Chapter 14: The Barbarian Girl

  On the top of a steep mountain, in the midst of a dense forest, there were several thatched cottages scattered about in the Five Streams Barbarian Village. Some caves had people entering and exiting from time to time. These people all had disheveled hair, bare feet, some with tattered clothing on their bodies, others wrapped in animal hides. A barbarian carrying a wild boar rushed into one of the thatched cottages, where two men and one woman were drinking wine inside.

  Two men, one over forty years old, with a ruddy complexion and a large head, had a voice like a bell, was the king of Wuxi Manhu, Wang Ye Wu Tie.

  Another man, about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a crimson complexion and bulging blue eyes, looked extremely terrifying at such a young age, exuding an aura of menace, he was Shamocha, the first fierce general under Yan Wuyue.

  The girl was fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing tattered clothes wrapped in three or four layers, completely covering her skin, with no adornments on her body, her hair scattered like other barbarians, but black and straight, her face had clear eyebrows and eyes, heroic spirit, her name was Xiao Furong, the daughter of Ye Wuti.

  Xiao Furen was originally named Furen, but as a child in the deep mountains, she met a master and followed him to learn martial arts, and was given the surname Xiao. She is skilled with long swords and spears. Samo Ke has innate divine strength, and when it comes to martial arts, he is not even a match for Xiao Furen.

  Yue Wu Tie was boasting about how he killed a fierce tiger eight years ago, while Shamoko listened with relish as he gnawed on a chicken leg. Xiao Fu Rong was getting impatient with her old father's repeated storytelling, and picked up a jug of wine to take a big swig. Just then, the barbarian carrying the wild boar rushed in, shouting: "Your Majesty, there is a Han army outside the mountain, demanding an audience with you!"

  Xiao Furong put down the wine jug, picked up her sword and stood up. Yan Wutie said loudly: "Zhao Wei just sent someone to send gifts and speak of peace a while ago, but today he came knocking on the door? How many Han soldiers have come?"

  The barbarian who was holding the wild boar loudly said: "The Han people don't seem to be here to fight, there are only over 300 of them, each one looking like a duck pulled out of a dung pit. What's more, I alone can beat dozens of them. The leader calls himself something 'Zhengdong Zhonglang Jiang' and says he has come to request that the Great King take him in."

  "Is General Zhonglang of the Eastern Expedition here? It's Zhao Wei who has arrived." Yan Wutie said in a deep voice.

  Shamo Ke held up his iron bone club and loudly shouted: "Your Majesty, the Han people are the most treacherous. Zhao Wei received orders from Liu Zhang, attacking my territory three times already. This time he's definitely not coming with good intentions. I'll go kill all 300 of them."

  Just as he was about to rush out, Ye Wuti shouted loudly: "You come back, Zhao Wei has just sent gifts and made amends. Today, we are in a desperate situation and have come to seek refuge with you. If we don't accept it, no one will look up to me Ye Wuti in this Wu Xi land."

  Xiao Furong raised an eyebrow, hummed softly, and said disdainfully: "Don't worry, Shamo Ke big brother. What can these 300 treacherous Han people do to me? We Wu Xi people value loyalty and righteousness. If they harbor evil intentions, I, Xiao Furong, will surely behead that dog Zhao Wei with my long sword."

  Shamo Ke listened to Xiao Fu Rong's words, stroking his head and smiling: "Little sister is right, what can three hundred Han people do?"

  Xiao Furong and Shamo Ke followed Ye Wuti out of the house, that barbarian who was carrying a wild boar lost the boar and followed them up. The surrounding barbarians saw Ye Wuti coming down the mountain and gathered around, numbering in the hundreds.

  "General Zhao, how did you end up in such a state?" Yan Wuyi was also startled to see the disheveled and bedraggled Zhao Wei. The once mighty Zhao Wei, who had dominated the southern part of Yizhou, had actually fallen on such hard times.

  "Your Majesty, let's not mention it. I, General Zhao, have fallen into Liu Zhang's trap and suffered losses. I've come to surrender, please accept me." Zhao Wei bowed to Yuanshuo with a very humble attitude.

