Chapter 1: The Sun Rises for the First Time Section 32

  Li Hong set fire to the hay in the horse shed. The hay was highly flammable and immediately triggered a raging inferno.

  In the distance, the soldiers suddenly discovered something was amiss. They dropped the mischievous child and shouted as they rushed back. Running up to the front, each one leapt off their horse, shouting out their companions' names. Li Hong hid in the dark corner of the stable, enduring the scorching heat. Three soldiers almost simultaneously charged in, only to be shot dead by Li Hong in an instant. The soldiers behind felt something was wrong and did not continue to charge inside.

  Li Hong had no choice but to charge out himself. The remaining five soldiers were suddenly shocked to see a big man with disheveled hair rush out of the fire, and they lost their color. Before they could react, Li Hong had already knocked down two of them. The rest, although frightened and at a loss, were driven by the Xianbei people's inherent ferocity to charge forward without hesitation and engage in a fierce battle with Li Hong.

  But their strength was far inferior to Li Hong's. Without exchanging a few moves, he had already killed two of them, and the last one had his war knife knocked out of his hand and was trampled underfoot.

  "Go and tell Tuo Ba Yi that his horse has been robbed by me." Li Hong said with a big laugh. The soldier who had barely escaped with his life hastily mounted his horse and fled.

  Li Hong brought back Quan Kun, Ke Bi Xiong and several other children, running quickly. The wind and snow had made their mother anxious for a long time. Seeing that they were all safe and sound, she happily rushed up to them. The children were overjoyed, clinging to their mother's bosom, chattering non-stop.

  Feng Xue welcomed Li Hong with a delighted and joyful expression. Li Hong gazed at her beautiful smile, feeling that beautiful things were truly good, and no matter how he looked at it, it was always so comfortable. In his mind, he involuntarily thought of Feng Xue in white clothes on a white horse, an absolutely beautiful figure floating out of the dust.

  "If we speed up, we should be able to reach Dashan safely." Li Hong smiled and said to Feng Xue.

  "Really thank you." Feng Xue said gratefully, "If it weren't for you, we would all be dead by now. How can I thank you?"

  The beauty's warm words were as smooth as jade, almost making Li Hong's heart take flight.

  A group of people, urged by Li Hong, hastily mounted their horses and sped off towards the west, where the sun rises.

  The next evening, Tuoba Yi and his soldiers finally returned, exhausted. When they saw the wild horses on the pasture grazing in groups of three or five, still leisurely eating grass and drinking water, they couldn't help but feel relieved and shouted loudly.

  Thank goodness. He really should thank the big man who killed someone but didn't take away his horse. If he had taken away the horse, the property loss of the Tuoba tribe would have been even greater. This is a bigger loss than losing a battle that's not too big or too small. It's strange if Tuoba Feng doesn't flay his skin. But it doesn't matter if Tuoba Kui died, Tuoba Feng still has several sons. Tuoba Feng won't overly blame him for this.

  Tuoba Yi never mentioned the matter of pursuing and killing enemies again. He would rather return to the Tuoba tribe and not be a general than go back and have his skin peeled off by Tuoba Feng, losing his life. Moreover, Tuoba Kui died on Murong Feng's turf, and the responsibility wasn't entirely his alone.

  Tuoba Xian heart was extremely impressed with this ruthless Han man. Not only did he have exceptional martial arts skills, but also careful and meticulous thinking. First, he lured himself into pursuing south, while secretly hiding nearby to ambush the pasture. After leading his troops south, he immediately launched a surprise attack on the pasture. The most astonishing thing was that this person seemed to know that he valued these horses more than killing him. After finishing off the people, he didn't attack the horse herd, leaving them unharmed. This way, having learned from the previous lesson, he would never dare to pursue and kill again. But if the horse herd were gone, in desperation, he would have no choice but to fight to the death with him. This man was formidable indeed.

  On the third day, the soldiers who went to see Murong Feng rushed back and brought good news. The murderer was a spy from the Great Han State named Li Hong, also known as Leopard, who had gained some fame among the Xianbei recently. When he heard that Murong Feng was going to attack the Great Han State, he suddenly escaped. For this reason, Murong Feng had already issued a black wooden token, summoning the central Xianbei tribes to hunt and capture him.

  Tuoba Hong took a deep breath: "Now that's done, grievances have a head, debts have a master, just waiting for the reinforcements sent by the adults. However, this will make this leopard even more famous. Even Murong Feng wants to issue a black wood order to hunt him down, which shows how formidable this person is."

