Chapter 14: Ambush at White Horse City

  Talen and Zhao Yun's faces revealed a long-lost smile. Coming all the way to the front, Wang Qian finally remembered that the two men's horses were tied up behind the carriage, so where did the two horses they were riding come from? These two horses looked somewhat familiar.

  Long Fei looked at the two horses, one black and one white, and patted them. He chuckled and said, "Not bad, not bad! With good things, you can't let them go to waste! How is it? No one has come chasing after us?"

  Zhao Yun gently stroked the white horse's neck, blushing and smiling: "It runs very fast, shaking off all the pursuing soldiers. Who knows, maybe it's still heading east this time!"

  Taren also stroked the black horse, and his eyes showed infinite warmth. The Xianbei people have lived on horseback since childhood, and their feelings for horses are by no means ordinary affection. It's natural to cherish such a good horse. The two horses seemed to have also become dependent on Zhao Yun and Taren, and when Long Fei reached out to touch them, they would unconsciously take two steps back, hiding their large heads behind the two men.

  "Oh……!" Wang Wei suddenly shouted loudly: "These two, are they the ones at the city gate? You've actually brought them here! Impressive, impressive!"

  "Hmph!" Wang Qian coldly snorted: "What's so fierce about sneaking around? Hurry up and leave, I don't want to sleep here tonight." After saying that, she climbed onto the carriage and went inside.

  Once you enter the Yanmen, it's considered to be within the borders of Pingzhou. The pedestrians on both sides of the road are mostly Han people, although not too many, but compared to the endless grasslands outside the Great Wall, this is their most familiar place. Occasionally, when encountering villages, old men and children stare at these strangers with terrified eyes. Some even hastily pick up their children and run into their homes, slamming the doors shut.

  "Alas!" Hua Tuo sighed: "It's even more severe than when I left the pass, I didn't expect that in just two months it would become like this. And Governor Ding Yuan of Pingzhou doesn't care about the lives and deaths of the common people at all... Alas..."

  "Is that Pingzhou? What place is Pingzhou? Ding Yuan? Isn't he Lü Bu's cheap father?" Long Fei seemed to have heard this name in the Three Kingdoms, and it was said that Lü Bu was bought by Dong Zhuo and killed his own cheap father.

  Wang Wei smiled and said: "Big Brother also knows Ding Yuan and Lü Bu?"

  "Ding Yuan doesn't know, but Lü Bu certainly does. The world's number one warrior, his concubine Diao Chan is one of the Four Great Beauties!" Long Feng replied smoothly.

  Wang Wei looked at Wang Qian with a puzzled expression. Wang Qian rolled her eyes, and Wang Wei rarely didn't speak again. Taren's eccentricity continued to attract attention in various villages, and everyone looked at him with vigilant eyes, also looking at Long Fei and several Han people with puzzled eyes. Hua Tuo did not respond to Long Fei's words, but instead looked out of the window with a worried expression. The fields were basically desolate, with sparse crops swaying weakly in the wind, and a light breeze could blow them down to the ground.

  A few people went south, and after three days, they arrived at Baima. Baima is the largest village within a hundred miles. The moment he stepped into Baima, Long Fei could only use one word to describe it - desolate. The wind blew in from the city gate, rolling up the thatched grass on the street and drifting away into the distance. Passersby hurriedly covered their mouths and noses and turned their faces to prevent the blown dust from entering their mouths and noses.

  The shops on the street were basically all closed, and those that were open were also bleak. The shopkeeper and his apprentices were dozing off in the store. Long Fei "Bang Bang Bang" knocked heavily on the counter a few times. The shopkeeper was startled, hastily wiping the saliva from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, opening his sleepy eyes, and listlessly looked at several people.

  "Stay in the hotel or eat?" He said while yawning.

  "Don't want to do business anymore? With this attitude?"

  "Hmph!" The shopkeeper smiled slightly: "I have this attitude, if you want to stay, then stay, if not, please leave. However, I can tell you that in the entire city, there is only our one inn. When you come back later, if we're closed, you'll have to sleep on the streets! Sleeping on the streets is very dangerous!"

  "Hmph, I'd rather not stay here, even if it means sleeping on the streets! Let's go!" Wang Qi pulled Wang Wei and headed out the door. The shopkeeper and the young apprentice didn't show any intention of trying to persuade them to stay.

  Long Fei limped and hobbled to the edge of the table, plopped himself down: "No matter if there are any other inns, I'm staying here tonight. Waiter, bring me some tea!" Long Fei felt more and more like a true Han Chinese, speaking more and more like one too. Maybe he was indeed Han Chinese, with no difference from the people of the Han Dynasty in terms of speech and habits. It made sense that most of China's population identified their ethnicity as "Han".

  The shopkeeper gave Xia'er a wink and chuckled: "That's right, in the north, except for the Xianbei people, the Xiongnu people, the Wuhuan people, it's still us Han people. No matter who comes to Baima City and enters my Four Tribes Inn, they have to follow our rules in Baima. Otherwise, he can't leave Baima!"

  "That's right! A powerful dragon doesn't oppress a snake at its feet!"

  Everyone was stunned. The shopkeeper burst out laughing and gave a thumbs up to Long Fei: "This little brother is right on the money! Just what I needed, Xiao Er, hurry up and pour water for our guest!"