  Yan Wuchang was shocked in his heart, although he was a barbarian, but as the king of the Five Streams Hu, he also paid attention to the affairs of the surrounding Han people. He had heard that Liu Zhang was weak and timid, and that the power had fallen into the hands of others. But Zhao Wei's rebellion with 50,000 men ended in great defeat, which made him wonder if the rumors about Liu Zhang were false.

  Yan Wu Tie hadn't responded yet, when Sha Mo Ke sneered coldly from the side: "General Zhao, you've dominated Jiangzhou for years, frequently attacking our Five Streams and slaughtering countless of our people. Now you want us to take you in? Don't you find that laughable?"

  Zhao Wei had clashed with the Wu Xi barbarians several times and naturally knew Sha Mo Ke. If he had held a strong army in his hands before, Zhao Wei would not have bothered to pay attention to this barbarian, but today he was at a disadvantage and had no choice but to speak humbly.

  "Good fellow, you don't know that the attack on Wuxi was all Liu Zhang's idea. Liu Zhang is deeply wary of the good people of Wuxi and wants to eliminate them even in his sleep. As a general under Liu Zhang, Zhao Wei had no choice but to follow orders. But have any of you good fellows ever seen me lead an army to attack? That would be because I admire each and every one of you."

  This time Liu Zhang's child has bullied people too much, Zhao was forced to raise troops to punish him. Before raising troops, didn't Zhao make amends with all of you good men in the mountains? In Zhao's heart, everyone is a friend, and there were some misunderstandings before, please forgive me for being forced into this situation as well.

  "If I can get the support of King Yizheng today, Zhao Wei will unite with the officials and nobles of Shu in the future, rise again from the east mountain, kill Liu Zhang, occupy Yizhou, and never forget the king's kindness, offering sacrifices every year, forever without interruption."

  Zhao Wei didn't lie, he indeed hadn't truly attacked the Wuxi Man, but rather took the opportunity to consolidate military power. However, the Wuxi Man, such as Ye Wu Tie, couldn't have anticipated this and upon hearing Zhao Wei's flattering words, they became extremely proud and felt that what Zhao Wei said was reasonable. Zhao Wei attacking the Wuxi Man was indeed unavoidable, and if he truly took control of Yizhou and offered sacrifices year after year, it would be a great temptation for the Wuxi Man who lacked salt, iron tools.

  Ye Wuchou had always considered himself a good man, and since Zhao Wei had already sent gifts to make amends, today he came in desperation, feeling that not accepting him would be unworthy of the name "good man", so he allowed Zhao Wei to enter the mountain and allocated some caves for them to live in.

  Zhao Wei and Pang Le lived in a low and humble cave, feeling very depressed and complaining from time to time. Li Yi listened with some impatience, but could only patiently comfort them. However, seeing Zhao Wei's dejected appearance, Li Yi couldn't help but frown, as if thinking of something.

  At this time, suddenly heard outside the barbarians in a great commotion, running and shouting, a barbarian wrapped in animal skin rushed into the iron-free earth house, frantically shouting: "It's bad, Your Majesty, the Han army is killing outside."

  "How many people?"

  The barbarian pointed with his fingers and drew lines on the ground, but couldn't say the numbers. He just shouted: "It's so big, a vast expanse of blackness that can't be seen to the end."

  Xiao Furong furrowed her brow and set off towards the outside of the mountain with her sword in hand.

  Zhaoyi was pursued overnight and was already a startled bird. When he heard that Liu Zhang's large army had arrived, his heart leapt to his throat, and he became flustered. Li Yi was also shocked, as he did not expect Liu Zhang to dare bring such a large army here. Seeing Zhaoyi's panic, he sighed inwardly and stepped forward to advise: "Your Excellency need not worry, the barbarian land is treacherous, no matter how many troops Liu Zhang brings, they will not be able to climb up."

  "What if they attack us? What if they attack us? Alright, I think we should leave here." Zhao Wei thought of his 50,000-strong army, which was originally supposed to capture Fu City, but ended up suffering a great defeat and fleeing in disarray, wandering on the edge of death for several days. Now he had developed a sense of fear towards Liu Zhang. Li Yi saw this scene and secretly shook his head.

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