Chapter 27, Overnight Pursuit

  Zu Zhao didn't say anything else, took over the reins, put on his bow and short sword, and mounted his horse.

  The crowd of young men saw him and said nothing, but closely followed behind him and jumped onto the horse's back.

  With a loud whoop, Zu Zhao led the charge on horseback out of the backyard gate, followed closely by the other young men of the Zu family. The flickering flames in the darkness formed a long, shining line, and the sound of horseshoes replaced the anger in the hearts of the riders, almost more turbulent than the torches they held in their hands.

  The place where Gao Hong and others were ambushed was Bali Bao, thirty miles northeast of Xu Wu County. Zu Zhao led the crowd of sons and younger brothers to rush under the night sky, first passing through the county city walls, and then passing through a sparse forest in the suburbs. Gradually, there were fewer and fewer people, and only endless hills remained in front.

  Bali Bao is a gathering place for the people of nearby Ting Township, just like Xihe Bridge. However, because it's only tens of miles east to cross the county border, this place doesn't have the prosperity and bustle of Xihe Bridge on ordinary days. After traveling for an hour or so, Zu Chao and his companions arrived at Bali Bao, where they could only see endless desolation, as if there wasn't even half a wisp of smoke within a hundred miles around.

  "A Cheng, take a few people and head north for a while. The terrain is higher on that side, you can see more clearly. Don't go too far."

  On horseback, Zu Zhao pressed the hilt of his short sword at his waist and ordered in a stern tone.

  "Yes." A Cheng nodded and beckoned several of his family's younger generation to follow him closely. They adjusted the direction of their mounts and left the main group, heading north. The two groups maintained a not-too-great distance from each other, able to respond to each other at any time.

  The team continued to move forward for half a mile, and Zu Zhao, who was leading the way, subconsciously slowed down his pace. The team behind him also slowed down accordingly. Since they were here to search for the bodies of the victims and other useful clues, they had to be more careful and serious.

  At this time, someone in a team running north suddenly shouted: "Look quickly, there is movement under the tree ahead."

  This shout made everyone hold their breath, some people subconsciously reached out to grab the bow on the horse's back, and others had already drawn their short swords or raised their long guns. Everyone's eyes followed the direction indicated by the sound, and sure enough, under a lone dwarf tree in front of them, a black shadow seemed to be swaying back and forth.

  Zu Zhao unconsciously urged the horse on, hastening his pace. Before long, as the distance narrowed, he made out by the starlight that the dark shape was a masterless horse.

  "Be careful, everyone." He immediately shouted, "Ah Zhong, Ah Bin, go around from the side."

  "Yes, young master."

  "Everyone look around and see if there's any other movement." Zu Zhao added.

  The team gradually formed a fan shape and surrounded the tree, with several people on the outer periphery constantly sizing up their surroundings, cautiously guarding against thieves who might appear at any time.

  A crowd of people gathered under the tree, several older sons did not dismount, holding people in several high positions nearby, holding torches in their hands, extending the range of light even further. The rolling hills were like a black silk fabric, dense and thick, except for the sound of the night wind blowing in from time to time, there was no other movement.

  The ancestors and several young men quickly dismounted their horses, taking three steps as two, and arrived under the tree. Under the light of torches held by other young men around them, they saw a sorrel horse standing there in a daze. The horse's head was fitted with reins, and its back had a leather saddle pad. Moreover, there were several wounds on the horse's belly and buttocks, but the bleeding had stopped as the wounds had been cauterized.

  "The young master, this horse... seems to be one of our village's horses..." a youngster immediately said.

  Zu Zhaung remembered clearly that the bandits' mounts were all mixed-breed horses, but the horse in front of him was a majestic animal over seven feet tall, obviously one of their own estate's horses.

  "You few, take a look around. Ah Cheng, you lead people to continue forward for a while." He gave the order decisively as soon as he thought of it.

  "Yes."

  "Everyone follow me."

  A group of young men quickly unfolded their actions in an orderly manner, one group slowly continued to search northeast, while the other group urged their mounts to take small steps and dispersed around them to investigate.

  Zu Zhao carefully examined the horse in his hand, and many doubts arose in his heart: since the thief was robbing money and horses, why did he let this horse escape? Unless the scene of the crime is farther away from here!

  In an instant, a loud shout came from not far away: "Come quickly, we've found Zu San Ge and Liu Shu from Da Xing Li, come quickly!"

  His eyebrows were tightly knitted, and he could confirm that the incident had occurred right here from the look in his eyes. But why didn't the thief take this horse away? He temporarily suppressed this doubt, left three apprentices under the tree, and led others to rush to where the cry came from.

  About a hundred paces south of the tree, several young men were gathered in one place with torches. Two young men crouched on the ground not far apart, and beside them lay two dusty corpses. In the flickering firelight, it could be seen that both were victims of the attack on their ancestors' home.

  "Third Brother was shot through the throat by a single arrow, how ruthless." The slightly older younger brother squatting in front of the first corpse said with a very solemn tone, revealing three parts of desolation.

  Zu Zhao crouched down in front of "Third Brother Zu", examining the feathered arrow lodged in his neck.

