Chapter Twenty: Luring the Enemy

  (Thanks for "Zhao Wu Xu 2014" reward support, brother is a daily must-see!)

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

  The prairie sunset, the remaining sunlight is like blood, at dusk, in front of a mountain valley, a long and bloody drag mark, a blurry body of flesh and blood, shocking to see.

  Mo Dang was dragged to death behind a horse's tail. Although he shamefully betrayed his companions under the pressure and torture of his former master, he still could not escape punishment. Their master used this cruel and ruthless punishment to announce the fate of escaped slaves.

  "I've told you pigs and dogs more than once, you're all my livestock, my property. Within a thousand miles of Baidan Mountain, whoever dares to move my property, I'll flay him alive and hang his skin in the yurt. Now there are already six skins in my yurt, Muji, you will be the seventh."

  The speaker's head was shining brightly, with braids hanging down to his shoulders. His round face was covered in scars, especially the left eyebrow which had a deep gash that distorted the corner of his eye. A large nose and thick lips were framed by a bushy beard, making him look exceptionally ferocious and frightening. He had a sturdy build, with a knife and axe at his waist, sitting upright on horseback, resembling a giant gorilla riding a massive horse.

  This is the adult of the Bone Tribe, with its name as the tribe's name, Bone Force.

  Mujie old man and more than 40 Han people escaped slaves all prostrated on the ground, sniffing at the bloody smell that made them want to vomit, hearing cold words, trembling. On the left side, eight strong and young escape slaves were lined up in a row, each with their heads bowed and kneeling on the ground, the weapons they had just exchanged from Ma Xun's hands were all confiscated. The surrounding area was surrounded by more than 50 Wuman riders, holding knives and bows, in a semi-encirclement, waiting for the order of the adults to start the bloody massacre.

  "Your Honor, Lord Bone, it's all my fault, an old man's mistake. I'll accept any punishment, even being skinned and boiled to the bone. Just please spare my fellow villagers. Lord Bone, have mercy." Old Muji kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead cracking and bleeding, tears and blood flowing down.

  His face expressionless: "I just want to know, where is your granddaughter?"

  "As for what you said, Old Han's granddaughter Nian Nu has already been sold to a passing merchant..."

  "Are you buying it? Using this one?" Bone Force picked up a mulberry bow and examined it repeatedly, his face heavy.

  "Yes...yes."

  "This is a fine bow, the best of the Huns' bows, presented to the nobles by the Hun people. Three such bows can be exchanged for a beautiful female slave, and with it, I can easily kill my guards!" Bone Li's eyes gleamed like a wolf's as he spoke the last sentence, his voice cold and frightening.

  The two Uighur riders who had fallen on the grassy ground, each with two or three arrows in them, were bleeding profusely and had long since stopped breathing. This was because the Uighurs, with their superior forces, had surrounded the valley entrance, thinking they had everything under control, but were suddenly shot dead by the Han slaves who had just received new equipment and galloped out on horseback. Naturally, facing such a superior force, the Han slaves' attempt to break through was ultimately shattered in the face of cruel reality.

  Upon hearing these ominous words, all the escaped slaves couldn't help but tremble with fear.

  "Sir, Honorable Sir, these slaves are your property, especially the young ones. Losing one would be a great loss!"

  He tapped his boot lightly with the whip and looked at old Moji with a slanting eye: "You're right, I've already lost a lot of property and can't afford to suffer more losses, but I also can't not execute a few people as a warning. Hmm, let's choose a few useless slaves. Take out all those old and small ones, put them in sacks, and trample them to death."

  Several Uighur horsemen rushed into the crowd like wolves and tigers, dragging out five or six old men and children, including Asu.

  A Su loudly shouted and struggled, but was struck by a knife handle on the face by an angry Wuwan man, instantly turning purple and blue, with blood and tears flowing out: "I don't want to die! Help! Tang Nu big brother, Mu Ji old father... Ma big brother, Ma big brother save me!"

  A Su kicked and struggled, turning left and right, when unexpectedly something fell out of his bosom. The sunset shone on it, brightening the eyes with a dazzling yellow light.

