Chapter 11: The Abduction of Yuan Shao

  The officers inside the house were inspired by Yuan Shao, and their morale suddenly surged. The imperial guard general drew his halberd and spoke in a stirring tone: "Our lord's body is worth a thousand pieces of gold; he doesn't even avoid arrows and swords. How can we, as warriors, let our lord face danger?" He immediately shouted at the four armored soldiers, "You gentlemen, along with me, Han Meng, will stand in front of our lord. If the bandits from Youzhou want to harm our lord, they must trample over our corpses."

  Han Meng led the four Jia Shi out of the house, Yuan Shao held a golden helmet in one hand and a sword in the other, while Wen Shi was about to leave with a hastily rolled up map. Suddenly, someone jumped out from behind the broken wall in the backyard, with an arrow drawn halfway, its icy three-edged arrowhead pointing directly at Yuan Shao: "General Yuan, please wait. Sorry, you have to come with me."

  Ma Huan suddenly appeared, immediately stunning Yuan Shao and Na Wenshi.

  Yuan Shao, a man who had experienced countless storms and waves, quickly calmed down. He held his long sword in hand, slowly lowering it to the ground, and smiled peacefully: "Is this young brother a soldier of Youzhou? Truly remarkable! To be able to climb down from the rear mountain is no easy feat. Ha ha, Yuan Hao, previously Gao Lan and Han Meng both thought that the rear mountain was treacherous and impossible to climb. If they were here now, seeing this young brother, I wonder what they would think."

  Wen Si's face was full of surprise and uncertainty, staring intently at Ma Feng, slowly moving to Yuan Shao's side, intending to block the arrow's threat, saying: "Tian Feng has also seen the situation behind the mountain, it's hard for Flying Ape to cross, this strong man is indeed an extraordinary person."

  Ma Chao's feet were also making arched movements, always keeping the arrowhead aimed at Yuan Shao. At this time, he had clearly seen Yuan Shao's appearance: about forty years old, with a broad face and mouth, sword-like eyebrows and a high nose, eyes containing majesty, and three long whiskers under his chin, matched with a seven-foot-long body, giving people a sense of dignified and majestic appearance, indeed having some semblance of a king.

  As for Tian Feng, Ma Chao had also long admired his reputation. Seeing this strategist, who was about the same age as Yuan Shao and had a refined demeanor, think of using his body to block arrows and protect his lord at this critical moment, Ma Chao couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity that was hard to put into words when he thought that years later, Tian Feng would be killed in prison by the very person he was sworn to protect today.

  "A warrior like this, yet only a low-ranking soldier in the Youzhou army. Gongsun Baoyue indeed has poor judgment! Why not...” Tian Feng saw that Ma Han's face was quite young and he had no armor, his position in the army must be low. He was just about to stir up his eloquent tongue when he was coldly interrupted by Ma Han.

  "Gentlemen Yuan and Tian, let's not say more. After we pass the broken wall, don't force me to do something that will make you two regret later."

  "Broken walls? Backyard!" Tian Feng laughed, "Not bad, outside there are hundreds of my armored soldiers guarding, they will never let the master be captured. So the strong man can't rush out. But the backyard is a dead end, the strong man won't take us two from the back mountain, right?"

  "I count to three, if you don't do as I say, I won't mind bringing the heads of two people as a gift." Ma Huan's bowstring slowly tightened, the creaking sound making one's scalp tingle.

  "One, two, three—go!"

  The arrow shot with a strong bowstring, but the target was not Yuan Shao or Tian Feng, but the door of the thatched cottage - where a soldier had already rushed in, sensing that something was amiss.

  Pffft! The three-edged arrowhead pierced through the thick leather shield, penetrated the iron leaf-shaped armor, and deeply entered the soldier's chest. The arrow was stuck so deep that only three feet of the arrow shaft remained outside, with two feet buried in the soldier's body. The powerful impact also sent the soldier stumbling backward.

  Ma Huan swiftly drew his bow, while Tian Feng suddenly pounced over, stretching out his arms to embrace Ma Huan, shouting loudly: "Master, quickly leave... Ah!" Before he could finish speaking, he was kicked by Ma Huan and flew backwards towards the door, knocking down a group of soldiers who were about to rush in.

  At this moment, a man burst in from outside the door, waving his halberd and throwing it heavily at Ma Yuan: "Han Meng is here, don't hurt my master!"

  Ma Hu's second arrow was already on the string. As the halberd spun and flew towards him, the full-drawn bowstring also released its arrow in response.

  Ding! The arrow flew through the gap between the hand spear and the crescent moon, carrying the hand spear with it, bringing thunderous momentum, shooting into Han Meng's forehead from the front and out from the back of his head. The remaining force did not dissipate, instead lifting Han Meng's entire body off the ground, nailing him alive to the earthen wall.

  "Don't harm my general...... Ah!" Yuan Shao had just shouted out half a sentence when he witnessed the tragic death of Han Meng. In his grief, anger and shock, he swung his sword at Ma Feng.

