Chapter 32, New Clues

  It was at the wine shop that Zhu Zhao heard a waiter mention a Hu woman, and he remembered that a Hu woman had been harassed by a local rogue, but in the end she had beaten him up. It can be imagined that the Hu woman mentioned by the waiter should be this Hu woman in front of him. He really didn't expect that such a delicate and weak-looking woman would also be skilled in swordsmanship.

  However, he still didn't think that this woman was one of the robbers who ambushed the horse team yesterday. As a martial artist, he could see from her moves that she was only skilled in close combat with short weapons. But most of the cases yesterday involved long-range and remote-controlled weapons, which should be worth careful consideration.

  To avoid things getting out of hand all at once, he immediately shouted: "All of you stop!"

  The young master and his companions, still unable to control their emotions, stepped forward and exchanged blows with the barbarian woman. They only retreated when they realized they were no match for her. Others rushed to help their injured companion who had fallen to the ground, giving him some simple first aid for his wounds.

  Although Hu Nu was skilled with a knife, her body was too thin and she had been malnourished for a long time. Her chest was heaving now, and her breathing was rapid. She didn't relax her vigilance, glaring at him with anger, the curved knife in her hand maintaining an attacking posture.

  Zu Zhao looked at Hu Nu, his tone unchanged, only emphasizing: "This horse is not yours. If I'm not mistaken, you shouldn't ride horses often." He deliberately glanced at Hu Nu's legs, which were clad in a bright long skirt, and faintly visible white calves, which didn't seem to have the characteristic bowed legs of a frequent rider.

  Moreover, the current living conditions of these barbarians are obviously not very good. The cost of raising horses is much more expensive than raising humans. How can they afford to raise horses when they can't even support themselves?

  The woman saw Zuozhao staring at her lower body, and she was so ashamed and angry that her hand holding the curved knife trembled with force. If it weren't for being in a foreign land, she would have rushed up to dig out his eyeballs right now. In the end, she just cursed loudly in the Hulanguage, causing the other Huren behind her to shout and scold as well.

  Zu Zhaoseemed to have a few points of consciousness, but this further confirmed his speculation. A real horseback rider would not fail to understand the meaning of "looking at legs" just now. He smiled calmly and continued to ask: "Where did you find this horse?"

  "This is my horse."

  "A descendant of the imperial family couldn't help but angrily say: 'You're a Tartar who deserves to be cut into pieces a thousand times, how dare you act so wildly!'"

  Zu Zhao took a deep breath, adjusting his emotions. He stepped forward, standing in front of Hu Nu's knife, and the surrounding disciples couldn't help but take half a step forward, filled with worry. Looking straight at Hu Nu, he strengthened his tone and said: "This horse is from our Zu family village, yesterday our people were robbed and killed at Ba Li Pu, this horse was ridden by one of the victims. If you insist that this horse is yours, then I'll take it as proof that you're one of the robbers."

  Hu Nu understood Zuo Zhao's words after a while, and her sharp eyes gradually showed a few points of surprise. However, she didn't think about it anymore, and firmly said: "I don't care, this horse was found by me, now it is mine." After finishing speaking, without hesitation, she took a step forward, swung her sword and attacked Zuo Zhao.

  Zu Zhao had long been prepared, and her body flashed to one side. Taking advantage of Hu Nu's forward-leaning body, she reached out with an iron-like grip to grab the wrist holding the knife, twisting it with force so that the arm wrapped around her neck, while the curved blade was pressed against her face. Hu Nu was shocked and flustered, trying to swing out her other hand, but before she could act, it too was twisted and locked behind her back by Zu Zhao.

  Hu Nu hadn't intended to harm Zu Zhao's life, but only hoped to take the initiative and capture a hostage. Who knew that one misstep would turn her into the other party's hostage instead? The cold curved blade stimulated her skin, and an unprecedented wave of fear swept through her entire body. Thinking about how she had traveled from the Western Regions, turning and twisting along the way, and seeing many scenes where Han people humiliated Hu people, a surge of sadness suddenly welled up, and a hint of redness appeared in her gemstone-like eyes.

  However, she still didn't show any signs of fear, gritting her small white teeth and saying: "If you have the guts, kill me!"

  Three other barbarians rushed over from a short distance, but were forced back by other Zu family members.

  Zu Chao smelled a faint, strange fragrance on Hu Nu's body. He didn't intend to make things difficult for this woman of another tribe and said: "I won't harm you, and I can give you this horse as well. In exchange, you must tell me where you found this horse?"

  The beautiful woman's chest heaved violently, and for a moment she couldn't make any response. In her heart, she deeply felt puzzled and suspicious of Zu Chao's words. Over the past few years of wandering, among all the Han people she had met, there had never been anyone as generous and kind-hearted as him, and she absolutely didn't believe that such people existed among the Han.

  After a while, Zu Chao said again: "I'm letting go of your hand now, and I hope you won't make any more impulsive moves."

  After he finished speaking, he slowly released Hu Nu's two wrists.

