Chapter 6: The Xianbei Bandits

  The Han dynasty is now in decline and has lost its former prestige. The Xianbei outside the Great Wall are very powerful and have already swallowed up half of the grasslands. The Han court is gradually losing control over the various commanderies outside the Great Wall. From Jiuyuan all the way here, many places along the way have become pastures for the Xianbei people. They move with their families to pursue pasture, grazing their own livestock.

  "Slow down! Slow down!" someone shouted loudly from behind the carriage.

  Wang Qian looked back and saw Hua Tuo riding a poor horse to chase them. The old man ran very quickly, seemingly having woken up to find they were gone and rushed over. Wang Qian said irritably, "Another one!"

  The horse carriage slowed down. Hua Tuo finally caught up, panting: "Oh dear! You folks are in such a hurry, I still have many questions to ask the young brother, and when I woke up from my nap, you were all gone. It took me a lot of effort to catch up with you."

  Long Fei stuck his head out of the horse carriage: "Old man, I'm really not a doctor, why are you chasing me?"

  "I admire the young brother's medical skills very much, and I hope to learn from him more. If the young brother doesn't despise me, I am willing to become his apprentice."

  “Pfft…” Long Fei, who was drinking water, immediately spat out the water in his mouth, splashing Wang Wei all over. How could this be? Hua Tuo actually wanted to acknowledge him as a master. If this got out, wouldn't it become a joke for generations to come? Long Fei repeatedly waved his hand: "No, I really am not a doctor. Your medical skills are far superior to mine. A divine physician acknowledging me as a master would be ridiculed. Besides, your age...I..."

  "Hahaha......" Hua Tuo chuckled: "Ambition is not limited by age, I've lived to this old age in vain, only now do I realize that there are heavens beyond the heavens and people beyond people. Could it be that little brother looks down on me as a disciple?"

  Well, Hua Tuo insisted on taking Long Fei as his master. Forced by the situation, Long Fei said: "Alright! Let's just be friends, my so-called medical skills are just a little bit, if the divine doctor doesn't despise me, we can learn from each other, but if you still want to call me your master, I'll leave immediately."

  "Alright then!" Hua Tuo thought for a moment, nodded and said: "Since that's the case, I'll befriend this young brother, hoping he can teach me more."

  With Hua Tuo by his side, Long Fei's injuries healed quickly. In less than three days, the external wounds on his body had scabbed over, and the fractured bones no longer hurt as much as they had initially. Two days later, the horse carriage entered the territory of Maiyi. As soon as they passed the Great Wall, Che Baishi's face turned serious. He lost interest in chatting, stopped singing, and spoke very little.

  Long Fei asked Wang Wei what was going on. Wang Wei's face also turned serious, and he told Long Fei solemnly that the counties outside the Great Wall, including Dai County, Shanggu, and Yunzhong, which they had just passed through, were all territories of the Xianbei people. Especially in these areas bordering Han territory, there were often Xianbei cavalry raids. Some Xianbei civilians would take advantage of the situation to loot. These people usually looked like honest pastoralists, but if a merchant group or wealthy person passed by, they would suddenly turn into bandits. They generally only sought wealth, and even if they had no choice, they would kill people.

  "We're penniless anyway, what's there to fear?" Long Fei said.

  Wang Wei shook his head and glanced at the horse-drawn carriage they were riding in: "They don't think so, anyone who can ride a carriage is rich. Just our carriage, plus those few fine horses pulling it, would be worth at least 100,000 to 800,000 coins. It's very likely that we'll become the target of Xianbei bandits."

  "So you're just pretending to be rich, unwilling to spend a few silver coins on lodging, but hiring a hundred-silver-piece carriage?"

  "Stop talking nonsense!" Wang Qiang glared at Long Fei: "All of you be quiet, in case we attract bandits, the one most likely to get killed is you. You're a cripple, they wouldn't even bother taking you back."

  The horse carriage drove onto a narrow mountain path. It was called a mountain path, but it was only slightly lower than other places, and the mountains on the grassland were not too high. The so-called mountains on both sides were just two tall mounds of earth. The top was lush with trees, and below the hills grew wild grass as tall as a person. If they wanted to ambush, this place would be perfect. As long as they guarded the exits on both sides, their horse carriage wouldn't be able to escape.

  "Halt!" Long Fei scanned the two earthen hills on either side. He had a faint feeling that something was off. It was too quiet, not a single sound could be heard. A place like this should be a paradise for birds, and it being summer, there should be many birds nesting here, but Long Fei didn't hear a single bird chirp.

  "What's wrong? Is something off?" Wang Wei suddenly pulled out a gleaming dagger from somewhere and grasped it in his hand. Wang Qiang was the same, eyes wide open staring around, also holding a dagger.

  The horse cart didn't stop, but instead sped up a bit. The driver said while urging the horses on: "This is called Duiyangu, where bandits are most active. We can't stop here, we have to rush through in one breath. If we're intercepted by bandits, we'll all be done for!"

