Chapter 18: Hunting and Encountering Bandits

  He was a knight who invented the stirrup decades or even hundreds of years earlier, but it didn't play much role. Originally riding horses was F, and adding stirrups was still F... However, gradually he found that it wasn't worth regretting about this either.

  Because the riding skills of those young masters were just so-so, they could only barely manage to ride. In that era, there were not many horses in the Central Plains, and most breeds were not good. Moreover, without stirrups, scholars and officials had a much higher chance of riding carriages than horses for daily transportation. Generally, people would only think of riding horses when going hunting or taking short trips, so unless they were military generals who needed to go into battle, their riding skills were generally poor.

  In comparison, the horses of ordinary people can run at a speed of D or even C. They gallop forward and backward, scouting ahead, opening roads, or handing over handkerchiefs and water bags to their masters. Only then do the horses truly start running. As for Xun and Jun, these young masters, they can barely maintain a speed of 7-8 miles per hour.

  Around noon, a vast grassland was finally found, with highways on both sides and sparse forests on the other two sides. According to the report of the slaves who had come to trample the dishes earlier, there were many small animals in this forest, such as rabbits, hedgehogs, quails, and mountain chickens. The young masters dismounted their horses and sat on the ground, ate some dry food, sunbathed for a while, blew their noses, and then sent people to ride into the forest to drive out the small animals.

  The young masters dispersed and stood, each holding a bow and arrow. Not one of them intended to mount their horses for a game of horseback archery, which made Xun's stomach drop with a stone. Before long, a grey wild rabbit suddenly darted out from the woods, having barely survived the winter, its bones protruding, clearly weighing no more than a few taels. With a loud whooshing sound, the crowd simultaneously drew their bows and released their arrows, creating a downpour of arrows around the rabbit.

  All he saw was the rabbit slightly tilting its head, glancing at them with an air of "strolling leisurely in a deserted courtyard", and then it hopped away - Xun felt that this little creature's eyes were full of contempt...

  Within thirty paces, no matter how small the target, he could hit it with three arrows in a row. Should he reveal his true skills or not? He was somewhat indecisive.

  Hesitating and weighing the pros and cons, another quail suddenly ran out of the woods with a "thud thud thud" sound. This thing's speed was even slower than a rabbit's, if it were to escape again, it would be an insult to justice! So, after another round of intense shooting and intimidation by the young masters, Xun couldn't bear it anymore, took aim and shot an arrow with all his might, hitting the quail right in the belly.

  The crowd erupted in cheers, and Jun was about to rush over to pick up the quail when a mournful cry suddenly echoed from the woods, sounding like it came from one of the servants.

  Everyone was stunned and thought to themselves, "Could there be some kind of large animal in this forest? A wolf or a fox?" No one dared to guess a tiger, as that would have exceeded their psychological endurance.

  But as they looked around, several figures suddenly emerged with a "brush brush" sound, all of them wearing tattered clothes, but with yellow scarves wrapped around their heads. This was a shocking sight, and Jun Shou was the first to exclaim: "They are Yellow Turban bandits!"

  In this era, hats can be roughly divided into three categories: one is a beret, also known as a leather hat; the second is a crown, which is a hard hat made of bamboo or silk fabric with a bamboo skeleton; and the third is a soft hat called a "pi". In theory, regardless of what kind of hat it is, only scholars are allowed to wear them, while ordinary people do not have this privilege (soldiers occasionally can wear pi). If ordinary people want to protect their heads from cold and frost, they can only use cloth to wrap their heads.

  The cloth used by the common people to wrap their heads is naturally varied, with hemp cloth and ramie cloth, and the colors are also diverse. However, in general, due to the relatively low level of printing and dyeing technology, black and gray fabrics were cheaper. The peasant soldiers who were temporarily recruited mostly wrapped their heads with black cloth, which is the origin of the term "Cang Tou". In this era, it was unlikely that many ordinary people could afford to wear yellow headscarves, unless... they were issued by a special authority for a specific purpose.

  That is the Yellow Turban bandit! They are the disciples of Zhang Jue, who claims to be "Great and Virtuous Teacher", with the intention of overthrowing the Han Dynasty and replacing it with a rebellious armed force. When the Yellow Turban Rebellion was at its most violent, eight out of thirteen states in the Han Dynasty were filled with yellow turbans, with tens of millions of people rising up. Although the main force of the Yellow Turbans was annihilated by government troops within less than a year, remnants still spread all over the place, especially in the four states of Qing, Xu, Yan and Yu.

  The main force of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou was originally active in Donglai and Beihai, with a peak of 300,000 people. Later, the court appointed Kong Rong as the governor of Beihai, who established cities, repaired schools, and comforted refugees. Although he was once defeated by Zhang Rao, the leader of the Yellow Turbans, he eventually joined forces with Cai Yan, the governor of Donglai, to drive the Yellow Turbans out of the territory. After that, the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans fled east to Qi State, then turned to Jinan and Pingyuan, before circling back into Yanzhou's Taishan County, pressing on Xuzhou's Langya State, their power expanding more and more, with a momentum as if they would rise again.

  But when Xun and the others came out, they also heard that the main force of the Yellow Turbans was in Dongguan and Ju County in central Langya, more than 300 miles away from Yingling. How did they suddenly turn to the north of Yingling?

