Chapter Nineteen: Submission

  Thanks to "Zhao Wu Xu 2014" and "Gui Hai Xue Yu" for their support, this is the rhythm of one chapter per release!

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Ma Xian did not mount his horse. Under the terrain of the forest, infantry had a greater advantage. He simply looked calmly at the three Han people who were escaping with angry faces.

  "We can't let you take Nianslave away. She is Mu Gui's daughter." Tang Nu slowly drew his bow, his eyes fiercely staring at Ma Xian, "Let her go and we'll let you go, we owe each other nothing."

  Ma Xun was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing: "Neither owes the other? Haha! You're really killing me. I used my bows, arrows, armor and horses to exchange for people with you, now that the goods belong to you, and the people also have to belong to you, then it's neither owes the other - this is the divine logic of you grassland people?"

  Tang Nu's face turned red with anger, and a hint of shame flashed in his eyes, but he quickly puffed out his chest, drew his bowstring tight, and said with a straight face: "On the grasslands, there is no justice, only strength."

  Ma Xun nodded: "Understood, indeed, a hard fist is the only way to reason!"

  "Are you willing to let him go?"

  Ma Xian's eyes narrowed, her calm voice couldn't hide a hint of murderous intent: "I'm very sorry, just the few of you are not enough to make me back down - I've made up my mind! And if you don't disappear within the time it takes to drink a bowl of milk tea, your lives will also be mine."

  Tan Nu and his companions were furious, galloping their horses. But they saw the three men riding on horseback without saddles, only with thick felt pads, moving freely and even making left and right turns, as long as the speed was controlled evenly and not too fast or bumpy. Even so, it showed off the three men's exquisite horsemanship that made Han people in the Great Han territory look up to them in admiration.

  Ma Huan nodded silently, people who grew up on horseback were different, even if they were Han people, after being assimilated into the Hu people, they also possessed the Hu people's riding talent. Compared to them, the regular cavalry of Jizhou Army in Hebei was obviously inferior, and even the Youzhou cavalry had to yield a bit, I'm afraid only Baima Yizong could be compared with them.

  With a flourish of his whip, Tang Nu rode forward on horseback and shouted loudly at Ma Hu: "I heard you killed Wuma. He used to be one of Khan Lu's mounted guards but had retired due to leg injuries. However, he still has strength in wrestling and archery. Come on, prove it to me - I'll also give you a chance. If you can defeat me, you can take her away."

  "Tanu big brother, don't..."

  Ma Xun gently pressed down on Nian Nu's weak shoulders, stopping her cries, and smiled proudly: "How do you want me to defeat you?"

  Tang Nu was led astray by this sentence for a while before he understood, gritting his teeth in the dark: "Han people who have read books only know how to play with their tongues, but when it comes to real action, they are soft-handed and weak-legged. I don't believe that your riding skills can surpass those of us grassland people who have been playing with horses since childhood."

  "We're on horseback!" Tanu shouted, "Don't say I'm taking advantage of you, you have a saddle, I don't. We'll shoot at each other, three arrows each, whoever falls off loses."

  Ma Xun glanced at his own majestic horse, then looked at Tang Nu's short and sturdy Yan horse, and smiled: "You really want to compete? My horse is very fast."

  "Haha, what's the big deal? We're not racing horses, we're playing a shooting game. The faster you run, the faster you lose! Hahaha..."

  Ma Huan held up his bow and moved forward, and he touched the bow in Tang Nu's hand to indicate agreement. The two of them put away their iron-tipped arrows and replaced them with crude bone arrows made by the Han people, removing the arrowheads and leaving only the wooden tips, indicating that this was a contest and not a fight to the death. Although the blunt wooden arrows had little killing power, when shot out with great force from the two-stone bow, being hit would still be extremely painful, making it difficult to sit steadily on horseback; if one were hit in a weak spot such as the eyes or neck, it could also be fatal.

  Under the anxious gaze of Nian Nu and two Han cavalrymen, they each mounted their warhorses, galloped in opposite directions for a hundred paces, then turned to face each other, shouting loudly as they urged their horses on.

  The two men holding the bow had three arrows clamped between their left palm and fingers, which was a quick-shooting method passed down from the Xiongnu people. It could string the fastest speed and shoot out the arrows in hand continuously.

  Eighty paces, Ma Jian's first arrow was already strung and aimed. Eighty paces horseback archery, and it was a single target precise shot, something that couldn't be imagined just a month ago, but now he had ninety percent confidence. What people fear most is pressure, especially the pressure of life and death, which can often bring out a person's greatest potential.

  Seventy paces, Tang Nu also started to draw his bow. But at this moment, Ma Xun had already fired first, the bowstring was tense and the arrow flew like lightning, hitting Tang Nu's abdomen - it just so happened that there was a short axe inserted between Tang Nu's waist and abdomen, and the arrow hit the blade of the axe.

