Chapter 48: Desperate Counterattack

  (Thanks for "Zhao Wu Xu 2014" and "Evil Wolf Star" for their continued support!)

  Rumble!

  The carriage crashed heavily to the ground, with a sound like thunder, splitting into four or five pieces, fragments flying everywhere, and two wheels bouncing and rolling far away.

  Ma Huan and Li Ji were thrown out of the carriage a long time ago. Under normal circumstances, such aerial flight would be enough to break one's bones, but Ma Huan was lucky - he had an iron arm.

  When his body was about to make contact with the ground, Ma Hong's iron arm stretched out - Puff! The iron arm sank into the earth halfway, and the intense recoil force caused his arm to shake violently. His internal organs were in a state of extreme discomfort, and if not for the powerful hydraulic shock-absorbing capabilities of his mechanical arm, this impact would have been enough to take him down.

  Li Ji was also lucky, as she was held in Ma Huan's arms, and even when her body fell to the ground, she had Ma Huan as a cushion, without a single hair harmed. But tears rolled down her face, for she saw amidst the disheveled grass a head of white hair motionless, with bloodstains on it... that was old servant Liang En...

  Tian Yu and Wu chased after more than a dozen Han cavalrymen who had already rushed out dozens of steps, hastily pulling the reins, their frightened eyes following the flying carriage as it crashed to the ground. Everyone's heart contracted violently. It wasn't until they saw Ma Xun holding Li Ji and rolling on the ground, dodging the arrows that kept shooting over, that everyone came back to their senses and rushed back to rescue them on horseback.

  But everything was too late.

  The Xianbei were originally over a hundred paces away, but after a shower of arrows, they had already closed to within eighty paces. The charioteer was hit by an arrow and fell to the ground, causing the chariot to overturn, and the distance was again shortened to seventy paces. The Han cavalry were originally closer to Ma Yuan and Li Ji, no more than forty paces away, but the Xianbei had been charging non-stop, while the Han cavalry had to urgently rein in their horses, turn around, accelerate again, and then charge again. By the time this series of actions was completed, the Xianbei had already closed to within sixty paces, entering the effective shooting range of the Xianbei horsemen.

  "Shoot! Give me a desperate shot, shoot until your arm can't draw the bow!" Luobang's crazy howl clearly entered Ma Hong and Hanguo cavalry's ears.

  With this mad howl, even crazier arrows fell like rain.

  Ma Huan had just hugged Li Ji and rolled to the back of the broken carriage that had become a pile of debris, arrows constantly flying over their heads or nailed to the other side of the broken carriage, unable to hurt them at all. However, the Han Gou cavalry was not so lucky. Maybe their riding and shooting skills were already on par with the Xianbei elite riders, maybe they didn't care about anything for their leader, but there were too few people. Not to mention several thousand Xianbei and Wuhuan cavalry outside the range, just the small group of cavalry led by Luo Bang had more than a hundred riders, six or seven times that of the Han Gou cavalry. The two sides shot at each other, and the result was predictable.

  In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen Han cavalrymen fell to the ground, and even Wu's arm was hit by an arrow. Ma Xun's eyes turned red with rage. If the Han cavalry didn't turn back to rescue them, they wouldn't have died, but the closer they got to themselves, the greater their casualties would be.

  Ma Xiu shouted loudly: "Han Gou cavalry listen to orders - turn around, ride through Bai Zhang Canyon and return to Han Gou Camp!"

  Wu Zhu and the remaining seven Han cavalrymen had grown accustomed to Ma Chao's orders, and instinctively reined in their horses. Suddenly, as if realizing something, they let out a sorrowful cry: "Commander..."

  Ma Yun's voice was like a tearing silk: "Pursue! Once the military order is given, it must be executed immediately, otherwise the military law will show no mercy!"

  "Yes!" Wu Zui and seven Han cavalrymen responded in unison, hastily turning their horses' heads. Just as they hesitated for a moment, another man was hit by seven or eight arrows and fell off his horse with a mournful cry.

  Ma Xun stretched out his iron arm, grabbed something from the thorny wood pile, and pulled it out. Li Ji's eyes were sharp, and she was shocked to see that Ma Xun's right sleeve was torn all over by the sharp wooden chips, but his arm was unscathed. What made her even more stunned was that what Ma Xun had pulled out was a giant spear that was hard to imagine - when did he put this spear on her carriage? Ah, it must have been placed in the compartment board. No wonder the carriage couldn't speed up with such a long and heavy spear... Just now, he actually told himself to throw away all the things on the carriage, but hid a heavy spear...

  As soon as she thought of this, her whole body didn't feel well, and she really wanted to pinch him hard. But in the next moment, Ma Huan's action made her stunned.

  Ma Huan stood up with a loud shout, his spear shaking violently. The Golden Dragon banner burst forth, its lock broken, and the sound of its unfolding echoed through the air as it swept away seven or eight arrows. Ma Huan turned to face Tian Yu, twenty paces away, his face filled with sorrow and indignation. He shouted in a voice like thunder: "Tian Guolong, take this spear and banner back with you! Before I return, the three thousand Han Gua tribesmen will be handed over to you!"

  Sheng Luo pulled out a sheepskin map from his bosom and wrapped it around the gun head. With a swing of his iron arm, the Hegemon Gun shot forth with a fierce gust of wind, flying straight towards Tian Yu.

  Tian Yu's energy sank into his dantian, gathering all his strength in his right arm. With a mighty sweep, he grasped the Hegemon-King Spear, and the powerful impact almost threw him off his horse.

