Chapter 4 The First Red Dividend

  Di Lie swiftly aimed his gun at the door curtain and asked Hou Fangjing in a low voice: "What's going on?"

  Hou Fangjing cried with a sad face: "That is the personal guard of Sa Di, who was sent to explore the surrounding situation outside the camp earlier and now returns to report. It's all over...".

  "What's the panic? I'm still here." Di Lie placed his gun on the table, saying nonchalantly, "It's just a dozen or so people, but I've got over 50 bullets!"

  Hou Fangjing had just witnessed the divine power of that strange weapon, but in his heart he was still complaining: You have a sharp weapon in your hand, and you are brave and powerful, so you can certainly kill your way out and rush out. But what about me? The city gate is on fire, and the fish in the pond will be affected! However, he had already ridden the tiger and couldn't get off now. A thousand-man commander and a hundred-man commander had both died in the tent, so even if Di Lie spared him, the Jurchen-led Jin army would not let him go. At this point, Hou Fangjing had no choice but to follow Di Lie and escape.

  At this time, another report came from outside the account, apparently not hearing a response and not seeing the guard in front of the account, which made the insiders outside feel quite confused. If it weren't for the Jin army's strict hierarchy, they wouldn't dare to act without orders, I'm afraid they would have rushed in long ago.

  Di Lie let out a cold hum, intending to order Hou Fangjing to pretend to give orders and let the Jin soldiers outside come in one by one, so that he could shoot them dead one by one. But when calling for Hou Fangjing, his gaze inadvertently swept over Ye Die'er's figure, and a bold idea suddenly jumped into his mind.

  Then he beckoned the two of them over and whispered to them for a while. Hou Fangjing nodded repeatedly, praising him as good. Ye Die'er bit her red lips and lowered her head in embarrassment.

  Having made up his mind, Hou Fangjing coughed loudly and walked to the door curtain with his chest out. Just as he was about to lift the curtain, he involuntarily returned to his previous slouching posture and walked out in a timid and shrinking manner.

  Di Lie was taken aback and lost his smile, shaking his head, then said to Ye Die'er: "It's your turn to perform."

  Ye Die'er hesitated for a moment before finally being unable to withstand Di Lie's scorching gaze, and softly let out an "ah" sound.

  Di Lie shook his head in dissatisfaction: "No, it's too soft, and the sincerity is obviously insufficient. It doesn't sound like being violated, but rather like being surprised when getting something good."

  "The slave won't, can't call out..."

  "In a fit of rage, Di Lie blurted out: 'Just now when that guy Sa Ci was making moves on you, you seemed to be calling out pretty naturally...'"

  Ye Die'er lifted her head in embarrassment and said thinly: "You... how can you compare..."

  "Sorry, I misspoke." Di Lie hastily apologized. "I understand now, you must have been in a situation where you would say that, right?"

  Restore? What is it? Ye Die'er widened her beautiful eyes, bewildered and unaware.

  Di Lie just said in a low voice: "I've offended you!" and reached out to pull her into his arms.

  Ye Die'er was suddenly attacked, her mind went blank, but her feminine instincts made her scream out loud, that feeling of fear and horror was indeed very "natural".

  Di Lie gave her a thumbs up, then released his grip on her waist and quickly moved to the door curtain with his gun at the ready. He lifted one corner of the curtain to peek outside - only to see over ten Jin soldiers standing guard, their armor and weapons glinting in the light. One of them, apparently the leader, was yelling at Hou Fangjing, who was kowtowing repeatedly. When a shrill cry came from inside the tent, the Jin soldiers couldn't help but exchange amused glances before forming a semicircle to guard the outside of the tent.

  The leading golden soldier smiled and patted Hou Fangjing's thin shoulder, pointing to the tent and indicating that he should enter and wait on him. Hou Fangjing forced a smile, turned around, and quietly wiped away the cold sweat from his forehead.