  Long Fei yanked the reins of the chariot-style horse, pulling it into his arms. The galloping horses whinnied and suddenly stopped. The charioteer was flung out of the carriage, rolling on the ground several times, crying out in pain.

  "What do you want to do?" Wang Qian looked at Long Fei, her dagger pointing at him.

  Long Fei glanced at the dagger and nodded slightly towards the mountain: "We've already been locked down, we can't outrun them. While that group hasn't made a move yet, it's still possible to turn back!"

  Along the gaze of Long Fei, several people in the carriage looked up at the mountain. The dense forest, the sturdy big trees, everything was normal, and there was nothing special about it. A gentle breeze blew through the treetops, causing the entire tree to sway back and forth. After looking for a long time, not a single person was seen. Che Baizi got up from the ground, pointing at Long Fei and scolding loudly: "You little brat want to kill me? You also want to be a bandit, plotting to rob and murder, this carriage is my entire family's livelihood, if you let you take it away, I...

  The charioteer had only spoken half of his words when he suddenly stopped. An arrow with fresh blood on it protruded from his chest, and drops of blood fell one by one from the arrowhead. The charioteer lowered his head to take a look, his mouth moved slightly, wanting to continue speaking. But no one was in the mood to listen to him continue. Arrows rained down from the sky, hitting the carriage with a "thud" sound. Several people hastily withdrew their heads into the carriage.

  "Ahhh……" The unique howling sound of the Xianbei people echoed through the mountains on both sides. They ran and shot arrows, and the horse carriage quickly became a hedgehog. Fortunately, the carriage was made quite sturdy, with good wood used for the compartments on both sides. In this round of arrow rain, it played a protective role very well. Only a few arrows pierced into the carriage.

  The robbers surrounded them, continuing to shout loudly. A person who understood Chinese shouted towards the inside: "Come out, all of you! Our leader said that as long as you hand over all your silver coins, we won't make things difficult for you!"

  He shouted a few times, but there was no movement inside the carriage. The man continued to shout: "Hurry up and come out, otherwise I'll burn your horse-drawn carriage, anyway, silver can't be burned!" This sentence caused laughter from many people. Someone had already gone to find something to start a fire with.

  "Sister, what are we going to do?" Wang Wei leaned on the small window and looked outside: "They have a lot of people, almost thirty or forty, you and I can't beat them, they also have horses, and it's not easy for us to escape."

  "What's there to be afraid of? We'll just fight it out with them!" Wang Qian glared out at the outside, "These detestable Xianbei people, if it weren't for their parents, they wouldn't have died. Today we'll kill a few more and consider it avenging our parents! Later I'll say charge, you follow me and fight our way out, did you hear?" Wang Wei nodded heavily.

  "Take care of yourselves, whether you can survive or not depends on your own luck!" Wang Qian turned his head and shouted at Wang Wei: "Go!" He lifted the curtain of the carriage and rushed out. Just as he was about to jump out, a wooden stick blocked his way. It was Long Fei's crutch. Wang Qian angrily asked: "What are you blocking me for?"

  Long Fei shook his head at the siblings: "It's not time to fight yet, don't worry, I have a plan! I've seen this kind of situation many times before. These bandits are just a mob, as long as we can take out three or four of them with one strike, the rest will immediately collapse." He moved over to the small window and quietly lifted up a corner of the curtain, pointing at a black horse not far away from them. On the horse sat a big-bearded man with a sturdy build, powerful muscles, and a dark face that made people feel afraid. His forehead was shaved clean, and his hair in the back was braided into two large pigtails that hung on his chest. Long Fei saw very clearly that it was Red Headband.

  "Have you seen that person? As long as we take him down, these bandits will retreat without a fight!" Long Fei analyzed to Wang Qian and her brother: "I've been observing everyone outside, those who are shouting loudly are just small fries, only the true leader won't make a fuss. Look, none of the bandits dare to go near that person, which means they're afraid of him. I can be sure that he's definitely the leader."

  "Look at that guy's physique, he shouldn't be messed with!" Wang Qian turned her head and happened to face Long Fei. The unique scent of a girl made Long Fei feel a sudden thrill. Wang Qian also felt something was off and quickly turned her face back, but her cheeks had already flushed red.

  Long Fei calmed down and adjusted his emotions: "Height is 1.9 meters, weight is around 300 pounds, upper limb skills are good, but lower limb is unstable! If I fight with him, I'll focus on the lower limb, use a combination of virtual and real tactics, and I should be able to take him down!"

  Wang Wei looked at Long Fei with curiosity as he analyzed the big-bearded man sitting on the horse, and he couldn't understand how Long Fei knew the man's martial arts foundation, as well as his height and weight. Hua Tuo was even more bewildered, but after a moment of thought, he suddenly understood that only someone who knew a person's body like the back of their hand could be so accurate. This is just like treating an illness, where different people require different medicines, and the dosage is closely related to each person's physique. As Long Fei was a good doctor, he naturally had a keen eye for observing all of a person's characteristics at once.

  "What did you say we should do?" Wang Qiang came back to himself.

  Long Fei winked at Wang Qian and smiled slightly: "You guys stay in the car and don't move, watch me!"