  Everyone was shocked, and then they took a closer look at these yellow turbans who came out of the forest. There were only five people, each with a pale face, two holding crude wooden spears, two holding rusty ring knives, and one holding a bow, but there were only three arrows in the quiver on his back. If Ben Fang had gathered all his men, there would have been more than 20 people, using numbers to counter the few, it didn't seem as dangerous as they thought earlier.

  Wang Zhong, the son of Wang Xiu, the magistrate of Gaomi County, was only eighteen years old. He was one of the best horsemen and archers among his peers. He was the first to calm down. He shouted loudly, calling out to the slaves who were still in the forest to come out, then instructed everyone: "Mount your horses first." The implication was that even if they couldn't defeat them, they could at least outrun them - he didn't believe those Yellow Turban bandits could catch up with their four legs on horseback.

  Then everyone got on their horses. Xi Xun had a stirrup, and most of the others also tied rope ladders under their saddles for easy mounting and dismounting. Only Wang Sheng, the younger brother of the county governor Wang, thought that stepping on the shoulders of his servants to mount was more elegant. However, at this moment, there were no servants around him, so he leaned against the horse's back and struggled for a while before Xi Xun pulled him up with one hand. As a result, when he reached out to grab the reins, he couldn't find them, and when he looked up, he saw the horse's buttocks - he had mounted backwards.

  In the time it takes to blink, the five Yellow Turbans let out a loud whoop and charged straight at them. Before anyone could react, one of the Yellow Turbans, still running, drew his bow and shot an arrow with a "twang".

  A young master fell off his horse and died, but he didn't know it.

  Everyone was frightened, and several of them fled in a hurry. Including Xun, the remaining ones who didn't escape also raised their bows, "whooshing" arrows rained down, among which only Xun's arrow hit the shoulder of the Yellow Turban bandit, but unfortunately, the arrow's force had weakened, and the opponent only slightly trembled before pulling out the arrow and charging again.

  It's a good shot, just now this distance is almost forty steps away. With one's own bow power, it's already a blessing from the Buddha to hit the target properly, let alone hurt someone.

  Zheng was just polishing, when he saw the yellow scarf thief actually put the arrow that had just been shot at him on the string, aiming at Xun, and it was an arrow. Xun was so scared at the time that his soul flew out of the sky, and he hurriedly knocked his knees against the horse's abdomen, and the horse rushed forward, the arrow brushing past his ear and flying away, scaring him into a cold sweat.

  He was afraid in his heart, but his hands didn't idle, turning around and shooting an arrow - unfortunately, he hadn't yet grasped the trick of shooting arrows while riding a horse, so this arrow floated gently, gently, and who knows where it flew off to.

  In an instant, the four Yellow Turbans with close combat weapons arrived in front of them. With a "pu" sound, one of the young masters was stabbed through the heart. The remaining ones didn't dare to confront them anymore and urged their horses to scatter and flee in all directions.

  Among the second batch of fleeing people, Xun's mount was the first to run. He plucked up his courage, clamping his thighs tightly around the horse's belly while using both feet to push off, momentarily lifting his buttocks off the saddle and straightening his waist. Although this posture couldn't be maintained for long, it was enough for him to turn his body around and shoot another arrow backwards. This arrow hit its mark, lodging in the thigh of a Yellow Turban bandit wielding a broadsword; the man let out an "ahh" as he fell to one knee.

  In just a moment, the crowd's eyes widened as a yellow shadow suddenly appeared like lightning, and with one spear, a young noble who was about to run away fell under his horse. Next came a "thud" sound, and another person fell off their horse - not injured at all, but simply scared off.

  He galloped recklessly, but his riding skills were really poor. On the one hand, he was afraid that if the horse ran too fast, he would be thrown off; on the other hand, he had no idea how to whip it to make it accelerate. As a result, they had only run less than half a mile when they heard the sound of horseshoes echoing behind them, getting closer and closer.

  Xiang Zuo took a deep breath, re-gripped his spear and stood up. As he turned around, an arrow was shot at him. This time, he finally got a clear look - it was a yellow horse with a rider wearing a yellow shirt and headscarf, making him appear as a ball of yellow. The rider held a genuine cavalry lance in his hand. The arrow flew past, and the rider raised his left hand slightly, effortlessly catching it.

  I obtained a certain family's treasure by relying on the cicada thief! Is Xun shocked to the point of liver and gallbladder splitting, turned his head back to see Fowen crazy... slow gallop. Just running along, he heard the sound of wind behind him, instinctively feeling a strong gust of wind shooting straight at the back of his head. In his heart, he shouted: "I'm doomed!" He simply took off his boots and did a sideways flip, rolling off the horse - fortunately, because the horse wasn't going fast enough, he also managed to hug his head in time, so he didn't get hurt much, "his handsome appearance was preserved".

  He raised his head again, and saw in front of him a bright and cold giant axe head. Behind the axe head was the axe handle, and behind the axe handle was that yellow-robed knight. He heard the knight let out a long whistle and call out to his companions: "Leave a few alive, tie them up and take them back for my father to interrogate!"

  "Hey, this voice is so sharp and fine, could it be that...?"