  Di Lie also let out a sigh of relief, although the fight was just a matter of a dozen or so bullets, but he didn't have the confidence to wipe them all out in a short period of time. As long as one person escaped, it would bring trouble to their subsequent escape action.

  As soon as Dai Lie entered the tent, he immediately summoned Tai Hou to take action. First, they wrapped all four corpses in a blanket and piled them up in a corner of the tent. The smell of blood was very strong inside the tent, and it was estimated that the guards outside could also smell it, but they just thought that General Ma An had tortured another Han slave - such things happened almost every day, so they didn't think it was unusual.

  Next, Di Lie put on the armor that Sa Ci had taken off. He didn't know if there was an ID tag on this armor, but even if ordinary Jin soldiers couldn't recognize it as Meng An's uniform, it was still a standard Jin army uniform and could be used to bluff his way through.

  This ancient armor, Di Lie had only seen it in movies and TV shows, wearing it was the first time, completely dazzled by those intricate straps, didn't know where to start - in fact, putting on armor required someone's help, it was hard to put it on by oneself.

  "Hey, do you know how to deal with this thing?" Di Lie turned to Ye Die'er for help. But found that the little girl was still in the same posture as when she fell to the ground, her face flushed and dazed.

  Di Lie called out several times, and even waved his hand in front of her eyes before Ye Die'er finally came to. With a blush, she helped Di Lie put on his armor. The candlelight cast their combined shadows on the tent wall, adding an air of strange elegance to this precarious and dangerous situation.

  Hou Fangjing followed Di Lie's instructions, packing up the remaining food on the table and hurrying over to help. When he saw the layers of dark green armor that resembled fish scales, his face revealed a look of astonishment.

  "What? Is there something wrong with this armor?" Dili noticed his unusual expression.

  Hou Fangjing let out a gentle sigh: "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the 'Qing Dang Jia' of the Tangut people, and it's one of the finest pieces. Even within the borders of Xia Guo, only imperial generals or those of royal blood could obtain such a set. It must have been a tribute from Xia Guo to the Jin Dynasty, and even though this Sa Li is a member of the Jin Dynasty's royal family, it wouldn't be easy for him to get his hands on one."

  Xia State? Di Lie thought for a moment before realizing that it was referring to Western Xia. In fact, Western Xia is like the Northern Song Dynasty mentioned earlier, both are names used by later historians to distinguish them, and they would not have been called that at the time.

  Di Lie looked a bit strange: "Is... Xia Guo's armor very famous?"

  Hou Fangjing nodded: "The world's best armor, none can surpass it. A few years ago, a small village had a 'Green Armor', the quality was only mid-range, but it sold for 5,000 guan..."

  Di Lie had just arrived and didn't know that 5,000 guan was equivalent to three years' income for a middle-class family in this era. However, judging from Hou Fangjing's tone, it was estimated to be a huge sum of money. This "antique" armor in his eyes weighed less than 40 pounds, with thin and light steel, dark and shiny color, and a hint of blue. When tapped, it produced a clear and pleasant sound. When he twisted the armor plate with his fingers, it showed excellent elasticity, indicating that the steel was of high quality. Even to Di Lie, an outsider, this armor was a rare masterpiece.

  After putting on the armor, Di Lie tried jumping a few times and didn't feel any discomfort. It seemed that this Qing Tang armor not only had excellent quality but also had a very comfortable lining. At this time, Di Lie's body weight was nearly 80 kilograms, yet he didn't feel any strain at all. The Empty Shuttle's transformation of his body was indeed extraordinary.

  Next was Ye Die'er's turn to get dressed, and with her physique, she couldn't wear iron armor. Di Lie found a set of leather armor and helmet for her to put on, although it was too big and didn't fit well, but in the dark, it could pass muster. As for Hou Fangjing, he had an interpreter's identity, so he could move freely within the Golden Camp, and naturally, he was exempt.

  Finally, it's time to pack up those gold, silver and precious jewels.