  His subordinates echoed in agreement. To blow up the enemy's prestige a bit higher, it would be greatly beneficial for them to escape their own guilt.

  Feng Xue felt that Li Hong was sometimes really cruel. He made everyone ride horses to the west without rest, absolutely not stopping in between. Adults could barely hold on, but children couldn't, they would fall asleep while riding and often accidentally fell off the horse. Li Hong would then tie them to the saddle and continue walking.

  Three days and three nights, continuously running for five hundred miles, the Great Yan Mountain finally came into view.

  At this time, Murong Feng's guards had not yet arrived at the western border of the Central Xianbei and were still on their way.

  Li Hong gazed out at the endless high mountains before him and shouted loudly: "Feng Xue, is that Mount Da Yan up ahead?"

  "Yes. We'll walk for another day and we'll arrive at Tan Yue Valley." Feng Xue said excitedly.

  "How much farther is it to the Great Han Empire?"

  "Once you get over this mountain, you'll be there."

  Li Hong became excited and rode his horse back and forth on the mountain road to express the joy in his heart. But soon he was no longer happy. He saw a team of horses in the distance, like a cloud, floating over.

  Li Hong immediately woke up the children who were lying on the horse and made preparations to meet the enemy. Feng Xue saw his solemn expression and comforted him with a smile: "The area within a hundred miles around here is all under my two brothers' control, nothing big will happen."

  "How did you know? Are you just back from Fuyu State?" Li Hong asked with a smile.

  "I came back once last year, of course I knew." The little girl didn't show weakness either and immediately retorted.

  The cavalry was only forty or fifty paces away from them. The other side, seeing such a group of people, was obviously somewhat surprised. Apart from the woman and child, there was only one tall and robust man, holding a bow and arrow, who was extremely vigilant towards them. The cavalry immediately came to a halt.

  This cavalry team had about thirty or forty people, both Hu and Han people, all of whom were armed. Li Hong tensed up. He suddenly remembered what Feng Xue said earlier and shouted out without thinking: "What are you doing? I am under the command of Fēng Liè, the elder of the Niu Tou tribe."

  The other party obviously heard Li Hong's shout and immediately rushed out of the horse team, riding a horse while shouting: "I am Feng Lie, the son of Lord Feng Lie, who are you?"

  "Laozi is Feng Lie's daughter, under the command of Feng Xue. You..." He was about to shout again, but felt his clothes being tugged several times, and turned his head to see Feng Xue shaking her small hand at him, signaling him not to shout anymore. Li Hong immediately swallowed back the rest of his words.

  The fierce wind rushed swiftly, and suddenly saw the snow, couldn't help but burst out laughing: "You little girl's courage is really big. Your second brother led people to find you, did you meet on the way?" Snow hid behind Li Hong without making a sound.

  Li Hong looked at Lie Kuangfeng, and saw that he was tall and majestic, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, looking like a straightforward and generous person. Lie Kuangfeng also sized him up. Immediately afterwards, Lie Kuangfeng saw his familiar relatives, hastily dismounted his horse, and rushed over to pay respects to his elders. Que Yu, Ke Bi Xiong and several children jumped off their horses, rushing over while shouting "Big Brother". The reunion of relatives was exceptionally lively.

  The cavalry on the opposite side saw that they were their own people and slowly galloped over.

  Lie Kuangfeng strode up to Li Hong. He had just heard from Ke Bi Xiong that they were all rescued by a big man named Baozi. Baozi was quite famous among the Xianbei recently, and Lie Kuangfeng had also heard of him. However, he was astonished that Baozi's strength far exceeded his imagination. One person, actually rescuing a group of women and children from under the noses of Tuoba Hong, the powerful chieftain of the Tuoba tribe, and Tuoba Kui, the young chieftain, was really hard to believe.

  "The raging wind thanks the leopard for lending a helping hand." He said, and then turned his head down to kowtow.

  Li Hong hastily grabbed him, "Can't let you, can't let you. It's a small matter, a small matter." The two of them, one wanting to bow and the other not allowing it, unknowingly began to use force. Lie Kuangfeng used his entire body strength to push downwards, taking advantage of the situation. Li Hong became somewhat anxious, for their first meeting to let the future leader of the Niu Tou clan bow down would be extremely impolite. He suddenly tensed up all his muscles, using both hands with force, secretly shouting loudly. Lie Kuangfeng's body moved involuntarily as he was pulled up by him.

  The fierce wind was shocked in his heart. This person's strength is so great that it's probably one of the top two among the Xianbei people.