  The barbarian woman instinctively retreated a distance, turned around and stared at Zu Zhao with vigilance. The three barbarians behind her quickly ran over to stand guard on either side of her. One of the barbarians spoke urgently in their native language, and the barbarian woman's face revealed hesitation and uncertainty.

  A brief silence, Hu Nu said irritably: "This horse was found this morning in the orchard south of the farm, it's badly injured, with several wounds bleeding. Apart from that, I don't know anything."

  Zu Zhao nodded slowly and said, "If you had said so earlier, nothing would have happened."

  He finished speaking and turned around, leading the ancestral family's children to prepare to leave.

  The woman suddenly asked loudly from behind: "Are you really giving me this horse?"

  Zu Zhao stopped in his tracks, turned around and looked at Hu Nu with a questioning gaze, asking: "What's your name?"

  The woman looked puzzled and hesitated for a moment before speaking: "What does my name have to do with you?"

  Zu Chao said bluntly: "If you deceive me, I will come back to find you."

  The female Hu said in a loud voice: "I don't need to cheat you. My name is Guli Nuer, if I cheated you, you can come and find me. But this horse is mine now!"

  Zu Zhao smiled slightly: "It's yours."

  Leaving the place where the barbarians lived, Zu Chao and his party headed south.

  One of the young men couldn't help but mutter in front of Zu Chao, "Young master, are we really going to give those barbarians the horses? Not to mention that it's still uncertain whether they're actually horse thieves or not, even if they aren't, these foreigners are all pests, why do we need to make things easy for them?"

  Another young man also followed and said: "Yes, big brother, bringing this horse back will at least give an explanation to the Chen family."

  Zu Zhao didn't turn his head, he calmly replied: "I just don't want to waste time. Chen Shu's horse is a small matter, whether or not we can avenge Chen Shu and the others is the big issue."

  Everyone who heard this felt that there was another reason and stopped being suspicious.

  Out of the orchard, there was indeed a field to the south. The autumn harvest season had almost come to an end, and as far as the eye could see, all the fields were dry and desolate, with only neatly arranged holes left from the harvested crops. Zu Zhao jumped down from the ridge first, and due to the continuous drought, there were also many cracks on the ground besides the holes. Crossing the field all the way to the edge of a small road ahead, he suddenly found some horse hooves and some dried-up bloodstains.

  "Big brother, there's blood ahead too."

  "Uncle Chen's horse must have fled all the way here from the southeast direction."

  "But that's not right, the place of Bali Puzi should be in the west. If it was from Bali Puzi that they escaped, the bloodstains should be in the opposite direction."

  Several young people expressed their own inferences, pieced together into a brand new clue.

  "Follow the blood trail." Zu Zhao ordered decisively.

  The crowd quickened their pace, with two spirited young men scouting ahead. They walked west along the small path for about 40 yards when the blood trail suddenly disappeared for a while. Fortunately, it wasn't long before they found the trace again. Soon, a small village appeared in front of them, and only when they reached the vicinity of the village did the blood trail and any other signs completely disappear.

  "The young master should be in this village."

  "Ah Zhong, take two people and go around from the other side, pay attention to the situation around." Zu Zhao said.

  A group of people split into two paths, Zu Zhao walked directly to the village, while Ah Zhong led several brothers according to Zu Zhao's instructions, circling around a distance and approaching the east side of the village. The village was not big, with only thirteen or fourteen households, and many of them were already empty, with broken doors and windows, clearly abandoned for a long time. Despite the frequent passage of merchants through Lingshi County, some poor families had no choice but to flee due to natural disasters and human calamities.

  Zu Zhaowalked along the bumpy village road, and some villagers saw these outsiders from afar, all with vigilant faces. Some glared at them, others hid in their homes early, or called out to others to come out and defend themselves. Before long, a man in his 40s, resembling a woodcutter, appeared in front of them, carrying a basket of firewood on his back and a short axe at his waist.

  "Who are you and what do you want to do!"

  The woodcutter stopped ten steps away from the drama and asked with ill intentions.

  "Are there any horses in the village?" asked Zu Zhao. He looked around and saw that although most of the villagers were hiding behind their doors, some young men and robust ones came over, each with a cold face.

  Only this sentence, the faces of the boys on both sides changed color. However, the woodcutter still maintained a serious expression.

  "Don't talk nonsense! If you want a horse, go to the horse market. What horses would we have here?"

  "But take a casual look." Zu Zhao said coldly, having already sensed something was off.

  "I don't know where this little savage came from, but he's so ignorant of the rules. Get out quickly and don't disturb our village." The woodcutter said angrily, one hand pressing on the axe at his waist.

  The villagers around saw the situation and generally received a hint, one by one with more solemn expressions. Some even picked up stones, hoes and some tree branches from nearby, posing a serious and ready-to-fight posture.

  The young masters of the ancestral family knew that rushing into unfamiliar villages and neighborhoods would cause trouble, but they were well-prepared and not afraid to make a scene. Everyone instinctively reached for their swords, not fearing these pale and thin villagers with sparse populations.