  His attention was drawn for a moment, his eyes scanned, and his face changed: "Bring that thing over."

  When the guard presented that shining object, Bone Force's expression changed dramatically - it was his own left and right arms, the black gold earrings.

  "Where did this golden ring come from?" Bone Li urged his horse to rush in front of Ah Su, his face twisted, "Speak quickly! Otherwise I'll flay you alive!"

  A Su's whole body trembled as he desperately shook his head: "It has nothing to do with me, this is... something Big Brother Ma gave me..."

  "Who is Ma Ge!"

  "It's the person who swapped our guns..."

  With a fierce lash of his whip, Ah Su was knocked to the ground. He looked up and bellowed: "Search! Search every inch, I must find Wu Ma and that damned bastard surnamed Ma!"

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

  Three arrows in a row, three Uighur cavalrymen were shot through the back and chest by strong arrows, fresh blood gushing out as they fell off their horses. The sudden attack caused chaos among the Uighurs, people shouting and horses neighing, scattering in all directions.

  A hundred paces away, on the western hillside, Ma Xiu held up his leopard-print bow and, mounted on horseback, flaunted his military prowess, pointing at Kulige and his Ulan followers: "Who wants to find me? Not afraid of death? Come then! By the way, that scoundrel Wuma has already been bitten by wolves and vultures, leaving only bones. If you want to find him, hurry up and go to the forest in the northwest. Latecomers won't even have bone fragments left."

  A face full of scars, twisted like a ghostly visage, eyes bulging with blood, pointing to the mountain ridge: "Take him alive! Flay his skin!"

  More than twenty Ulan cavalrymen, wielding swords and holding bows, fiercely spurred their horses' bellies, surrounding and charging upwards.

  Ma Hu laughed and raised his bow in a provocative manner, then turned his horse and left. The white horse was like lightning, rushing down the mountain slope at incredible speed, disappearing from view after turning around the forest. The Wuhuan cavalry also followed one by one, vanishing into the valley ahead.

  Just as Bone Force was about to give the order to execute Asu and the other escaped slaves, a strange cry suddenly rang out from below. He quickly raised his head, looked in the direction of the pointing hand, and his face turned pale - it was still that low hill, where one person stood calmly on horseback, holding a large bow with an exaggerated gesture, nodding at him again. A sharp voice came: "I asked earlier, Bone Force tribe, but it's just a small tribe of less than a thousand people, and the total number of archers in the whole tribe doesn't exceed two hundred riders. To capture escaped slaves, you've mobilized nearly half of your troops. If you all die here, the Bone Force tribe is finished! I'm telling you, Bone Force, you're done! Your tribe is done!"

  There is only one person on the mountain, but at this moment, it gives people a feeling like a high and mighty king, lightly writing, announcing the survival of a tribe.

  The other side had only one person, but there were still thirty people with Bone Li, but for some reason, Bone Li, who used to be the hundred-man commander under Khan's account, felt a chill all over his body and a cold sensation seeping into his bones. Twenty or so tribes' excellent riders just disappeared silently? Was it an ambush or did he do it alone? No, no way, there must be an ambush!

  "Leave ten men to guard, the rest follow me to kill!" Bone Li had no choice, whether it was to investigate the whereabouts of his previous twenty or so subordinates, or to capture this suddenly appearing villain. He didn't believe that he himself would take action, adding twenty elite cavalry, and still couldn't take down a single Han child. As for the ambush, an exposed ambush is not called an ambush.

  Watching the Xiongnu people rushing in, Ma Xian still drove the silver arrow with ease, treading on small steps, galloping down the mountain ridge. Before the Xiongnu people could intercept him, he quickly escaped and left with a long laugh.

  On their own turf, in front of the proud Wuhuan people who were skilled in horsemanship, a young Han man dared to be so arrogant? This is a slap in the face! From then on, every single Wuhuan person went crazy and chased after him on horseback, determined to surround and kill him.

  Horse hooves like thunder, mud and grass flying everywhere, the furious Wuman people chased further and further.