  Tian Yu took down the sheepskin map, held the gun flag with both hands, and swung it vigorously. The big flag flew and rolled, slapping down all the incoming arrows. He shouted loudly: "Xing Long brother, Tian Yu is here to make a vow, I will not betray your trust." He gritted his teeth, turned around, and galloped away on horseback.

  Looking at Tian Yu, Wu Zhui and the six surviving Han cavalrymen disappearing into the distance, Ma Xun let out a long sigh, exhausted, and leaned against the broken carriage. He knew that all the Xianbei wanted was him, as long as he could hold off the Xianbei, Tian Yu and his party would be able to escape safely.

  Ma Huan once again reached into the broken cart, rummaged around and pulled out his leopard bow and heavy crossbow arrows, placing them at his feet. At this time, he heard a voice beside him say: "I've been killed by you!"

  Ma Xun turned his head and glanced at Li Ji, whose face was as pale as paper and eyes were desperate. He said calmly: "You won't die because I won't die either. As long as I don't die, it's not your turn yet. Cover yourself with the veil, don't attract the attention of the Xianbei people."

  Liji couldn't understand how this person, who was so weak that he could barely stand up, could be so confident. Was it just because of the strength in his one remaining arm? Although she couldn't make sense of it, Liji still covered her face with a silk handkerchief as promised. She rarely showed her true appearance to people, and today was already an exception; how could she let so many rough and rude barbarians surround her?

  Li Ji had just covered her face, the sound of hooves was like muffled thunder, stirring up a sky full of smoke and dust, in front of them were horses' legs scattered all over like a forest, the Xianbei people had already surrounded the two of them.

  "Get him!"

  With a loud shout from Luo Bang, seven or eight leather straps flew out of thin air and accurately wrapped around Ma Xun's body, tightly binding him. Eight Xianbei cavalrymen stood in all directions, pulling with force, and suddenly lifted Ma Xun up.

  "Haha!" Luobang urged his horse forward, feeling elated. Who would have thought that this "heart-digging beast" who scared the Qiang people to death, the enemy who had crippled his own right hand, would actually fall into his own hands.

  "The Xianbei people have a clear distinction between gratitude and resentment. You disabled one of my hands, I blinded one of your eyes, we are even!" Luobang urged his horse forward, raised the familiar cowhide whip in his hand, just about to fiercely lash towards Ma Hong's eyes, but at this moment, Ma Hong said a sentence that made him startled and shocked, the whip movement hesitated.

  Ma Xian said: "You must have heard that I killed one of your brave Xianbei warriors who used a lasso on the banks of the wet river."

  Ma Huan finished speaking, and with a flick of his right palm, the cowhide straps binding his arms and upper body snapped inch by inch. The eight Xianbei cavalrymen holding the ropes were suddenly pulled off their horses, all of them crying out in surprise as they fell to the ground. As soon as Ma Huan broke free, he exerted himself to lunge forward, grabbing hold of Luo Bang's waistband and slamming him heavily to the ground. His iron-like hand clutched at his throat, and he said sternly: "Do you believe I can crush your throat with just this one hand?"

  Lobang didn't believe him, his hand was still wrapped in a bandage.

  Ma Xian's movements were limited by his physical body and weren't particularly swift, but it was too unbelievable, who would have thought that a person bound like a dumpling could suddenly break free and launch a counterattack.

  The commander was at a loss, the Xianbei people were in great chaos, and they aimed their arrows and axes at Ma Xian, shouting angrily, but did not dare to take action.

  Luobang shouted: "It's useless, I'm just a hundred-man general under the command of Lord Suluo. You're taking me as hostage, but you can't intimidate him at all. Later, when he leads his troops to chase after us, you will definitely die."

  Ma Huan turned his head and looked back, a large batch of Xianbei cavalry had already appeared two miles away, pressing in like a dark cloud.

  Ma Xun nodded and said, "You're right, I never intended to use you as a hostage. All I ask is that you take us to the front of Bai Zhang Gorge, and then we'll let you go, how about it?"

  Luobang was stunned, taken to Bai Zang Gorge? Why? Did he think that once there, he could escape?

  Time was pressing, Ma Xun didn't care about what Luo Bang thought, and threw him onto the horseback, picked up his own bow and arrow, then laboriously climbed onto the warhorse, and signaled to the Xianbei people to send a horse for Li Ji. The two rode in tandem, taking Luo Bang with them, and galloped towards Bai Zhang Gorge outside the city.

  These nearly hundred Xianbei cavalrymen were all under Lu Bu's command, otherwise they wouldn't be so desperately pursuing and killing. At this moment, seeing their commander's life hanging in the balance, they didn't dare to act rashly, and could only follow from a distance, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

  Ma Xun's whole body was still soft, and he couldn't hold onto the horse's belly at all. He could only hug the horse's neck with his right arm, otherwise he wouldn't be able to sit steadily. Fortunately, Bai Zhan Gorge was already very close, and the two of them rushed to the front of the gorge, while the large group of Xianbei pursuers were still a mile away.

  Ma Hu always had the good habit of drawing maps by hand, and when he first traveled north through this canyon, he had made a detailed examination of the dangerous terrain and knew where the mountain path closest to the valley entrance was. As soon as they entered the canyon, Ma Hu threw Luo Bang off his horse and said coldly: "If you can survive, we'll meet on the battlefield later."

  "Letting the hostages go, what are we going to do?" Liji exclaimed in surprise.

  "As soon as the Xianbei people arrive with their horses, this small hundred-man squad will be completely meaningless." Ma Yuan's gaze was cold and sharp, pointing to the steep cliff at the end of the valley, "The place where I will engage in a decisive battle with the Xianbei is right there!"

  Don't forget the Sanjiang ticket for the last day.