Chapter 35: Catching Turtles in an Earthen Jar

  Upon hearing that there were women to be had, the bandits' eyes gleamed with red light, their chests heaving with wicked fire. They charged forward with all their might, the wind whistling past their ears as they approached the forest. The "merchants" in the woods finally sensed the bandits' attack and fell into disarray. A small group of people brandished knives and hacked wildly at the carts, while the rest scattered like birds and beasts.

  About a dozen bandits, who were thinking of the women, rushed into the forest first. The group of merchants ran away cleanly, with only a few stragglers left behind, about 20 to 30 feet from the forest. As soon as the bandits saw them, they shouted and chased after them. Not far from the chase, a loud shout came from behind: "Don't chase! Come back!" About a dozen bandits stopped in their tracks, but one of them, estimated to be driven mad by evil fire, continued to pursue relentlessly. It was strange that the last "merchant" who was running away slowed down his speed when he saw only one person chasing after him. The distance between the two gradually narrowed, and the bandit continuously swung empty blows, each blow just a few inches short. Unexpectedly, the "merchant" in front suddenly turned around! With a swing from bottom to top, he struck with his knife! A painful cry echoed as the bandit fell to the ground with a knife wound. Almost at the same time as he fell, the "merchant" swung another blow, swiftly chopping off the bandit's head! Due to the dullness of the knife, it severed the neck vertebrae but remained attached to the skin and flesh. He dragged the bandit's head by the hair for several steps before the skull finally broke off.

  This happened so suddenly that the thieves behind were still standing there, and when they came to their senses and wanted to chase after him, he had already run away without a trace.

  In the woods, the bandit leader nicknamed Golden Hair Tiger jumped off his horse and threw his knife to his nearby guard. All around were headless corpses, the stench was overwhelming, and it was impossible to tell who was who. This guy had been a fugitive for some time, and he had killed many people, but seeing this scene on such a hot day still sent chills down his spine. What a ruthless tactic - not a single intact corpse!

  Looking at the carts left behind by the merchants, Jinmao Hu suddenly became furious! These birds, before they escaped, actually smashed the wheels of the cart! You think you ran fast, but now that you've fallen into my hands, you'll regret being born!

  At this time, a rogue wielded his knife and rushed forward, slashing at the sack of rice wildly.

  "Wheat!" someone shouted loudly. Everyone looked up and saw that the scattered things in the bag were indeed yellow wheat grains! Jinmao Hu was overjoyed! Good heavens, just when we were worried about where to get grain, these birds brought it right to our doorstep! This one bag of wheat is at least two dan, eight or nine bags per cart, twelve carts... oh dear mother, more than 200 dan of grain! We won't have to worry for a month!

  Golden-haired Tiger was overjoyed, his eyes twinkling with delight. "Heaven is helping me!" he exclaimed. After the bad luck in Xiajin, it's time to turn things around! With food on hand, I'm not afraid of no one joining forces. Wait till Grandpa reassembles the troops and we'll go back to Xiajin for another round! No, first we'll take down Xujiashang! We'll wipe out those thieving, grave-robbing bastards! The men will be flayed alive and have their tendons pulled out to make lanterns! As for the women...

  They were just recruiting soldiers and buying horses, when that group of rascals rushed forward as one. Two of them started fighting fiercely, punching and kicking each other! Some familiar people from both sides came forward to mediate, but the mediation was unsuccessful, and they themselves joined the fray, fighting with great relish.

  "You bunch of pigs and dogs! Stop it! All of you stop it! Haven't I fed you all?!" Jin Mao Hu jumped up and cursed loudly, but the hundreds of messy rascals wouldn't listen. At this time, even the Zhao family's authority was useless!

  The two rascals didn't listen to the summons, Jinmao Hu's face turned iron-green, he silently snatched the big knife and walked up to the two rascals who were fighting. With one slash of the knife, one of them fell down, the other was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously retreated backwards, shouting "Brother..." Before he could finish calling out "brother", he was slashed again in the chest and fell to the ground, struggling ceaselessly.

  The bandits, who had been looting like a pot of porridge, finally stopped and quieted down, uneasily looking over here. The golden-haired tiger spat at the two corpses and shouted, "If you don't listen to orders, this will be your fate!" Hundreds of bandits changed color in unison! Although they were resentful in their hearts, they didn't dare show a hint on their faces.