  A single coin can defeat a hero. This sentence is true in any era. At this time, Di Lie was really penniless and couldn't be indifferent to such a large treasure. In fact, Di Lie wanted to pack up all the treasures and take them away, but he also knew it was impossible. Not to mention the weight problem, just the volume was too huge. Carrying such a big package out would be equivalent to writing on his forehead: I am a thief!

  Since they couldn't take everything away, they had to select some valuable items. In this regard, both Hou Fangjing and Ye Die'er were much stronger than Di Lie. Di Lie tore a piece of silk into three pieces and let the two of them quickly choose, after finishing, each person carried a bulging package.

  Looking at Ye Die'er's dreamy expression and Hou Fangjing's excited appearance, Di Lie gave them a preemptive warning: "Don't get any ideas, this is my spoils of war. After we escape, you can pick out a few items to keep as mementos, got it?"

  Hou Fangjing's heart skipped a beat, and he repeatedly nodded in agreement: "The hero saved the little one from escaping this tiger's den, which is already a great kindness, how dare I plot against the hero again."

  Ye Die'er was even more straightforward, pushing the package towards Di Lie: "I'm thin and weak, wearing this armor is already a struggle, it's better for the strong man to bring his own."

  Di Lie thought for a moment, then took it and said casually: "You don't have to shout 'hero' or 'brave warrior' all the time, my name is Di Lie, just call me by my name."

  Yeduanyan was overjoyed and made a courtesy gesture: "So it's Di Zhuangshi."

  Hou Fangjing also came forward and paid his respects: "Di Yingxiong."

  He scratched his head, speechless.

  After making all preparations, Di Lie glanced at his watch and saw that the hour hand was pointing to eight o'clock. The sky had completely darkened, and it was time to take action.

  Di Lie slung the gun over his shoulder, caught sight of two shell casings on the ground, thought for a moment and then picked them up and put them in his pocket. He casually grabbed an iron truncheon from the pile of weapons - also known as a wolf-tooth club - weighed it in his hand, roughly about thirty pounds or so, able to wield such a heavy weapon, this Di Lie indeed had some real skill and substance.

  Di Lie held a wolf-toothed club in his right hand and pulled out a dagger with his left, cutting open a large slit from the back of the tent. He peeked out for a while, then crawled out first, making sure there was no one nearby before signaling.

  Hou Fangjing and Ye Die'er swam out in a line, closely following behind Di Lie.

  Hou Fang looked around nervously: "Di Yingxiong... has come out now, what should we do next?"

  Di Lie didn't say a word, but kept sniffing with his nose, suddenly pointing northwest: "What's that place? How can such a strong stench blow over here?"

  Hou Fangjing didn't understand why he was asked this, but still replied: "That is where the Jin people's stables are."

  "Stable?" Di Lie's eyes lit up, "Many horses?"

  "The small one hasn't counted, but the main general of this Jin army is a certain Boluo, a fierce and powerful Mongol general. He has at least 5,000 troops under his command, including over 1,000 Jurchen heavy cavalry, nearly 1,000 Khitan surrendered soldiers, and several hundred Hebei signed soldiers. According to the Jin army's cavalry, one person with two or even three horses would be counted as four or five thousand in number. Adding various pack mules and other livestock, in my opinion, there are at least 10,000 troops."

  "Ten thousand horses? Ten thousand horses galloping!" Di Lie's mouth curled up with a rather playful smile, "Since that's the case, let's make it a big one!"

  Hou Fang secretly cursed his bad luck. Although he didn't know what this reckless guy was going to do, he figured it would be another dangerous move. Now that things had come to this point, he had no choice but to follow, even if Di Lie wanted to charge into a sea of knives and fire, he could only cover his head and follow along.

  As for Ye Die'er, from the moment she walked out of her tent, she had already entrusted her life to this young warrior who had descended from heaven and rescued her innocence. Even if it was a road of no return ahead, she would still walk on with no regrets.