  "Torches." He suddenly realized something.

  One of Zuo's disciples hastily stepped forward and lowered the torch in his hand a bit.

  "This arrow is completely black, even the feathers are dyed black." The slightly older young man said in surprise.

  He touched the arrow feathers of that arrow with his hand, and the feathers were not ordinary chicken or goose feathers, but rather some kind of flying bird feathers. Although flying bird feathers are not rare, they are relatively expensive to produce. He couldn't help but wonder if this feathered arrow was a special mark of the archer? If so, it wouldn't be difficult to find out where the archer was, and he could even infer that his opponent was an absolutely confident and arrogant person.

  "Take out the arrow and lay the body in order." He instructed a sentence, then stood up and walked towards another corpse.

  The second corpse had no unusual features and died from ordinary blade wounds.

  In the next half an hour, the descendants of the ancestors found the bodies of other victims one after another, a total of seven people, and the number was complete. However, except for the first two corpses that were found, there were also two others who were killed by arrows with black feathers all over their bodies, one hit in the chest and pierced through the heart, and the other was directly shot in one eye, both died instantly.

  After examining the three unusual corpses, Zu Chao felt that this matter was not trivial and the people who attacked the Zu family's horse team were by no means ordinary thieves. In the dark, three arrows took the lives of three people, what sharp eyesight and archery skills they had.

  "A Cheng, have you found any trace of the thief?"

  After all the bodies were properly placed in leather, Zu Zhao asked Ah Cheng, who had just returned from a distant patrol.

  "We found some bloodstains and hoof prints on the north side, but it's too dark, I'm afraid we won't be able to pursue them further. Those thieves must have escaped to the north." Ah Cheng replied.

  "What's the north face? Since we have a clue, what are we waiting for? Let's chase after them together and see where these little thieves can escape to." Gong Sunlong said excitedly, with an eager attitude.

  Zu Zhaos sank into thought for a moment. If he hadn't discovered the suspicious circumstances of the black arrow, he would have insisted on pursuing it further. At present, not much time has passed since the case occurred, and the first-hand clues are very important. The possibility of catching up with the thieves is also the greatest. But if they still had to wait until tomorrow, no one could predict where these thieves would escape to. However, considering that there was a ruthless person among the thieves, it couldn't be determined what their true identities were for the time being, and they absolutely couldn't be underestimated.

  "It's too risky to travel at night, and since the thief has escaped far away, we can only plan for the long term. Our main purpose in coming here this time is to find the body of our family member, and now that we have found it, we must immediately send it back to our family to comfort the relatives of the deceased. Let's wait until dawn tomorrow, and then call up Zu Qi and others again, and specifically look for the whereabouts of the thief."

  Many people may have some resentment, but they dare not disobey the words of the eldest son. Gong Sunlong still looks frustrated, but because he admires Zu Zhao very much, so he didn't say anything more.

  Before mounting his horse, Zu Chao gazed out at the distant north, his heart filled with a thousand thoughts, and a growing sense of foreboding.

  On the way back to Zujiashan, Gong Sunlong couldn't help but speculate and said: "The bandits came from the north and escaped to the north. Could they be Hu people who crossed the border? Although I don't know what's going on in Youbei Pingjun Prefecture, in our Xuanxian Prefecture, there are often troubles caused by Hu people, which is really hateful."

  Several of the villagers nearby heard this and followed with a discussion.

  However, Zu Zhao remained silent from start to finish, with a deep thinking expression. He was not deaf to Gong Sun Long's words, but he thought that relying solely on speculation at this time had little significance. In the darkness, even the survivors couldn't clearly identify the enemy, and reckless guessing would only lead them astray.

  As soon as they returned to the head of Xu Wuyi County, more than a dozen riders suddenly rushed towards them on the official road. Only when they approached did they discover that the leader was Zu Qi and several other young men who had just returned from Xihua Bridge. This afternoon's trial was won by Zu Qi's side, as per custom, they stayed in the town's wine house for a big meal, and also shared the large deer sent by Han Dang. After drinking and returning to the Zu family village, it was said that after Uncle Hong's accident, Zu Qi and others chased them out without saying a word.

  After bumping heads, Zu Ji still had a strong smell of wine on him, but he had an indignant expression and tone, hastily asking Zu Zhao and others what to do next. Zu Zhao briefly explained two sentences, then returned to the Zu family village with Zu Ji.

  The ancestral home was still brightly lit, and in addition to this, several decorated carriages had appeared outside the front gate of the courtyard, along with a team of guards wearing neat leather armor and carrying swords. These were the guests summoned by the county government and the soldiers under the command of the regional commander. Zu Zhao first personally arranged for the bodies of the victims to be taken care of, and then instructed Zu Ji to lead a group of young men who normally participated in military training to take turns resting and assisting with various tasks around the estate.

  Zu Ji solemnly accepted the order and worked with Zu Cheng, Zu Zhong and others to organize the idle men in the village.

  Gongsun Long had originally planned to follow him, but unfortunately he was exhausted and his horse was tired, so after walking halfway, he turned back to the West Wing.