  Ma Chao's right palm shot out, swift as lightning, grasping the long sword that was about to strike him and with a loud "clang", he forcefully twisted and broke the hundred-refined sword. He swiftly pressed the broken blade against Yuan Shao's throat, his voice fierce: "I won't say it a third time, either follow me now or I'll take your head - to be honest, I think taking your head is more convenient, what do you say?"

  In the mountain valley, the armies of Yu and Ji were engaged in a fierce battle. Suddenly, a white horseman emerged from the center of the battlefield, near the earthen house, and galloped through the ranks of the Ji state soldiers, amidst countless cries of shock and alarm, rushing towards the great banner of the Black Mountain army.

  Behind him, Tian Feng yelled loudly: "Stop him! Don't let him get away......"

  "Halt, who goes there!"

  A white horse galloped to a hundred paces outside the great banner, and a group of infantrymen surrounded it with a loud shout, raising their swords, shields, bows, and spears. Immediately, three black mountain army cavalrymen emerged from the crowd, their faces filled with surprise and uncertainty.

  "It was Deng Baijiang... and also Hu Zongdu, it's been two days since we last met, you should still remember me, little brother?" Ma Yan secretly let out a sigh of relief, smiling as he bowed to the three men on horseback.

  Two of the three riders were actually acquaintances, one was Deng Tong and the other was Hu Yuan, who had been beaten by him until he fell into the water. Although he didn't have much of a relationship with these two men, and had even more animosity towards Hu Yuan, they could at least prove that he was a soldier from Youzhou Army, so as not to cause misunderstandings.

  "Ma——Hun! You're so bold, daring to intrude on the central army's great banner. Do you know that I can be ordered to kill you at any time?!" Hu Yuan's half of his face was still swollen and bruised, his big mouth opening and closing with a few missing teeth, speaking with a slight lisp. At this moment, his bulging fish-bubble eyes, amidst the ferocity, also showed a hint of triumphant pride.

  At the moment, on someone else's turf, Ma Xun would not dare to show any disrespect to the other party, completely ignoring Hu Yuan, and instead turned to Deng Tong with a slight bow and a faint smile: "General Deng, please inform the Commander of the Cavalry, that Ma Xun, the commander of the Youzhou army, has important military information to report."

  Deng Tong's gaze swept over the majestic Da Wan horse, and he was both astonished and envious. What surprised him even more was that in front of the saddle, a captive with bound hands was lying horizontally, wearing an extremely rare lacquered golden armor, and on the saddle hook hung a golden helmet. Even the military governor of Youzhou, Gongsun Zan, did not have such equipment.

  Deng Tong's heart was racing, as if he had realized something. He hastily said: "Brother Ma, please wait a moment, I will immediately report to the Riding Commander." He gave Hu Yuan a signal with his eyes, indicating that he should not act rashly, and then turned his horse around and galloped away.

  Ma Heng didn't care, he just turned his head to glance at the battlefield below. It was clear that the Ji Zhou army had gone mad. The fierce general Gao Lan led dozens of small beasts, their bodies covered in blood, and killed hundreds of Hei Shan infantrymen, causing them to retreat repeatedly. Even Tian Feng, a scholar, held a long sword in his hand, shouting orders in front of the earthen house, his expression a mix of shock, anger, and frenzy.

  "It seems that your subordinates have all gone mad." Ma Feng tapped the back of Yuan Shao's shoulder with his finger, and what he met was a pair of slanted eyes suppressing anger, along with cold words, "Congratulations on your promotion."

  Ma Chao smiled calmly and captured Yuan Shao, which could be considered a great achievement. If he could present it to the front of Gongsun Zan's account, he believed that even if he became a military marquis or a marshal, it would not be a problem. Unfortunately, the entire battlefield had been completely surrounded by Du Chang's 2,000 Black Mountain Army and Youzhou Army. Under the gaze of thousands of soldiers, he could not possibly leave the battlefield without permission. Either he would surrender the captive to Du Chang and share some of the credit, or he would swallow it alone, and then be pursued by Du Chang's cavalry, at which point he would not only have no merit but also risk being punished.

  Therefore, Ma Chao captured Yuan Shao and immediately broke through the encirclement, rushing straight to Du Chang's command flag. Since he couldn't monopolize the merit, he simply took the initiative to share it out, which was the way to preserve his life.

  Very soon, Deng Tong turned back on his horse and stared at the golden-armored captive. He said to Ma Han, "The commander asks General Ma to come over."

  Ma Huan's leather boots lightly kicked the horse's belly, and he rode forward. Hu Yuan and others immediately sandwiched him on both sides. When the two horses crossed paths, Hu Yuan used his sturdy shoulders to heavily bump Ma Huan. Due to Ma Huan's tall Dawan horse being much higher than Hu Yuan's Youyan horse, the result was that Hu Yuan's shoulder bumped into Ma Huan's arm, and it was his right arm. The outcome was predictable - Ma Huan smiled as usual, while Hu Yuan's entire right arm went numb. If he could still draw his knife, he might not be able to resist chopping at the back of this damned fool's neck from behind.