds. Tie Lang didn't ask him anything, knowing that he was acting on instinct or residual memory, and asking would be pointless anyway.

  A soldier strangely asked: "Idiot, can this grass cure injuries?"

  Li Hong was taken aback, he hadn't thought about this question carefully, he just subconsciously thought that this wild grass could cure wounds, so he went to do it, as for why? He didn't know, would it work? He also didn't know. However, now he is very confident in these instincts that don't need to be learned or taught. In the forest ambush, relying on his instincts and those effortless martial arts moves, he killed more than 20 enemies, something he wouldn't have dared to think about in the past.

  I must have been an assassin in my past life. Li Hong believed in Murong Feng's judgment, and he thought it was nothing strange at all. Assassins not only had high martial arts skills, but also knew how to hide and ambush, and they were skilled in many kinds of strange and unusual abilities.

  Li Hong did not respond to the soldier's words, but Murong Feng, who was walking at the front of the group, spoke up. "His name is not 'white idiot', it's..." The names of Han people were hard to remember and pronounce, and even after asking, Murong Feng had forgotten. He turned his inquiring gaze towards Tie Lang. Tie Lang hastily replied, "Reporting to General, his Han name is Li Hong, but it's hard to pronounce and remember, so I've always called him 'white idiot', simple and clear."

  Murong Feng couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, shaking his head repeatedly. "Who doesn't know that he's called a fool? This name is too unpleasant, it's better to give him a Xianbei name instead. What should we call him?" Murong Feng hesitated for a moment before saying, "I think he's agile and fierce, like a leopard in the mountains, let's just call him Leopard."

  Tie Lang hastily pulled Li Hong to the front of Murong Feng, "Quickly kneel down and kowtow to General, thank General for giving you a name." Li Hong didn't say another word, honestly knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Murong Feng. Murong Feng helped him up, smiling at Tie Lang said: "From today on, let him follow me." Tie Lang heard this, was even more overjoyed, repeatedly thanked him, and took advantage of the situation to kick Li Hong with one foot. Li Hong understood the hint, again kowtowed several times to Murong Feng.

  The pursuing soldiers were getting closer and closer, the dazzling torches gradually formed a jumping red line, which looked like a string of bright red pearls flashing on black silk in the dark night, it was really beautiful.

  Li Hong, who had become Murong Feng's personal bodyguard, followed Iron Wolf's instructions and stayed by Murong Feng's side without leaving his sight. Murong Feng walked with a relaxed expression, neither fast nor slow, seemingly oblivious to the pursuing soldiers behind him.

  In the distance was a small hill. Li Hong suddenly grabbed Murong Feng and shouted loudly to the people behind him, "There is an ambush." More than a dozen soldiers were shocked and frightened, hastily putting arrows on their strings, drawing their swords from their scabbards, and rushing up together, quickly surrounding Duan Zhen and Murong Feng in the middle.

  Iron Wolf hastily ran in front of Li Hong and asked, "Leopard, where is the ambush?"

  Li Hong pointed solemnly at a small hill in the distance and said softly, "It's just behind the slope."

  Under the faint moonlight, Iron Wolf narrowed his eyes to take a closer look at the small hill fifty steps away. Except for the long grass and a few wildflowers, there was nothing else on it. Iron Wolf asked doubtfully: "Is there really an ambush? How did you know?"

  "There's a smell of horses." Li Hong sniffed the air with force and walked forward several steps.

  Tie Lang snorted with a smile, "What are you talking nonsense about? The grassland is full of horse dung, of course there's the smell of horses. Don't be suspicious, let's hurry up and go."

  Murong Feng waved his hand, "Send someone to take a look." Tie Lang responded with a sound and was about to go over himself, but found that Li Hong had already rushed out like a agile leopard. When he was still more than 30 steps away from the small slope, Li Hong suddenly pounced on the ground and continued to crawl forward at high speed.

  At this time, the distant and urgent horseshoe sound was blown into everyone's ears by the cool night wind on the grassland, and the pursuers were about to arrive.

  Li Hongqiao's figure silently crossed the small hillside and disappeared into the long grass, vanishing without a trace.

  Murong Feng and his soldiers waited with bated breath, their eyes wide with anxiety.

  Suddenly, a long and mournful cry came from the slope behind, the cry tore through the dark night, filling every heart with terror and pain.

  Murong Feng, Tie Lang and the soldiers were as if pierced by sharp arrows, feeling extremely suffocated and unbearable for a moment, then they jumped up like frightened rabbits, rushing up the slope at the fastest speed.

  Li Hong was like a black leopard, a bloody and ferocious death god. His sharp attack made three living lives disappear in an instant.

  Behind this mountain slope, there were scouts from fourteen tribes of the Tiger Clan. After discovering Murong Feng, they considered their own strength to be insufficient and did not hastily launch an attack. Instead, they secretly lay in ambush ahead of Murong Feng, preparing to catch him off guard and achieve a great merit. These people almost succeeded.

  Li Hong silently killed four ambushing soldiers, but was immediately discovered by the enemy. Li Hong then unleashed his divine might and launched a most terrifying attack. With an unimaginable speed, he killed three enemies who rushed up first, then slowly slit the throat of the fourth enemy with his knife, intending to use the enemy's dying scream to inform Murong Feng and Tie Lang to come and support him quickly. The enemy soldier's mournful cry suddenly echoed through the night sky, and the remaining enemies saw that the attacker was incredibly powerful, so they abandoned their attack on Murong Feng and turned to kill Li Hong instead.

  Li Hong did all this perfectly, although no one taught him. Once he merged into the darkness and bloodshed, these survival skills became his instinct, just like eating. He couldn't tell what was innate and what was learned later. After several bloody battles, Li Hong had become very accustomed to it, except for a little tension at the beginning. He used his instincts skillfully, killing people as easily and quickly as pinching an ant to death. As the number of battles increased, more of his instincts were exposed. He never doubted that his instincts were things he had forgotten, and he hoped to find more lost memories in the slaughter. Fighting and killing had become something he yearned for.

  He kicked off the enemy's neck, and then cut off another enemy's head. Finally, there were still two enemies standing in front of him, but at this time he had no chance to end their lives. After Murong Feng and Tie Lang rushed to the top of the slope, all they could do was shoot the last two enemies like a hedgehog.