Chapter 31: The Huns within the Han Borders

  After letting Zu Qi go to the horse market to gather information, Zu Zhao took the remaining people and bypassed the horse market directly. Following the clues provided by the wine shop attendant, they arrived at the back of the horse market. This was a deserted orchard with no one in sight. Standing outside the forest, you could see two tents inside, and there were also several figures moving around the tents.

  Step into the orchard, and soon it becomes clear that the moving figures are all dressed in strange clothes, some washing clothes, others squatting outside their tents collecting nuts from the Western Regions, and still others packing up a package of exquisitely carved animal bones. It's not hard to guess that these barbarians make a living by selling goods such as nuts and animal bones.

  Before they could get close, the barbarians quickly became aware of Zu Chao's group and in an instant put down what they were holding and hastily gathered together. The three men hurriedly had their wives and children hide in the tent, while they picked up clubs or knives, warily staring at these "not well-intentioned" foreigners.

  For Zu Chao and others, they were equally wary, with several of them unconsciously placing their hands on the hilts of their swords at their waists.

  "Which of you can speak Chinese?" He stepped forward, keeping a distance from each other, and Zu Zhao asked indifferently.

  Three barbarians stood silently, exchanging cold glances. In the tent behind them, several female figures peeked out with worried faces.

  "You scoundrels, can't you even speak Chinese? What kind of business are you doing here if you don't know how to speak the language?" A hot-tempered young man stepped forward, his voice full of contempt and scorn.

  The barbarian still did not speak, but the anger in his eyes was evident.

  Just then, a shouting voice in a foreign language suddenly came from behind the orchard. Before long, a slender figure rushed over from afar. Not only did Zu Chao and others look around suspiciously at the sound, but even the three foreigners seemed somewhat flustered and turned their heads to look back. One of the foreigners couldn't help but wave his hand towards the person who was originally behind the orchard, responding in a foreign language. From the tone and manner of speaking, it could be inferred that he meant to tell the other party not to come over.

  However, the slender figure did not stop and ran to the front of three barbarians. It turned out that this person was a tall and slender Huren girl, with a head of reddish-brown hair scattered on her shoulders, and her bright blue eyes were like a pair of gems. Her skin was as fair as wheat, which showed more exotic style. Her face was very thin and pointed, but had to admit it was a beautiful face, even in the deep autumn season, she still wore thin ethnic clothing, with a half-exposed waist, which was quite sexy and charming.

  The only thing that spoiled the scenery was that this barbarian woman held a short curved knife in her hand, and her blue eyes revealed an unparalleled anger and murderous intent, making people dare not have any slight thoughts of underestimating her.

  Zu Zhaowei carefully sized up the barbarian woman, and judging from her skin color, hair color, and eyes, she shouldn't be a Wuhuan, Xianbei or Qiang person, but rather seemed to be a barbarian from the Western Regions. He found this somewhat strange, after all, the journey from the Western Regions was long and arduous, and if it were truly for business, there were also official markets in the Hexi Corridor.

  Three barbarians were very nervous about the appearance of the female barbarian, one of whom was emotionally agitated and quarreled with the female barbarian, making gestures to let her hurry away. However, no matter how these three barbarians spoke, the female barbarian still did not intend to leave, standing firmly on her feet, staring fiercely at the aliens in front of her.

  "We're not here to cause trouble, just to ask about some things. Is there anyone among you who understands Chinese?" Zu Zhao didn't want to waste any more time and repeated in a calm tone.

  "What exactly do you want to do! I won't apologize, and I won't leave. I'm not afraid of you." Hu Nu said loudly in Mandarin with a thick accent after hearing Zu Zhao's words.

  "I don't know you at all, so it's not a question of whether I should apologize or not, unless you've done something shameful." Zu Zhao's tone was firm and calm, although his voice wasn't loud, but it seemed to be full of confidence, with an air of dignity that commanded respect.

  "You, you're not those people from the day before yesterday?" Hu Nu's face showed a hint of doubt, her tone slightly relaxed as she asked.

  "No."

  "What brings you here?"

  "Yesterday evening, a batch of stud horses that had just been purchased from this place were stolen, right at the Eight Mile Pavilion. Do you know anything about it?" Zu Zhao said calmly, his eyes fixed intently on these barbarians, observing any changes in their expressions. He had a plan in mind; after all, this was not an era of rule by law, and as long as the barbarians showed any unusual behavior, he could take action immediately without needing any evidence.

  The woman furrowed her delicate eyebrows, turned around and spoke in the Hulun language with those few Hulun people for a while. The reaction of the Hulun people was very strong, but she couldn't understand what they were saying.

  "This has nothing to do with us. From the day we arrived here, we have been here every day and never left." Hu said solemnly after finishing her conversation.

  Zu Zhao fell silent for a moment, and through his observation, he didn't find any obvious abnormalities. These few people had no injuries on their bodies, and they were all physically strong and tall, if they really participated in last night's robbery, they would definitely leave a deep impression on Uncle Hong and the others. Apart from this, he was somewhat worried about what his grandfather said about the Qiang people, but the Huren in front of him were not the same ethnic group as the Qiang people, and there were also conflicts and estrangements between different tribes of Huren.