  "Wu Da, take your men and move into the temple! Take the carts too, they'll come in handy somewhere! Anyone who dares to cause trouble will be killed!"

  More than 400 people were as silent as cicadas in winter, not even daring to breathe loudly. Wu Da's bandit leader was directing his subordinates, two by two, using ropes to tie up the sacks and carrying them with long poles. Jin Maohu personally led the way at the back, fearing that one sack would be missing.

  Almost a hundred sacks of grain, which took up half of the bandits' number, made their troop trail behind for a long distance, loose and disorderly. Seeing the leader supervising from the back, the henchmen gradually became bolder, discussing dozens of headless corpses here, guessing how long these grains would last there. Jinmao Hu walked at the back, looking at this mighty troop, feeling very proud, although they lost dozens of men, but compared to these two hundred dan of grain, what's the loss? However, it's strange to say that since the other side was a merchant, why were their means so vicious, not even leaving a complete corpse. What puzzled people most was where all the heads had gone?

  The more I think about it, the stranger it feels. The other side encountered a disaster and fought back desperately, which is understandable. Killing dozens of my men isn't surprising either, but why did they have to cut off their heads? Is there such a deep grudge? Thinking about this made me feel even more uneasy, so I stopped the war horse and called over one of the soldiers who had just joined the battle, asking: "What kind of weapon is the enemy using?"

  Naruo Luo's whole body shook like a sieve, and after thinking for a while, he replied in a low voice: "All use knives."

  "What does he look like?" The golden-haired tiger's heart skipped a beat.

  Rourou was somewhat flustered, and after a long while, he couldn't come up with an answer. He didn't dare lift his head, so he just kept making "uh-huh" noises with his head hung low. His companion beside him secretly sighed, thinking that this guy is done for...

  But unexpectedly, Golden Hair Tiger was very patient this time and even comforted him, saying: "Don't panic, think slowly, what size?"

  "Hmm, uh, estimated, roughly." Luo became even more flustered, while the bandit leader remained calm and patient. After a long while, Luo finally remembered, lifted his head, and said in a slightly louder voice: "At most no more than one foot five inches."

  "Really!" The golden-haired tiger's body leaned forward, asking in a low voice.

  That guy stuttered even more fiercely and said: "A-actually, it's not over 1.5 feet tall. The little one has read a few days of books and knows a few words..."

  No! In the official military equipment of the imperial court, there are eight kinds of knives, but only one kind of short knife, which is one foot four inches long. The blade is short and narrow, with a thick back and thin edge, called a hand knife. The other side all use short knives that do not exceed one foot five inches, could they be the official military? But the official military has always been known for their bravery and powerful advances, opening up formations before battle, how can they be so sneaky? What's the point of cutting off people's heads?

  After some thought, he couldn't get to the bottom of it, so Jinmao simply stopped thinking about this broken matter. A little later, more manpower was dispatched, and they secretly paid close attention to Baimagou. If the government army really came to suppress them, they would lead their men and horses into the mountains, and with these grain supplies, holding out for a month wouldn't be a problem. See what you can do to me?

  Having made up his mind, he felt a little relieved and also obtained so much grain, he was overjoyed. In the midst of his excitement, he couldn't help but hum a little tune.

  The bandits carried heavy grain, moving slowly, and it took half a meal's worth of effort for the long procession to enter White Horse Gorge entirely. This long gorge was about two zhang wide and two li long, with many twists and turns, allowing only five or six people to pass shoulder-to-shoulder. On both sides were cliffs over ten zhang high, with no grass or trees growing, and the rocks outside glistened with a dazzling white color in the sunlight.

  Golden-haired tiger riding a knife, following at the end, shaking his head and admiring the scenery in the ditch. In fact, it's just those stones... thinking to himself, unfortunately, he was born into the wrong womb, didn't get to read books, otherwise, taking advantage of the joy in his heart, with the sunshine also being bright, reciting ten or eight poems would be a beautiful thing to pass down through the ages.

  Just as he was feeling proud, the team suddenly stopped. The golden-haired tiger angrily asked what was going on, but none of the escorts knew. There was no way to know, the team was stretched out too long and there were too many bends, so it was impossible to see what was ahead.

  Golden-haired tiger's two thick eyebrows twisted into a knot, not facing each other...

  ..........................

  Third update! Thanks for the rewards from 414992183, lovelovelu, seventeen years of wind and rain, and Ice-sealed Heavenly Son's four book friends!