  The two of them were in perfect harmony, and their expressions naturally became more affectionate. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Li Feng's expression turned serious as he gazed at Feng Xue who had been hiding behind Li Hong all along.

  "I told you not to go, but you insisted on going. Now look what kind of trouble you've gotten me into! You're so reckless and lawless!"

  The wind and snow howled for half a day. With a red face, he stuttered: "We killed Tuoba Kui."

  The fierce wind shocked and stunned, his eyes slowly widened into a ferocious gaze. Feng Xue was startled and hastily pulled Li Hong's clothes to hide on one side. Li Hong saw Feng Xue looking pitiful, and a heroic spirit to save the beauty arose spontaneously.

  "Master Lian, this has nothing to do with Feng Xue. I was the one who killed him with a single slash of my sword. What's done is done, no big deal." Li Hong said casually.

  Li Feng glanced at Li Hong, who was half a head taller than him, and his expression slowly calmed down.

  "Killing Tuoba Kui is like killing a wolf cub, it's not wrong in itself. What's frightening is the wolf cub's father. Tuoba Feng is notorious for being ruthless and vengeful. We killed his son, we killed his soldiers, he has lost face, how can he let it go?"

  "I had thought of this too. Originally, I planned to send them safely and then go to Baidi City to show my face, before returning to the Great Han Empire. Now it seems that not killing a few people is not an option."

  Feng Kuang's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at Li Hong, "What brings you to Da Han?"

  At this time his subordinates came over to ask if they should set up camp here. Because those women and children were too tired, they could no longer ride horses. Lie Kuangfeng nodded.

  "Set up camp. Tell them to prepare more food for the children. Also, send someone to Niutou Mountain immediately to tell Liebao Yu that all people have been rescued from the wind and snow, and ask him to be careful of the Tuoba tribe's revenge."

  He agreed and turned to leave. Suddenly, Lie Kuangfeng remembered something and called him back, "Immediately return to the mountain and bring 500 riders down. You must arrive by tomorrow morning."

  That man glanced at Li Hong, then turned to leave, but was stopped by Lie Kuangfeng's shout. "Knife Scar, this is the leopard who has recently made a name for himself among the Xianbei." The man looked somewhat startled and hastily paid his respects. Li Hong returned the courtesy.

  "Kui Ba is an old subordinate of Father's and has a very good relationship with Old Wolf." Lie Kuang Feng added.

  Li Hongyi listened, his heart ached, and he hastily gave Kao Rou another salute. Kao Rou was like Lao Lang, belonging to the kind of person who is not outstanding but extremely shrewd, strong and stable. There was a long scar on his face, probably also left on the battlefield.

  Diao Cicada saw the bow on Li Hong's back. He said slowly: "That is the old wolf's bow."

  Li Hong hastily took it down and handed it to Knife Scar. Knife Scar held it in his hand, stroking it repeatedly. His voice was a little hoarse as he said: "Three years ago, I went to Hu Du specially to see him once, but unexpectedly it was the last time." After finishing speaking, he handed the bow to Li Hong and turned around to leave. Li Hong saw that Knife Scar's eyes had already shed tears. Seeing things and thinking of people is the most heart-wrenching.

  "What brings you to Da Han?" Lian Kuang Feng asked, seeing that Dao Ba had walked far away.

  "I am a Han Chinese. The general has already agreed to let me go back."

  Feng suddenly enlightened and nodded, "No wonder you kept a long hair. So it's true that you're a Han Chinese. The rumor is true. You are a spy sent by the Great Han Empire?"

  "I don't know. I've lost my memory, I can't remember anything. So I want to go back to the Great Han State, I want to go home, I want to find my past self."

  "Ah, I see. So you were on your way home and ran into my little sister, and then became her subordinate," Lie Kuangfeng teased.

  Li Hong's face turned bright red in an instant, and he couldn't help but feel embarrassed. His rosy cheeks made him look even more handsome. Li Hong was stunned for a moment. He felt his own awkwardness and quickly turned back, covering up his embarrassment with a smile.

  "Leopard, if it's really like that, the commander may order to capture you throughout the central Xianbei. Otherwise, how can he explain to Tuoba Feng? The person was killed in his jurisdiction, and your relationship with him is a well-known fact in the world. Once you escape from Xianbei without any danger, everyone will think that the commander intentionally let you out of the border."

  Li Hongda admired Piao Zhen's words, "Piao is indeed insightful. However, I won't let the general be troubled, you can rest assured."