  After walking for a while, they didn't see any villages or shops ahead. They had to rely on dry rations to fill their stomachs. Everyone was thirsty and tired. They ordered some wine and dishes, eating hastily to fill their bellies first. Long Fei let out a satisfied burp; although the food wasn't tasty, at least it was hot. The few people were warm all over, each eating comfortably. Wang Qian asked for a guest room and went to sleep. Hua Tuo was also getting on in years and believed in early to bed and early to rise, so he followed her to the guest room in the backyard. Only Long Fei, Zhao Yun, Ta Leng, Wang Wei, and the innkeeper's few men were left in the inn.

  The shopkeeper had Xiao Er light the oil lamp and then put up the door panel, sending Xiao Er back to rest. Long Fei took a look and waited for Xiao Er to leave before chuckling and saying, "It's not even dark yet, why are you closing the door?"

  "Ah!" The shopkeeper and Long Fei sat down at the table and started talking about the white horse.

  Baima is the first town in the north of Bianzhou. If Yanmen is the first barrier of Bianzhou, Baima is the second one. Originally, Baima was not far from the capital of Bianzhou, Jinyang, and there were also Shouyang and Leiping cities around it. Even if the Xianbei people in the north invaded, Jinyang could quickly send reinforcements, and the three cities could support each other to resist the Xianbei people's attack without any problem.

  However, since the governor of Pingzhou, Ding Yuan, suddenly left Pingzhou with his men last year, the situation in Pingzhou has taken a turn for the worse. Not only do the Xianbei people frequently break through the Yanmen Pass and enter the heartland of the Great Han to plunder, but countless bandits have also appeared on the outskirts. The Xianbei's attack can be prevented, after passing through the Yanmen Pass, someone will notify, the whole city will unite to resist the enemy, and sometimes they can even repel them. But every time the Xianbei people leave, the bandits on the outskirts immediately take advantage of the situation. One after another, not only Baima, but also Shouyang and Leiping are suffering.

  "Does the government not care?" Zhao Yun interrupted.

  The shopkeeper smiled: "Didn't I say so? Ding Yuan, the governor of Pingzhou, brought all his troops into the capital, and the state government has no soldiers or food. Even if they want to take care of it, they are powerless! After Ding Yuan left, the court never sent anyone again, and our Pingzhou seems to have been abandoned by them!"

  "Ding Yuan going to the capital is a death wish! According to historical developments, Ding Yuan was killed by Lü Bu, and the province became masterless. Later, it seemed that it was occupied by some Zhang Yan of the Yellow Turbans!" Long Fei said, realizing he had spoken too much again.

  Several people stared at Long Fei with wide eyes, looking at him with an incredulous gaze. The shopkeeper shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, no, it's not Zhang Yan, but Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang was originally under the command of Governor Ding Yuan, and after Ding Yuan left, this Bianzhou is basically his territory. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the ability to control Bianzhou, so he can only retreat to Shangdang, without time to care about our northern White Horse, let alone deal with the surrounding bandits!" The shopkeeper sighed again: "However, I heard that there's also someone named Zhang Yan, who seems to be uniting the nearby mountain bandits. As for his background, it's unclear!"

  "I and Zhang Yan are fellow provincials!" Zhao Yun said suddenly.

  Everyone was shocked again, and even Long Fei had never heard such words before. Zhao Yun said calmly: "Zhang Yan is also a true Dingzhou person, I grew up with him, Zhang Yan's original surname was Chu, he was brave and fierce, often gathering a group of people to show off on the streets. When the Taiping Taoism was popular in our place, Zhang Yan had sent someone to find me, but my master didn't let me go down the mountain. I didn't expect him to become a Yellow Turban bandit!"

  Everyone fell silent. Long Fei stared at Zhao Yun, who looked down in embarrassment, as if he were a Yellow Turban bandit who had also become a thief. Long Fei nodded: "It seems that the talents of Changshan are indeed not few, one is Zi Long, General Chang Sheng, and another is Zhang Yan, a vassal lord, not bad, not bad!"

  Suddenly, a hurried horseshoe sound came from outside the door, and the shopkeeper was greatly shocked. He quickly got up and blew out the oil lamp. The whole room immediately became pitch black. The horseshoe sound outside the door grew louder and louder, as if thousands of horses were passing by on the street. Several torches flashed across the window, making a few people's faces flicker in the light. Long Fei glanced at the shopkeeper, who was trembling all over and shrinking into the corner without moving.

  Several people reached for their own weapons. Long Fei found nothing, stretched out his hand and grasped a wooden stick behind the door, tightly clenched in his hand. Without guessing, it was clear what had happened. Long Fei poked his head out to take a look outside the window, borrowing the light of the torches, Long Fei vaguely saw more than ten horses outside the door, galloping back and forth on the street.

  "A slightly hoarse voice loudly shouted: 'Break open all the doors for me, and slaughter anyone who dares to resist!'"

  Another burst of noise. It should be the door of a household being smashed open. In the quiet night, it was heard clearly that someone was shouting and scolding, with women's and children's crying mixed in. The bandits laughed loudly, leaving a few people to watch, while the rest threw things out of the house one by one. Bottles and jars crashed "bang bang" in disorderly response.