  But just at this moment, a young man from the Zhao family suddenly pointed to the back of the orchard and shouted loudly: "Young master, look quickly, there is a horse over there."

  Zu Zhao concentrated his mind and looked in the direction he was pointing, and indeed, there was a horse's shadow swaying deep in the woods. This direction was exactly where Hu Nu had come from earlier.

  Several barbarians seemed to sense something and suddenly shouted loudly, waving the instruments in their hands to intimidate the Zujia disciples.

  That beautiful Huren woman's pretty face first flashed with confusion, and then immediately became tense. She warned Zu Zhao: "We have nothing to do with you, this place does not welcome you, leave, leave quickly!"

  The previously arrogant young master of the Zu family coldly sneered, "Hmph, this is the territory of the Great Han Empire. You barbarians are the ones who are not welcome here. How dare you be so presumptuous?"

  Zu Zhao didn't respond to Hu Nu, grasping the hilt of his sword at his waist, and stepped into the depths of the forest.

  The woman hastily stepped forward to block them, and in her anxiety, she suddenly burst out a string of nonsense towards Zu Zhao, then switched back to Mandarin and said: "What are you trying to do? We have nothing to do with you, leave quickly!"

  Zu Zhao took a glance at Hu Nu, who was not very old, but looked worn out from the accumulation of wind and sand drifting over time. Her originally beautiful reddish-brown hair now appeared dry and dull due to lack of care. He couldn't see any truly ruthless side of her, nor would he associate her with being a murderer or thief.

  Even so, nowadays every clue must be grasped!

  He didn't respond and continued walking towards the back of the woods by himself.

  The Hun woman was shocked and furious, suddenly pulling out the curved knife in her hand and pointing it at Zu Zhao. The young men of the Zu family saw this and immediately drew their swords, surrounding them and preparing for a fierce battle. The three Huns also shouted loudly and waved their clubs, rushing forward to protect the Hun woman on both sides.

  No matter the number of people or the quality of their weapons, Zu Chao's side had a clear advantage. The Hu people were still shouting loudly, but if one looked closely, they could see that their hands holding the bundled grasses were trembling, and their faces showed not only shock and anger, but also more shock. On the other hand, the Hu woman was very flustered, yet the anger and killing intent in her eyes did not decrease at all, and she didn't even take a step back.

  Zu Zhao raised his hand slightly, signaling the disciples to hold back for the time being. He said to Hu Nu, "I've told you before, I have no malicious intentions. If you haven't done anything shameful, there's no need to hide like this. You should be clear in your heart that if you take action now, you'll only end up losing out. Later on, even if the authorities get involved, none of you will be able to escape imprisonment."

  He finished speaking and didn't care whether Hu Nu understood or not. Under the cover of the swords and knives of his disciples, he continued to move forward.

  After arriving at the orchard, I soon saw that horse, which was a sorrel horse with many scars. The reins and saddle were fully equipped. There were several knife wounds on the horse's body, as well as several arrow wounds. However, all the wounds had been treated with grass mud, and although the horse had lost a circle of hair, it still had the strength to stand upright.

  Not far from the horse, there was a tree stump with a small clay pot and a small bowl on it. The bowl still had some ground herbs left in it, which were the same color and smell as the grass mud on the horse's body. Zu Zhao suddenly thought that the two hands of the Hun woman earlier seemed to have green stains on them, apparently this horse's injury was carefully treated by the Hun woman.

  Behind her back, Hu Nu shouted angrily: "That's my horse, you're not allowed to touch it."

  A young man following behind Zu Zhao's back looked at the saddle blanket of this horse and his face suddenly fell, trying to control his emotions, said: "Young Master, the pattern woven on the saddle blanket is our family crest, this seems to be Chen Shu's mount from the horse farm."

  As soon as the words were spoken, everyone's face changed color.

  "You mangy cur, who dares to rob and kill the horse team of my ancestral home? I'll cut you down!"

  "Bandits are bandits, today you will definitely pay for your crimes with your blood."

  Several young men glared with anger in their eyes, brandishing their knives as if they were about to charge forward.

  The barbarians were shocked and jumped in unison, never expecting these people to take action so quickly. The women and children hiding in the tents also let out cries of surprise, accompanied by several uncontrollable sobs and wails. Only the barbarian woman's reaction was different, just as Zujiazi's men were about to make a move, she took the initiative to charge forward, wielding her curved knife and launching a preemptive attack.

  The few ancestors in front didn't take the woman seriously at first, thinking that this weak woman could do nothing.

  Subjective underestimation quickly led to severe consequences. Hu Nu stepped forward with a light step, her short curved knife dancing like a spirit snake. A young man from the Zu family had not yet reacted when he took only two moves and was cut down by Hu Nu's knife on his shoulder, and also received a kick, falling to the ground with a thud.