  The arrow flew, and Tang Nu was shocked to break out in a cold sweat. However, the strong impact did not cause the expected severe pain, and Tang Nu quickly adjusted from his stunned state, with the bowstring taut, before Ma Xun's second arrow was shot, he took the initiative to shoot first.

  The arrow flies like a shooting star, and when it falls, both man and horse perish.

  "Waaaah!"

  Tang Nu and his two companions were extremely excited, shouting in unison, while Nian Nu covered her mouth with both hands, her beautiful eyes wide open. But soon they couldn't shout anymore, because no one was seen falling off the horse, and there was indeed no one on the horse's back. What was going on? Was it a ghost appearing in broad daylight?!

  Just as Tang Nu was at a loss, the sound of horseshoes came, and two riders approached within ten or more steps. Suddenly, in front of his eyes, Ma Hu's horse was steady and upright, with his bow drawn and an arrow lightly placed on the string. Tang Nu let out a loud cry, but before he could react, the arrow flew, hitting its mark, and he fell off his horse.

  "Impossible, how can you hide under the horse's belly!" Tanu rolled over and got up, ignoring the mud on his face and the pain all over his body, staring with wide eyes and a disbelieving expression.

  Ma Hu was indeed using the "hiding in the stirrup" technique to hide under the horse's belly, dodging Tang Nu's incoming arrow and successfully confusing his opponent before suddenly appearing and winning with one strike.

  Hiding in the stirrup was a common tactic in later cavalry battles, but in an era without stirrups, it was beyond human imagination. How could one possibly secure their body with just a swinging leather strap or rope and stick to the side of a galloping horse? It would be more accurate to say that Tangnu lost to the stirrup rather than the arrow, but he didn't know that, so he was left reeling in shock. His archery skills were no match for his opponent's, nor was his vaunted horsemanship, and finally, Tangnu hung his head in shame, kneeling on the ground with his hands raised high holding his great bow - according to the customs of the steppes, this was a gesture of willing submission, allowing one's opponent to do as they pleased.

  Ma Huai's horse turned back, and beside Tang Nu, there were three more people kneeling on the ground, including Nian Nu.

  Ma Hu rode his horse closer, using the bow tip to lift up the big bow, grasping it in his hand. His gaze swept across the four people, and amidst Tang Nu's three dejected faces and Nian Nu's pleading eyes, he handed the bow to Tang Nu: "You're not bad either. I've fought against Wuma's elite cavalry before, and apart from being more experienced, their horsemanship and archery skills aren't much better than yours."

  "Really?" Tannu looked up in surprise, hesitating whether to take over the large bow.

  Ma Xun nodded and was about to say something when he suddenly looked up - in the distance, behind the mountain ridge, smoke and dust were flying everywhere, and the ground was shaking slightly.

  "A large group of people is approaching, quickly hide in the woods."

  Ma Huan shouted loudly, and Tang Nu, Nian Nu and others also sensed that something was wrong, immediately got up to lead the horse into the forest.

  Just hidden for a while, a group of cavalry emerged from behind the mountain bag, with fifty or sixty riders, all dressed in Wuhuan attire, each with a knife at their waist and a bow on their back, wrapped in a fierce killing aura, sweeping over the edge of the forest like a whirlwind.

  "That's... That's Lord Bonefist! And his guard squad." Tannu's voice was hoarse.

  Ma Xun hadn't even had time to see which one was Bone Strength when Nian Nu suddenly whispered beside him: "Mo Dang Uncle! How... is he here?"

  Tang Nu and his two companions changed color, Mo Dong's uncle was one of the fifty-seven escaped slaves, who had gone out to scout three days ago and had not returned yet, but now appeared in the Wuman people's search team... The terrible thought made their scalp numb.

  "Uncle Mo Dang knows our campsite location!"

  "Bad! Mu Gui Old Man is in danger!"

  "Grandpa!"

  "We must hurry back and rescue them!"

  Tanu and the three others suddenly jumped up, and Nian Nu also kowtowed to Ma Hong, sobbing: "Master, I, Nian Nu, cannot bear to see Grandfather and our fellow villagers suffer. Please let me go! Master, please be kind and let me go!"

  Ma Xun said coldly, "What's the use of you going? Do you think that by surrendering yourself, everyone else can escape? And what's the point of rushing back like this? It's just adding a few more people to bury."

  Tang Nu gritted his teeth and said resolutely: "We are not Mo Duan, we will escape together, live together, and die together."

  "I don't care about your lives, but Nian Nu is my property and I won't let my own property suffer losses." Ma Han raised her hand to stop the four from speaking, smiled and said, "So, I'll go with you all to meet this Bone Force Lord."